Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1922-08-11

I922.-During the past few months Calvin Coolidge, Vice-President of the United States, has been giving great thought and study to the labor situa- Ition owing to the coal and railroad strikes. In view of the masterful way in which he handled the Boston po- 1iceman's strike in 1919, he was invit- ed to the Babson Industrial Confer pence to state his position on this mo- mentous question.
 MT. Coolidge assumes we will ac- scept labor unions and that capital, la Dor and management will unite in bringing about true industrial de- tmocracy. But, he states fearlessly that no democracy---political or indus strial---can survive without discipline, organization, and obedience. There
 must be law and order. Boards of must be created and obey ed in order for the wage workers themselves to get on. His own words are as follows:
 eve need fuller realization and a broader comprehension of the mean
 ing both of political and economic de-
 mocraey. In this age of science and invention and organization, there is a special need for a full understanding of the foundations of industrial de- mocracy. The word democracy is used very inaccurately. It is often taken to signify freedom and equality. Many have thought it represented an absence of all restraints. Others have consid-
 cred it as providing a relief from all duties. The people of America have long been committed to democracy. The best thought of the world has been compelled to follow them. The easy way to understand what may be expected of it is first to understand what it is.
 "There has never been any organiz- ed society without rulers. The great power of mankind has been created through unity of action. This has meant the adoption of common stan 'dard. In most ancient times this was represented in the chieftain. In mod 'ern times it is represented by code of laws. The important factor to re- member is that it has always requir- ed obedience. Democracy is obedience to the rule of the people.
 'The failure to appreciate this dou- ble function of the citizen has led to much misunderstanding, for it is very plain to see that there cannot be any rule of the people without a people to be ruled. The difference between and democracy is not diff ference inAthe requirement of obe- dience, it is a difference in rulers. The American citizen is at once sovereign and subject. He becomes an absolute sovereign by absolute obedience. He will be a limited sov- sovereign if he limits his obedience. The criminal loses all his freedom. It is2easy to see that democracy will have attained perfection when laws are made wholly wise and obedience is made wholly complete.
 "One of the great tragedies of American institutions is the exper- iencc of those who come here ex- pecting to be able to rule without rendering obedience. They have en- tirely misconceived the meaning of democracy. But they need not dis turb its defenders. To cast it aside could only mean the acceptance of some old kind of rulers which have already been discarded. The true hope of progress lies only in perfect ing it. Already it is better than any, thing else in the world. But it rests entirely on the people. It depends on their ability both to rule and to
 obey. It is what they are. The Government is what they make it.
 This same principle has been working out in our economic and industrial life.
 We are slowly, and of course painful Wy, arriving at a state of democracy sn this field. In its development it has been analogous to the development an political life. It is not very long ago that the man who owned an indus try assumed to be the absolute lord over it. He ruled it.. He fixed the hours and the conditions of employ 'anent and dictated the amount of wa ges. He recognized little Or no obli-
 gatlon towards his employees and had little regard for his customers.
 tn large enterprises the owner- ship gradually became more and lrnore divided with the advent of the corporation. In that case, oftentimes the management was entrusted to representatives, while the owners cor responded to absentee landlords.
 Under this system, as soon as em- ployees could organize and make de- snands, a condition existed which led ts the most violent and bitter of in- dustrial disputes. All hands were eagerly asserting their right to rule, faxYetful of their obligation to obey,