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The Commoner
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VOL. 18, NO, 8
: Shipbuilding Record
Disproves Beer Plea
i ,
"(FVonililHJ "North American," Philadelphia,
tfuly 1, 1018,
"VVhon Edward N Hurley, chairman of the
United States shipping board, expressed fears to
congross last woek, that a nation-wide ban on
hoozo, would retard shipbuilding, hundreds of
bjiawn patriots who aro pounding out ships in
Camden In record time replied:
'Toll it to Tommy Mason!"
, .Tommy Mason was superintendent of the con
struction, work on tho Tuckahoo, the naval col
lier turned out of tho yards of tho Now York
Shipbuilding company in twenty-seven days,
breaking a world's record.
Af,tpr thq, launching of tho Tuckahoo, Charles
M. Schwab, director of tho shipping board,
4p4gh,t Mason to learn how he and his men had
made- such phenomonnl speed.
"I want to pass your secret along to tho other
shipyards," said Schwab..
.''NO' booze," roplled Mason. "That's tho
Sacrot,"
SchWab didn't testify before tho congressional
committee last wook in tho hearing on war pro
hibition, or ho might have repeated the story as
Tommy Mason gave it to him.
He might have told them Mason's group of
workers, each of whom received a reward from
Schwab, not only broke a world's record in
turning out tho Tuckahoo, but how it has at
tained a reputation in tho Camden shipyards as
tho gang that can do the fastest work, has fewer
absoncos from all causes, and 50 per cent fewer
accidents than any othor group of workmen of
tho same size in .the plant.
Ho might have told how Mason, when the
ordor of tho day In the nation's shipyards was
"speed up," watched to see that no boozers got
places on his gang. , Mason has spent almost a
lifetime in the shipyards and , experience told
him that booze and ofllcleut work don't mix.
There wore just two exceptions to Tommy
Mason's ban on boozers. They were two rivet
ers whom ho permitted to remain in, his gang
for awhile, although ho knew that they "took a
drink or two" in the morning before they came
to work.
But Mason also discovered that it was several
hours each day before these two men reached
their maximum speed, and occasionally they
failed to report for duty.
Tho superintendent took a pencil and paper
and did 'some calculating. He found out what
the delay of these two men was costing the work
of the gang. He deducted the number of rivets
which "a drink or two" In the morning was
cbstlhg. -
Ho found that sober riveters had a larger av
erage or rivets to their credit, at the end of the
weok, and tho two boozers left. The Tucka
JioeX record satisfied him that he Is on the right
course.
Tommy Mason isn't the only shipbuilder who
has arrived at tho same conclusion. Heads of
plants In Camden have asked tho excise commis
sioners to close the city's saloons in tho morn
ing? until after tho workmen have reported for
duty.
, Opinions of Hurley and Bainbrldg6 Colby to
the contrary, these practical business men say
that rum lessons the efficiency of shipyard work
ers 20 per cent. And a 20 per cent delay in
ship construction theso days may mean, disaster
Excise commissioners in Camden complied with
the request, and saloons were closed In the
mornings. But now the men go to work on va
rious shifts at all hours of the day, and the sa
loons open inviting doors. Besides, superintend
ents can not be as particular in their choice of
men today as was Tommy Mason when he picked
the gfclig that broke tho record. on the Tuckahoe
Laborer1 aro not so plentiful. Sometimes it is
necessary to take a man who is known to be a
bo2? ? ,try t0 run thQ plant shorthanded.
With labor conditions, and the absence of re
straining laws thus helping them, saloonkeepers
in the neighborhood of Camden's shipyards are
doing a rushing business. Workers lino up out
side to wait their turn at the bar. According to
events in Washington last -week, Tommy Mason's
secret .of the Tuckahoe's record has not reached
8hj5 fi)St Hurloy and somo other members of
flivWS boar?; ll s!lould alS0 he stated
Here that Tommy Mason is'no. "prohibition fan
atic," as some of the booze allies call them.
