The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1921-01-22

Of such principle. I bring to you to-
night the opinions of three .distin-
guished American engineers who ad-
vocate it as a proper and necessary
step in industrial relations. Mr. Her.
bert Hoover holds that in the ques-
ton of industrial conflict resulting in
lockout and strike, one mitigating
measure has been agreed upon in
principle by all sections of the COM
munity. That is collective bargaining,
by which, wherever possible, the par
ties should settle their differences be-
fore they start fight. It is founded
not only on the sense Of prevention
but on the human right to consolidate
the worker in a proper balanced posi-
ton to uphold his rights against the
consolidation Of capital
'Mr. Fred j. Miller, president
American Society of Mechanical En-
gineers, in an article to be published
by the American Academy OF Palitical
and Social Science in it's annals, says:
Driver Methods Won't Do.
Among other things the war has
shown us that the old driver method
Of Industrial management will no
longer do. The workers of every coun-
try who participated in the war have
acquired by that participation a new
status. Many of the industrial diff
culties of the present day are due to
the resistance of workers everywhere
to being forced back to their former
inferior status. They are insisting that
If they are good enough to place their
lives at the disposal Of the forces of
civilization they are good enough to
have at least some voice in deternain-
ing the manner Of life they shall lead
in the civilization they have strtven
to preserve
All who are trying to understand
the present course of events con-
tinues Mr.. Miller. will rejoice that
men Of proved capacity for leadership
are giving evidence Of their conviction
that autocracy in, industries is IRE
conciliable with democracy in govern
ments. Realizing the great difference
between a body Of employees all en-
Enthusiastically cooperating and body
Of employees rendering only such serv-
ice as they think necessary to hold
their pobs, these men are giving this
problem their best attention. The re-
dictionaries can scarcely continue to
ignore or belittle the record being
made by such men,
Carnegie's Old Partner.
"Mr. William B. Dickson, a
former partner of Andrew Carnegie,
In an address delivered before the
American Mechanical Engineers at its
recent fortieth anniversary meeting
said among other good things:
We must set our minds to the
task of applying democratic principles
to industrial relations. The tendency
OF our modern industrial system is to-
| ward autocratic control Of the work.
ers through ownership of what our
socialistic friends term the tools of
production which include not only
the natural resources, but the mills,
| furnaces, factories and transportation
| systems. The Individual workman,
| dependent on his own strength and
| resources, cannot hope to bargain on
| equal terms with the corporation: If
he cannot do so he is no longer free
| man, but a serf;: and a serf has no
place in the future Of America. T be-
lieve that: the greatest task:;to which
American employers must address
themselves Is the; devising Of practical
ways in which labor can be given full
recognition to which, as an equal
partner, it is entitled
The Road to Justice.
! "All unequivocal statements those,
and they come from men who know
the present Industrial situation and
the dangers that Turk in the heart OF
it. They see two other roads to travel
one to the right, cunningly camou-
flaged, that leads directly to indus
trial feudalism, in which the workers
sacrifice freedom in return for com.
Portable maintenance and safety, and
the other on the left which is now be-
ing trodden by Russia and toward
which many American workmen are
being tempted to stray. The road tc
democracy in industry leads straight
ahead. The road on the right leads
to safety and the road on the left t.
chaos.
Democracy in Industry.
| democracy in industry does no.
mean that labor will have the whole
voice, but an equal voice with the en-.
ployers in determining the conditions
under which the workers are EN-.
ployed. It does not mean the absolute
rule Of labor, for that would be but
another form of autocracy. It wants
no dictatorship here on either side
The straight-jacket law Of the com.
munist Is no more desirable than the
autocratic rule Of the industrial
master. We would preserve the ind1'
vidual, not destroy him. We would
stimulate stimulate initiative, mo-
deaden it. Real democracy. is not al
achievement; it is but an opportunit,
for further struggle onward. It mean!
progress, not decay. It leads to hop.
and not despair. It dovetails as neatly
into our political system as If thu
founders of our, country had planned
it so. It upholds property rights ant
makes human liberty secure. It dis
pels with one breath masters ant
slaves, and enables every man t,
walk erect in the image of his Maker
Build Up Machinery.
Democracy is an empty word II
itself. It exists only by good orde
and government. To introduce an,