Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-02-11

SCORED; EIGHT
DAY IS URGED
National Mediation Commit
tee Has Plan to Quiet In
duStrial Unrest in y. S.

less inconsistency between Our
democratic 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 cap
ital and labor as a principle in
national labor policy, are the prin-
cipal recommendation of President
Wilson's Mediation Commission,
which just has finished survey of
the labor unrest west of the Mis-
sissippi river, which the government
considered most menacing to success
full prosecution of the war.
In return for this, the commission
holds, labor should surrender all
practices which tend to restrict max
imum efficiency" when it is assured
of sound conditions and effective
means for just redress of grievances.
The commission, headed by Secre-
tary Wilson, of the Department of
Labor, went west principally to look
into the copper strikes in the Arl-
Zona district and the /. w. w. activi-
ties in the lumber districts of the
Pacific Northwest. 1t included in lts
investigation, however, the dispute IN
the California oil fields, the threat
ened strike of Pacific coast telephone
operators, the threatened strike OF
packing house workers in chicago
and the street railway trouble IN
Minneapolis and st. Pau.
Causes of Difficulties
Generally the commission found
that uncorrected specific evils and
the absence of healthy spirit be-
tween capital and labor, due partly
to the evils mentioned and partly to
IAN unsound industrial structure,
were the main causes of the indus
trial difficulties arising since the war
began. The commission says that
while sinister influences and eX-
tremist doctrine" have availed them
selves of those conditions, they nave
not created them.
1.-The overwhelming mass of the Ia
boring population is in no sense dis
loyal" says the report. =,
A means of correction suggested
by the cuases of the unrest itself, the
commission outlines as follows:
Il. The elimination to the utmost
practical extent of all profiteering
during the period of the war is a
prerequisite to the best morale in
industry.
-. Modern large scale industry
has effectually destroyed the per-
sonal relation between employer and
employe-the knowledge and CO.
operation that come from personal
contact. 1t is therefore no longer
possible to conduct industry with
employees as individuals. Some form
of collective relationship between
management and men is indispens-
able. The recognition of this prin-
ciple by the government should form
an accepted part of the labor policy
of the nation.
90 Law, in business as elsewhere,
depends for it's vitality upon steady
enforcement. Instead of waiting for
adjustment after grievances come to
the surface there is needed the es-
tablishment of continuous admins
trative machinery for the disposition
of industrial issues and the avoid
ance of an atmosphere of contention
and the waste of disturbances.
Eight-hour Day
a. The eight-hour day is an es-
tablished policy of the country; ex-
perience has proved justification of
the principle also in war times. Pro-
vision must, of course. be made for
longer hours in case of emergencies.
Labor will readily meet this require
ment If it's misuse is guarded against
by appropriate overtime payments.
"5. Unified direction of the labor
administration of the United States
for 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 single
headed administration is needed
with full power to determine and es-
tablish the necessary administrative
structure.
&c. When assured of sound labor
conditions and effective means for
the just redress of grievances that
may arise, labor in it's turn should
surrender all practices which tend to
restrict maximum efficiency.
~. Uncorrected evils are the great
est provocative extremist propagan-
da, and their correction in itself
would be the best counter-propagan-
da. But there is need for more affir-
native education. There has been too
little publicity of an educative sort
in regard to labor's relations to the
war. The purposes of the government
and the methods by which it is pur-
suing them should be brought home
to the fuller understanding of labor.
Labor has most at stake in this war,
and it will eagerly devote it's all if
only it be treated with confidence
and understanding, subject neither to
indulgence nor neglect, but dealt
with as a part of the citizenship of
the state"
At length the commission records
\ it's search for the real cause" of the
labor unrest, and says:
THE conclusion cannot be escaped
that the available man power of the
nation, serving as the industrial arm
of war, is not employed to it's full
capacity nor wisely directed to the
energies of war.
THE effective conduct of the war
suffers needlessly because of inter
ruption of work due to actual or
threatened strikes, purposed decrease
in efficiency through the strike on
the job, decrease in efficiency due to
labor unrest, and dislocation of the
labor supply.
I'VE need continuous administra-
tive machinery by which grievances
inevitable in industry may be easily
and quickly disposed of and not al
lowed to reach the pressure of ex-
plosion.
"On the whole, wage increases are
asked for mostly in order to meet
the increased cost of living and such
demands should be met in the light
of their economic causes.
"The /. w. w. has exercised its