The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-09-24

are the same and who should coop
crate together.
And therefore 1t came upon me
with force that II had never had
before that the real problem of capi
tai and labor was to bring the two
sides to understand and to believe in
another Tho problem is to release
American energy which requirestao
another problem. That problem is to
release American energy which re-
quires real, genuine reconciliation be-
tween capital and labor.
Il did not realize until / held those
conferences Just how far apart they
were In that particular and indepen-
sable part Of our national life, the
transportation of country and when /
did realize IT, l saw that there was a
great task that was worth any man
while ahead of us to bring the minds
of the country together to SEQ that
men understood ono another to see
that they had some assurance that
they were speaking the truth to one
another. l never had franker con-
ferences in my life than / had with
the representatives Of the two sides.
buty 10 Try fuFu.
You know that when the public
began to notice this controversy. It
had already been going on for some
timo. l had been watching 1t with
great anxiety, and when II became
evidont that an accommodation was
not going to be reached | thought 1t
my duty to try my hand at the difii-
cult task OF convention, because
l knew how much was involved, not
only in the immediate effects Of
great strike such as was threatened,
but also in the ultimate effects, the
soreness left, the resentment that
would remain. the feeling OF hostil-
ity that would be accentuated; and
so asked the privilege of consulting
with the men.
Before / consulted with them. /,
OF course, made myself acquainted
with the points At controversy, and l
| learned that they were very simple in
/ deed: that the men demanded an eight
hour day, and that in order 10 make
the elght-hour day work they demand
cd eight hours pay. then one half more
I for over time than they paid them for
I the time In the regular day. the men
| alleging that was the only way in
which they could obtain a genuine
cighthour day. by making the rail-
roads pay more for the time beyond
I the eight hours than they paid for the
I time within tho eight hours. ! saw
at once that there was one part Of this
4 that was arbitrahlc, but that in my
4 opinion there was another part that
! was not arbitrablc. l do not regard
/ tho question of eight-hour day as
arbitgable.
/ "The first thing l told both sides
before I requested their opinion was
4 that stood for the eight-hour day. 1
received no suggestion Of any kind
from either side as 10 what the basis
\ OF settlement was to be, except that
I the railroad executives did suggest
that Congress give them some sort Of
assurance that II the eight-hour day
went into operation, they would get
! increased rates for the carriage of
!, their freight. ! pointed out to them
that it was impossible to tell whether
they would need increased rates for
! the carriage of their freight.
we believe in an eight-hour day
because a man does better work with
+. in eight hours than he does within a
more extended day. and the whole
theory Of it, theory which is sus-
tained now by abundant experience,
\ is that his efficiency is increased, his
4 spirit in his work is improved, and
the whole moral and physical yigor Of
OF the man is added to.
This Is no longer conjectural.
Where it has been tried, 1t has been
demonstrated. The judgment Of So
clety. the vote of every Legislature in
America that has voted upon It is a
verdict in favor OF the eight-hour day.
II said TO the railroad executives:
You are asking that the result of the
eight-hour day be predicted and the
prediction be arbitrated. You are