Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-26
EFFICIENCY OF LABOR
CLAIMED THAT FOREIGN WORK.
MEN sURPAss THE NATIVE.
Wallace Downey, the New York Ship
builder, Gives His Views to a Com
mittee of the House.

do you mean to say that the Scotch.
the Irish OF the English Iaborers in the
shipyards at Glasgow can do GO per cent
more work with the same tools and in the
same time than can be done by American
shipyard workers." demanded Jas. OCon-
nell president of the Interna tional Asso-
citation of Mechanics, of Wallace Downey.
a New York ship builder and representa-
tive of the New York Metal Trades Asso-
citation during the progress of a hearing
yesterday on the eight-hour bill before the
House committee on education and labor.
Il do mean to say that most emphatic
ally" answered Mr.. Downey; land I am
not making the statement from hearsay
1t has cost me 100000 in the last FIVE
years, in addition to gray hairs, to find 1t
out l spent $4,000 in purchasing the best
tools. in acquiring knowledge of methods
in Glasgow, and tried for three years to
persuade American workmen that by do
Ing piece work they could accomplish more.
They would not see it and the ship build
ing interests have suffered. In turn the
laborerS have suffered. for the weekly pay
rolls have been decreased
Mr. OConnell took exception to the state
ment, declaring that he had about as much
bel1ef in 1t as in the statement that Mr..
Downey's efforts had cost him gray hairs
ana he added: AT any rate, he has lost
them now
Mr.. O'Connell expressed the opinion that
American workers in the shipyards were
far superior to those of other countries,
and Mr. Downey responded with a chal-
lenge that he make investigation or
consult other builders whose words would
be accepted by the world.
Continuing, he said that he hoped when
the systems employed in English yards are
brought to bear in this country we would
be able to pass the foreign yards in the
amount and quality of work produced, but
that such legislation as is proposed in the
eight-hour bill is cutting the threats of
the working people.
IAN arbitrary eight-hour day, which
would prohibit overtime of any kind would
place a handicap upon the American ship
builder that would lose for him all oppor-
tunity of participating in foreign trade"
said Mr.. Downey. He predicted that under
such restrictions the ship building of this
country except government work would be
a disgrace to the name of ship building.
Representative Hearst inquired if it were
not possible to acquire the means of manu-
facture which are used in the English
yards, and thus compete with them in
building He cited as an example of the
reduction of cost in manufacture that
newspapers in the last ten years have
dropped in price from and 3 cents
copy to i cent copy and at the same time
the hours of workmen had been decreased
and his wages increased. IF that can be
done In the newspaper business, why not
In your business? If we have put our
brains to work. why don't your he asked
Mr.. Downey Gives His Ideas.
Disclaiming any knowledge Of the rami-
fcations of publishing newspapers, Mr..
Downey proceeded to give his ideas on the
subject. He spoke of the great presses
and the intricate plants installed at enor-
nous cost, which. he said, were probably
responsible for the decrease In the cost of
producing. And now I want to say" he
added, that take off my hat to the man
who invented the machine-the man who
had the means and the courage to go to
the expense necessary to install ito the
machine. itself rather than to the man who
merely stands beside 1t and feeds in the
white paper. You asked me why we had
not used the same brains in the ship build
ing trust. Don't say trust for there is
none now, and, anyway, / was not in It,
But l do believe that to be possible, al
though we cannot do 1t while staggering
under sitting legislation. Our profits in
the foreign trade are balancing on the line
OF l, or per cent, ready every minute
10 De topped over by the movement of the
hand. The manufacturing industry Of this
country has developed far in excess of our
consumption, and therefore we need the
foreign trade in order to exist. The la
borer needs 1t as much as the manufac-
turer. am not a calamity bowler, but
believe truly that the present period Of I'M
precedented prosperity is nearly at an end
and that the country will settle down to
something like a reasonable basis. It is
then that the workingmen will have to put
their heads with ours and be willing to do
part of the calculating in keeping our
thousands of mills and factories in opera
ton
increased Newspaper Revenues.
Returning to the discussion of newspaper
publishing, former Secretary Of the Navy
Herbert inquired If the decreased selling
price of the newspaper had not been
brought about by the better transportation
facilities. which aided in obtaining large
circulations and the education of the mer-
chants of the country to the value of adj
vertising, and thus greatly charging the
revenues of newspapers. Mr. Downey said
he would prefer to have Mr.. Hearst answer
the question, but he would venture that
the actual labor performed by the day had
little to do with the reduction in the cost
OF production In comparison with the other
mediums which had been mentioned.