New-York tribune., 1920-11-21


organized employers negotiate with
strongly organized employees. Then
each side is powerful enough to op-
pcse effectively unreasonable demands
on the part Of the other, while both
sides are so vitality concerned in the
continued prosecution of industry that
agreements may be expected that will
be mutually advantageous.
Conference Recommendations
1t was from this point Of view that
the second industrial conference made
its recommendations to the President
and Congress last March. AS you will
recall, this conference was made up Of
representatives not of employers or
Of employees as such but solely of the
public. If any bias resulted from this
exclusion of avowed representatives of
special interests it was bias in favor
of employees. Herbert C. Hoover, the
vicechairman; the numerous ex-Cabi-
net members, cX-Governors and other
public, official representatives and mem
bers, like Owen D. Young, of the Gen.
nson, the California banker. and Jul
us Rosenwald, of Sears, Roebuck &
Co., were fully conversant and sym
pathetic with the point of view of the
employer. In fact, it was charged by
the American Federation Of Labor that
while employers were largely repre-
sented at the conference wage earners
were not represented at all. This dis
regarded the fact that William b. Will
-
only member but as chairman exer-
cised his full measure of influence in
the shaping Of the report.
To give a notion of the point Of ap-
proach of the conference l cannot do
better than to quote some of it's own
sentences. 1t declares: THE guiding
thought Of the conference has been
that the right relationship between en-
ploycr and employee can be best pro
noted by the deliberate organization
of that relationship. That organiza-
ton should begin Within the plant it.
self. Its object should be to organize
unity Of interest and thus to diminish
the area OF conflict, and supply by or
ganzcd cooperation between EMPLOYERS
and employees the advantages of that
human relationship that existed be-
tween them when industries were
smaller"
Study of Systems
. The conference, with this outlook
made a sympathetic study of all of the
various systems of shop committees
employee representation, etc, through
which American employers and en-
ployecs are trying to bridge the gulf
that separates them. In its report it
gives it's unqualified Endorsement to all
such endeavors, holding its ap-
nrOva1 Opiy bor II ~
that are initiated by the employer fo1
the principal purpose of preventing
employees from belonging to unions OF
their own selection. Experience, the
conference thought, has shown clearly
that shop committee experiments the
. primary purpose of which was to smash
the unions were doomed to disappoint-
ing failure.
, The conference believed that tn,
J most important step toward better In.
dustrial relations is to bring tho re.
sponsible leaders of tho organized EN-.
ployers and Of the organized employees
, together to discuss fully the important
. issues in which both are interested
, Even when such discussions fail tc
lead TO agreement, they cannot fail tc
lead to a better understanding of the
issues by both sides, and thus tend ir
the direction Of that peace and har
mony which we shall not fully attain
th } side Of the millennium.
Would Aid Relations
! Since the conference was organized
/ to recommend the governmental policy
that would be most conducive to better
industrial relations its report natu
. rally deals chiefly with proposals look
, ing to governmental ection. Impressed
. with the hclplessness of the govern
ment-and when it began it's labor.
there was no organized governments
machinery for adjusting disputes ever
, in the railroad industry-if confronted
: by strike in an industry like the rail
' roads or coal mining, essential to the
, public welfare, the conference gave
chief thought to the organization of ma
, chincry that would preserve all of tn,
agreements and arrangements 70,
. maintaining industrial peace that ar,
already in existence and at the sam,
! timo supplement them with added ma
chinery that would promote industria
peace when they proved inadequate
The main features Of the conference,
' recommendations are familiar, They
. proposed n national industrial boArt
Y Of nine members, three representa-,
. employers, three employees and thre,
appeal board. and a division of tn,
r country into regions each Of which
. should have regional chairman
charged with tho task Of organizin,
y regional boards to deal with local dis
= putcs which were not adjusted nv r1
a isting machinery and which threntenet
r m interruption Of industry Of sucl
+ magnitude ns seriously to affect th
:, public interest.
!, Objection TO Plan
). Ono objection that IL lodged agains
y this plan is that it doca not 20 ia