When a clergyman, -who is pastor of a church at
tended by a member of the shipbuilding firm,
heard of Mason's refusal to hire boozers, he went
to. Mason to congratulate him.
"Now don't get me wrong," replied Mason.
"We may both be against booze, but for differ
ent reasons. My objections are based on the
fact that it lessens the efficiency of men. I m
against booze because it interferes with ' the
building of ships and we need ships."
War Prohibition
(Continued from Page 3.)
producers of California, for instance, or the. ap
petites of beer drinkers.
But this Is a world-wide question; it is as. old
as the human race; it is as large as tho earth,
No one can successfully contend that alcohol is
necessary for man. God never made a normal
human being to whom alcohol was a necessity;
if men by the cultivation of an unnecessary habit
havo brought themselves to believe that alcohpl
Is necessary for them, they can not hope to bring
this country and tho world to conform to a per
verted nature. The thing for them to do is tp
correct the habit and" change their opinion.
and prohibition has corrected habits and has
changed opinions.
This gentleman, representing the brewery
workers, speaks as if you can not do these things
by law. If he will go into the states where
they have tried prohibition, he will And that they
have converted communities as well as individ
uals. Individuals who thought they could, not
get along without liquor have found, when they
could not get it, that they were better off without
it, they are glad it has been taken away from
them. They have rejoiced that they have tieen
redeemed, so to speak, that they have been saved
from the slavery of drink. ,
And communities like Seattle, Washington,
that voted against prohibition when It came In,
have' been prompt to vote for even .more striug
ontlaws after they haye had 'an .opportunity to
see what the effect is. ,f "
Take Denver, Colorado, which voted against
prohibition in 1914, when the state went dry,;
after they had had prohibition there for a little
less than a year, the liquor interests tried to
bring beer back, but tho people of Denver re
jected the beer amendment and by 14,000 ma
jority voted against allowing beer to come back
into the state of Colorado. Experienqe has shown
that beer is not a necessity, Where they can
have prohibition enforced, prohibition vindicates
itself. If we can have prohibition enforced in
the dry states, with other states around them
from which the liquor can be brought In, by
bootleggers, the benefit of prohibition will be
much greater when we have It enforced as a na
tional policy and when there are no states, still
wet, to furnish a place from which the 'outlaws
can act.
Senator Thompson. I wish to call your atten
T0n,,an imDortant point in that connection,
in 1914, you will remember, we had a man in
the state of Kansas who ran for governor, stand
ing on a plank for the re-su'bniission of the li
quor question. And in my state, after 35 years
of experience, that man received less than nine
Tion C6nt f VOtGS f Uie State on " Quel!
tyr. Bryan. Yes. The facts on this subject are
not o be found in the paid advertisements of
the liquor interests. They are to be found in the
S8fnT? the people themselves; and he
result in Kansas is a case in point. After the?
had tried prohibition, and one man ran on a re
submission platform, he received less than n in
per cent of the vote of the state ine
Let me add this on the labor proposition- Thi
fef u7rTmemberrtPreSeilt a11 ' th '
i-.t?t us remember that we are confronting n cif.
uat on here that is not an ordinary one We a
gue ins life, if necessary; and we have said thai
It Is so necessary thatthat man shall be a ion
per cent man that we will not rrniJ .
seliliim intoxicating liquor .An S whCthat
is the law, and while that law is TbaiwS l!
overwhelming sentiment in the ount v lby,an
officers are kept busy punishing V y' 0Ur Iaw
tlves of the ltran ' MiT
make money by violating that law TU iS
man, representing the brewerVinTirertouEnVfe
know that the only American aniSifn ug to
died, in disgrace abroaTwas man J h, ty
the influence, of liquor, Mmlffif
was hung. His execution was approved by th
authorities In Washington; the .government said
"We can not affor.d to. let a crime like that r
ceive less, punishment; than death;" and yet that
boy, whp went out to .die a herb, a patriot, died
in disgraqe on the .gallows, while the people who
furnished him the liquor are allowed to continue
In business. It i3 time to go higher up; instead
of punishing only the victims of liquor, we pun.
ish 'those who .furnish them, liquor, those who
make a profession of producing crime, and then
oppose prohibition with the money that they
make from selfing the liquor. .
