All
these men, with the exception of their attorney, Mr. London, had cut and
sewed on the benches of the garment trade. On the other side of the table
sat the ten representatives of the manufacturers, some of them men of
wide culture and learning, versed in philosophies, and prominent members
of the Ethical Society, some of them New York financiers who had come
from East Side sweat shops. Perhaps the most eager opponent of the
closed shop in their body was a cosmopolitan young manufacturer, a
linguist and "literary" man, interested in "style" from every point of
view, who had introduced into the New York trade from abroad a
considerable number of the cloak designs now widely worn throughout
America. This man felt the keenest personal pride in his output. He is
said at one time to have remarked, _"Le cloak c'est moi"_ And, bizarre as
it may seem to an outsider, a really sincere reason of his against
accepting workmen on the recommendation of the Union was that the cloak
manufacturer as an artist should adopt toward his workers "the attitude
of Hammerstein to his orchestra." One of the manufacturers had been a
strike leader in 1896. "Your bitterest opponent of fourteen years ago
sits on the same side of the table with you now," said one of the older
cloak makers, in a deep, intense voice, as the men took their places.
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