Ottawa County news. (Port Clinton, Ohio) 1931-1956, 1951-01-26
Conlrnandant Lauds
Continued from Page u

next time, how we can improve
our teamwork and do our part
to raise morale and pride in those
around us. We can judge our sue
cess by what happens to our own
morale and pride.
Can't Kid Oneself
There is one truth that has al
ways interested me. l have found
/ may or may not kid someone
else, but / have never in my life
been successful in kidding my
self. / know when l have done
a good job and l know when it
could have been better and to the
extent it wasn't my best effort, l
get out Of sorts with myself and
dig harder the next day.
eve couldn't have made the
progress on record during this
Korean affair if most of you had
not felt the same way.
1--WE do not claim perfection
for management or for labor. In
fact, one day the papers report
failure on the part of manage
ment and the next day failure
on the part of labor to remember
they are members of the same
team.
"When we get concerned with
excesses of one or the other mem
Der of the team, it is good for the
soul to take long and hard look
at history and to ask ourselves
"Are we growing up or are
we standing still.
II believe it is interesting to
know that in England as early as
1854 the weavers, saddlers, fish
mongers, goldsmiths, and grocers
established guilds to take care
of poor and destitute members
and that some of these guilds are
not only operating but are pow
erful in 1951-nearly 5000 years.
German guilds or societies be-
came active in commerce and
mechanics in the 1300's. They es-
tablished regulations covering the
training of apprentices to pre-
vent their use as slave labor ana
to insure that the graduate ap-
prentice was in fact qualified.
They also regulate the practice
of their trades in different towns
Generally, they did q good job
for those times.
"NoW let us look over manage
ment which was all powerful in
Europe and in this country until
relatively recent times. Like the
guilds, there were the good and
the bad.
Benefit Plan Old One
Last year l spent quite a bit
of time studying pensions and
other benefits and l found to my
amazement that American pen
sion, stock bonus, and profit shar-
EOD COMMAND CON.
ing plans are to be found in mod
ern form as early as 1894 in Ge-
neva, Pa. The next notable in
stance was that of large car
riage builder in New York set
up benefit plan right after the
Civil War
"As to unions, it is we'll known
management in far too many cas-
es did not understand this new
and growing strength which
threatened their supreme author
ity. Although it was perfectly
natural and human reaction to
resist any attempt of workers to
organize for protection, that fact
does not excuse their shortsight.
ed viewpoint which was damag
ing management and labor alike
"On the other hand, many
unions have developed into very
powerful groups nearly overnight
and. like management, they arl
groups of human beings-they
have their occasional failures tc
grasp their responsibilities.
| Abuse System Banished
Our Government led industry
by many years when it took the
first step to eliminate the abuses
of the old "spoils system" where
in an employees job depende,
upon a political appointment anC
changed with the elections. To
day, our Civil Service does al
exceptional job of protecting tn,
employee. Our system of wag'
surveys, our annual leave, sicl
leave, and retirement plans ar
good; perhaps not perfect but fey
things reach such a goal
ut is my opinion that you
: union performs an excellent SCI
! vice. l know l don't need to re
. mind you it has the support o
the Government.
: "In summary, l believe mar
! agement and labor have mad
t tremendous strides in the pas
l few decades. Management an
} labor understand that they ar
f members of one and the sam
%oo,, tbat tboir ,,,,,t,,al toi