Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-11-22

alu training ana 1nculcatOn or safety
ideas had saved lives.
Opposes Compulsory Arbitration
Patrick Gilday, chief of the Bureau
of Mediation and Arbitration of the
| Department of Labor and Industry,
discussed the elimination of labor dis
putes before the Fourth Annual We'll
fare and Efficiency Conference this
morning. '.-
Mr.. Gilday declared that compulsory
i arbitration never will end labor dis
putes. For quite number of years."
he said, there have been various at
tempts to enact laws providing for
compulsory arbitration of Industrial
disputes. The effort has been to use
the police power of the State to COM
pei both employing corporations and
their employees to continue their ac-
tiVitieS regardless of any differences
they may have as to wages or condi-
| tions of labor. There are two funda-
mental troubles with this plan. In the
first place every man feels that his
labor Is his own property and none
not even the State, can force him to
part with 1t, for that would be involun-
tary servitude, or slavery. Therefore.
a law compelling man to work, to
| every man who is not criminal or
convict, would be extremely repug-
nant. The employer Is In q position of
| commanding advantage. He hires the
| tablishes the working conditions. He
has the right to hire and discharge
and he can use that power to regulate
| and discriminate against any employees
who are not amenable to any new reg
| ulationS or working conditions he may
wish to introduce. Compulsory arbi-
tration, therefore. amounts to an ef-
fort to compel the worker to labor
| whether he wishes or not. 1t estab-
ishes involuntary servitude, prohibit
ed by the. thirteenth amendment to
the United States Constitution, the
unions hold. 1t limits and abridges
the freedom of contract and is in vio-
| latton of all principles of liberty, free
dom and pursuit of happiness. 1t is
class legislation of the most vicious
character. 1t cannot and will not
eliminate strikes.
Mr.. Gilday cites various interests in
other States and Canada where. COM
pulsory arbitration laws have failed to
end labor troubles.
Fayors Mutual Agreement
He declared there is no known
methods of tying the hands of labor
except reasonable restrictions on both
| sides as may come from O mutual
agreement in which the principle of
collective bargaining is recognized and
/ expressed in tradea greement between
the employer on the one side and the
employees upon the other, under the
terms of which each respects the
rights of the other and method of
i opinion is provided. Under the cciIec-
tive bargain or trade agreement both
4 sides mutually agree on some plan to
adjust or to arbitrate any dispute that
arises. Thousands of workers are
working under this plan and where
the letter and spirit of the agreem ent
is respected, employers and employees
live in peace. Strikes are unknown in
these industries. The advocate of the
trade agreement is the man who op-
poses strikes and Is the workman's
best friend and public benefactor.
Mr.. Gilday declared that in all in
dustries where unions are not recog-
nlzed labor department, critical of
everything touching the interests of
the workers should be established.
When wage earners organize to
strike and undertake to enforce their
demands upon their employer without
regard to his rights they may gain for
a time, but they are sure to lose in
the end. Likewise when the employer
| undertakes to handle the labor ques-
tion by suppressing the rights of the
workers and enforce arbitrary agree
pressive in design, he too, may sue
ceed for time, but he will fail in the
end"
Will Not Recommend
The conference decided by a vote
OF 5f to b4 that 1t would not recon-
mend any Legislation to the general
assembly, this action being taken af-
ter a prolonged discussion or the
proposed bill to make trespassing on
railroad rights of way a misdemeanor
In the course of the discussion which
was precipitated when L. f. Force,
president of the Delaware and Hudson
railroad, offered the report of the COM
mfttee named at the accident preven-
ton conference last Spring. He fav-
ored recommending such an action.
Immediately the labor representatives
got into action as such an act would
prevent picketing and at the same
time make men liable to arrest when
going to work. Tho railroad people
replied that extreme construction was
4 being placed upon 1t. Then Commits
sioner Jackson and others got into the
discussion and the standpoint of the
public was argued. Finally the sug-
gestion was made that the matter be
referred to the Public Service Com
mission which was done.
The point that men who could not
be motormen were permitted to oper-
ate automobiles merely by applying
for State license was made by s. Is.
! Hare, claim agent of the Altoona rail-
way system. His paper attracted much
attention especially when he advocated
inquiry into the qualifications of the
| applicants for motor vehicle licenses.
Interesting moving pictures on safe
| ty subjects were presented in the aft
ernoon and evening. The Rev.. DIR.
! S. S. Marquis, head of the remarka BILE
educational bureau of the Ford Motor
n NT<sx. ..xK L. t...A II