The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-03-31
OUTSIDERS MAKE FOR INDUSTRIAL
TROUBLE-HEAD OF NATIONAL
MANUFACTURERS GIVES VIEW
OF EMPLOYERS REGARDING La
BOR DISPUTES,
BY J. Il. EDGERroN

BY J. Il. EDGERToN.
Editors Note.--whether or not you
| agree with the following the fact that
it came from the pen Of J. E. Edger.
ton. president Of the National Associa-
ton of Manufacturers. is enough to
solicit your earnest consideration. He
is the had of an organization whose
total number Of employees runs in vast
figures. 1t is to be believed tina. his
opinion is the opinion of the average
member and as such is viewpoint
upon which the worker can concen-
trate his attack or support.
The industrial antagOntsms that
have done Sc much to halt the prog
ress Of civilization as well as bring
privation and suffering on untold
thousands Of innocent persons is as a
rule is a situation brought about by
persons whose only direct interest has
been Selfish one.
The understanding between employ
er and employee can be made as near
perfect as any relationship known to
man. In many cases it has been made
perfect. In many others the understand
ing has been warped and twisted, ILL
will and an unfriendly spirit has been
given birth to and instead of mutual
benefits from good team work the two
factions have been forced to con-
trariness Of direction that has all but
destroyed both.
In the last few vars this has been
condition that has grown rather than
decreased and in tracing the cause to
it's source one is convinced that out
side interference is the grim, under
lying base upon which has been piled
the troubles Of capital and lab and
the same base in it's ceaseless shift
and change keeps these troubles in end
less ferment and makes their clearing
awy difficult if not impc ssible.
Good intention is not guarantee
against the unhappy consequences of
unwise action on the part of either in
dividuals or nations as units. The in
telligent as we'll as the properly nc
tived use of the p wrs with which men
are endowed and Of the orrortun ties
which are made available to then, by
a beneficent Creator is the only for
mula by which the highest success and
happiness may be attained. A vast deal
more il required of us than simply
wishing to- do right. Every person ac-
cording to his cndowments and opor-
tunities has an intellectual as well as
"A moral responsibility. This fact is
made emphat ically clear in the Par
able of Talents. Through the honest
and Industrious employment of his en-
etrgies and abilities. the man tc' whom
his master hal given FIVE talents
doubled his capital, and the on" of
lower degree to whom two talents
wer given registered also one hundred
per cent profit on his efforts. To the
third member CT the historical trio was
given only one talent, presumably be-
cause of his inferior mental endoW-
ments. Like many of his descendants
living in the present age. he Wne OIL
and hid histalent and finally return
ed empty handed. 1T is not recorded
what he did beyond this. But 1t might
reasonably be inferred that DUNG the
absence Of his master he was deliver
ing course CT lectures under the aus
pices of the Palestine Welfare and
Protective Association on "The
Evils of Proiteering and the Rights
of the Down-Trodden Workfngman.'
At any rate. the two efficient pre-
ducers We're highly commended ant
promoted, while the Stacker who
was more concerned about obtaining
his rights than performing his cbliga'
tiens was condemned for his slothful
| ness.
| But even If all human conduct c0ult
be assayed and found to contain II
perfect proportion the elments CT pure
motive and Intelligent direction. there
would still sometimes probably be tric
lions in the relations Of men. Indeed
as long as there are varying degrees
! of human capacity, a frictiCnless work
lis inconceivable. Mems opinions AM
interpretations of moral law are a
diverse as their viewpoints, and II i
from the clashng of viewpoints tina
| friction results. The problem CT re
moving friction u.s. therefore. tn
problem OF assimilating viewpoints
This would not be a very difficult tasl
II only the acceptance of abstrac
principles was involved. But it is /
the concrete application Of commonl
accepted principles that the differenc
in viewpoint is always difficult an
sometimes impossible to reconcile.
4 The abstract right of Organization
in the proper manner and for legfti
mate purposes on the part of any pei
sens Is universally recognized. In tn
} industrial realm the abstract right {
such persons either individually {
collectively to bargain with whomst
ever they wish 10 not denied by any
} body. But in the appropriation I
these rights there are these who e,
pand them beyong their meaning. fol
} getting that the right to organise do'
not carry with 4 the right to use sue
organisation harmfully to the legit
! mate interests Of others or for unwo
thy ends, and that the right to ba
, gain collectively does not imply an ol
l'eation on. the part Of others to b
= come the second parties to such ia
} gaining II for reasons satisfactory 4
] themselves they are unwilling to /,
!. 30. They forget also that all NOR
law 10 indiscriminate and universal
: Its application. and that the right
!, do thing c0nu0teo the right to r