Evening star., 1922-11-05
Letters of Franklin K. Lane
Revelations of the War Cabinet and Intimate
Views of National and World Figures by the For.
mer Secretary of the Interior.
by ANN Ians)
chanically. with too little emotio
and passion.

chanically. with too little emotion
and passion.
WASHINGTON. November 3, 1917.
To Hon. Woodrow Wilson.
The White House.
My Dear Mr.. President: On April Z,
1917. the Council of National Defense
adopted a reports submitted by the
chairman of the executive committee
on labor of the advisory commission
of the council, urging that no change
in existing standards be made during
the war. by either employers or en-
ployes. except with the approval of
the Council of National Defense.
The next step for producing efti-
cheney must be no strikes.
The annual convention of the
American Federation of Labor. con-
sisting of international unions. will
be held at Buffalo on November IL.
1 would urge that about thirty ex-
ecutives of the unions which more
directly control essential war produc-
tion be invited to confer with you
prior to that date, to determine on a
interruption of production for war
purposes. The commissioners of con-
c.liation of the Department of Labor
and the Presidents commission have
a wonderful record of accomplish
ments for settling strikes after they
have occurred. Organized labor should
give the government the opportunity
to adjust controversies before strikes
occur.
At this conference it could safely be
made plain that for the war en-
ployers would agree not to object to
the peaceable extension of trade
unionism: that they would make no
efforts to "open" "closed shop: that
they would submit all controversies
concerning standards, including
wages and lockouts. to any official
resentation with labor. and would
abide by its decisions: that they
| would adhere strictly to health and
safety laws, and laws concerning wo-
man and child labor; that they would
not lower prices now in force for
piecework. except by government di-
rection: that if a union in a CLOSED"
shop after due noticeswas unable to
furnish sufficient workers. any nom
union employees taken on would be
the first to be dismissed on the con-
! traction of business. and the shop re-
stored to it's previous "closed" status:
that the only barrier in the way of
| steady production is the unwilling
| ness of the unions TO uphold the prop
osition of settlement before a strike
| instead of after a strike.
| The imminence of this convention
| seems to me to make some step neces-
sary at this time. ] would take the
matter up with Secretary Wilson
| were he here. and have sent copy
! of this letter to him. You undoubt-
edly can put an end to this most
serious situation by calling on the
| international labor leaders to take
stand that will not be SO radical as
that taken in England, and yet will
insure to the men good wages and
good conditions, and make sure that
our industry will not be paralyzed.
December 81, 1917.
To ]. OH. Cosgrave:
NV spirit does not permit me to
give you an interview on the moral
benefits of the war. This would be
sheer camouflage. OF course, we will
get some good out of it. and we will
learn some efficiency-if that is a
moral benefit-and a purer sense of
nationalism. But the war will de-
/ grade US. That is the plain fact.
make sheer brutes out of us. because
we will have to descend to the
methods that the Germans employ.
So you must go somewhere else for
your upiift stuff.