Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-05-14 | Page 11 | Hoover States Views on Labor

L HOOVER STATES I VIEWSJN LABOR mi Employes' Right to Organize II For Collective Bargaining ; Admitted Rj TYASHINGTOX, May .14. "The B '"' principle of individual freedom ro- Ha quires the open shop," Herbert Hoo-ver In doclarecl today In testifying' before the Hg ''senate labor committee at hearings on HI proposed legislation for the settlement Mm of Industrial unrest. Mr. Hoover, who was a member of President Wilson's second Industrial conference, said he did not believe' the relationship between employers and employes could be settled "by any form of legal repression, whether It ftf be injunction, compulsory arbitration or' industrial courts' : "Fundamentally," he declared, "all L such effort leads inevitably to th"e use Kv - of jails as a solution for disputes as P? to respective participation of labor and capital in Industrial profits and proceeds swiftly tpward .compulsory : labor, or compulsory wages, or niar- Ilyrdom." "No one doubts that the modern consolidation of tho employers over large units of employes giveB every justification and right for the organization organi-zation of employes similar into units for the exertion of equality in bargain ing powers. Such organizations have I he light to present their own representatives repre-sentatives in bargaining. On the other hand there should be no compul uinn tn Inin aiinli nn nrfnTilrQ c Tim - principle of individual freedom re- quires the open shop." r ; Plan Is Approved. Mr. Hoover heartily approved the jl plan of the second Industrial confer-enco confer-enco for voluntary settlement of labor jyj troubles through cooperative agree- raj Senator Jones, Democrat, Now Mex- En ico, yanted to know Is labor had not am beca disturbed by excessive profits. BB.. "It has," replied Mr. Hoover, "but 93 it is difficult to say how far this has 'AJ helped to cause Industrial unrest, now with thev rising cost of living. There is no question as to the enormous increasein in-creasein profits, but what weight is, to be, given this requires very careful attention. There has been a big increase in-crease In profits over the cost of labor but I cannot say to to proportion." On the question of strikes Mr. Hoover said a distinction should be drawn between conditions in this country and Europe declaring that; strikes for political ends had been re-j ported to in Europe, which had caused unnecessary alarm in this country. No Such Strltks. "There has been no taiiit of such strike order in this country," he de clared. "No attempt has been made by leaders of organized labor in the United States lb over-ride the ballot and labor leaders have discouraged! that use. There seems to be a misrepresentation mis-representation as to whether the strilrn mav -Invplnn tntn n nnllllnfil weapon. But certainly that has not) been the case in the United States." Mr. Hoover thought it was almost impossible to legislate as to hours, of labor. Wages, he said, should lake into account the cost of necessities, savings and the enjoyment of all benefits of tho civilization of the time. Senator Phipps, Republican, Colorado, Colo-rado, called attention to the bonus paid employes by many industrial enterprises en-terprises and to reports that labor 'leaders felt it should be discouraged. "-"In the aotual practice of the opera-lion opera-lion of the various devices, they fall into two general classes shaving of profits and sharing of savings," Mr. Hoover said. "It is difficult to reach a fair basl6 of settlement. The occasional occa-sional misuse of the system has led to the opposition of organized labor. "If profit-sharing is to be based on the conception thaht wages are to he just and that .profits are to be just and that profits nro to be an addition to pay. then it would be in proper form, but not when used as a weapon to hold down a man's pay. Theintangible agitation agi-tation in industrial life concerns the question of a division of surplus, not ; the question that employers want to manage the business."