The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1920-03-27
(By . stan Correspondest.)

Akron. Ohio. March 26-PauI w.
Litchfeld is a busy man. He has
been keeping himself so busy that
comparatively few outside of Akron
have ever heard OF him.
In the city of opportunity he
is known as the vice, president and
factory manager of the Goodyear
Tire and Rubber Company. in direct
charge OF $1,000 men and women.
He is the man who has set in mo-
ton an industrial representation
plan or what in most other places
would be known as shop commit
tee"
The plan" which may or may
not revolutionize this particular
industry at Akron is fairly well
known. What led up to 1t Is not.
Regardless of who gets the credit
1t seems to have been born in the
brains of the factory Dss. Be-
tween bites Mr.. Litchheld jotted
down certain ideas on stray pieces
of paper. After a while he had
nough for a pamphlet. which seems
to have escaped the reviewers. This
brochure breaches a new indus
trial gospel and so the plan" will
be passed up for the idea" for the
present.
Makes Forceful Conclusions.
Written by a collegiate theorist
or a parlor bolshevist it could
hardly have escaped notice. Com
ing as it does from a supposedly
hard-headed manager of 1000 en-
ployes, 1t must be regarded as one
of the most important contribu-
tions to contemporary industrial
literature. In its clear diction, it's
logic and arguments and in its bold
conclusions. IL Is in a class by
itself. The author does not mince
matters even though he is dealing
with one of the most delicate prob
lens of the day. He takes the
bull by the horns at the start.
The problem which we must
solve" he writes, lis to find a
remedy for stopping the spread of
Bolshevism. The first step to-
ward this solution is a careful
study. and examination of the in
dustrial situation, ferreting out any
injustice which may be present and
establishing a feeling of conf
dence between the working man
and the management of industry"
Traces Autocracy Growth.
He traces the growth of poIiti-
cal autocracy as an introduction
to the main subject, all of which
Is embraced in the title of The
Industrial Republic" He skillfully
compares autocratic and republic
can form of governments and car
ries the analogy into industry. In
the chapter devoted to. the Gene
sis and Development of the Labor
Capital Opposition" he says:
Capital, be 1t reiterated, is
nothing but the savings of labor,
and its logical function, Is to be
put at the disposal of mankind to
De combined with labor to make
that labor more productive. In
other words. capital should be put
at the disposal of those who labor,
for the benefit of the community,
and the owners of that capital
should be entitled to a fair re-
ward for its use. 1t is evident
that this is something entirely diff
ferent from the view that human
ity should loan its labor to the
man who owns capital for the
benefit of capital. and 1t is the diff
ference between these two ideas
that Is to a large extent at the
bottom of the Industrial unrest Of
today"
Breaks Past Traditions.
In simple but forceful Z, way
Mr.. Litchfield recounts the evolu-
ton OF labor and capital from the
days OF the ~cavemen until the re-
suit of this evolution has been ito
create a class of capitalists. who
do not work, and a class of labor
ing men who do not save and who
have no capital"
That the author. who in a large
measure Is responsible for contin-
ued dividends. has broken with past
traditions is. apparent by this:
Labor may not risk a proper
tionately large amount based upon
the productiveness of what 1t lends.
but 1t does risk a very large
amount in proportion to what It
has to lend. II is. therefore. only
a matter Of mere justice that IL
labor has Received the current
wage and capital at the end has
received the current rate of in
terest. that any surplus beyond
this must necessarily have been
ereEted by the combined use of
capital and labor. and should be