The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-14
SECRETARY WILSON
IN ANNUAL REPORT
BLAMES OPERATORS
FOR CALUMET STRIKE

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BLAMES OPERATORS
FOR CALUMET STRIKE
Continued from Page One)
similar in character to that of the de-
partment of state, which, while repre-
senting the interests of this country
in disputes between 1t and other ooun-
tries. does so with fairness toward all
countries. Accordingly the policy of the
department of labor, though it exc
cutes its mediation and Cancellation
functions the governmental repre-
sentative of Wage-earning interests, is
to do without partisanship or pref.
udice, but with fairness to every in
terest concerned.
ut should be understood, therefore.
that mediation does not mean arbitra-
tion, compulsory or otherwise. Eor is
1T in any other sense a judicial func-
ton The function is one sof negotia-
ton. Neither the secretary nor COM
missioners of Cancellation whom lie APP
| points are arbitrator. Though they
7 ay propose arbitration when circum-
| stances seem to call for it, they 10 not
themselves act as arbitrators, and II
| is contrary to the policy of the de-
partment of labor for them to do So
what the commissioners of concil-
iation seek to do is to bring employer
and employe together so that they may
work out their differences betweet
| themselves peaceably and amicably, as
business men With legitimate differ
ences to adjust. When commissioners
| fail in that way to get employee and
| employer together, mediation Is re-
| sorted to.
Act As MediatOrs
| The commissioners negotiate between
representatives of the employees and rep
| resentatives of the employer in an effort
to find some mutually satisfactory basis
OF agreement Failing also in that the
| commissioners endeavor to get the con-
| flicting parties to agree to basis of ar
| bitration, the award to decide nothing
but the points actually in dispute. Any of
those three courses is preferable to a
, strike.
when the department is unable,
| whether through commissioners of con-
! citation or otherwise. to get the parties
| to meet and work out their own problems,
Or to agree upon an adjustment by way
| OF mediatorial negotiation or to adopt ar
| btration by arbitrator of their own
| choosing, then there is nothing further
| the department can do than to give to
the public the information necessary to
| enable 1t to pass a fair Judgment upon
the merits of the dispute
Are Not Judicial
- will be SEEN therefore, that the
| qualifications of commissioners of con-
Citation are not at all judicial, and that
criticisms of their having or having had
partisan affiliations are based upon a mis-
| apprehension of the duty the statute has
! imposed upon them, and upon this de-
| partment. 1t is not reasonable objec-
ton TO commissioner of Cancellation that
he belongs to workers organization, nor
that he belongs to an employers organic
alton His important qualifications are
! not ignorance of or indifference to the
4 interests of either party or both, but tact,
! fairness and good feeling in negotiations
in addition to competency with reference
to technical aspects of the matters in dis
pute. Those qualifications among persons
| having no affiliations with either side are
| too rare for the practical purposes of
mediation and Cancellation.
1T is, then, the policy of the depart
/ ment of labor, and has been it's custom,
to appoint in important cases two or more
commissioners of Cancellation Of the kind
just described, SO that the secretary may
! be intelllgently advised of the merits of
the dispute from all angles on both sides.
! This was done in the case of the
| Colorado coal strike. one of the commits
sioners in that case being as already
| stated, miner whose labor affiliations
pointed to possible sympathy with the
| strikers, the other being a mine operator
whose business affiliations pointed posi-
| bly, to sympathy with the mine operators.
| But both were fair-minded as well as
technically competent men,. Their joint
recommendation, approved by the de-
partment and the President, and accepted
by the strikers, is confidently submitted
as evidence of the good faith of the de-
| partment's commissioners of Cancellation
and of the wisdom of its general policy in
mediation and Cancellation work.
| Seldom Offer Mediation
Although the department seldom offers
medlat ton in labor disputes unless solc-
| tied to do so, and although this Is re-
garded as the wiser policy at present. yet
| the statute empowers the secretary to
| act whenever. in his judgment. the in
terests of industrial peace may require
\ 1t to be DONE; and conditions are conceiv-
able in which it would be advisable for
the department to offer its good offices
though neither party requested or de-
sired 1T. In the case, for instance. of a
strike of such bitterness as to inspire
both sides with determination to fight to
| the bitter end, and of such magnitude
as to prejudice other industrial interests
or to disturb the public at large. it would
doubtless be the duty of the department
| of labor to intervene"
The Colorado and Michigan strikes Sec
| rotary Wilson dlsmisses briefly, quoting
| references he made to them in his last
report. OF the Michigan copper strike he
says: "If the managers of the property
involved in this strike had dealt with the
dispute at its inception, SO it's principal
owners (Messrs. Shaw and Agassiz) might
have done had they been on the ground
and personally In charge, there is reason
! to believe that no strike would have &C.
CURED. But the local superintendent
doubtless an excellent property manager,
appears by the reports to have been a
poor manager of men.
feWhen the employees solicited a con-
ference with him in order to present
grievances their request was entirely
ignored. 1t appears to have been this
treatment that precipitated the strike
and kindred treatment that prevented
subsequent negotiations for terminal
ing 1t fairly. No rights of the company
could have been injured, nor any pref
udice to Its business incurred by a
courteous reception of complaints from