The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1914-11-07
STATE, |ND|V|D.
UAl AND LABOR

Inc relation of capital and labor,
more particularly the missing link
between capital and labor" was the
topic of recent discussion H. San
Francisco. The views oppressed
touched on fundamental phases Of
the problem. With. fine optimism
the dean of the University Of Cali
fornia. Doctor Barrows, developed his
belief that the present gulf between
employer and employee would be
bridged chiefly through the agency of
the state; that the gravest danger of
irreconcilable conflict between labor
and capital lay in a growing want of
confidence in the state and in its
agencies and laws, and In the in.
creasing effort to find the remedy by
individual as distinguished from state
action,
An opposite theory was disclosed
by the chairman of the national com.
mission now investigating industrial
relations. His references to testi
mony given before the commission
suggested that collective bargaining
between classes, II not the assertion
Of individual force in specific cases
was the only means Of avoiding, or
at least delaying supposed newt
able clash between employers and
employed.
To US 1t seems that between these
ideas lies the common ground on
which the differences between capital
and labor between employer and EN-
ploye will find their nearest solution.
Organization for lawful purposes Is
beneficial and necessary to enable
each class to present its claims, and
to obtain its ends. or these claims
the state, by means of the agencies
which represent the public is the III
innate arbiter and protector.
The social progress OF our people
will best be served IL organizations,
as we'll of labor as of capital, Will
sanely seek their ends through the
medium of the government and II
they will sustain its law by accepting
at all times the decision OF the state.
whether acting by its legislative, eX-
ecutive or judicial authority.
Apt illustration Of the soundness OF
this view Is to be found In the condi
lions of today in various parts of
our country. The theory Of individu'
al action, or of collective action In
disregard and independence Of the
state and its law, is exemplified and
most unhappily, in the industrial
strife now raging in several OF our
commemorative. The theory that
converts the state into an agency to
guide individual action and to palli'
ate social inconvenience is expressed
and most unfortunately, in the multi
tudinous state statutes enacted In re-
cent years, which aim at millenni
um by regulating minutely the activ'
tiles of the individual to the destruc
ton of his liberty.
The more successful mixture oil
collective class effort and representa-
tive government is found In such
legislation as the workman's compen
sation laws, safety appliance acts and
rate regulation. Such legislation Is
sound because it throws the protec
ton of the lag about these interests
which concern the public and the
state. Thus the theory Of the indus
trial compensation laws is as sound
in principle as 1t is admirable IN
practice. In substance the legisla
ton on the subject seeks to compen
safe the injured. regardless of the
fault of some other person. Plainly
under the old system, it was small
aid or comfort to disabled workman
to know that no one was at fault foI
his misfortune and that he was there
fore obliged to sustain 1t without as
Stance.
Permanent betterment of social con
ditions is within the reach of the law
In the enactment of such Legislation
and in the enforcement Of decent
respect for the state and the law ant
not in their violation and overthrow
lice the true and ultimate sphere o
action for industrial organizations
whether Of capital or Of labor. Stan
dard Oil bulletin, Colorado.