Page:EB1922 - Volume 32.djvu/934

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
902
UNWIN—URUGUAY

the Waters-Pierce Co. In the same year he effected the merger of the Utah Copper Co. with the Boston Consolidated and the Nevada Consolidated Co.'s involving more than $100,000,000. In 1912, as counsel to the Kaliwerke Aschersleben and the Disconte Gesellschaft in the controversy arising out of the con- trol of the potash industry by the German Government, he assisted in bringing about a settlement. In 1903 he undertook the first judicial exposure of " high finance " in connexion with the failure of the U.S. Shipbuilding Co., organized only a year before as a consolidation of the larger shipbuilding companies in America including that subsequently known as the Bethle- hem Steel Co. As a result of the sensational exposures connected with that company a reorganization was effected under the name of the Bethlehem Steel Co., in which Mr. Untermyer became a large shareholder. After this he conducted a number of similar exposures. In 1911 he delivered an address, entitled, " Is There a Money Trust? " which led the following year to an investiga- tion in which he appeared as counsel, by the Committee on Banking and Currency of the Federal House of Representatives. This so-called Pujo Money Trust Investigation resulted in the passage of a mass of remedial legislation. Mr. Untermyer for years agitated before Congress and state Legislatures such measures as the compulsory regulation of stock exchanges. He for many years conducted agitations and wrote magazine articles dealing with reforms in the criminal laws, the regulation of trusts and combinations and other economic subjects. He was counsel for many reorganization committees, including those of the Seaboard Air Line, the Rock Island railway, the Central Fuel Oil Co., and the Southern Iron and Steel Co. In 1915 he acted as one of the counsel for the U.S. Government in the suit brought against the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comp- troller of the Currency by the Riggs National Bank of Washing- ton, B.C., which charged there was a conspiracy to wreck it; the defendants were cleared. He took an active part in prepar- ing the Federal Reserve Bank law, the Clayton bill, the Federal Trade Commission bill, and other legislation curbing trusts. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1904, 1908, 1912, and delegate-at-large for the state of New York in 1916. He was a strong supporter of President Wilson's administration. After America entered the World War he was adviser to the Treasury Department regarding the interpreta- tion of the income tax and the excess profits tax laws. He was appointed by President Wilson to serve on the U.S. section of the International High Commission, which sat at Buenos Aires, in 1916, for the purpose of framing uniform laws for the Pan- American countries. In 1920-1 he was counsel for the Lockwood Committee, appointed by the state Legislature to investigate an alleged conspiracy among the building trades of New York City. It was charged that labour leaders were using their power by extorting bribes for the prevention of strikes, by preventing independent bids and by forcing building awards to favourites. Many illegal acts were disclosed and numerous convictions secured. Robert P. Brindell, who was at the head of the labour council of the building trades with a membership of 115,000 was prosecuted by Mr. Untermyer, who conducted the case in per- son as a special attorney-general, and convicted of extortion and sentenced to from five to ten years in state prison. At the end of 1921, when the prosecutions were being continued, more than 600 indictments had been found as a result of the investiga- tion and many more were said to be impending. There were more than 200 convictions including pleas of guilty by employers, labour leaders and others and over $500,000 had been collected in fines. In connexion with the exposure of abuses and acts of illegality among the labour unions, all unions in the state were required, under the threat of criminal prosecution and of sub- mitting to incorporation, to amend their constitutions and by- laws by eliminating these abuses; this they all agreed to do. It was shown that in many of the building trades both manufac- turers and dealers, often with the collusive aid of labour leaders, had organized to fix prices and prevent competition. Subse- quent prosecutions established the fact that these and other unfair practices were an important element in preventing build-

ing operations and increasing rental charges for dwelling property. Public opinion, especially in view of the housing shortage, reacted sharply to these revelations, and it was felt that Mr. Untermyer's work in this connexion had been performed with admirable public spirit, energy and courage. It was generally believed, moreover, that the evils brought to light by the com- mittee were not confined to New York, and a demand for similar investigations arose in other parts of the country.

Mr. Untermyer was an ardent believer in the Zionist move- ment and was President of the Koren Hayesod, the agency through which the movement was conducted in America.


UNWIN, RAYMOND (1863- ), English architect, was born at Rotherham, Yorks, in 1863, and educated at Magdalen College school, Oxford. He received his earlier training in an engineer's j office and later as an architect. He was for many years asso- , ciated in practice with Barry Parker in Buxton. Interesting himself more particularly in housing as a social question he acquired a reputation as an authority on the laying-out and designing of " Garden-Cities," being responsible for the first English example at Letchworth. The planning of many other garden suburbs, villages and estates was carried out from his designs. Amongst th'em are the layout and buildings at New Earswick, Yorks, for the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust, and the Hampstead Garden Suburb in the N.W. district of London. In 1914 he was appointed the first chief town-planning inspector to the Local Government Board, and, immediately on the out- break of the World War, director of the housing branch under the Ministry of Munitions. Here he was responsible for the layout of many buildings for the new township of Gretna, and for Mancot Village, Queensferry, and much other work. He alsol during the war served on departmental committees dealing with small holding buildings, building by-laws, and building j materials research. After the war he was appointed chief archi- tect dealing with site planning, and, subsequently, deputy director of housing, under the Ministry of Health. He published | Town-planning in Practice (translated into French and German), and (with Barry Parker) The Art of Building a House.


URUGUAY (see 27.805). The pop. at the end of 1918, the latest figure available, was 1,429,585. This represented a growth of 34% since 1908. The average density increased from 12-9 per sq. m. in 1908 to 19-2 in 1918, the latter being greater than that of any other S. American country.

The administration of President Claudio Williman (1907-11) marked a definite period of progress and stabilization. Since no serious armed attempt was made to overthrow the Govern- ment, its efforts could be largely concentrated on educa- tional progress and internal development. The first child-labour legislation was adopted, the death penalty abolished and a model penitentiary and a tuberculosis sanitarium were estab- lished. The Agronomical Institute of the university of Monte- video, which was opened on Sept. 15 1906, developed into a National Agricultural College modelled on the best European 1 and U.S. institutions, and distracted the attention of the rising' generation from revolution as a profession. The first chilled meat plant was opened in 1907, and a large and thoroughly modern packing and freezing plant at Montevideo in 1912. In 1920 Uruguay had two freezing plants, 13 salting plants, three canning and three tongue-preserving factories and a large factory for liquid extract of meat. Through rail communication between Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro was completed in 1911 by the connexion of various railways in southern Brazil, and so increased the points of contact between Brazil and Uruguay.

The social and educational progress of the country continued during the second administration of Jose Battle y Ordonez ( i ru i 15), who succeeded Williman. Hours of labour were further regulated, a National Insurance Bank was established and many experts were brought from the United States and Europe (o advance various phases of education, particularly industrial and agricultural. The first S. American International Conference of Agricultural Defence was held at Montevideo on May 2 1913, and $200,000 annually was appropriated for free seeds for farmers. A law of July 12 1911 set aside Sioo.ooo