The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1922-08-26

rln ~, mot 50 nllrh Interested IN inc !
tcmrorarv settlement ~ the coal strike
and the railroad strike as In oeNt,"P'ms
plans so that they will not per'oui'"'!
c-OCCur. II Is not enough I" MUM
that we shall have coal this winter or
that railway traffic i not now suSpeh"-
cd II the pcoplC Of this rounlr! arc 10
/ be healthy. happy and prosperous We
must know that come plan Is p''"S
! evolved to prevent thes" strikes H"i' ~
occurring In view Of th"S" facts N"Hv'
! w. Rahson was this week asked |" many
! a forecast as to future labor "eN'''P
ments His diagnosis OF the SF'N' 81
uatinn follows:
! "1yhen IN Washington during the war
assisting the Secretary or i.ap"F' II wa"
evident that the students of labor prop
,a,,s rera divided into two distinct
groups. One group believes in compu'-
. sorry arbitration as illustrated by inc
: Kansas Industrial court, and the o'h"r
! rroun stands purely for concl!iat'"h
without any compulsion. Conservatives
and radicals can be found in eoth groups
Investigation leads me to believe mat
there Is a fleld for both or tines" ''n'S
/ OF work Labor disputes IN conncc|l"n
with general industries. such as inc
/ textile industry, tho boot ana Sho' III
| dustry, and possibly the steel INDUSTRY
/ should De kept on ~ '''''''''N'N''
| Compulsion q Mistake
II surely would be a mistake I" NJ
! tempt compulsory arbitration IN con-
: nect!on with these businesses when arc
! operated solely for profit Inc "tS'
means OF avoiding trouble In th'Se -"
/ dustrics Is by keeping these industries
! in two major labor groups. one st"up
IN he strictly union" and the o'ner
&C
q urion croup adopt the closed shop ana
F LET rho other group lac strictly non
union. Then let the Nv" groups com
rcte I do not mean necessarily IN P'"-
duction. but rather see under wnlch sNS-
fem the public. the employees ana the
stockholders all combined are most
prosperous My own guess Is tnat none
! Of these three parties would i"'E ne
healthy. happy and prosperous Win All
! union" or with all 'non-unlon, N"e"
one group secures control. II becomes
,ro,scicnt careless and arrogant My
GUESS il that an industry would be most
/ nrosnerous and all concerned IN II would
, he rendering the most service ana he
manifest ~ tho industry were eQua'E
! divided into union and union
Held so much FOR general INDUSTRY
When disputes arise. only cnnc'Hau"h
should be applied by third party
There should be no compulsory settle
ments In such cases.
| Force In Somo Cases.
when. however. we como 10 trans
portation, fuel. public utilities such as
water, light and gas. or 10 the distriou-
,inn or milk. bread. etc, we find a group
OF industries to which compulsory ar
! bItratIon must be applied. The first two
! croups to which such stronG-arm meth
ode will be applied are the railroads
and coal mines. First Let me say that
the railroads and the mine operators
are themselves largely To blame for
! nresent troubles. Although the own
ers Of these properties are now hehaF-
ing themselves. they have not always
done So Most OF the unw!Se methods
| that labor leaders are using today were
applied by the railroads and mine oncr-
! ators of twenty years ago. Hence these
| corporat!ons now are only rcaNinG what
tbav have sowN. Nevertheless. two
wrongs do no, max" n right. Our nation
mus, have transportation ard fuel a.
fair rate and the operation or Its rail-
road and coal properties must be und!s-
,urbed by either labor leaders or stock
market operators.
"Regarding tho railroad situation: To
secure n fair rate the interstate COM
mcrce commission has been organized.
ton the railroad labor board has been
, created The first OF these-that Is. tho
Interstate commerce commlss!on-funr-
funct!on!ng very we'll. and the struggle
IS now over the railroad labor board"
! AS to Railroad Board.
At this point Mr.. Bahson was told ~
a strong feeling on the part Of both the
railroad arrangements and the employees
that the railroad board was not prop
erly made up. Concerning this Mr..
. Babson stated:
Experience has shown that boards
! consisting OF three groups Cone group
representing capital. ono group repre-
sentlng labor. and one group represent
ing the public do not function well. The
group representing capital vote In one
body for the corporations; the group
J representing labor vote In ono body for
the wage workers; this leaves the de-
c!sion to the three men who represent
: the rubliC The problems involved are
too great to permit leaving the decision
10 three men chosen more or less for
political reasons. To have the railroad
| labor board or a amy other such board
properly function, i've. seven or nine
men should be selected who represent
neither tho corporations nor the wage
workers, but who represent the nation.
These men should he paid large salaries
given d!gnIAed positions appointed
either for life or for long terms. and
! treated like tho Suprcm" court n! the
United States. These mon should grad
rually build up a code based upon their
rulings seeking the advantage nf no
one group. but rather tho welfare Of
tho nation as n whole which in tho
end would be FOR the best interests OF
both the owners and tho wage workers
The decisions Of this board as applying
10 transportation public utilities and
similar conflicts. should be absolute
and final.
Labor Leaders Honest.
Railroad owners are now willing 10
accept compulsory arbitration. but tho
labor leaders arc not. Some claim the
labor leaders are afraid Of losing their
Jobs. but do not believe this to be the
reason They appear To be honest in
their belief that enforcing mon tn work
for profit Is only a form OF slavery.
Forcing man 10 work I'm a steel PLANE
which Is operated for profit may hc i
form OF slavery. II compulsory arbi,-,-
ton were applied to all industry, we GER
,ainly would be reverting to slavery.
When, however. II Is applied only to
transportation. public utilities. coal
mining and one or two other industries.
thus leaving tho great field open. COM
puIsory arbitration cannot be called sla-
very say this because under Suru
/ conditions any man who did not wish TO