New-York tribune., 1918-07-14
INDUSTRIAL PEACE PACT FOR DURATION OF THE WAR
pv n. K. Moderwell

Wilson and the fervent hope of
the American people, has at
-. after fifteen months of effort,
90. assured, if the mood of the
labor leaders themselves Ia a trust
xor.hy Indication.
7. i, assured by a three eornered
..., The parties are labor, en-
.,.v.rs and the government. The
-.;.le. have been signed, sealed and
,.,;vered, and the execution Of them
/. all parties concerned has been
.:.A.r promised or assured beyond
r.a,onabIe doubt by the trend of
.r.o.. and the action Of the Ma
,;o,.l War Labor Board since Presi-
d.nt Wilson came to its support in
Il. Western Union Telegraph dis
pute.
There are still many industrial
troubles in the air; there are still
powerful employers who are recall
citrant and laborites who grum-
Bile. But the indications are now
that the disputants on both sides
will have to fall in line with the
standards which the War Labor
Board has promulgated and has
sought, with the Presidents aid, to
make nationally effective.
They will fall in line, it is be-
Geved, because the nation will tol-
crate nothing that interferes with
the prosecution of the war.
A stable industrial condition has
become a probability only since
President Wilson took his decisive
step in asking Congress for author
ity to take over the telegraph and
telephone wires of the country, in
support of the boards decision Civ
ing the employees of the Western
Union the right to organize freely
and bargain collectively. AS one
observer phrased it:
Before that time everything had
been uncertain. The War Labor
Board, President Wilson's device
for preserving Industrial peace, had
made decisions, but had no power to
enforce them The President served
notice on the country and the en-
ployers that he would enforce them
by executive action if necessary.
"That was the critical step. It
was like finding the key-piece in a
jig-saw puzzle. When that is at
last in its proper place the other
pieces jump to their positions al
most of their own volition, and in a
moment the picture is complete. So
employers and employed have, in
the last ten days, been putting their
cases unreservedly in the hands Of
the board
"It looks now as if the boards
standards had become national
standards. They represent the
point beyond which labor dare not
demand and up to which capital
care not refuse. They have, the
board believes, the sanction of the
nation. 1t is certain they have the
sanction Of the President. They
nave already the sanction of the
TWO great associations of labor and
capltal-the American Federation
OF Labor and the National Associa-
'ion OF Manufacturers. The nation
ahd the government are in no mood
TO permit individual employers or
groups Of workers to reject them
and thus jeopardize the country's
industrial efficiency for the sake Of
their own selfish interests"
The labor leaders themselves, to
Judge from their own testimony,
are now satisfied. They are in
cllned to trust their case absolutely
" 'ae War Labor Board, or other
government mediation agencies
with similar standards. They do
N0' want to instigate trouble in
order to gain their ends. They be-
]eVe At that to be quite unnecessary.
'ney are convinced that the board
uss u taken their side in nearly all
VIC important traditional demands