Glass " X) 4 3 Book _li. 65th Congress / (Document Isf Session \ biiWAlii -^ ^^^ ^^ BRITISH LABOR'S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR ADDRESSES AND DISCUSSIONS AT A MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR OF THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE HELD IN WASHINGTON, D. C. ON MAY 15, 1917 PRESENTED BY MR. FLETCHER June 30, 1917.— Referred to the Committee on Printing WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1917 h yl^i .^>'^'^ x<^ SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 128. Reported by Senator Fletcher. In the Senate of tpie United States, ^ /September 11, 19lT. Resolved, That the manuscript submitted by the Senator from Florida (Mr. Fletcher) on June 30, 1917, entitled " British Labor's War Message to American Labor," consisting of addresses and dis- cussions at a meeting of the committee on labor of the Council of National Defense, Washington, D. C, May 15, 1917, be printed as a Senate document. Attest : James M. Baker, jSecretary. 2 0. of D, SEP 28 1917 ^ COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, ADVISOkY COMMISSION. COMMITTEE ON LABOR. BRITISH LABOR'S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. Addresses and Discussions at Public Meeting of the Committee on Labor, in Washington, D. C, Maj^ 15, 1917. In conference with the labor representatives sent by the British and Canadian Goyernments at the request of the Chairman of the Committee on Labor. Right Hon. C. W. Bowerman, Privy Councilor and Member of British House of Commons, Secretary of British Trades Union Congress Parliamentary Committee. Right Hon. James H. Thomas, Privy Councilor and Member of Parliament, General Secretary National Union of Railway Men. Joseph Davies, Member of the Secretariat of the Prime Minister. H. W. Garrod, Representing Labor, Department of Ministry of Munitions. G. D. Robertson, Vice President National Association of Railway Telegraphers. J. C. Waters, President Trades and Labor Council of Canada. INTRODUCTION. Within a few days after the organization of the committee on labor of the advisory commission, Council of National Defense, the chairman of the committee, Samuel Gompers, sent the following cablegrams to Premier Lloyd-George, of Great Britain, and Premier Ribot, of France: Washington, D. C, April 12, 1!)17. Premier I^loyd George, London : As president American Federation of Labor, President Wilson appointed me member advisory commission, Conncil of National Defense. Special work my committee is conservation and welfare of workers and for effective indus- trial service. Cabled dispatch to-day states commission from the British and French Governments will come to United States for conference. We need here the additional advice of representatives of England's workers, and respectfully urge that Appleton and Bowerman be sent here as part of British commission. Have cabled Premier Ribot, of France, to like effect for French representatives. Samuel Gompers. Washington, D. C, April 12, 1917. Premier Ribot, Paris : As president American Federation of Labor, President Wilson aitpointed me member advisory commission. Council of National Defense. Special work my connnittee is conservation and welfare of workers and for effective indus- trial service. Cabled dispatch to-day states commission from the British and French Governments will come to United States for conference. We need here the additional advise of representatives of France's workers, and respectfully urge that .Touhaux and Keufer be sent here as part of French commission. Have cabled Premier George, of England, to like effect for English labor representatives. Samuel Gompers. The following replv was received from Mr. Llovd-George, dated Api'il 13 : '^ Samuel Gompers, Washington: Delighted to comply with your request. Two labor leaders and representa- tives of welfare department of ministry of munitions will leave for America as soon as possible. Lloyd George. Mr. Gompers then sent a second cablegram to Premier Eibot, as follows : Washington, D. C, April 13, 1!)17. Premier Ribot, Paris: Premier Lloyd George cabled me to-day his cordial acceptance my suggestion to send two representatives of labor from England to United States to i-onsult with my connnittee. May I not urge you to comply with my request so that seneral cooperation may be had. Samuel Gompers. 6 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. In reply to this the following letter was received from the French ambassador to the United States : Washington, Aj)rU 16, 1917. Dear Mr. Gompees : My Government informs me that you kindly applied to them asking that French and English delegates be sent to the United States in view of a conference with the representatives of American laborers. I am instructed to inform you that the best and most appropriate plan would be for you to cable directly to Mr. Jouhaux, asking him to send two delegates of French workmen who would come aud take part in the intended conference. Believe me, with best regards, Sincerely, yours, Jusseeand. In accordance with the suggestion in this communication Mr. ■ Gompers cabled to Mr. Jouhaux and Mr. Keufer, Paris, on April 26, as follows : The working people of the United States of America in this crucial time require the advice and the cooperation of all and particularly the representa- tives of Jabor who have had the valuable experience of labor under the war conditions. At my request Bowerman and Thomas, of England, are coming to America under authority of British Government, and I urgently ask you and August Keufer to also come here at earliest possible time. I feel confident Government of France approves my request. We need you both. Samuel Gompees. To this Mr. Jouhaux replied : Paeis, May 16, 1917. American Federation of Labor, Washington: Preseiit circumstances do not permit us to be able to carry out the delegation that you ha^e asked of us. We thank you for your invitfition. as to which you will understand the reasons which are the motive of our decision. In assuring you of our complete union, accept for the American working people our fraternal greeting. Jouhaux. Mr. Gompers cabled on April 16, to the President of Cuba as follows : Washington, D. C, April 16, 1917. President Menocal, Havana, Culm: As president American Federation of Labor, President Wilson ai)iioiuted me member advisory commission. Council of National Defense. The council appointed me chairman committee on labor, conservation, and welfare of workers. When I learned that the French and British Governments were to send commissions to United States for conference I cabled Premier Lloyd- George, of England, and Premier Ribot. of France, to each send two repre- sentatives of labor unions to confer with my committee and give us the benefit of their experience and advice. Lloyd-George cabled he will send two labor leaders and tv\'o women conversant with welfare work to confer with my labor committee. Expect similar compliance from Premier Ribot. Inasmuch as you will appoint Cuban commission to come to Washington, may I prevail upon you to also send two representative members of Cuban labor unions for con- ference with us? Samuel Gompees. President Menocal replied on April 18 : Samuel Gompees, Washington : I shall take up the matter to which you refer in your cablegram with dif- ferent labor leaders, so that proper representation of labor unions be designated to go to Washington at the same time with Cuban commission. Maeio G. Menocal. On May 7 Mr. Gompers telegraphed a similar request to Sir George Foster, Premier of Canada, and received his favorable reply, dated May 9. These telegrams were as follows : BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 7 „. ^ X-, Washington, D. C, Mail 7 1917 Sir George Foster, v^ , ^««y <, ji/j<. Premier of Canada, Oitaiva, Canada: Complying with my cable request, Premier Lloyd-George, of Great Britain sent delegation of British workmen to United States and they are now at Washington, the purpose being to give American labor the benefit of British experience and for us to avoid mistakes made in earlier part of present war Have made similar request of Premier Ribot, of France, and am advised that representatives of labor of France will come here for same purpose. I have had conference with Ambassador Sir Spring Rice with th.-it some object in view- that is, to have two representative trn de-unionists from Cannda come here for conference and advice— and I now respectfully and urgentlv request thnt such labor representatives be sent here as soon as possible. Mav I suggest confer- ence with P. M. Draper, drawer 515, Ottawa, Canada, regarding selection of representative labor men? A telegraphic reply will be greatly appreciated. Samuel Gompers. Ottawa, May 9, 1917. Mr. Samuel Gompers,* Washington, D. C: Your wire received. Labor representatives will be sent immediately. Par- ticulars later. G. E. Foster. In accordance with the cablegram from Premier Lloyd-George, the British Government sent to this country four representatives of labor, as follows : Right Hon. C. W. Bowerman, privy councilor and member of British House of Commons, secretary of British Trades Union Con- gress parliamentary committee. Hon. James H. Thomas, member of Parliament, general secretary National Union of Railwaymon, Great Britain and Ireland. Joseph Davies, member of the secretariat of the prime minister. H. W. Garrod, representing labor, department of ministry of munitions. The Government of Canada sent two representatives of labor to confer with the committee on labor in conjunction with the British delegation. The representatives from Canada were : G. D. Robertson, vice president National Association of Railway Telegraphers. J. C. Waters, president Trades and Labor Council of Canada. The British delegates arrived in Washington on Saturday, May 5, and were met by a reception committee of the committee on labor. During their stay in Washington the gentlemen composing this com- mission, and the Canadian representatives who joined them in Wash- ington a few days later, were in frequent conferences with representa- tive trade-unionists as well as all those especially interested in labor war problems. During these interviews the}^ imparted information of the highest value relative to the British experience in the treat- ment of problems of industrial mobilization and employment of labor which have arisen during the war period. During the week of May 21-26 the four British delegates visited and addressed meetings of workingmen, employers, and leading rep- resentatives of commercial, financial, educational, and civic interests in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland. Albany, Schenectady, Boston, and New York. Arrangements for this tour were made by Mr. Ralph M. Easley, assistant to the chairman of the committee on labor, as chairman of the executive connnittee. Judge Maurice Sheldon Amos, of the Balfour ctmmiission. and Mr. Easley, accom- panied the labor commission in Chicago and Cleveland. 