The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-12-28

tionably within the powers Of the
congress. The principle of the eight
hour day should as rapidly and as
far as practicable be extended to the
entire work carried on by the govern
ment; and the present law should be
those public works which the present
wording of the act has been con-
strued to exclude. The general intro
duction Of the eight-hour day should
be the goal toward :which we should
steadily tend, and the government
should set the example in this respect.
Strikes and Lockouts.
Strikes and lockouts, with their at
tending loss and suffering, continue to
increase. For. the five years ended
Dec. 3d.. 1905. the number of strikes
was greater than those in any pre-
vious ten years and, was double the
number in the preceding five years.
These figures Indicate the increasing
need of providing some machinery to
deal: withs this class Of disturbances
in the interest ,alikesof the employer,
the sssanpaote and tn1 general public. !.
I renew my prviouss eponmendat ton
that the congress favorably consider
the matter of creating the machinery
for compulsory investigation of such
industrial controversies as are of suf-
ficient concern to the people of the
country as whole to warrant the fed
eral government in taking action.
Public Have to Suffer.
The need for some provision for
such investigation was forcibly illus
trated during the past summer. A
strike of telegraph operators seriously
1nterfered with telegraphic communi-
cation, causing great damage to busi-
ness interests and serious inconven-
ience to the general public. Appeals
were mad to me from many parts Of
the country, from city councils, from
boards of trade. from chambers of
| commerce and from labor organizations
urging that steps he taken to termin-
ate the strike. Everything that could
With any propriety be done by a repre-
sentative of the government was done,
Without avail, and for weeks the pub
| lie stood by and suffered without re-
course of any kind. Had the machin-
| er yexisted anl had there been author
ity for compulsory 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
| Each successive step creating ma
| chfnery for the adjustment of labor
difficulties must ne taken with eau
ton, but We should erdeavor to make
progress in this direction
Mediation Board a Wise Step.
| The provisions of the act of 1898
creating the chairman of the interstate
! commerce commission and the COM
missioner of labor a board of medi-
tation in controversies between inter-
| state railroads and their employees has,
for the first time, been subjected to
| serious tests within the past year and
the wisdom Of the experiment has been
fully demonstrated. The creation. of
board for compulsory Investigation
in cases where mediation fails and ar
! filtration is rejected is the next logical
step in progressive program.
Good Laws Required.
It is certain that for some time to
come there viii be constant increase
absolutely, and perhaps relatively, Of
t. ose 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 inseparahe
from. a great Industrial !. civilization.
Where an immense and con,plex busi-
ness, especially in those branches re-
lating 70 manufacture and transporta-
ton lis transacted by large number
of capitalists who employ. a very much
larger number Of wage :earners, the
former tend more and NOR. to combine
into corporations. and the latter into
unions. The relations Of the capitalist
and wage worker to one another, and
! of each to, the. general public. are not
always easy to adjust: ard to put
| then, and lsee1 them on a satisfactory
basis in ore of the most important
Land one OF the most delicate tasks be-
fors our whole civilization. Much OF
the work for the accomplishment OF
this end lrust be tdone by the indi-
lvlduals concerned Themselves, whetn-
Ter sinEly OF sjn comb binat Ion: and the
lone fun ndamenta! fact that must nevsr