Arizona republican., 1906-12-05

V ledis from January l 1881 to De- ceihoer Sl, 1900, there were strikes af Iectlng ll7-509 establishments and o'IO5,6S4 employees were thrown m,l oi employment During the same per- iou tnere were I,005 lockouts. involving nearly 10000 establishments throwing VNsH one million people out of employ heht These strikes and lockouts in vowed an estimated loss to employees or SSOf00O.O00 and to the employers of sl4S,oVo,Oo0, total of s450, 900. .69O. The pubic suffered directly and indirectIy probably as great additional loss But lhe money loss, great as 1t was. did not measure the anguish and suffering en- oured by the wives and children of employees whose pay stopped when their work stopped. or the disastrous eHeet Of the strike or lockout upon the business of employers, or the increase Tn cost of products and the inconveni- ence and loss to the public.
 Many of these strikes and lockouts would not have occurred had the par ues 10 the dispute been required to appear before an unprejudiced body representing the nation and face to 1ace, state the reasons for their conten- ton. In most instances the dispute would doubtless be found to be due to a misunderstanding by each of the others rights. aggravated by an un- Willingness of either party to accept as true the statements of the other as to the justice or injustice of the mat ters in dispute. The exercise of a iu- dicial spirit by a disinterested body representing the Federal Government, such as would be provided by a com mission on conciliation and arbitration would tend to create an atmosphere of friendliness and conciliation between contending parties; and the giving each side a equal opportunity to pre- sent fully its case in the presence of the other would prevent many disputes from developing into serious strikes or lockouts. and. in other cases, would enable the commission to persuade the opposing parties to come 10 terms.
 Tn this age of great corporate and labor combinations. neither employers nor employees should be left completely at the mercy of the stronger party to a dispute. regardless of the righteous ness of their respective claims. The proposed measure would be in the line of securing recognition of the fact that in many strikes the public has itself an interest which can not wisely be disregarded: an interest not merely of general convenience. for the question of just and proper public policy must also be considered. In all legislation of this kind it is well to advance eau tiously, testing each step by the actual results; the step proposed can surely be safely taken. for the decisions of the commission would not bind the parties in legal fashion. and yet would give a chance for public opinion to crystilize and thus 10 exert it's full force for the right
 CORPORATIONS.
 "The present Congress has taken long strides in the direction of securing proper supervision and control by the National Government over corporations engaged in interstate business-and the enormous majority of corporations of any size are engaged in interstate business. The passage of the railway rate bill, and only to a less degree the passage of the pure food bill. and the provision for increasing and rendering more effective national control over the beef packing industry, mark an i'm . portant advance in the proper direction. In the short session it will perhaps be difficult to do much further along tms line; and it may be best to wait until the laws have been in operation for q number of months before endeavoring to increase their scope, because only operation will show with eXactness their merits and their shortcomings and thus give opportunity 10 define what further remedial legislation is needed. Yet in my judgment it will in the end be advisable in connection with the packing house inspection law to provide for putting a date on the label and for charging the cost of ln- spection to the packers. All these laws have already justified their enactment The interstate commerce law, for in- stance. has rather amusingly falsihed tbe nredictions both of those who as- serted that it would ruin the rail- roads and of those who as- serted that it did not go far enough and would accomplish nothing. Dur ing the last five months the rallroaos have shown increased earnings ana some of them unusual dividends; while during the same period the mere taking effect of the law has produced an un- precedented, a hitherto unheard or number of voluntary reductions III freights and fares by the railroads since the founding of the Commission there has never been a time of equal length in which anything like so many reduced tariffs have been put into et- feet On Aug. 27. for instance two days before the new law went into effect the Commission received notices of over Eve thousand separate tariffs which represented reductions from previous rates. ,..o-
 "Tt must not be supposed, however that with the passage of these laws u ,,-iu he possible to stop progress along ,be line of increasing the power of the N-ational Government over the use or ,anitai in interstate commerce. or e1,annle there will ultimately be need of enlarging the powers of the Ht. Hhter- state Commerce Commission along sew eraI different lines. so as to glNe T. . rargar and more efficient control over the railroads. ..., ,,,.t
 .1t can not too often be repeated tla' ,.-rarience has conclusively shown the i,,,possibilitv of securing by the actions os nearly half a hundred different State Legislatures anything but rneiiectiES cbaoe in the way of dealiHg with 'il0 e.-aa, cornorations which do not oper-