The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-10-25
THE TRUST SUMMED UP.

The plumbing trust has three branch
IS. the supply house that has bound It
self not TO sell sanitary plumbing APP
planes to other than master plumb
ers; the master plumbers who are out
to cinch the house-owners under the
chance given them by the plumbing
regulations Of the Board Of Health;
and the journeymen plumbers who are
the mechanics used by the master
plumbers to do the work of installation.
The guiltiest parties in the combine
ore the master plumbers of whom
John Emmeluth Is a type. The next
guiltiest are the supply houses which
either through fear or for a share of
plumber. have refused to sell plumbing
wares to people who might compete
with the master plumbers; the least
guilty are the journeyman plumbers,
who are the hired tools of the combine,
answerable In the sense Of an abetting
Union for the unlawful acts Of their
employers.
The Board OF Health became a party
To the swindle unknown TO itself and
with the best intentions towards the
public. To guard against the recur-
renee Of plague II adopted a set of
plumbing regulations, with the franz
Ing OF which ]. Emmeluth had much to
do. that required all householders with
In the sewer district to connect their
dwellings with the mains and those
outside with suitable cesspools. Using
these regulations as a club the plumb
Ing banditti have forced the house,
holders TO come to them and take what
ever they might get. There was no
other recourse. II the householder went
to a supply firm to get plumbing ma
terisi to install himself he was denied
the right to purchase. He could only
buy after giving his work to a master
plumber. IL he went to get Journey
man plumber to lay pipe that he al
ready owned. the Union interfered and
took the man away.
Having as they supposed a lead pipe
cinch" the master plumbers went into
the town and plundered II like an in
vading army. In three months the
price OF work on small cottage--vide
Mr.. Lightfoot's evidence-rose from
$500 TO s275. Prices went at times $50
per cent above the Coast figures and
we're still rising when the Advertiser,
Mt the instance of n prominent MEM
Der OF the Board OF Health. interviewed.
The motto Of the plumbers seems to
have been: Find out what money
your man has and get IL all; then make
the man mortgage his place for more"
The part In the conspiracy borne by
Plumbing Inspector Duffy Is not alto
gether clear but II is the general belief
OF those who have seen his methods
that he has been the moving spirit OF
the trust from the beginning.
The fact Is fairly well established
that the local trust Is in cooperation
with n similar trust at San Francisco
|upply houses there will not sell, SC
we are Informed. to wholesale custom.
ers here who are not In the combine
As to labor. the Journeyman's Union OF
San Francisco and Honolulu are prac.
ticaliy one.
To demolish the local trust many
ways are provided:
T. Its members may be prosecuted
criminaliy In the Federal Court Of the
Hawaiian Territory. on charges Of con.
spiracy In restraint OF trade.
II. Its members may be sued In tho
same court by those who have suffered
damage In business or contracts a,
their hands. and recovery had in three
times the amount Of damages sustain.
ed. with attorneys fees and costs add
ed
III. The coercivs weapons used by
the trust may b taken away by re.
scindins the Board OF Health's plumb
Ing ordinance.
w. A renewal Of merchandise II.
censes Of houses that sell goods to one
class OF people and refuse them to an
other may be Justly and lawfully de-
MED.
". Supplies for competition In plumb.
Ing may be had from n few antitrust
houses In the United States and non
Union plumbers may be imported TO do
local work. providing Union plumbers