Connecticut western news., 1922-08-24
BABSON SEES END OF
 LABOR DISTURBANCES
General Business Is Holding Its Own-7%o Below
 Normal

In view or the newspaper SpdSS recently taken by the coal strike railroad strike, and certain textile strikes, we are prone to think that l srikes are very general at the present i time. Roger w. Babson, however, refutes this opinion in a statement issued today as follows:
 "As a matter of fact, we have very few strikes at the present time. Ever since the war the strike curve has been below the point which was then called normal The fact that we have had three strikes of large di- mensions blinds us to this basic truth. Two of these strikes, the coal strike and the rail shopmen's strike, are in industries which have not been defated, so far as war time wages 20 The other, the cotton textile strike, has been partially detated and the trouble is about going ;he
 rest of the distance. The difficulties
 in these three industries are then
 cases of belated hostilities.
 'For the most part labor is not
 striking. wages are being gradually
 let down to lower levels and the
 disposition of men is to keep at work
 There is always a rise in the strike
 curve during the summer. We are
 having that rise now. Nevertheless'
 we are not having the number or the
 wide distribution of strikes which we
 had last year or at any time since
 1915. We will not have repetition
 of those conditions this year. The strike curve is nearer normal than almost anything else in industry.
 'As to the future, the answer IS to he looked for in conditions. What
 made the tremendous wave ot strikes which marked the years 1915 to t 1920? The simple fact that there
 were more jobs than men; that the
 cost of living was going up; thai ' labor was in a position to force the f issue. No such prospect IS Tn view |, for the years right ahead. There 1 fore. we need not look for repetl f tion of the strike conditions ot tho e war days. Those days are passed n Nevertheless, we are going to nav t strikes. There are going to De r good many of them. They are golni Il to be called for reasons other thal
 the ones that backed the strikes O It war time. Then men went on strlN t for more pay. They were coura l. qeous. confident, buoyant. The l. were sure of success. They wer 1t seldom disappointed In the futur
 i1st ahead, they are going to strlk IS against wage cuts, against attempt f to rule out the unions. They ar ;e not going to be as successful as the
 were in the war time strikes.
 g. '1n consequence of this the req T. question of the next few years IS d to the frame of mind which Laoor e going to have. In contrast wit
 the buoyant confidence of the wa ," years, Labor is now going to be sn II len. resentful, revengeful. Wha
 they do not gain in open vlctorle
 they are going to be disposed to al
 complish by indirect means. A ma
 who cannot get his pay raised ca
 stall on the job. He can get tf " hest of his boss by all kinds of mast
 tricks in the factory. These al !, short-sighted policies. In the Ion ;n run they work to the disadvantage ,I Labor. Still, they are the usual Y ~ '. course of Labor when it is met I4 obstacles that do not yield. Io n' Right here is the problem of tf le emplover of the next few years. Ho l te shall he meet the new temper ,9li Labor? In my opinion that ug ';l tn temper must be met by open dea ;s i, ing, by setting before Labor the fac .lc under which business is done and e5 o5 admitting Labor progressively to 1u greater share in management ot u IS elements of the industrial relatlt IL. which most directly concern Labo @ ,S' That is to say: the time to develt oe ne personnel departments, set up proh ol sharing, organize shop committe
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