The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-04-03
Industrial Conference FavOrS
 Joint Organization TO Prevent
 Disputes Of Labor And Capital

ducted with the sole purpose of secur- ing and publishing the facts that he underneath the original dispute.
 An important feature of the re- gional chairnlan's conferences, Mir Hoover explained, lies in the ellm- ination of the open and closed shop question and similar tcontrqYer Yerslat principles from the list of subjects 1 which may be discussed.
 t'No conference can settle these questions of principle the conference chairman believed, 'tand in most cases, it is a matter of argument be- 1 tween the groups w79ethe- or not they | are principals. So if objection is | raised by either party they are not 1 allowed to come up. Collective bar | gaining was adopted by the confer ence as a policy but not as pr1ncl- pie"
 The industrial conference, during l it's three months life, had the advice l and constructive criticism of more than 5000 individuals representing both employer and employe, accord | ing to MT. Hoover, and the final re- l port reflects the ideas endorsed by | the great majority of these men. | "The machinery as outlined in our | i neutral ground upon which employers i who are bitterly antagonistic to the l organized labor, can still be kept in | contact with their men, in case of 1 disagreement, under the auspices of a government official who, c---omcio, { represents the public.
 l ''The background of the confer
 ence report is a policy of get to- gether' for joint settlement with l pleasures to bring it about where the parties were unwilling. The confer i ence considered that modern industry,
 as conducted in large establishments
 had caused a loss of personal contact 1 between employers and employees. IL,
 of course, makes possible the greater | production that has made our high 1 standard of living. Direct personal
 contact in the old manner of smaller
 units, with the sense of personal re-
 sponsibility for the interest of both | sides cannot be restored.
 "The conference, therefore, be- lieves that the just, human relation
 ships between the employer and the
 employe can only be promoted by
 deliberate organization to bring them | together. It feels that a new Amer ican basis of industrial relationships
 has been developing during the last l two or three years in the widespread
 and deliberate organization of these relations between employers and em-
 ployes in many hundred establish
 ments through the country on a dem . ocratic basis. The great value of
 this arrangement is that it enlists the
 cooperation of the employees in pro
 duction and management, harmonizes
 relations and settles disputes at the
 source. This plan is working sue
 CeSSfIIilV under trade union
 ments, in organized shops, in closed
 shops; it is operating in non-union
 shops; it is operating in shops where union and non-union men work sido
 by side In shops working under
 union agreement, it adds to col1ec-
 tive bargaining an agency of cooper ation within the plant
 ''The conference considers that it
 is idle wholly to deny the existence of conflicting interests between en- ployers and employees, but there are , wide areas of activity in which their
 interests coincide. The public has a ' primary interest in the prevention of these conflicts causing stoppage to
 production and service and the ere atiOn of processes leading to agree } ment as to wages and conditions of labor without the stoppage of produc- ton is the greatest hope of mitigat-
 
 T f'The conference proposes a plan l whereby, when parties approach too ? near conflict, their freely and prop 3 erly shosen representatives can be l brought together in council under f conditions that make for collective y agreement. But the conference also - holds that such councils must be en- f tered into voluntarily on both sides l '"The plan involves but small gov
 
 c 1 extension of permanent public off t cials. A board of nine members al D Washington, together with twelve ] regional chairman, comprise al y there is to this basic machinery = "'It is interesting to note that sc d great an authority as Mackenzie e King, former Minister of Labor ot 5. Canada, who has been largely re- y sponsible for the origin and admin. [. istration of the Canadian industria @ procedure, considers the plan pu- forward by the conference as a con. k structive improvement on all other: e hitherto proposed
 5, ''The report probably will not mee y with the approval of the extremist.
 on either side, but it has been ap e proved in it's broad lines by man, e hundreds of employers and many y prominent labor leaders who have .- been consulted or communicated k with The conference believes tha, $ it will appeal to those who believe il IT sane and sure steps to advance O n human relations in industry.
 Tt will be interesting if critics vii IT read the entire document before the, e launch forth criticisms. It would b. le even more interesting if poIitica U leaders would state their agreeme men IS or disagreement with ft''
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