Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1907-12-06

ter Of creating the mach inery for coaa-
2pulsory investigation Of such fndugtyiaiH
] controversies as are OF sufficient mag
nitude and OF sufficient concern to theH
people Of the country as a whole tobb
warrant the federal government III
taking action. ~ HI $.- I.
The need for some provision for sucnN
investigation was forcibly illustratedB
during the past summer. A strike scfH
: telegraph operators seriously interfereda
with Geographic communication, Gauss
ing great damage to business interestsH
and serious Inconvenience to the GEM
eral public. Appeals were made to meH
from many parts Of the country, fromH
city councils. from boards of trade,H
from chambers Of commerce and froFnN
labor organizations, urging that stepsE
be taken to terminate the strike. Ey-a
erything that could with any proprietylt
be done by representative of the gov-n
eminent was done without avail, sandH
for weeks the public stood by and suf- 3
fered without recourse of any kind. 4
Had the machinery existed and had; !,
there been authority for compulsory i
investigation Of the dispute the public !
would have been placed in possession
Of the merits of the controversy, and /
public opinion would probably have
brought about prompt adjustment. u. i.
Each successive step creating ma
chinery for the adjustment of labor
difficulties must be taken with caution,
but we should endeavor to make prog
ress in this direction. 5.ss
The provisions of the act of 1898
creating the chairman Of the interstate 4,
commerce commission and the commits.
sioner Of labor board of mediation in .
controversies between interstate rail-
roads and their employees has for the
first time been subjected to serious
tests within the past year, and the wis /,
dom Of the experiment has been fully
dem onstrated. The creation of q board !
for compulsory investigation in cases "
where mediation fails and arbitration
is rejected is the next logical step in q
progressive programme =,
Capital and Labor. :
1t Is certain that for some time to
come there will be constant increase i
absolutely and perhaps relatively OF
those among our citizens who dwell in
cities or towns Of some size and who
work for wages. This means that
there will be an ever increasing need
to consider the problems inseparable
from great industrial civilization.
Where an immense and complex bust
ness. especially in those branches re-
lating to manufacture and transporta-
ton, is transacted by large number
Of capitalists who employ a very
much larger number of wage, earners
the former tend more and more to
combine into corporations and the lat
ter into unions. The relations of the
capitalist and wageworker to one an
other and of each to the general public
are not always easy to adjust, and to
put them and keep them on q satisfac-
tory basis is one Of the most important
and one Of the most delicate tasks be-
fore our whole civilization. Much Of
the work for the accomplishment Of 7
this end must be done by the individ-
uals concerned themselves. whether
singly or in combination, and the one :.
fundamental fact that must never be
lost track of is that the character Of
the average man, whether he be man !
Of means or man who works with.
his hands. is the most important. fac IL
tor In solving the problem Alright. But
it is almost equally important to re-
member that without good laws it Is !:
also impossible to reach the proper so-Ss
luton. 1t is idle to hold that without .
good laws evils such as child labor, as
the overworking Of women, as the fall
ure to protect employees from loss OF I
life or limb can be effectively reached
any more than the evils of rebates ana
stock watering can be reached without
good laws. To fail to stop these prae-
tees by legislation means TO force hon
est men into them, because otherwise
the dishonest who surely win take al
vantage Of them WIN have everything
their own way. II the states VIM cor
rect these evils, wen and good, but tho
nation must stand ready 70 aid them. 5:
i