Mr. Union Painter for Ten Years WE Have In This-YOU We Have Supported Your Interests During the past 10 years since 1912-we have used 99 more pages of advertising in your Official Journal thant the next largest advertiser. Last year (1922) we used 78 pages at a cost of approximately $8,000.00. This tremendous expenditure in one year proves our confidence in you -in your business-in your future-in your judgment. We make a complete line of Artistic Interior Finishes for the painters' needs. Our line includes Varnishes, Undercoat, Enamel, Flat Washable Wall Finish, Wood Dye, Crack Filler, Paste Wood Filler, Varnish Remover, Prepared Wax, etc. Our plant is equipped with the best, up-to-date mills and machinery and every department is in the hands of experts. This insures perfect and uniform products upon which painters can build a lasting reputation for themselves. Many painters have trouble getting the right materials at the right price. If your regular distributor cannot or will not furnish our products to you promptly and advantageously, write us and we will see that you are supplied. o You Know That the Largest Advertiser icial Journal? Are You Doing The Same for Us? You are all business men yourselves and know we canot afford to spend approximately $8,000.00 a year for dvertising space in your Journal unless we receive your upport in return. We don't expect you to use Johnson's Artistic Wood Finishes unless they are as good or better han any other brand. Nor do we expect you to pay hore for them. But we do think Union Painters should ive our preparations a trial, and that we should share your business, quality and price being equal. We urge that you read our advertisements on Johnson's namel, Johnson's Wood Dye, Perfectone Undercoat, loor Varnish, etc., and if you are interested that you fill ut and mail the coupons in this book. r write and tell us frankly just what your wood finishng troubles are. We may be able to give you some valuble advice. Our Service Department is in the hands of corps of experts. We furnish "Johnson" painters with nished wood panels, business cards and other sales elps. N & SON Authorities" Wisconsin Painters who are ambitious to start in the contracting business should write us for our plan. THOUT A LABOR DISPUTE THE LIVING WAGE IN THE COURTS HE decision of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, handed down on November 6, declaring the Minimum Wage Law of the District unconstitutional, is now available in printed form, together with a dissenting opinion by the Chief Justice of the court. Taken together these two opinions are of tremendous import. They go far toward explaining the widespread hostility of labor to the courts; they reveal the fact that the members of a single court may hold utterly conflicting theories of the law; and they disclose, on the testimony of the Chief Justice himself, the danger that an important judicial tribunal may become a prey to partisan propaganda. The majority opinion-and a majority in this case means two out of threecontains in addition to an interpretation of the law, an extraordinary pronouncement concerning wages, for which a careful study of the economic questions involved discloses no basis. "High wages," said the court in this majority opinion, "do not necessarily tend to good morals, or the promotion of the general welfare. The standard of virtue and morality is no higher among the prosperous than among the poor. Their worth cannot be measured in dollars and cents, or promoted by a legal subsidy. Never have wages been so high as since the outbreak of the late war, and never in the history of the republic has crime been so universal; and this condition, it must be conceded, has made a like unfavorable impression upon the morals of the people. A wage based upon competitive ability is just, and leads to frugality and honest industry, and inspires an ambition to attain the highest possible efficiency, while the equal wage paralyzes ambition and promotes prodigality and indolence. It takes away the strongest incentive to human labor, thrift and efficiency, and works injustice to employe and employer alike, thus affecting injuriously the whole social and industrial fabric. Experience has demonstrated that a fixed minimum wage means, in the last analysis, a fixed wage; since the employer, being compelled to advance some to a wage higher than their earning capacity, will, to equalize the cost of operation, lower the wage of the more competent to the common basis." The Chief Justice, in his dissenting opinion, scores the majority for this statement which he considers wholly gratuitous. "The question presented by these cases is not one of economics. It does not call for a decision with respect to what constitutes thrift or lack of thrift. Nor is the wisdom or non-wisdom of the statute before the court. It is no part of our function to deal with such matters, and any discussion of them is quite beside the case. Our authority is limited to the single question, Had Congress the right to pass the act? When we decide that, we decide everything we have any right to touch. All else that is said, no matter how vehemently, is merely obiter." To the sweeping statements of the majority opinion in denunciation of the minimum wage principle, the Chief Justice opposes a formidable array of facts: "Thirteen states of the union, either by a statute or a constitutional provision, Argentina, France, Great Britain, Norway, Austria, and eight provinces of Canada, by legislative acts, have provided for a minimum wage for women on the theory that it tends to safeguard their health. Students of the subject and public boards in different parts of the world have found and declared as a result of thorough investigation that minimum wage stimulates industrial efficiency and aids industrial peace, and the experience of other countries may be considered by Congress in enacting such legislation as this. Muller v. Oregon, 208 U. S., 412, 419. This shows