The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-11
A New Building Code.

Although PreSlQent harOlns de-
.,ined to call a national confer
snca on housing on the ground
.hst II was a local problem which
he government could do little to
,slieye. the administration, through
,sa attorney general, has taken
sfen which the press predicts will
al stimulate building as to relieve
,he housing situation materially.
Mr Daugherty has secured,
through conference with represen-
tatives Of bricklayers', masons' and
masters organizations, new code
which modifies a number of prac-
tees of the building trades which
n is held have been holding up
huilding costs and hindering con-
struction. The revised code is en-
uneiated in the form of decree o.
federal court which provides pen
alties for violation, and as one
writer points out, more than one
hundred thousand men of the affil-
lated crafts must abide by it,
lust what this decree will &C
complish is outlined by the Boston
Herald:
stricted the productive efficiency of
the individual workman. 1t per-
mits the employer to purchase his
materials wherever he pleascs
and from anybody who has the
right goods to sell whether union
made or not. 1t aims to abolish
the informal agreements between
labor unions and contractors as
sociations for mutual advantage in
boosting prices and limiting output.
1t forbids the use by labor of con-
tractors or makers of material for
the collection of debts or the en-
forcement of claims
Not the least noteworthy feature
of the agreement, in the way of
precedent, lis the manner in which
it has been accomplished, the
Philadelphia Bulletin thinks AL
though, as the Utica Observer
points out, the union faced prose-
cution for conspiracy, coercion and
many improper acts in the restraint
of trade and industry, and could
have been proceeded against under
the Sherman law, probably result
ing in prison sentences" the union
heads were called in, the Bulletin
reports, ito talk ii over. They
agreed to the error of these prac-
tees and they pledged them
selves for the future" That these
limitations on their powers were
accepted voluntarily by the officers
Of the trade unions affected" the
Washington Star takes as AN en-
eouraging sign that labor leaders
are coming to have better under
standing of economic laws ami
forces"
The decree aims squarely at
some of the worst abuses which
have been strangIing the building
Industry, as various editors an
alyze it. The first stipulation will
end the "sIackerism" which the
Minneapolis Journal says has OBJ
tanned wide currency in labor cir
eles," by which "a standard days
work has been made to
conform to the ability or willing
ness of the least efficient workers."
the result of which has been
greatly to increase costs" Under
the new code, the Journal believes
'th efficient workman is to be per-
mitted to reap the advantage for
himself and for his employer of his
ability"
Discussing the third and fourth
provisions of the agreement, the
Providence Journal finds that
they explain good deal of the
responsibility for the scandalous
conditions which have existed in
h. I'D
brought out by the New York in
vestigation revealed collision be-
tween organized capital and organ
lied labor for increasing building
costs. This was more or less an
outgrowth of the 'cost-plus' sys-
TEN that prevailed during the war.
Under that system the contractor
cared nothing about the expense of
job. And the war practice en-
outraged contractors and workers
to combine for their mutual profit,
until building costs became so ex-
cessive that building almost
ceased
Putting an end to these means
OF extortion," the Boston Tran
script notes, does not infringe up
on the legitimate activities of the
labor unions There is nothing in
the action agreed upon to inter
iere with the proper efforts of the
Unions to establish hours or con-
ditions of labor. But the individ-
ual workman will be freed from
arbitrary limitation of his output"
and his organization will not be
made bludgeon in the hands Of
men who would exploit the home
builder and the business man"
The attorney general declared
mat the decree constitutes a new
Dill of rights for the home builder,
the rent-payer, the manufacturer
and the business man who has to
Dnlid,' and the Richmond Times
dispatch considers the statement
Iully justified" Further, the pa
per remarks, it establishes "a new
policy of government toward labor
unions and trade and contractors
associations" by bringing these
powerful organizations" into ac-
cord with the government for the
protection of the paramount rights
o. The public whose interests the
government must serve"