New-York tribune. [volume], June 08, 1918, Page 6, Image 6

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Trolleys Run
InBronxUnder
Police Guard
?
Only 300 Men Out, butj
Spread of Strike to Man- J
hattan Is Threatened
Federal Conciliator
Named on Men's Plea
Telegram Charges Com?
pany Violated War La?
bor Board's Ruling
Although a general strike had been !
declared by employes of tho Union
Railway Company in The Bronx, trolley
service in thnt borough was maintained
adequately all day yesterday. While
only three hundred men failed to ap?
pear for duty, events yesterday indi?
cated there is a possibility of the strike
reaching greater proportions, and that
an attempt may lie made to tie up all
the surface lines in Manhattan and The
Bronx.
The breach between the men and the
company was precipitated when forty
men, It is nlleged. were discharged sum?
marily for making attempts to organize
the employes in order to present de?
mands for increased pay. The decision
for a ?general strike was reached after
a long session at Curtin's Hall, 16fith
Street and Third Avenue. William P.
Fitzgerald, general organizer of the
Amalgamated Association of Street and
Electric Railway Employe*, addressed
the men.
Appeal to Secretary Wilson
The following telegram, asking for
Federal intervention, was sent to Sec?
retary of Labor Wilson after a con?
ference between Fitzgerald, Patrick
O'Brien, vice-president of the American
Federation of Labor; James Vahey,
general counsel for the federation, and
Louis Frodiger, counsel for the Motor
men's and Conductors' Union:
In violation of the rules laid down
by the National War Labor Board,
the Union Railway Company of The
Bronx, New York City, has dis?
charged a number of employes for
organizing to remedy the present de?
plorable conditions under which we
work, even before any grievances or
requests for increase of wages were
presented. Will you at once send
here some one from your department
to investigate our case. Suspension
of work in effect.
At a meeting of the strikers last
night Edward Morrissey read a tele?
gram which he sp.id he had received
from Assistant Secretary of Labor
Kerwin, and which was addressed to
the Committee of Forty. It said:
Telegram signed by your commit?
tee received. We have appointed
Clifton Reeves as commissioner of
conciliation in the controversy with
the Union Railways Company. He
will communicate with you.
Louis Frediger, attorney for the
union men. said last night they would
abide by any decision reached by Mr.
Reeves. Another meeting of the strik
- ers will be held this morning at 10
o'clock.
Secret organizations among the men,
it is said, had been going on for sev?
eral weeks. Ernest B?hm, correspond?
ing secretary of the Central Federated
Union, said there is a possibility of a
general strike on the surface lines of
Manhattan.
Policemen on Cars
Pickets stationed at the West Farms
car barns were assaulted by a gang of
men armed with crowbars, according
to Fitzgerald. While there were no
other reports of violenco yesterday,
police reserves under Inspectors
O'Connor and Collins were ordered
into The Bronx as soon as the strike
order became effective.
Early in the day it was thought un?
necessary to place police on the cars,
but when it was learned that two car
crews at 161st Street and Sedgwick
Avenue refused to proceed without po?
lice protection the bluecoats were or?
dered on the cars. The police reserves
were also posted at all transfer points,
car barns and near grades to prevent
greasing of the tracks, as was done
by the strikers in 1916.
Edward A. Maher, jr., president of
the company, said yesterday that the
men had made no demands on the com?
pany for increase of pay.
"I don't know of any strike," he
said. "But 1 guessed something was
about to happen when I learned union
officials were in town."
The company, it was believed by
Fitzgerald, would take advantage of
the present walkout and attempt to
obtain permission to charge a six-cent
fare.
Yonkers Men Get Increase
While the main issue is the reinstate?
ment of the forty men alleged to have
been discharged for attempting to form
an organization, the dissatisfied em?
ployes will present demands for an
increase in pay. Thomas Devine, dis?
patcher at the 218th Street car barn,
?aid:
"The men are now getting up to 34
cents an hour, and some are earning
from $32 to $37 a week by working
overtime. The new scale calls for from
29 to :?6 cents an hour."
As soon as word reached Yonkers
that the Bronx motortnen and con?
ductors were out on strike the Yonkers
Railroad announced that, beginning
July 1, an increase of two cents an
hour will be given to the trolleymen in
that city. In addition, the men will re?
ceive a weekly bonus of $1.
The strikers were exhorted by their
leaders to create no disturbance and to
spread the new? of the strike among
their fellow workers in an orderly
manner.
Jersey Strike Called
Off; War Labor Board
To Adjust Dispute
NEWARK, N. J., June 7. -The strike
on the lines of the Public Service Rail?
way Company, which tied up all North
Jer?ey yesterday morning, incon?
veniencing acore? of war planta, was
declared off to-day. An hour later
most of the cars were running on the
old schedules, and the evening rush
hour crowds were handled with scarcely
? hitch. Differences between company
and men will be referred to the Na?
tional War Labor Board, of which Will?
iam H. Taft and Frank P. Walsh are
chairmen.
This decision means that the Federal
board will have not only the question
of wage? to ..determine, but alao that of
the employment of women as con?
ductors, to which the men strongly ob?
jected. The men, who demanded 45
cent? an hour, with 00 cents an hour
for overtime, went back to work at the
rate proposed by the company a slid
ing scale of from 30 to 40 cents an
hour. If the Federal board grants
them an increase, however, it will be
como effective as from to-day.
