New-York tribune., 1920-02-22

selves imagine and conjecture re-
garding me.
On the other hand, I am as much
trustee, holding millions Of dollars
of property placed in my hands by
thousands Of different investors,
practically all Of whom are person
ally as much strangers to me as the
workers in the mills.
Furthermore, / am charged with
still another duty, a duty to the
public and to you gentlemen who
buy our product in behalf Of the
public, by which am bound to see
that the cloth which we produce is
sterling cloth, is worth the price,
and that this great necessity Of life,
without which the progress and de-
velopment Of the civilization Of the
world would be arrested, is fur
nished to the people at a figure
which is fair, a price which is not
increased by any unfounded or un-
righteous demand Of the worker,
or any unfair profit to the investor.
You have a right to have a fabric
delivered to you at a reasonable
price, that shall be worth the money
that you pay. The public has a
right to buy cloth from the looms
Of this company which shall be the
best cloth that can reasonably be
produced for the money. And !
need hardly add that 1t is for the
interest Of the company, as we'll.
that It's cloth should stand before
the world as the best that can be
made for the price.
hardly need to point out to you
how delicate these duties are in re-
lation to each other, or how vitality
they may at times conflict. If I
should give to the employees exces-
sive wages, should thereby un-
justly take the amount thus spent
either from the investor or from
the public. If should take it from
the investor, he does not have a fair
return upon his money. If charge
it In the price which the public
pays, they are called upon to pay
for the fabric, which they must have
more than a just price.
If, on the other hand, l deny to
the worker his proper wage, thus
favoring the investor or the public,
I thus do an injustice to humanity
I inflict a wrong on thousands of
toilers and the thousands in the
families dependent upon them.
Let US take the case Of the in
vestor. He has committed to me his
property, in the confidence that
shall be faithful to the trust that !
have accepted in his behalf; that
will be honest and fair and square
with his interests; that I will man.
age his property wisely, with sound
judgment, and, above all, success
fully. If should falter in the dis
charge Of this trust, if l should take
from the investor and give unfairly
to the worker, or to the public who
buy our product, I should not be fit
to hold my trust.
Take the case Of the public whom
you represent. If should willingly
assent that the workers and invest
OTIS, combining together to exact a
higher wage or larger profit from
the public than was fair, I should
assent to an injustice to thousands
Of the people who wear the clothes
which you make up from our fab
'ric, and thus do to them a serious
social wrong.
1t is thus my duty and the duty of
those who constitute with me the
management, to hold the scales fair
ly and justly as between these three
great interests-the worker, the in
vestor and the public. 1t Is my duty
to see that so far as l have power,
no injustice shall be done to either
or any, but that the problem shall be
fairly or at least honestly solved.
How am 1 to bring about this re-
suit? What are the principles which
are to guide one holding the position
which I hold Of executive manage
ment?
Take the case of the workers.
They look to me, as they have right
to look to me, to see that the condi-
tions under which they labor are
fair; that the pay they get is fair
pay; that they shall be enabled to
live clean, wholesome lives, to edu-
cate their children, to advance the
standards of living.
The lack of personal contact, the
loss Of the old relations between
the workers and the management.
OF course cripple me in this task. I
cannot personally know Of the con-
dltlOnS which a11rroy,pI o,~ o~.