The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-08-31
CALL UPON CHURCH TO BRING SPIRIT TO
 ECONOMIC ORDER

Washington, Aug. 31.-The church is called upon to exert it's greatest efforts to bring the Christian spirit of fairness and goodwill to economic and to insist upon their application to industry, in the Labor Day Sunday Message of the Commission on the Church and Social Service of the Fed eraI Council of Churches.
 The message deals with industrial conditions during the last year, and expresses sympathy, with organized la Dor In the coal ard railway situa- tions, saying that both are due to the inadequacy of earnings of the men. That the financial conditions of cer- tain of the railroads may have made the reductions for their employees ap- pear desirable, it says. adds only to the seriousness of the situation.
 Fighting for Life.
 are htfng for the venS life of. their union and that where such a war of determination is being waged. employers can only expect u1- innate moral defeat. The message deplores that the twelve hour work ing day is still in effect in the steel industry and asserts that apparent ly it will require all the continued moral pressure of the church to com p1ete the reformation of the indus try"
 After pointing out that health and happiness are, generally speaking, ne-
 
 CT life and that the church cannot be indifferent to the physical well-being of its people, which depends so large ly on their economic status, the mes sage declares that Christian teachings as applied to industry include three cardinal principles: the worth of per sonality, brotherhood as between those engaged in industry, and the motive of service.
 'It cannot be too often repeated % the message says. ''that high wages during the war were by no means so general believed and that the de- mand for a reduction of wages in pro- portion to the reduction in living costs has been made without refer ence to the fact that wages prior to the war were too low and cannot fair ly be taken as a basis of wage deter imitation.
 Dep1oring as most unfortunate the 2 fact that no more general effort has been made to approach a settlement of disputes in a cooperative spirit and to appeal to justice and fair play rather than to trial by economic com bat, the statement says:
 Force No Avail.
 Tn a. moral world force can set tie nothing permanently. The con ferences by which most disputes end would contribute much more to the stability of industrial relations if they were held at the beginning rather than at the end of a controversy. The tendency on both sides in industry tC break agreements, Wn1Cn 1nQ1CdCeS a lack of fundamental integrity, is all too prominent in the industrial world and augurs ill for the future."
 Pointing to what is described as the serious aspect of the growing hos tility of organized labor to the courts 4 especially the lower courts, the mes sage states, however, that the courts have been by no means uniformly hos tile to labor and that the labor unions have gained much during the veal before the courts. The lower courts are held largely responsible for tho distrust.
 The message, closes with the de claration that there are distinct sign. of hope, and progress in the indus trial situation in America"