The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-17
LABOR MEN APPEAR FOR CONSUMERS
 LEAGUE MEASURE
Leaders Want Change-Oppo- sitiOn to Definition of
 Words in Bill.

1 bor. Senate Bill No. II, related to the definition of terms, used in laws relating to labor. The bill, originat- l ed by the Consumers League. providS ed for the definition of the words : factory manufacturing establish
 ments.'' "mechanical establishme ents, =
 mercantile establishments" and l ; Miss M. c. WelIes, secretary of the Consumers League, appeared for the l bill.
 To pass the bill would avoid a. great
 Ideal of uncertainty. especially be tween mercantile and manufacturing.
 Another aim was to avoid working 1 women and children overtime, as is
 being done in many instances.
 The same work is being done in the cigar factories as is being done by the
 girls and women in tobacco ware I houses and yet no one to-day knew i how to classify the tobacco ware l houses Factories can now employ ! women more hours than the depart ji irnent stores and it was desired to have the time adjusted.
 l Sol Southeimer favored the bill as ! president of the Federation of Labor l in behalf of 5000 men.
 Ralph O. Wells appeared in oppo-,
 sition. He said that the bill meant
 that no maid could work in a house
 more than 55i hours week and 1t
 WOl1Q neC0SSlldlS lA1S TQp9k4A4s7 At4 e@ ] house the hours of labor.
 Miss Wel1es said that the clause ex- emptins households was intended to ! cover this objection. MT. Wells said 1 the bill applying to employment of 1 women in resta urants would ser1o0slX affect hotels and restaurants, etc.
 The-bin as constituted would apply the meaning of fsmechanicaI process l and efactorvp to private house.
 Miss .WeiIes said the definitions l were the ordinarily accepted terms 1 and the restaurants would not have 4 to close They would only have to. 4 excuse the girls at the proper hour and substitute men for the late hours
 House Bill No. 4S8 provides Tor the regulation of trades unions and trade disputes, and was introduced Dy
 Rapresentative German Of Danbury- This bill provides for an aTnendnaent } to Section 1,196 of the General Stat- I utes allowing any orderly and peace able act, assembly or cooperation or l trade unions or members Of such trade unions, done or undertaken Tn furtherance of a trade dispute, AndI- vidually or collectively. without being construed a violation of law. It also provided for the meaning of certain words used in the bill
 MT. German said that it related to intimidation and boyeetting. The 1n-s tent was. he said, to place the men
  of labor unions on the same footing with other citizens and that they should only be prosecuted when found to be engaged in some unlawful act. They did not wish to- be discriminateds against by the law
 The bill in substance also provided for peaceful picketing MT. German said the members of labor unions should have a perfect right to ap- proach peacefully persons conten- plating taking their places and lay the case before them and to dissuade them from 50 doing.
 President Sol Sontheimer said that the bill was a most important one and argued against the abxidgeInent of the rights of the working men in peacefully and persuasively dissuad- Ing men from entering into the enl7. ploynent of concerns with which the workmen were in dispute. The law, he said. acted harsh1y with workmens in such cases and interfered with their rights.
 Central Labor Union favored the bill and asked a favorable report for it, as did also J. F. MeGrath Of New Bri- tain representing the carpenters un-. ion. Jasper McLevy of Bridgeport spoke of the injustice done to the workmen in curtaihng their rights. Lawyers he said were protected by the state while the workn1en were not SO protected, and to them were due the great success of the state. He wanted no class legislation.
 Arthur I4 Shipman represented the Manufacturers, Association, opposed the bill and said there was no law to prevent an individual from talking with another but it did prevent a man from fulfilling a contract with another, and to induce another to break his contract was immoral as
 f4Es 1-47 4e,YTs picketing in it's worst form, and it amounted to conspiracy. to say the thing in plain English, the bill 1ega.liz- ed the boycott which countenanced anarchy pure and simple, and led to the settlement of disputes by brute force Boycott was the dirtiest and most contemptIbIe weapon that could be used.
 E IT, O. Day of the Connecticut Com pany said that the company had en- deaYored to keep clean of labor tro1- bIes and had succeeded pretty we'll He said that the present law wasfquite sufficient as it was, and that the con- pany thought there was danger in the bill by permitting more than one ito engage in the picketing, as it would permit one or more and the more might lead to danger where the crowd could collect. The boycott, he said, the company was not concerned about Michael KenaIy for the Shore Line Electric Company spoke in opposition to the measure. He said certain men asked to be placed in a class by them selves, something which was not on the statutes today. The boycott fea- ture he said the railroads were not particularly concerned in. The effect of the bill would be to legalize the primary and secondary boycott, how ever. The individual, he said, had the right to walk the streets without being aeotsed, followed of importuned just as he had to go to bed or to sit peace ably in his house, and these rights the legislature was bound to protect. The statute did not attempt to punish a right or legal right. Aside from be- ing counsel for railroad corpora ton, he said that he desired to go on record against such legislation as an