8 BEITISH labor's WAE MESSAGE TO AMEBIC AN LABOB. In Chicago on May 22 the English delegates addressed a joint meeting of business men and labor representatives at a luncheon at the Union League Clnb and in the afternoon made an inspection of the stockyards. In the evening they addressed a large mass meeting under the auspices of the Chicago Federation of Labor. On May 23 they were the guests at a luncheon in Cleveland ar- ranged by former Ambassador to France Myron T. Herrick and local representatives of organized labor, including the Brotherhoods of Eailway Trainmen, of Locomotive Engineers, and of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. This meeting was attended by about 200, and in the evening the British representatives addressed an enthusi- astic audience of more than 1,000 at the Engineers' Auditorium. T\^iile in Albany on May 24 the British representatives were re- ceived by a large delegation of trade-union members and railway brotherhood officials and made an inspection of the New York Cen- tral Eailroad shops at West Albany. At Schenectady inspection was made of the plants of the General Electric Co. and the American Locomotive Co. At noon a very large outdoor meeting was ad- dressed at the General Electric plant, attended by employees of the company and by the local trade-union boards. On May 25, in Boston, the British delegates addressed a general meeting. The audience on this occasion numbered about 2,000. On May 26 the British delegates and Judge Amos were guests of the National Civic Federation, Metropolitan Life Building, New York City. This meeting was attended by about 100 representative labor men, 60 of the largest employers of labor in the country, and 50 women active in the labor movement and in welfare work. Mr. August Belmont presided, and addresses were made by the members of the English commission and by the chairman of the committee on labor. The final addresses of Messrs, Thomas, Bowerman, Da vies, and Garrod before their return to England were delivered the same evening at the De Witt Clinton High School, in New York. The occasion of largest significance and public interest during the visit of the British labor representatives was the general meeting of the committee on labor, held on May 15 in Washington. This meet- ing was called for the express purpose of hearing from the visiting delegates and eliciting detailed information by open discussion and questions relative to the industrial problems Great Britain has been called upon to face by reason of the war and the methods that have been employed for their adjustment. There was an attendance at this meeting of about 200 members and guests, notably representative of all phases of our industrial and civic life. The addresses and discussion proved of extraordinary practical value, both from the standpoint of industrial justice and of the highest patriotism. Dur- ing the afternoon the committee and its guests Avere received at the White House by President Wilson, who expressed his personal in- terest in the work of the committee, his desire to cooperate in fur- therance of its objects, and his sympathy with its declared purpose of maintaining established industrial and legislative standards of labor conditions. In the following pages appears a full report of the proceedings of May 15, including a list of the committee members and guests present at the meeting. INDEX OF SPEAKERS. Page. X. P. Alifas 92 John R. Alpine 69 Judge M. S. Amos 32 r. R. Atherton 53 r. L. Baine 55 W. T. Barbour 71 Gertrude Beeks 50 A. F. Benxis 76 Chas. W. Bowerman 21 P. J. Bradv 56, 87 W. M. Clark 72 Sara A. ('onboy 71 U. D'Alessandro 88 Joseph Davies 61 James Duncan 50 Dr. Lee K. Frankel 52 H . W. Garrod 28 John Golden 89 Samuel Gompers 11, 37 Abraham Greenstein 51 Daniel Guggenheim 65 G. H. Halberstadt 73 Mvron T. Herrick 60 Fred Hewitt 87 Colgate Hoyt 67 Walter E. Kruesi Julia Lathrop 75 Collis Lovely 79 Emerson McjVIillan 65 H. B F. Macfarland 58, 68 V. Everit Macy 57 Theodore Marburg 66 Dr. Royal Meeker 54, 87 C. Edwin Michael 56 James O 'Connell 56 John H. Patterson 70 George W. Perkins ^5 Jeannette Rankin '76 G. D. Robertson 31, 48, 49 John D. Rockefeller, jr 63 Dr. Albert Shaw °^ Chas. B. Stillmau °l N.I.Stone 45 James Thomas ' _o Isaac M, Ullman • ' ^ D. Everit Waide ^] Lillian D. Wald «* J. C. Waters t, A. O. Wharton f: Dr. Talcott Williams ^' President Wilson "^"^ 9 PUBLIC MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, ADVISORY COMMIS- SION, COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, MAY 15, 1917. The committee met at 10 a. m. in the council room of the American Federation of Labor Building, Washington, D. C. The Chairman. Permit me to welcome you to this meeting this morning and to express the hope that, as the result of our deliber- ations, there may come a more united and whole-souled effort to be helpful to our country, to the countries which are noAv our allies in the great struggle in which they have been engaged for more than two and one-half years, and of one which we are just entering, and to express the hope, the fervent hope, that the struggle may be short- ened by our entrance into it, and that the people of Eussia, with their new-found freedom, may have themselves well in hand under their own control and within their own restraint for their own good and for the good of the people of all countries in the world. Let us hope to do our share, that the cause in which we have enlisted shall tri- umph, tne cause of freedom, of justice, of democracy, of humanity, for, in this great struggle there will be determined, perhaps for a cen- tury or more, which scheme of government shall prevail, whether it shall be democracy, by which the people may have a determining voice as to the method of their government and of their everyday lives, whether it shall be government where free thought and free expression may find their lodgment, and out of them come the best in the interest of the people of their respective countries and as a whole making for a real federation of the nations of the earth, or whether, on the other hand, there shall be entrenched not only in the countries where it now exists a species of despotism and autocracy but that the system of autocracy and despotism shall prevail and be forced upon tlie peoples of the world. That is the choice. That nuist be the determining factor in our minds to guide us on to dare and to do for the establishment of the principles for which man has been struggling for, lo, these many centuries, of which poets have sung and philosophers have dreamed and which the men and women of our time must achieve. The Council of National Defense, created by law. and its advisory commission, determined that the council should be divided into seven parts, each to perform a separate function. A civilian was made chairman of each committee. I was chosen as chairinan of th;> com- mittee on labor for the conservation and the welfare of workers, and as chairman I have asked you, ladies and gentlemen, and several others who have not yet reported their attendance here, and some who were required by their duties to appear before committees of Con- gress this morniiig, to come here, so, without Iniowing exactly at this time the number of ladies and gentlemen in attendance here, I think 11 12 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. I am justified in making the estimate that there are about 160. A register will be provided where you will be asked to inscribe your name as being in attendance and what institution or organization you represent. We desire to have a permanent record of those in attend- ance and their occupation. Before reporting further as to the work, I ought to say that, be- lieving it to be the desire of the ladies and gentlemen in attendance Iiere this morning to be presented to and meet the President of the United States, I addressed a letter to him asking for that privilege, and I have a letter before me stating the time that he will be glad to see me and the members of my committee at 2.30 o'clock this after- noon. We shall arrange our business in order that we may keep that engagement. The 'committee on labor has been divided into eight principal com- mittees and several divisional committees, each dealing with an im- portant branch of the subject for which this committee is created. The fact is, friends, that during a state of war in any country, the people at the outset, in the first stages of war, usually are struck with what miglit be termed as hysteria ; it is not only enthusiasm, it it not only