The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1909-02-14

Washington. Feb 13.-Thc informal
conference held by fifteen or twenty
men in the office OF Oscar Straus.
secretary Of commerce and labor to-
day was really q much
| cant thing than many more spec
tacular gathering in Washington has
| been. Il represented the first attempt
I Of the government to get into touch
/ with the labor leaders Of the Uri'el
states and to make them feel that the
/ department. was concerned with labor
as well as with commerce.
The whole thing was unpretcutous
Secretary Straus sat at nis desk and
Samuel Gompcrs president of the
| American Federation of Labor. John
Mitchell, and the other labor rcprescn-
tativcs had chairs around the room
/ They spoke frankly and when they
brought up criticisms of the policies
Of the department the secretary would
nod and interrupt with, That's exact
ly what We wanted to know whore
their defects are Thank YOU for that
criticism"
The conference settled chiefly to
a discussion of the governments In.
formation service under the commits
sioner of immigration This is a new
division in the department. created
year and half AGO. which mos per
sons have never heard Of. However,
IL is regarded by economists as fur.
nishng a method OF very great i'm.
portancr in dealing with the problem
of the unemployed Tho division OF
information presided over by r. V.
Powderly, founder Of the knights of
Labor, is becoming virtually a great
national employment office. 1t aims
to obtain information from every part
of the country on labor conditions, in.
Guiding the demand for labor, the
number of men out of work and the
wages paid.
For instance, It has taken up the
/ question Of furnishing harvest labor.
ers. Cards are now being sent out
more than . million Of them-to farm
ers. asking what their needs are and
what wages they are prepared TO pay
| The idea is to keep this information
classified at the great centcrs. New
so that the department can be in a
position TO direct surplus labor-the
unemployed fields where the de.
mand for workmen is greater than in
the places whore thousands now are
out OF work. Primarily the informa.
tion is gathered for the direction Of
! immigrants, who now accumulate and
starve in the great cities, but It is
available for all workers
The problem OF getting reduced
| rates or even government transporta-
tion in certain cases, so that the un-
employed could be given access TO
jobs, is now before the department,
! and II was discussed today. The la
! Dor leaders feared that the develop
ment Of the plan might increase i'm
migration, since the fact that the gov
ernment was maintaining an employ
mcnt agency would be advertised
abroad They urged the need of some
kind Of immigration restrictions I'm
connection with the development Of
the information divisions activities
John Mitchell said that from two
million TO five million men I'm this
country are now unemployed lie dis
cussed the problem OF immigration.
pointing out that too often men who
arrived in this country Yesterday got
a Job while the man who had passed
his life in this country was walking
the streets The conferees called al
the White House and met the presi
dent. The conference will concud
tomorrow
Mrs. Georgia Ferguson wife OF the
Rev. G. F. Ferguson, recently Of Kan
sas City, but now of New York, was
present today as the representative OF
the convention OF the unemployed re-
Gently held in St Louis. The dele
gates will hold another session to
morrow.