The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-09
POTTER ON ARBITRATION
The Episcopal Bishop Before the
Industrial ComaissiOn.
restifes to the Belief That conpuI-
sorry Adjustment of Differences BE-
tween Employers aud Employees
VIII Not Operate Effectively Ia
This Country-some Other Means.

@hd Hpioecpdl aOuuEcns ulOceSe OF New
York, appeared before the Industrial Com
| mission this forenoon to present his views
upon the subject of arbitration between
| employers and employees and his opinion
| upon labor problems in general
Upon being directed to give his opinion
upon the matter OF arbitration and in his
| ewn way. Bishop Potter narrated his ex-
perience as a member of Board Of Me-
diation and ConeiIiation.''
He explained that this organization Of
which he he had been a promoter, held
no official authority to settle differences
| between master and man. It was pure
Iy voluntary spirit of philanthropy End
good citizenship, and which he was con
fdent had done worthy service IN the
promotion OF harmony between employers
and employees II was his belief that
organizations Of the character Indicated
had more influence with the interests
affected than a State or Federal Board
Of Arbitration could have because the
voluntary board was completely divorced
| from politics N the minds of these per
sons, the difference between whom its
purpose was to adjust
Bishop Potter drew a lesson from the
work of the Board Of Mediation and Con-
eiliaticn in the case CT the marble work
u
satisfactorily both 10 the men and thsir
| employers,
| The witness said that the first meeting
/ CT the beard the marble workers,
/ and their employers held was in Ho-
/ bart Hall, New York. But this meet
] ing was OF a favor and character
/ too formal to produce the best re-
suits. Tie distances between the peo-
/ pie present vas TOO great Men 20 sd-
/ dress the meeting had to get upon their
( feet, while all eyes we're up0r E'zsn- This
! vas embarrassing 10 Inost a te ss -
( men and they were not tHeh a- lte5r 5ct
They could net under t1ese tcrEIz cs5-
/ ditioBs express Themselves - Weii - as
/ lEankiy as under -1zdftlous te which they
we're more accustomed
The next meeting, said Bishop Fct-
ter, was held It my house The men
we're encouraged 10 talk without reserve
We sat around table and i II VII Iiot
/ shock the Commission ! VIII teH you
| that we smoked. We also had coffee
Under these conditions It was not a din
cult task 10 bring the employers and
their men to a complete and harmonious
| understanding.
The connection OF the Board of Mediation
and Cancellation with the strike OF the mar
! BE workers had taught him, the witEess
said several valuable lessons One was
/ the lesson of greater respect for the intel
/ IigsEce Of workingmen- He was surprised
at this. They were quick to apprehend the
/ position Of others aa6 fair IL the state
ment OF their own position They showed
a disposition TO be perfectly fair and aecu-
rate though sometimes they unint teDtIon-
ally fell short il the latter particular.
"One thing observed, . said Bishop Pot
| ter was that the employers, with as =
| rule their greater facility Of speech. were
| inclined 10 press very heavily upon their
men when they detected them in one OF
| these inadvertent missteteInents as TO fact
found il necessary to reprove them for
t this. One other thing that l observed was
! that when a workingmsn finds that con-
cession on his part viii be met By con-
cession on the part Of his employer he IS
willing and quick to make the advance
know that this is contrary to the belief OF
many people who think that the character
/ OF the workingmaG is obstinate and that he
i is dogged in standing up for what he thinks
/ he ought to have and that he is Is q rule
incapable Of showing a spirit OF eompro-
misc
lone of the great forces which keeps
/ the various classes apart and their rela-
| tinns oftentimes strained is ignorance
| ignorance of each other This is espe-
I cIaIIy true in the case OF the sO-called
| higher classes. A large percentage of the
| fashionable people in New YoIk EHow 10
| more about the people who live in the
| tenements and work in the sweat shops
! than they do OF the condition of the in
habItants Of Borneo. They read accounts
I in the-zpewspa peFs OF human suHering.
| but these reports come 10 them as from
| some far-of point and with a yaguenesS
/ that does not strike home to them IN =
way in which misery does when one sees
! 1t face to face This IS perhaps in the
order of things When republics OF en-
! pires grow older and greater ard strong
er classes develop No one who is at
| all familiar with the conditions which
prevailed in this country in its early his
| tory can fail to see the change that has
I come over it in the matter I speak OF.
OF course there we're classes then as
now but the difference between the top
and the bottom was not nearly 50 great
Mr.. Clarke asked: DO you not think that
there has been a great Improvement in the
morals and general physical condition OF
the poor?"
Bishop Potter answered that he believed
there has baen Improvement, but he would
not feel justified in using the adjective
| great"
In the matter OF the organization of
vorkingmen the witness said he thought
the right of workingusn to organize as
they insist on doing Is no longer debst-
able question And as the right of organ
izatfon must in all fairness be recognized.
then the right OF the worKngmen to treat
with tteir employers through the media
OF representatives must also be recognized.
| In reply to a leading question by Mr..
Clarke. the witness said he thought the op-
position of capitalists to the organization
of workingmen is less than formerly and
is still on the decrease He thought that
employers were showing their employees
more and more consideration as the time
passed
In referring to the foreign colonies in
New York, the witness incidentally said
that several hundred Mesopotamians had
been brought over to manufacture cheap
jeweIry, this being the craft in which those
people excelleG- This led 10 a line of ques-
tioning TO determine whether the Alien
Contract Labor law had been violated, but
the Bishop could throw no light upon this
subject.
He was opposed to compulsory arbitra-
tion, believing that it would be impracti-
cable of application in this country. He
thought that the New Zealand scheme OF
arbitration, with the elimination Of the
eoercive feature in that system. would Op-
crate effectively in this country.
The Bishop took the y: 45 train for New
York.
Dog Devours Money.
| BINGHAMTON, N Y, Nov. Edward