The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-09
Executive Believes Their Duties Should Be Taken Up By State Board of Health, Secretary Black Says He Opposes Licens- ing of Barbers on Prin- ciple.
Union La b or Spokesmen and Many Legislators Op- pose Proposition, on the Ground That the General Public Will Suffer If It Is Carried Out.
Special to The Farmer. )


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 Special to The Farmer.)
 Hartford. Feb. l9.-The1 plennn4 clash 1between the Journeymen par
 bers Of the state and the boss Dar, bers, proposing to abolish the ooarn
 of barber examiners of the state came
 at the Capitol yesterday when sue
 committee on public health and safety
 opened it's doors for hearing on a
 bill offered. at Governor Holcomb' s
 Suggestion. .by Senator George w.
 KIett. the Republican senate leader.
 This bill would vest the state board
 of health with the powers now rest i ing with the barber examiners. 'Tne ! measure has the support of the poaro 1 of health, unlike a. similar blil sapol. 1 ishing the board of examiners Of em- , baimers, which the state board or 1 health opposes.
 The state board of health spoke yesterday through its secretary Dr. ! John 1T. Black, an ex-oMc1o memper ! of the board of embalmers He ex- ! plained his view of the barber con- i troversy in this fashion:
 He believes the state should not ]! compel a man earning an honest nv | ing to obtain license. The state mas I no more interest in whether man Is i . skilful barber than it has in whether !! a butcher sells tender or tough meat l As to sanitation in barber shops, ne believes the state board of heaitn ] should attend to this detail He ad- 1 xnitted, answering inquiries by oppo- !: nents of the bill, that it was hkeiy ! the board of health would employ ] barber to carry out the work now iva of Ina rhar9 TIT the proposed bill is enacted, The barber and embalmer measures l were explained by Gov. Holcomb's secretary, William H. Maltoy, as oe- signed to reduce the number of state 1 commissions, thus to simplify the ! work.
 That the elimination of the board 1 of examiners would mean the lessen ing of the restrictions of a sanitary nature-in short, that the public would suffer through the letting down of the bars to unskilled, careless barbers, was the burden of the argument of the opponents of the measure.
 Joseph D'Angelo, a Hartford bar- ber, spoke proudly of the history of ] his calling Tn pointing out that it is the oldest profession known in h1s- tory. he declared it was just as hon. 0rable profession as medicine or dentistry. His chief objection was that the proposed bill does not pro- vide, in his opinion, for the proper in- spection of barber shops. He yielded to Dr. Blacks wisdom in , matters of sanitation, but as to any but a barber's having technical knowl- edge of the practice of the art, and {; of the care of his tools, he would not | AT. 1E at all. He was followed by several other barbers from various cities near Hartford.
 ] Julius stremlau, president of the Conn. Federation of Labor, Senator Neebe of Meriden, and other trades unionists opposed the abolition of the bill. It was brought out that of the 1 2,8QO barbers in the state, 1,S0O are union men.
 Representatives Taylor and German of Danbury spoke in opposition to the measure, the former pointing ore. that Connecticut was the first of a dozen states to enact such a bill, and that none of these states has seen fit to rescind
 Senator Neebe criticized the prop osdtion of eliminating any commission unless it could be proved that the state was to gain in economy and ef- ] dciency. Hes cited the merge of the labor department with the factory in- 1 spection bureau two years ago, as an example of impaired efficiency through the consolidation of two departments with different duties.
 Attorney Ralph O. Wells of Hart i ford appeared as the spokesman for ] the boss barbers. They had substi- :, tute bill which eliminated the licens- ] ing of the barbers and put upon the bosses the responsibility of providing ] suitable workmen.
 Except for Secretary Maltby, none
 appeared for the proposition to dele :! gate to the state board of health the 1 duties of the examiners of embaImers [ Dr. Black opposed the plan, stating that embalming is highly specialized craft, (which statement evoked claims of an equal specialization from among ] the journeymen barbers presently and ] he said that if the bill became a law | he had no doubt the state board would be obliged to employ the very men who now are the board of embalming examiners, to do the work under the board of health's supervision.
 The board of examiners of barbers , includes Michael Crafty of Rockville. SOuu V. I1ealy or NduSdtuCK, and Fred w. Neumann of New Haven. They are paid $5 a day for actual ser- : vices. The fee of $5 for licensing bar bers has more than paid for the ex- penses of the commission. The terms are two years, expiring in July, next
 The board of examiners of emba1m- CTS have terms of three years each. They serve without pay, the money derived from the fees being used bs them in educational work for the ben- eft of the craft The members arc Arthur R. Leete of Enfield, term ex- pires July 1, 1913; ..-'honcas W. O'Keefe of Middletown, Edward P. Jones, Winchester. July l, 1917; William Henry Allen of Norwich, James j. Alnehan of Hartford, July 1, 1918.
 CORSET WORKERS DANCE.
 If you want to be sure of a good
 time go to the Casino tonight and
 dance to the strains of good music