The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1916-05-01
unintelligible or unsatisfactory t
all narties in interest

| AS | nave stated, the public as
such-people in the Inass-loya fair
play. They want labor 10 receive
fair dvvy. They believe that the
employees in business should share
| the profits in that business and as
much as the traffic will stand. If an
employers business has expanded
and become unusually lucrative theY
regard him as niggardly and unfair
| if he does not share his prosperity
with those who helped to create it.
He ought, voluntarily, they say, to
raise wages in such case, and if he
| does not and his employees strike in
order to compel him, public opinion
is on their side. Moreover, the en-
ployer's own sense Of justice,-lat-
ent and subconscious though it may
be-is at war with his greed. He
vaguely feels that he is wrong. He
wants the respect of the world. Moral
forces, intangible but real, conspire
against him. And so he succumbs
because he cannot stand the combin-
ed pressure.
"On the other hand, if a mans
business is on the brink of failure
and his employees take advantage of
some crisis in his affairs to demand
shorter hours or higher wages, eX-
pecting him to yield if only to post
pone bankruptcy, and these facts be-
come public, is there any doubt Of
what the public sentiment would be?
"All of which demonstrates the tre-
mendous Importance of publicity.
am disposed to think that publicity
political and economic ills, for it
would beget understanding and un-
derstanding begets confidence, where
as secrecy begets suspicion and dis
trust. Take, for example, the manu-
facturer who goes to the bank to Dor.
row money to put into his business.
The bank wants to know. Before it
will lend a cent it insists upon know
ing everything about his business. 1t
sends an expert accountant to exam
inc the books. 1t sends an eftic-
iency expert to go over his plant. 1t
acts upon precise information. But
suppose that manufacturer simply
tells his workmen that he is in hard
lines and must reduce their wages;
they do not believe him. They think
it is a ruse. But are they permitted
to go over his books? And yet for
an employer, in an established busi-
ness, to lower wages Is in effect to
borrow from his employees. Instead
of getting the money from his own
bank, he takes it from their savings
bank. They are entitled to know
and he treats them unfairly if he
fails to enlighten them. Suppose that,
instead of keeping them in the lark,
he should say to them: Boys, things
are going bad with me. AS much as
| hate to do it, | have just got to cut
wages or shut up shop. | d>n't want
you to take my word for it,-l want
you to see my books. OF course, l
can't afford to publish my books toI
the trade and | am sure you would
not wish me to; but select COM
mittee of three to five in whom you
have confidence, let them employ
any accountant they please-i'll pay
the freight-and learn for yourselves
that what l say is unhappiy too
true
There would be understan nding-
thore would be friendship - ihere
would be cooperation, and some day
cooperation is going to bc our
watchword- already labor and capi-
tai are coming to it. Why, | know Of
a big plant employing several thou
sand men who, thirty-five years age,
were on the eve of striking when the
of the plant had plain
talk with them and adopted the very
tactics | have outlined, with the re-
suit that the strike was called off
and there has never since been the
symptom of a strike. 1t pays, gen
tlemen, to be fair and open.
There is another general principle
that holds good all down the line.
However conflicting the interests of
employer and employe may be re-
garded as between themselves, their
interests otherwise are identical as
against the rest of the world. Years
ago | said to the president of big
corporation that business enter
prise which did not make enough,
after thorough trial, TO pay its labor
fair wages for fair days work, and
its stockholders a fair return on the
investment, had no excuse for exist |
ing. and that the public should and
must furnish the means, through the
rates for services, to ac-
complish these objects or be deprived
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