The Connecticut labor news., 1924-11-29

of finance for power
 "The report of the conference fills three large volumes; the American Fed eration of Labor having one of the re- ports for record, and your auditors hay ing one of the reports as representatives.
 "It is obviously impossible to go into details on all of the subject matters that were brought before this conference. Three halls were used continuously and sometimes more; different sections of the conference being in session, con sidering the different subject matters, concurrently.
 "The representatives of labor were given every courtesy by the delegates from the other interests attending the conference. While there was no set pro gram that assigned place to the labor representatives on the platform, your representatives were heard from the plat form under the subpect matters of The Economic and Social Aspect of the Power Situation
 Labor's Position is Pointed Out
 Tt must be kept in mind that no sub ject matter presented to the conference was subpject to debate or controversy as 1t was not the intent of this first con ference to adopt or reject, sanction or refuse to sanction, any plan or plans that might be submitted by those con- tributing papers or subjects, and your representatives fully realized that this being true, the conference was no place to bring in subject matter of contro- versial nature; so that in addressing the conference, the representative who had the floor confined himself to statements as to labor's position in the general scheme of things as it related to the power situation in the various coun- tries; labor's desire to render assistance i'll any movement that had for its pur- pose the betterment of living conditions for all the people; and its desire to rem der assistance to the other elements within the industry, if allowed to do so as an organized unit comparable to the other organized units within the power industry, and without sacrificing its principles or ideals and the claim of the right of organized labor, as the only articulate portion of the toiling masses, to speak with authority for all labor.
 "The major portion of the delegates from all countries, and representing all interests, hailed the conference as the nature, which would be the means of bringing about more thorough and sympathetic understanding, not only as between the different countries but be- tween the different elements within the power industry in any of the countries; and 1t IS the opinion of your delegation that further meetings of this nature will be held, and that in time this conference may develop into councils where policies will be adopted or rejected and courses of action determined; and we believe that labor, as one of the most import ant of the component parts of the power
 
 sentation in all conferences of this na- ture
 "The conference showed that the greatest power development has taken place in the United States and Canada, and that power consumption, per capita, in the United States is greatly in excess of that of any other country in the world
 "The power industry within the United States today Is undergoing a process of centralization commonly known as the Giant Power Program which, if carried to a conclusion, will eliminate four-hfths of the small power generating units in the States. They will be substituted by immense generating units at water power or Ill the fuel fields; eliminating the cost of fuel trans portation to big extent, or utilizing the cheaper water transportation of fuel where practicable.
 "The carrying out of the Giant Pow CT Program must necessarily involve the use of a great amount of labor other than the maintenance forces of power plants We believe that the labor move ment of our country should keep itself informed and abreast of the times on the power situation, and that there should be selected by some authority a committee, chosen from the affiliated that would give especial attention to the power industry in all of it's phases and keep not only the labor movement, but the consumer, informed as to the changes and status of the power industry"