Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-07-10
Seattle Indignant.

Seattle, WASH, over the sldteiie'''
before the L. S. Senate committee, by
| Chairman Hurley, cambridge Colby,
and Samuel Gompers, Hamilton Ken
dali has prepared a statement for the
press and public, which statement IS
approved by leading capitalists
bankers and merchants Of the city
and they stand ready to vouch for its
! authenticity. The Kennebec Journa!
! has the list of names sent with the
! statement. Citizens Of the city also
donate the expense of the public ia
! formation. The statement follows:
(By Halimton KendalD
| The published statements in the
daily press crediting Chairman HIr-
ley and cambridge Colby, OF the
United States Shipping Board. with
expressing the opinion that a Bone
Dry" Nation would decrease the eff
! ficiency of Shipyard workers On the
! Atlantic Coast % per cent, has Gre
sted a profound sensation in indus
trial circles in Seattle. The fact OF
tn6 matter lS, SSdtliC - AiiNie iANAAS
| thoroughly indignant. Seattle ship
| yard labor, business men, and pro-
| fessional men in all walks of life are
q unit in voicinG emphatic disap-
prevail of Chairman Hurley's declara-
| alton and roundly score Mr.. Colt-y.
| Practically every shlpyard owner and
| superintendent in Seattle expressed
undisguised disgust at Mr.. Hurley's
statement
Meeting the superintendent of one
of the most important shipydrds on
the Pacific Coast as he was passing
the yard hospital. | requested his
criticism of the Hurley Colby COM
ment: Too silly to contradict" ne
answered If; we had booze il. this
city. we would need four hospital Is
| like that one if we kept up the pace
! we are now setting in ship b aiding.
4 We're building ships faster than any
! other ship building center IN the
! world today, not because our men are
any stronger or. more capable than
1 shipyard workers elsewhere, hut Tor
the simple reason that our men are
100 per cent efficient six days week,
they are Saturday and we have a
crew of active, clear-brained, steady
ncrved men Monday instead of an in
efficient force of worker; getting over
a Saturday night spree. He point
cd toward the shipWays, where num-
| drcds of men were working at
neryeracking pace. Every man
seemed to feel the winning OF the
war depended upon his lnd. Vlduai
effort. DO you think thousand
beer befuddled brains could dupll-
cate those workers? Not much. I've
handled labor in wet towns all my lie
and 1 tell you there is as much dl1-
ference in the efficiency of labor IN a
dry and wet town as betweet day
light and dark, and Seattle is one OF
those places where It is daylight.
IT'S too childish to call for any
serious comment" fairly thu9de"ed
one Of the leading shiEyard owners
when I requested his opinion OF
Hurley's remarks. Il don't believe
Hurley made that statement, al
though the press quotes both Mr.
Hurley and Mr.. Colby. Can YOU
with 10000 shipyard workers lei
! loose, with saloons open? Well, &c
down town every Saturday night anc
have not seen a drunken man IN foul
months: ! have never seen one here
in the ward. We are breaking world
/ records because we have contented
sober highly efficient men; men who
paw their bills, have bank account:
and spend Sunday in rejuv'natlnt
pleasure. Our men go to picture
5 theatres, parks and bathing beaches
, instead Of saloons, and are or thu
lob. wide-awake. "a days month
Seattle labor is from 25 per cen. to s.
j per cent more efficient with condi
tions as they exist than If Seattl
n was an open town, and we're 2rovlns
It,"
y But" I added, mfr. GompeiS say
= shipyard labor would become dissat
= isfied If the nation adopted tho Bon
Dry bill"
Go ask them I'll give vol f1v
dollars for every man who prefers a.
open town. if you will give me fiv
= cents for every man who has a bon
n dry preference.
did rot accept the challenge. blu
interrogated nearly enc hundred
Union laborers, anI only found on
who wanted an open town polio!
:, and on inquiry, l found he had jus
arrived from Philadelphia.
7 interviewed scores of factory
store. restaurant and theatre owner
s and without exception received tn
e same reply-meaning in a boile'
down summary-we would soone
quit business than go back TO tn
: wet town policy.
One of the leading grocerymen o
:, the laboring mems residence Sectiol
II declared that before the Bone Dry
:, law went into effect. two-thlrds o
his monthly accounts were slow pa
III and the total losses through dea
le beats kept him on the brink OF ruiz
SINCE adoption of the Bone Dry Law
). he had lost only five accounts over
period of eight months. although hi
% 30 day credit business had increase
II three hundred per cent Ninety-tw
l. percent of these monthly account
!, were paid before the 5th cf tn
month. On investigation. I foun
that the same condition prevailed a
lc over the city. One groceryman wit
Is an average business of 5000 had nc
is lost a single account since the first
January. and practically all his bust
. ness was from Is to 30 day credit:
", Cd ,af bo