The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-30
PART IN MANAGEMENT
 OF INDUSTRIES

i1G uISiIty CStGSGS LOT Ill6 WlQeSpI eau dissatisfaction and unrest among in drlstrtal workers are discussed by Dr. Royal Meeker, Commissioner Of Labor Statistics of the U. s. Department of Labor in an address delivered on Tuesday, December 90, before the American Economic Association at it's 32nd annual meeting, Chicago, III. In brief, he states that reasons for the present unsatisfactory condition of affairs may be found in the general feeling among workers that they Go not receive the share of profits to which they are entitled; that their hours of labor are unSatiSfactO Ory,\ that industry is not as well managed as it should be; that work could be made less monotonous and uninterestinSi that absentee lanllordis1n" has re- suited in indifference to the workers interests, and that opportunities for advancement into positions of respon- SibiiNy grow daily more infrequent.
 Although there was, during the war, recognition of the principles of col 1ecttve bargaining among employers who were engaged either on direct Government work or production of es- sentials and who were therefore sub- ject to the various adjustment boards, still there was no general labor policy evolved from the chaotic conditions prevailing IT- -hSekeE Btllk+E tE9 IitSAI had the war lasted longer either a na- ttonaI industrial commission or a se- Ties of commissions in separate indus tries with district boards to take care of local disputes would have been set 1rp. In this connection, while deplOf- Ing the continuing of the war even for b day to secure this most desirable of results, he says, We can only hope Hhat the terrOrs of D. ne as T. a1TN polling the BoIshevtId of the right and of the left to come together on a, req sonab1e compromise
 One result of the "aHosentee land lordinsm'' Is seen by him in the e1n- ployunent of scientific managers to increase output and therefore divi- dends. To their methods of reducing work to the monOtony of the ma chine, leaving out ingenuity and in itiat1ve on the part of the worker, IS traceable. Dr. Meeker believes, mucn of the discomfort which is cuIninat- ing at the present time in the move rnent for industrial democracy.
 The elaborate mechanism for secTr- ing industrial peace set up by the British government through the much discussed Whitley councils is as yet only an interesting experiment.. In this country, with no weu-thought-Out system OFSStillZ1LAO4lJ 1AS @IA4N+S |-AN~S democracy in industry, in spite of the plans which have been spring1ng up in hundreds of plants, ts sdn far less of & reality than 1t was long before the, advent of power-drtVen machin- cry.
 In reviewing the kinds Of commit tees, their methods of organization, and the question Of collective par gaining, he says that these matters
 4,v the scope and content of the collec- tive bargain itself. AS unusual ex- smpIes of industrial democracy he cites an instance of employees man. agement in an aeroplane factory 1n England in which the workers own 50 per cent of the stock and the manager the other half, and the re- gently organized railway adjustment board set up by the British Govern ment. This board consists of an equal number of representatives of the railways and of the trade unions, and Is answerabIe in turn, in case of disagreement, to the National Wages Board, on which the public, employ CTS and employees are equally rep resented. This experiment will be watched with great interest on this side of the Atlantic.
 Dr. Meeker finds little hope of sue cess among most of the large num- Der of systems in this country studied by him, since they offer little of real responsibility to the work CTS There Is an enormous creative force in the workers. Few of the plans set up offer the worker any op- portunity to use his latent intelI- gence and ability.
 ''The workers will not be satisfied merely to express views. They want the assurance that their views will be given more than a perfunctory con- sideratton" In addition to tncreas- ing production as a result of turning to account the hitherto unused abili- ties of the workers, there may be ex- peeted an increase of. contentnent and goodwill which will count more largely towards industrial efficiency than any of the methods devised thus far by the scientific managers.
 Employers must deal fairly with workers and be willing to give them all the facts about the business ex- cept those of technical processes which must necessarily be kept se- cret
 Too much emphasis in the general discussion of employees representa- ton he thinks has been placed on production and not enough on d1stri-
 
 can not be expected that the worker will m maintain interest in producing If he does not feel that he is getting what is rightfuIly his in the division of the product.
 Admission of workers to participa- tion In management necessitates rec ognftton of the fact that they must also be prepared to share in the loss es as well as the profits of industry. Conclusions reached by pr. Meeker as to @ fair basis on which to fix the returns of industry involve the establishment of minimum wage which shau be guaranteed to labor no matter whether the business shows a profit or a. loss, and share the workers have in reducing costs of production in various ways and in creasing the value of the product or of the business. This would meet the objections usually advanced against bonus schemes that the work CTS suffer or are rewarded as ac- cordfng the managers are inefficient or successful in the conduct of the business.
 In conclusion Dr. Meeker says: A speedy readjustment. political and in dustria1, on a more democratic basis