Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-02-11
Majority of Difficulties Due to
'Unsound Industrial Struc-
ture" Labor Overwhelming
Iy Loyal,
EFFECTIVE WAR WORK ....
HURT BY INTERRUPTIONS
Too Many Disturbances Due
to Lack of DiSinterested
Processes for Peaceful Set
tIement, Is Declared,
,sv MORNING Iou.s.l .,re,.L ,r..sO was.

taY MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED wtaEI
Washington, Feb. Determination
OF profiteering, the eight-hour day,
less inconsistency between "our deInA
oCratic purposes in this war abroad
and the conduct of some of those
guiding industry at home, and the
recognition OF some form of collective
relationship between capital and labor
as a principle in national labor pol.
icy, are the principal recommends
tons of President Wilson's mediation
commission which has just finished a
survey of the labor unrest west of the
Mississippi river, which the govern
ment considered most menaclng to
successful prosecution of the war,
In return for this, the commission
holds, labor should surrender all
practices which tend to restrict max
imum efficiency" when assured OF
sound conditions and effective means
for just redress of grievances.
Arizona Strike Studied.
The commission headed by Secre-
tary Wilson of the department Of La
Dor, went west principally to look
district and the /. w. w. activities
in the lumber districts Of the Pacific
northwest. II included In its investi-
cation, however. the dispute In the
California oil fields, the threatened
strike of Pacific coast telephone op-
orators, the threatened strike of pack
ing house workers In Chicago, and the
street railway trouble in Minneap polls
and st, Paul.
Generally, the commission found
that uncorrected specific evils and the
absence of a healthy spirit between
capital and labor, due partly TO. the
evils mentioned and partly to IAN un-
sound industrial structure" were tho
main causes of the industrial difficult
ties arising since the war began. The
commission says that while sinister
influences and extremist doctrine
have availed themselves of those con-
ditions, they have not created them. !,
Labor Declared Loyal.
1.-THE overwhelming mass of the la |,
boring population is in no sense DISC
loyal says the report. u
means OF correction suggested BIN
the causes Of the unrest itself, tho.
commission outlines as follows: =
81. The elimination to the utmost :
practical extent of all profiteering
during the period OF the war is pre-
requisite to the best morale in indus
try.
? "2. Modern large-scale industry has
effectually destroyed the personal re-
lation between employer and empioye
tho knowledge and personal eo-op-
GRAFTON that come from personal con-
tact. 1t is therefore no longer posi-
BILE to conduct industry with employees
as individuals, Some form of coliee-
tive relationship between management
and men is indispensable. The rec.
ognition of this principle by the gov
ernment should form an accepted part
of the labor policy of the nation.
- Law, in business as elsewhere,
depends for its vitality upon steady
enforcement. Instead of waiting for
adjustment after grievances come to
the surface there Is needed the estab-
lishment of continuous administrative
machinery for the disposition of in
dustrial issues and the avoidance OF
an atmosphere of contention and the
waste of disturbances.
"a. The eight-hour day Is an estab-
lished policy of the country; expert
ence has proved justification of the
principle also in war times. Provision
must or course be made for longer
hours in case of emergencies. Labor
Will readily meet this requirement. II
Its misuse is guarded against by ap-
propriate overtime payments. sst
%. Unified direction of the labor
administration of the United States
Tor the period of the war should be
established. At present there is an
unrelated number of separate COM
mittees, boards, agencies and depart
ments having fragmentary and con-
flicting jurisdiction over the labor
problems raised by the war. A sim
gle-headed administration is needed.
with full power to determine and es-
tablish the necessary administrative
structure ,,..
IS. When assured Of sound labor
conditions and effective means for the
just redress of grievances that may
arise, labor in its turn should surren-
der all practice which tends to restrict
maximum efficiency. sa
~. Uncorrected evils are the great
est provocative extremist propaganda.
and their correction in itself would be
the best counter-propaganda But
there is need for more affirmative ed
ucation. There has been too little
publicity of an educative sort in re-
gard to labor's relations to the war.
The purpose of the government and
the methods by which 1t is pursuing
them should be brought home to the