The San Francisco call., 1905-04-14
EDITOR FREUND
VISITING CITY
New Yorker SCOTS at Idea
That a Solution VIII Be
Found for Labor Problem
ADJUSTMENT POSSIBLE
Strongly Criticises Stand
Taken by Employer and
Employe in Great Struggle

John c. Freund, publisher Of Music
Trades. who has suddenly come into
national prominence through his writ
inEs ana discOurses on social econom-
les, is registered at the St. Francis
Hotel. having arrived yesterday with
his wife from Southern California
where they have been seeking rest and
recreation. A recent letter addressed
by him to the economic branch OF the
Civic Federation Of New York, Of
which he is a member, concerning GER
tain phases Of the labor situation. that
provoked much public discussion in the
East among the great thinkers and
brought TO him on his Western trip
congratulatory letters from distin-
guisned men like Bishop Potter, Presi-
dent Eliot of Harvard University and
Hon Oscar Straus.
AS q fluent talker and a careful stu
Gent Of the social conditions that have
lately been sgitating the entire coun-
Try, Freuno has gained place Of rec
ognitlon among capitalists and work.
ingmen in the East that few men have
been able TO attain. He expresses him
self on these subjects with an original
ity that is at all times interesting, and
frankly cOnfesses that after years Of
study he has failed TO find a solution
Of the prevailing troubles. In fact he
insists that there is no possible solu-
tiOn as matters now stand, and that
existing discOurag ging relations between
capital and labor can only be adjusted
as conditions change. Discussing the
matter last night he said:
DEPENDS ON CHANGES.
What the American people need
most is q realization that there is no
solution Of this serious problem as con-
ditiOns now are, and that the only
remedy is a proper adjustment Of con-
ditiOns as they change. A condition
to-day may change tomorrow, when
the price Of bread rises or the employ
er reduces the wage Of his men To-
Gay is only a compromise between yes
terday and tomorrow. What we want
10 md is a remedy for those awful
conditions, such as the strikes, walk
outs and the aggressiveness of organ
lied labor, which is not any worse than
the tyranny Of organized capital"
FreUnd takes a decided stand against
organized labor in its extreme meth
ods, but is strongly convinced that the
employer takes a foolish step when he
reduces wages because he finds that ii
is not the intrinsic value Of labor. but
competition among the laboring
classes that cOnfronts him. When a
wOrkingman tells his employer that he
must have more wages the employer
sternly replies that twenty men are
ArdA9 10 step INTO the man s place at
the same or lower wages. 1t is Freund' S
idea that a national commission should
be created TO regulate wages and en-
force amicable relations between EN-
ployers and men on this score. Con-
tinuing, he said:
CAUTION To EMPLOYEES.
When wOrkingmen attempt to drive
or compel their employers TO increase
their wages to a point he cannot af-
ford they only injure their own condi-
tlons. / am a firm believer in the the
ory that the prosperity Of the country
depends mainly on the consuming pow
er Of the masses and when the wages
Of the latter are cut, the employer
eventually suffers, for with less earn
ings the employe must purchase less.
What the workingman most needs is
opportunity and justice and not So
called charity administered through the
medium Of a checkbOok. The Civic Fed
Grafton Of New York is striving hard
10 bring about some anicable arrange
ment whereby differences between CAPT.
tai and labor may be quietly adjusted,
as they We're recently on the Pennsyl-
vania road, when a big strike was mar
rowly averted, and to accomplish these
ends without humiliating either side"