The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1902-09-17
AN IMPORTANT CONVENTION.

at the right tlme-the national con.
vention of emp loyer and employee
which assemblies in Minneapolis from
the twenty second to the twenty sixth
of the present month. This gathering
will include both the Captains of In
dustry" and the rank and file of Ia
Dor, 1t will be a meeting not of I'M
bending millionaire capitalists and
egotistical labor leaders, but rather a
business meeting of employer and en-
ployee, constituting in the fullest
sense a ways and means committee
on the labor situation
The idea of this convention is not
wholly new one, as it has been dis
eussed and advocated for some months
1t grows out of the movement started
months ago by those interested in the
eight-hour day. Liberal and broad
minded employers of labor, believing
the time was ripe for general dis
cussion of the scores of questions that
vex both capital and labor, have co.
operated with those having in charge
Of organized labor, and the result has
been announced--a convention of
labor and capital Only the cynic
will doubt as to the result of the
coming convention.
Not only will the leaders of or
gained labor participate in this great
gathering, but the men who actually
labor will enter into discussion with
capitalists and with men who have
made a study of the social and in
dustrial problems that confront this
country. That there will result a
better understanding between employ
er and employee at the close of the
convention none can doubt. Politics
will be barred and the professional
politician will do we'll to stay at
home. Only questions pertaining to
the betterment of the laboring man
and the duty of employer to employee,
and vice versa, will be given consid-
Grafton. The movement is to be con-
Quoted entirely upon educational
lines. Had such a gathering been
held year ago and a general under
standing between capital and labor
arrived at, who will say that the
anthracite trouble would have been
of such protracted duration? Not
only the wage Garner, needs education
as regards the industrial situation,
but the employer, especially those
employing thousands with millions of
capital invested, are sadly ignorant
on many phases Of the social con-
diticn of their employees.
That this may be remedied it is
now proposed to gather labor and
capital for an earnest but dispassionate
conference in which the misconcep-
tions upon one hand and the prejudices
upon the other shall be discussed, not
under the stress incident to a strike
but in a clear, concise, business like
manner. At the convention the rep
resentative leaders of organized labor
will explain the true object of trade
unionism, and will listen to argu-
ments, pro and con, concerning the
topic which at this time is an absorb
ing one, and in the discussion worthy
of mans best efforts The convention
will in no wise resemble the deliber-
ations of two grievance committees,
nor will it be love feast. The move
ment is primarily intended as step
along educational lines. One of the
great lessons to be conned at the time
the convention meets will be how to
avoid the stupendous cost of these
ever recurring settlements of disputed
claims between capital and labor.
The average reader who gives but a
hasty glance to the almost daily story
of grievance between employer and
employed, if asked to give an esti-
mate, off-hand, as to the probable
loss per year from strikes and lock.
outs, would very probably fall far
short in his calculations of the actual
figures. The statistics of the bureau
of labor at Washington show that in
the past twenty years the average
number of strikes per year has been
over l, 100, involving an annual money
loss of at least $40, 600, OOO The total
number of strikes for twenty years
from 1881 to 1901 was %, 1893, in which
were directly involved.6, 1916, 694 work
men and II, 500 establishments The
direct losses attributed to the dis
turbances in the industrial world
reach the appalling figures of 1857, 1868
ATS in wages to workmen. The en-
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