The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1916-09-25
Spirit of Intolerance
Between Railways and
Their Men Deplored by
Wilson in His Speech


ployer and the employe as merely
contractual relationship. whereas, it
is. while based upon contract, very
much more than contractual rela-
tionship. 1t is relationship between
one set Of men and another set of
men with hearts under their Jackets
and with interests that they ought to
serve in common with persons whom
they love and must support on the one
side and on the other.
Labor Should be Partner.
Labor is not a commodity. 1t is a
form of cooperation, and if can
make man believe in me- know that
l am just. know that / want to share
the profits of success with him, can
get ten times as much out of him, as
II he thought / were his antagonist.
And his labor is cheap at any price.
That is the human side OF it, and the
human side extends to this concep-
ton, that that laboring man is a
partner of his employer. -..
IF he is a mere tool of his employer,
he is only as servicable as tool. His
enthusiasm does not go into it. He
does not plan how the work shall be
better done. He does not look upon
the aspect Of the business or enter
prise as whole and wish to cooper
ate the advantage Of his brains and
his invention to the success of it as
whole. Human relationships, my
fellow citizens, are governed by the
heart and IL the heart is not in it,
nothing is In it N
Il have recently been through an
experience which distressed me. I
tried to accommodate q difference be-
tween soma: Of the employers Of the
American railways and the executives
OF the American railways and the dis
tressing thing l discovered was that
on the one hand there was unlimited
suspicion and distrust of the other
side, and that that suspicion and dis
trust was returned by the other side
in full measure.
'"The executives did not believe in
the sincerity of the men, and the men
did not believe in the sincerity and
fairness of the executives, and while
arbitration was being discussed 1 had
this sad thought: Arbitration is a
word associated with the dealings of
hostile interests. It is an alternative
Of war. There ought to be to such
thing as the contemplation Of hostility
as between men whose interests are
the same and who should cooperate
together.
The Great Problem.
with force that it had never had be-
fore that the real problem of capital
and labor was to bring the two sides
to understand and believe in one an
other; that the problem Of the next
generation, If America were really to
release her energy, was to be this real,
genuine, fundamental reconciliation
between capital and labor. I did not
realize until held those conferences
just how far apart they were in that
particular and indispensable part of our
national life, the transportation of the
country and when / did realize II. 7
saw that there was a great task that
was worth any mans while ahead of
US, to bring the minds Of the country
together, to see that the men under
stood one another, to see that they
had some assurance that they were
speaking the truth to one another. I
never had franker conferences in NV
life than I had with the representa-
tives of the two sides.
"You know that when the public
began to notice this controversy it
had already been going on for some
time. l had been watching it with
great anxiety, and when 1t became
evident that an accommodation was
, not going to be reached, thought 1t
my duty to try my hand at the diff
cult task OF accommodation, because
knew how much was involved, not
only in the immediate effects of a
great strike such as was threatened.
but also in the ultimate effects. the
soreness left. the resentment that
would remain, the feeling Of hostility.
that would be accentuated: and so I
| asked the privilege Of consulting with
them.
Before I consulted with them, T. Of
| course, made myself acquainted with
the points at controversy, and / learn
ed hat they were very simple indeed;
that the men demanded an eight hour
day, and that in order to make the
eight-hour day work they demanded
tl.at the railroads pay them one-half
more for overtime than they paid them
for the time in the regular day, the
men alleging that that was the only
wav they could obtain genuine
eight-hour day. by making the rail-
roads nay more for the time beyond
the eight hours than they paid for the
time within the eight hours. saw at
once that there was one part of this
what was arbitrable. but in my
opinion there was another part that
was not arbitrable. ! do not regard
the question of the principle of the
eight-hour day as arbitrable.
"The first thing told both sides be.
fore requested their opinion was
that stood for the eight hour day. I
received 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
assurance that if the eight-hour day
went into operation. they would get
increased rates for the. Carriage of
their freight. pointed out to them
that 1t was impossible to tell whether
they would need increased rates for
1.-THE carriage OF their freights."