Labor Questions Discussed by Two Union Leaders
(Copyright, 1904, by Krank (1. Cnrpenter )
AfllllNUTON. March Sl.-tSpeclU
w
Correspondence of Tho ISee.)-
give yuu herewith Interviews wltfl
two men who represent the most
Intelligent and most skilled tiH
rhaiiii-H i.f tho t'nlti'd Ktutes. Both urft
Vice presidents of tin- Am- rlcan Fcdcrutloil
of Labor, ami eu h la tho leader of a tta
Uunal union of skilled workmen whosi)
Dii-mlxTn are to bo found In every bu.sl
nets center. One la James O'Conncll, the
president of the International Associating
of Machinist, and the other James Dun
can, the secretary of thn National 1'nloq
of (iranilc Cutters. Each of these met!
had reached the top of t lir t ratio hp ropw
resents before ho was elected as Its leader.
Each knows hov to work with his hands
anil has done ho for years at the li Ik heat
wages. Itoth are rnnm rvatlve, diplomatic
and practloul. They understand their busl
lies nnd ran hold their own In their meet)
lugs with the Kreat capitalists and repro
acuta lives of trusts with whom they dally
come In contact to Ketll.; strikes or lock
oiit.s, or to make trade, arrangements whlchl
shall govern hours ami waxes for one year
or live, us the case may bo.
I met President OVonnell at the hPnri
quarters of the International Association
of Machinists hero In Washington. They
take up tho greater part of the second
floor of the McGlll building, on O Htrcel,
rot far from the patent olllce; und their"
business Is managed ns carefully as thai;
of n Imnk or a (front mercantile establish
rticnt. Two typewriters wero clicking u way
In Mr. o'Cnnneir ofllcp as I entered, and)
they kept on clicking while I talked, fcl
first nsked ns to Just what the Intcrnn-71
tionnl Association of Machinists was. Mr,
OVonnell replied: M
'Tho International Association of Ma-
cmntsts has nmro than 70,000 members,
und It embraces about half of all tho men
In tho trade. It lias looul unions scattered
all over this country, Canada and Mexico,
tho largest being in tho chief manufactur
ing centers. In Chicago thero aro about
eighteen different unions, each of which
"ends Its delegates to a district union
which acts for that city. Wo have n largo
number of local unions n New York, Hus
ton and I'lltsburg, and moro or less In
very manufacturing city of the south nnd
West."
"What do you mean by machinists?"
"Tim word machinist an applied to our
trade." san ir,,H nt OVonnell, "ropre-
nents the highest Intelligence nnd tho great
est sV'll nmoiur the men who deal with
machinery. In our sense, the machinist Is
the man who makes, erects nnd repairs nil
descriptions of machines and machine tools.
It Is not the man who runs the machine to
produce another product after they nro
made. or me,, design nnd make machine
with the aid of drawings. They operate
machines to make machines nd machine
tools, and they have to be able to do all
kinds of work arid repairs on any kind of
machine from patterns, und that within a
reasonable time,
'Their work Includes the maklns of the
finest and most delicto machinery, such as
the tools with which watch movements aro
made, and it Includes the making of the
heaviest ni.d coarsest of machinery, even
to the great lathes which bore out the guns
for our men-of-war. The machines for mak
ing bicycles, automobiles, typewriters, sew
ing machines, and. f!1(.t, PV(.ry km, of
machine ami machine tool. s the work of
the machinist. Huch work reonlrcs great
Intelligence and skill. The man must be an
Inventor as well as a mechanic. He has
new problems coming up with every Job
ond ho ha to use his Judgment almost
vcry bit of repairs which comes before
liiui."
"How many such machinists nre there In
the country?" asked.
'Thero are ull told about isn.noo In the
Ihiitcd Ht.itea."
'Then I suppose f tho union has 70 UK)
memlH-rs It practically controls the trade'"
"Yes. It d.es." replied Mr. OVonnell
Any organised body Is as strong us ten
tlmea the same number unorganised If
there nre ten union men In a shop where
a hundred men are employed they will do
more as to regulating tho hours of work
and other matters than the ninety non
union Individuals, We tlnd this the case all
over the country."
"What has )our association done for your
trade?" I asked.
"It has benefited it many ways" re
plied lTesldct OVonnell. "V. have re
duced our hours from ten to nine. Hcfore
1 the machinists of tho United States
worked ten hours or more. At tho beginning
of thut year we notliied the employer, that
we should demand a nine and one-half hour
day at tho end of six months and the nine,
hour day beginning with January.
We carried our point Wo have gotten the
rdne-hour day not only in our trade, which,
Including those not belonging to the union'
number 1W.U0 men, but ulso for allied
trades, which number 150.U0 more."
."How about wages? i you get the
Same for nine hours that you did for ten7"
"Yea."
"Does the ussot-lutlon Insist upon a mlnl
num wugef",
"Yej; but-the minimum wag varies la
i i 'jaW 1 j'
tv i i Kit i
.1
fePH?v-- Hi:
-K'A-
BEcniKTAUY Dl.'NCAN OF
different localities und Is settled I'or each
locality by un agreement with tho employ
ers there. In New York the lowest wngo
is ti per day. In some other places It 19
13.50 and ft. Any employer can pay as
much more ns he pleases, but ho must pftjj
tho minimum or our men will not work fok
him."