A committee of the men met with
Thomas N. McGarter, president of the
trolley company; city officials and John i
J. S. Rodgers, a mediator of the De- I
partment of Labor. Agreement was |
urged by disinterested parties to the
conference, including Frank J. Mc
Nulty, who, besides being a city com?
missioner and a member of the State
Council of Defence, is president of the
International Union of Machinists.
The arguments that war work wns
being hampered by the strike, that the
mediation hoard established by the gov?
ernment was to be trusted and that it
declined to act in industrial disputos
while a strike was in existence were
used with effect. The committee and
Mr, McCarter agreed upon an armistice,
and a meeting of employes was called.
More than one thousand strikers were
in attendance and voted unanimously
to declare the strike off. Word was
gent at once to the other communities
affected. In Paterson, Passaic and
West Hoboken the strikers distrusted
the telephoned order to go back to
work, and declined to obey it until the
message was conveyed in person by o
member of the committee. The result
was that in those places there was a
delay in getting adequate service for
the evening crowd.-.
Western Union is
Sharply Censured
By Labor Leaders
Gompers and Morrison De?
clare Telegraph Officials
Are Violating War Policy
ST. PAUL, .Tune 7.?Sharp criticism
of officials of the Western Union Tele?
graph Company for their alleged re?
fusal to abide by the decisions of the
National War Labor Board and prot?
estations of labor's united support of
the government's war policy were
voiced late to-day by officials of the
American Federation of Labor speak?
ing at pre-convention meetings. Accord
inig to President Samuel Gompers and
Secretary Frank Morrison, the action
of the telegraph officials is in direct
violation of the purpose of the board
and has a demoralizing effect upon the
morale of working people.
"This probably will result in Presi?
dent Wilson commandeering the West?
ern Union Telegraph Company and
enactment of legislation by Congress
for taking over of all telegraph and
telephone companies during the war,"
Secretary Morrison said.
"Never in the history of the uni?
verse has there been a time and cir?
cumstance where representatives of
the masses of labor have been in a
position of right and justice as now,'*
Mr. Gompers said.
Reiterating labor's pledge to support
the war needs of the government, Mr.
Gompers said: "Come what may,
President Wilson need not fear divis?
ion in America, for the men of labor,
whether in pence or war, stand as a
unit behind him as the leader of
democracy of the world."
The convention proper will convene
Monday morning and will continue for
; two weeks. More than 5,000 delegates
ara expected to attend.
Advertisers Pledge Ail
Profit to Crush Kaiser
Meeting of National Associa?
tion at Chicago Turned ?nto
Patriotic Demonstration
(Special Dispatch to The Tribune)
CHICAGO, June 7.?Advertisers of
national, even international, promi?
nence acquiesced in the slogan, "All
profit necessary to crush Prussianism"
at the final session of the Association
of National Advertisers here th?3 after?
noon.
At the same time a resolution aimed
i nt the zone system of post-.ige for peri
, odicals was permitted to die in the
committee to which it had been re
j ferred. The advertiser:; declined to
take action at this time because a reso?
lution covering the samo proposition
had been adopted by the association
last fall, and it was feared that a sec?
ond step of the sort might be misin?
terpreted as evidence of a lack of har?
mony with the purpose of the adminis?
tration to win the war.
The association participated in a
joint banquet with the audit bureau of
circulation to-night. Speakers included
Edward M. Hurley, president of the
United Shipping Board; Ray Lyman
Wilbur, president of Leland Stanford
University and chief assistant to Food
Commissioner Hoover, and Lieutenant
Paul Perigod, of the French army.
It was W. A. McDermid, advertising
manager for a chemical company of
Newark, N. J.. who, in a speech before
the association to-day, pledged the hi;?
business firm to the "All 'profit to crush
Prussianism" slogan. He declared
there was not a single member of the
association who had the slightest un
I willingness to be taxed for the winning
i of the war "down to the last dollar lie
requires for his existence as an indi
, vidual and down to the last dollar that
? is required for the preservation und
1 continued existence of his business."
L. B. Jones, of the division of adver
| tising, Committee on Public Informa
j tion, paid tribute to what he called the
"loyal and prompt assistance the gov?
ernment had received from advertising
agencies of the country for their pub?
licity campaigns."
The convention ended with the ban
quet to-night.
More Railway Heads
Deposed by McAdoo
Fairfax Harrison and Milton
H. Smith Are Sup?
planted
WASHINGTON, June 7.?Appoint
| ment of Federal managers for South
I em railroads to-day deposes Fairfax
1 Harrison, president of the Southern.
i and ?*4|lton H. Smith, president of the
I Louisville & Nashville, two of the best
| known railroad executives in the coun
j try, as chief operating officers of their
' lines. They will remain presidents of
the companies, however, and their sal?
aries will be paid out of corporate
funds.
Samuel Rea, of the Pennsylvania, and
Daniel Willurd, of the Baltimore &
Ohio, are other railway presidents who
have been replaced as chief operating
officers by appointment of other? as
Federal managers,
j The assignment of jurisdiction to the
i Southern managers is in line with Di?
rector General McAdoo's policy of
! grouping lines which naturally could
be manuged in a unit, regardless of
their former ownership or affiliations.
In this way the number of Federal
managers will be reduced and lines
physically connected will Tj? operated
in close cooperation.
