Evening star., 1941-03-30

to the spade work which had already
been done unobtrusively by one of his
men on the ground.
Again the service was in the limelight
two years ago, when DR., Steelman, as
special mediator, broke the deadlock be-
tween John L. Lewis bituminous coal
miners and the operators. President
Roosevelt remarked at that time that he
was "just acting as Steelman's assist
ant" The coal case was one in which
DR.. Steelman showed that he could get
tough. At critical stage in the nego-
tiations. when it looked as if open war
fare would break out, DR.. Steelman spoke
his ultlmatum To both the C. I. o. and
the mine operators he said: Il insist that
you try to bring this matter TO civilized
conclusion, somehow, soon. Iwant action.
I demand that you stop this crossfre
Of debate We haven't got time for that.
want action today-this afternoon" He
had his way. The miners and operators
ended their haggling and agreed to re-
sumo negotiations, which soon led to
a settlement.
Most Work Done Quietly.
In the overwhelming majority OF cases
the work of the Cancellation Service IS
quietly done and never comes to public
attention. Formerly, it never entered a
case at all unless specifically invited TO
do so by one or both Of the contestants.
1t now responds to calls from interested
public officials or other responsible
sources. 1t has no enforcement powers,
and wants none.
When a Conciliator goes into case,
he sets about getting the confidence of
both sides; he proves himself a good
listener; he shuttles back and forth;
gradually, if things go well, he whittles
down the area of disagreement. He
never takes sides When joint confer
ence of the disputants is held he is care
full not to hold it in session if tempers
begin to boil-he proposes a recess.
The technique varies, Of course. with
each conciiator and each case, but fun
damentally it consists in the patient
application of good will and common
sense to dispute. Often success hinges
upon finding formula by which one
side or the other can yield without loss
Of face.
Average Is High.
The technique of the service is not
always successful; hundreds Of hours of
patient endeavor, day and night, may
come to naught; but the average of sue
cess is remarkably high During the
calendar year 1910, conciliators worked
in 746 cases classified as threatened
strikes"-cases, by definition, in which a
strike vote had actually been taken.
Ninety-five per cent of the controversies
were adjusted without stoppage of work.
That is to say, I'll potential strikes were
averted. These disputes involved more
than 100000 workers. The average strike
lasts a little over 20 days, 1t can there
fore be calculated that the Cancellation
| Service IN 1910 helped to save more than
| 100000 man days of production and of
wages.
The full story of the work of the Con-
ciliation Service is not told by the num-
ber of threatened strikes" it has settled
| 1t deals with labor situations" of all
kinds. From the time of its establish
ment in 1913 it has had an active hand
| in over 27000 such situations involving
! over 22000,000 workers. In the IL
months ending June 80, 1910, the cases
before the service-under the headings
of strikes. lockouts, threatened strikes
controversies, arbitration, consultations
and mplaints-numbered 3751, involv-
ing 1l45,205 workers. In 1862 of these
situations, or 974 per cent, successful
adjustment was reached.
$1,000 Cases Handled.
The strength of the Cancellation Serv-
ice, according to DR.. Steelman. lies in
| the fact that it brings into labor con-
| troversies no compulsion. I'VE can't
make anybody do anything" he says.
I'VE have no authority behind us except
public opinion. I impress that fact or
every man who goes out into the field
and never send a man out on his own
till he has got the feel of things III It's
Office and has worked with experienced
men. We have no 'musts or 'can'ts' Il
| is our job just to sit down with the prin-
(See CANCELLATION, Page C-3)