Evening star., 1937-01-24
MISREPRESENTATION
ROWS CREATES PROBLEM.
Precedent Nearly Becomes Habit in Last
Three Years as Industrial Warfare
Increases i'm i. S.

uuotIldl CId "a tlAC WOlku Wa Illdk
presidential influence became most fire.
quently the Gibraltar Of peace between
labor and capital. With all principles
secondary to the necessity Of main
tanning production, the best Princeton
thought of Woodrow Wilson and his
aides was turned to the job Of keeping
peace in the factories and ship yards.
Most effective, perhaps, Of the war
time methods of policing" was the
operation of q War Labor Board
established in April, 1918, and con-
tinued in existence for more than a
year. With five representatives of
labor, five Of industry and two Of
the public, this board supervised and
supported a policy Of collective bar
gaining.
In addition to aiding materially In
maintaining the desired production
standards, the board "did much to
educate employers, employees and the
public in regard to some Of the
fundamental aspects Of industrial re-
lationships."
Traced Back TO n. I. R. A.
The fashion Of bringing industrial
troubles to the Roosevelt doorstep
had its foundation in enactment OF
the National Industrial Recovery Act
when an effort was made to guar
antee the right Of collective bargain
ing to labor while seeking to enlist
labor and industry in a shoulder to
shoulder war on the depression. The
broader purpose soon fell afoul OF
the old antagonism between the two
forces and the projected guarantee
soon required more than a statement
Of rights to insure any real exercise Of
the bargaining privileges.
When a food tide of controversies
threatened to swamp the recovery
boat in the Summer Of 1888, Presi-
dent Roosevelt established the Ma
tional Labor Board. In addition, the
conciliation service Of the Labor De-
partment, established in 1918. be-
came increasingly active and numer-'
GUS mediation agencies created by the
codes also attempted to smooth the
troubled waters.
Several major convulsions, however,
were referred directly TO the White
House, first of them occurring in con-
nection with efforts to draft a code
for the steel industry. Heavy pres
sure was brought by the administra-
ton to force acceptance by industry
Of the collective bargaining provisions.
| A few months later in the Spring
Of 1884, President Roosevelt was forced
to call representatives of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor and the au-
tomobile industry before him to effect
settlement in what threatened TO
become a general strike. An unusual
basis of agreement was established
here in the provision for propor-
tional representation in collective
bargaining, namely majority and
/ minority spokesmen for labor. Labor,
ever since, has fought against this
principle with the present labor rela-
tions act providing strict majority
rule.
Next arose a crisis on the West
Coast and the President was forced
to appoint National Longshoreman's
Board and dispatch several admins
tration representatives TO cover tbs
water front.
Textile Strike Troubles.
In the Fall of 1884 the textile strike
spread like a flame over the textile
conters of the Northeast and South
and again it was the personal infu.
ence of the President and the appoint
ment of a special board that ended
the deadlock. Other breaks narrowly
were averted by appointment of special
industry boards.
In May, 1885, the Blue Eagle was
grounded and with its demise came
the end of virtually all the special
Labor Relations Boards functioninS
under the benevolence OF the N. I.
r. A. Trouble was looming darkly
in the bituminous coal industry at
that time and it was to avert this
situation that the President turned on
the heat for passage of the Guffey coal
bill.
At the present time, the National
Labor Relations Board stands as the
administration agency calculated to
keep industry and labor from tearing
each other apart, but serious question
as to constitutioDality Of the act by
which it was established makes 1t
seem that the Federal Government has
not yet found a permanent buffer for
its labor relations problems.
In fact, should the constitutionality
of the act be disallowed by the Su-
preme Court. the White House would
seem to be cit"