Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-12-03

ter of creating the machinery for COM
pulsory investigation of such industrial
controversies as are of sufficient mag
nitude and of sufficient concern to the
people of the country as whole to
warrant the federal government in
taking action.
The need for some provision for such
investigation was forcibly illustrated
during the past summer. strike of
telegraph operators seriously interfered
with teiegraphic communication. caus
ing great damage to business interests
and serious Inconvenience to the gen.
eral public. Appeals were made 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
be taken to terminate the strike. Ev
erything that could with any propriety
be done by representative of the gov
eminent was done without avail, and
for weeks the public stood by and Suf-
fered without recourse of any kind.
Had the machinery existed and had
there been authority 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 a prompt adjustment.
Each successive step creating ma
chinery for the adjustment of labor
difficulties must be taken with caution,
hrrf chn,I1 To F11Olrn
ress in this direction.
The provisions of the act of 1898
creating the chairman of the interstate
commerce commission and the commits
sioner of labor a 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
demonstrated. The creation of a board
for compulsory Investigation in cases
where mediation fails and arbitration
is rejected is the next logical step in a
progressive programme.
Capital and Labor.
1t is certain that for some time to
come there will be a constant increase
, 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 a great industrial civilization.
/ Where an immense and complex bust
ness, especially in those branches re-
lating to manufacture and transporta-
! ton. is transacted by a large number
of capitalists who employ a very
much larger number of wage earners
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 tC
| put them and keep them on Il 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
this end must be done by the indiviH
uals concerned themselves, whether
Singly or in combination, and the or
fundamental fact that must never bC
! lost track of Is that the character o.
the average man, whether lie be a maj
of means or man who works will
his hands, is the most important fac
tor In solving the problem Alright. Blu
it is almost equally important to re
member that without good laws it Il
also impossible to reach the proper SO
luton. 1t IS idle to hold that withou
good laws evils such as child labor a
the overwOrking of women, as the fail
ure to protect employees from loss o
life or limb can be effectively reache,
any more than the evils of rebates an,
stock watering can be reached wjthou
good laws. To fail to stop theseipraC
tees by legislation means to force hon
est men into them, because otherwis
the dishonest who surely will take ad
vantage of them will have everything
their own way. If the states will col
rect these evils, well and good, but tn
nation must stand ready to aid them.