Show RELATIONS BETWEEN EMPLOYERS AND THE EMPLOYED AT the thee close lose of a timely article in the forum for september mr edw edward a rd atkinson says the thing most needed now is that the rich men shall know how the workmen live and the work men shall know how the rich men work this is a great truth well spoken for lack of understanding ol of one another most disputants are at variance the conflict between capital and ad labor would be tar far less radical and bitter if the be employer and employed would come together with a comprehension of each others condition needs audin and in og th there e e is many an employer who thinks he be is giving his workmen wages amply sufficient tor for their services and fora far a decent livelihood who would change his mind it if he knew how bow they and their families have to pinch in order tp to make both ends enda meet and there are any number of workings wor kingL people who think their employers exve rt nothing to do but rake in the pro profits of labor who would have better feelings elines fe towards the bloated capitalist and moneyed idler if they could see how many more hours some of those rich men work than the day laborer whose toil is done when bhea the quitting bell rings or the steam whistle sounds the lack of sympathy between the two classes is one great cause of the difficulties that arise among capitalists and laborers sentiment to la excluded as foreign to their relations loii what the workmans work mans necessities and struggles may be and what the amplo employers ers Is N disregarded by either the cold 7 an and a heartless rule of the greatest possible amount of labor for the smallest possible amount of pay on the one hands hand is met by the reverse rule on the other thus the interests of the employer and the employed are diverse and each ima imagines ines that the other jp is getting all toe fie advant advantage 1 e that can bega be ga fetting ned there shou should 1 I be a mutual under standing and a reciprocal feeling between the two clas classes sett the they are each more mere or less dependent other strikes would often be avoided if it were not for the high wall of division which separates them teem and the on either side to the situation of the other when working people fire are receiving scarcely enough wages to keep them alive and covered aud and the employer is in reaping immense profits a sentie denae of wrong is naturally experienced by the half fed and scantily clothed laborer and he feels that he be is being defrauded on the other other hand no business eau be reasonably carried caralea on at a loss or indeed without somi some profit on the investment the pros berous employer ought not to be blind to the needs of these whose toil brings him wealth and the wage worker should not expect labor rates which entail a loss to the employer working people as a rule are sot not implacable when they understand the reasons for the lowering of labor rates providing the reasons offered are true and the reduction is the conr feasible manner of improving the business but it so often happens that when profits fall the pinching of the already tightly squeezed worker is the first or only remedy thought of or at any rate attempted by the firm or corporation or comp company ny ahr obrn u perhaps the fault is in the management and the and most consistent remedy would be in stopping leaks leakages ge a or correcting er rom or improving provina systems or quick 1 ening energies in that department the working manto man to whom arendac a reduction ot of was wanes es means less food less clothing less actual necessaries for himself and family naturally resents tile the grind as oppression anere Is knotner thing to be considered si after an enterprise has produced big dividends to the investors for years and tuey have grown wealthy from its profits when a decline la in prices comes and the business can do little if any aay more than hold its own the owners forget what they have made out of the laboring people and proceed to cut expenses in order to keep up the usual gains justice and a due regard for the laborer who earns only enough tor for present expenses would suggest that wealth can subsist upon and enjoy the profits of the past even it little or none accrue for a time or until business brightens and prosperity returns buc bal when any branch of business ceases to meet expenses and the reduction of wages becomes a necessity working people should of course be willing to meet the needs of the employers until an improvement I 1 can he be ma made de in receipts but the difficulty is that when a change for th the better comes to the business employers very seldom permit the wage workers to share in the benefits of the improvement so 80 long on as hands can be had at the reduced deuced figure so long it to is maintained and therefore the employed is very chary about submitting to a cut in so long as he can hold holdout out against it the system oh 0 profit sharing has been adopted with good results in some instances it seems to bea be a fair solution of the problem of the relations of capital and labor it will be quite satisfactory to working people while there are any profits to share with them but how about its workings wor kines when business is done at a loss will the laborers be AS ready to share jn in the losses as la in the gains and is there equity in a scheme of profit sharing which does not involve also the conse of a reverse and include loss sharing the tendency of df the investment ol of large amounts of capital in great business efterp enterprises disep requiring the employment of many hands gas has been to widen the gulf between the wage wag e payer and the wage worker and to make diverse those interests that should be mutual this division must be arrested or revolution will be abo tb consequence anything that will willferd ter erd d to draw together in frieu friendly div fealt g and kindly sentiment the two great elements of society ought to be cn benl enl cou raged and an understanding il p pt f 1 the condition and needs of the t boilers toilers 0 afie ra t by v the employers ot 09 la laor bior and of the risks labors and responsibilities of the investing capitalist by the people whom he be employs employ with a dispo disposition sitio n on the part of all toke to je fair just net and equitable instead of grasping cold and heartless would do much to unite the two social forces and to promote that harmony which is essential to permanent prosperity and peace |