The Granite Controversy at Port Orchard
Seattle labor organizers protest the use of British Columbia rock for a U.S. Navy contract.
The story, cleaned up
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The Trades' Council claims that J.L. Fox, a British subject bidding from Seattle for granite work on the Port Orchard dry dock, did not notify the government that some of the samples of granite submitted were from Nelson Island, British Columbia. Fox, having secured the contract, is getting out British Columbia granite. The Trades' Council, claiming that American workmen and American granite are discriminated against on British government buildings, are interesting coast labor organizations in demanding that the Navy Department compel Fox to use superior American granite in preference to British Columbia rock.
“The Trades' Council, claiming that American workmen and American granite are discriminated against on British government buildings, are interesting coast labor organizations in demanding that the Navy Department compel Fox to use superior American granite.”
This dispute over domestic vs. imported materials on federal infrastructure projects mirrors the protectionist debates that continue to shape Seattle’s trade and labor policies today. The Port Orchard dry dock, now part of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, remains a vital piece of national defense infrastructure where similar procurement arguments persist.
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