The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-09-26
PRESIDENT STANDS On
EIGHT HOUR DAI
Does Not Consider Principle One to
to- be Arbitrated-Meets Challenge
OF His Opponents.


replying to republican criticism OF the
settlement of the recently threatened
railroad strike. With emphatic ges-
lures before a large crowd assembled
at Shadow Lawn he defended the
eight hour day and declared also that
the nation must he freed from the
possibility of interference With us
commrce. Business men from various
parts of New Jersey often interrupted
the president with hand-clapping ana
cheering
After thanking the business men
for the generous message the CHAIR
man had brought him, the president
besan his speech by discussing the
outlook for business in this country.
aThere have been times" he sald'
~vhen it looked as if America were
interested only in herself but in these
recent years American business men
have lifted their eyes to more distant
horizous and have seen how the mar
kets of the world we're waiting Tor
their service; and they have sought
and obtained entrance into these mar
4,ets new vision has come to them
o what the development OF the re-
sources Of America means and what
the organization of American emclenc7
means.
At Beginning of New Era.
"There never was time when the
mise of energy and success beat so
strongly as it beats today, And yet |
homo that all business men in Amerl-
"a realize that we are only at the De-
ginning of new era.
"The problems pnat are before
American business men are Wor"
nroblems rather than American 90
mestic problems. America must un-
derstand the world in order to be SUD-
1act to it's peaceful service; and yet
when we look upon the field OF amer
lean business there are some thinsS
that disturb US. Some men seem 10
think that TIE way to advance ouSl-
nas is 70 walk backwards and to at
temnt again the provincial policies
which have characterized an age Wnen
we shut our doors against the innu-
ence of the world.
"But the chief cloud that IS upon
4be domestic horizon is the 'unsa1ls-
factory relations of capital and laOer'
Theer is only one way. gentlemen III
which the relations of capital and Ia
bor can be rendered satisfactory
That is bv, in the first placesregardlng
labor as IA human relationship OF men
with men. and, in the second place.
TO regard labor as part OF the gen
eral partnership which is gong 70
make for the success of business men
and business enterprise in this coun-
try so>- long as labor and caplraa
stand antagonistic, the interests OF
both are injured and the prosperity Oh
America is held back.
A Partner in Business.
.1abor is not a commodity. 1t is
form of cooperation and the iaoor-
ING man is a partner of his employer.
"1 have recently been through an
axnerience which distressed me-
tried to settle a difference between
some of the employees Of the Amerl-
can railways; and the distressing thing
7 discovered was that on one mana
,,,,:r:ted suspicion and distruet
and on the other side' tnaI
suspicion and distrust was returned
in full measure.
The executives did not believe IN
the sincerity of the men, and the men
did not believe IN the slA00'
fairness of the executives.
"The first thing I told both SIDES
before I required their opinion vas
that I stood for the eight-hour day
: roceiyed no suggestion of any kind
from either side as to what the basis
of settlement was to be except that the
railroad executives did suggest that
congress give them some sort OF as
surance that if the eight-hour day
went into operation they would get
their freight.
"We believed in the eight-hour day
because the American does better
work within eight hours than he does
within a mere extended time, and the
ubo1o theory for it. a theory which IS