$500,000 Frauds
In Naval Repair
Work Charged
Grand Jury Investigates Al?
leged Manipulation of La?
bor items at Todd Yards
Worker Expose? Plot
Federal Agents Seize Five
Truck Loads of Records
in Three Raids
A special Federal Grand Jury in
Brooklyn began investigation yester?
day of charge's that the govrrnment
has been defrauded of hundreds of
thousands of dollars through manipu?
lation of labor items on naval icpair
work done at yards controlled by the
Todd Shipyards Corporation under
"cost plus profit'' contracts.
Evidence relating to the charges was ?
gathered in three raids by Federal
agents two at the works of the Tebo
Yacht Basin Company, at 'ho foot of
Twenty-third Street, Brooklyn, and one
late yesterday upon the offices of the
Todd Shipyards' Corporation at 15
Whitehall Street, Manhattan.
These raids yieldod five motor truck
! loads of labor time sheets, time books,
| cost and material accounts and work
? slips. The muss of books and papers
I was stored in of?ces specially rented
' for the purpose and a corps of expert
? accountants sent, hero by the Depart- j
ment of Justice from Washington went
to work upon them at one?.
Half Million Involved
Melville France, United States At
! torncy for the Eastern District of New
York, said that evidence already col
; lated tended to show frauds amounting
to perhaps half a million dollars. His i
assistant, Henry Ward Beer, who has ;
charge of the case, said there were so
many angles and so many ramifications
to the alleged conspiracy that the in- |
quiry would occupy four weeks or
more.
Besides the Tebo Yacht Basin Com?
pany, the Todd Shipyards Corporation
owns or controls dry dock and boat
building concerns and iron works in
New York, Hoboken, Seattle and Ta- ;
coma. Its naval contracts here alone
are said to amount to $4,000,000, most?
ly for mine sweepers and smaller war
craft.
William II. Todd, president of the.
concern, issued a statement yesterday
afternoon, immediately after the raid
upon the corporation's general office
in Whitehall Street, in which he as?
serted that the accounts of the Tebo i
company were regularly audited and
were constantly under the scrutiny of
government officials.
Raids Hue to Three Affidavits
The raids and the grand jury investi?
gation were the result of affidavits filed
both in Manhattan and Brooklyn by
Lieutenant John McNulty, of the con
. verted yacht Niagara; William Green,
of 388 Fifteenth Street, Brooklyn, a
former employe of the Tebo company,
who alleged that, he had been "black?
listed" for protesting against the al
i leged fraud, and by James C. Brophy, a
j Federal special agent, who has been at
1 work on the case for several months.
Green, who is twenty-four years old
I and an electrical worker, swore that
! James Sloathe, a Tebo foreman, ordered
j him on several occasions to take the
time of men employed on private work,
I and bave these men charge their labor
j to reunir work on the Niagara, which in
j March last was being refitted for sea.
1 Workmen, he alleged, were assigned to
? private work, and their names carried
on payrolls charged to government
craft being repaired under the 'tcost
i plus profit" contracts.
When !ie protested, with a remark to
\ some of the mon that it was shameful
[ to impose on the government, he was
reported,'ho declared, to Sloathe, who
i thereupon shifted him to another de
; partment, where he was paid 40 instead
of.48 cents an hour and the workduy
; was ten instead of eight hours.
Green quit last March, shortly after
j (his reduction, and when he applied for
| work at cither shipyards he found, ac?
cording to his affidavit, that he had
! been blacklisted.
U. S. Flag Used as (dun Swab
Green asserted be found evidences of
pro-German sympathies among the
I foremen of the Tebo yards. One of
! them, he declared, never saw a man in
the American uniform without making
I an opprobrious remark, and the same
! foreman, he added, condoned the of?
fense of a Russian gunner aboard the
Russian cruiser Diana who used an
American flag as a gun swab and then
threw the soiled ensign overboard.
The Diana, it was stated yesterday
at the Todd offices, is still tied up near
the Tebo yards, under another name
and under the American flag, with a
crew of United States bluejackets.
The Russian gunner, according to
Green, was arrested on the order of an
I American naval officer to whom he re
I ported tho flag incident,
j Further in his affidavit Green alleged
I that gangs of workmen frequently re
I ported on board the Niagara while that
vessel was undergoing repairs, re?
mained a few minutes only, until their
time cards could be checked and
charged airainst the government, where?
upon they would report for duty on
some private contract, or else "loaf"
the rest of the day. In another case,
he asserted, he was sent aboard the
Niagara to take otf some carbon lump
bulbs, which were never returned.
Lieutenant McNulty's affidavit set
forth that on February 13, when the
Tebo labor sheets charged the Niagara
with 158 workmen, there had been
actually 139 men on duty. *
"We are going straight to Cie bot?
tom of this case," said Mr. Beer last
ni^ht. "We know that, while there are
honest and decent men doing their best
to help the government, there are
others who are loafing on the job or
robbing it while boasting of patriotism
j and a desire to help win the war. And
| we are going to get those fellows if we
I can."
?World SafeT?ow Than
Year Ago, Edison Says
Letter From Inventor Read At
Convention of Phonograph
Dealers
A lettedr from Thomas A. Edison
was read yesterday at convention of
Edison phonograph dealers in the Wal?
dorf-Astoria, in which the inventor de?
clared the world waa safer now than
last July, when the previous conven?
tion was held and urged speed in war
measures. William .Maxwell, vice-pres?
ident of Thomas A. Edison, Inc., who
read the letter, said that after the
war they all would be prouder than
ever of "the old man."