that in the judgment of a large part of the world there is an intimate relation between a minimum wage and the public welfare." Moreover, the Chief Justice points out that his associates on the bench, in citing this Muller v. Oregon case, quoted only the following: "It is undoubtedly true, as more than once declared by this court, that the general right to contract in relation to one's business is part of the liberty of the individual, protected by the Fourteenth Amendment"; and that they omitted the concluding part of the sentence-"yet it is equally well settled that this liberty is not absolute and extending to all contracts, and that a state may, without conflicting with the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, restrict in many respects the individual's power of contract." Life and Liberty Second to Property? In a passage that will doubtless be cited many times by labor leaders and sympathizers, the majority opinion declares that of the three principles for which government exists-the protection of life, liberty, and property-the chief property, because the interference with the free use and enjoyment of property leads to anarchy and revolution. Answering, the Chief Justice says that the upholding of the Minimum Wage act would have no such evil consequences. "On the contrary I am convinced the opposite effect would be produced, because the decision would demonstrate that this government, as framed by the fathers, has ample power, and those invested with that power have the disposition, to protect the weak against the strong by administering justice to both. If the power did not exist and the government could not interfere but would have to stand supinely by while wrong dominated right, there might be some basis for the contention that a change is necessary in our institutions; but with the recognition of the power, virile and efficient, the contention loses all force it might otherwise have." The case had another serious aspect. It had been previously decided by the court in a majority opinion which upheld the act, but at that time a member of the Supreme Court of the District was sitting in the place of a member of the Court of Appeals during the latter's illness. The decision, however, was rendered after he had returned to the bench and the case was reopened on a technical point which the Chief Justice declares to be without validity, citing specific precedent in support of his statement. After reciting the events leading up to the final decision in the case, the Chief Justice says: "It would seem from the foregoing that the appellants, finding themselves defeated, sought a justice who had not sat in the case but who, they believed, would be favorable to them, and induced him, by an appeal directed to him personally, to assume jurisdiction and join with the dissenting justice in an attempt to overrule the decisions of the court. I shall not characterize such practice-let the facts speak for themselves." A False Report. During the summer a statement was published in various papers throughout the country to the effect that Miss Ethel M. Johnson, Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts, had said in an interview that $9.00 was a sufficiently large weekly wage to cover the cost of the necessities of life for a working girl. The story, though baseless, has had wide circulation, and Miss Johnson repudiates it as follows: "The article is pure fabrication. The alleged interview was published while I was on vacation. The statements ascribed to me are untrue and in no way represent my views. I have never said that $9.00 a week is sufficient to enable a working girl to meet the necessities of life and that $17 will supply her with luxuries, nor have I ever said that working girls are extravagant or that they do not know how to spend their money. I am not the author of any clothing budget or any cost of living budget. "Under the Massachusetts law, it is the wage board and not the Commission which makes recommendation as to the amount necessary for a working woman to meet the cost of living. In view of this fact, I have always refrained from expressing any personal opinion on the subject. "The reporter who is responsible for the story secured a budget prepared by an employer member of one of the Commission's wage boards and used this as the basis for the article. As the budget was not adopted by the wage board there is no excuse for its publication." PROPER USE OF SPRAY GUN HE success of spraying paints and varnishes on various kinds of surfaces has been well determined by practical experience extending over several years. The saving in time and labor is one big advantage offered by this modern and improved method of painting. Another equally big advantage is the quality of work done with the spray machine. Not only has the spray coating a greater hiding power than the brushed coating, but it is more uniform in every respect. The speed of application depends largely upon the operator. It has been found that the man who has a knowledge of paints is more successful as a spray operator than one who has not. The amount of surface covered per hour by spray is generally around 500 square feet. This means reducing the time on a job to about one-fifth of that required for hand brushing. These figures given are very conservative for the average working conditions. Cases have been recorded where on certain classes of work, such as broad surfaces and roofs, a workman has sprayed fourteen to sixteen hundred square feet per hour. This speed can be obtained as easily in the application of mill white, calcimines and lead and oil paints on interior surfaces, as in the application of mineral and lead and oil paints on the exterior. The waste of material caused from atomization generally runs around 5 per cent on broad surfaces which is no more than brush coating. The operator has a great deal to do with the amount of waste. It is found that the general run of spray operators are inclined