The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-26
THE GREAT UPLFT -:-
M.. Welfare Work
By Frederic J. Haskin.

New York City. Nov. 2S--The wide-
 sprsad interest of the employer in the
 health and happiness of his employees,
 and hisg eagerness to do, all he can to
 promote these conditions, are some of
 the biggest proofs of the great uplift
 that the social and industrial world has
 known in the past. ten years. This ap-
 piled interest has become known as
 f'welfare work"---a name coined for this
 use by the National Civic Federation.
 The German word "wohlfahrtseinrlch-
 tungen" or welfare institution, as ap-
 piled to the work abroad. Is ths nearest
 approach to this American word.
 What Is welfare work? The answer
 Is concisely stated by he Welfare De-
 partment of the National Civic Fedora
 tion---the logical head of this country
 wide rlovement and the clearing -housa
 for the perplexities that beset it's path:
 Tt is the improving of the working and
 living conditions of the employe by the
 employer; and is applicable to stores,
 factories, mines and railroads as well as
 public institutions" Pointing out that
 the first essentials in the welfare or employees are steady work. and equit-
 able wages, and reasonable hours at
 labor, this organization then suggests
 that the work should be directed first
 toward meeting the pressing necessities
 of tha physical weil-being of employees in their work places. Knowing tnie' manufacturers haveswrought great iin-
 prevements in the matter of drinklns
 water, proper ventilation, light anu
 protecting machineFy
 Knowing that health ana happiness and great joy in work are best pre- noted by proper recreation. the npS.o. date employer provides social halls that can be devoted to dancing parties, con. certs. theatricals, billiards, pool or bowling; 6 gymnasium where unoeI competent instructors, the body may @ vo trained to resist any. deleterious enects of work; athletic fields and TOOK gaI- dene. He arranges for vacations otten | spent. in the country homes of his own l providing.
 Reaflzing that Ignorance and untrain- | ed hands, obth in the industrial nelas and at the domestic hearth, are tue | greatest stumbling blocks In the pIo- 9ress of the nation employers not only | in manufacturing plants. but Tn stoFeS as we'll, have inaugurated edneatlenel campaigns that are far-reaenlne anu | teIlinR in their results. Glasses gre ! conducted at night in English or teen nicai subjects. libraries and picture | courseR are in reach of all. and home | fife is4ultimately elevated by the stuny of cooking, sewing and millinery. Ine l heaithfui and esthetic value or the comfortable home has been q haIo ies. . son for some employers to teach, put | they have built comfortable cottages | have let them at a nominal rent, ana have kept them under the vigilant eye | of aanitary officers with. a hensral up ward trend in social conditions as re- | suit 70.
 Because many employees are indiner- | er,t to the saving of money, or ignorant | of how if should be done. special ln- struetIon is often given in tho arts or | economy and the virtues of penny prov | ident funds, while funds are estaoiisheo | for insurance pensions or loans Tn | times of need.
 For some unexplained reason manu- | facturars and heads of industries ena- ploying large forces have been, in many | instances, regarded as creatures nAe l Mark Twain's devil, who wandereo | around "seeking whom he might devour | somebody" Organizations have been I formed for the purpose of forcing eni- | ployers to inaugurate this or tnat move | rnAnt for the benefit of employees, when | long before such leagues came into eN. | istencs there was work for social eho | industriai uplfft being done after de- | suItoFy fashion in New England cotlon | factories, a Lowell firm as far back as | in the '40's having opened corpora ! tton boardinR house" and Southern | cottof,@ mills having certain benencial | nlAnts for their operatives Tn use quarter of a century ago However me enormous growth of manufacturing Tn | dustriea swept So many hundred thous- | and workers into the Aeld that organ | tzad affort under the leadership oA trained workers became evident
 The two first trained workers m the field, chosen with view to insu- | tutinR a. system of improved working and living conditions among industrial | workers. were Miss Gertrude Beeks. l who became head of the sociologtcal | department of the Mccormick liar vesting Machine Company in 1901. ano
 pr. R. W. corwin. who about the same time became general manager | of the sociological department of the | Colorado Fuel and Iron Company | Shortly after these came W. 70, o. | Nazro doing like work for the Fly | mouth ,Cordage Company. Now trained l managers such as these. can be mum | bared by the hundreds. Large em- | pIoysrs recognize them as the best
 means of eftectLng plans for better of Mir. Nazro. Sympathy between the employer and the employe is the key
 note to industrial peace" and that | through competent direction of well | fare work this can best be attained | When the National Civic Federation
 was organized by Ralph M. Easley. the l present chairman of its executive | council, one of the first departments ! for which he made provision was the l Welfare Department. and of this he
 made Miss Gertrude Beeks secretary
 This department is composed of en1- l nloyers of labor in stores, factories
 and mines and on railroads. It de-
 votes It's time to interesting employers in improving conditions under which l employee in all industriss work and live. It maintains bureau Of ex- change at its headquarters here in | NevT york where information. data, 1 toRraphs-anything helpful to an
 employer in 'establishing a welfare
 system of his own--mAy be had. It | has called conferences of employers l and welfare workers for the discussion | of helpful plans, has sent lecturers through manufacturing centers of the North, East and West to explain the value of the work. and has been able to assist, either by correspondence or | psrsonaI aid, approximately 100 estab- | iishnents In their welfare work.
 Out of this Welfare Department has | grown the Woman's Department of inc National Civic Federation. an or | RanIzation composed largely of women | who are themselves stockholders. or | who are financially interested through family relationship. in industrial or | RanizAtIons. The chairman of this de- | partment is Mrs. Joseph Mediil Me | Cormfck. of Chicago. two of its vice ! presidents are Mrs. J Borden Harri- | man and Miss Anne Morgan, of New | York, and headed by prominent wo- man of the country, such as Mrs. Will |