"What we need to do," Mr. Edison
wrote, "is to speed ut>. It is not a
question of what we must not do, but
a question of what we must do. We
must win the war. We must provide
all the arms, ammunition, ordnance, \
aeroplanes and other eauinment that ?
can be transported to Kuropo, and we
must build ships as rapidly as possible.
"We must make all tho other goods
that we can possibly make. We must
keep on creating new wealth. We must
keep our manufacturing roganization
in good running order. We must con?
tinue to go after foreign trade. And !
we must prepare ourselves for the in?
tense competition for foreign markets
that will occur after the war.
"Some of you may have been told
that music is a non-esHontial. My
views on that subject are probably well |
known. The time is not far distant \
whet? music will be known as a grener j
essential than books. Don't let any- |
body make you believe that music in |
a non-essential. Merchants who sell
musical instruments are performing a I
useful service to the nation."
4 Navy Heroes Receive |
Medals for Rescues I
Daniels Announces Awards to i
Men Who Risked Own Lives
to Save Others
WASHINGTON, June 7.?Four mem?
bers of the American naval forces
have received medals for heroism in
saving life, Secretary Daniels to-day:
announced.
Quartermaster Frank Monroe Upton,
of Denver, and Ship's Cook Jesse W. ?
Covington, of Grace Mount, Okla., re?
ceived the medal of honor and a gra?
tuity of $100 each for extraordinary
work in rescuing a survivor of the
steamer Florence II., destroyed by an
Internal explosion on April 17. At tho
risk of their lives, the announcement
said, the two men swam through water
strewn with wreckage and bursting
Dowder boxes and succeeded in rescu?
ing one of the survivors, after it was
i found impossible to reach him with
small boats.
The Assistant Secretary of the Trens-'
| ury has sent the Navy Department a, :
silver lifesaving medal to be pre-;
' senfcd to Seaman Frank 1.0 Febvre,
I naval reserves, of New York City, who
rescued a woman and her daughter
! who hud fallen overboard at Glenwood
Landing, L. I., August 30, 1917.
A silver lifesaving medal nwardecT
by Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo
has been delivered to Fireman Stowe j
A. Studley, of the U. S. S. Northern
Pacific. Studley on May 5 jumped
overboard from the U. S. S. Patapsco\
and rescued a shipmate who had boon
accidentally knocked overboard. Stud
ley's home is at Ritsville, Wash.
New York Aviator
Killed in Accident
Lieut. D. R. Grant Was Cor
nell Graduate and Entered
Service Last September
Three of the forty-eight casualties
reported by General Pershing yester?
day were those of residents of New!
York and New Jersey.
Second Lieutenant Duncan Ross:
Grant, listed as having died as a re?
sult of an airplane accident, entered
the aviation service last September.
He sailed for England last February,
with the 148th United States Aero
Squadron. Lieutenant Grant attended
Cornell before he entered the aviation
service, and has an older brother,
Charles, in the same service. His
father, David C. Grant, is vice-presi- f
dent of the Lincoln National Bank, at j
60 West Forty-second Street.
Emanuel G. Williams, negro, of Mor-;
ristown, N. J., reported to have died of |
accident, enlisted last March at Fort
Slocum. Conflicting reports of his
death have caused his mother to doubt'
whether he really died. On May 15 she |
received a telegram from the War De-!
partment that her son was lost at sea. i
On Wednesday of this week she was
! notified that his body was recovered,
and yesterday morning she received a
letter from Chaplain Lincoln 0. Jen?
kins, of the 310th Labor Battalion, i
written on a transport at sea on May
ti, that Williams had died from pneu- '
' moia.
Corporal H. E. Wood, listed as hav- \
ing been taken prisoner, is twenty
seven years old and a native of New j
: Haven, Conn. He enlisted two years
ago in Company D, 2d Connecticut In?
fantry. Wood was a carpenter and
lived with his uncle. Lieutenant Will?
iam J. O'Brien, of the Coast Artillery
Corps, at 319 Sixty-eighth Street,'
Brooklyn.
Another casualty reported yesterday i
' was that of Rex Shilliday, wiio was !
killed in an airplane accident over the i
French lines on May 22, nccording to ?
a notification received by his parents
from the War Department. Shilliday
was twenty-one and was graduated ;
? from the Yonkers High School in 1913. j
' He entered Columbia College two years
, ago and left last May to become a j
member of '.he Second Ambulance ?
Unit, which was sent to Franco by the j
Presbyterian Hospital of New York, j
? Last December he entered the Provi- j
| sional Aero Squad of the United States i
? Aviation Corps.
Swann investigates
"War Charity" Funds!
District Attorney Swann began an
' other investigation yesterday into!
? methods used by United States Boy j
j Scouts for raising money. The prose-1
: cutor investigated the "7t'i Regiment"!
United States Boy Scouts recently and |
reported that he had secured the prom-1
! ise of the officers to discontinue using'
the name of "7th Regiment." Later he ;
learned tlie organization had given an
entertainment under that name, raising.
I a large sum of money.
Scout Colonel John R. Smith, who'
has been making speeches in the vaude- !
