The copper era and Morenci leader., 1916-01-21

ings, and all it's tendencies toward sympathy when it has knowledge and toward prejudice when it does not un- derstand. The fact is that the growth of the organization of industry has proceeded faster than the adjust ment of tnc :nter-relations O. men en gagged in industry. Must it ,.ut - ?,
 then, flat an age which can bridge
 the Atlantic Nith the wireless te'e- pl olt can devise some sort of social
 X-ray which shall enable the vision of
 men to penetrate the barriers which have grown up between men in our
 machine-burdened civilization?
 Assuming that Labor and Capital
 are partners, and that the fruits of
 industry are their joint product, to
 be divided fairly, there remains the question: What is fair. division? The answer is not simple-the di-
 vision can never be absolutely just;
 and if it were just today, changed
 conditions would make it unjust to- morrow; but certain it is that the in-
 justice of that division will always
 be greater in proportion as it is made
 in a spirit of selfishness and short
 sightedness. Indeed, because of the
 kaleidoscope changes which the fac
 tors entering into the production of
 wealth are always undergoing, it is
 unlikely that any final solution of the
 problem of the fair distribution of
 effort to devise a continually more
 perfect medium of approach toward
 an ever-fairer distribution, must be
 no less energetic and unceasing.
 For many years my father and his
 advisers had been increasingly inn
 pressed with the importance of these and other economic problems, and with a view to making a contribution
 toward their solution, had had under
 consideration the development of an
 institute for social and economic re- search. While this general subject
 was being studied, the industrial dis
 
 Their many distressing features gave me the depest concern. 1 frankly confess that I felt there was someth-
 ing fundamentally wrong in condi- tion of affairs which made possible the loss of human lives, enSendered , hatred and bitterness, and brought !, suffering and privation upon hundreds of human beings. determined, there , fore, that in so far as it lay within , my power I would seek some means , of avoiding the possibility of similar conflicts arising elsewhere or in the : same industry in the future. It was in this way that I came to recommend
 to my colleagues in the Rockefeller Foundation the instituting of series } of studies into the fundamental prob t lens arising out of industrial rela- l tions. Many others were exploring the same field, but it was felt that f these were problems affecting human l welfare so vitally that an institution 7 such as the Rockefeller Foundation, 7 whose purpose, as stated in its char 3 ter, is to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world,' could
 not neglect either it's duty or it's op- . iportunity. This resulted in securing
 the services of MT. w. l.. Mackenzie t King, formerly Minister of Labor in Canada, to conduct an investigation r with a special view, to quote the n language of an iicial letter, to the B discovery of some mutual relation < ship between Labor and Capital which I would afford to Labor the protection h it needs against oppression and ex e ploitation, while at the same time e promoting its efficiency as an instru t. ment of economic production
 e In no sense was this inquiry to bG l. local or restricted; the problem wa t. recognized to be a world-problem, an: e- in the study of it the experience of tho L. several countries of the world was tt l. be drawn upon. The purpose wa
 neither to apportion blame in exist 1t ing or past misunderstandings, no IS to justify any particular point O y- view; but solely to be constructivel