July 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



549 



MANUFACTURERS PROTEST AGAINST LEGISLA- 

 TIVE DISCRIMINATION. 



"IN conjunction with leaders in other lines of American in- 

 ■* dusty, nianj' rubber manufacturers have sent their protests 

 to their respective senators and congressmen against the 

 legislation now being considered in Washington exempting 

 members of labor organizations from the operation of cer- 

 tain provisions in the anti-trust laws. The secretary of the 

 Rubber Club of .America has brought this matter to the 

 intention of the firm members of the club, mentioning par- 

 ticularly these objectionable features of the measures dis- 

 criminating in favor of labor: 



(1) The provision in the Sundry Civil Appropriation bill 

 Un which $300,000 is appropriated for enforcing the anti- 

 trust laws the coming year) that any of this money shall not 

 be spent in prosecuting labor organizations combining to 

 increase wages, shorten hours of labor or improve labor con- 

 ditions, or farmers who organize to obtain "fair and reason- 

 able prices for their products." 



(2) Section 7 of the Clayton bill providing that labor and 

 agricultural organizations shall not be held to be illegal 

 combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade under the 

 anti-trust laws. 



(3) Section 18 of the Clayton bill which would prevent 

 the courts from using the ordinary process of injunction 

 against certain specified methods employed by labor unions 

 in conducting strikes, such as the boycott, picketing, persua- 

 sion of employes who may not wish to listen, etc. The 

 power to issue injunctions is to be limited only in the case 

 of disputes between employers and employes. 



He has also mailed to the firm members of the club a sheet, 

 called ".Appendix B," issued by the Chamber of Commerce 

 of the United States, giving the exact language of the para- 

 graphs in the pending bills, referred to above, — which arc as 

 follows: 



EXACT PROVISIONS OF PENDING BILLS. 

 Sundry Civil Bill Provision. 



(H. R. 17041. Making appropriations for sundry civil expenses 

 of the Government.) 

 "Enforcement of anti-trust laws: For the enforcement of anti- 

 trust laws, including not exceeding $10,000 for salaries of neces- 

 sary employes at the seat of government, $300,000 : Provided, 

 however, that no part of this money shall lie spent in the pros- 

 ecution of any organization or individual for entering into any 

 cninbination or agreement having in view the increasing of wages, 

 shortening of hours or bettering the conditions of labor, or for 

 any act done in furtherance thereof, not in itself unlawful : 

 Provided further, that no part of this appropriation shall be ex- 

 pended for the prosecution of producers of farm products and 

 associations of farmers who co-operate and organize in an effort 

 to and for the purpose to obtain and maintain a fair and reason- 

 able price for their products." 



Clayton Bill. 

 (Section 7, Paragraph 1.) 



"That nothing contained in the anti-trust laws shall be con- 

 strued to forbid the existence and operation of fraternal, labor, 

 consumers, a.gricultural or horticultural organizations, orders, or 

 associations instituted for tlie purposes of mutual help, and not 

 having capital stock or conducted for profit, or to forbid or re- 

 strain individual members of such organizations, orders or asso- 

 ciations from carryin.g out the legitimate objects thereof; nor 

 shall such organizations, orders or associations, or the members 

 tliereof, be held or construed to be illegal combinations or con- 

 spiracies in restraint of trade, under the anti-trust laws." 



Cl.\yton Bill. 

 (Section 18 — Injunctions.) 



"That no restraining order or injunction shall be .granted by 

 any court of the United States, or a judge or the judges thereof, 

 in any case between an employer and employes, or between em- 

 ployers and employes, or between employes, or between persons 

 employed and persons seeking employment, involving, or grow- 



ing out of, a dispute concerning terms or conditions of employ- 

 ment, unless necessary to prevent irreparable injury to property, 

 or to a property right, of the party making the application, for 

 which injury there is no adequate remedy at law, and such prop- 

 erty or property right must be described with particularity in the 

 application, whicli must be in writing and sworn to by the appli- 

 cant or by his agent or attorney. 



"And no such restraining order or injunction shall prohibit 

 any person or persons from terminating any relation of employ- 

 ment, or from ceasing to perform any work or labor, or from 

 recommending, advising or persuading others by peaceful means 

 so to do ; or frorn attending at or near a house or place where 

 any person resides or works, or carries on business or happens 

 to be, for the purpose of peacefully obtaining or communicating 

 information, or of peacefully persuading any person to work or 

 to alistain from working; or from ceasing to patronize or to em- 

 I)Ioy any party to such dispute, or from recommending, advising 

 or persuading others by peaceful means so to do; or from paying 

 or giving to, or withholding from, any person engaged in such 

 dispute, any strike benefits or other moneys or things of value ; 

 or from peacefully assembling at any place in a lawful manner, 

 and for lawful purposes; or from doing any act or thing which 

 might lawfully be done in the absence of such dispute by any 

 party thereto; nor shall any of the acts specified in this paragraph 

 be considered or held unlawful." 



The secretary also encloses another document, issued by 

 the Chamber of Commerce, entitled ".Appendix A," which 

 briefly describes the Sherman act and recites the history of 

 the legislation recently passed, and that now being consid- 

 ered, intended to so change the provisions of the Sherman 

 act that in many respects members of labor and agricultural 

 organizations will be exempt from its operation. 



Any member of the trade who has not received this com- 

 munication from the secretary of the Rubber Club would do 

 well to write to the Chamber of Commerce of the United 

 States of America, Washington, D. C, for these two docu- 

 ments, "Appendix A" and "Appendix B." 



TRADE OPPORTUNITIES FROM CONSULAR REPORTS. 



Mr. G. H. Dunn, of Cape Town, South .Africa, in the United 

 States for the purpose of securing representation of American 

 manufacturers, is especially interested in india rubber duck, imi- 

 tation leather, and trimmings for carriages suitable for the South 

 .African trade. Mr. Dunn may be addressed at the branch office 

 of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 315 Custom 

 House, New York. Report No. 13,155. 



-A report from an .American consular officer states that a com- 

 pany in his district desires to be placed in communication with 

 .American manufacturers of bandages, corsets, rubber and 

 caoutchouc articles in connection with hygiene, braces, and any 

 novelties likely to find good sale in the country in question; in- 

 quirer paying cash for all goods. Correspondence should be in 

 Russian if possible^othcrwise in German, or correspondence in 

 English forwarded to the consular officer will be translated and 

 sent to the inquirer. Report No. 13,167. 



-An -American consul in Spain reports that a resident of his 

 district desires prices on American tennis rackets and balls. 

 Full information as to gross and net w-eights is necessary, in order 

 that he may figure duties, etc., and correspondence, catalogs and 

 discount sheets should be in Spanish. Report No. 13,222. 



There is a demand in a European country for heavy rubber 

 overshoes, which are now^ being used extensively. An American 

 consular officer has forwarded a report on this subject, together 

 with names of local dealers who have expressed a desire to be 

 put in touch with American manufacturers, and a copy of this 

 report may be obtained from the Bureau of Foreign and Domes- 

 tic Commerce, Washington. Report No. 13,230. 



A report from an American consular officer in Manchuria 

 states that a local business man is in a position to answer in- 

 quiries from American firms interested in talc and its possible 

 importation in regard to a deposit of a fine grade of this mineral 

 in Manchuria and in regard to possible shipments to the United 

 States. Report No. 13,233. 



