Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-09-24
same and who should cooperate to

same and who should cooperate to-
gether.
a force that it never had before that
the real problem Of capital and labor
was to bring the two sides to under
, stand and believe in one another; that
the problem of the next generation. if
America were really to release her
fundamental reconciliation between
capital and labor.
81 did not realize until I held those
conferences just how far apart they
were in that particular and indis-
pensable part of our national life, the
when 1 did realize it I 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 men understood one another, to
see that they had some assurance that
they were speaking the truth to one
another. / never had franker confer
| ences in my life than 1 had with the
representatives of the two sides.
Watched It With Anxiety.
You know that when the public be-
gan to notice this controversy it had
already been going on for some time.
had been watching it with great
Anxiety, and when it became evident
that an accommodation was not going
to be reached 1 thought it my duty to
try my hand at the difficult task of
accommodation, because / 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 hostility that would be ac-
centuated: and SO 1 asked the priv
llege of consulting with them.
Before / consulted with them. /. of
course. made myself acquainted with
the points at controversy and 1 learned
that 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 that the
railroads pay them one-half more for
time in the regular day. the men alleg
ing that that was the only way in
which they could obtain a genuine
e1ght-hour day, by making the rail-
roads pay more for the time beyond the
eight hours than they paid for the
time within the eight hours. 1 saw at
once that there was one part of this
that was arbitrable, but. in my opinion,
there was another part that was not
arbitrable. 1 do not regard the ques-
ton of the principle of the eight-hour
day as arbitrable.
Stood For Eight-Hour Day.
'"The first thing I told both sides be-
fore / requested their opinion was that
!! stood for the eight-hour day. l re-
ceiFed no suggestion of any kind from
either side as to what the basis of set
tlement was to be, except that the rail
road executives did suggest that Con-
gress give them some sort of assur-
ance 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 it was i'm
possible to tell whether they would
need increased rates for the carriage of
their freightS.
We believe in the 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-a theory which is sustain
ed now by abundant experience-is that
his efficiency is increased, his spirit in
his work is improved. and the whole
moral and physical vigor of the man is
added to.
This is no longer conjectural.
Where it has been tried it has been
demonstrated. The judgment Of So
ciety, the vote of every legislature in
America that has voted upon it is a
verdict in favor Of the eight-hour day.
And therefore, I said to those ger
tlemen on both sides at the very begin
ming: The eight-hour day ought to be
conceded But they said: Tt will cost
us an immense sum of money How
do you know how much it will cost
your
Eighty-cent Gas Case.
you remember there was a case de-
cided by the Supreme Court of the