El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-14


ton. The function is one Of negoIla
ton. Neither the secretary nor CON ~
rnissioners Of Cancellation Whom ~
appoints are arbitOrs. Though ny
NAV propose arbitration when clIcuiil+
stances seem to call for it, they DO mo-
themselves act as arbitratOrs, anu ~
contrary to the policy Of the oepai
ment of labor for them TO do So III
'rWhat the commissioners OF conClli
alton seek to do is to bring employe.
and employee together, so that tney nc
1E-orIr ont their differences between
tbenseIves neaceablv and amicably, as
business men with legitimate dltIeI-
ences to adjust. When commissioners
fail in that way to get employe anu
employer together, mediation Is RESI-
ed to. The commissioners mes Ot -.
between representatives of the Employ
and ranresentatives of the employer In
an effort to fnid some mutually sails-
factory basis Of agreement aims
also in that, the commissioners endeaV-
or to get the conflicting parues 70
agree to a basis OF arDltratloh, ~ ~
award to decide nothing but the polill5
actually in dispute. Any of those three
courses is preferable to a strike.
aft is the Dolicy of the department Oh
labor, and has been its custom 10 ap
point in important cases Two OF mo- 70, :
commissioners of concllatlon Oh ~
kind lust described, so that the secIe-
| tarv may be intelligently advised OF Lhe
merits Of the dispute from all angles
The colorado Coal Strike.
This was done in the case OF the
. Colorado coal strike, one OF the com
missioners in that case being, as al
-aedv stated a miner whose labor af-
fiIiaffons Dointed to possible sympathy
with the strikers, the other being a
mine operator whose business affilla-
tions pointed possibly to sympathy win win
| the mine operators But both were
| fair minded as well as technically com
netent men. Their Joint recOmmenda-
| ton, approved by the department and
/ the president and accepted by tne
strikers. is confidently submitted as
! evidence of the good faith of the de-
| partment's commissioners OF conclha-
| ton and Of the wisdom Of its general
| policy in mediation and Cancellation
work.
| Although the department seldom Of
| fers mediation in labor disputes unless
| solicited to do so. and although thl;
is regarded as the wiser pollcy "a; a
! present vet the statute empowers th'
| secretary to act whenever, in his Judg-
| ment, the interests of industrial peace
NAV require it to be done; and condl.
| tons are conceivable in which It Woule
be advisable for the department TO OF
| fer its good offices though neither
| party requested or desired It IN Ih'
| case for instance, of strike or sucI
| bitterness as to inspire both sides VIII
| a determination to fight to the bite
| end. and of such magnitude as u
| prejudice other industrial interests o.
| to disturb the public at large, it would
doubtless be the duty Of the department
| of labor to intervene
/ Acted Too Late.
Of the Michigan copper strike, h
] SAYS: If the mana gers of the propert.
/ involved in this strike had dealt witt
T0raH in
> cipal owners (Messrs.. Shaw and Agas
siz) might have done had they been o.
the ground and personally in charge
! there is reason to believe that no strik
would have occurred. But the Ioca
superintendent, doubtless an excellen
property manager, appears by the re
ports to have been poor manager o
men.
whatever may have been the re
! sponsibility of the WOrkmen for tn
strike and its incidents, the local man
| aRement can not be wholly acquitted
! agency, as sound in morale as in law
ultimate responsibility must rest upo
Responsibility in Colorado.
OF the Colorado strike the secretar
says:
THE coal strike in Colorado, whic
| has necessitated the use Of fedora
troops, is another conspicuous instanc
of Industrial warfare in which, how
ever heavily the responsibility may res
upon the strikers, it must attach ais
to the local management Of the proI
erty involved and therefore to the re
1 spOnsible owners In its early stage
this strike could, as stated in the frs
annual report, have been settled upo
fair terms had the proposals of the de
| partment of labor for arbitration by a
unbiased board chosen by mutu;
agreement been promptly accepted"
Cause of Labor Disputes.
Mr. Wilson then discusses the caus
of labor disputes, saying:
Excess in the supply Of labor owe
demand for it is a cause of labor dis
putes which ranks high in importanc
if indeed it does not rank as the caus
| In collOquial terms the 'JObless ma
puts all wage workers at a disadvaI
tage in bargaining with employers. TT
'manless job is corresponding collC
| Quialism. II there were a profitab
'manless job for every jobless ma
the complete remedy for industrial di!
putes would be to bring the two L
gether; but whether so complete col
respOndence exists or not, no one at a
familiar with the problem of seasons
employment and of accidental di!
placement Of wage earners can doul
that it exists in some degree.
There were manless jobs for 10
| less VICTIMS OF the salem IRE, ana IN
department helped to bring the two Z
gether; there are 'Inanless. jobs Of Il
seasonal kind on our farms and els
! where to which this department nj
! been able in some instances to Dr1r
| jobless men, Insofar as department
work of this kind can be improved al
! expanded, the evils of labor disput
will be minimized; and with referen
| to such work the cooperation of Co
| gress Is urgently solicited. What
needed is timely and widespread info
nation concerning labor conditions
every part Of the country"
Secretary Wilson reneWs his la
1 years recommendation that congre
Il | prohibit interstate transportation
d armed private police or guards 4
either side in Industrial disputes.