The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1918-03-15

publicity to speech by Senator
McCumber of North Dakota, who
charged labor with being bolsheviki
and capitalists with profiteering
His solution for profiteering was to
slap capitalists on the wrist. In the
case of labor he took strong ground
and in thunderous tones demanded
that it be conscripted-or "regis-
tered" as he termed it.
The public press, however, made
sparse mention of this reply by
Senator Hollis of New Hampshire;
"Mr. President, in the general in
dictment of this country and the
people thereof that has just been
delivered by the distinguished SEN
ator from North Dakota, my atten-
ton is attracted by his charge that
the labor of the United States in
this emergency is unpatriotic. He
challenges any one to deny that
charge. l deny it most emphati-
cally. l ought further to say that
the senator began by indicting the
government, the war department, the
shipping board, the capitalist, those
who work, those who do no work.
those who work in shops, those who
work on the farms. With his nat
ural gallantry, he exempts the wo-
men, and thought that he was 60
ing, through sense of pride, to
exempt members of congress-, but
before he took his seat he indicted
the members of congress-all of
them.
'Let the capitalists take care of
themselves; l have no doubt they
will. Let the farm laborers take
care of themselves, as l know they
will, and none will be so devoted to
them by the next campaign as will
the distinguished senator from
North Dakota; but l do wish to
say word about the specific case
of union labor at Hog Island.
1T is easy enough to get up and
read from some magazine which is
controlled by capital, that is Deepen
dent for its success upon the con-
tributIons from advertisers, that la
Dor is but so per cent efficient; it
is easy enough to read from news
papers, from some special article
written by a reporter who must
attract attention by his sensational
statements in order to be retained
in the employ of the paper that
Labor is so per cent efficient: but
Mr.. President, labor has not vet
been heard from in regard to the
Hog Island inquiry. 1t seems to
me that the operations at Hog ISL
and have been somewhat discourage
ing. We are called on, as the
senator from North Dakota calls
on us here now, to build ships, and
it is said, do not be so careful
about what they cost, but build
ships The shipping board turned
to the captains of Industry of this
country, Stone & Webster, Mr.. Van
derlip-the list of names sounds like
a meeting of the American Manu-
facturers' Association, in combina-
ton with the American Bankers
Association and a Republican con-
vention. Those men were told to
build ships and to build ship yards,
and then the evidences comes in that
they have been wasteful and extrav-
agant about it. There are sena-
tors now at Hog Island investigat-
ing that subject, and we shall get
the truth from them; but when
these capitalist are charged with
extravaganza it is attempted by
them to lay it on organized labor
and to say they are not driving as
many rivets as they did before the
war. My information is that la
borers have been taken there and
kept day after day without having
a chance to work; that they have
been taken there and set to work,
and yet there is no place for them
to live, except miles and miles away
so that it takes them hours to get
to their work. How can man
drive rivets when he is travelling on
street cars or walking back and
forth to his work?
81 am told that the rivets that
have been furnished by the CAPT
talists of this country are deficient;
that they are not made of the prop
err material; that they can not be
clinched. / am also told that the
pneumatic power furnished for driv-
ing rivets has been insufficient, due
to the lack of coal or due to cold
weather.
81 do not know but that the la
Dor at Hog Island is deficient in
some respects. That would not be
surprising, for the best workmen