Show LIVE QUESTIONS A series of ft Ar Arli cl to the columns by Adva iid litiza kers industrial co ac ILI MON whenever a or lockout is of 0 sufficient im importance cc to attract public attention after it has continued d for a s few days there be begins ins to be tall talk of tir ar bitin tiou on the part of tho the press and of tile the worLing meu who ale aia engaged ed in the contest it if at titration bit ration h Is resorted to the tha questions in dispute ale aio referred to one cue or more luora arbitrators aho vho ho heir both side and decide them abir th B is ol of course a judicial piece except that the submission of 0 the tion on oil both sides is purely as I neither 0 tiler can call foice the other into court and tile obligation to libido abide by the decision is in moral only thero there Is ia nothing legally binding 11 U it usually es and lockouts are settled lu in il 1 less formal way by the iho intervention of persons inspired either cither by private or public intern st who net act as 0 o bet an and run ran from one side sida to ge g the ho other gaining a little conces concession slon he e and there smoothing away one ona difficulty illy after another and finally arranges raap g matters with as little loss ai of dignity as rossille fos ros sible to the contending parties arii 4 ps but between civilized bodies of meu men NY servi eg are aa vitally important to each other oilier who mal biaka 3 I 1 heir living by the abo holp hu of each other it is n R degraco di graco that hero abero should be these constantly re euring carrr contentious contentions they arise only from the lie selfish selfishness ness and tyranny tranny of mens men unrestrained restrained nn by nobler qualities and and tyr yr ale aio equally bagful arid and eunity whether exhibited by emp employers employed loye 0 or r em employed unfortunately whichever hb ever side has had the power lias has usually exercised it in so EO arrogant a manner and with such unrelenting harshness as to goad oad the other sido to resistance result lug often in ill a state of open warfare which has continued conti noea either until one side or the other in ia quite conquered when the old series of acts is begun again to end in the same way or until both sides are exhausted the tha fact needs to lo be emphasized that the same qualities have been exhibited by both sides tast human matuie when undisciplined is ia deiy much the same thing in waste nia stera r a and in men and that neither sid side a has a right to cast stones but both should cry mea culpa mea culpa I 1 at times it is iatha the labor or g lations which niro aro dictatorial while the employers cringe and relinquish all their lights to maintain peace but more frequently the employers are arbitrary 1 and nd tyrannical asserting loudly that albey they intend to manage their own busi ners as they choose and will not be ba interfered ter ferea with by their workmen IX IN SOLVIN 0 A PROBLEM USE ALL TIIE THE F r to 1 ORS hero here is tile lie weak point there w will I 1 I 1 I 1 never he be justice between employ erd and employees and consequently theis will never be a lasting peace until the public and the tha employ cis recognize tile the claim of the employees to a voice in the settlement of or questions relating to the tha conditions of labor these questions quest ious are of vital importance import arco arce to the employees said and do in fact moro more nearly concern them than they do the employers for in the case of the latter it is only their business success or then their living which is involved while with the employee all interests pre era at stake it can scarcely be expected that american citizens who live have been born and bred with the instructs instincts of fre freemen ement will submit tamely to a system which places their welfare entirely in the hands bands of others the above suggestion will avill be fiew to many y and may seem to be curf unreasonable ason but the more it is conA considered dered the more just it will show itself to be and it will finally be acknowledged 3 d to bo be true As am mr william II 11 sayward secretary of tho the national aw aa of builders an association of employers up in a lecture on the ibe relation oi of employer and workman the labor question ba hai two component parts the employing or profit labor and nd the performing or wage labor and it is folly to attempt todeal to deal with the lie question at all lint unless iless both parties are united in the consideration party to the joint interest can handle the question alone C F ADAM ON OK ratio the next question is the pi one how Ilaw can employees bo taken into the councile counci lj of their employers awl and the answer made by mr charles francis adams tor for many years state detato railroad commissioner in massachusetts and for many years also president of the union pacific railroad in au an article entitled the prevention of strikes is one ODO