Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-03-23

Washington would have general over- sight of the workings of the plan which in addition to being appli- cable to public utilities, provides machinery for prompt and faii adjustment of wages and working conditions of the government em- 1 ployes." The plan involves no penal ties, it is said, other than those im- pose by public opinion. It does not imposed compulsory representation It does not deny the right to strike. i It does not submit to arbitration the policy of "closed' or "open' shop. -7s. y
 Regarding "employe representa- tion" the report says, "the subject has been discussed under such diff ferent names and forms as shop con- mittees, shop councils, works coun- cils, representative government in industry and others, but the con ference says it prefers the generic term having in mind the successful application of the principle to var ious activities outside, as well as within the purely industrial field. "These suggestions" says the re- port referring to the help which ] the conference received from both employers and employees, "cleariy proceed from a genuine desire that i the movement for democratic repre- sentation as substitute for direct personal contact, may spread in ac- cordance with sound principles and be kept from perversion which would threaten the ideas lasting usefulness by making it an agency of attack rather than means of peace"
 The idea of "employe representa- tion," the report says, has aroused opposition from two sources, viz: Employers who still adhere to the theory that labor is a commodity, a view which is said to be steadily dis appearing, and trade union leaders who regard shop representation as a subtle weapon directed aaginst the unions.
 "Employe representation, the conference says, "offers no royal road to industrial peace. No em- ployer should suppose that merely by installing some system of shop ! representation he can be assured, without continued effort, of har- lnony and increased production. Doubtless there will be failures where the plan is adopted as fad or a panacea. It is only means whereby sincerity of purpose, frank dealing and the establishment of common interests, may bring mutual advantage"
 Child Labor.
 Relative to collective bargaining the conference "sees in frank ac- ceptancc of this principle the most 1 helpful approach to industrial peace and states that it believes that the great body of the employers of the country accept that principle. The difference of opinion, it says, ap- pears in regard to the method of representation. Bargains of certain kinds between employers and em- plcyes do not lend themselves readily to legal enforcement and the con ference therefore expresses the. be- I lief that, for the present at least enforcement must rest substantially upon good faith
 I Regarding hours of labor, tho ] conference states that experience has demonstrated that they should ibe fixed in industrial establish. ments "at point consistent witt the health of the employees and .witf proper opportunity for rest and re
 creation, thefe being in all cease: provision for one days rest ir 1'seven."
 I The conference further finds that from the standpoint of public in terest it is fundamental that tn,
 basic wages of all employees should be adequate to maintain the em
 ploye and his family in reasonable
 comfort and with adequate oppor
 tunity for the education of his chil
 dren. When the wages of any groul
 fall below his standard for an!
 length of time, the situation becomes
 dangerous to the wcll-being of th state" As for profit sharing bein'
 regarded as complete solution o
 industrial problems, the conference says that while it has promise Il some directions, it cannot by itself
 be considered to be of far-reachini effect. Nevertheless" the repor
 says, "the field is one in which sin cere experiment may add q req
 knowledge of desirable procedure" : Touching on the subject of chil'
 labor. the conference says "shee
 prohibition of child labor is, at best only negative attack upon tn problem. It is not thoroughly eff ' fective in promoting the econom,i welfare of the nation unless tn time spend by the child in industr! : is devoted to adequate schooling ant
 to activity which will develop hi physcial well-being." The report an nounces the Startling fact" that o the 5,516,16S illiterate persons owe
 10 years of age in the United States more than 68 per cent were nativ
 born. Attention is called to the fac : that the federal government up t the present "makes no provision
 which assures the non-employmen of children in street trades and var ious blind alley occupations durinl the time they should be at school. < The conference states that, in pre-
 senting its recommendations "the! : are not merely designed to tide owe troublesome period of economic re adjustment Many of the evils point ed out" it says, "were in .existenc before the war and will remain il : existence if steps are not taken t
 remedy them" In conclusion, tn s report says, the reforms advocated ? are urged mot with any feeling o
 panic but with the belief that the.