New-York tribune., 1918-07-07

Labor Board.
Of the National Industrial Confer
ence Board.
Charles F. Brooker, Ansonia, Conn.,,
president Of the American Brass
Company.
W. H. Van Dervoort, East Moline,
ILL.,, president Of the Root & Van Der
WORT Engineering Company.
L. F. Loree, New York, president
of the Delaware and Hudson Com
pany; chairman Of the board and ex-
ecutive committee Of Kansas City
Southern Railway Company; presi-
dent, Hudson Coal Company, North
ern Iron and Coal Company, Schuyl-
kill Coal and Iron Company, etc.
c. Edwin Michael, Roanoke, Va,
president Of the Virginia Bridge and
Iron Company.
FOR LABOR:
Frank j. Hayes, president of the
United Mine Workers Of America.
Merchants Bank, Indianapolis, Ind.
William L. Hutcheson, president of
the United Brotherhood of Carpen-
ters and Joiners of America, Car
penters Building, Indianapolis, Ind.
William H. Johnston, president, In
ternational Association of Machinists.
Washington, D. C.
Victor Olander, representative, In
ternational Seamen's Union of Amer
lea, Chicago.
T.. A. Rickert, president, United
Garment Workers Of America, Chi
cago.
FOR THE PUBLIC:
VIM. H. Taft.
Frank r. Walsh.
AS the War Labor Conference
Board, these men last March drew
up a set of tentative "Principles anc
Policies" These were accepted b1
the Department of Labor and by the
President. Then the conference
board was promptly converted into
the War Labor Board and told tc
go to work.
Since it represented voluntar,
agreement, it could not, of course
be clothed with effectual authority
But it had the express sanction o1
the President, who in his proclama
tion of April wrote:
III do hereby urge upon all en-
ployers and employees within the
United States the necessity of
utilizing the means and methods
thus provided for the adjustment
of all industrial disputes, and re-
quest that during the pendancy of
mediation or arbitration through
the said means and methods
there shall be no discontinuance
of industrial operations which
would result in curtailment of the
production of war necessities"
The board was empowered to us,
its good Offices upon the initiativ,
of either party to an industrial dis
pute, or of the Secretary of Labor
to appoint local mediation boards
and in general to adopt such pro
cedure as it believed advisable. II
case Of failure to reach a unani
NOUS decision it was empowered t,
appoint an umpire.
The board was, Of course, unabl,
to compel the acceptance of it's de
cision, or even of it's jurisdiction
Its only power was the moral powe
of persuasion, supported by tn,
prestige of the President. Its mora
strength lay in it's reasonable re
quest to both parties that they agre,
to refrain from final action unit
the attempt at mediation had failed
The principles and policies
which the board promulgated fo
it's guidance represented a SINGER
effort to arrive at a decent com
promise. The guiding spirit wa
that selfish controversies should b.
adjourned for the period of the war
while the rights of each part,
should be protected as they stood
Yet it was not able to make thes
principles mandatory. 1t was ,onl,
able to say: "There should be n,
strikes or lockouts during the war.
AS general principle the boar,
set forth that in fixing wages, hour
and conditions of labor reear,
should always be had to the stand
ards prevailing in the locality at
fected. 1t has added that way
! scales should be altered in genera