We desire to register with you a most decided and emphatic objection to the passage of this bill. We can not understand how the majority of the manufacturers and contractors will be able to do Government work at all, or even figure on same if this bill should be allowed to become a law. It would certainly be impossible for the average manufacturer to operate his plant eight hours per day on Government work and nine hours per day on any other work that he might have on hand. The objections to this bill certainly must be apparent to you, representing as you do a manufacturing district, and we certainly trust that you will do everything that you can to defeat it. If the great number of sensational bills opposed to the business interests of this country that are now pending before Congress and the various State assemblies shall become laws, we do not see how the result can be otherwise than that the majority of manufacturers will be compelled to close their factories, as some of the conditions that the labor unions are trying to impose on business interests are absolutely prohibitive. It seems to us that the representatives of the people in Congress should recognize the fact that the men who by their industry and ability have built up our manufacturing interests and made the United States what it is to-day are entitled to some consideration also, at least as much consideration as the irresponsible walking delegates and other representatives of irresponsible organizations who are at the present time so persistent in urging the enactment of pernicious legislation. Very truly, yours, THE MCMYLER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Per H. H. HAMMOND. [The McConway and Torley Company, malleable and steel castings.] Hon. JAMES FRANCIS BURKE, M. C., Washington, D. C. PITTSBURG, PA., February 29, 1908. DEAR SIR: We understand that the fight for an eight-hour bill has again been taken up, and the H. R. 15651, introduced by Mr. Gardner, is practically a renewal of the measures of the McComas and Hitt eight-hour bills of the Fiftyseventh and Fifty-eighth Congresses. We believe that you are fully alive to the fact that any such legislation would be extremely harmful and distasteful to the manufacturing interests of this locality, and we are confident that you will do everything that lies in your power to defeat any favorable consideration of this measure. We believe that any legislation along this line is pernicious and contrary to the spirit of the Constitution; that every man should be free to elect how many hours he will work (if he is fortunate enough to have any work to do); that it would be just as logical to legislate on what and how much he should eat or what portion of time he should devote to amusement as to limit how many hours he should labor for the benefit of himself and family. Thanking you in advance for your good services in combatting such a fallacious doctrine, we are, Yours, truly, THE MCCONWAY & TORLEY Co., [The Milburn Wagon Company.] TOLEDO, OHIO, February 29, 1908. Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: We understand that House bill 15651 is now before the House Labor Committee. This bill specifies for eight-hour-a-day work in all cases on Government supplies, and we want to register a complaint against the passage of this bill. There is hardly a week but what we get requests from the Government for prices on wagons of some kind for some department, and if this bill is passed it would mean that we would have to discontinue furnishing the Government with any more of their supplies in our line. We think this is true with every wagon factory in the United States. Unfortunately wagon factories can not be run satisfactorily during the night, and it is necessary that all work be done in the daytime. During busy times eight hours a day is not a satisfactory day's run. It is almost necessary in this line of business to run factories during busy times ten hours a day, and while the passage of this bill would work some hardship on us, inasmuch as we would have to discontinue bidding on Government specifications, it would work a much greater hardship upon the Government, because there is no wagon factory in the United States that could handle the vehicle business of the Government, because they all run ten hours. We believe the passage of this bill would be a great mistake, and would cost the Government a great deal of money. Yours, very truly, THE MILBURN WAGON Co., [Morris Machine Works.] Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, BALDWINSVILLE, N. Y., February 29, 1908. Chairman House Labor Committee, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: We desire to enter our protest against the passage of your eighthour bill (H. R. 15651). It is needless for us to enter into a discussion of this bill or give any reasons for our objections to it, which are apparent. We desire to put ourselves upon record as decidedly opposed to it. We trust that you will vote against it when same comes up in the House. Yours, truly, MORRIS MACHINE WORKS, [Merritt & Co.] Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, CAMDEN, N. J., February 27, 1908. Chairman House Committee on Labor, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: At our Camden (N. J.) plant we employ several hundred men in the manufacture of steel specialties, such as lockers, shelving, etc., and furnish a considerable quantity of these goods to various branches of the United States Government. Our plant regularly operates on a basis of fifty-four hours per week, and if an eight-hour bill is enacted by Congress it will result in our enforcing a large increase in price or in our giving up entirely the doing of Government work. The question is not by any means a simple one, as some of the advocates of the eight-hour day would have it appear, for the component parts of most of our goods are made up in large quantities and are then taken from the storeroom to be assembled in the finished articles as occasion may require. To make these parts in small quantities, working only eight hours a day on Government contracts, would be almost out of the question, and we feel that an eight-hour law would not only work a great hardship on every manufacturer who supplies goods to the United States Government, but would result in the latter having to pay prices so much higher as to be out of all proportion to the benefits which would accrue to a small body of working people at the expense of the entire nation. Will you be good enough to register our emphatic protest against the passage of the eight-hour bill now pending? Yours, truly, MERRITT & Co.. [Modern Heating Company.] ST. LOUIS, Mo., February 27, 1998. Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, Chairman House Labor Committee, Washington, D. C. SIR: We understand that Gardner bill, H. R. 15651, the object of which is to enact a general eight-hour per day labor law, is shortly to come before Congress for consideration. We write to protest against this proposed legislation, and sincerely hope it will not have your sanction or approval. It is obviously a measure devised by the unionized labor element of the country to further their own interests at the expense of the employing class, whom they seek to control to an extent that is beyond endurance. We regard this proposed law as undemocratic and unAmerican, inasmuch as it seeks to place in irresponsible hands a large measure of the private interests of business men. We consider it an indisputable right, conferred on us by the constitutional laws of our country, to regulate our business as we see fit, so long as we do not encroach on the same rights of others. This right extends to our relations with those whom we may employ, and therefore we feel that our rights as American citizens would be unwarrantably interfered with by any such legislation as is proposed by Gardner bill, H. R. 15651, in question. We therefore urge upon you that you vote against this bill, embodying as it does undeniable features of class legislation which should be opposed by all fair-minded men, especially those in the responsible and honorable position occupied by you. Yours, very respectfully, MODERN HEATING CO., [Majestic Manufacturing Company, malleable and charcoal iron ranges.] Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, Washington, D. C. ST. LOUIS, March 3, 1908. DEAR SIR: My attention has been called to House bill 15651, affecting the relations of employer and laborer, and we sincerely hope this bill may be defeated. It would seem on the face of it to be unconstitutional in the judgment of almost any lawyer. It is a dangerous bill and would certainly bring more trouble than almost anything that had been submitted to your committee for years. We hope you will do your best to defeat it. R. H. STOCKTON. [The Macey Company.] MARCH 14, 1908. CHAIRMAN OF LABOR COMMITTEE, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. SIR: We are advised that your committee is now considering labor legislation, and especially the eight-hour question. We employ large forces of labor, both sexes. We are not opposed to unions as such, and we have never had strikes or labor troubles of any kind, but we are opposed to an eight-hour law, because we believe it would be an economic fallacy so long as other industrial nations with whom we are in competition do not observe like or similar practices. Such legislation would, in our opinion, retard the development of export trade, and compel the adoption of still higher tariff rates to protect our home markets against foreign competition. We also believe that such legislation would not prove beneficial to labor, because its effects tend toward higher costs, restricted markets, and restricted opportunities for the employment of labor. We firmly believe that all such class legislation should be avoided. Our ultimate rank as an industrial people will depend upon our efficiency as a whole, and the efficiency of labor in particular. It is a notable fact that labor efficiency has been decreasing in proportion as labor legislation has been increasing. Industries dependent upon efficient labor are being driven to desperation, and meet with difficulty in obtaining capital because the attitude of labor agitators is inconsistent, selfish, and at variance with every known economic law. Yours, very truly, THE MACEY COMPANY, By O. H. L. WERNICKE, President. [The McRae & Roberts Company, brass goods.] Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, DETROIT, March 3, 1908. Chairman House Committee on Labor, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: We desire to write a protest against a bill which is under bill H. R. 15651. We have looked over the subject of this bill, and as we are not in favor of the eight-hour system, either with the parties employed by the United States or in our factory and business places, we desire to have you see to it that this bill is not reported out of the committee. We remain, yours, very truly, THE MCRAE & ROBERTS Co., H. B. ANTHONY, Secretary and Treasurer. [J. S. Mundy, hoisting, mining, and mud dredging engines.] Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, Washington, D. C. NEWARK, N. J., March 20, 1908. MY DEAR SIR: I see by the papers that there are several labor bills up before Congress asking for laws to be passed in the interest of organized labor to legalize some of their methods that is nothing much short of anarchy, to drive manufacturers and others out of business and ruin the business interests of the country. This they have been trying to do with me since the 10th day of last May, when there was a strike declared against my works along the lines of unreasonable demands that I could not allow, since which time the International Association of Machinists have had my works picketed to try and prevent anyone from getting employment, have assaulted and beaten my employees, and have tried in every way possible in their power to get trades unions of other lines of work to boycott my machinery, and in fact, have done everything to ruin my business and put me out. I have practically got them whipped out and can not and will not concede to their unreasonable demands, if I am compelled to close my works. Therefore, I would urge you to be very careful how you vote in favor of any labor organization bill or any employees' liability bill, as this is something that never should exist. I have had men in my employ that have deliberately without any cause whatever, injured themselves and then turned around and wanted me to pay them damages. One man deliberately put his foot under a roller; another knocked down a small measuring stick one-half inch thick by 14 inches wide and about 5 feet long from a side wall, and when the end struck a bench and this little stick fell over on him, he took off his derby hat and scratched his scalp with his finger nails until some blood showed, and said, "Begorry, I am hurted," and deliberately walked out and brought a suit for damages. I was blowing the condensed water out of a boiler one day, when a man walking along the sidewalk deliberately walked through it and then said he was scalded and went off and brought a suit for damages. So, you see the danger that we are up against by these people who deliberately injure themselves, as the majority of the trolley-car cases are where men and women both throw themselves from the cars on purpose and claim injury to get damages. Twenty-five years ago such a thing was almost unheard of; at the present day it is of hourly occurrence and there are many lawyers who make their living by this kind of blood money that are known as ambulance chasers, and wherever there is a party injured, you will sometimes see three or four of them chasing the ambulance to get the case for damages. I beg of you, vote against any bill and every bill that may be up along the lines of these treacherous, outrageous, anarchistic legislation that is now up before the National Congress along these lines, to drive the industry of the country to the wall. Yours, respectfully, J. S. MUNDY. P. S.-The strike against my works is still on, and pickets still on duty. [Mankato Lime, Stone, and Fuel Company.] CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, MANKATO, MINN., March 20, 1908. Washington, D. C.: In regard to bill II. R. 15651, introduced in Congress by Representative Gardner, would say I would be ever so much pleased to have the proper Con gressmen work against this bill, as I feel that it will be a great harm to the country at large, and should be left down, as little of the eight-hour system as is now in force is a great harm to all concerned. Yours truly, [Minneapolis Electric and Construction Company.] A. BASHAW. MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., March 20, 1908. Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, M. C., Member of Committee on Labor, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: Our attention has been called to H. R. 15651, a bill limiting the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed on Government work, now pending in Congress. After carefully reading the bill we are forced to the conclusion that this is an inopportune time for the introduction and passing of measures like the bill referred to. We do not find merit enough in the bill to entitle it to a place on the statute books, but we believe its passage would only tend to widen the breach between employer and employee, prevent the advancement of skilled labor, and increase cost of production. It is unfortunate that labor leaders have directed their organizations in ways that subvert the laws of right and justice, and we think there should be a stay in legislation outlined by them until such organizations can abide by the laws we now have. We believe a skilled laborer should always have the opportunity to make the most of his attainments and should be individually free to make such contracts as he deems best for his employment. We think the best interests of the country would be subserved if the bill referred to was not reported favorably. Trusting that expressions from the people on any public question are always acceptable, we remain, Very respectfully, yours, MINNEAPOLIS ELECTRIC AND CONSTRUCTION Co., By W. C. THOMPSON. [Moore & Wyman Elevator and Machine Works.] Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. BOSTON, March 23, 1908. DEAR SIR: We believe that the Gardner eight-hour bill now before your committee if passed will severely handicap a large number of manufacturing industries throughout the country, and we urge you to vote against it. Respectfully, yours, MOORE & WYMAN ELEVATOR AND MACHINE WORKS, [J. M. Marston & Co., machinery.] BOSTON, MASS., March 23, 1908. Hon. JOHN J. GARDNER, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: We believe that the Gardner eight-hour bill now before your committee, if passed, will severely handicap a large number of manufacturing industries throughout the country, and we urge you to vote against it. Yours, very truly, 32796-08- -55 J. M. 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