Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-02-16
Aa,lcaster fntelligenrer.
The Wallace ArbItra tion Bill.

The Wallace Arbitration Bill.
Senator Wallace, in advocacy of the
voluntary tribunal bill which he has in-
troduced, with intent to aid the am
icable settlement of differences between
employer and employed, said great
many good and true things about the
beauty of conciliation and agreement
between capital and labor. 1t is very
good thing and, as he points out, is
quite generally appreciated by mechanics
and manufacturers. Differences arising
between them are usually settled by con
ference and dissensions as to rates OF
wages, which are the most fruitful
source of trouble, are usually set
tied by agreement upon a sliding
scale of compensation dependent
upon the price of the product ct
the combination of capital and indus
try. Too often, however, there is fail
ure of agreement the workman seeks
rate of wages which the manufacturer
cannot afford to give, or the manufac'
turer refuses fair rate which he can
afford. Generally the workman is the
unreasonable party; because skilled
labor is not so abundant in this country
that those who want it will refuse to pay
for it what they can afford. But before
long the situation may be reversed, and
the increasing number Of workmen may
put them at the mercy of the manufac,
turer here, as they are now in England ;
or as railroad employees seem TO be i'll
this country to day at the mercy of the
great corporations employing them.
The great railroad strike of 1877 which
Senator Wallace especially cites as a de-
plorabIe one, pointing out the necessity y
of the law he proposes, was not ole
which the voluntary arbitration lie pro
poses would have prevented and fer the
simple reason that the Pennsylvania
railroad management was too Stitf-neck-
ed to accept it. II had every Oprnrtu
nifty to try conci!iation with its en-
plOyeeS but it scOrned such All
exhibition of amiatle weakness. 1t felt
itself powerful enough to trample upon
its suppliants. 1t was able to concede
what they asked, and what they asked
was just. With Il corporation i'll
such temper, what chance of set
tlement does voluntary arhitratioa
give ? And by the corporation in better
temper voluntary arbitration would
be accepted, recommended 10y its
good sense alone. Certainly there
can be 20 harm in the law adding its
recommendation to thai of self-interest
and common sense but we confess that
we are unable to share Senator Wallace's
enthusiastic views as to the addition a.
potency which the advice Of the law will
give to the advice of the head. No harm
can come from Senator Wallace'S pro
posed law, and we hope that it may have
ell the virtue he sees in it. But our idea
is, that when the law steps in between
the employer and employed, it should
come with something of the authority OF
the parent, rather than with the counsel
only of the friend.
Senator Wallace says that in England
the arbitrary and wholly compulsory
methods Of the law remained Il dead let.
ter in the disputes of employer and en-
plOyed, while wholly voluntary arbitra
tiOn has been success which is just
the result we should expect. Voluntary
attempts at agreement must always
work well among sensible people a; and
*, i-n
of wholesome kind, nor apt to be sue
cessful between equals. But Senator
Wallace has discovered in France an in
stitutiOn called The Councils of Wise
Men," created by the law to settle the
differences arising between labor and
capital, which he says works well, ard
which seems to be clothed with just such
degree of authority rs to make the sea-
soning of the law wholesome aid
to the acceptance and digestion
Of the wise mems DEGREES. If theS {
councils have been found to work wei
in France and Belgium, it is fair enough
to conclude that they may work wei
here. To secure the desirable end il
certainly would he wise to try a method
which has been successful elsewhere
We do not understand whether Senator
Wallace proposes to give to the arbitra
tiOn tribunals he raises all the authority
possessed by the Councils of Wise Men
but we certainly think it would not be
well to initiate them unless this is done
Manted...A Club