Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-08-26
STRIKES WILL ULTIMATELY BEAVOIDED
BY Roger w. Babson
copyrighted; All Right. strictly RessrvoD

operated by tho government. not for
profit. They illustrate their case by
stating that this In tho reason they
arc willing TO be drafted for tho army.
because the nrmy Is operated by the
government. and not by individuals for
profit. and that this is why being
drafted for tho army Is not form OF
slavery.
This may be all right in theory"
continued Mr. Babson, but the public
is In no mood Mt present for further
government operation. The results OF
the war. In connection with the opera
ton OF the railroads, tho building
and operation OF ships and the vari-
Gus other interests In which the gov
ernment took n hand. show that under
present conditions government opera
ton Is expensive, inefficient and un-
satisfactory. The public believes to-
day that better organization, better
discipline and lower costs come
through private operation. The pub
lie further believes that private
operation should continue so long as
the present employees Of the railroads,
public utilities, and coal operators are
not compelled to work for the owners
of these properties but are free to
leave them and work for other peo-
pie, and so long as there are plenty of
other men available and willing to
work on the railroads, public utilities
and coal mines under n system OF COM
pulsory arbitration.
"In view OF these facts, X seems
to me that the public Will not at pres
ent take seriously the claim of the
labor leaders that compulsory arbi-
tration applied even to Industries
operated for profit is necessarily
slavery. If II were 10 apply TO all
Industries or IL there were not n group
of men perfectly willing to work on
the railroads, public utilities and coal
mines under a system OF compulsory
arbitration, then there might be some
| justice In the slavery argument. To-
day. however, railroad men are per
fectly free 10 go into other lines OF
activity for which no compulsory
arbitration is suggested. while hun
dreds of thousa nds OF men are willing
to work for the railroads, public utili.
ties and even the coal operators under
a compulsory arbitration system. How
will such a compulsory system be put
in operation in connection with the
railroads, public utilitie. and mines
Possibly the people will be so irri
tated that Congress will with on,
swoop apply the Kansas Industria
Court idea to the railroads. publ,
utilities and mines. l hope, however
this will not be done. The need o
the hour is to have workers feel right
We shall never have efficiency an,
a reduction in the cost OF living unit
those engaged in industry feel rlgh
toward their work. People never fee
right when forced to do anything
against their better judgment. Henc
my forecast is as follows:
The Railroad Labor Boards ruling
will not now be made compulsory n
to the present employees, but they vii
be compulsory on every employe wh
goes to work for the railroads afte
n certain date. Those employees VIII
are now at work for the railroad
. came on a free. competitive basis an
have done faithful work. Althoug
theoretically they can change to som
, other Job. yet practically they can
not. They know the railroad bushes
and this Is all they do know, and
: isn't fair TO say they can quit q
, their present time OF life and enter
n new field OF work Therefore I sa
, that unless these present employt
, Will voluntarily come under the con
pulsory arbitration system they shou
- be free to continue as at present. Bl
r every additional man hired will
y hired with the distinct understands
!, that he will conform TO the decision
Of the Railroad Labor Board, as mu
q the stock holders OF such corporation
o This would be perfectly fair and wou
= bring about result which would
q gracefully accepted by all in the cour
e OF time. Under this system IL wou
; take a few years TO bring about II
~ desired result. but we would rapid
approach it from year TO year, al
a when adopted II would have the Z,
y cooperation of all concerned. TIL
Is my forecast of the way that Il
Is problem will ultimately be work
o out. Then there will be no mo
strikes on our railroads, nor In co
,s nection with the public utilities, min,
m etc, when the same method is c
!. tended to include them also.
= THE Babsonchart continues to I
~ fleet existing conditions with remar
al able accuracy. 1t now stands at
!, per cent below normal. Were 1t n
IN for the strike situation of the pa
60 few weeks 1t would be much hign
N Nevertheless. the tide has turned I
h. the better and business will be bett
~ this fall than last. in spite of t
N strikes"