Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-04-29

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and many OF them apparently based
upon no accepted economic theory but
ensbodying ideas peculiar to the indi-
viduaa employer.
Among the points raised against
the profit -sharing among the trades
unions tho chief lis, Of course, that the
interests Of labor as q whole would
be innperiiled by any weakening or de-
struction Of strong organization to
protect wage standards which, under
profit sharing, would pass wholly un-
der the control OF the employers.
another objection by organized Ia
bor which 1t must be acknowledged is
borne out by the statistics of many Of
these experiments, Is that profit -shar-
ing chiefly affects only tho superin-
tendents, foremen, and higher grades
of employees and does not reach the
rank and tile. Either, It Is claimed.
the profit payments are too small to be
Of any moment to the low-paid work.
ers, or, where it is a stock subscription
plan, the mass Of the workers do not
earn enough to buy any stock. even on
installments.
Union representatives also point
out that labor itself Is making no de-
mand for profit sharing, either in the
organized or unorganzed fields, and
that the things Of real and vital in
terest to labor are not those which
employers propose. but which emanate
from the workingmen themselves.
Another criticism Is that market
wages are not paid where proflt-shar-
ing is applied. so that wages and pro-
fits together do not exceed. and often
do not equal, the prevailing union
scale. Analysis of the report shows
that this charge Is borne out in some
cases"
The report also points out the COM
plant that prof1t-sharing employees are
often not allowed access to the books
Of the company, and it quotes some of
1.-THE Spokesman for labor in opposition
ito the whole theory of profit sharing
on the ground that "if the profits are
paid as something actually earned they
are a night and should be as definitely
a legal claim Of labor, as are wages.
rather than a payment optional with
the employer; while, on the other
hand, If they are not a right, they are
merely gifts, creating an un-American
sense OF obligation and dependence
among the workers and often prevent
ing them from demanding what they
conceive to- be their rightful earnings"
The report makes no attempt to decide
between these conflicting claims, but
simply sets forth an outline Of more
than two hundred schemes that have
been tried in this country and includes
also some European examples.
There are three main divisions Of
schemes, the first being a percentage
of profit plan under which the en-
ployer agrees to pay his employees a
certain percentage, fixed in advance,
of the profits of the business. The
Eastman Kodak Company, Of Roches-
ter, N. Y, is cited as the typical ex-
ample under this plan. A second
scheme Is the special distribution Of
gratuities in a great variety Of forms
ranging from discounts on supplies
purchased to cash bonuses paid usual
~ at the end Of the year. The Crane
Company Of Chicago Is named as pre-
senting a good illustration of such
special distribution schemes. The
third plan is stock ownership, which
is being given notable test by this
United States Steel Corporation.
The report reaches the conclusion
that the five dollar day minimum
wage plan of the Ford Motor Com
pany. altho described by the company
and popularity understood as profit
sharing does not fall within the STAN
dard definition OF profit-sharing and Is
in reality unique high wage system
made possible only by extraordinary
conditions. IL
r The report regrets an inability to
learn with certainty the views Of the
rank and file of employees affected by
profit sharing plans, since nearly all
Of these undertakings are carried on
by employers Of non-union labor; and
the unorganized workers have no au-
thorized spokesman. 1t was possible
only to gather scattered Individual
opinion.