The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-22
THE PUBLIC AND LABOR
EPISCOPAL Cl )RcH COMMISSION
 DEFINES THEIR RELATION.
Standing Comnsission's Report Made to Boston GeneraI Convention, fs Made Publfc--Prominent Names
 |. in Commission's Personnel.

-
 At the general convention of the Pro- testant Episcopal Church. held in Bos- ton in october. 1904, this report of the standing commission on the relations of capital and labor was rendered. It has only recently been published and received by churchmen in the United States. The names attached and the topic make it of interest to all. 1t fol- lows:
 The standing commission on the re- lations of capital and labor was ap- pointed by the general convention of 1901, on the motion of the Rev. Dr, R. H. McKim of Washington, and its duties were defined as follows:
 "First-To study carefully the aims and purposes of the labor organizations of our country.
 ''Second--In particular. to investi- gate the causes of industrial disturb ances. as these may arise.
 ''Third--To hold themselves in read
 mess to act as arbitrators. should their services be desired. between the men
 and their employers. with view to
 bring about mutual conciliation and harmony in the spirit of the Prince of Peace.
 The commission was directed to give an account of It's proceedings to the general convention, and it submits ac- cordingly the following report: Taking the definitions of our duty in reverse order. we have to say re- garding arbitration that no request for our services has been received We have to confess regarding inves- tigation that we have not. as yet. suc- ceeded in studying In common the oc- casions of current disturbances. We a~a kA xAHt1a f..x that the causes of the violence of the past three years, in Pennsylvania, in Colorado and in Illinois. are not so much economical as moral. The strike commonly begins in distrust. The req son at the heart oft is that the mas ter has as little confidence in the good will of the men as the men have in the good faith of the master. The em- ployer and the employed. separated by our industrial conditions at such so- cial distance as to make fraternal un- |derstanding difficult. make their bar gain one with another, under these con- ditions, ont as partners, but as compet- ttors. Where distrust and antagonism are well founded, there is nothing for 1t, so far as the church Is concerned. except conversion. They who are at fault are to be admonished. on the one side agafnst prejudice and passion. and on the other side against covet- ousness and the sins which proceed from the inordinate love of riches Where distrust and hostility, are un- founded, the church may afford an op- portunity of conference. The capital
 ist and the laborer are alike sons of the church. They may not sit in the same seat, or even in the same build ing; that is largely a matter of local ity. But there is as much loyalty to the church and to the Divine Head of the church in the one class as in the other. The voice of the Christian re- ligion reaches both capital and labor.
 The church helps to remove the moral causes of industrial strife when she brings these different members of her family into better acquaintance. Beside these duties of arbitration and of investigation, we were charged Ito study the aim and spirit of labor or- ganization.
 we perceive among our clergy and laity alike much ignorance--frankly confessed and deplored--as to the prin- ciples which are involved in the con- fiicts of the industrial world. At the same time, it is plain that an enlight- ened public opinion Is one of the deter mining factors of the situation. Every industrial dispute involves three par ties--the employer. the employed and the public; and the public eventually casts the deciding vote. Thus a seri- ous social responsibility rests upon every Christian citizen, and more es- pecialIy upon the Christian minister. We suggest, therefore, the follow ing books as affording an introduction to the study of these matters: ''Westcott: Social Aspects of Chris tianity' (Macmillan).
 ffAHifchali. sh7rhe 0rga nfza tinp oF Ta bor.'
 "Drage: The Labor Problem Smith, Elder & Co.).
 Peters: Labor and Capital (Put- nam).
 Bull Lectures. 1904: Organized La-
 bor and Capital '(Jacobs).
 Brooks: The-social Unrest (Ndac- l millan).
 "Gladden: Tools and the Man
 (Houghton. Mifiin & Co.). Peabody: Jesus Christ and the So- cial Question (Macmillan). Report of the Anthracite Coal Com- mission.
 we call attention to the analogy between certain ofrenses of the union and like offenses, past or present. of both the capitalist and the churchman. | Thus, the employers blacklist corre- l spends to the unions boycott, and both
 are akin to the major excommunica-
 tion. The lockout and the strike are
 of the same nature; and there is no great difference between such endeav-
 ors to employ the argument of famine and an interdict which deprives a peo- pie of the blessings of spiritual life.
 The question of the closed shop is IiJxe the question of the closed State. Men whose Puritan ancestors strove to
 maintain State whose privileges
 should belong only to members of inc
 church ought to be able to understand
 the struggle of their brethren to main. q In shnrn in, u i..i..