New Britain herald., 1918-02-21
Former Soap
 As Purchasing! Agent

Washington, Feb. 21. 1.--A1bert Freed wnan, former clerk in the stores de- partment at the@Hog Island shipyard. hold the Senate, Commerce committee yesterday that he was discharged by 1 E. Lynch, superintendent of stores, when he announced his intention of coning here to testify to-" mismanage- meuto at the yards.
 1 Referring to the big contractors Exvho are doing work%for> the govern 9neuHt both in this country and abroad, Freednan said only friends of the @Stene and Webster gang could get hhe good jobs at the plant He cited several superintendents and depart lrnent heads who were drawing big k salaries without having had previous experience in the work they were now engaged in.
 Freedn1an declared that the pur- chasing agent, George F.. Fowler. who was entrusted wath the work of buy Ing 'rhundreds~of thousands dollars of salppIies'' was a. soap salesman before he took this position Another i'm portant post. that of traffic manager, he declared, is held by a former stenographer. He said that materials which could not be used imme ediately were piled up in the open, while ma terials which were being used right along were kept in storehouses.
 Rube Allyn, representative of un- organized workmen at the Hog Island ward, made a plea before the committee for government recogni- ton of shipyard workers and other munitions workers as patriots who are doing their bit in this war" He declared that such recognition would materially improve the workmen's s morale and, spur them to renewed eff forts
 when a soldier is killed in battle" he Said, ~he is buried in his uniform and with military honors, but when workman at Hog Island is killed, he is hauled away and buried with no~honorsr and his family has noth- SngStoe show that he responded to the ranf of his country.
 AIYymasdeclaped thatsthe thing most needed4at the Hog Island shipyard and at~otfrer shipyards and smunition plants was. governmental action to rna2ea1E1e workmen realize their ob- aigafspnsein> tl1is4crlsis
 Scorneds in Philadelphia.
 Worknen-ats stheaH Hog Island plant hsrdec4nreds were looked down upon amsRhiladeaphia, the only place where khey have to go for recreation.
 I've aEe barred from restaurants a.ndasanrsiare ces,"~he4declared, "and kher attitude toward gus is such that we feel that we.sare actually losing lourw cha racter.''
 AYfyn suggested that some sort of service button or insignia be provid- ,eds by the government for shipyard andIxnunfHonS workers and that they be enrolled in the government ar Sclfwes so that their grandchaHren may say that they answered Ethe~c call Ho-duty in this great war;
 He, also suggested that aeworkmen's newspaper be established t-4an the t1axga paints for circulation exclu- ksively among the workmen.
 ~Shop news" he declared, would ixvreate a rivalry among various de- Irartmeuts by such a publication, and EfSra men would be#stimu4ated to re- ,neued effort" He also suggested k4sra3 recreation centers, such as are rastabiished in military camps, be Ic,raxSded as a. further method of in Lcreasing the spirit of the'men-
 s~rhere are signs all abouttheeplan ,4aay;pe, us to do our bit,'' said Allyn ~~ye4 we areeregarded d<asr un desirable ioufside the~plssat- If we are patriot we should be recognized as~such and if we are to be regarded as be1n' at work merely for the renuneTatlor the government. should make It wort our while to leave our families an face the terrible transportation an housing conditions.'
 He declared that skilled workme were drawing 60 cents an hour wit an average day of liz hours Tw hours were required to reach the plan from Philadelphia.
 Bolshevili of Worst Kind.
 Allyn also told the committee tha some 5000 Russian Jews who spol1 kthe German language had been re cruited for work at Hog Island The ''soadiered" on the job, he asserted and nearly as many foremen as work men weasa needed to keep them busy He said that most of this class c workmen had been discharged by thi Etime.
 This class of workmen, he calle "Bolshevilri of the worst kind,'' an