The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-03-15

ing changes in their attitude dur
 ing three years under the influ-
 ence of our labor arrangements.
 They seem to understand that
 they can rely upon promises
 made to them by the company;
 that all disputes will be finally
 adjusted according to just prin-
 ciples interpreted by wise arbi-
 trators"
 Every known substitute for that man to man cont-1t that existed be- fore the induStrial units became so large as to make it impossible, must be adopted by employers in order that the employees may be convinc- ed that they are looked upon as hu- man beings and not as commodities; as men and women, and not as parts of a machine.
 Not only the wise, but the rank and file, in the United States in 1775 re- pudiated the theory of taxation with out representation. The most unin- telligent workman today considers his condition that of exploitation without representation. And why shouldn't he.
 Exploitation
 He sits at a nail machine or a cot ton machine performing one tedious operation all day and day after day. He receives his pay as the machine receives it's oil; and the essential diff ference in the past has been that as machine got hurt it was mended at the employers expense, while if the man got hurt he was mended at his own expense or not at all. He is about as interested, and ought to be about as interested as the machine is in the results of the work he is doing. We cannot restore to him the relationship his fOrefather had t9 our forefather, and still continue the prosecution O. industry by machinery; but we can jet him feel that he has a voice in the election of represen- tatives who do meet and deal with the employer. And again. why shouldn't we? In the final analysis all capital is labor. That is, the cap ital that you and I have is the result of past labor and nothing but that.
 Suspicion is rife between employer and employee. Suspicion is always rife between men who have continu- ous dealings together and never meet. The employer looks for ingrattude, the employee for injustice, and they both usually get what they are look ing for.
 I believe industry has got to get on a profit-sharing basis. l realize the difficulties inherent in such a suggestion, but they are no greater than other difficulties which have been successfully overcome.
 One Example
 There is in Chicago today a great manufacturing plant employing r5,O0O men. It has been upon a profit shar- ing basis for years. It has an en- ployment bureau which has been sci entiftcalIy run for years.
 A man seeking employment there is subjected to a careful examination and close scrutiny. His history is taken down; his family record, union, and employment record. When this examination is completed, the direc- tor of employment tells him that they never employ men without first hay ing made a physical examination He is shown into another room, stripped as a man would be in being tested for a football team, and when this has been satisfactorily completed, the en1- ployment director tells him that it has been found that his capacities fit him for certain kind of employ ment in their factory; that one of the company's houses is empty and he is at liberty to occupy it at gfv- en rent, or, failing that, they would erect him one where he can find a home for himself and family, at given rental He is given telephone number and informed that if he or any of his family are ill, the surgeon paid in part by the employees and fn part by :he company will wait up on him; that if nurses are required, they, also paid in part by the con cern and in part by the wage-earners, will serve him. He is told that if the corporation is as fortunate dur ing the first year of his employment as they were during the pGeding yaaE his percentage ef the Earnings