Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-04
CENTRAL LABOR UNION
SPECIAL COMMITTEES REPLY TO
SECRETARY MOODY.
Designates the Secretary's Compare
son Between Government Work and
Contract WORK as Misleading.

At the weekly meeting of the Contra
Labor Union held last evening a statement
and resolution were submitted by specia
committee which was appointed to prepare t
reply to the reported statements of Secre
tary Moody relative to the cost of WORK
done in the government printing office ant
the various navy yards. The preamble tc
the resolutions, which was unanimously
adopted, refers to the published report OF
speech, recently delivered by Mr.. Moody
of Madison, Wis, in which he is credited
with the statement that the cost of work
when done by the government lis twice OF
thrice what private concerns would pay fol-
it,
In their reply the committee says: That
Mr.. Moody in support of his statement cited
the government printing office and the navy
yard at Washington as illustration, and
stated, incidentally, that the cost of work
In the government navy yards is due to the
fact that the employees are paid 20 per cent
more per hour than those in the Cramp
ship yard
That an opportunity has been given Mr.
Moody, through communication from the
Central Labor Union, to affirm or deny the
statements publicly credited to him, OF
which opportunity he has failed to avail
himself.
That investigation and comparison will
prove that in the different branches of the
government printing ONCE the Qudllly OF
material used and the workmanship being
considered, the work done does not exceed
In cost that of the same class of work when
done by reputable private concerns, but on
the contrary, is in many instances much
cheaper.
The Secretary's Comparison.
That Mr.. Moody in a spirit of unfair
ness, has selected for comparison with the
Washington navy yard the ship yard of the
Cramps company, where the employees are
required to work ten hours more per day
and where they VIGOROUSLY underpaid
and has totally ignored the fact that a
large percentage of the work done in the
Washington navy yard and the other navy
yards of the country could not possibly be
done by any private concern at a reasona
BILE cost; still he has grossly exaggerated
the difference in the wages paid, unless he
charges to the navy yard account the sala-
ries of those naval officers who are detailed
by the department to superntend construc-
ton, whether by private contract or other
wise, free of cost to the contra ctors."
The resolutions declare: THAT the Central
Labor Union, representing the workingmen
of the District of Columbia and the en-
ployes of the branches of the government
service, stigmatized in Mr.. Moody's public
statement does hereby declare his assertion
referred to to be unjust, inaccurate and
misleading, and without foundation in
fact"
1t was ordered that a copy of the pream-
Bile and resolutions be forwarded to Presl-
dent Roosevelt and Secretary Moody
Expulsion of an Association.
A communication from the Council of
Allied Building Trades, requesting the ex-
puson of Plumbers and Gas Filters Asso-
citation No. from the central body be-
cause of the withdrawal of that organiza-
ton from the council provoked a lengthy
and exceedingly lively discussion. The re-
quest of the building trades, which has
been pending for several weeks, was the
subject of a report of a special committee
appointed at a previous meeting to invest-
gate the charges against the plumbers, and
also ascertain their reasons for withdra w
ing from the council. After the committee
had submitted a statement, without recon-
mendation, the plumbers were expelled
until the organization becomes allied with
the council of building trades.
The delegates of the plumbers who were
present protested against the action of the
to the executive council of the American
Federation of Labor, with which body the
national organization of the plumbers is
affiliated.
Delegates from Gas Workers Union, No.
1O343 fifty-sx of whose members were
locked out by the Washington Gas Light
Company about six weeks ago, reported
that they had recently accepted the propo-
sition submitted by Mr.. John r. Mclean,
and that forty OF the men had returned to
work, and that probably others would be
employed as their services are required by
the company.