patriotism, but the generating of the two produces a mental state of willingness to depart from any undertaking or achievement in order, as thej^ imagine, to bring about a speedy conclusion of the war. AVhile it is true and may be necessary that for a specific limited period of time all may be required to make heroic efforts and many sacrifices, the whole history of the world has shown that in the long- run this form of hysteria is detrimental not only to the cause at issue but also to the protection and the welfare of the great masses of the people. The committees are composed of men and of women who have given evidence of their desire to serve not only during the war, but before the. war. The chairmen have been requested to submit to me a, number of names of men and of women whom they desire to have appointed upon their respective committees. Inasmuch as the chair- man of the committee on labor is responsible to the Council of Na- tional Defense, it is necessary that the chairman appoint these com- mittees; that is, to have the final determination as to who should or should not go on the committees. Up to this time I am very glad to say that no recommendation has been made to me that I have not felt fully grateful for the suggestions, and the people recommended were appointed by me. At the meeting of April 2, the first meeting of our general mem- bership of this committee, an executive committee was created con- sisting of Samuel Gompers (chairman), V. Everit Macy, James Lord. Elisha Lee, Warren S. Stone, C. E. Michael, Frank Morrison, Lee K. Frankel, James O'Connell, Louis B. Schram. After that meeting I asked Mr. Ealph M. Easley to act as assistant to the chairman of the committee on labor and he kindly consented and has acted in that capacity since. Mr. James W. Sullivan was appointed by me as director of the affairs of the office of the committee on labor of the advisory commission of the Council of National Defense. To Miss Gertrude Beeks I took the pleasure of tendering, and she ac- cepted, the secretaryship to the committee. Mr. Stone was unable to attend more than one meeting of the executive committee and asked BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 13 that Mr. H. E. Wills act for him during any of the time Mlien his absence would be enforced. Col. Pope, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, recommended Mr. Parker Nevin, and I appointed him, but later I was asked that Mr. C. E. Michael be substituted for Mr. Nevin. That was acquiesced in, and Mr. Nevin has attended the meetings ratlier as an advisory member than as a member with a full A^ote. Immediately upon the adjournment, about midnight, of our gen- eral committee on April 2, the executive committee went into session and organized, and we have had two days' session within a week and usually one day in the week. Each of these sessions was an all- day session. There has been wonderful progress, attention, work, and faithful service rendered by the executive committee, and you and I should feel proud and greatly appreciative of the talent, of the time, of the service, of the achievement of that executive com- mittee. I must express my admiration as well as appreciation for tlie splendid work done. Upon learning that a mission was to come from the Governments of Great Britain and France to confer with the representatives of the Government of the United States, I immediately placed myself in cable communication with that great leader in this, our great cause, Lloyd-George [applause], and to that splendid representative of France, the premier [applause], and I asked that both Governments send to the United States, as representative of their Governments, labor men who were qualified ancl who understood the trials and the difficulties which the people of their Governments had to face, so that they might come here and give us the benefit of their experience and advice. Within 12 hours I received a reply from Lloyd-George that he Avas glad to receive my message and would gladly and promptly send over representatives of labor. I haA^e had a little more difficulty with getting a direct affirmatiA^e declaration from the premier of France. When-I learned that the GoA^ernor General of Canada Avas going to send a commission to meet with the representatives of the T'^nited States and of the Governments of England and France. I telegraphed to the acting premier and asked him to send two representatiA'es of labor to meet Avith us and confer Avith us, and he prom]it]y complied Avith my request. I got into cable communication Avith President Menocai, of the Republic of Cuba, asking for representatives of that Government to meet and confer Avith us here. I received an affirma- tive reply, but thus far I have not seen the representatives. I am very proud and pleased, as I knoAv you Avill be and are, to know that the representatives of the British Government rei^resent- ing labor, and representatives of the Canadian GoA'ernment repre- senting labor, are here with us, and it was probably one of the prime causes that they are here and would be here which prom]:)te(l me to ask you to come here to this second general meeting of the conmiittee on labor, so that you may hear direct what they have to say and just let yourselves loose and throAv the throttle Avide open and ask these men any question affecting the rights, interest, and the Avelfare of the Avar, and you will find a ready response from each and every one of them. [Applause.] They have already given an account of them- selves, and in such manner as to have won the admiration and the confidence and the applause of the representatives of the Government 14 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. of the United States. It has been my pleasure to have listened to them in each instance. There has not been one time but what there was some valuable piece of information given and some good sugges- tion advanced. There is a matter to which I desire to refer, and of an important character, but I do not want to break whatever continuity there has been in what I have endeavored to express, and I now take pleasure in presenting to you the president of the greatest trade-union — I believe I am justified in saying — of the whole world, a railroad loco- motive engineer by trade, a member of Parliament, and I venture not to express my own judgment as to his qualifications, but present the matter to you because you may then think that I have not done the right thing in presenting his qualifications as they should properly be presented. I prefer to leave them to your own judgment after he has concluded. I present to you Mr. James Thomas, M. P. [Applause.] Mr. James Thomas. Mr. President and friends, were it not for the fact that it usually .falls to my lot to introduce other speakers, T should be somewhat embarrassed by the' compliment that ,you have already paid me. But it is indeed a pleasure, as well as a privilege, that my colleagues and myself are here, first, at the invitation of Mr. Gompers and, secondly, by request of our own Government. The .primary object of our visit is not to instruct you how to do your work, not to tell 3^ou that we could do it much better, but rather, having gone through the experience of two and one-half years of war with all its misery and suffering, we may be able to say to you something of our mistakes whereby you ma}^ profit by those mistakes and the cause of the allies will therefore be strengthened as a result. The labor movement of Great Britain is clefinitelj^ antiwar. I do not believe there is in the whole world a labor movement so opposed to war in all its forms as the British labor movement. I do not disguise the fact that previous to the war I was a peace man. I looked upon war as hell let loose ; I looked upon war as appealing to the basest and worst in mankind, and I hoped for the time, worked and prayed for the time, when the workers of the world would have made war impossible. But holding those beliefs and recognizing, as I haA^e said before, the evils of war we were faced as a nation, and we were faced as a movement with something that was even worse than war, and it was national dishonor. In the trade-union movement we believe in collective bargaining. We believe that the interest of the farm, of citizenship, should demand mutual respect and confidence between all sections of the people, and as a trade-union leader, whenever I make an agreement on behalf of the men, I always look upon it as a duty to myself and my organization that I shall insist upon every employer observing any agreement that we make. But in insisting upon that I also recognize that there can not be one standard of honor demanded by us from the other side without we are prepared to practice the same standard of honor ourselves. [Applause.] In other words, just as I believe it is a paramount duty on my part to insist upon an employer observing an agreement, so I insist that it is the duty of the men I represent to be loyal and observe any agreement I make on their behalf. That I put to you as the basic principle of collective bargaining. BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 15 Now, if that standard of honor is necessary in the ordinary affairs of life, if that standard of honor is essential as between employer and employee, I put it to you how much more important, how much more vital is it that at least that standard of honor should be observed between the nations of the world. [Applause.] Therefore when we as a Nation have committed ourselves by treaty obligations to the protection of gallant little Belgium we as a labor movement were brought face to face with this fact, that here is a discharging of the obligation that she is committed to, here is a nation prepared to fulfill all the promises she has made, and