The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-02-13

llere are very lew cases IN when IL Is
possible to prove that the worker would
be getting more than that to which he
has a right if he were paid something in
excess of this ethical minimum. Why
then, should we assume that this is the
normal share of almost the whole pop
ulation? Since our industrial resources
and instrumentalities are sufficient to
provide more than living wage for a
very large proportion of the workers,
why should we acquiesce in a theory
which denies them this measure of the
comforts OF life? Such a policy is not
only OF very questionable morality, but
IS unsound economically. The large de
mand for goods which is created and
maintained by high rates of wages and
high purchasing power by the masses is
the surest guarantee of continuous and
general operation of industrial establish
ments. 1t is the most effective instru-
mentNof prosperity for labor and capital
alike"
The bishops advocated assurance to
workers of incomes adequate for "de-
cent family life" by legally enforced min
imum wage schedules and a system OF
social insurance inaugurated with state
aid and eventually supported by indus
try. This insurance, they declared,
should be utilized merely to bridge over
the years until workers earnings are
sufficient to make possible savings for
protection of himself and family against
sickness, accident, invalidity and old age
"The several states should enact laws, -
the report stated. providing for the es.
Establishment of wages that will be at
least sufficient for the decent maintc
nance Of a family, in the case Of male
adults, and adequate to the decent in
dividual support of female workers. In
the beginning the legal minimum for
male workers should suffice only for the
present needs of the family, but it should
be gradually raised until it is adequate
to future needs as we'll.
Until this level of legal minimum
wages is reached the worker stands in
need of the device of insurance. So far
as possible the insurance fund should be
raised by a levy on industry, as is now
done in the case of accident compensa.
ton The industry in which man is
employed should provide him with all
that is necessary to meet all the needs
of his entire life Therefore, any con
trbution to the insurance fund from the
general revenues of the state should be
only slight and temporary. For the same
reason no contribution should be exacted
from any worker who is not getting n
higher wage than is required to meet the
present needs of himself and family
Those who are below that level can make
such contribution only at the expense
of their present welfare. Finally, the ad-
ministraton Of the insurance laws should
be such rs to interfere as little as pos.
sible with the individual freedom of the
worker and his family Any insurance
scheme, or any administrative method
that tends to separate the workers into
distinct and dependent class, that Of
tends against their domestic privacy and
independence, or that threatens individ-
ual self-reiance and self-respect, should
not be tolerated The ideal to be kept in
mind il condition in which all the
workers would themselves have the in.
come and the responsibility of providing
for all the needs and contingencies OF
life, both present and future. Hence all
the forms of state insurance should be
regarded as merely a lesser evil, and
should be so organized and administered
as to hasten the coming Of the normal
condition.
As means of reducing the cost Of liy-
ing the committee favored prevention OF
monopolstic control of commodities and
adequate regulation of such public serv-
ice monOpolies as remain under private
operation, and elimination of middlemen
by establishment of cooperative stores
To deal in the essentials of life.
Abolition of child labor, il necessary
by taxing it out Of existence in stag
nant states extension Of vocational
training and elaboration of the present
experiments in municipal housing and
medical attendance were urged as steps
toward equalizing the living conditions
of the employing and employed classes
UNFOLDING the right of labor to organ
ize and to deal with employers through
representatives., the report urged a grad
ual recognition Of the workers in the
management and ownership of the in
dustries of which they are part. As
first step it suggested admission of EN-
pIoyes TO the industrial part of manage
ment through formation Of shop com
mittees to cooperate with owners of
plants. The next phase, participation in
ownership, the committee conceded, was
not of general value in a program for
immediate social reconstruction II
classed private ownership as preferable
to a collectiyist organization of indus
try--which it characterized as "a state
Of socialism which would mean bureauc.
racy, political tyranny. general social in
efficiency and decadence but asserted
that the present system. producing in
sufficient incomes for a great majority
of wage earners and unnecessarily large
incomes for q small minority of priv.
LEGGED capitalists" needed modification
and Improvement
at seems clear saad the committee,
that the present industrial system is
destined to last for a long time in its
main outlines. but the full possibilities
Of increased production will not be real
lied so long as the majority Of the work
ers remain mere wage earners. The ma
iority must somehow become owners, or
at least in part, of the instruments OF
production. They can be enabled to
reach this stage gradually through CO.
operative productive societies and CO.
partnership arrangements, In the for
mer, the workers own and manage the
industries themselves; IN the latter they
own a substantial part of the corporate
stock and exercise reasonable share in
the management However slow the at
taument OF these ends, they will have
to be reached before we can have a thor,
oughly efficient system of production, or
an industrial and social order that will
be secure from the danger of revolution.