Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-04-28

labor, as by certain forms of the boy colt, it has left the field of production, and its action may plainly be in re- straint of interstate trade and must necessarily be subject to inquiry, ex- actly as in the case of any other com bination for the same purpose, so as to determine whether such action is con trary to sound public policy. The heartiest encouragement should be giv- sn to the wage workers to form labor unions and to enter into agreements with their employers, and their right to strike so long as they act peaceably must be preserved. But we should sanction neither boycott nor black list, which would be illegal at common law. 45
 Measures of Double Interest.
 The measures I advocate are in the interest both of decent corporations and of lawabiding labor unions. They are moreover prc-eminently in the in- terest of the public, for in my judg- ment the American people have defi- nitely made up their minds that the days of the reign of the great law de- flying and law evading corporations are over and that from this time on the mighty organizations of capital neces- sary for the transaction of business under modern conditions, while en- couraged so long as they act honestly nI in, l,n iytn nf h lie, are to be subjected to careful su- pervision and regulation of kind so effective as to insure their acting in the interest of the people as a whole.
 Allegations are often made to the effect that there is no real need for these laws looking to the more ef- fective control of the great corpora tions upon the ground that they will do their work well without such con- trol. call your attention to the ac. companying copy of report just sub mitted by MT. Nathan Matthews, chairman of the finance commission, to the mayor and city council of Bos- ton, relating to certain evil practices of various corporations which have been bidders for furnishing to the city iron and steel. This report shows that there have been extensive combina- tions formed among the various cor. poratlons which have business with the city of Boston, including, for in. stance, carefully planned combina. ton embracing practically all the firms and corporations engaged in structural steel work in New England. This combinatio. included substan- tially all the local concerns and many of the largest corporations in the United States engaged in manufaC.ur. ing or furnishing structural steel for use in any part of New England. IL affected the states. the cities and towns, the railroads and street rail- ways, and generally all persons having occasion to use iron or steel for any purpose in that section of the country. As regards the city of Boston. the combination resulted in parceling out the work by collusive bids. plainly dis honest and supported by false atfirma- tions. In it's conclusion the commis- sion recommends as follows:
 The commission believes that an ex- ample should be made Of these men and that the members of the Boston agreement" or at least all those who in October and November. 1905. enter d in the fraudulent competitions for the Cove street draw span and the Brooklinc street bridge should be brought before a federal grand jury for violation of the act of congress of July 2. 1890. The three years limita- tion for participation in these transsc- tons has not yet elapsed, and the evi- dence obtained by the commission Is 90 complete that there should be DO difti- culty in the governments securing a conviction in this case. To this end I have submitted this report to the de partment of justice for thorough inves- tIgation and for action. if action shall prove practicable.
 Surely such a state of affairs as that above set forth emphasizes the need of further federal lesislatioa net mere