which manit cause a I 1 responsive thrill in every american breast it will tie be impossible to establish perfectly good faith and the highest morale in the service of tile companies railroad labroad lai lail road until tho the problem of giving this voice to employees and giving it effectively Is ia solved it cau can bo be solved in but ono one way that is by representation to solve it may mean industrial peace it is ia impossible to dispose of these difficult matters in town meetings nevertheless tho the town meeting must be ba at tile baiso babe of ruy euy plan of disposing of them the end ni u vie view Is to bring brina the employer who in this case capo is the tha company com presented lie by its pi pios ident oud and board of directors direct ois and the employees into direct and immediate contact through a representative system when thug thua brought into direct nud and immediato immediate contact the parties must arrive at renalta re salta through the usual methods method that is by discus S lo 10 U and 1 I 1 d ratio rational na I 1 agreement a I 1 it follows the blines lines of action with which the of this country ale aie most bammar tile the path is that in which for centuries they have been ac customer cus tomed to tread J it has led them out of many difficulties why not out of this difficulty represent BEET mr adams solution is so eo far as american railroad railroads i aie concerned purely the theoretic there is in other indue industrial fields proof that the principles he advocates are correct 7 experience has demonstrated that the representative system is as useful in lin siness as in government erum ern ment eDt for tho last 20 or 30 years fit many large industries in england all questions of conditions of work have been settled without strike or lockout by joint boards lic bc ards of conciliation or ai arbitration bit ration boards on which I 1 the associations of employers and employees havo have both been represented by delegates duly arid and empowered to legislate for their constituents arid and on these boards the employers aud and employees have always had an equal representation in our country also and in belgium such boards are cnown aud aid have met with equal success but the practice of justice with us lia hao been beebi neither so go long nor so BO widely extended tended es as in england find and strangely enough employers here instead of if instinctively ing that this la is the tha only solution ot of the di difficulties III eu it ies ot of the labor on assume a tone of arbitrary ownership owner chip aud and proclaim their light to ishua orders which must be obeyed from business meu men oue one might have bavo expected more dinep it is very evident that those who adopt this position do not succeed in avoiding labor conflicts and disturbance wh alix li cause them great loss and trouble NN chii b 1 the employers who the recognize the fill justat iiii ui ii of their employees claim to a joint con arol ni que questions of common 1111 CICA do escape them in the cases where joint boards sae aie formed the prelim Daiy step usually is ia the mutual recognition that both sides bides HIS are about equal in strength that each can injure the other seriously but that neither can conquer the other the proof of this necessarily cornea comes from the experience of 0 a long series of alternating strikes tand and lockouts t the he employees employ cea making timea unseasonable demands when trade is good the employers doing the tha same when trade is bad a system mutually predatory finally it occurs to a few men on one side hide or the lie other that the whole thing is 28 unworthy y of intelligent men who make their living by tho the help of each tithe other r this sounds simple enough and to a disinterested observer seems r th the e only reasonable method of cettl settling ing questions which ale aie of the greatest importance to both employers and employed which cannot bo be settled except by mutual consent either cither forced or voluntary and which must bo be settled if business is to con continue and yet the tha obstinacy and arrogance of men make this reasonable arrangement a very difficult one to accomplish OS ON BOTH SIDES the two five sides must be about equal io ill or in other words both must be be well veil organized th there ere must be a strong association of employers and a stron strong g trades tin union on or other labor organization iza tion both ot of which shall ahall represent tho the majority ol of the he employers and NY workmen ork in the trade this is necessary because the joint ur or wages board must be composed of representatives who aio to bind their constituents otherwise their agreements would be empty words besides this however both the representatives senta tives and the organizations they represent must meet in the main be honest men intelligent men or the plan will fal fail I 1 JOSEPHINE SHAW LOWELL new nev york march 1690 |