Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-09-19
]. OGDEN ARMOUR
DISCUSSES CAPITAL
AND LABOR QUESTION
Advocates Compulsory Arbitra-
tion as Means of Ending
Disputes.
STRIKES MUST BE ENDED

Wellesley Hills, Mass Sept. 16.-J
Ogden Armour has been looked upon
as a great capitalist incapable of see
Ing the side of either the wage work
er or the public, Today, however. he
has outwitted his criticism by com
ing out frankly for both the organiz-
ing Of wage workers and the pro-
lection of the public. Mr.. Armour be
gins his discussion by saying that the
problem of the employer and the
wage worker is not primarily to divide
profits but to assure them. For GER
tainly they must be made before they
can be divided. Dividing them." says
Mr.. Armour. lis a mighty easy job
alongside of making them" In dis
cussing the recent strikes Mr.. 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. 1t 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 Re
lations at the Babson Institute is as
follows:
Efforts to take Labor or Capital
out of the list of commodities subject
10 the law Of supply and demand are
responsible for what is generally called
the struggle between Capital and La
Dor, or more properly speaking, the
struggle between employers and wage
workers. Always in the past, a sur
plus of workers has meant lower
wages. Those with Labor TO sell have
said that Capital was cracking the
whip, while employers pointed TO in
creased competition and lower selling
prices as both justifying and compel
ling lower operating costs
ION the other hand. when workers
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. Thus it will be seen
that while there isn't any question
but that wages go up and down In ac-
cordance with the law of supply and
demand. there are two different ex-
plantations for the phenomenon. Either
Is reasonable or unreasonable, accord
ing TO ones own viewpoint
REIMBURSEMENT Brings Strife.
There are at this writing more
than the usual evidences of the strug-
gle between employers and wage work
long period of increasing wagesr
ers. 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 initiation came
an insistent demand for readjustment
Just what readjustment means de-
pends largely upon who defines il. To
employers il 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 in
cident to production manufacture, dis
tribution, etc, it ought to be obvious
that wages and prices are in the same
boat and must float or sink together
Thus when markets slumped and
prices fell wages We're started on the
down trend and thereupon workers in
many industries fell back upon the
strike as a weapon against wage re
cuctions.
Economic Laws Inexorable.
''The law of supply and demand
calls for return to normalcy, and
wage workers. while aiming blows al
employers, are permitted high wages
for workers and high interest rate:
for capital during the war period. Sine,
then these laws have forced the in.
terest rate down, and they will not per.
init the retention of wartime wages.
''It may be a hards pill for both
Capital and Labor to swallow, but the
fact remains that they are subject Il
the law Of supply and demand ant
they cannot escape il. Regardless o.
outside interference, wage Garner
employer difficulties will always b,
settled in accordance with the re
quirements Of natural laws and all tn,
Ills and hardships OF the struggle be
tween the two factions result from
resistance Of these laws.
1T seems TO me that the time ha
come when we, as a nation, shoul,
take steps which viii enable tn
natural laws TO operate without tn
u