what can we as a trade- union movement, believing in that principle, do other than to say to the Nation. " We will not only agree with you, but we will support you in your action." [Applause.] Because, friends, I put that clearly as against the assumption of those that one is to adopt the attitude of your country, right or wrong. Kings and nobles may make a mistake in political policy. Kings and nations may make mistakes in their forms of government, but neither kings nor govern- ments have the right to involve a nation in a war unless it is a war that is to the advantage and the well being of the people as a whole. [Applause.] In the South African War I had my own house wrecked. I was mobbed and hounded from pillar to post because I felt a mistake had been made by our people, and feeling that a mistake had been made I had the courage of my convictions to say so and do all I could to prevent it. Therefore 1 regard that as rather showing that we did not approach this question in any jingo spirit, but we rather ap- proached it from the standpoint of endeavoring to ascertain whether our country, in taking this step, was justified; and if justified, what was our position? Therefore the labor movement as a whole, having decided to stand by the Government, we were immediately brought up against the proposition of whether our support meant merely lip service or really a genuine sacrifice. The mere making of speeches is a detail ; the mere support of a government by a public declaration is valueless to that government unless it carries with it some prac- tical sacrifice and a recommendation that you are prepared to do something to back your opinion. Therefore the British trade-union movement having first decided to support the war immediately ap- plied itself to the ways and means by which it could best do it, and the first thing it did was to declare there should exist during the period of the war an industrial truce. That is to say, that with the war raging as it was, it would be madness and folly to have side by side with that war an industrial war in our own country, and Ave entered into an agreement with the employers whereby they, on the one hand, agreed that they would not interfere with or reduce the conditions prevalent at the time, in return for which we, on the other hand, agreed that we would not attempt to set up any new standard of conditions, and that truce was practically agreed to by the whole of the organized workers of Great Britain. But we very soon found out — what, after all, is not peculiar to our country, but what is peculiar to all countries— that there were people who were prepared to take advantage of abnormal circumstances created by the war. Our navy — and here let me say that the TTnited States itself owes a debt of gratitude to the gallantry of the British Navy — ^has succeeded by courage and work, hard and arduous, of 16 BEITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAIs^ LABOR. keeping the sea, but we found that there were people prepared to take advantage of the navy's great work. We found our food prices soar- ing very, very high, indeed. We found within the first few months of the war an increase of something lil^e 30 per cent in the cost of living. At this moment the Government returns show that the increase is 94 per cent above that of prewar. Now, we, as a labor people, would not have complained if this sac- rifice was justified by the circumstances created by the war, because, friends, do not make the mistake of assuming that you can enter into this war simply as a picnic. God knows you will have to make many, many sacrifices if you are going to do useful service. There- fore, we could not expect things to go on as normal, but we did resent and we did complain, and we have felt that, side by side with this increased cost of living, there could be no justification for balance sheets of firms engaged on war work alone showing an increase of 200 per cent and 300 per cent above prewar. We could not reconcile the fact that the soldier's wife, with our low separation allowance, was struggling along and paying 2 cents and 3 cents more for a few pounds of bread, with firms like Spillers & Bakers declaring a divi- dend of over 200 per cent more than they did the year before. We felt that the war was so important that if sacrifices were to be made, there must be sacrifices on the part of all and not on the part of a few. [Applause.] The result was that we immediately used our machinery and our power and our influence to draw public attention and the Govern- ment's attention for the control of these things. We asked the Gov- ernment to see that whilst men were called upon to give their, life, it was not too much to expect other people to give up some of the luxuries that they were enjoying. Therefore, I am giving this illus- tration to show that consistent with our desire to make sacrifices our- self we naturally and jealously safeguarded the interest of our own people as well as the community by insisting that the sacrifice should not be a one-sided one, but should be made by all classes of the people. The next difficulty with which we were faced was this: In the- first 18 months of the war over 4,000,000 of our men volunteered for the front — not conscripted, nor compelled— but they left the workshop, the factory, the mine, the desk, business, and leisure, and at the call of duty responded. The spirit of those men was a magnificent spirit. The spirit of those men showed the highest possible form qf patriot- ism; but with 4,000,000 men taken out of industry it was clearly evident that some change had to be made, with the result that the Government called into conference the trade-union leaders and execu- tives of every trade and industry, and the}^ said to them, " We are now faced with this problem, that women must go into industries in which previouslv they have been excluded. Women must go and bear some portion of this burden, and we want you, as a labor and trade-union movement, not only to agree to these changes but to render all the assistence you can to the women when they come in." We said that so far as we are concerned we first wished to be satis- fied that there were no men out of work, because, clearly, friends, it Avould be absurd to agree to bring women into occupations in which' they were not previously engaged and at the same time have men out of work, and by that means have efficiency wasted. We were BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 17 satisfied that it was essential to bring women into industry, but in agreeing to that we first made a condition that wherever a woman was engaged in taking the phice of a man, by a written agreement it was laid down that her presence would not prejudice or interfere with the right of a man to take his place when he came back from the fighting line. We felt that was an essential condition and one fair to our men who had so gallantly volunteered. Secondly, we felt it was a duty to those who had volunteered that they should not find, when they came back, that women's labor had reduced the standard of their work, and it was agreed that wherever women were employed doing the same work as men they should be paid the same rate regardless of any sex, with the result that there is at this moment something like one million and a quarter women who were never previously engaged in industrial occupations performing all kinds of manual work, and doing it as well, and at the same time the positions of the men are safeguarded, the conditions of the women are fair and equitable, and they have the greatest consolation of knowing that they are making a magnificent contribution to the great war that is now taking place. But, sir, other difficulties arose. For instance, it was very soon discovered that our men were not having a good chance; they were not having a fair chance. We Britishers never complain about being beaten in a fair fight. I do not think you Americans would com- plain about being beaten in a fair fight; but you, with us, I believe, Avould complain if you were beaten and never had a fair chance. We found that our men were facing guns and high explosives at the front, with all the hell and the hammering that they were getting and never had a chance to get back. For months and months our young gal- lant men were like rats in a trap. They could not reply by guns or munitions, thousands of them being mowed down daily by all manner of hellish devices being used against them, and they had no chance. I might say I was always against reprisals, because I do not think you can compete with Germany for barbarism. Therefore any form of reprisal would simply make it worse. But I happened to be at the battle of Hill 60, where the first gas was used, and I saw after a two days' battle not hundreds, but thousands, of our men — some I knew — brought out and laid on the ground with oxygen being pumped into them. The effect of the gas Avas that it formed a sort of lava around the lungs and strangled them. Men I spoke to who knew they were going to die within a few hours, hundreds of them who knew that there was no possible opportunity, some of my own fellow countrymen, some of my own fellow railroad men, I spoke to. Not from one man did I hear a solitary complaint that he was going to die, but I had many complaints that they had not had a fair deal. I immediately came back to our country, and I said to the prime min- ister. " These men must not be allowed to fight with one hand behind their backs; they must have a fair deal, or you will break the morale of the best-spirited men in the world." [Applause.] Those incidents, friends, were all new, and the result was. Avhen we found that there was such a shortage of munitions, the Government immediately directed its attention to the