The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-12-01
SHARPER OF PROFIT Q
GOOD MAN AND THE INDUSTRY
SETTLEMENT HE FOUNDED.
Where Men Who Work Are Held in
the Highest Esteem, Receive the
Value of Their Labor and Live
Like Human Beings-The Father
of Profit Sharing In Americas
True Believer in Man.

4 True Believer in Man.
Probably the first and best known at
tempt in this country to establish a
closer relation between labor and CAPT.
tai through generous concessions on
the part OF the latter is that which is
symbolized in the village Of Leclaire,
Ills. 1t was named so from the French
socialist, whose bust in bronze adorns
the village school house' The founder
of this settlement is Norseman, Mel
son 0. Nelson, and here he has set up
Isome acres Of shops for the making Of
plumbers supplies and mantels. The
company which bears his name has
it's offices in st. Louis, in large, COM
monplace building, and Leclaire is IS
or 20 miles away.
Mr.. Nelson, who is still in the prime
of life,' yet bears the distinction of be-
ing 1.-The father Of profit sharing in
America" He is an out and out So
cialist. Probably more than any other
man he is responsible for the many
devices that progressive and liberal
employers have adopted to gain the
better will Of their working forces.
| Leclaire is not a commune, though it
is an industrial settlement 1t is in a
green, pleasant, rolling country, where
they say the nights are always cool,
where they have no mosquitoes, no
malaria, motor the rest read the card
of any real estate dealer, whether in
Cape Nome or Havana. You leave the
cars at a station called Edwardsville.
The town of that name lies on the left
of the track and has 5000 people and
~ saloons, while Leclaire, on the right
OF the track hasn't saloon. Ed
twardsVille is accounted a right smart
little place. with so much culture that
neighbors drive in to see it, yet Le-
claire easily outdoes it. There is more
wealth in one block of Edwardsville
than in nearly all Leclaire, yet in the
latter village you see not a single
lrlckety" shed, not an implanted house,
not weed filled yard, not a rutted
road, not board fence plastered with
aged circus posters and medicine signs.
1t is all unpretentious, but charmingly
neat. Excepting couple of miners,
who dig coal in a hole across the way,
the people of Leclaire. are all in the
~ ~
not to amiganed from this that CO.
ercion is used to make the brass mold
ers. carpenters, machinists, marble
savers and the others live there. Quite
the contrary.
There is not room for MALT of them
land the others have to live in more or
|dinary quarters, that they find in Ed
Wardsville. Rents are low. From sc
to SO month is asked for neat cot
tage that is kept in excellent repair
and supplied with running water and
electric light free of charge. The lawn
before it is trimmed every week by the
company. and the streets are sprinkled
Ievery day. Furthermore. through the
good offices of Mr.. Nelson, the dwellers
in Leclaire enjoy especially easy terms
in the matter Of railroads fares. The
round trip to st. Louis costs stranger
$3.50, but any worker in the Nelson
shops may go to the city and back for
so cents. Were it not that the founder
of the colony is everywhere esteemed,
a concession like this would never have
been secured. But one hears nothing
Except praise for him, no matter how
Heartily the man who admirs him ma
disagree with his economic theories.
The brakemen on the trains exclaim,
I"There's man for you!'' and washer
women say, Sure he's the poor peo-
lples friend"
There is no self seeking on the found
ler's part in this experiment in altru-
ism. He believes thoroughly in his
Ipeople; believes thoroughly in men. He
wants to do good and takes the same
satisfaction in it that so many folks
take in being bad. When objection
was made to a family that had just
come into the village, he said, IF
these people are good, we want them,
land if they are bad Well make them
better"
Though his own house is the largest
in the place, it is hardly distinguished
from the others. 1t is plain, but COM
Portable. 1t has flowers and shade,
land of every other dwelling in Leclaire
one may say the same. In rose time
the air is heavy with the scent of
thousands of blossoms. In laying out
ILeclaire a departure was made from
the conventional in that the roads
curve like those in parks instead of
boiling into the distance by the
straight way. The effect Of walk, as
fresh vistas open before the stranger,
lis charming. Partly surrounding the
Village is farm which has been oper-
lated as a department of the Nelson
Icompany's industries, like the brass
foundry and the planning mill, the
Farmers receiving wages and sharing
|profits also and the produce being sold
in part at especially low prices to the
villagers. These acres are in splendid
yield, but this season the experiment
has been made of renting them to out
siders. the company profiting by the
|certainty Of rental. 1t is said that the
company will resume the management
Of the farm next season, but it's dis
continuance, even for single year,
suggests inquiry whether the socialis-
tic phase of Leclairc's industries is SO
thoroughly Endorsed by those who
profit by it as the founder hopes it is.
There has never been a strike in the
Nelson shops. But here is a remarkable
thing. Nearly all the workers are
members of labor unions and have
Joined them by advice of their en-
|ployer.
The wages are the same as are paid