Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1915-08-30
PHYSICAL FORCE
FOUND futile IN
INDUSTRIAL PEACE
Walsh Commission Member
Reports on National Erectors-
Ironworkers' Controversy.
ABUSE OF POWER is NOT
ALWAYS THE EMPLOYERS
Dread of Unemployment at Bot
tom of Disputes in Build
ing Trades.

the United States Commission on
industrial Relations today made pub
lie the last reports to be printed at
this time. 1t is a report by Luke
Grant on the controversy between
! the National Erectors' Association
and the International Association of
Bridge and Structural Ironworkers.
The report relates at length the
history of the conflict between these
groups of employers and unionists. It
goes into the history of the campaign
of dynamiting conducted by officials
or the union. The Los Angeles Times
explosion, says Mr.. Grant, did not not
involve the International Association
of Bridge and Structural IRON
workers, except that the explosion
Was perpetrated by one of the agents
who had been made use of by officials
of this union in causing other explo-
sions.
Mr.. Grants conclusions regarding
the various incidents of the conflict
are stated as follows:
In study of conditions obtaining
in the structural iron industry and
the relations between the ironworkers
and their employers the most strik-
ing fact is that the application of
physical force will neither establish
nor maintain just and fair relations
between employers and employees.
Many incidents might be cited in
the Industrial world where the use
of physical force has for time won
advantage for the side that has used
1t. Such gains, however, are tempo
and do 1nlxo for MT
industrial peace.
An employer may at times through
force of circumstances be compelled
to submit to certain conditions which
he believes are unjust. Fear Of
violence and the destruction of prop
erty may cause him to make terms
with union against his will and
business judgment. But il he is
forced to submit through fear or
business necessity he will break from
the restraint on the first opportunity.
Each Look for Advantage.
WorlSingmen, on the other hand,
may be compelled 10 submit to con-
ditions which they regard as irksome,
If the advantage is one the side OF
the employer. They submit sullenly,
because they are compelled to do so
by force of circumstances. Instead of
cooperating with their employers
under such conditions they are con-
stantly looking for the day when they
can turn the tables and get the upper
hand.
Force may subjugate one side or
the other in an industrial dispute
but 1t will not remove discomfort 1t
will not establish justice. When one
side is all-powerful and the other side
is subservient there is sure to be in
i,,- ies in
there will be discomfort.
The abuse of power Is not always
on the side of the employer. Where
unions are in complete control abuses
are as apt to develop is where the
employers exercise absolute power In
neither case is the condition con-
ducive to industrial peace. Abuses
may sometimes be more fancied than
real, due to the inability of one side
to comprehend the motive of the
other side. Frequently 1t is not the
act itself that constitutes the abuse,
but the manner in which the act is
performed.
If an employer issues an order be-
cause he has the power to do so,
without regard to the wishes of his
employees, the order may be obeyed,
but 1t may create a great deal of
dissatisfaction. IL u union adopts a
certain rule, imposing some restric-
ton on the employer, without his
knowledge or consent. the rule may
be enforced, but it will arouse the
antagonism of the employer. If the
union representatives and the en-
ployer sat down together and dis
cussed the matter in Ihe light of
reason they would probably agree
CONTINUED on Page 8, Column ~