Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1921-02-07
|DAM, TARbE ELL
GIVES ADDRESS
Famous Publicist Speaks at
Methodist Church on
''ROOt of Industrial
Unrest"
NOTED AUTHORITY
Gives her Observations of
Conditions Existing
Today.
NOTED AUTHORITY

The appearance of Miss Ida NJ
Tarbell, the noted publicist and histOr
ian, who spoke at the Methodist churcf
Friday evening on the ''RoOt of Indus
trial Unrest was another big feature
or the lecture course program which is
being conducted under the auspices OF
the Chamber of Commerce. AS is al
ways the case when Miss Tarbell is
scheduled to speak at IL place, Il large
audience was present. The intrOduc
tior of the speaker was made by o. J
Henderson.
Enviable Reputation.
Miss Tarbell has gained for herself
ar enviable reputation as Il special
writer, editor, historian and speaker
She is IA recognized authority on mat
tcrs pertaining to industrial welfare
and is ranked high as a student of
world problems During the war Miss
Tarbell held tie responsible position as
vice chairman of the wOmen'S commit
tee of the Council of National Defense
at Washington and also spent several
months in Paris to report for various
publications the developments of the
peace conference and to write her i'm
prcssions Of the great world leaders
who assembled there.
Miss Tarbell declared that the spirit
of industrial unrest which exists in
the United States today is a direct
challenge to our institutions which can
rot easily be disregardcd. She deplor-
ed the Indifference of the great masses
of people to existing conditions. dcclar-
ing that the problem of the fight be-
tween labor and capital would never
hc solved until the people Of the nation
as a whole were willing to cope with
the situation and look facts fairly in
the face. Labor and capital in reality
represent human rela and the war
fare which is ever going on between
the great forces Of capital and labor
may be likened to the jangle of two un-
sympathetic musical chords. Neither
force understands the motives of the
other and neither is willing to see the
of the other. hence the CON
tinual wrangling which rocks our
Il I. it,,tt
Two Problems.
Miss Tarbell declared that two prob
lens must be solved before there can
be any progress made in industrial
growth. namely, the feeling common
among workers over the length and
breadth of the land that the fruits of
industry are not fairly divided and
second the feeling that the labOring
man is allowed no voice in the import
ant undertakings which so intimately
concern him. There has been no fair
division made of the great wealth of
the land, which fact is clearly shown
by a study of the taxable incomes of
the country. The greater portion of
the wealth of the country is in the
hands of small group of people who
have often amaSSed their enormous for
tunes by devious ways. The inequali-
ties of return must he readjuSted in
such Il way that the laboring man can
receive his fair share of the profits.
The man who through fair dealing
aud persistent effort has accumulated
n fortune is to he commended but the
of great fortunes by the
granting Of special privileges is not to
be justified. Many Il corporation has
been aided in obtaining an advantage
by competent lawyer
Many great industrial plants through
the country are now experimenting to
iiid IL fair way of dividing the profits.
Ii is certain that standard measur-
ins, stick is needed to measure the
value of the services of the men and
Wollltil tuiploNtu III iilt iuuuStiNs.
When the relative value of Il workers
services to the business is ascertained.
the problem will be solved.
The absolute ignorance of business
which many workers have is Il thing
which has seriously hampered any
solution of the problem of the division
of profits. Many laboring men have
u most groteSQue idea as TO the way
in which business is conducted and TO
correct these distorted views as to the
way in which the money is handled.
many factories now post bulletins eX-
planning the disposition made of each
cent of Il dollar earned. In this way
the laborer is shown that only Il very
few cents on the dollar is clear after
al expenses have been paid. Very few
IL ahoring men, indeed, have any knowl-