The sun., 1902-04-21
1JNID OYER LABOR POLITICS.
,oyyECTICUT POLITICIANS SEE
TROIBLE AHEAD.
,.,u,,y ~ the Election Of q state
I,nor Ticket viii Beat Electoral
Rrtorm Feeling Thst II VIII he Best
a Let small Towns Rule the state.

HAVEN, April 2o.-The well-devel-
Iuovampnt Of organizes labor TO secure
pv,csl control Of the State will have an
Favorable effect upon the movement for
.as,i,u,ional reform. The victories Of
,,.,o,s Charters. Mulvihill and Sullivan in
,~sona. Bridgeport and Hartford have
",,racted wide attention. The announce
~sntofJohnJ O'Neil and other labor leaders
sbst they will take the unions into State
noi,ics this fall and the formation Of
,onomc leagues, like the one in Hartford,
t,vs aroused much speculation.
In this city the power Of the unions has
hoon further accumulated by their success
!, naming ten Aldermen last week who are
nadeed to promote radical municipal
legislation.
Onn or more Of these men have radical
ticss relating to social conditions. In
.bort the conservative and manufacturing
eism4n,s are beginning to fear that the
substitution Of popular representation In
place of town representation at this time
may ulace the Legislature in the hands Of
labor organizations. The fear is expressed
that a legislative body so controlled will
he likely TO produce mass of hostile legis-
latiou that will be serious in its effect on
manufacturing and business interests.
last week former Mayor +. b. Farms
worth Il this city. in addressing the Social
Science Club on the subject of -Constitu-
tional Reform" alluded TO the necessity
Of convincing certain persons in New
Haven who are opposed TO changing the
town system" if that reform was TO be ac-
compished. The persons referred to are
well.known leaders in the business life
and thought Of New Haven.
The labor men are keenly alive to the gain
they would derive from popular repre-
sentation and are working tooth and nail
to bring il about. The New Haven Trades
Council has memorialized the Constitu-
tonal Convention and other bodies of labor
men are preparing TO take the same course.
The fear that the State government will
b, controlled by organized labor unions
, N the opinion Of very conservative men,
not a fancy.
opinion upon this point has been has
tened and ripened. if not actually created
by the tremendous increase in the number
and strength of labor organizations in the
past year. The growth of the unions
according TO the figures recently issued
hy the Bureau OF Labor Statistics, has been
at a phenomenal rate. The bureau has
discovered $40 separate and distinct organ
1879 This statement shows the rapidity
with which labor is organizing here. Blu;
II may he furt her said that 3ii branches
report a membership aggregating ~ ,258
In 1900 the discoVerable membership was
ahor half as great.
The expanding membership and the in.
creased number of the unions do not alone
give a complete idea of their rate of growth
OF the unions now in existence none has beer
found that date earlier than lSI7, wher
there was one. From 1850 10 1890, two
vereeStab ished. From $50 To 1870 thrteer
were started. In the twenty years fol
loving sixty-siX were instituted and in
Ton Years more, up 10 1901 los were created
T. thus appears that in 1891 amos. as many
un.ons were organized as in the ten years
previous These organizations exist in
the fnrty-two larger towns OF the state
They are almost the sole promoters OF
strikes. and they have been responsible
within a IwClvcmonth for the creation
of conditions that manufacturers view with
anxiety.
This docs not refer 10 the several move-
mCiif~ for shorter hours. with the same pay
Int to restrictions a. To- the exact kind
and quality of work that may h" done by
each memhcr. New Haven manufacturers
foree-r an approximation here To the
condition thai the labor unions have created
in England, where they ~iv the same iot
is surrounded with men who represent
different crafts, and jealousy watch eact
other TO see that member of one unioI
does not do labor that the unions have de
cded shall he done toy representatives o
another craft
Steel ceilings have come largely into us,
IN C0unectICui in the last ten years Tn,
erection of these ceilings is simple pro
c--S The metal i nailed on To the sur
fdn" Whcr" n lis 20 remain and II theI
painted Partly because the painters ar,
provided with suitable stagings for thi
sur pl work and partly because one set O
men could DO m" work cheaper than tw
sal-. the painters hav" been putting M
most Of the steel ceilings Under the neN
Trades Cour"i rul" the metal can only b
uIdr.l bv shee' -m"tal worker and tn
painting can b" don" only by painter
which mean two sets ~ staging and mul
'pLra'luu uf ilv cNpcu-s
lT the bu.liug trades IL formerly wa
permitted HAT u ga-iillrr could put in a
H- ppug uec"~-irv 90 huildng Inde
new RAJ" II any pipes are TO contain cleo
.r' N.p- they must b' put IN 10y an cleo
fnf Nprkrr THIS quest ion was argue
Fu.Hr fhUnn day at the last session Of III
NI'uut Building Trades Council and th
DIVISION ui labor Wa~ finally determine
giHN. Nrodu-" rh" lateral Joints Ia gas
prr arc usually right angle joints, Will
a pp"- that ar tn contain electric wire
l.-'aHu,,- uf ilI, kind q /, said, can i
multiplied indefinitely II b. pointed ~
'.7' 20. uIruum~ual growth ~ labor union
' .sNl and no" imposition ~ ~" Nariou
fr'.H.H.- have rrsulicd ~ a great iallln
% D. Iir amuuu' ~ product Tor IA" wprl
u. I.r figure aTu regarded a. start linI
I.tsl l..H.r.- ilt which thrr" are hguT'
'I Ifl lHr and 1901 n b. shown that u
.HH. a iH' gIu-r product has decf' as'
fas iI-. 90 fium tIsl .0l? .3sl 10 si75, ,55s gS
Ifs 'Ir-" ,.uu'rur gave "uploym"l
'd I"rrnu, asd ln 1901 10 lOi n
H.. figuring Will show that in the fa'
't .rt-r ~ pee cent iu th" uumh'