New Britain herald., 1919-12-17
CAPITAL COMES OUT
 ASLABOR CHAMPION Lawrence Woolen Mill King Wars
 on H. (. Of L. .. WILL HELP HIS EMPL0YES
Declares That Unless Merchants Lower Costs He Will Open Depart Where They Jeered in 1912.

Lawrence Mass. Dec. 17.-Law- renee streets in which were staged the textile strike riots of 1912, were the scene of d different demonstration to- day when thousands of mill workers left their spindles and looms to greet William M. Wood, president of the American Woolen Go. Masses cf men, women and children, without order but all with friendly intent, representing an outpouring of opera tives from the four plants of the company here, welcomed the com pany's head.
 Apostle of Lower Living Costs.
 President Wood came as an apostle of lower living costs. His visit was for the purpose of holding a confer ence with the chamber of commerce in connection with his demand that prices of necessaries in the retail stores be reduced. He had an- nounced that unless such a mark down was made he would set up big general store at which American Woolen Co. employees could buy all necessares from hardware to cloth ing and from soup to nuts at cost
 Checred by Employes
 The mill of the company, the Wood, Aver, Washington and Prospect, had opened as usual. An hour later the workers began to leave their looms, the word having gone around for day or two that President Wood was coming to cut down living costs. Within a few minutes the exodus or operatives left the plants almost with out help and the whir of the ma chinery was stopped. .t
 Bearing flags of the United States. Italy and France one group of several hundred operatives went ahead and led the rest to meet. the mill owner as
 he drove up Essex street in an au-
 tomobile. Confer With Merchants. Later, after brief speech. he pro- ceeded to the conference with the merchants while the workers began to drift back to the mills. The four plants of the American. Woolen Co. here employ 16.000 persons. It is esti- mated that a bout 0,000 of these were in the street throngs. "t The business men of the city pro- tested at a conference against the charge that they had been profiteering' at the expense of the mill operatives by advancing prices each time that wages were raised. Dan A. Donahue, one of the merchants, said they were not questioning the good faith of Pres ident Wood in the matter but that they did feel he was miSinfOrm ed The prices charged by local stores, MT. Donahue said, compared favorably
 with those in stores at Lowell, Haver- hill and Boston. He quoted figures in support of his statements.
 Wants Proof in Writing. President Wood, requesting that all 1 the statements which the merchants | could make to prove their contentious 1 be submitted him in writing, said his 1 information that local prices were un-
 reasonably high was "voluminous' and
 was specific as to places, prices and
 names. Only in New York, he said on
 the face of his figures, are living costs 1 higher than in Lawrence.
 1 It was agreed to draw up a state l ment in behalf of the business men ! which will be presented to President l Wood. The conference was adjourned 1 without imm mediate result.
 1 Hearings on Fair Prices.
 { Later it was announced that the { Chamber of Commerce had invited 1 the state com mission on the neces- saries of life to hold a hearing here i with a view to making. comparisons of prices in Lawrence and in other
 cities and that the commission had 1 agreed to come here within a week or ten days.
 ! MT. Wood left with the merchants | committee some statistics taken from
 a report of the |. s. bureau of labor of last June. These showed the aver ! age yearly expense for a family in Lawrence as higher than in the man. IT far ri a st ar nCI Fall River and also higher than in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and 1 Pittsburgh. The average cost in
 Lawrence was figured at $1.504.57 a ! year; in Fall River $1,320.S4; Man
 chester $1,370.S0 and Boston S1,-
 43S13.