Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-08-26
EVENING EDITIoN:z

= public utilities Inc similar Conflicts
should be absolute n Ina
Railroad owners are now willing
to accept .compulsion arbitrationL but
the llabor leaders are not. Some
4 claim the labor leaders are afraid OF
EiosinE their Jobs. but I do not believe
! this to be the reason, They appear
to be honest in their belief that en-.
forcing men to work for profit 10 only
q form gf slavery. Forcing b Z to
work in a steel plant which is operAt>-
ed for profit may be q form OF slavery.
all Industry, we certainly would be
ifeverting to slavery. When, Reviewer.
1t is applied only to transportation,
public utilities, coal. mining and one
FOR two other industries, thus leaving
the great field open, icom pulsory ar
fbitration cannot be called slavery L
ray this because under such conditions
any man who did not wish to work. for
the railroads, the public utilities or
the coal operators would be free to go
into competitive industry to which
compulsory arbitration would not
iapply. The labor leaders state they
are willing to accept compulsory ar.
bitration-as hest esernplihed by tho
Kansas Industrial Court-provided
the railroads, public utilities, coal
mines, etc, are operated by the gov
| Il AiIlSAS' y PAXpS
trate their case by stating that this
Is the reason they are. willing to be
drafted for the army, because the
army Is operated by. the government.
and not by individuals for profit, and
! that this is why being drafted for-the
army is not a form .of. slavery.
"This may be all right In theory
is in no mood at present for further
government operation. The results of
the war. In connection with the OPP
Grafton OF the railroads, the building
and operation Of ships and the various
, other interests In which the govern
ment took a hand, show that under
present conditions government opera
ton Is e%xpensive.t sineficient and un-
satisfactory. 81
The public believes today that bet
ter organization. better discipline and
lower costs come through private op-
GRAFTON. The public further believes
that private operation should con-
tinue SO long as the present, employees
of the railroads, public utilities. and
coal operators are not compelled to
work for the owners Of these proper
ties but are free to leave them And
work for other people, and so lonk as
there are plenty Of other men avail
able and willing to work On the rail-
roads. public utilities and coal mines
under compulsory arbitration system.
I'm View Of these facts, it seems to
me that the public will not at present
take seriously the claim Of the; labor
leaders that compulsory arbitration
applied even to industries operated TOR
profit Is necessarily slavery. II It
were to apply to all industries OF IL
there were not a group st. men per-,
fectly willing to. work on the railroads,
public utilities and coal mines under a
system of. compulsory arbitration,
then there might be some. Justice. in
ever. railroad me- are perfectly FREQ
to 80 into other lines Of activity for
which no compulsory. arbitration Is
suggested. while hundreds OF thou
sands of men are willing to work for
the railroads. public utilities and even
the coal operators under a compulsory
arbitration system. How will such a
ton in connection with the railroads.
public utilities and mines? Possibly
the people will be so, irritated that
congress will with one swoop abDly
the Kansas Industrial Court idea to
the railroads, public utilit!A and
mines. I hope, however, this will not
be done. The need OF the hour il to
have workers feel right. We shall
never have efficiency and a reduction
in the cost Of living until those en-
gagged in industry feel right toward
their work. People never feel right
when forced to do anything against
their better judgment. Hence my
forecast is as follows:
THE Railroad Labor Boards. ruiz
ings will not now be made compulsory
as to the present employees. but they
will be compulsory on every employee.
who goes to work for the railroads
after a~certain date. These employees
who are now at work for the railroads
came on a free. competitive basis and
have done faithful work. Although
theoretically they can change to some
other job, yet practically they cannot.
They know the railroad business and
fa1r to say they can quit at their pres
ent time of life and enter a new leld
of work. Therefore 1 say tharNlnless
these present employees will Splun-
tarily come under the compulsory ar
bitration system they should be free
to. continue as at present. But every
additional ma hired will be hired
with the distinct understanding that
he will conform to the decisions OF
the Railroad Labor Board, as must
the stock -holders Of such corpora
tions. This would be perfectly fair
and would bring about result which
would be gracefully accepted by all
IN the course of time. Under. this
system it would take a few years g
bring about the desired result, but we
would rapidly approach it from year
to year, and when adopted 1t would
have the full cooperation st ali 8 n
cerned. This is my forecast OF the
way that the problem Will ultimately
be worked out. Then there will be no
more strikes on Y railroads nor in
connection With the public utilities.
extended. to include then0Q ALSO.
THE Babson chart continles to re-
fleet existing conditions with remark
able accuracy. It. nov stands At ~
below normal. WereS,it not Tor the
strike situation Of the past few weeks
less, the tide has.turned for the bet
ter and business will be better thiss
'.faN thu = last. IN snite ~ the strikes