providing of munitions. Some one asked us during some of our conferences here, what was the real incentive that caused our men to make so many sacrifices. S. Doc. 84, 65-1 2 18 BKITISH LABOE S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. The answer is a simple one, because they had their brothers, their sons, and their relatives being mutilated daily. The}" Avere getting letters from the front, they read of these things, and it brought it right home to them that they ought to do everything they could to help them. The Government therefore said, '' Our difficulty with regard to munitions is this, that if every skilled man in the country was to work 24 hours per day there would still be a shortage," be- cause not only at this period was the shortage for ourselves, but I do not think I am giving you any secret — I believe it will not be for the press, and I Avill tell you confidentially — that for the first 12 months with the Eussian Army there were two men in the reserve, and as the first Eussian soldier was mowed down the other rushed up to pick up the rifle or he could not be a belligerent. That was the condition of the Eussian Army, with over 2,000,000 reserves, in the first nine months. . Therefore not only was our difficulty in supplying munitions to our own people, but supplying them to the other allies as Avell. The Government said, as I have stated, if every skilled man was turned onto this job there would still be a shortage. The result was that they called labor into conferences, as they did on every stage of all proceedings. The Government, from the commencement, in every stage called into their conferences organized labor, and they said to them, " We w^ant you to agree to have unskilled men and women being taught and trained for this work." Our trades-unions agreed, but they made this condition, that every privilege that they gave up was to be treated as a war privilege; and by a Government guaranty all these privileges — all these rules — that were relaxed were to be restored immediately the war was over, with the result that again there was brought into the manufacture of munitions hun- dreds of thousands of men and w^omen previously uns.killed. and who were trained in various ways and gave assistance in the manu- facture of what was hitherto skilled industry. But that was not all. We found that there was a shortage of labor in one spot and a surplus in another, as you can quite understand. There may be, for instance, a surplus of labor in New York and in exactly the same trade there may be a shortage in Washington. Therefore the point that we were facing was this: If Washington wants a given class of labor, and there is no labor of that kind in Washington and there is plenty of that kind of labor in New York, how shall we get over the difficulty by transferring and being able to use that labor at New York in Washington? There was set up what was called an enrollment for munition volunteers; that is to say, that men and women— men especially — Avere asked to enroll as munition volunteers, and they having enrolled agreed to allow the Government to send them to any place or factory whereA'er their labor was required ; and they, on the other hand, had agreed to ac- cept the position, Avherever it was. But you can quite conceive of this difficulty : Supposing the Avages in New York Avere higher than the Avages in Washington. It Avould be hardly fair to ask the workers to come from NeAv York and Avork in Washington at their own trade at a less rate than they could get in NeAv York. There- fore by agreement it Avas arranged that whichever place was the highest the man going to a particular district Avould carry Avith him the highest rate ; that is to sav. if the rate at New York was hisrher BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAX LABOR. 19 than the rate at Washington, he woukl make the Xew York rate in Washington. If, on the other hand. Washington was the highest and the man came from New York, he would i-eceive the AA'ashington rate if it happened to be higher than the other. But in addition there was naturally a domestic difficulty which would arise, namely, that the man would be leaving his family in New Y'ork. The GoAernment undertook to pay a subsistence allow- ance of IT shillings and 6 pence per week to evei-y man who had de- pendents, so that the Avages that he earned in the ueAv place, as it were, Avould practically go to the maintenance of his family, and the subsistence allowance practically kept him in the particidar town where he Avas. By that means many thousands of volunteers Avere «»nrolled, and that difficulty Avas gotten OAcr. In addition, of course, the railroads were empoAA^ered to issue free passes to them so that either once a fortnight or once a month, as the case might be, they were giA-en free traveling alloAvance to their homes. Incidentally I may say that the railroads are under State control. That Avas brought about for this reason, that there are 51 railroad companies in Great Britain. When Avar broke out. I may privately say, we were committed to France for the conveyance of an expeditionary force of 160,000. The result Avas that when war broke out the 160,000 men, with all equipment of Avar, had to be immediately transferred to the other side of the channel. Noav. clearly, if the railroad companies issue a ticket to every soldier, and transportation for CAery horse, every gun, and so on, there would be as many men and women engaged in the checking of Avhat they were carrying as there would be in the carrying of them. In addi- tion to that, between the 51 companies — they Avere probably coming from Scotland to Southampton— they Avould run over five different railroads and therefore a regular clearing house Avould be engaged on those five raihvays in ascertaining Avhat was the exact proportion due to each particular company, with the result that there would be not only confusion and delay, but an obvious Avaste of labor, Avhich was vital at that stage. Therefore, the Government immediately took over the railroads and the basis upon which they took them over was this: They said to them, "We Avill not quibble about Avhat you are going to carry or what you Avill not, but Avhatever your profits were in 1914 we 'will guarantee you those same profits during the period of -the war." The result Avas that some of the companies, to my OAvn personal knoAvledge, had to pay back to the treasury — not receive from them — many hundreds of thousands of pounds, because they had carried more traffic than they did in 1911; therefore, by the Government deal the Government had benefited thereby. Now, that is the system under which the railroads are run imder the general managers with the president of the board of trade as the chairman of the'executiA^e committee. That again, you Avill see, enables these free passes to be given Avith practically no expense to the Government because it makes no difference so far as then- revenue is concerned. But the most important point, so far as the Avorkers are con- cerned, was the giving up of Avhat Avas called the poAver to strike. Two things were discovered: First, that employers Avere offering men more money to come to them on certain jobs than they Avere getting on Government Avork ; that is to say, an employer wanting a boiler- 20 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. maker or a machinist Avould say, " I will give you 5 shillings per week more to come to me than you are getting on that work." Although the man there msij be making guns, this other man was doing private work, and you can quite conceive how this policy was disastrous for those men to be taken from essential work and put on nonessential work so far as the war was concerned. The Government therefore introduced, by agreement with the trades unions, the muni- tions act, and that act prevented a man leaving his employment to go to another emploj^er, but it also did this, that if the employer in the district was not paying the trades-unions' standard — whatever it was — that man could not be refused a leaving certificate, with a result that by the act it automatically brought up bad employers absolutely to the same level, because it assured the district rate apply- ing to all. On the other hand, it took the power to strike away from ihe men, but it gave this advantage, that while it took the power to strike away it did set up machinery for the creation of the arbitration courts Avhereby men's grievances were examined. These are only a few of the many things, and subsequent speakers will deal with others. They are only a few of the things we have done. We have done them because we believe that the cause to which your countrj^, now with ours, is committed is of so paramount im- portance not only to democracy, not only to labor, but to the future of the world, that no sacrifice ought to be too great to insure victory for the allied cause. [Applause.] I am not going to disguise the fact that there are men in all coun- tries who are prepared to take advantage for their own personal aims; they are not limited to any one class; they are not limited to workers any more than they are limited to employers. There are vices and virtues in all kinds of people, but, friends, when we talk about sacrifice, if you could only visit, as some of us have done, the battle fields of France and Flanders and see the devastated homes, if you in the early stages could have seen the women and their faces who had fled from the Germans in the early stages of war and heard their tales you would really appreciate what sacrifice really meant. I remember on the road to Bethune, going to the cemetery where 1.500 of our gallant Scotch Highlanders were mowed down in Oc- tober, 1914, and I looked at those graves — every one of them indi- cated by a small little cross — giving the name of the soldier and the regiment, and beyond what was then a cemetery there was standing isolated a grave by itself. I went over to that little grave, and it there said, " Here lies an unknown British soldier buried the 14th of October, 1914," and on that grave was a wreath of wild flowers — we call them buttercups and daisies — and I said to the officer who was with me, " Who put those flowers on the grave? " He replied, " Mr. Thomas, both in France and in Belgium wherever there is an un- known soldier's grave the children gather the wild flowers and put rhem on the grave." That, friends, may be mere sentiment, but it is a beautiful senti- ment. It expresses after all the appreciation of a people who have suffered. You people, as I have said previously, have not yet realized the horrors of the war. Do not make the mistake of assuming, as we did, that the war will be over in five minutes. Do not assume that the entry of your great people, with all your power, influence, and wealth, simply means the ending of the war. I do not believe it BRITISH LABOr/s WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 21 will be anything of the kind. There are many sacrifices to be made. Many people will die. but they will die in order that liberty may win.