? ville and moving picture theatres as a|
prelude to passing the hat was found ,
; yesterday by process servers in thej
Union Square Theatre, where he se- ?
: cured $42.22 for the United States Boy!
Scouts. He was taken to the prosecu- i
tor's office and questioned.
Smith, according to Assistant Dis-'
trict Attorney Kilroe, was designated!
by John W. Amerman, treasurer of the
organization, to solicit contributions!
and was paid $10 a week. He rode to:
the theatre in an automobile driven by
Scout Captain Gardiner Jones in uni-j
I formed, w'.io mounted the stage and in-1
troduced "Colonel" Smith. Mr. Kilroe i
held Smith as a material witness. The
investigation will be continued to-day. i
Mr. Kilroe is investigating several i
? other "war charity" organizations, in- \
eluding "The Immediate Aid Society,"
. of 62 West 101st Street, of which Mrs.
. K. G. Warner is the head. He says
contributions were obtained by collec
; tors on the 50 per cent basis. Mrs.
Warner has promised to submit her
books to Mr. Kilroe.
"The Godfather's League of Our Al
' lies, of which George W. Gabriel, of
] 1529 Flutbush Avenue, Brooklyn, is the
moving spirit, is also under scrutiny.
Gabriel said he had raised several hun
, drud dollars in New York County, but
promised Mr. Kilroe to stop collecting
and wind up the affairs of the league.
James C. Mars, of 79 Wall Street,
organizer of the New York Flying
Yacht Club and the American Federa?
tion of Flying Yacht Clubs, was notified
that the Aero Club of America hud en?
tered a complaint against tho methods
used by him for collecting money. He
i suid the societies were organized two
? yeurs ago to promote aerial efficiency
in the United States, and $10,000 had
! been collected on the 40 per cent basis.
Mars promised to wind up the affairs
1 of both societies, Mr. Kilroe suid.
Subways Relief
Plan Is Rejected;
Strike Looms Up
Estimate Board Proposes
New Scheme; Contractors j
Term It Unsatisfactory
ignore Lockwood Law
Union Head Notified of Inten
tion to Return to Old
Wage Scale
The situation on the uncompleted j
subways assumed a more serious as- :
pect yesterday, when the Board of Es- !
t?mate failed to afford any satisfactory1
financial relief to the contractors by
which they could meet the demands of
the laborers for increased wages and
assure the completion of the new lines.
The agreement proposed last week by
Controller Craig, by which the con- |
tractors will meet the wage increases
this week, was yesterday declared il?
legal by the Corporation Counsel.
A new plan, proposed yesterday by
the Corporation Counsel, was declared
tn be as illegal and unsatisfactory as
il,, tirs! one i:i statements issued bv
the Gcnerul Contractors' Association
?iii.l the Public Service Commission,
following the adoption o.' the Corpora?
tion Counsel's resolution by the Board
ef Estimate. Frederick L. Cranford, '
president of the General Contractors'
Association, sont a letter Thursday to
Mathew A. McConvillc, chairman of
the allied subway labor unions, notify?
ing him that unless the Hoard of Esti
mate took some satisfactory action
yesterday the contractors would be
compelled to return to the old sched?
ule of wages.
General Strike Likely
In other words, the contractors will
not meet the higher wages after this
week, and it is expected this will mean
;: general strike on the uncompleted
construction work unless the city au?
thorities lind a more satisfactory way
to meet the situation before another
week rolls round. Tho new plan sug?
gested by the Corporation Counsel J
ignored any action under the Lockwood
law, passed by the last Legislature and ,
approved by Mayor Hylan, for the spe?
cific purpose of joint action by the
Board of Estimate and the Public Serr
vice Commission to afford the con?
tractors the relief they claimed was;
imperativo.
The resolution adopted by the Board i
of Estimate was that the contractors i
should file suits against the city based !
on damages, delays and breach of con- I
tract, and, in consideration of the re- ?
lease of their claims, the Controller
may agree to pay to the contractors an .
amount equal to the increased amount
of wages and materials. The resolu?
tion was based on Section 149 of the
city charter, which was passed during
the building of the first subway to help
John B. McDonald, th" contractor, out
of his troubles when the eight-hour law
was pi.ssed, and empowered the city to
give him compensation for wages.
Cranford's View of Case
The statement issued last night by :
Mr. Cranford', as chairman of the sub- ?
way ccntrac'ors' committee, follows: i
The art Ion of the Board of Estimate
this morning repudiates and throws into
the wastebasket the Lockwood law, which
was passed by tho Legislature, signed by
the Governor and the Mayor, with the
approval of the Hoard of Estimate itself,
as a necessary measure to meet the situa?
tion that tho war has created in finishing
the great subway system. This action not
only repudiates the Lockwood law, but it
transfers from the joint control of the
Public Service Commission and of the
Hoard of Estimate the settlement of this
very difficult and serious situation into
tho hands of one individual, the Con?
troller.
A week ?iko the contractors on the sub?
way were Hiven assurance? that the Hoard
of Estimate would work with the Public
Service Commission under the Lockwood
law. On the strength of those assurances
wo temporarily adjusted the labor difficul?
ties. I c!>nnot see in the action taken by
tha Board of Estimate to-day anything
c?-o than a repudiation of that assurance,
because this action contemplates an indi?
vidual adjustment, with each contractor,
while our labor situation faces all of us
and must be settled simultaneously.
