The San Francisco call., 1909-01-12
BUILDING TRADES
IN GOOD SHAP[
President Mccarthy Makes a
Stirring Address Before Big
Labor Convention
ISseciul DisOatch TO The Call

IOocciQt OHpdtcH 10 4 nc (dtl
SANTA ROSA, Jan. 1.-THE stata
building trades council convened her
today for a weeks session, with moi
than 500 delegates present. the most In
portant features of the work being
reports OF President p. Fl. McCal
and Secretary o. A. Tveitmoe.
While the condition OF the build
trades is reported to be most fou-
ing, President Mccarthy held that
financial depression Of last fall had os
created by those who sought TO de
moralize union labor Owing 10 the
strong position labor has attained their
efforts were futile. and the movement
is stronger now than ever. He called
attention to the organization or I'd /.
building trades department of IT
American federation OF labor at Wash .
ington last February and it's first an
nuaI convention. held in Denver last
November. as one OF the most notable
events of the year TO the building m
terests of the country. All petty dis
putes between unions OF the building
trades will hereafter be disposed Of by
this department. thus unifyirg the
forces of labor in a proper and legiti-
mate manner.
President Mccarthy recommends the
adoption of general trade rules govern
Ing holidays. hours and wages and ap-
prentice laws. Considerable attentioc.
was given in his address to the effs
made by the citizens alliance to de-
the purposes OF the council and lis Il
ure. as marked in the supreme court O !
cision in the boycott case taken up from
Alameda county. Labor legislation, tbs
labor press. the labor temple in San
Francisco and the Gompers case con-
cludes the report. In the latter he says;
The decision did not impress the peO-
pie as an expression of a fair and i'm
partial judge pointing out to the trans
gressor the error OF his act. but seemed
the bitter denunciation Of individuals
who had, in the opinion of the court,
wantonly and wfllfully threatened the
destruction of our judicial system
Secretary Tveitmoe asked for more
tolerance by the members in matters OF
trade Jurisdiction disputes. which in the.
past have been based upon greed He
strongly favored trades schools where
specialists are educated. but opposes
such institutions as the COyne schools
The sensational featuresOf the report
is in reference TO the charge OF incom-
potency and criminality of r. o. Eng
strom of Los Angeles. contractor for
the new Agnew asylum buildings. He
Wits on file and the protests which to-
day have been placed before the gov
ernor of the state by your general coun-
sell Cleveland J.. Dam. IL appears that
the work done at Agnew By +. O. Eng
strom is the most colossal criminal
graft of its kind ever perpetrated in
California.
We have been led TO believe that the
dome Of the city hall in San Francisco.
which has been left standing like
buzzard's nest since the terrible cataS-
trophe, is the greatest monument of
fraud, incompetency and graft extant,
and that the jerry buildings OF New
York had no counterpart, but the state
Of affairs unearthed at the state hos
pital at Agnew makes San Francisco
and New York in their palmiest bood-
ling days look like back numbers II
Governor Gillett and the state legisla-
ture do their duty. as demanded by the
state building trades council. in this
matter. which I believe they will. the
contracting vampires that infest the
state and feed upon the public treasury
and suck the life blood out OF the tax
payers will in the future be placed in a
position where they can do no harm ex-
cept TO their own Shiny carcasses-'