The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-10-01
INDUSTRY As MEANS
OF NATIONAL SERVICE
Major Aston, M. p, Explains a New
Conception of the Position of
Employer and Labor.

London, Sept 3o.--At a luncheon
given in his honor at the Holborn res
taurant, Major Aston NJ. F., parlia-
mentary secretary TO the ministry of
food. gave an interesting account Of
an investigation he had made with a
view TO finding basis for reconcile
alton between the views Of employers
and labor.
Some time ago. Major Aston said
! he had invited eight or a dozen trade
union leaders in his constituency at
| Plymouth to spend a weekend with
| him to discuss what had been wrong
in the past and how they might try
to improve matters in the future. At
| ter a long sitting they had ended up
on terra firma' He had then in
vited an equal number Of employers
to stay with him, and. without know =
| ing it, both parties had come to the
same conclusion, both as to the past
and the future. Then he had invited
| both sides to visit HIM. To their COM
| plete surprise they had unanimously
agreed as to what had been wrong in
the past and what was necessary in
| the future, and they formed them
selves into an industrial reconstruc-
| ton association.
| Not only had capital and labor not
questioned each others point of view,
| but he found that they had never
| come together before, rs soon as
! they had agreed on the definition OF
capital, their task in arriving at an
agreement had been enormously sim
| pliied. They had all agreed that
every form of capital was entitled 20
receive its particular form of interest.
and they had then found themselves
discussing what its ordinary and fair
remuneration should be, Afterward
| they had discussed what should be
done with surplus profits. but had not
arrived at any solution as TO the way
in which it should be dealt with.
With regard to the living wage,
they considered that il was not fair
that industry should have to bear the
! burden OF bringing up a mans fam
lily. and the conclusion they had come
10 WAS that the state. and not indus
Try. ought TO bear that burden and
that responsibility. They were OF the
opinion that mans income should
he such as TO enable him TO live N
comfort and decency. and that the
state should be responsible for as
$istiug n such matters az education
land the free feeding OF school chill
dren ctr Another point discussed
had been the obvious and admitted
unfairness of two groups of men. be
longing to different industries, put
ting forth the same amount of energy,
Dor and skill in the same locality.
and earning widely different incomes.
she more unfair when il was realized
that il WAS due 10 the fact that one
industry had been well organized in
the past and another had been badly
organized or not organized at all.
What they had 10 look forward TO,
Major Aston concluded, Was more
general system OF remuneration In
the mast their standard of success had
been 100 much gagged by a purely
cash basis n they could have new
conception Of industry and look upon
il as a form Of national service, and
-If all connected with industry felt that
they did not require financial stimu-
lus as in the past, their reward being
in the feeling that they were serving
the state, they would be able 10 get
a new feeling in the country.