* To the employers I would say remember that the protection of this great State has enabled you to enmass your wealth with the assistance of labor. You have a duty to recognize that in the world war selfish interests must be obliterated. To the worker I would say in spite of all your struggles and diffi- culties remember that there is something higher than mere material gain, and if both sides approach the question in that spirit I am satisfied that common spirit will find a reflex when the war is over and a better standing by all sections of people will be reached. I can look to the time when the war will be over, when peace will have been won, and the American, the English, the French, the Serbian, and the Russian soldier will say, "We fought together in defense of our country. We will now fight together to make our country worth living in." Yea, I can see the German soldier, who is now the enemy, saying, " I fought for the Fatherland ; I fought be- cause I was a victim; I had to fight; but your victory and my defeat have paved the way to my liberty and my salvation, and the ending of this war vvill not only be a victory for the allied cause but a triumph for civilization. [Applause.] The Chairman. I think it would be best to defer any questions being put to these speakers until after all have been heard, for, as a matter of fact, some of the speakers may really anticipate the ques- tion you have in mind to put. I now take pleasure in presenting to you the secretary of the British trade-union movement, the Right Hon. Charles W. Bower- man, Member of Parliament. [Applause.] Mr. BowERMAN. Mr. President, friends, ladies, and gentlemen, I think you will readily understand the reason why I gave way to my friend and colleague, Mr. Thomas. I have derived as much pleasure from his speech as you have, judging from your applause, and I want to refer, Mr. President, to these personal facts so far as Mr. Thomas is concei;ned, and I do not think he will mind my re- ferring to them. No member in the labor party in the House of Commons has been more vigorous in the support of the Govern- ment throughout all their war measures than has my friend Thomas. Within the past four months, had he so chosen, he could have ac- cepted a very prominent appointment as a minister of the Crown, but he placed his trade-union work first before his political oppor- tunities, and he made reply to the prime minister that underthe cir- cumstances he must decline to accept that very high position of trust. [Applause.] My remarks will be very brief, indeed. I want to refer to three or four points dealing more especially with the trade-union side oi our work, and I take it that is the" side in which you are most in- terested. Labor in our country has, from the beginning of the war, been taken into the confidence of the Government, the Government seek- ing its cooperation on every conceivable occasion, and that has been one of the greatest factors in making matters proceed smoothly. We have had differences of opinion in our country, as you no doubt will have differences of opinion here, regarding certain issues in- volved in the war, but in justice to our side of the hearing point, as 22 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. you call it, there has been no doubt as to the position of organized labor there. From the very moment when those unfortunate refu- gees from Belgium landed on our shores, our fellow companions in trade-union movement were animated by one spirit alone, to come to the rescue and the defense of those helpless men, women, and chil- dren, and endeavor by their strength to restore them to their country at the earliest possible moment. M.J office happens to be in a building in the heart of London, first called the Strand — I have no doubt your President knows it well — in which a committee was set up, known as the Belgium refugees com- mittee ; and morning after morning, for something like four months, I saw and all of my colleagues saw grandmothers, daughters, daugh- ters' children, old men, hundreds and hundreds, day by day, stream- ing into that office^ with their little parcels, brown paper in some cases, with a wickerwork box in others, and their belongings brought with them and carried b}'^ the children themselves. There they were, ruthlessly sent out from their own country by the greatest military juggernaut that our world has ever seen. God help the men and God help the women who would stand at that door and see those helpless people trickling into the building day in and day out. God help the man in particular who would not say to himself, " By heaven, give me the means, give me a rifle, or give me something whereb}^ I can strike a blow for these people who have been rendered helpless and their homes and their country overridden by that great military power." That is the spirit of our men. It was the fact that the Ger- man rulers had dishonored their nation, and it was that spirit that animated our men. and. as Mr. Thomas has said, within a very few months of the outbreak of the war we had the spectacle of something like 3,000,000 of our men— 3,000,000 of our men did not hesitate. You know what they have endeavored to do. I am not going to go too far. but I will say if they have not been able to restore the Bel- giums to their own country, yet they have prevented the German armies from overrunning France ; they gave the French nation time to breathe again and. to use a common expression, get their second wind; and if our little army did nothing but that — and by heaven there are not many of them left — they have done something which, when the history of this^ world is written, will redound to the credit of the men who left our shores two and one-half years ago. [Ap- plause.] I want to deal with three or four points that will be of interest to you. A question was raised in this room a day or two ago regarding exemptions of men for military service ; that is, the exemption of men not because they do not want to take their share of national defense, but because their services can be better utilized in other directions; and before our military service act came into operation— in other words, conscription — the parliamentary committee approached the war office authorities, and it was pointed out to them that it was absolutely necessarj^ that a large number of trade-union officials, men who were what we call prominent officials — it was absolutely necessary that the services of those men should be retained in order to deal with any questions that might arise in their own particular trades. Those trades were mainly engineering, shipbuilding, and that kind of thing. We were met in a very ready spirit by the war office ; they recognized that it was to the national interest "that, side BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 23 by side with the big armies that were being raised, the trade-union organizations should not only be allowed to proceed with their work, but should retain the benefit of the services of many of their chief officials: and we communicated Avith each trade-union, told them the position, sent them a schedule to fill up, and asked them to return to us the name or names of the men who, by the executive committee or members, were considered to be indispensable to the continued use- fulness of their organization. I will not give the exact number, but there was a large number of names sent into the war office, and at least 50 per cent of those names were accepted by the war office, and the men are noAv still conducting the work Qf their respective unions. That has been recognized as a sound thing to do. There has not been one word in the public press of our country pointing to the fact that -certain trade-union officials were exempted. The reason for that is this, because the Government — as Mr. Thomas has said^were wise enough to consult labor in every stage of the war. Let me say upon that, conferences similar to this were called at the request of the prime minister. We had conferences not only with the prime minister present, Mr. Asquith, but with Lord Kitchener, Lloyd- George, and two or three other cabinet ministers, probably for the first time in our history meeting us on our own ground, coming from their respective offices and meeting a representative body of trade- unionists as we are meeting a representative body this morning. The public at large has recognized the fact that labor had well responded to the invitation of the Government: that labor