Waterbury Democrat., 1902-07-03
EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYED

It is pretty good time for the peo- pie of Hartford to sit down and do some thinking on the ''labor question" as 1t is called. How far may the em- ployer exercise his authority, and, equally important, when must he ex- ercise it? It is the universal experi- ence of mankind that leadership IS es- sential to success in every line of ac- tivity. There must be a head and no scheme which proposes to get along without one has any sense In it. All men are not equal. The engineer who takes the fast express in safety, could not be treasurer of the company, and the treasurer. if set at the engine, would wreck the train. These are simple propositions and they do not conflict with the fact that there must be engineers and treasurers. But they do mean that to have things go right the right man must be at the head.
 The employer who can say "Go" whenever he chooses to whomever he chooses is under heavy moral obliga- ton to regard his responsibility seri- ously, but everybody knows that this obligation sometimes rests with Shameful lightness on some shoulders and consciences, and 1t Is natural that employees should combine to fortify themselves against such perils. The general propositions are sound in the abstract that man may hire whom he pleases and a man may leave when he pleases. But there are times when it Is simply wicked to throw a man s4 4s.N Ixr rs.afr ra6 to quit and bring suffering on the inno- cent.
 The labor union is the development of the self-interest of the employed as against the selfishness of the employer. 1t has undoubtedly shortened the hours and in many eases secured bet ter wages. Where selfishness and greed and the irresponsibility of cor porations have tended to grind the face of the poor, the union has inter- vened and secured fair play. This must be admitted eN en by those who are open in their disapproval of unions in general.
 The trouble has come later when the organization formed for protection takes the aggressive attitude and att tempts to run the business and to tell the employer what to do. To a cer tain point, this can go on. The len iency or the indifference of the employ CT lets it pass. But beyond certain point 1t cannot go with safety to em- ployer or employed. The ship is in trouble whose captain takes his orders from the crew, and, if the ship is in trouble, the crew are, too. When em- ployes tell their employer how to man. age his business, beyond saying what work they can do and what they will work for, they are initiating the crew that gives orders to the captain-and the same warning should be sounded.
 There are bound to be differences be- tween employers and employed. While their ultimate interests are the same, their immediate interests seem to conflict. Questions of hours of work, of rate Of pay, and so on, arise in the nature of the case where ap. parently what one gets the other gives These difficulties and differences must be worked out as near as can be done in the spirit of the Golden Rule. Ar bitrary dictation by either side does not help but flinders settlement. Out side dictation makes still more foi trouble, and the higher it's source the greater its unsettling influence. The uneasiness and agitation that are now prevailing here need no further fam ming, but should be ended by having ~,tflose who are directly involved apply common sense and mutual considera- ton to the case and look far enough ahead to secure what Is for the best interests not of today only but fol indefinite time to come.-Hartford Courant.