New Britain herald., 1922-09-16
Packer Discusses Problems of Capital and Labor Would Make Arbitration Compulsory.

on as 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. Armour begins his discussion by saying that the problem of the employer and the vide profits but to assure them. For certainty they must be made before they can be divided. Dividing thenl," says Mir, Armour, lis a mighty easy job alongside of making them" In discussing the recent strikes, MT. Ar mour says. Strikes or lockouts mere ly show which factor for the moment Is most powerful. and not In any sense determines 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 h. stitute is as follows:
 Efforts to take Labor or Capital 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. a surplus of workers has meant lower wages. Those with Labor to sell have said that Capital was crack ing the whip. while employers point ed to increased competition and low CT selling prices as both justifying and compelling lower operating costs,
 "On the other hand. when work CTS are scarce. wages go up. Then those with capital invested have maintained that the wage workers take advantage of the situation. The wage workers reply is that higher living costs justify higher wages. 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 phenomenon. 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 strug- gle between employers and wage workers. This Is due to the fact that after long period of increasing wages there came a turn in the tide which had been carrying wages and prices to higher and higher levels. With the end of the period of war imitation came an insistent demand for readjustment. Just what read justment means depends largely upon who defines it. To employers it means return to normal operating costs, etc, while to wage workers it means lower prices on the essentials of life.
 ''1nasmuch as about 90 per cent of the ultimate price of commodities in general represents the labor costs in- cident to production, manufacture. distribution, etc, 1t ought to be ob- vious that wages and prices are in the same boat and must float or sink to- gether. Thus when markets slumped and prices fell, wages were started on the down trend and thereupon workers in many industries fell back upon the strike as weapon against wage reduction.
 Economic Laws Inexorable.
 "The law of supply and demand calls for return to normalcy, and wage workers, 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 war time wages
 Tt may be a hard pill for both Capital and Labor to swallow, but the fact remains that they are subject to the law of supply and demand and they cannot escape it. Regardless of outside interference. wage earner- employer" difficulties will always be settled in accordance with the re- quirements of natural laws and all the ills and hardships of the struggle between the two factions result from resistance Of these laws. ...
 Tt seems to me that the time has come when we, as a 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 market but in practically all cases they have been designed to produce some effect other than that which would come from the normal work ing out of the law of supply and de- mand. They have sought to keep wages up while cutting prices, or to force wages down while maintaining price levels, or have otherwise dlsre- garded the normal and natural rela- tions between wages and prices Therefore, these panaceas have not worked and never will work The sooner it is recognized that natural laws will prevail, the sooner will we find the solution for our troubles. The proper solution must bring the same result that the normal working of the law would bring, but must avoid the evils and ills and damages incident thereto
 Dividing the Profits.