The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-23

hearings occupied in all 154 days and
 a total of TAO witnesses were heard.
 Of these t230 were affiliated with em- ployers, 245 with labor and 265 were
 not affiliated with either group. Where
 interests are affected, statements of
 fact are based entirely on the testi-
 mony of those witnesses whose inter
 ests might be regarded as adverse
 ly affected.
 Action is Imperative.
 In an introductory statement Con
 gress and the public are urged to re-
 gard the question Of industrial reIa- tions as more fundamental and of
 greater importance to the welfare of the nation than any other question
 except that of our government
 '"The only hope for the solution of the tremendous problems created by industrial relati onship,' says the re-
 port, Ties in the effective use of our
 democratic institutions and the. rapid extension of the principles of democ-
 racy to industry
 The trnm ediate effects of the form and character of industrial organfza- ton are held to be greater and clos CT to the lives and happiness of all classes of citizens than even the form and character of our political l institutions.''~
 "The ordinary man, it is pointed
 
 has relatively little contact with the government. If he and his family are wel1-fed, we'll housed, and we'll clothed, and if he can pay for the
 education of his Children, he can ex- 1 ist even under an autocratic monar- l chy with little concern until some 1 critical situation develops in which his own property is interfered with or until he is deprived of life or prop erty by the overwhelming power of l his tyrannical ruler. But his indus trial relations determine every day what he and his family shall eat, what l they shall wear, how many hours of 1 his life he shall labor and in what l surroundings. Under certain con ditions- where his individual or corr porate employer owns or controls the community in which he lives, the education of his children, the charac- ter and prices of his food, clothing and house, his own actions, speech and opinions, and in some cases even
 his religion, are controlled and de- ternined, insofar as the interests of the employer make it desirable for him to exercise such control. Such conditions are estasbli shed and main tained not only throug gh the dictation of all working conditions of employ ] ment, but by his usurpation or con troI of the functions and machinery of political government in such com
 munities.
 sIn the available. time it has been impossible to ascertain how general such conditions are, but it is clearly indicated by the investigations that in isolated industrial, mining or agrieul- turaI communities, which are owned. on controlled by single individuals or corporatfons, and in which the em-
 ployees are tunorganized, industrial feudaIism is the rule rather than the exception.
 .In such communities democratic government does not as rule exist, except in name or form, and as a, con- sequence there now exist within the body of our republic petty! industrial sconanunities;sW (which are virtually prin-z cipalities, oppressive to those depen-5 dent upon them for a livelihood and a dreadful menace to the peaceS ano welfare of the nation
 Such conditions as these are the direct and inevitable conseauence of the industrial relations which exist in such communities. Political freedom can exist only where there industrial freedom; political democracy only where there is industrial democracy.
 s.'Such Industrial democracy has been established in greater or less degree in certain American industries Or for certain classes of employees. But between such conditions of in-1 dustria1 democracy and industrial feudalisn1, there are almost infinite gradatfons marking the stages of eyo-4 luton which have been reached. In eevery lease, however, investigation has shown that the degree of political freedom and democracy which exists is conditioned by the industrial status of the cits4ens who form the major ity of the community,
 Political Liberties at Stake.
 .sThe problems of industrial rela- tio11s therefore, demand tue attntfon of Congress, not only because they de- termine the life, security and happi- ness of the twenty-five million citizens of the United States who occupy the position of wage earners, but because they affect for good or evil the govern ment of localities and .statess and to a smaller degree that~of the nation it. self. What each of these wage earn CTS shall eat, what he shall wear, where he shall live, and how long and under what conditions he shall 1abor are determined by his industrial sta tus and by his relation individually OF collectively to the person or corpora tion employing him. Similarly and almost as directly this relationship de- ternines whether the machinery of government shall be used for or against his welfare, whether his vote shall count for or against his own intrest,, whether he shall be tried by a jury of, his peers or 8 jury selected in collusion with the employing com pany, or, under conditions of so-ca11ed martial law by no jury whatever. whether in fact he shall be a free man or be deprived of every right guaran- teed by federal and state constitu- tions, imprisoned without warrant for the commission Of crimes of which he may be innocent. or forcibly ,deported from the community or state in which he has made his home For these it seems desirable at the out set to suggest a recommendation to Congress that these problems of in dustriaI relationship should occupy their due. prominence in the de1fbera- tions of that Honorable Body, and