had made u\) its mind to do all it could to strengthen the Government in its actions: and for that reason not one Avord has been said regarding the exemp- tion of certain trade-union officials from that particular act of Par- liament. I take it that that is a point which you. in turn, will consider, because Ave understand that conscription is to be the ruling principle here, and })ossibly you, like ourselves, will find it necessary to make an application of that kind. Mr. Thomas has referred to the dilu- tion of labor, and it is true there are many thousands of women who haA'e been introduced into various branches of industry. I AAant to give you a case affecting the printers. I do not knoAv that Ave printers are particidarly conservative, but up until June of last year we had refused certain requests by certain employers that Avomen should be alloAved to go into their industry. Strange to say — there is no em- ployer in this room Avho Avill mind my saying this, because they must be good employers, or otherAvise tliey Avould not be present in this room — there Avas a certain class of employers in the printing trade who, any time during the past 20 years, have Avished the union to alloAv AAomen to be introduced into certain phases of that industry, and we men have ahvays successfully resisted that. But immediately Avhen this war broke out the old request came forward again: they wanted us to meet them in conference Avith a vieAv to Avomen bein^ introduced into the trade. We put. I might say, '' our feet doAvn " again, and so things went on until June of last year. Then there Avere three directions in Avhich man labor Avas not of sufficient quan tity, and Ave agreed to meet in conference under the auspices of a Government department, namely, the home office. It was a very friendly conference, and an agreement was draAvn up: and this is the point I Avant to emphasize in connection with the agreement. 24 BEITISH LABOR S WAE MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. First of all, before any woman — I speak of them with the greatest respect — can be introduced into the printing industry in England it must be made absolutely clear and certain that male labor can not be obtained; and if, as Mr. Thomas has said, male labor is short in the printing trade in one district but ample in another, the employers in the district in which male labor is short will not be allowed to introduce women so long as male labor can be supplied from any distance outside of that particular area. But more important still is this, that before an employer can act he must consult a local com- mittee of local employers of labor— local representatives of workmen and the Goverimient in this agreement have stipulated that no woman shall be introduced into any section of the printing trade in which, first of all, that local representative committee has not been first consulted. So there, you see, we have safeguarded ourselves not in an obstreperous manner but in defense of the rights we have secured by our combination. Obviously we are not prepared, as you are not prepared, at the request of a dozen or more employees, to throw aside all those safeguards that cost you, and those that have preceded you, not only many anxious hours but many large sums of money to secure. We are not prepared to forego those rights at the mere request of employers. Therefore we have safeguarded the position of the men, ancl we have attached considerable importance to setting up of local committees, because those men know the local conditions, and they have got their national organization to refer to if necessary. We feel that the interests of our workmen are thereby safeguarded, and I think the employers should have the same feeling that their interests are also safeguarded by that kind of machinery. Let me refer you to the question of labor as affecting docks. I will refer you to Liverpool, Southampton, and 30 or 40 docks, some more important than others. We found there in the early stages of the war that there was great difficulty in handling the cargoes, that the boats came in and they had to lie in the river in some cases for days and in some cases for weeks. It became a serious matter to see our ports congested and our men working like " niggers," and at last it was suggested that battalions of men should be formed. I used the word " battalions," because Lord Kitchener was resjDonsible for the suggestion. By the way, Lord Kitchener went down to Liverpool one day, and almost one of the first things he did was to go to the trades-union office. I am not aware in the history of our country that the war secretary of our countrj^, or of any other country, has ever done that. But he went to Jim Sexton's office, and the result of the interview was this, that the dock laborers' union agreed that a cer- tain number of their members should join the army, not for military purposes but in order to be able to go 10, 15, or 20 miles away from the particular district of Liverpool in order to assist in unloading vessels. Further than that, every member of that battalion was to be a trade-unionist, and if he forfeited his trade-union position he would be turned out of the army. That may be somewhat a singular thing to you, but that is still the position there. In London I think we have something like 10,000 men, dock workers, in military uni- forms, and all they are asked to do is this: Say, for instance, at a dock 20 miles down the river, if there is excess work there which the local men can not handle, then men are drafted from this battalion BEITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 25 and sent clown by express speed in order to handle the work there Ihat can be done by the 30 military officei-s. There again a local committee has been set up. consisting of a representative of the Avar office, a representative of the Admiralty, a representative of the port of London, and a representative of labor. Those four men have to be consulted before either 1 man or 10,000 of these men can be transferred from London itself to an outlying port. There again is labor taking its share, and, so far as I know, that system has worked splendidly and has been the means of reliev- ing the congestion at our various ports, and so much so that I think now, and, in fact, for the last 9 or 10 months, there has not been the slightest difficulty in handling any cargo that came along. So. w^hile these men are there in military uniform, they are not there for mili- tary service, but when they are transferred"^ to some other dock, in addition to the military pay, they receive the ordinary civilian pay, and if they work overtime they receive pay for overtime: if they work Sunda}^ they get double pay. They have the same rights as the civilians, and so far as the pay is concerned and working conditions, and the only alteration of these men is that they wear the King's uniform. After the munitions war act was passed the Government decided to set up Avhat was called a national advisory committee on war out- put. It only consisted of seven men, all labor representatives — not a joint committee of employers and workmen, but workmen alone. The duty of that committee was to receive any complaint that might arise in various parts of Great Britain with regard to the carrying out of the munitions act. Questions of necessity must arise where large bodies of men are at work. Men might be transferred from London to New Castle and there might be some question about the wage, and if it was not settled in a frendly way with the employer, then they could send it up to London. The work became so heavy that at least something like 70 local committees were set up, work- men's committees, men representing the standard trades in connec- tion with the war, and those committees have done excellent work. I am sure the Government will recognize their work as having been excellent. There is a gentleman here to-day from the munitioiis department who will agree Avith me, I think, when I say that the work of these committees in the main has been well carried out and they have been helpful in scores and scores of cases in preventing disputes arising in munitions areas which, if they had arisen, may have caused serious consequence in so far as delaying the work was concerned. Of course, there w^as the right of appeal to the Govern- ment, the right of appeal to the munitions department, but on the whole those committees have worked well, and that is another indica- tion of the direction in which the Government has been content to set up labor bodies in order to help deal Avith questions arising out of the administration of the particular act of Parliament. There is a further matter I would like to refer to, Mr. President. Obviously, Avhen large bodies of men are transferred from a hirge city to a smaller citv, in some cases as many as 1,000 men have been drafted from one place to another— I am speaking of the ordinary civilian mechanic— and it has not always been an easy matter to find housing accommodations for these men. It was soon found that there Avas an inclination to private housing for those at the expense 26 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAIST LABOR. of other people. In other words, soldiers' families were residing in apartments and houses, in an ordinary residence, and so on, people not engaged in munition work, and there was an increasing tendency in order to provide room for the influx of labor to give these people notice to terminate their agreements not only to find room for the newcomers but to welcome them by claiming a much higher rate from them than they were receiving from the old tenants. Our Government was shrewd enough — and shall I say generous enough — to see the risk that was being run. But above and beyond every- thing