Connecticut western news., 1922-09-14
incident thereto.


 profits. If that were true, the prob
 lem would be much simpler than it really is. Division of the profits is merely a phase of the matter: the
 big problem is to make the profits in the first place. It is astounding how much ignorance there is rela- tive to the profits of business. The lay mind assumes that the margin be- tween the original cost and the ulti- mate selling price is profit. The part that operating costs and over head expenses play in wiping out this margin gets scant consideration.
 "When a business pays a dollar for raw material and sells the finished product for $2.OO, the layman says there is dollar profit, but as often as not such a margin between cost and price means loss. It may cost considerable to turn the raw product into the finished article since the labor involved and the equipment used may be a very big expense. On top of that there will be storage charges and freight bills and sales costs. There are a dozen charges that enter in and conspire to wipe out the margin, and not the least of these is represented by the tax that the business pays.
 "The sum total of all its operating and overhead charges may easily wipe out what appears to be a wide margin between raw product costs and finished article prices. Men work for a livelihood and Capital works for interest, and there always will be room for difference of opinion as to what constitutes a good livelihood and good interest, but there need be no question about this fact-nei- ther men or money will work without a return. The problem of wage earner and employer then, is not to divide profits but to assure profits, for certainly they must be made be- fore they can be divided. Dividing them is a mighty easy job alongside of making them.
 Reasonable Men Agree
 Everybody has a right to opinions as to the cure for industrial ills, and the business with which I am con- nected is now engaged in trying out a plan which holds fourth great promise. It is not designed to bring about the millennium; neither does it promise to give workers high wages and employers high profits. It is founded on knowledge that .he business must prosper if either em- ploye or employer is to prosper. With the two factors working to- gether with mutual understanding and recognition of the problems con- fronting the industry, the results of the law. of supply and demand can be attained without injury to either fac tor and with consequent benefit to both.
 "This is being accomplished with us by the workers organizing into what resembles political constituent cies, they electing their representa- tives to minor and major confer ance boards. The minor boards con- sider matters of purely local and de- partmental interest, while the major boards broaden the scope of their up to the point where the General Conference Board sits in judgment on problems affecting the entire organization. The Confer ance Boards are made up of equal numbers of representatives of em- ployers and of the management, and all their decisions call for agree ments between the two factions. The plan assumes that reasonable men who are acquainted with all the facts about matter will reach an agree | nent when they place their feet under the same table and give hon est consideration to the problem be- fore, them. On the outside chance | that some situaeion may arse in which the two factiors cannot agree l after such honest and careful consid- eration, provision is made for arbi- ration, but it is not expected that | his will be necessary.
 Unions Ideals All Right
 "It takes a very narrow minded person to believe thai the announced lsmes of ur'jonism are other than light ani just, but .he'a is also the that in practice the rela- ions between unions and employers will be tests of strength. A strike or ] lockout merely shows which factor s for the moment dominant, and in 10 sense determines what is right or what is best for the business-And when I say best for the business I mean best for those who are invest ng their labor as we'll as those who Ire investing their capital.
 "We do not expect this plan to accomplish the impossible, but do believe that when reasonable men get ogether to discuss and consider mutual problems, a solution can be ound which will obviate tests of trength, such as the strike and the ockout.
 Public Rights Paramount