Evening star., 1920-03-05
INDUSTRIAL PEACE
| |SPALMER'S TOPIC
Urges Machinery to Adjust
Differences in Press
Club Speech.

Emphasizing the necessity of an
early world peace. and declaring that
the urgent need of the hour to
| stabilize Industrial conditions was
machinery to adjust differences be-
fore they got to the point of II strike,
! Attorney General Palmer, in his first
| speech since formally announcing his
! candidacy for the democratic nomi
| nation for President. addressed the
members Of the National Press Club
| last night.
I'VE cannot hope to settle after
| war problems in war times" he de-
| clared. for the problems of recon
Struction are the problems of peace
| and we must have peace as a basis
| Tor their settlement. 1t is equally
| true that we must have peace inside
| the United States"
Mr.. Palmer said there need be no
| compulsory arbitration or restriction
| of the right to strike if provisions
| were made for the public to be in
formed of disputes affecting them.
Public opinion is the only mon
arch in this country" Mr. Palmer
said. and informed public opinion
will always secure justice to both
! sides in industrial controversies.
Heard Both Sides.
"All the government sought to do
in the coal strike situation. for in
stance was to insist that both sides
should be heard before an impartial
tribunal without the country being
made to suffer from the strong meth
DDS adopted by each side to accom-
pliSh its purpose in the controversy.
While the government may properly
exercise it's right to protect the vast
of he
the suffering. loss and death which
would enSue from the general tie-up
in the production or transportation
of the necessaries of life. it ought
never to be necessary to exercise that
right.
'Suita BILE machinery should prompt
ly be built to adjust such contro
Versi"s befor" they reach the state
which Compels the government to
take action in defense of itself or
the people whom it is designed to
serve.
BY slow but decisive processes the
arrogance of capital in this country
has been broken. But now we see in
; many lines labor grow so strong. so
powerful. that it sometimes threat
ems to become arrogant. and during
the past year capital has had to plead
upon its knees to labor for a chance
to be heard and the right to have
its difficulties with labor arbitrated
all these years of progress along all
lines in America we have not yet
reached the point where neither capt
tai nor labor can or dare become
autocratic, or deny each other a
hearing.
Build Proper Machinery.
1T is a shame that labor was ever
forced to the necessity of taking the
strong stand which it has been COM
PEELED to take for its own advance
ment. Labor conditions in the United
States are better than in any other
nation of the earth. and it is due to
abor that this is true. 1t has been
the unremitting demand of rganized
la Dor for higher wages and better
living conditions that has brought
the workingman in his high estate in
America
And now that both capital and
labor understand each other. recog-
niZe each others power and grant
heard. which. after all, is exactly
what the government tried to i'm
press upon both sides in the coal
strike. the thing to do in the public
interest is build the machinery which
will make it possible for both sides
to have their claims presented to the
public"
After brief reference to the treaty
deadlock Mr.. Palmer said interna-
tional peace was not more important
than peace within the country which
could be obtained only by impartial
enforcement of the laws and adher-
ence to the ideal on which the repub-
lie was founded.