The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-10-20
LABOR SUFFERS UNDER
RULE OF REPUBLICANS


Its employers have manifested an unusual
confidence in one another in the fornna-
ton and operation Of what is known az
the Employers association of Detroit
This irganization. comprising as il does
| ~ employees of the metal trades has
handled the labor question with astonish-
| ing success. and as a result the shopS ri
us members have been remarkably free
| from strikes
Union and non-union men here work side
oy SIDE, There is the most complete ma
enlnery here to be found in, almost any
part or Tho country for securing Jobs for
\ INC Unemployed II there is work to be
' i me isboring man Is not long in find
| ihS u mis- city has about as near a
| conoition of industrial peace as is to be
round in any large manufacturing center
OF the country.
sneh a city should offer peculiarly ia
| vorable opportunities for the study OF
! the economic condition of the country.
| UNAFFECTED by local influences II a high
| protective tariff produces enduring pros
perny among the laboring and mSnufac-
turing elements. the result should GER
! talniy De apparent here. There has been
| no abnormal drain upon the resources of
tlls city. Industry has moved along in
preston there has been must he sscribed
20 general underlying conditions.
Factories Running on Short Time.
II one inquiries today Of representatives
| OF the board OF commerce in this civ or
OF any of the other great busi1ess s0cie-
sIies ne VIII be told that conditions are
not pad The average Detroit man has
great deal OF pride in the freedom
Nhich this city has enjoyed fraun severe
Wars between labor and capftaI Rut
WIen one begins to go deeper and asks
putstlohs concerning specified manufac-
IurInS establishments, he finds that. as a
matter of fact, a very large number of
Of work "a no loa inc
IluustFlal institutions of this city are
running with reduced forces.
i3lls IS one of the great stove manufac-
turing centerS OF the world The Detroit
stove works and the Michigan stove
WORKS together with three or four small
CT institutions, employ about zoe men,
AZ me present time probably 10 per cent
or the usual number are laid off The
companies report that business is only
Iair. They hope for better times after
the election" Yet these stove companies
Doast and give frequent statements to
the newspapers of the fact that their ex-
port orders are very large.
IN connection with this it IS interest
ing 10 know that according to the gen.
orally accepted price list of the leading
export houses, discount OF about 30 per
cent IS allowed upon orders tor export
mat is TO say, the American working
man has TO pay nearly One-JhiFd as much
again for his stove as is paid by the
Norkingman OF England or Germany for
l.
stove interests have. along with the other
greater corporations and trusts of the
country. pushed the home price I'D to a
prombitiVe point. and are now compelled
10 run on snort time, with reduced forces,
and still sell a large portion of their
product TO Europe and South America at
20 per cent discount from the figure ex-
acted in the United States.
Car and Foundry Business Dull.
Three large plants of the American Car
q Foundry company are located here.
Ihese' plants are known as the Russell,
the Peninsula and the Ferry. When these
mIis are running at their maximum,
ABOUT 1000 men are employed. At the
present time. however. not more than
900 men are on the payroll. There has
been steady decrease in the number Of
employees for the last year. The times
are not hard, the managers of these mills
say. but business is dull"
Two thousand men are ordinarily en-
ployed here by the American Radiator
company-the Radiator trust. When the
people throughout the country are gen.
timely prosperous and are building new
homes or improving old ones, The orders
Tor radiators are very large. and all the
plants of this company scat tered over the
country are engaged at their fullest ca
pacity. At the present time. however,
the Michigan and Detroit plants of the
radiator trust. situated here, are run
nlng with reduced quota of men.
In what is known as the Down River
district near here. labor leaders estimate
that about LS00 men have been laid Off
The large alkan concerns, the Ford
company at WyandOtte, and others, have
discharged a large portion of their forces
until orders begin - come In faster. The
Detroit Seamless lube company in this
district shut down entirely for about
three months during the summer, owing
to lack of demand for its products"
1t is possible to get very accurate fig
ures concerning the building operations
in Detroit, because Of the thoroughly or
ganiZed Builders association here About
900 men are usually employed by the
building trades. Yet at the present time
fully % per cent of the painters. car
penters. plasterers. bricklayers, structural
workers. stone masOns, electricians and
steam filters, who would be employed in
time of great prosperity, are out of work.
Men engaged in building operations here
will tell you that while they have no
complaint to make of hard times" still
they are mot rushed with orders.
Six Thousand Metal Trades Workmen
Unemployed.
The Employers association of Detroit
as was stated above, has very complete
employment bureau of its own. Some 25.-
600 men are upon its rolls. and a careful
record Is kept OF what each man is doing.
and every effort is made 10 find job for
! a pOnnpofpuf work ma N who is ont If nn-