The morning journal-courier., 1908-02-28
Mayor to Request Foley to Provide City Work for as Many Men as
 Possible.
NO EXTENSIONS VOTED
Members of Special Committee Report About Three Thousand Out of Work-Condition Sur
 prised Them.

The board of finance held its regular weekly session in the city hall last eve ming, every member being present. Mayor Martin presided at the boards deliberations The regular routine of approving the city bills that have ac- cumulated since last weeks meeting was deferred so that the members of the special citizens committe. might tell of the conditions prevailing among the poor of the city at the present time.
 Ernest l.. Warden, the secretary of the Civic association, and the secretary of the special committee was called upon by the mayor to tell the members of the finance board, the conditions re- vealed by the eommitte,'s investiga- tionf MT. Warden said in part.
 Until the conference of the commit- tee last Tuesday, appointed by the mayor to look into the situation among the citys poor, did not begin to real ize that the conditions were so serious as subsequent personal investigation has revealed. Certainly they are very bad, In the past two days I've talked with the heads of many of the citys large manufactories concerning the number of men laid off. We also talk ed with the officials of various labor unions about the number of men out of work. The figures surprised me. had no idea there were so many men unemployed. I should not like to say that there are more than 5000 men out, of work, but l don't believe there are any less, Of these, a great many are skilled mechanics who have worked steadily for good many years, men who have received enough to live very comfortably, some getting $25 week; through sickness and other reasons have been unable to save much, at least not enough to tide them over this unprecedented hard time period. Their insurance, taxes and other first of the year drains on the family exchequer have wiped out the savings of many of these unemployed men, In my investi- gations heard of many families where the provider was out of work and with- out funds and how the family got along on one meal a day, rather than humble their pride by asking aid from the city or from charitable organizations. Most of these men are good citizens, and what they want is work, not charity"
 Alexander Troup followed Mir. War den in addressing the board. Like the latter, he said he had not realized the serious situation confronting the city in regard to the unemployed. and hs was very much surprised thereat The situation is very peculiar one. Men who have always. had remunerative positions are out of work, and they i won't ask for charity What they want is work. What are we going to do to tide these men over until the first or second week in April when the wea- ther moderates, and farm work will ! open up field to many of the unem- 1 ployed?"
 MT. Troup then mentioned the Norton | and Crown street extensions, especially the former, as being something large 1 force of men could be employed on He also spoke on the subject of the West Rock quarry.
 Harry W. Asher, the only other mem Der of the committee present, then spoke. Mir. Asher said that like the gentleman who had preceded him, he was very much startled to discover the true state of affairs in this city and that without question the situation was much worse than was generally sup- posed, There are many honorable