The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-12-14

E Washington. Dec 14.-Secretary Wilson of the Department of Labor, in his annual report. submitted eteday expresses the conviction that had the owners of the mine properties 1n the Calumet copper region and the Colo rado coal fields dealt with the strike situations in their inception, had they been on the ground and personally in charge, there is reason to believe that no strike would have occurred .
 sWhatever may have been the re- X 1aponsfbility of the workmen for the ketrike and its incidents said Secre- l tary wilson. ..the local management cannot be wholly acquitted; and upon the elementary principle of agency, as sound in morals as in law, ultimate krpsponHibtlity must rest upon the olWneFs.s
 1 ..PrimariIy the Department of La ibow must conserve in industrial dis kpuiiek the interests of the wage, earn Iers of the United States. Such is It's Eduty under the law of it's creation. the f 5iraf section of which charges 1t with 3 Isae.uonstbilfty for their general welfare tvah1Ie the eighth makes this respons1- kbfnty specific as to labor disputes. And those interests are exceptional in their l xuzeezattude. Not only do wage earn Z erg constitute in number more than f4hfx.a of our total population, but in ffnanciaz respects also their aggregate kdu<erests are vast It is doubtful 1T F any vocational in&erests represented in 8glR ROW8EnxnGnLA1 Sy8C61A4 CAISS0 AhA fvu4ume or public importance those of Itfe wage earners of the United States
 ssBut though tho Department of La lboR represents primarily the wage keaEMing interests in labor disputes, k4ta ideal fg to mako its representation k kgdxnt7ar in character to that of the De- fpartnent Of Statas which, while rep Presenting the interests of this coun- AtrY i'm disputes between it and other 4aaoumtries, does so with fairness to- Aa~na TsrKrl Ina npMcy of the Department of Labor, kfaou@h 1t executes it's mediation and kc0nci Ifati0n functions as the govern kmuntal representative of wage earning interestss Is to do so without paru- fsanship or prejudice, but with fair. E ness to every interest concerned
 ssM should be understood, therefore, Stiat mediation does not mean arbitra- kfdon, compulsory or otherwise. Nor Els 1t in any other sense Judicial func- btion The function is one of negitia- f1on- Neither the secretary nor com raisdoners Of cancellation whom he anp0ints are arbItrators. Though they may propose arbitration when cir cu1rastauees seem to call for it, they do not themselves act as arbitrators and 1t Is contrary to the policy of the Depar tment of Labor for them to do so-
 iatdon seek to do Is to bring employer and employee together, so that they may work out their differences be- tween themselves peacefully and arnicab1y, as 6szziness men with Iegiti- mate differ eucas to adjust. When empdoyee and employer together, mediation is resorted to The com nnissfonars negotiate between repre- sentafives of the employees and repre- sentatfves of the employer in an effort to find some mutually satisfactory basis of agreement Failing also in that, the commissioners endeayor to get the conflicting parties to agree to basis of arbitration. the award to de- eide notndng but the points aetually in dispute. Any of those three courses is preferable to a strike.
 When the department is unable, whether through commi ssfoners of concilfation or otherwise to get the own problems, or to agree upon an ad5ustmenf by way of medfatorial negotiation, or to adopt arbitration by arb1trat0rs of their own choosing then there is nothing further the de partnsnt can do than to give to the public the information necessary tc enable 1t to pass a fair judgment up E on the merits of the dispute
 1t will be seen, thereforA, that the quAl1dcaHons of commissioners o1 isconcfdatdon are not at all Judicial, and that criticisms of their having or hay ing had partisan affiliations are based upon a m1sapprehension of the dut. the statute has imposed upon then and upon this department It is no reasonab1a objection to a commits sioner of cancellation that he be1ongs to a workers, organization, nor tha. he belongs to an employers organi za&lOn~ His important QuaI1ffcationi are not ignorance of or indiffer enct ito the interests of either party or both but tact, fairness, and good feeling il negotiations in addition to compteenc1 with reference to technical aspects Q the matters in dispute Those quail l ficat1ons among persog2 having no af n1ca31ons among persons having no af flor the practical purposes of media t1on and conciHation-
 It is, then, the policy of the De partment Of Labor, and has been it custom to appoint in important case two or more connmtssi toners of conciH ation of the kind just described, s, that the secretary may be intelligent 1y advised of the merits of the disput from an angles on both sides.
 'HThis was done in the case Of tn, Colorado coal strike, one of the com
 naissioners in that case being, as al ready stated. a, miner whose labor af hHadons pointed to possible syrnpa thy with the strikers, the other bein;
 mine operator whose business affIl1
 ahcns pointed possibly to sympath,
 with the mine operators. But bot were fair-mfnded as well as tectni
 caI1y competent men Their ioin recommendation. approved by the de
 pertinent and the president and ac
 cepted by the strikers, is confidentI
 submitted as evidence of the goo,
 faith of the departments cornmis
 sioners of conciliation and of the wis
 dom of it's general policy in mediation
 and conciIiation work
 Although the department seldom
 offers mediation in labor disputes un
 less solicited to do so. and a1thougl
 this is regarded as the wiser #poljc
 at present, yet the statute empower
 the secretary to act whenever, in hi
 Judgment, the interests of industria
 peace may require it to be done an