The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-24

managers that low production costs may be secured with high wages. probably would be to an increasing extent, except that Boards of Direct higIl-wage-l 4cost theory, and ha- bftually insist ei that managers shall buy labor. as they buy material in the cheapest n1arket.''
 As to Directors.
 .sMoreover, raising wages is tradf- stionaIly unpopular among stockhofd- CTS and directors, and recommenda- lions for better con ditions, particu- 1arly if they involve new capital. are drowned upon. Neither the stock holders nor the directors have to live on wages or work in the existing sur roundings, and profits deferred are considered profits lost,
 saThe workers, therefore, deny the potency of even good intentions on the part of mana gers5 and point to labor history which they allege shows that at best ony isolated cases can be pointed out where marked inl- provernents have taken place except in response to repeated demands from the workers, or to foresta1l the growth of Threatened organization They point also to such facts as that children of 12 years or younger were not only kept in the factories as. they still are in some states where there has been little aggressive agitation) i, but almost without exception they were insisted upon by the employers as necessity"
 Organization Required.
 s9rhe evidence of this character. which is surnrr arized elsewhere, seems to be conclusive of the necessity for organization and representation .un- der modern business conditions. But even if it were not necessary. it is difficult to see any. reason why what is demanded and required by stock holders should be denied to workers. It would be as illogical for stockhoid- CTS individually to attempt to deal with the Representatives of the unions. as it is for the individual worker to attempt to deal with ex- ecutive officials. representing the or ganfzed stockho1dersP'
 Conclusions and recommendations relating to living and working con ditions of labor as stated as follows:
 Wages.
 tsAs a result of. the Investigations which have been made the following conclusions are jnstif1e ed:
 ts'1. The welfare of the state de- mands that the useful labor. of every able-bodied workman should as a minimum be comp pensated by sufi- cient income to- support in comfort himself. a wife. and at least three CnlIQTSn. ana III aQQ1G1Onl to ] provide for sickness, old age, and disability. Under no other conditions can a strong, contented and efficient citizenship be developed.
 't'2. Under existing conditions such an income is not received by fully one-ha1f of the wage earners employed in industry.
 ga The natural resources of the I United States are such that an in dustriaI population properly educat- ed and efficiently organized can pro- duce enough to achieve this standard of living.
 es4. It is probable that even at present the national agricultural and | industrial output is sufficient to per- init the establishment of such a stand ard.
 ".5. The problem is therefore es- sentially one of distribution.
 s"t6 The fixing of the wages of adult worknen by legal enactment is not practicable nor desirable as gen. era1. policy, except for public em- F p1oyees.
 IT A just standard of wages in ] any industry CT occupation can best be reached by collective bargaining between employers and employees. for l the purpose of. forming voluntary joint agreements The success and justice of such joint agreements is. however