Waterbury Democrat., 1902-12-11
He Says He Does Not Object To
 Union Men.
DOESN'T WANT INTERFERENCE

 From Them, However, in Regard to
 His Non Union Help-He Explains
 the System in Vogue at the Novelty
 Factory in Regard to the Hiring and
 Discharging of Helr-
 Thomas Fitzsimons, president of the Novelty Manufacturing company, speaking to-day to a Democrat report CT on the form of contract which he had issued among the employees of the concern to sign, exempting the com pany from all liability in case of acci- dent. said that the union buffers who claimed to have been discharged for refusing to sign the paper did him an injustice, which he did not deserve. Following is the substance of hls statement:
 ''To show you that we make no dis elimination here in employing help, we do not ask them whether or not they belong to union, but we have said to them that if they were un- ion men we do not want them to inter- fere with those who are not. You re- member the strike of the machinists here a few years ago? Well, ] got Il circular from this man in Ansonia, the head of the union. I believe he was, and tore it up and threw it into the waste paper basket. Then got a letter from him asking me why I did not sign the circular. By that time the questions in. the circular-we all know what they were abort--were getting quite warm and l had q talk with one of my sons. He said the question was up to us and he wanted to know what I was going to do. I told him world take care of it. Then wrote back to this man in Ansonia telling him I did not sign his circular because he had no part whatsoever, in the management or working of this concern. I next went among the ma- chinists, some of whom you may know. I guess some of them have been working here for fifteen or twen- ty years. I asked them what they were going to do and if they belonged to the union. I guess all of them said they did not except one, and he said that he was thinking about joining but that even if he were union man he would not go out on strike.
 "We do not object to our help be- HIS III IiC ulilOuS put we uO uOl WdUI those who are union admirers to inter- fere with those who are not All we ask of them is to do their work aud do it we'll
 "But about this card" the name by which MT Fitzsimons referred to the form of contract in question, 'there was no one discharged for not signing it. I believe there were six or eight union men out of the twenty-five em- ployed in the buff room who did not sign it. They got their heads together and left of their own accord We had nothing to do with their leaving, but four of them believe have come back and everything is going along all right''
 s.The men stated they were given a certain time in which to sign the con- l tract and that when the time had ex- pired and thew still had not signed. they were told there was no more work for them stated the reporter
 ''They were not discharged, nor were they told there was no more work for them" repeated MT Fitzsimons. sThey got their heads together. as I have said, and they left. but four of them have come back. Tn that paper we asked all the help to sign" he went on, "more for their own benefit than any, body else's. When an accident oc- CUTS and a man is hurt we do not fight the lawsuit. if one is brought The accident insurance companies do that. We lose nothing. When an em- ploye is hurt in this factory we pay his doctors bills. Only few days ago machinist got hurt. part of the top of one of his fingers was talk cc <1 T t.s Yet we need not have done so because the accident was not our fault. This machinist went to do work on a press that the regular man for that work should have done. but he was not ait work that day and that was the reason this machinist undertook to do it, nor could we afford to neglect our ma chimes. Competition is so rife we must do good work and to do that our ma- chimes must be kept in good order. The factory inspector besides would see that our machines are in working order. There are plenty of men in town who worked for us twenty ~r thirty years ago who will say that we | always took good care of our help. Now 1 must say again that the buff CTS were not discharged at alp
 Yesterday a report was current that the contract form had baen wffh- drawn. MT Fitzsimous denied this and added that it has been circulated among all the help and is being readi- ly signed.
 Regarding the legality of the con- tract, Attorney O'NeilI. one of the lead ing lawyers in town. who is also one of the most able in the county. if not in the state, said that the question embodied in it. has been tried bv ths courts in this state and it was found illegal on the grounds of public policy.