Connecticut western news., 1922-09-14
GOOD BUSINESS THIS
 FALL SAYS BABSON
ntinued from page 1

Armour Converted
 J. Ogden Armour has been looked
 upon as a great capitalist incapable ! of seeing the side of either the Wage
 Worker or the Public. Today, how
 ever, he has outwitted his criticism
 by coming out frankly for both the
 organizing of wage workers and the
 protection of the public. MT. Ar
 mour begins his discussion by say ing that the problem of the employ CT and the wage worker is not pri- marily to divide profits but to assure them. "For certainly they must be
 made before they can be divided. Dividing them", says MT. Armour, ''is a mighty easy job alongside of making them" In discussing the re- cent strikes MT. Armour says, .'Strieks or lockouts merely show which factor for the moment is most powerful, and not in any sense de- termines what is right. It is the strongest side which wins and this is not necessarily the side which should" His complete statement as just issued at the recent Conference on Public Relations at the Babson Institute is as follows:
 Efforts to take Labor or Capitol out of the list of commodities sub ject to the law of supply and demand are responsible for what is generally called the struggle between Capital and Labor, or more properly speak ing, the struggle between employers and wage workers. Always in the past, surplus of workers has meant lower wages. Those with Labor to sell have said that Capital was cracking the whip while ern- ployers pointed to increased compe- tition and lower selling prices as both justifying and compelling lower operating costs.
 'On the other hand, when workers are scarce, wages go up. Then those with capital invested have maintained that the wage workers take advan- tage of the situation. The wage workers reply is that higher living costs justify higher wages. Thus it will be seen that while there isn't any question but that wages go up and down in accordance with the law of supply and demand, there are two different explanations for the phe- nomenon. Either is reasonable or unreasonable, according to ones own viewpoint.
 Readjustment Brings Strife
 "There are at this writing more than the usual evidences of the struggle between employers and wage workers. This is due to the fact that after long period of in- creasing wages there came a turn in the tide which had been carrying wages and prices to higher and high CT levels. With the end of the period of war imitation came an in- sistant demand for readjustment Just what readjustment means de- pends largely upon who defines it. To employers it means a return to normal operating costs, etc., while to wage workers it means lower prices on the essentials of life.
 ''Inasmuch as about 90 per cent of the ultimate price of commodities in general represents the labor costs incident to production, manufacture, distribution, etc., it ought to be/ob- | vious that wages and prices are in the same boat and must float or sink together. Thus when markets slump | ed and prices fell, wages were start ed on the down trend and thereupon | workers in many industries fell back | upon the strike as weapon against | wage reductions.
 Economic Laws lnexorable
 "The law of supply and demand | calls for a return to normalcy, and | wage earners, while aiming blows at | employers, are really bucking up | against memorable natural laws. | These laws permitted high wages for workers and high interest rates for capital during the war period. Since then these laws have forced the in- terest rate down, and they will not permit the retention of wartime wages.
 Tt may be hard pill for both Capital and Labor to swallow, but the fact remains that they are sub ject to the law of supply and de- mand and they cannot escape it. of outside interference, "wage earner-employer" difficulties will always be settled in accordance with the requirements of natural laws and all the ills and hardships of the struggle between the two fac tions result from resistance of these laws.
 Ut seems to me that the time has come when we, as nation, should take steps which will enable the natural laws to operate without the painful and damaging struggles which are now the rule, and which are not productive of permanent good to either employer or employe.
 Panaceas Disregard Laws
 "Panaceas for employer wage worker ills have always been on the |