The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-09-26
U. s. STEEL RAISES WAGES
Fly HOLLAND

By HO
 New York September 25. 25.-(Special) Various reasons have been given to ex- plain the decision of the United States Steel corporation management to increase the pay of the employees of the subsidiary companies by 10 per cent. But the pre- vailing and best opinion appears to be that this action Is well in line with the policy of the corporation since it was or ganzed and began operation. In the fall of 1914 when the corporation was facing one of it's most trying experiences and when its reports demonstrated the great demoralzaton of industry and business throughout the United States, there were many surmises respecting the necessity or expediency of reducing the wages of the employees.
 one of the great forces of the corpora tion, in speaking of the action which the corporation's management took at that tune, said: Tt was a question whether we should suspend payment Of dividends upon the common stock or whether we should reduce wages. We felt that it would be contrary to the general policy adopted by the corporation if there were to be reduction of wages and at the same time continued payment of divi- dends We therefore decided that 1t was the wider policy from all points of view to suspend dividends. We believed that the owners of the common stock of the corporation were in better position to forego such income as the dividends upon their stock represented than the employees of the corporation were to ac- cept a reduction of wages"
 From the beginning the United States Steel corporation has recognized that the true relation between the corpora ton and it's employees would be main- feet fairness, not tempered by any sense of charity, were to be secured.
 Therefore, the corporation undertook to work out very difficult problem. It involved the discovery of the sound eco homie method of enabling the employees to share in the profits earned by the cor poration. There had been many profit sharing undertakings. some of them Tn the form of bonuses, some of them year ly distributions of cash, but ali were failures because they were established upon an unsound economic principle.
 It was afterward said that there prob ably was never a more difficult problem, the factors of which were financial, than was the one which the Steel corporations management undertook to solve, so that employees might obtain reasonable share of the profits. The solution was the work of George W. Perkins. ana after 10 or 12 years of experience 1t mas been demonstrated that at last the sound and permanent economic policy, whersoy employees in addition to their wages can receive their fair share of the protits' has been established.
 At about the time of the orsaniSation of the United States Steer corporation Abram s. Hewitt, one time mayor or New York and for many years member of Congress. recognized also as one of tho great authorities on businsss and indus trial life, said that he believed that the solution of the so-calied labor problem or the means by which the friction be- tween labor and capital could at least be eliminated, would be tho participation by employes in the ownership of industrial corporations
 A few years later the Steel corporation perfected a plan by which the employees could become, in part. owners of the great corporation. The experiment, for it was an experiment at the beginning. was shown after q year or two to be no longer an experiment. but 2 well demon strated fact Employees of the corpora tion subscribed. aided and guided by the managers of the corporation. to as many shares of the stock as their savings and the aid given by the corporation made possible. Today the individual employes' ownership in tho United States Steel cor poration reaches q figure which would of itself be regarded as very large argregate stock ownership, ono of the largest in the United States.
 Tho corporation also decided that when | it gained prosperity 1t should in another way share that prosperity with it's em- ployes That would be done by increas- | ing wages and with this latest increase | the aggregate increase ince the poacy was adopted amounts to about 50 per cent as compared with the wager that wsra at first paid.
 1 At the beginning of the orEanizationsa life the modern policy of publicity was adopted and the first report sent by tho corporation to the authorities at Wash- ington was read by leaders of other ins dustries with amusement. They were as- ! tonished to find that the corporation
 had substantially opened its books and