Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-28
Agreement Reached by Ship
ward Trades and the Fed
Grafton of Employers.
LONDON PAPERS OPINION
OF ENGLISH INDUSTRIES
Medical Officer of Prison Discusses
Criminology-Theory Based on
Statistical Information.
ore.gn correspondence Of The Star.

Foreign Correspondence Of The Star
LONDON. August Is lai:,
The prolonged and at one time acut.
dispute between the shipyard trades and
the Shipbuildng Employers Federation
Ieached definite conclusion few days
ago. when the representatives met in con
ference at Edinburgh. In June an Offer
was made by the employers of an ad-
vance of shilling week or a farthin2
AN hour, on the time rates. and an in
crease of 212 per cent to the piecework
rveting squads on behalf of their hold
"rs-on. They refused. however. to CON
cede the demand for an all-round advance
of 6 per cent on piece rates. \ ballot of
the employees upon the offer resulted IL
13,1U voting for acceptance and Dos
against, majority of 1920 for accept
ance.
The agreement is in effect the present
month. No further general alteration in
wages, piece or time, to take effect for d
period of twelve months from the date
named.
There We're various other points dis
cussed. some of which were adjusted and
others RENTED to the districts imme-
Giately concerned for adjustment. These
points deal with local conditions only.
Industrial Situation Discussed.
With regard to the general industrial
situation in England, the Morning Post
says:
We are all such happy family just
now in the industrial world that polti-
clans inclined to forget there was
ever such a thing as a strike in England
Politicians have short memories as to
things unpleasant and we are certain
that when the next industrial war breaks
outlet us hope ii may be far hence
they will be as completely unprepared for
il as they were for the coal strike. But
the industrial council, an excellent body
Of business men, is not so obliyious.
1t has been busy since June of last
year on Industrial agreements, how best
they should be kept, and how far en-
forced II has come TO a series OF
modest and diffident conclusions. which
impress us far more than the cocksure
dogma of some of our saviors OF society.
industrial strife is complicated
business, involving principles that vitality
concern the liberty of the subject and
the safety of the state. To substitute
what Mr.. Lloyd George hopefully but
vaguely called some machinery for
the direct relations between master and
man may only add new complexity
and new cause Of friction and ill-feel-
ing If masters get out of touch with
nlen they will suffer. and they will de-
serve to suffer; If the state thrusts en-
ployer and employed apart. and steps
in az go-between. then the relations
are further complicated and dehumaniZ-
ed The resulting indirectness and want
% good feeling add a new cause of I'M
rest
Obliterates Human Factor.
The pity is that modern life, with its
high concentration and specialization.
lis joint stock companies, its trusts and
combines, tends to obliterate the human
factor as between employer and en-
ployed. And it is not only one side that
retreats from the other; both sides re-
treat. For the tendency of labor is to
collect itself into larger and larger or
CARNATIONS. embracing not merely one
district and one trade. but in some cases
several trades throughout whole coun-
try. so that masters and men are divided
almost into national armies in opposite
camps. Such tendencies are bound to
result, and have already resulted. in
great evils. But to introduce the ma
chinery of the state, the grinding wheels
of an act of parliament, may still fur
Their intensity these evils
In medieval times trades were or
Sanized into guilds, or trade unions. as
We may call them, which included mas
ter and man. This, surely, is the true
organization of a trade, an organization
which brings the employer and employ
ed upon the same council board in all
such matters as wages, prices, condi-
tons hours and so forth. But we have
got beyond that. and now We have a
lateral division splitting every trade into
the frequently hostile parties of en-
ployer and employed. And both sides
are organized to negotiate or in the
last event to fight
AS individuals criminals possess no