Hatmakers Done With Protection

At a inass meeting of the Cloth Hat and Capmakers' union in New York on June 15, over 700 men, representing twenty-eix out of the thirty shops in the city, discussed the grievance of wage reductions. It was said that during the last year several reductions in their wages at different times have made a total reduction of 70 per cent. , and that during the past f our nionths of the yeai the best men have been unable to eara more than slx dollars a week. They wili make an efïort to get wages back above starvation point. Pitiable as is the lot of these men, itip no worse than that of hatmakers elsewhere in this country since the McKinley bill came their way. A few years ago the hat faetones of Bloomfield, Wat sessing and East Orange, N. J., were prosperous and gave steady employment to hundreds of hands, nearly all of whom voted for "protection." The almost prohibitive duty on hatters' raw materials has caused the business to dwindle, until now no mili in Bloomfield is running on full time, and many of the employees have sought work in other businesses. The hatters, being intelligent men, have become enthusiastic tariff ref ormers and are preparing to form a Cleveland club.