The labor world., 1922-06-10
HOLDS WAGE SYSTEM BUT STEP.
ON ROAD T0LAB0R'S FREEDOM

! duties in terms Of money, success or
failure to the exclusion Of terms of
human welfare.
It is most often members of our
employer class, also. who turn real
! wages into counterfeit. This being
the case we cannot easily justify
ourselves in taking a position of ir-
| responsibility in the premises. The
responsibility for reducing the ex-
cessive costs of retail distribution
belongs to mo and to my fellow-re-
| tail merchants.
We employers should fight all ex-
cessive capitalization whose fixed
charges help to turn into counter
felt the otherwise adequate wages
we pay our employees. Our men of
finance should see that the English
law Is adopted and enforced that re-
! quires statement to be made to
every purchaser of stock showing
the promoters profit and the real
| assets and liabilities Of the COM
pany. 1t is up to us to help provide
credit unions or other safe and
democratic means of saving and in
vesting earnings.
Certain Agrecd-Upon Goals.
I do not have time at my disposal
in which to discuss at length a So
cial program. 1 may be indulged,
however, in pointing out certain as
yet primarily achieved goals which
a concensus of informed poinion,
both among employers and en-
ployes, recognizes as practical and
just. This moderate program, if
achieved, would go far to do away
with strikes.
| The right of employees to a voice
in determining the conditions under
which they shall work and to sta
Bile and living wage have already
been dealt with. Other goa'ls that
are now generally recognized as
right and just, include
1 The right OF employees to unite
for purposes of collective bargaining;
2 A gradual and reasonable re-
duction in hours of labor;
3 Compensation for industrial ac-
cidents as just charge on indus
try:
The right Of labor to be safe
guarded in all matters pertaining to
health, steady employment and good
working conditions.
Fit For Citizenship.
! Men and women fit for American
citizenship. the working hours Of
whose lives must be spent in stores
and factories, in mines and on farms
and railroads must and will demand
just solutions of such problems as
are presented by these statements of
principle. 1t is to the advantage of
us employers to lead in finding these
solutions. 1t is to the advantage of
the consumer and of society that we
shall do so.
If the elimination of outgrown
Ideas and the righting of old wrongs
is left to labor alone, wage conflicst
and strikes will continue on an in
creasipg scale. The strike is their
principal weapon. If they are forced
to fight for their rights they must
and will use it.
Basic Remedy for Strikes.
Important for the establishment
OF good industrial relations as are
the three matters of which 1 have
spoken, there is in my judgment a
fourth reason of still more funda-
mental nature-namely. that busi-
ness shall moro and more become
a profession and be carried on in a
spirit of service to the community
The motive with which the EN-.
ployer directs his business and with
which the employe works will ir
the last analysis determine whether
there will be industrial war or in.
dustrial peace.
Code Of Business Ethics.
Asked recently by the editor o1
The Annals to prepare an article on
A Simple Code of Business Ethics
as one of series of studies on the
ethics of the several business and
professional groups, I ventured to
base 1t On these two brief formulas:
1 That q business. in order to
have the right to succeed, must he
or real service to the community;
That real service in business
consists In making or selling mer-
chandise of reliable quality for the
lowest practically possible price,
provided that merchandise is made
and sold under just conditions.
Philanthropy becomes q sin and
an offense, when it uses for charity
the earnings of industry that should
be used for justice to employees and
the public.
First Lien on Profits.
The first legitimate use Of large
profits, and the main use, is to re-
duce prices. These lower prices will.
IN turn. cause increased demand, in
creased production and increased to-
tai profit, at which point prices can
again be reduced. It is worse than
useless to merely increase produc-
ton. Prices must at the same time
be reduced enough to bring in the
greatly increased number of pur-
chasers needed to absorb this great
er output.
Employers are wrong when they
endeavor to obtain mass production
through lowering wages to a degree
that lessons the number of possible
consumers for their product. EN-
ployes are wrong when they try to
get higher real wages or more work