General Contractor's Statement
The statement issued by the General
Contractor's Association said in part:
We aro constrained to say that the pro?
posed procedure of the Hoard of Estimate
affords no practical relief. The relief re?
quired is immediate for the accomplish?
ment of two things, namely, first, meet?
ing the just demands of the men for
higher wages to avoid the strike and the
increased cost of material and labor due
to war conditions, which were uncontem?
plated and unforeseen, and, second, to
mititjate the woe; of the straphanger
within a reasonably early period. To ac?
complish these results prompt and effec?
tive provision must be made for the pay?
ment of the advanced cost of labor and
material caused by the war, for which the
contractors are not fairly chargeable, and
tho burden of which they have been carry?
ing for the last fourteen month:-.
Tho Board of Estimate proposal fails to
meet the situation for two reasons: First,
it is a method which would take months
to effect the settlement contemplated, and
tho siiuation is one that demand; settle
men in hours, and, second, it. offers no
guarantee which would warrant any bank- i
ing institution to advance funds pending
the adjustment of the claims, so that the
contractors could proceed with their work.
The contractors added that the Lock
wood law provided the only fair basis
for adjustment, a basis of cost and no
profit. They declared that if disaster
resulted to subway construction the
blamo could not be laid to the con?
tractors nor to the Public Service
Commission, but was "clearly charge?
able to the Board of Estimate."
Ex-Justice William L. Hansom, chief
counsel for the Public Service Com?
mission, who represented the commis?
sion before the Board of Estimate, also
strongly disapproved of the action of
the board.
German Torture Kills
40 British Soldiers
They Were Hanged to Pole
Two and a Half Hours in
Bitter Cold for 14 Nights
LONDON, June ".-The slow murder
of forty British prisoners sent by the
Germans to work under fire on the
Russian front is related by a member
of the Royal Naval Division who has
just reached England after escaping
from Germany.
It had been decided, he says, that
out of a party of 500 British prisoners
thirty-six should die in consequence
of an allegation that thirty-six German
prisoners had been murdered by their
British sentries. The men were formed
into groups of three and the misdeed
of any individual was visited upon all
three men in the group.
They were taken from working
i parties at the end of the day, made to
! mount on a block and then tied to a
i pole. The block afterward was kicked
i away, leaving the men suspended with
their feet a little off the ground. In
this position they were kept for two
, and a half hours each night for four
I tuen nights in intense cold. Forty
I men died under the treatment.
Russian Fleet Likely
To Fight the Allies1
Germany to Man Ships and
Probably Send Them Into
the Mediterranean
LONDON, June 7.- The whole Rus-?
sinn fient remaining in the harbors of
Odessa and Sebastopol will be manned
hy German crews and it is rumored it
i? intended to use the warships against.
the Allies in the Mediterranean, ac?
cording to the Ukrainian newspaper;
"Delo," which is quoted by the Stock-]
holm correspondent of "The Daily
News." . . ,
It is said German engineers and me?
chanics aro busily at work at the
Nikolaieff Aresenal at Sebastopol.
Russia has agreed to surrender the
Black Sen fleet to Germany on con-;
d it ion the warships be restored to Rus-'
sia after peace has been declared, that ?
the Germans refrain from using the
vessels and that the German invasion
of Russia cease, according to a Mos- :
cow dispatch to Paris yesterday. M.
Tchitcherin, Bolshevik Foreign Minia
ter. notified M. Joffe, Russian Ambas?
sador in Berlin, to this effect.
Next Year Critical
Period for Nation,
Says College Head
President of Kenyon Ad?
dresses Bankers After
Seeing Foreign Service
The next twelve months will be the
most critical period in the history of
the United States, members of the
Bond Club of New York were told yes?
terday by Lieutenant W. F. Pierce, of
the Lake Division of the American Red
Cross, who has just returned from
France, at a luncheon given at tho
Bankers' Club. Seward Prosper, presi?
dent of the Bankers Trust Company,
also addressed the gathering, telling
of his experiences in France during his
recent visit there with H. P. Davison,
head of the American Red Cross.
Lieutenant Pierce is returning to his
duties as president of Kenyon College,
Ohio, after spending several months in
France, part of the time seeing actual
service on the Verdun front with a
Franco-American canteen.
In telling of conditions as he found
them during his visit in France Lieu?
tenant Pierce emphasized the fact that
Germany is still unbeaten and that the
task of winning the war depends now
almost entirely on what is accom?
plished by the United States in the
course of the next twelve months.
He declared that the people of
France were making a gallant fight
under tremendous burdens, and assert?
ed that the work of the American lied
Cross in maintaining the morale of the
French people had been of incalculable
value.
Mr. Prosser during the course of his
remarks defended Wall Street against
the charge of profiteering.
"I heard the other day," he said,
"that out in Minnesota there is a man
trying to get tho Republican nomina?
tion for Governor, and 1 understand
he has expressed himself th. t this war
was brought on for the profit of peo?
ple of means, and suggested a great
many ulterior motives as to why it
should be done, and he has done it in
print, and that is a dreadful thing in
these times. Politics is all right if you
want to play politics, but these are not
the times in which to play politics.
There is so much evidence that fellows
like you have stood tip and taken the
punch and are breaking your necks in.
every way to help this government. It
is not fair, gentlemen, and every time
we get a chance we want to say some?
thing for the fair name of this Street.
