The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-02-05
PROTESTS AGAINST
USE OF ARMED GUARDS
Secretary Wilson of Department of La
Dor Recommends That Congress En-
act Some Law an the Interests
of Public Peace and Order"

of Public Peace and Order"
! Washington, d. G., Feb Protests
against the use OF firearms and the EN-.
ployment of armed guards and private
detectives in labor disputes and strikes
was made by Secretary ". B. Wilson,
Of the department of labor, in his first
annual report submitted yesterday to
President Wilson. He recommends that
Congress enact legislation within its con-
stitutional limitations to regulate this
business as in the interest of public
! peace and order"
THE use OF firearms said Secretary
Wilson, lin species of private warfare
in connection with labor strikes, calls
for serious consideration. Groups of
men on both sides, without military OF
police authority for it, have used fire.
arms with fatal effect in the coal strike
in southern Colorado. These arms and
the ammunition have doubtless been pro-
cured through interstate commerce: and
many of the armed men are said to
have been imported into Colorado from
other states through a business concern
engaged commercially across state lines
| III supplying corporations with an armed
and trained private soldiery or police in
numbers running into hundreds and even
thousands. In connection with the Pere
Marquette strike in Michigan, armed
guards, furnished by agencies in other
states supplying men to take the place
OF local strikers, accompanied those men
| to Grand Rapids. They were there
turned back by the United States mar
shall under instructions from the district
judge. In the Calumet copper mining
region, armed guards under contract
with the employers were forwarded to
the locality by agencies in other states"
On relations OF capital and labor, Sec
rotary Wilson takes advanced ground
"The relation of employer and wage.
Garner" says he, lis no longer personal
or individual" because both employers
and operatives act in groups.
1T is obvious" the report says, "that
this method Of employment, generally
necessary for success in modern industry,
may give to employers great eontractual
advantages over wage-earners. Unless
wage earners also act collectively
through their own agents, they are often
at practical disadvantage Employers
VIM CIV NVtiNAtlhtiy VI M NiEt tdAH-
ers are often averse to dealing with
agents Of wage earners who collectively
offer their services. They desire to CON
tract with wage earners individually. It
is upon this point that labor disputes
frequently spring up and become acute.
In most instances in which employers
accord workmen practical recognition Of
the right Of collective bargaining which
they themselves exercise, fair relations
are maintained.
I'm any circumstances, differences must
be expected to arise. In such cases the
department of labor might possibly find |
common ground for agreement which |
the disputants, in their eagerness for ad
vantage or in the heat of their contro-
versy, had overlooked"
In that connection, it is suggested that |
Congress clearly define the functions of |
the department of labor in the media
tion OF labor disputes and vote an APP
preparation adequate TO meet the re
quirements of mediation work. In that |
way, ii was suggested, "the welfare of |
wage earners could be fostered while |
the prosperity OF employers and the |
peace and good order of society at large |
were conserved. Amieable settlements |
between the parties themselves, without |
mediation, are manifestly first in tile
order of preference Mediation comes i
next. Arbitration third But any Of
the three is preferable to strikes or lock
outs"
The success already achieved by the
department Of labor, in the adjustment
OF labor controversies, demonstrates, in
the Judgment OF Secretary Wilson, that
such disputes nearly always may be adj
iusted to the profit of all interests; and
he believes that the department prop
erly equipped, should be able to make I
mediation progressively popular with
both the employing and the wage earn
ing interests of the country"
The report contains a review of the
labor controversies in which the good
Offices of the department OF labor were
exercised during the 10 months of its
existence. In practically all of thenl,.
agents of the department were success
ful, although in the Colorado coal strike
md in the Michigan copper strike no
peaceful solutions yet have been reached.
because, il was pointed out, parties TO
10 accept mediation.
During the fiscal year ended June 80,
1913, l,l97,S72 immigrants came to this
country, an increase of 359,720 over the
previous year. OF those 9S6,355 were be-
tween Ia and A years of age, l47, l5s {
we're under Ia, and 64,379 were IS or {
,yer. Twenty-six per cent of the aliens
admitted were totally illiterate. The {
lulk of the immigration came from the