The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-10
An IhPRACPICABLE PLAN
Bishop Potter's Opinion Of Com
pulsory Arbitration.
Testimony Before the Industrial
CONFERENCE.-The Witness Gives
His Views ON Important Labor
acknowledgements of Capital
lists to WorkinEmcn Decreasing.


lists to WOrkinEmcn Decreasing.
The Industrial Commission had before it
as a witness yesterday Bishop Henry C.
Potter. of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, diocese of New York. The Bishop
discussed the question of arbitration be-
tween employers and employees and upon
being directed to give his opinion upon
the matter of arbitration and in his own
way, narrated his experience as a men,
Der of board of mediation and concilia
ton"
He explained that this organization of
which he had been promoter, held
no official authority to settle differences
between master and man. 1t was pure
ly voluntary spirit of philanthropy end
good citizenship, and which he was cen
tdent had done worthy service in the
promotion of harmony between employers
and employees. 1t was his belief that
organizations OF the character indicated
had more influence with the interests
affected than State or Federal Board
OF Arbitration could have, because the
voluntary board was completely divorced
from politics in the minds of those FER
SONS Inc Qluefe0Ce between WQOm It's
purpose was to adjust.
Bishop Potter drew a lesson from the
work of the Board of Mediation and Con-
Citation in the case of the marble work.
ers' strike, which, he claimed, it settled
satisfactorily both to the men and their
employers.
The witness said that the first meeting
OF the board. 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 lest re-
suits. The distances between the peo-
pie present was too great. Men to ed
dress the meeting had to get upon their
feet. while all eyes werc upon them. This
was embarrassing to most of the working
men and they were not then at their best
They could not under these formal con-
ditions express themselves as well or as
frankly as under conditions to which they
were more accustomed.
1.-THE next meeting" said Bishop Pct
ter, was held at my house. The men
were encouraged to talk without reserve.
We sat around table, and if it will not
shock the Commission i will tell you
that we smoked We also had coffee.
Under these conditions II was not diff
cult task to 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
BILE workers had taught him, the witness
said. several valuable lessons. One was
the lesson of greater respect for the intel
ligence of workingmen. He was surprised
at this. They were quick to appfehend the
position of others and fair in the state
ment of their own position. They showed
a disposition to be perfectly fair and accu-
rate. though sometimes they unintention-
ally fell short in the latter particular.
Zone thing | Observed said Bishop Pot
ter, "was that the employers, with as
rule their greater facility of speech, were
inclined to press very heavily upon their
men when they detected them in one Of
these inadvertent misstatements as to fGct.
/ found 1t necessary to reprove them for
this. One other thing that l observed was
that Stss wr.slngmsa IDS that con-
esssiaa o. Lis part viii a met by a con-
cezsjou on iLa mart az his employer he is
1gifiipE and ql-eA &c make the advance. /
Enos- That this IS contrary % the belief OF
mans peer D. the character
81 tf5 rr lsn ate and that he
j. Ea-ge. rn- what he thinks
f.n- ,afr..- - anu o.. he is as a rule
.usauau.s q. s.eewsaE rit of compro-
mise.
zone of the great forces which keeps
the various classes apart and their rela-
TONS oftentimcs strained is ignorance
ignorance of each other This is espe-
cially true in the case of the so-called
higher classes. A large percentage of the
fashionable people in New York know no
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
in the newspapers of human suffering
but these reports come to them as from
some far-off point and with a vagueness
that does not strike home to them in a
way in which misery does when one sees
1t face to face This is perhaps in the
order of things. When republics or en-
pires grow older and greater and 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 fai. to see the change that has
come over 1t in the matter / speak of.
OF course. there we're classes then as
now. but the difference between the top
and the bottom was not nearly so 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 been improvement, but he would
not feel justified in using the adjective
great"
In the matter Of the organization of
the witness said he thought
the right Of workingmen to organize as
they insist on doing Is no longer a debat-
able question. And as the right OF organ
fzation must in all fairness be recognized.
then the right OF the workingmen to treat
with tfcir employers through the media
of representatives must also be recognized.
In reply to leading question by Mr..
Clarke. the witness said he thought the op-