New-York tribune., 1919-12-18
Wooden Mills President
Cheered OH Arrival for
Farley With Merchants
on High Cost of Living
Street Traffic Blocked
Addresses Men
as ssFellow Workers.;
Challenged by Dealers
Sperinl Corr,snond~nc.


LAWRENCE, Mass, Dec. 17.-Presi-
dent William NJ. Wood of the American
Woolen Company was greeted by 10000
people when he arrived in Lawrence
this morning for his conference with
the Lawrence merchants on the ques-
tion of reducing the cost of living. At
least 10000 employees from his mills
shouted, waved flags and cheered at
every opportunity.
Mr.. Woods automobile was sur
rounded as he started for the Cham
ber of Commerce Building, and the car
was forced to proceed slowly. At Law
renee and Essex streets it was halted
by the crowd.
At this point Mr.. Wood spoke, telling
Of his desire to bring happiness and
comfort to the employees. He greeted
the throng as "fellow workers."
At the Chamber Of Commerce Mr.,
Wood found group of merchants
waiting to confer with him on his threat
TO build department store in Law
less the merchants reduce prices. Pres
ident Richard Ward of the Chamber Of
Commerce presided
Merchants Willing to Aid
D. A. Dohohue was spokesman for
the merchants.
He said that if Mr.. Wood could assist
the merchants to lower prices the mer
chants would welcome his advice and
e1pre 81 ions
Mr. Wood replied that he would ap-
preciate the assistance OF the mer-
chants in his campaign to lower the
cost of living.
Leonard E. Bennink. of the Reid &
Hughes department store, said that Mr.
Woods charges of profiteering made
against Lawrence merchants contained
"pretty broad statements" and asserted
that the wages paid to mill employees
modities sold in the local stores. Other
merchants united in demanding that
Mr.. Wood furnish information he
claims to possess concerning costs.
prices and profits in the local stores.
Mr. Wood said that his information
was voluminous and that he had not
brought his papers with him. He
quoted figures from government pub
lication, "The Labor Review" showing
that the cost of living in Lawrence
was greater than in any other city in
the United States except New York
City.
Merchants Protest Conclusions
The merchants protested that they
did not construe the figures in "The
Labor Review as showing the cost
of living, but rather as illustrating the
expenditures of the highly paid work
ers of the community.
At one point in the controversy Mr..
Wood became impatient and said:
Did you see all those people on the
streets to-day? You can't continue
fooling $4,000 people"
eyes, we saw them," was the reply,
"and we also saw them in 1912, and
last winter during the strikes, when
we had to stand back of the police
force to protect the mills"
Later it was announced the Chamber
of Commerce had invited the State
Commissio on the Necessaries of Life
to hold q hearing here, with view to
renee and in other cities, and that the
commission had agreed to come here
within a week or ten days.
Merchants Issue Statement
A statement issued by the merchants
dllcT tNe conference Will ME. w Out
asserted he had not considered "tht
possibility of varying bases of compar
ison of living cost in various cities
"Although," continued the statement
at is a recognized economic fact that
while cities in one section Of the coun
try may consume classes of merchan
disc greatly variable in quality ant
price, cities in another section mus
have their cost of-living charts baset
on the consumption of goods Of les
or higher quality, as the case may be-
Mr. Wood left with the merchants
committee statistics taken from re
port Of the United States Bureau o
Labor of last June. These showed tn
average yearly expenses for a family i
Lawrence higher than In the manufac
turing cities OF Manchester, N. H., an
Fall River, and also higher than i
New York, Boston, Philadelphia an
Pittsburgh. The average cost in Law
renee was figured at $1,504.57 year
in Fall River, $1,320.S4; Manchestel
N. H., S1,370.S0, and Boston, S1,43S.1;