Evening star., 1922-02-16
FURLOUcHED men
!: AWAIT NAvY.H0RD
Plans to Aid Workers Under
, Consideration bys!Ma-
T chlnists' Officials.

Furloughed employees Of the WASH
ington navy yard today are waiting
eagerly for some response from the
Navy Department to the proposals Tor
relief submitted to Secretary DenDJ
yesterday by Samuel Gompers. presi-
dent Of the American Federation OF
Labor. and other labor leaders. Sew
eral other plans for relieving the un-
employment among the navy yaro
workers are under consideration by
officials of the machinists' union' but
they will not be made public until
reply is received from the Navy De-
partment, and not then unless 1t Is IN
dicated that the department Will re-
fuse to carry out the suggestions maas
In the relief program.
The relief program designed oy the
labor leaders has been referred to the
technical experts Of the Navy De
partment for consideration, and there
has been no indication from Navy oin-
Gals as to when response wouio oe
sent to the workers. A reply, now
ever. is expected before the end OF the
week, in the opinion OF union ofnciais'
in view of the fact that Secreiary
DENLY promised to give the plans
early and earnest consideration.
i. Impossible to Garry Out.
In connection with the workers
plan, it was pointed out at the Navy
Department that several OF the sug-
gestions made were manlfestiy I'M
Df,ssible to carry out. One OF these
was the proposal that the government
complete as one of the battleships to
be retained under the naval treaty the
vessel now under construction IN the
government yard at Brooklyn, n. J.,
at Mare Island. Calf. or at Norfolk,
Va; as all of these battleships Dulio-
ing in government YARDS are OF .ne y
42,00O-ton class. however, 1t was SAID
this could not be done under the
treaty which limits the size OF the
battleships to $4,000 tons.
In addition, it was emphasized that
the treaty specifieally provia;es p; ina. ina.
are to be retained. and the only three
of this class under construction are
the Colorado. Washington ana west
; virginia. all in private yards.
officials generally regard the work,
ers' proposal that scrapping OF an
ships be aliocated to the navy yafds
or to navy crews was not poSsiDie
of execution since great majority
of the work of scrapping is done by
unskilled labor and practically all Oh
the yard employees are skilled work.
men.
Furloueks Undetermined.
The additional number Of employees
to be furloughed at the local navy
yard has not been determined, 1t was
mandar,t of the yard. The furloughs.
he Indicated, probably would become
effective the latter part Of this month
and the number would be compara-
-fively small
Employees of the Washington navy
yard were urged to exert every pos
sible effort to influence Congress to
cause a reinstatement OF the fur
loughed workers by William H. john
son, international president Of the
Goambia Lodse. ohien so a5 in
tional Association of Machinists. last
night in the Garden Theater. Mr
johnson declared that the only re-
course for the discharged employees
of the navy yard was direct appeal
to Congress.
Coxey Seeks to Aid. -
Gen. Coxey. famous leader of the
unemployed. told the nachinists that
he had drafted a bill giving the Ship
ping Beard permission to sell him 116
of It's vessels. He said that should
the deal so through he would place
the ships in the navy yards for re-
conditioning and would furnish work
for the discharged men. He urged
the men TO uso thefr Influence In sup
porting the measure.
N p. Atlas, president of District A.
Internal ationa1 Association OF Macl1in-
lists, and Robert E. Janson, president
of the local machinists' union, re-
viewedSthe causes for the furioughing
of the havy yard workers and con-
ourred in Mr.. Johnson's statement
that the appeals for relief should not
be directed to Congress.
Resolutions were drawn up thank
ing the press and civic organizations
for their support Of the men who
were discharged.
The bureau Of public roads Of the
Department of Agriculture announced
today it would ask the local navy
yard to submit bids on road -testing
machinery, q work involving about
$1,000.