The New York herald., 1921-02-02

481a cents an hour to 30 and SO
cents and of unskilled labor from
481 tos30 cents.
had been reduced. The floaters had been
! let out. The best men and the old timers
had been kept on and would be kept on
! If possible. What about it? The COM
pany was willing to adopt any sugges-
! ton the workers might make, PROVIDED
of course, 1t met the situation.
| Mr.. Miller continued:
THE representatives OF the workers
! got together and drew up plans that
were so eminently fair that we not only
| accepted them but thanked the workers
They unanimously agreed that there
! should be n horizontal wage reduction
of ten per cent, to revise all pay prefer
tial classifications and abolish all over
| time pay. This means that they called
! for a reduction in pay from the presi-
dent of the corporation down to the
newest porter who sweeps the floors
that If they are called upon to work
overtime or on Sunday they will do
Il at straight rates, and that no matter
! how wet or unpleasant mans work or
| conditions of work may be he will not
be paid a bonus for suffering the phys
ical discomfort incidental to those con-
ditions.
I'VE are working for our customers
and our employees know that. If one
! of our men has a complaint he can
| carry II to his representative on the
shop committee and be assured that 1t
will be Investigated. We have no busi-
ness interests outside our own business.
We want the men to confine their busi-
ness affiliations to our shops. In brief,
we want them to be square with us
and ask them to expect us to be square
with them. No system of Industrial
government can succeed on any other
basis. No system is more effective than
the men back of it. The human element
is any systems foundation"
The Bridgeport Radicals Busy.
or all the numerous industrial plants
in Bridgeport the Bridgeport Brass
! Works appears 10 have the shop gov
ernmental system working smoothest.
With the exception of the Lake Torpedo
Boat Company and a few others all Of
them have cut wages and all are working
on reduced schedules and with dimin-
ished staffs-some with but 10 per cent
of their normal forces. The huge Singer
Sewing Machine Company is running on
three days a week schedule and with
n force far below normal. The Salts
Textile Company has reduced wages
12h per cent Official figures have 1t
that there are between 10000 and 10000
men and women out of employment in
that city.
The more radical of the labor leaders
are working night and day. They en-
phasize such statistics as Mr.. Hoover s.
that there is enough food in the ware
houses and farms to feed America
eighteen months.
but you can't buy it," they jeer at
| the idle worker.
| And they make much OF the American
woolen's wage reduction Of 22l9 per
cent.
The New York Merchants Associa-
1 ton has found out that the cost of liv-
| ing has fallen only ~ per cent" the
radicals cry "But they want you to
take IS and 90 per cent. less pay
The labor leaders are sneering at shop
plans and Industrial democracy systems
and the like. They point to the great
Max Ans plant In Bridgeport and an
/ nounce that the concrete floors and walls
echo with the lonely tappings of the
/ heels OF $50 Workers. mere mockery
! OF normalcy.
| what good did Industrial democracy
or the Bridgeport plan do you at Ans
when they decided they hadn't anything
for YOU to do?" the radicals scream.
Americas Great Problem.
Unemployment is the most serious
problem America has TO solve" said o.
ID. Frost vice-president OF the Cham
plain SILK Mills. Brooklyn. I'VE must
1nd a remedy for II. We must keep men
and women employed. They have a right
Ia work. and that system that denies
/ them that right is due for a change.
"Our employees at Whitehall voted
! themselves a 20 per cent decrease in
..t...a a1t -.
| rother. Our Brooklyn plant is shut down,
/ too. Only the nucleus of the organization
of our Industrial democracy system re-
mains-the foremen. assistant foremen.
supervisors and clerical force. They have
voted themselves a 20 per cent decrease.
/ But the producers are out of work we
have no orders. There Is nothing In
sight
However. the house of representatives
! In our two plants held sessions just be-
| fore the plants closed. The minutes Of
/ those sessions are here on my desk. and
/ I'll read them to you. or extracts there
from"
The minutes contained statements from
the actual workers 10 the effect that they
imourned the shutting down that they
wanted TO return when work resumed {;
that the firm had dealt squarely with
them, and that they marvelled that they
had been kept at work so long
Industrial system on Trial.
But a rather different story is told by
Charles Pack, secretary of the Doehler
Die Casting Company. Brooklyn.
we installed n shop representation
system of our own back in 1919" said
Mr. Pack. 1T was based upon the usual
precepts of Industrial democracy. II
worked splendidly while all the men were
AZ work After that Il became more or
less an empty farce. because the men
were not here 20 participate In IT, II
served 10 accomplish arbitration when q
strike impended IL gave the men what
they wanted and prevented the idleness
and Generalization attending strike
"Then came this depression We serve
tte automobile trade 10 a great extent
The automobile trade fell to nothing and
50 did we. We had to lay men Off. II
this Brooklyn works alone we have Gu
our payroll from 1900 men TO 200. Nov
where, ] ask, is our organizations II
took us months 90 convince the workers
Il Mt we were not trying 10 slip some
thing over on them. Finally we were IN
pplendid accord. We had the finest
working corps in the country. Where
ire they now7 They have scattered and
with them went the reorganization. You