"Then you aro not pnld by tho piece?'
"No; our association Is uguinst plecd
work. Wq believe It contrary to the Into
ests of tho workingman. The employer
will say that such methods of payment
give a greater chance for the individual
nnd that every man can make more working
by the piece thun by the day, but It Is not
true. The Bystem keeps every man up to a
high tension. H makes him strain cverj
nerve to produce n largo output, und when
tho output Increases the employer Invart
ubly reduces the rote per piece, so that tho
man llnds he Is working harder :,id receive
Ing less than under the old day rate. This
is a matter of experience.
"Hut does your association try to restrict;
the output?" 1
"No. it docs not," snld Mr. O'Connell.
"But how ubout your rule that one mai
shall operate one machine and no morel.
That Is certainly n restriction of output." .
"Not In work like that we do," replied,
Mr. OVonnell. "Our machines are necea ;
surlly line and we have to Insist upon,
that rule to protect ourselves. The cm !
ployer will say he Is willing to stand th
loss of any work spoiled by having qjj
man run sfveral machines, but we flnJ
that If the work Is spoiled the man is,
dlschnrgid sooner or later. In some of out
work a man' does not need to touch hit
machine for a long time, us, for Instance,
In boring out the barrels of great gun$
A machine may be set and take twelv
hours before the boring Is completed. Wt
insist upon hnlng a man watch that ml-,
ihlne. for the lca-st break or fault muUi
ruin the whole work, whereas If tho mill
Is there he can remedy tho defect the roo !
nn nt It .nines." S
'Our machines," Mr. OVonnell went ont
"aie so fine that they need constant watch
ing and the mh.take of a hair's breadtK
may cctt thousands of dollars. The brick
layer knocks off too much from the cor
ner of a brlik with his trowel In laying
a wall; he throw In an extra pint of
mortar and the fault Is repaired. In the
machinist's work the mistake of one ten
thousundlh of an Inch may d"stroy a ma
chine and mu h of our work has to be
rorrect even to the hundred-thousandth of
an inch."
"What docs It cost your members to
belr.ng to the asi.-latlon?" I nsked.
The dues nro 75 cents a month, of which
40 cents goes to the National Association
and S5 cents to the local union. Our sys
tem of IxHikkeepIng Is nuch that we keep
track of every one of our members from
month to month and can tell If he has
puld Ms dues snd Is In gr.od standing. In
case of a strike or lockout, every auch
member. If unmarried, receives n week,
and If married, 17 a week us long as the
strike continues. Ho gets the same amount
If he Is victimised."
"What do you moan by v1ctlmled?" I
asked.
"A victimised man Is one who Is dis
charged by hla employer without rause.
or for standing by the rules or trie union.
Wa alao pay death beneOta of from $'0 to
$ax, according to tho length of (line de
ceased ha Ken In the unloaw
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THK GftANITK CL1TEU3' UNION TALKS
JAMK3 O-OONNEXJ PRK3IDENT tNT
ClllNIS IT.
"Wo take In and pay out several hun.
drrd thousand dollars In money every year,
but our accounts are as carefully man
aged as those of a bank and our losses
are comparatively much less."
James Duncan, the secretary and treas
urer of the Granite Cutters' National union,
spent years In cutting out cemetery monu
ments, granito sUUues and building block -1
beforo ho was chosen as the leader of the
Uruilte Cutters" union, and he tells me ho
can mako more money today polishing
grunlte than by acting as the secretary of
bis union. I asked hint something atiout
tho graii i to business of the I'nited States.
Said he:
"The granite Industry represents hun
dreds of millions of dollars. Its chief cen
ter is In New England, but it Is carried on
In uoarly every part of the country. You
will tlnd our men at the quarries and In
tho fchopa of almost ev ry city. Their work
Is in every cemetery and their buildings
everywhere. Nearly all the government.
Ktatti und municipal bi tiding are granite.
Til S14.imD.uM rennsylvanla depot which is
ab tut to be built here wilt be of granite,
and the greater part of the $.Xtt0,0u0 worth
of public building, which they have de
cided to put up in Washington In the near
future wiU be grauila airucturc. We hav
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TO MB. OARPENTER.
EltNATIONAL. ASSOCIATION! OF IS.
many great granite quarries, and the bu
russ of taking out and preparing the stona
Is a special trade."
"Hut, Mr. Duncan," Bald I, "do not tha
memliers of your trado cut other stone)
thin grunlte?"
"No," was the reply. Tho granite cut
ter has a trade of bis own. There Is a
much difference between him and the soft
sto'iecutter as there Is between the shoe
maker and tailor. Tho soft stone man
shapes his work with chisels of soft Bttcl.
which ho poundx with a wooden mallet
Ho owns his iwn tools and carries them
from job to job. The granite cutter works
with the finest steel. He uses a Bteel ham
mer. He d. s in t ow n his tools, and ho
is rwdy to work with tools or machines
as his employer directs. All he asks I
that his employer keep to his agreement
with the union, giving hlrn reasonable hour
and fair wages."
"How many granite cutters are there, Mr.
Duncan?"
"We have about 14.000 In the I'nited
States, and 97 per cent of these belong to
tho Granite Cutters' union."
"And what wages do auch men get. Mr.
Duncan?"
"According to our national agreement!
(Continued on Page Sixteen