Evening star., 1922-09-17


The right to cease work at will is
one of a small group of rights upon
which our whole civilization and our
whole future progress must rest.
Only three or four rights are COM
parable to this in importance. The
right to freely move from place to
place, the right to speak and to write
freely, the right to assemble and to
petition the government and the right
to trial by jury may be said to be
the, other rights which are equal in
Importance to the right to- cease
none of these rights can quite meas
ure up in Importance to the right to
cease work, because If the right to
cease work Is abrogated and workers
are chained to specific jobs under
terms and conditions in the making
of which they have no voice. then
the effectiveness of every other right
is destroyed. That is why the issue
raised by the Kansas law and by
proposals for the extension Of the
enactment of that law in other states
and in the country as a whole, Is an
issue of such tremendous Importance.
1t may be no eXaggeration to say
that the issue involved in this ques-
tion is as important as the issue for
which the civil war was fought. II
Is a prime. bedrock. fundamental al
Issue of human freedom. and when
we are confronted with an issue upon
which freedom or lack of freedom
turns. then we may well conclude
that we are confronted with an issue
of supreme Importance. Such issues
are never settled until they are set
tied for the perpetuaeion of freedom.
Tyrants and dictators. military and
political, have at various periods in
human history sought to settle such
issues by the destruction of freedom.
Always somewhere the light has burned
and the struggle has gone on until the
right prevailed. Changing civilization
has brought the age-old issue to the
Industrial field. There it is that the
modern struggle for livelihood goes on.
The issue on the Industrial field is no
less important, is no less intimate and
vital to human beings. singly and in the
mass, and arouses no less Of deterlnina-
ton and Of valor than did the same
issue when raised in the arena of
politics. or on the field of military con-
quest. There is a normal natural and
rational method for the adjustment of
Industrial disputes.
Healthy Processes of Settlement.
There is a further point Of great i'm
portance concerning the practical effect
OF governmental coercion through
boards. courts or tribunals, as compared
with the operation of the natural and
rational process of negotiation and joint
agreement
In the process of negotiation. or col
lective bargaining. and joint agreement
between workers and employers, there is
Of necessity spirit OF bargaining, Of
conciliation, of give and take, of con-
cession to the opposing point of view.
Naturally, there can be no negotiation
without elasticity in the positions of the
parties which are negotiating.
Negotiation is particularly an Ameri-
can institution. The business Of driving
bargain is American to the core In
making bargain those who are parties
to II agree upon its terms and keep
them with honor. And there is this
cardinal point. the cI7ux Of the whole
matter-in bargaining. or negotiating, it
is. possible and it is customary for either
side. or for both sides, to recede from
their original positions until compromise
is reached
Compromise is the iodestone Of sue
cess IN joint negotiation. Compromise
leaves both parties content, feeling re-
spect for each other. bound to keep
faith and ready to meet again.
The Weapons OF War.
The industrial court, whether il be
the Kansas court, Railroad Labor
Board. Colorado industrial commits
sion, or any other tribunal exercis-
ing compulsory powers, destroys
compromise. II destroys even the
opportunity to compromise. Such
tribunals kill compromise and sub
stitute litigation. Court trials take
the place of the conference table
The psychology is reversed. Antag-
n frin hi
trust and the spirit of conciliation
Before such tribunals workers and
employers become antagonistic liti-
gantS, each, bound by the very nature
of things to present maximum de-
mands and stick to them. The bust
ness OF reaching industrial agree
ments becomes matter Of court
trial. of litigation. in which each
party tries to defeat the other If
ever there was a case of substituting
the weapons of war for the arts of
peace. the industrial cour, or COM
mission is the case par excellence.
There is no-institution now eXtant
which so completely sweeps the field.
destroying rights and creating fric-
ton. distrust. antagonism and hos
tility. as the compulsory govern
mental industrial court or commits
sion. They bring compulsion, litiga-
ton. coercion: they seek to rule by
force. to compel all to submit to
edcts and DEGREES.
The whole concept is foreign to
American life. to American institu-
tons. to American psychology. 1t
would have gone well with the junk
erism of the kaiser's Germany.
Real Business Of Legislators.
liticar world have little in common.