Let me. appeal to the, laborer: If the soldier
boy is to give his life for his country, and in ad
dition, is to be denied the beer which the brew
ers say is a- necessity, why can not the laborer,
whose life is not as hard as that of a soldier-
why can he not make, the sacrifice if that sacri
fice is necessary as the testimony shows that
it is. The laborers have the comforts of home
and better wages than' the soldiers receive and
they avoid the dangers' of the battlefield -it is
a reflection on their patriotism to say that they
will demand beer at the expense of the food sup.
ply of the natiom '
The gentleman spoke' 6f hurting the mining
industry ift West Virginia. ' That is not true; and
the best' evidence thati1it fs not true is to be
found in .he expressions of the mine owners
themselves. The representatives of the mine
operators of the Pittsburgh district met a few
months ago, and declared that, If dry zones were
made around their mines,' they could produce
2,000 tons of coal more p,er day than they were
producing r take- liquor' away from those who
were mining coal and they could increase the
production 600,000 tbns In One year.
And rdmember, Mr. Chairman, that what the
liquor business asks is lliisrThatit shall be per
mitted to-take the food' that the people need, and
the coal that the people nfeed, and use the coal
to convert the food int6 liquor that reduces the
capacity tff the men to fclirie coal and to produce
food. They ask that ttiey be permitted to burn
the-candle' at both ends? 'that they be permitted
to make the people dd without bread in order
that tbeyomay makelltfirbr out of the bread
stuff r that they be allowed to close' the schools
in order that they may have coal for the brew
eries; and then they use'lthe product that they
make to -lessen the quan-Hy of bread produced
and the quantity of coal "produced. "
Last winter the brewers kept running when
there was not coal enough to supply the indus
tries of this country. In Vie city of Blooming
ton, Illinois, I was told that the brewery there
kept running while thd schools were closed for
lack of fuel. Shame on a city that will allow ,
a brewery to run wlien there-is not enough fuel
for the sohoals.
The fact that, the "brewery insulted the intel
ligence and the patriotism of the people of that
city probably had something to do with the fact
that, a few weeks ago, Bloomington, by 2,100
majority, closed her twenty-five saloons, and
added, her name to the1 list of dry cities in Illi
nois. Another matter. When these- people tell you
that they want the saloon to run, they must
mean that they want it to run as it has been
running, and-as it will continue to run as long
as it is permitted to curse the earth.
I was in Rochester, New York, recently, and a
great audience, by a rising vote, sent a petition
to Washington, asking that a dry zone be es
tablished around the aviation camp near that
city. In the petition they .stated that four sa
loons had been built at the gate of the aviation
camp. If there is - any time when a
man needs a clear brain: and a steady nerve, it
is when he rises in an aeroplane.
Senator Overman a few "weeks ago exhibited
in the senate a brace taken from an aeroplane,
and showed that it had- been sawed in two,
joined together with lead, and painted over, and
tben put back. The purpose was to so weaken
the machine that when that machine went into
air and' in turninS, and brought a strain on
that brace, the brace would break, and an Amer
ican boy go down to his death.' That was the
work of a German spy; and if they find that
German spy, they -will shoot him to death, and
he ought to be shot to death.
But is the man who builds a saloon at the
gate of an aviation camp, and' 'tries to put weak
ness in the aviator Where there ought to be
strength, any less an enemy of Qur, country than
the German spy who tampers witti the aeroplane?
JSy the mknis as important as, the machine.
The people who defend th(? 'business must un-
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