"1 don't know how many of you have
heard of it, but hero is a practical il?
lustration that I want to give to you.
1 heard a lot of this talk about this
being a rich man's war, and that the
poor fellow was fighting it, and the
rich man profiting by it, and it oc?
curred to me that I would make a sur?
vey of the Bankers' Trust Company
Building from the top to tho bottom
and find out what tenants we have in
there. I think you will all agree that
the general type of tenants of the
Bankers' Trust Company Building
would be as typical of Wall Street as
any building there, because it is a
high-class building, ?.nd it is typical.
"I decided that I would find out if
wo had any tenants there with'n the
draft age, what they were doing, if
they had any sons of tenants, and
what they were doing. We went from
the roof of that building right down
through, and we found that there was
not a tenant in that building within
the draft age that was not now serv?
ing the government; there was not a
son of a tenant in the building that
was not in the service, and we further
found that there was not one of them
that went in under the draft. That is
a pretty good answer, gentlemen."
When thi? Germans began firing on
Paris with their seventy-five-mile gun
Mr. Prosser was in the French capita!.
"I was interested to see." said he,
"what the effect of the thing was. In
the first place the effect on Paris?I
don't think 1 could give you a better
parallel than to say that Paris felt
about those projectiles arriving there
just about the same way that New
York feels about these submarines
that have been discovered off our
coast."
Urges Jews Form
Palestine Republic
Three hundred delegates from all
parts of the United States and Canada,
j representing more 'than a quarter of
a million Jews, attended a mass-meet?
ing of the Jewish Labor Congress, now
in Bession, in the Centrul Opera House
last night. They had assembled to lis?
ten to a discussion of the plun3 for the
rehabilitation of Palestine.
Of greatest interest was the appeal
for an independent Jewish republic,
made by Dr. C. H. Zhitlowskey. in the
course of a paper which was read for
him. Dr. Zhitlowskey is known to Jews
; throughout the world as a philosopher,
! and while in Russia, which he left only
l a short time ago, he was a prominent
j supporter of Kerensky.
In his address Dr. Zhitlowskey advo
I cated full political independence for
the Jews in Palestine. He urged that
1 the Jews with their own hands and
| by their own works again raise their
? name to the position in 'the world it
should occupy as being the first among
; the nations to proclaim the ideals of
i social justice arid everlasting peace.
The opening sessions of the Labor
i Congress were helu yesterday morning.
( Jews hail the congress us an epoch
in their history. Tt was organized sole?
ly for the purpose of aiding in the re?
habilitation of Palestine.
Among the plans to be perfected is
the establishment of a Jewish national
loan. The congress will continue to?
day and 'to-morrow.
Food Prices to
The Consumer
Does Patriotism or Price Rule Menus?
What the Market Offers of Meat and Fruit
and Vegetables
By Anne Lewis Pierce, Director Tribune Institute
AN APPRECIATION
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Allow me to tell you that what the director of The Tribune Institut?
does not know about market prices, etc., would fill volumes. And, pray
wlial kind of a noise is she making when she says that "the people of
New York are not usine: 50 per cent of their usual amount of meat .
because "it sticks in the throat of the average American when he re?
flect? that he may be eating some soldier's ration." Is she insane or
what? She knows perfectly well why less meat is eaten by 90 per cent
of u.s; also why families are to-day spending S2 and $3 for a Sunday
roast without giving our soldiers any thought.
How in the name of common sense can we deprive them of anything
when the government takes what it wants for them? If we do not cat
what is left in the shops, will it not spoil? As to veal: those of us who
eat it do so because it is cheap, and I defy any one to say that it is for
patriotic reasons. Only a fanatic would connect veal with patriotism.
For my part the government can take every pound of meat in the
c'ty as long as it leaves me something els'*; but why I should not eat beef
while it is here is more than you or Miss Pierce can tell me.
As to prices?she is 'way off, as all those "experts" usually are. She
copies the prices from bulle:ins, but I buy the stuff, and I want to tell
you that her prices are misleading. If I am the only one who writes you
thus, it is merely for the reason that mos; people do not take these ad?
visers seriously and "let them rave."
Their "hints" are of no more value than the "food prices" that were
printed last winter, and were later discontinued because they were more
conducive to insanity than the most cryptic time tables.
JULIUS REICH,
121 Vermilyea Ave.
P. S.?Of course you won't print this letter, not being complimen
tary to your policy. You are no better than the "rest of 'em."
We entirely agree with Mr. Reich that price has an effect on the
i.mount of meat and of chicken and of veal bought, and vice versa. This
does not alter the fact at all that even the reduced amounts of meat com?
ing into the market do not move, and other things which cost as much or
mere are sold. Also expensive cuts, which would naturally be bought by
those who could afford the price, are particularly not in demand. To such
an extent is this true that porterhouse and sirloin steaks have been sell
it,g for less than round. Furthermore, even the average man, and es?
pecially the laborer, is making higher wages than ever before and is bet?
ter able to buy meat, even at the advanced price.
Suffice it to say that the prices giver, in the market column and the
comments on the conditions of the wholesale market are based on the ob?
servations of a number of officials who give their time exclusively to this
work, and so, presumably, cover the matter quite as thoroughly as Mr.
Reich.
