New-York tribune., 1919-09-07
Timothy Healy. Of Station.
ary Firemen, Challenges
Statement That Workers
Get All They Ask For
Civic Federation Attacked
Does Nothing but Provide
Eats One Speaker Says.
but Others Defend 1t


dent OF the Stationary Fircmcn's Union,
put life into what was otherwise a
prosy discussion of industrial problems
on the lawn of Henry 7. Dsvison's
Locust Valley home yesterday by cnal-
lcnCing the assertion of speaker
shat labor got all il asked. and sug-
gcSting that captains oi INDUSTRY, wHo
are so much interested IN community
councils. nigh, get better results by
confcrr,nC with unions representing
their employees"
In tho discussion which followed. the
speaker, Charles c. Barnes. late Of the
United States Employment Service. eN-
planned that he had been misUnder-
stood. and Thomas J. Curtis, OF the
State Industrial Commission and Labor
party candidate for president Of the
Board Of Aldermen. attacked the Ma
tional Civic Federation as an lnSiitu-
tion which did nothing but provide
occasional eats.
Mr.. Barnes was speaking on Com
munity Needs in Industrial Problems,
when Mr. Healy interrupted. declaring
that while organized labor had not
succeeded in getting all 1t wants. It
eventually will. Mr Barnes explained
the idea he meant to convey was that
organized labor would eventually gets
it demands.
"Some day he said. "it may even
&C: the Plumb plan"
Hasn't Got Ii Yet
at hasn't got the Plumb plan yot.'
said Healy IF the heads Of great
industries, instead of devoting their
time and money to various uplift move-
ments, would work with organized
labor there wouldn't be so much need
for community councils. | know from
my own long years Of experience that
captains OF industry would accomplish
much more good if they would SIT down
and talk with representatives Of their
employees and do loss community work.
Thomas j. Curtis followed and de-
clared there was no comparison BE-
tween the community councils and the
National Civic Federation. HIS cNreri-
ence had been all the federation pro-
vided was an opportunity TO o@; occa-
sionally.
"You 90 TO a meeting Of the Nation
al Civic Federation. you eat ana you 20
home" he said. The eats are camou-
fage. The community councils are go
ing to end that sort of thing. i is not
the way to get employers and emp owes
together. The community councils are
going to bring employer and empioye
together
"Curtis," responded Healy, got only
eats al federation meetings. Others
got results for their unions through The
splendid organization of which the late
Seth Low was head and associated with
him such men as Samuel Gompers ana
John Mitchell As the head Of an IN
ternational organization | know tAat
the federation has done BIC things not
only for my own organization, but ior
others. When there was work they
worked hard and they got results.
Labor wants no favors nom the
captains of industry, but it does insist
upon fair shake
England's Problem Discussed
Mr.. Barnes's discussion was preceded
By the reading o: a paper by K ).
Caldwell on Industrial Democracy IN
Great Britain and Its Lesson for Amer
ica." based on recent survey as rep
resentative of the Department OF
Labor. He favored unemployment IN,
surance, democracy in industry and
development of the individual worker.
Labor" he predicted, "wil learn
that in reducing production through
strikes il is depriving itself of the ne
cessities of life and automatically
raising prices on itself. When labor
learns that the cost of strikes IS PAD
for by labor, then labor will look Tor
some other means to accomplish ITS
lust wishes. They will find tins IN
Joint councils with employers.
After resolutions had been adopted
calling for the preparation OF a pro
gramme by the community counciis OF
the greater city to be submitted 10 'he
industrial conference called by il'Si-
dent Wilson for October. Thomas Rock
made an appeal for funds for the sup
port of the central organization.
Previous to the open meeting there
was a conference of thirty persons in
terested. at which the afternoon pro
Vramme was arranged and the rcsolu-
tions prepared. At this meeting. which,
like the main conference. was called
as a conference of capital, labor and
the public, George Gordon Battle pre-
sided. The labor representatives pres
ent were Thomas Rock, Abraham Left
kowitz, of the teachers union; Thomas
J. Curtis and Alfred Bolton. of Brook
lyn. Others at the morning session
were: William c. Breed. Mrs. Will
lam C. Breed, Frank Oliver, Lawson
Purdy, Lillian ID. Wald, Samuel NJ
Lindsay, Sydney Blumenthal. Ernest
Burton, William Goldman, Sara
Graham Mulhall. George Foster Pea
body, Mrs. c. c. Rumsey, Nanny
Strauss. Hans Haltenborn. Mrs. Mar
shall Slade, Allan McCurdy, William J.
Schieffelin. Virginia MacMachin. B. H.
Mautner. Henry Macdonald. George
Macdonald. Mrs. Charles Tiffany. John
Fitch, Mildred Taylor, Frank Gulden,
J. A. H. Hopkins.