The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1920-01-16

that the boarding houses are crowded
and not comfortable. / have thought
of suggesting that we might help mat
ters by building some houses. There
is vacant land opposite the new school
which would be we'll suited for an in
dustrial colony"
President Haskell was a man of con-
servatiye type. The interests of his
stockholders he guarded with scrupu-
lous care His successful conduct of
the great plane, he felt, lay in large
part, in keeping its policies and activl-
ties within certain prescribed limit
| The dea, therefore, of branching out
into the real estate business did nor
at once appeal to him. He saw thar
the funds of his stockholders so in
vested would not show as large earn
ings as they now showed from thei.
use in the usual channels of the COM
panys business. Neither he nor any
of his staff knew anything about in.
dustrlal housing and he was not to9
eager to learn
Those eight idle machines, however
and the orders piling up ahead of them
We're facts to be faced, so he did NOT
obey tie impulse which prompted him
to dismiss Mr. Walker and continue
the discussion with the manager.
The young man perceived that ne
was treading on unfriendly ground. In
fact, ne realized that his Welfare de-
partment was looked upon as expen-
sive business and productive only in
a very remote way He also saw tha.
this attitude must be changed if he
was to carry through his ideas and
plans.
MIR Haskell" he began eagerly,
''you must know that present-day
workmen are not standing for a good
many of the things they have had to
stand for in the past. They don [.
have to. You pay them high wages
and they want for themselves and
their families the comforts and the
decencies those wages will buy Theg
are going to have them too. The fac
tories which are holding their help
and now taking some of our men are
those that are providing comfortable
houses.
| Workers Expect Comfort
| 'Yop would not house your machin-
cry in ramshackle buildings he CON
tinued, why expect your employees
to keep in good operating condition
in them? The output Of this plant
depends to a large extent upon the
way our workers live. Just for mo-
ment, put yourself in the other mans
shoes Would you stav n a town
where you could not he comfortably
espec lily when thee 2re SO many
jobs waiting in places wlere living
cooditions are being re for?
In ne of our great factories, it is
reported that it was n .essary to en-
ploy 10000 men last year in order to
maint4'n a pay roll If 10000. The
living conditions had not been cared
for al d The men would not stay
1T not as bad as IA here that
is, NO; as get, bat it Il steadily get
ting worse Rents are being raised
all the time.
Everyone looks at this presen1
state of things as temporary, so dc
not act. But the labor situation viii
not be changed to any extent many
years after the war ends There is
bound to be great activity in wort
which has been postponed and where
shall we get the help? Certainly th7
European countries whose man power
has been crippled by the war, viii not
let many Of the remaining men leave
the country.
Good Housing Pays.
"In order to stop losing our men
we must treat them that they will be
anxious to stay, for if they are indif-
ferent whether they stay on not, they
are likely to be Indifferent in their
work. Good housing goes a long way
toward making the men and their
families happy and contented." ;"
As President Haskell listened to the
young mans words, his expression
changed. This was no empty romano
ing. He was forced to acknowledge
the hard-headed appeal Of the busi-
ness side of the argument, and was in
spired by his earnestness and honest
enthusiasm as we'll as by his solici-
tude for the welfare of the employees.
A vision of trim cottages, tidy
streets and happy children at play
under the willows, flashed before the
| eyes of the president.
"Well, Walker" he concluded, per
haps it's worth looking into. That
| is a good location. Go ahead and out
line what ought to be done. Put it
on paper and let me have it before
the Wednesday meeting of the board. "
The seed had fallen on fertile
ground Mr.. Walkers face lighted up
as he left the presidents office. There
was chance of seeing one of his
dreams realized.
"a Pa W
MOlders' Conference Board