The Washington herald., 1918-04-10
LABOR BOARD
IS APPROVED
Holland. Says Commission
Removing Labor Friction
! Should Be Continued.

II is a war measure which Is rep
-esented by che adoption Of the So
allied National Labor administration.
this under the Secretary OF Labor,
Mr.. Wilson, is to consist of an ad-
dsory council part of which will rep
ssent the public. part the employers,
md part the employees. The hope Is
.rong that by this method industrial
isturbances occasioned by labor fric-
on will be eliminated during the
eriod of the war. But If these diff
culties are in this way done away
With it is reasonable to expect that
a pelicy OF this kind will be continued,
modified somewhat, after the war Is
ended, and if it is, then there Is good
reason to look for a satisfactory ad-
3ustment throughout the United States
Of the relations of those who work
for wages with those who employ
them
system Tried Before.
This council differs in its compost
ton, but not in its principle, from a
method which was adopted some
twenty years ago at a time when the
Iaborers in the bituminous coal mines
Of the country who plaimed to be
driven to desperation by conditions
that prevailed, were preparing to en-
force their demands by a nationwide
strike. The situation was very criti-
cal. The wase-earners were de-
terIuined to secure relief. Many OF
the employers were privately con-
WINGED that the grievances of which
complaint was made by the bituminous
coal workers were real and that there
should be some satisfactory adjust
ment.
However. public opinion. which at
that time was not well informed, did
not seem TO support the bituminOus
coal workers or at least to be in
terested in the situation, and many of
the coal operators as well as the
managers of the railroads whose prin-
cipal traffic was furnished by bi-
luminous coal could not see their way
clear to any agreement which would
avert the peril " last a suggestion
was made that there be appointed a
body Of men who as a whole would
represent, first, the bituminous coal
carrying railroads; second the mine
operators; and third the miners. To
this body was to be submitted the
questions which were at issue and If
these could be satisfactorily answered
then to it would afterwards be sub
mitted other questions which might
arise.
Ii Was a Great Success.
This board of arbitration or volun-
tary commission met in a spirit of
fairness. every member seeking to
discover the best means for adjust
ing the trouble. An agreement was
at last reached. The peril Of the
great strike was averted. Contracts
were prepared and were signed In
two instances railroad managers Sc
cretly intended to violate the contract
but they were publicly told that If
they did this and did not live up to
the letter and spirit of the contract
the agreement would be annulled, anc
there would be a new strike. Thus
confronted with exposure OF their
purpose the mana gers Of these two
railroads at last agreed faithfully to
observe the terms OF the contract, and
kept their agreement, although 1t
was necessary TO call upon the late
]. P. Morgan to compel these man
ayers to yield.
Never since that time has a con-
tract signed by the representatives Of
the bituminous miners been violated.
At the time of the anthracite coal
strike strong efforts were made by
the anthracite leaders to persuade the
bituminous coal miners to go out upon
a synpathetic strike This the btu
minous men declined to do. saying that
they were bound faithfully to obey
the contract which they had signed.
Not again has there been serious diff
dculty in the bitUminous industry, and
the appointment and service Of this
arbitration board or commission have
been OF lncalculable value to the in
G-stry. urd TO the country.
u7- uthOrIty of Government.
~-l now adopted h the gov
ernmenL differs from that adopted
by those engaged in the bituminous
coal Industries only in the fact that
this latter plan has the authority and
influence of the Federal government
itself.
About three years after Roscoe
Conkling resigned his seat in the Fed
eral Senate at Washington. and open
ed an office in New York City for
the practice OF law, he was retained as
counsel in a case which was to be
heard before the United States Court
sitting at Trenton. ". ]. COnkling's
seat mate on the ride from New York
to Trenton was a man who had been
prominent in New York business life
but who has now retired from active
business. Hardly had the train left
Jersey City when Mr.. Conkling began
a conversation which continued until
they reached Trenton, with hardly a