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Show JOHN MITCHELL ' OPPOSES PLAN Rockefeller Proposal for Settling Set-tling Colorado Labor Troubles Trou-bles Denounced as "Simply Absurd." t COMPENSATION LAW Working People Must Have Right to Bargain Collectively Collective-ly for Sale of Labor. i New York, Feb. ;1 John Mitchell, former president of the United Mine Workers of America and now a member mem-ber of tho State Workmen's Compen sation commission, i told the Federal Industrials Relations commission today to-day that the Rockefeller plan of settling set-tling labor troubles in Colorado was "simply absurd." 1 "No good can coine out of such a plan' said he. 'The unorganized men can be depended on to select to represent them only7 men the bosses ant They may not bo directly direct-ly Influenced to do this, but there will be an indirect Influence which they cannot resist. "We have gone through the thing before. The slogan, "We might as well starve idle as- starve working" will naturally be raised again just as it was in 1900 in tbe anthracite fields." Mr. Mitchell's reference was to the plan of collective bargaining suggested suggest-ed to the Rockefeller interests by W. L. MacKenzie King, former commissioner com-missioner of labor of Canada, who was recently employed by the Rockefeller Rocke-feller foundation to conduct an investigation in-vestigation Into industrial relations Favors Referendum and Recall. Mr. Mitchell thought the referendum referen-dum and recall waa of advantage to labor. Speaking of compensation for work-ingmen, work-ingmen, Mr. Mitchell said It was ef-feetive ef-feetive in more ways than one. "When," said he, "it costs more to kill a man than it does to save him, the employers will save their workers." Mr Mitchell said that where men are unorganised the death rate is higher and the wage rate lower. "For instance," he said. ' the death rate In Colorado and West Virginia is about 6 pJr one thousand. In other l)fcajfl vu'hec:e the men are uriorgan!zertncy are inclined to take risks that organized men will not take. Finances Control Situation. He said he did not know just how much the "partial control" of financial finan-cial interests over the industries had affected the workers. It, however, appeared, he said, that the financial Institutions were able to "control the situation." He cited as an example the settlement settle-ment of the anthracite strike of 102 w hen J. P. Morgan & Co suggested a satisfactory solution, after one offered of-fered by the railroads had been turned down. Referring to wages In the Pennsylvania Pennsyl-vania anthracite region, he said they were about 40 per cent higher now than before the settlement of the strike. Mitchell testified he believed certain cer-tain improvements had resulted toward to-ward the betterment of the conditions of workers As an example, he pointed point-ed to the United States Steel corporation. corpora-tion. Refuse to Treat With Unions. "On the other hand," Mr. Mitchell continued, "the great combinations have done much harm to tho working men. For instance, many of the big corporations refuse to treat with organized or-ganized labor. "This is a great mistake." Mr Mitchell said it was the denial of "industrial association," that caused "industrial reolutions" in Paterson, West Virginia, Lawrence, Mass., and other places. There can be no industrial peace ho said, until all working people have the right to bargain for the sale of their labor. "Working people do not want benefactions bene-factions or charity. They want independence inde-pendence and the right to bargain collectively," col-lectively," he said. |
