The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-06
CARDINAL GIBBONS
 URGES LABOR AND CAPITAL TO UNITE.
"lnseparab!e, New and Forever, " His Motto For Civic
 Fedora iSn

Washington, March 6-Cardinal Gib- bons, Martin A. Knapp, presiding Judge of the United States Commerce Court; Commissioner of Labor Nein and Seth Low of New York were the chief speakers at the opening sess.on of the twelfth annual meeting of the National Civic Federation.
 The Cardinal said the motto of the federation and of mankind should be Labor and capital. one and insepar- atle, now and forever" Judge Knapp and Com. Neill, mediators under the Erdman act for the settlement of disputes between interstate common carriers and their employees, spoke of peaceful settlements of labor contro- versies. Seth Low, who is president of the federation, declared that under the leadership of Samuel Gompers. president of the American Federation of Labor. labor conditions throughout the United States had steadily inn proved.
 In the opening address Cardinal Gibbons said:
 We are here not as special plead CTS for capital, nor as special-rieaders for labor. but we are met together in the sacred interests of both.
 Labor is honorable because it con tributes more than any other agency to the welfare and prosperity of the Commonwealth. The laborer is the lee in the social hive. He is the bene- factor of his race.
 What would it profit one to possess all the coal mines of West; Virginia and Pennsylvania if there were no hardy sons of toll to work those mines, to extract the coal from the bowels of the earth and transport it to the of Ia m
 What would it profit one to possess the whole island Of Manhattan if he were deprived of the service of his fellowteing? His possessions would be to him a mockery and delusion.
 Look at the huge Olympic anchor lies like an elephantine monster with out life and motion. She does not nudge an inch. The officers are at their posts aboard of her. the engi- neers are there and the firemen the stokers and sailors. They are power less without the commander.
 ''But as soon as the captain ascends the bridge and touches a button that lifeless monster becomes instinct with new life. She glides gracefully down
 he harbor and rushes across the At. lantfc, bearing precious freight and more precious lives to their destina- tion.
 What does this illustrate? It il- lustrates the fruitful blessings result ing from the union of brawn and of brain, of physical and intellectual fo-ces, of labor and capital
 Let, then,f capital and labor join nds and work together harmonious ly and the increased prosperity of the nation is assured.'' E
 Jud@e Knapp: speaking of the ex- cellent results derived from that sec of Ev,.1~ I@v ~s@I> vides for Federal mediation in dis putes between interstate carriers and their employees. said:
 ''The arbitration features of the law are undoubtedly useful, however infrequently brought into play. But the scheme of mediation has been a distinct success. It has been utilized in numerous cases in the last six years ard in no instance yet has strike followed the intervention of the mediators"
 Commissioner Neill reviewed the work Of the mediation shoard- and said the controversies troue ht- before medi- ators have ranged in impor tance from a few instances of small roads. involv- ing less than 100 miles of line and fewer than 100 employees up to cases embracing more than fifty roads and involving more than 100 coo miles of line and 10000 employees in a single controversy. <t --f.
 ''In one year. 1910, the assistance of the mediators under the act was call ed for in sixteen cases these cases involving nearly 300,0G0 miles of rail- road and directly involving nearly SO- mo railway men," said Commissioners Neill. 'The tetal mileage involved in the forty-eieht cases in which the provisions of the law have been in- -volved is more than 500O0O and the total number of employees directly in- volved is more than 16n 900.
 Although the law applies equally to organized ard unorganlZed work CTS. it is difficult to see how it's pro- visions could he carried out with any deeree of satisfaction except in eases where organized employees are dealt with. Much of the success which has marked the operation of the law thus far is probably due to the fact that the classes of employees with whom it deals ire strongly organized and we'll disciplined"