The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-10-23

the eight-hour law, voted against the compulsory Pilotage Bill, against the slxteen-hour day bill, against exempt ing unions from the Sherman Trust law, while he voted for two Anti. Labor measures. tEe Ship Subsidy Bill and the Dick Military law
 Here is the record in full. I give it as found it in the official documents. All want to say now is that in ali the years HilT has been in the House he has never once raised his voice to support measure in the interest of Ia bor, and far as my Knowledge goes, he has with never failing zeal, voted against every bill that labor wanted and for every bill that labor opposed.
 Facts taken from Congressional Rec ordS showing the votes Labor Leg islation of the Connecticut Delegation in the House of Representatives: On January 27, 1906. the House of ficiency Bill carrying with it new leg islation which Abolished the Eight Hour Law at Panama during the con- struction of the canal.
 Labor made vigorous pEotest, but in spite of such protest the proposal
 was carried by vote of 12o yeas; no not voting. On this proposition Hen ! ry and Hill lodged but Higgins and | Sperry voted aye
 On December 6. 1906, an inhumap proposal by Littlefeld, of Maine, to Abolish Compulsory Pilotage on the Atlantic coast was voted upon in the |
 Labor organizations and lovers of humanity made vigorous efforts to de feat this anti-pilotage bill and suc- ceeded- The vote recorded shows 109 @'present,'' and 103 are recorded as mot voting On this bill, Henry, Higgins, voting "aye.' They were of unani- nous opinion that vessels freighted
 with human beings should be permit I ted to leave and enter flarbors with | a of a Ill 1nf
 l On February IS, 1907, the Hours of Service Bill. (the sixteen-hour maxi mum for days work for railroad ezn- | ployes). came before the House in the shape of substitute by Esch of Wis consin, for the LaF'ollette bill which
 had passed the Senate. The Esch sub stitute was denounced by the Repre sentatives of the Railway employees in
 Washington the greatest maksshift l fslation-' The minority members of l the Committee on Interstate Commerce 1 in their report said "the contradic- ltions and vagaries of the substitute tri-
 fe with the demands and hopes of the public for protection, and that 1t was
 not apparently intended to give the remedy and protection the public desir-
 ed or what the Railway employees are entitled to-
 On this legislation Henry, Higgins.
 Hill and sperTy, were each and all | On March 1, 1907, the interests fa- voring SHIP SUBSIDY forced that bill ! to consideration and vote. The
 American labor movement has always | opposed that nesure; the features that I it contains are obnoxious to the whole spirit of the American government. The Subsidy Bill that was urged by 1 the interests on this date had i'm
 corporated with it an exceptionally ob- i jectionable provision which if it had 1 been enacted into law would have, com peIled seamen to sign articles enlisting I in the Naval Reserve. Otherwise they i could not have obtained employment ,1aI, rn-.ixy .<rI~r l vessels
 That meant of course that American 1 seamen would have been thus forced into involuntary servitude and the l whole scheme was a close approach l to the system of conscription that for merly prevailed in European coun- tries. These objections were called
 to the attention of the Connecticut delegation in the House of Represen- tatives,- but in spite of that Messrs. T Henry, Higgins, Hill. and Sperry are all recorded as voting taye.''
 On the main legislative propositions 1 in which the American workers have Anti-Tnjunction Bill; Amendment to the Sherman Antitrust Act; the ex- tension of the eight-hour law to cov- 4 CT contractors and sub-contractors- do- ing work for the United States Gov
 ernment, and the Convict Labor Bill Il Lit is not possible to give the record
 vote of the Connecticut delegation.
 These measures have not a been re- ported by the Judiciary Committee or the Committee on Labor which Com
 mittees have these bills under consid- : eration. But the Connecticut dele
 gation cannot escape their share of
 responsibility because of this lack of
 opportunity to be recorded.
 They have plausible explanation to give why this legislation has not I been enacted. They were constant
 supporters of the Speaker eCannon) T and the arbitrary rules which he so
 arbitrarily interpreted and which was
 all part of a scheme to so dominate
 the House that proposed legislation in Fl the interest of justice and humanity
 which was pending before other com
 nlittees should be smothered. II No record vote was taken upon sev- T eral important measures and it is not Il known how the Connecticut delegation ll voted upon them; but the Congress
 siona1 Record contains no cheering | word from any of this delegation in I When the Sundry Civil Bill was be-
 fore the House and the section mak-
 ing an appropriation for prosecutions
 under the Sherman Antitrust Act on
 behalf of the Government, was reach ed, Rep1 esentative Hughes of New Jer- sey, offered this proviso:
 Provided further, that no part of ! this money shall be spent in the pros
 ecution of any organization or indi-
 vidual for entering into any comb pima increasing of wages, shortening of
 hours or bettering the condition of
 labor or for any, act done in the fur therance, thereof not in itself unlaw- fuI.''
 This proviso was adopted in Com
 1nittee of the whole and afterwards
 accepted by the House in regular ses- sion.
 T The Senate struck this proviso from