Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-11
FOR BUSY SHOPS HERE
Chamber of Commerce Con-
dennis Navy Yard Contracts.
ACT ON RESOLUTIONS
Report of Special Committee Is
Unanimously Adopted.
CAPITAL AND LABOR TALK
Attorneys Drew and Emery Enter
tain Members With Speeches on
Employer and Employe.

At a crowded meeting of the Chamber
of Commerce last night the only routine
business. the adoption of resolutions ia
voring the keeping of government work
in the Washington navy yard, was dis
posed of hurriedly so that the members
present could listen to a two-hour dis
cussion on capital and labor. the speakers
being Walter Drew and James A. Emery
Mr.. Drew is attorney and commissioner of
the National Erectors' Association, and
Mr. Emery is general counsel for the
National Council for Industrial Defence
and attorney for the National Associa-
ton of Manufacturers.
The resolutions regarding navy yard
work were presented by Arthur Moses.
chairman of special committee appoint
ed to look into the matter. They were
adopted unanimously and will be sent to
the President and Secretary of the Navy.
The resolutions set forth that 1t has
been brought to the attention of the
Washington Chamber of Commerce that
the removal of work from the Washing
ton navy yard has been advocated by
Pennsylvania interests and considered by
the Navy Department.
Vast Sums Invested Here.
mat II Is kNOWE ltdl Tic lillteu SldlcS
government has expended vast sums in
perfecting the navy yard shops. so that
they have the reputation of being the
finest in the world; and whereas the men
employed in these shops have come to be-
lieve that their positions are permanent
ones so long as they are capable and
faithful, and have become, therefore. in
the full sense, residents of the District
of Columbia, having from their savings
purchased homes in this city.
THAT such removal of work will throw
out of employment number OF skilled
mechanics, with the ensuing hardships
attendant upon unemployment, and
will entail serious damage to business
men ain Washington who have built
houses for many of the workmen, and to
those men engaged in furnishing these
homes and supplies therefor.
That such removal will be from spe-
cially constructed and equipped shops
owned and operated by the government
10 shops owned and operated by private.
interests, thereby lowering the guarantee
of quality carried by government own
ership, which guarantee is reflected in the
confidence displayed by the enlisted men
and officers handling the navy ordnance
Plants Should Be Enlarged.
''It is the belief of the Chamber of
Commerce that existing government
plants should not only be enlarged, but
their number increased in the District
of Columbia, because the business of the
city is SO largely dependent upon the
employees of the federal government.
THE employees of the Washington navy
yard and the other citizens of the Dis
trict of Columbia are without direct
representation in the House of Repre-
sentatives or the Senate, so that in times
of trade depression they labor under the
double disadvantage of scarcity of work
and of having no representatives to plead
their cause, and as it is the belief of
the Washington Chamber of Commerce
that it is the duty and pleasure of the
Secretary of the Navy to safeguard the
interests of the workmen of the Wash
ington yard:
1T is therefore the sense of the Wash
ington Chamber of Commerce tina tso far
as the capacity of the factories owned
and operated by the government will per-
nit. manufacturing of all ordnance and
equipment necessary in the construction
and fitting of battleships and coast de-
lenses should be done in government
shops.
That the Chamber of Commerce de-
plores, and protests against, the proposed
removal of work to another city, be-
cause of the hardships the removal would
entail upon the mechanics of the yard as
well as upon the business men of WASH
ington."
SCOTeS tue ''ClOScO SHOP"
Mr.. Drew opened the discussion regard
ing capital and labor. assailing the
''closed shop and bringing home to his
audience a vivid description of certain
labor troubles that have embarrassed en-
ployers in the building trades in this city.
He termed the closed shop principle a
monopoly of the worst sort, and declared
time and again that all troubles from
mi ,icr,n 1xy
human nature.
DO you want the open shop in Wash
ington?" he asked of his hearers. And
answering it for them he argued that
they do. According to Mr.. Drew the
closed shop affects the pocketbooks of
the employers. keeps back the march of
progress, prevents apprentices from en-
tering the trade. and lowers the efficiency
of the workman.
He cited instances of abuse of power
by walking delegates mentioning Sam
Parks of New York, who was convicted
of extortion. SchmitZ of San Francisco
and Shay of Chicago. As counter to
this he spoke directly to several labor
union men present, reminding them that
the honest men in the ranks of labor
were not forgotten by the rest of the
world.
Says Rights Are Equal.
Mr.. Emery argued the question not
from local or municipal standpoint, but
from the broader view of the relation
of the labor question to the history of
humanity. 1t took him some time to get
into his question: as he scared into
heights of rhetoric and wit He declared
that the rights of labor and capital were
equal and that labor should not coerce
capital, and deplored the methods adopt
ed by some unions in cases of strikes
This is the day of consolidation and
organiZation. he added, but when this
consolidation or organization is without
the proper guidance or leadership and is
employed to give undue influence or DOW
er to some weaker agency ii becomes a
menace. In short, both labor and capital
must work along lines based on a proper
understanding and respect, one for the
other, else the very principle which gave
this great republic it's birth Is shattered"
PSI UPSILON ANNIVERSARY.
President-Elect Taft Invited to At
tend Banquet