Waterbury Democrat., 1901-05-16
MONDAY, MAY 2OtIl
Will it Bring Sorrow or Sum
 shine to Waterb1rX Homes
THE QUESTION DISCUSSED.

From the Manufacturers standpoiDv
 Every Employer Balks When
 Stranger Dictates to Him-Pay in Waterbury Better Than in Most Towns of the State-It Will be
 Battle of the s-Interests of Employer and Employe so Close That Injury to One Means Injury to Both.
 May 20 will soon be with Us and nat
 urally many are curious to know wheth-'
 CT 1t will mean Il big lockout in the factories which will throw thousands | into involuntary idleness during the
 sumner mouths and probably create an industrial paralysis in Waterbury for some tiI1e. ProDably this is the dark side of the question and it may not be wise for people to worry too
 much about it until they see how 1t will pan out. Be this as it may, 1t is
 certain that some of the manufacturers | appear to take little notice of the matt ter and feel that they will be able to run their business without the assist | ance of as many men as decide to go
 out. One of them told representa- tive of this paper to-day that he had
 received no intimation from any one in his factory that the tool makers or machinists want an increase in wages or shorter day and that on this ac-
 count he did not anticipate that any of the help was dissatisfied and looked for no trouble. He did not know, he said, what action other concerns would take l in case their mechanics should go out, but from what he had been able | to learn he felt warranted in venturing the statement that there was no dis- position whatever on the part of any of them to deal with any "outside lAwho might essay to represent their help.
 1.-The manufacturers of Waterbury,
 he said, 'shave always been competent l to settle differences that arose between themselves and their employees with the
 parties directly concerned and think they can be relied upon to cope with what we are told is coming without in-s terference from abroad. Just what
 concern would do under extreme pres sure is something no man can tell. but
 unless I mistake the character of tlxn
 men in charge of our manufac turf plants, I feel I am not wide of kcds mark by predicting that they will moi throw up the sponge until they have
 been beaten. The interests of the
 manufacturers and those in their anl- l ploy is so closely allied that neither
 can be injured without serious dam- age to the other and the men who iiil-
 agine that they have carried their point after they have forced their eill- l ployers into yielding to their demands are deceiying themselves. No concern will pay more than the business war;
 rants and if statistics be any criterion | to go by the manufacturers of Water bury have always done this. There may be few places in New England where skilled labor commands higher price for four or five months each. year. but I have no knowledge of any town
 where the wages arc as good the whols year around as right here in Waters
 bury, and question very much If any man or body of men who are aiming
 to upset the present conditions are do- ing what is for the best interests of the
 community. We have lots of work and the average rate of wages is as high, yes, considerably higher, than
 elsewhere, so that I cannot see what all this talk about a strike and more pay means. So far as know the treat
 ment is fair; at least no cases of bad treatment have come to my notice All
 of the shops, so far as know, pay
 men according to what they are worth
 and if the coming struggle is intended
 to compel concerns to pay men more ( than they are worth, why 1t is wrong
 and it is sure to fail. For my part.
 l have no objection to union man [
 would not dare to ask man who
 would apply for job if he belonged to the union. What concerns me is, is the
 applicant the kind of man we want
 and can we afford to pay him the
 wages he thinks he ought to have. If
 he and can agree he goes to work and if at any time he feels aggrieved ov- CT anything he-not somebody else. mind you-comes to me and we talk things over. That's the order of things in this town and before this Is chang ed want to get my money out of manufacturing and go out on farm
 Il ilc lHdCHIulStS dHu tOOlIudkSTS SuuulU consider this question in all its bear- ings before they leave their benches. One need not be sage to see that they | can hamper their employers, but can they do this without bringing untold miseries to themselves and thousands who are living from hand to mouth I don't suppose fifth of the people of this town could maintain themselves for the next three months if their source of revenue in the factories should be cut off. What then? A re- petition of the scenes that are now be- ing enacted in Albany. That's the logi- cal outcome of this matter in case the worst should come and if some people have the power to bring about such a condition of affairs it is certain that they are on the right road,
 SThe paper you represent has al- ways had good word for the working man and many look to it for informa- tion on nSsuch matters which they might not expect to find elsewhere, but indeal- # ing with question of this magnitude assume that the management is prll- dent enough to give it's readers both sides so that when the 5ay of rprkon-