The comments on the meat market wore made by the meat expert of
the Federal Bureau of Markets, and the Tribune Institute neither copies
bulletins nor prints prices without buying We get the latest possible
reports by messenger from the officials charged with such work, and we
supplement this by actual purchases on the day the column is prepared
at Washington Market and nearby stores.
Wholesale fish prices are obtained by telephone from the Fulton Mar?
ket, checked by the reports of the Federal Food Board and by personal
shopping in the Washington Market and adjoining retail stores.
So much for jumping at conclusions. And so much for all pes?
simists who find it impossible to believe that the American people are
wi.Iing to guide their appetites by their patriotism. Mr. Hoover, among
others, agrees with The Tribune Institute and differs with Mr. Reich on
this point, and has based his entire food propaganda on a belief in the
active, intelligent conscience of democracy. Also Mr. Hoover has "lasted
longer" than any other Food Administrator on record, albeit he has prob?
ably the biggest and most difficult problem of all.
Enormous quantities of food are being shipped now. From the West,
where "grub staking a pal" is part of one's religion, to the East, where
hospitality is a fine art, Americans, with few exceptions, are cooperating
to prove that America is both able and eager to play host to the world
in its need. There are figures to prove it
General Market Conditions
Fish
ALL is as it should be in the fish market, with the exception of the
few retail dealers who insist on asking 12 or 15 cents for whiting
for which they paid only 2 cents. Even the whiting cannot be
expected to make himself generally beloved with such a handicap as this,
for you can get haddock and flounder for 15 cents and mackerel for 20
to 25. In a chain store the whiting was properly sold for <3 cents a pouni
It should not cost more than 8 or 9.
While the fish receipts have been mort satisfactory this week, both
ns to quality and amount, consumption has kept up with supply and in
creased amounts have been sold. Another indication, we venture to
bc-lieve, of intelligent and patriotic buying. Porgies and croakers are
among other fish that are cheap and good.
Meat?
There has been little change in the meat market, the receipts being
even smaller than last week, when 50 per cent of the normal was recorded.
The export figures are proportionately increased, and the home buyer
is falling back on veal, lamb and mutton. Lamb is somewhat more rea?
sonable than last week.
It is thought that even pork will soon be more plentiful and cheaper
than beef.
We are urged to eat sweetbreads, livers, kidneys, brains, etc., v?hich
are not available for shipping.
Sirloin steaks are selling at 38 cents in the city market, and round
at 40; roast beef at 30 to 35 and stew meat at 34 cents. Using the chops
as a basis of comparison, lamb is offered at 35 to 38, pork chops at 35 and
veal chops at 28 cents. Poultry is no cheaper; 42 cents for fowl and 35
to 38 for chicken. Obviously, fish, veal and eggs are the meats to eat,
with possibly a little lamb or mutton.
Vegetable? and Fruits
The vegetables and fruits that are really oversupplied are ne*
potatoes, new onions, asparagus and string beans. Notwithstanding which
string beans are 20 cents a pound and asparagus 35 to 40 cents a bunch,
v.hile the new potatoes and new onions are 15 cents a quart (about 5-6
cents a pound).
Cucumbers, peaches, peas, peppers, rhubarb and carrots are plenti?
ful. Cantaloupes, cabbages, sweet potatoes, artichokes and dewberries are
arriving in small quantities.
The quality of the tomatoes has been very unequal and the supply
only moderate, which has kept the price up for good stock.
Cabbage gave an example of the effect of supply and demand on
price last week, when large amounts were rece'ved. There were rela?
tively few purchases and the price vent down to 1 cent a pound and le*
in the wholesale market. This week there have been few receipts; the
wholesale price has gone up to 3.5 cents a pound, and cabbages are hard to
? find in the retail market, where they may cost anywhere from 5 to 8
cents a pound.
Georgia peaches are plentiful and are improving in qualitv and si?
daily. Thirty cents a quart is the price quoted in Washington Market.
Cantaloupes are 20 cents each, and pineapples 30 cents for the large
size. Heavy shipments of New Jersey and New York strawberries are
being received. They are of exceptionally fine quality, very large and
are selling at higher prices than last year?18 to 1:5 cents a quart whole?
sale and 25 to 32 cents retail.
Tribune Institute Consumers' Cooperative Clubs
(U. S. Food Administration License G-67333)
EGGS have again gone up a little and the price to the Consumer?'
Clubs is 42 cents a dozen for the best grade, candied for quality
The second selection eggs, perfectly good for cooking, mav be ha?
for 37 cents. These compare favorably with the "straight candled" egfa
| so called, offered on the market for 44 to 46 cents. Bought in case Iot3
: (30 dozen each), the club price is 3G cents a dozen.
Butter, pasteurized print, highest grade, is 48 cents a pound. To?
; butter of a somewhat lower grade is quoted by the Federal Food Bo?*1
i at 50 cents a pound.
VI e are especially urged to eat beans and to save wheat. Pried"!*?*
beans are offered to the club members in five-pound packages at 15 <cntt
a pound, a saving of about 4 tents a pound; pink beans at 11 cents*
pound, a saving of 8 cents as compared with navy beans.
In 25-pound, packages large prunes may be had at 15 cents ; small on??
: at 12 cents a pound. The average commercial prices on these grao?4
: would be 19 and 13 cent?.
The telephone number of the Club Service Station is
MORNINGSIDE 7704, 7795 OR 8775.
I The market column vriil appear o n Saturday*.