to use too much air pressure to atomize the paint. When using a spray machine for painting houses or for maintenance work, care should be taken not to apply too heavy a coat. The best results are to be had with materials ranging from twelve to fifteen pounds per gallon mixed. Any paint over this weight should be reduced to this consistency. A small trim of two-color work and all sash work should be done with the brush. The proper amount of air pressure to be used in connection with spray painting is not the easiest thing in the world to determine, owing to the fact that various materials require a variation of air pressure, and no set rule can be given. I find that just enough air pressure should be used to cause the 28 paint to flow freely through the hose to the spraying machine. When working on the ground, a pressure of between five and ten pounds will be found sufficient to force the average material through the hose, and from thirty-five to forty-five pounds of pressure to atomize the paint at the nozzle. Too much air pressure on the paint will force more material through the nozzle than can be properly atomized, which results in "sags" and unnecessary weight in material. As to the proper distance to hold the machine from the surface to be coated, this has been found to be from six to eight inches. Extreme precaution should also be given with reference to using ordinary garden hose for paint hose. Paints passing through this class of hose continuously will cause the same to deteriorate in a very short time. Small chunks of the rubber from the hose will cause the nozzle to become clogged up, and grief starts by having to clean out the spray every hour or so, and losing a great deal of time. Nothing but a hose specially built for paint spraying should be used. Many questions have come up recently as to what kind of a respirator is most adaptable for inside painting. I have found that the only place necessary for a respirator is in very close rooms, or, the inside of tanks of various kinds which have to be coated with red lead. The best respirator for ordinary work is the one which has been gotten up by Dr. H. A. Gardner. This is suited to interior painting rather to holds of ships and tanks which require special protection. It is very difficult to get painters to use them in any case, and only in extreme cases will they wear them. Use in Industrial Work. There is a big field among the railroads and refineries for the spray machine, and from the tests which have been conducted,. it is found that painting of tank cars, also freight cars and oil storage tanks, is a complete success, and the durability of the paint applied by the sprayer is equal to that by the brush method. The cost of application in painting tank cars has been given to me by one of the leading oil companies of the Southwest, and it will give you a fair idea of the immense saving they are obtaining from this class of work, by using the spray machine. Cleaning of the tank car and painting same two coats, total cost approximately, brush method. $75.00 $21.00; against Amount of material used, 10 gallons for two coats graphite paint. On freight car painting, a test conducted in Boston showed that one operator could spray a car in practically thirty-five minutes. Amount of material used was four and three-fourths gallons of red oxide paint. It required thirty minutes to stencil the car. This brought the total time of labor up to possibly one hour and five or ten minutes. The extension pole spray is used on freight car painting, as it eliminates all staging that is necessary on this class of work when done by hand and brush. In the painting of oil storage tanks, the amount of material used varies considerably, according to the condition of the surface to be coated. For a practically new surface, one gallon of red oxide paint covers 450 square feet per gallon, with about one pint of filler to each gallon. It is recommended that a small amount of addtional driers be added, where only one coat application is made, as the average spray operator seems to have a tendency to put on an extra heavy coat if he knows that the surface is to receive only one coat, and we all know what a too heavy coat of paint will do. The best way to overcome that is to add the driers as mentioned. This, I might say, applies to all classes of oil paints, where the spray is used.-C. B. Lyons, in The Paint, Oil and Chemical Review. AN ENAMEL TO WITHSTAND GAS AND Trade announcement has been made that an intensely white enamel has been developed by the Technical Division of the Paint Department of the du Pont Company. This white enamel is designed for surfaces that are subjected to gas or fumes, such as hospitals, chemical laboratories, bakeries, rubber factories, canning plants, or for the interior of any factory or building where fumes are present. It is reported to be resistant to acids in a remarkable degree. Recently it was placed in actual contact with diluted sulphuric acid and the film remained intact after twentyfour hours' immersion. This test was more severe than is usually encountered. peated tests show also that even under accentuated conditions, its color stability is excellent. Re The company further reports that the material keeps in good condition in the container and stays in suspension well. It is adapted for either spray or brush. A solid foundation is absolutely necessary to the production of a good flatted surface. and if the result is not satisfactory it is much easier to repaint in oil than it is to attempt to get a flat finish on the already flatted surface. The distinguishing characteristic of the union label is its assurance against deception. When an article ceases to be unionmade it ceases to bear the union label. Some men Ambition is a great thing. have "hitched their wagons" to stars, and some have just sat on the seat and looked at the stars, and "hitched" to nothing! The best burnt umber is that from which a netural brown can be made. |