The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-03-28

handicapped by the fact that each EN- s s
ploye of the government navy YARDS IS
granted fifteen days leave annually with
pay, which, of.scourse, must be charged
into the expense Of constructing the vessel
and will further tend to delay Its com +
pletion.
Secretary Moody will follow the instruc-5
stions Of congress in regard to keeping the.
account of the cost of material and labor
necticut down to the smallest item, but
Is determined that no room will be LETT
Tor any charge Of extravaganza In this
connection. With the money placed at
his disposal for the equipment OF the yard
he purchased what is known as a Gantry
crane, one Of those gigantic travelling
cranes capable of lifting hundreds OF tons,
OF which the Cramps Ship Yards and the
Newport News Ship Building company
possess duplicates which cost them $780,
600 each. In letting this contract Secre-
tary Moody called in Mr.. Brown, the in
ventor OF the Gantry crane and substan-
TALLY gave him carte blanche in the con-
struction Of the crane for the Brooklyn
yard. The remainder of the appropria-
ton of $175.000 has been applied to the
purchase of necessary tools which the
yard did not have. !.
Within two months the keel of the Cons
necticut will be laid down in the Brooklyn
yards an average Of 400 will be kept COM
stantly employed on the vessel until it's
completion. The Newport News Ship
Building company, will start about the
same time on the Louisiana ON which, it
is estimated, they will be able to place
from 1000 to 1000 men at work according
to the various stages of progress.
ut is unfortunate, in order to obtain a
fair test of the provisions OF the eight
hour bill as 1t passed the house Of repre-
sentatives," said the navy department, Of
fetal already quoted, that the provisions
OF the eight hour act under which the
Connecticut will be constructed does not
extend to the contractors for materials.
II It did, a complete test of the prac-
ticability Of the eight-hour law could be
made but as it is the contractors for the
iron works and the armor plate which Will
enter into the construction of the Connec-
ticut, together with those which furnish
the lumber and other materials are at lib
erty to work their men on the ten-hour
system. Nevertheless, the construction
of the Connecticut will afford ample op-
portunity for a complete test OF the cor
rectness of the contention OF the ship
builders that war vessel cannot Esa It's
factorily be constructed under an eight
hour day. The contractors, claim it can
not be done within reasonable period
Of time or within hundreds Of thousands
of dollars Of the contract price OF the Lou
isiana"
One great advantage which the navy de-
partment has over the private contractors,
however. is that no matter how much the
Connecticut cost or how long it takes to
construct her or how far inferior it may
be in speed or how unsatisfactory its gen.
eral performance-the government Is
bound to accept her as it is building her
In it's own yards. The experiment revives
memories of the ill-fated Texas which
gave the navy department so much trouble
and which finally stood still in the only
battle in WHICH it ever took part the bat
tie Of Santiago, while the Oregon, built
by private contractors on the Pacific coast
plowed between it and. the Brooklyn leav-
ing thes Texas, as Captain Clark Of the
Oregon expressed it, "as though she were
standing still" The Brooklyn and the
other vessels which played prominent parts
in this battle were also constructed by
private contractors, the majority OF them
by the. Cramps. who; have testified that
if the eight hour system had been IN force
when they were Contra cited for they would
never have been constructed IL Che Con
necticut and the louisiana, will be 3reahired
to make eighteen knots and should the
speed fall below seventeen sand one-half
knots the secretary OF the navy is at lib
erty to, reject the Louisiana, and all pay
ments made are to me refunded. With
the connecticut IS d11erenJ.
i x Some Serious Charges
And so, .sthe battle between the labor
unions and the private contractors will
soon be on. Union labor finds no place
in the yards Of the Newport Ship Building
company any more than it does in those
of the Cramps, or in the armor plate mills
at Homestead. The experience of the
Cramps with the labor unions when they
were rushing the completion Of the bat
1iy1A ND ~ fI7oN Nav nrf!N ox
company under similar circumstances with
the battleship Illinois has caused them to
declare that never again will they ;recog-
nize union labor. which in, those instances
attempted to interfere with the compile
ton Of the United States battleship to
further the, ends Of he International AS
ISOLATION Of Machinists. The charge OF
tampering with the transport Thomas,
made by representatives OF the Cramps
before the senate committee on labor was
vehemently denied by President Gompers
of the American Federation OF Labor and
President O'Connell Of the International
Association of Machinists. But, it is
significant that the charges relative tc
the Alabama and the Illinois have never
been denied nor have the accused labor
| leaders demanded an official investigation
of the charges. ... s-.-,.. e.. IL.
Government Ownership Feared.
1T appears to me-" said one of the
most prominent members Of the senate
to-day, that a common sense way OF do
ing business would be for congress to
await the outcome of the test Of the eight
hour-a-day scheme as applied to ship
building, which is to be conducted by the
secretary of the navy under the authority
of the congress- in most thorough and
business-like manner before undertaking
to pass any such blanket law as the pro-
posed eight-hour bill, now before the
senate" - . 49, -,~stts-..' sf.. $500 sssS'a
This senator, as we'll as others, see ir
| the movement behind the eight hour, bill
the ultimate object, the dream Of all labor
| leaders, first Of a universal eight hour
day, and, secondly, OF the government
ownership of all public works and utiii-
| ties, and are prepared to resist this tend
ency to the end.