The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-24
IDA FARRELL ON COLORADO
She Criticises RockefelIer's Re-
 fusaI to Arbitrate.
Historian of Standard Oil As serts That His Position is Little Short of Ridiculous in Present Dispute Upholds Right of Employees to Orga- nize at All Times.

Refusal of John D. Rockefeller. Jr.. to arbitrate the dispute involved in the Colorado strike is little short of ridiculous in the opinion of Miss Ida Tarbell, the writer on economic and social subjects, and the historian of the Standard Oil Company, Miss Tar bell, in an exclusive interview given l today, asserted that no man had the right to say that his employees should not organize, and added that Mir. Rockefeller. Jr., was not insincere, but was the product of a training which 'mourners' demonstration in front of 26 Broadway she regarded as silly, but successful from the point of view 1 of getting publicity.
 -'It seems to me that the most inn portant fact in regard to the whole matter is young MT. Rockefel1ers re- fusa1 to arbitrate,' Miss Tarbell said. That a man should take this attitude today when nations and individuals are l agreed tn arbitration is the best way to setle dispues is lille shor of ridicu- loug. no to say archaic.
 'Rockefe1ler or any other man. has no right to say that his men shall not organize. He himself owes his power to strong organization. He is one of a board of directors and acts through agents He must know the strength of organized effort and should not refuse it to his men It doesn't matter whether only 10 per cent want to organize. It isn't the number that matters. However small it is they should be free to do so, and their side of the question should be heard. It is perfectly reasonable to ask that the matter shall be discussed.
 ''The fact that so much trouble ex- ists between those who are engaged in the same industry--those who own the mines and those who work the mines-shows that there must be grounds for arbitration. A far-sighted man ought to see that 1t is to his ad- vantage to give the men who work for him a chance to state their case. Says He Should Be On the Ground.
 "RockefeIler cannot know condt- tions existing in the mines. He says himself he has not been to Colorado for years. It is all very well to deal through representatives, but when trouble of so serious a nature arises, it seems as if the best way to get at the facts would be for the man who is at the head of the industry to be on the ground and make conclusions only after obtaining hrst-hand infor- nation.
 There isn't a particle of doubt that the conditions in the mines have been very bad. Nor is there any doubt that they have improved somewhat in the last few years. But there IS room TOT vast improvement yet. The trouble that broke out this spring is the cuImina- tion of long list of wrongs. It isn't a sudden dare-up. due to some single provocation.
 'As to the facts concerning what happened in Colorado, 1t is hard for a person who was not there at the time to form a definite opinion. Even Colorado people differ regarding it. It stands to reason that, when two hos tile camps are facing each other, as they were in that State, some one is apt to strike a match or fire a rifle with seemingly slight provocation. Af- ter all, it is the small thing that pre- cipitates a tremendous crisis.
 That the situation in Colorado is not thing which can be soon settled is evident. MT. Rockefel1ed may be