The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-11-24
Discusses Capital and Labor at
Private Club Meeting
is NOT OPPOSED TO UNIONS
Says There Are Many Evils to be Cor
rected However and He Expresses
Hope That a Better Under
standing Will Prevail Soon.

Cambridge, Mass. November 23.-In an
address at a private meeting of the Col
onial club of this city, President Elliot
of Harvard, made a comprehensive
statement of his views on labor unions.
He said the work of the labor unions
must be counted among the efforts to
make the lot of mankind more satiefac-
tory and happier and that their strength
lay in their belief In this work as their
mission. He then enumerated the condi-
tions, which he designated as humane
conditions of employment-those to which
laboring men may rightly aspire First
was a rising wage based on increased ex-
perience, attainments and age; second,
steady employment after adequate proba-
ton: third. the opportunity for the work.
ingman to establish a permanent home;
fourth, conditions which enable him to
give his employer generous service and
to take pride in it; fifth, the right to a
pension on disability, which gives
throughout life, relief from one great anx-
iety, and that public consideration, which
goes with steady job and self-respect-
ing, though humble or unobserved career.
Realized In Harvard.
These five conditions of humane en-
ployment President Elliot said, were real
lied in Harvard university. Plainly they
were not realized in the great American
industries employing unskilled labor,
where the terms of service were often Of
instant dismissal" Another serious diff
flculty with American employment was
that spasmodic complaints from employees
were often made the ground of dismissal.
The present antagonism of employers
and the unions was the fault of both
parties, but on the whole the former
were more to blame because their situ-
alton was more comfortable and their ed
ucation superior. The Industrial COM
munity was under many obligations to
unions for the evils they have mitigated,
such as poor sanitary conditions in fac
tories. an unreasonable number of hours
of work, child labor and the company
store.
The oligarchy of capital had combined
effectively, and the corresponding COM
bination of laboring men was a whole
some check upon that olgarchy. There
was no question that the labor union
had come to stay.
Certain Evils.
On the other hand its cause was in
jured by certain evils which were SUBJ
versive of fundamental American doc
trines of liberty. One of these evils was
the limit placed on the number of ap-
prentices whereas in the learned profess
sions every encouragement was given-to
the training of novices. Other evils were
the limitation of output which destroys
the self-respect of the efficient workmen,
and the wage which has a cruel retail
iation on the less capable workman be-
cause with uniform wage he loses his
job at every slack in business whereas
If he was paid according to his earning
capacity his employer could afford to
keep him the year round. A fourth evil
was the violence which was an ineviata-
BILE feature of every strike In industries
employing unskilled labor. The unskiiled
'laborer on strike had no mother weapon
unless II were the boycott. which was a
cruel, cowardly interference with the
rights of all the people.
President Elliot declared that he saw
grounds for hoping that the relations Of
capital and labor would be improved, in
spite of their present unintelligent an
tagonism. partly by frank public discuss
sion of abuses, partly by prearranged
agreements for conciliation or arbitration
and partly by the service which labor
unions would render to capital through
their constant command of the labor
resources. of which capital comes in
need.