was this consideration, that here were our men struggling on the other side of the Channel ; here were their wives and children at home running the risk of being deprived of their rooms in order that the landlord or the property owner may get a little higher rent from somebody else. The Government passed a very strong act, called the rent act, and under the terms of that act of Parliament no prop- erty owner or no landlord dared turn out either the wife or the family of a soldier or of the ordinary civilian following his ordinary occupation. [Applause.] If he darecl to raise the rent to the extent of sixpence, he would incur a penalty under this act. As I say. it is not a large act, but a very important one. That is one of the things that is valuable in itself out of the war. The act will be operative for at least six months after the war, and if we get a sufficiently democratic government as the result of an election which must be fought before that period there may be just a chance of that act remaining a part of the permanent statutes. I must not inflict myself longer upon you, and I understand ques- tions will be put to my friend Mr. Thomas and myself, and we will be only too delighted to answer them. Therefore may I say in con- clusion this: Certain incidents arose. I will not refer to the par- ticular incidents, but one incident in particular, and others arose in this countr^^ or affecting this country which I feel sure must have aroused the indignation of every citizen of this great Continent of America. We, from our 3,000 miles distance, wondered what the feeling of this great people was on this particular occasion. Time went by, and we hoped — we did not ask. We knew Avhat our people were undergoing better than yourselves. But, as I say, we hopecl — we did not ask, but we waited ; and not so many weeks ago we in the old country took up our morning papers and read, with a degree of pleasure which I really could not express in words, that magnificent message which the First Citizen of the United States delivered to Congress. [Applause.] My feeling then, _Mr. President, was this : Great as this country was prior to the delivery of that message, great as it always will re- main, must remain, America was never greater in the eyes of the. world than it was after the delivery of that speech. [Applause.] When the history of this world is written, when the deeds of valor have been written in polished language, as they will be by the future historians, when those deeds of valor will not only redound to the high creclit of the old country and incidentally to yourselves among all the diplomatic matters that have arisen in connection with this war, nothing will go down in history, in my judgment, that will stand out more prominently in history than the message to which I BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. " 27 referred. In my judgment it will become one of the classics of the ages that are to follow. Now, you have taken the plunge, you have determined with the same strength of purpose, in my judgment, and the same clearness of vision as our own people. You have determined that the time has arrived when you must take off your coats and stand shoulder to shoulder to the allies. ^Ve hope for much from that. Fi-ance an- ticipates much from that, and I can not anticipate a greater thrill to the French people when they find your first detachment of men on their soil and your glorious flag of liberty floating over these men. 1 can not conceive a greater delight to those men and a greater en- thusiasm. Our men will be equally joyous, but I do appeal to labor, as I see it here, and I do appeal to labor outside this room, that there will be heavy sacrifices to make both on the military and on the naval side as well as on the civilian side, but I have sufficient knowledge, I think, of American labor as represented by the fine men you send over to our country year by year. I have sufficient knowl- <^dge. may I say, to feel this, that having set your eyes toward France, having determined to avenge the insults which have been leveled at this great people, that you are going to take your part in bringing this awful Avar to a successful conclusion. I do not care what the strength of your detachments may be ; I do not care what the strength of your Navy may be, but I do know this, that you, with us, will be animated with one spirit and one desire alone, to uphold that which l^reviously we looked upon as humanitarian and civilizing influences, Avhicli sometimes I have asked the question, what has been the value of our boasted civilization and all the religious teachings of the past centuries? I ask myself that question as the first question when there was a declaration of war. When we have seen what has been done, when w'e have seen the horror of men going into battle, and they are prepared to make the supreme sacrifice, and the horrible Things, the foul things that ruling authorities of Germany could be guilty of, the desire must be to bring back to the minds of civiliza- tion, to the civilized world, that humanity has its rights and that you. with us. are out in order to defend to the uttermost those glorious rights which, without them, we should really be living in a state of barbarism. It is up to you to help the allies in bringing back to the miuds of the people of the world that there are rights to be conserved, there are rights that we are fighting for, and with that spirit and with that animation Ave are satisfied on our side that everything will be Avell when the curtain rings down on this horrible catastrophe. [Applause.] The Chairman. I should very much like that all of you who are here in attendance at this conference Avould remain, so that when Ave take our noonday recess we may do so in an orderly fashion rather than having the conference become utterly disturbed by one and another leaving. I may say. too, that Ave would like to have the name and address and the association or organization represented of every lady and gentleman a member of this committee. There is a register provided, and Ave would like to haA^e you register during some time iu the day. In order that Ave mav keep our engagement with the President it will be necessary to take a recess somewhat earlier than we otherAvise 28 BRITISH LABOE S WAR MESSAGE TO AMEEICAX LABOE. would, SO that you may have an opportunity to have a little lunch and reconvene or proceed immediately to the White House. Then, again,- the popular fad has made itself manifest by a recjuest of the camera men and moving-picture men^ that a group picture and an animated picture may be taken of all those Avho are participating in this meeting. Unless there is real fundamental objection, perhaps fearing that a U boat or an aircraft may bombard us at some time when we are unprepared, I assume you do not mind entering the moving-picture profession. Mr. O'CoNNELL. Mr. Gompers, the body will gather at the east entrance of the White House at 2.15. We will have 15 minutes in order to line up and walk into the White House. The Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, let me say that all those who enter the White House will have to be identified by some one whom I shall designate. I will appoint those Avho have the largest personal acquaintance of the participants in this meeting. I will ask Mr. Easley, Mr. Morrison, Mr. McSorley, and Miss Beeks to aid in that connection. Please be at the east entrance to the White House a little before 2.15, so that you may take your positions and identify those who can enter the White House to meet the President. I will say, too, that the committee has arranged for a badge, printed on blue silk, reading, " Representative of Committee on Labor, Washington, D. C.^, May 15, 1917," with a miniature American flag attached to a button, making a complete badge. The flags will be distributed to the members of the committee in attendance when we take a recess. We surely have time enough now to hear from another direct rep- resentative. We have a number of them, but I am sure you will agree with me that what has already been stated to you is a guaranty that there will not be one moment wasted, but on the contrary it will be profitably employed. I now ask Mr. Joseph Davies to tell us some- thing. Mr. Davies is private secretary to Lloyd-George, and he came over with Mr. Bowerman, and Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Garrod, who is one of the representatives on the board of munitions. It was my good fortune to hear him yesterday make his statement to the Council of National Defense. That statement, together with the personal conversations, warrants me in saying to you that you Avill hear some- thing of deepest and the keenest interest, as has been demonstrated by the experience of the minister of munitions and their assistants and the workers in Great Britain. I have the great pleasure of presenting to you Mr. Garrod, as Mr. Davies is not in the room at the present time. Mr. Gabrod. Mr. Gompers and gentlemen, I am going to be very brief indeed. First, I want, and I am sure we all want, to give a chance to our colleagues from Canada, and certainly I feel that any- thing I can say is bound to be extraordinarily flat after the most mov- ing speech which we listened to from Mr. Thomas. When I listened to that speech I really thought that all we had done in the war was certainly better than one would have thought possible. You can have gathered from what Mr. Gompers has said that I am neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. I am not a labor man, not an employer, but I represent a government department, whose role is to hold the balance between contending labor and capital and to earn the good will of both sides. But I am not altogether serious about that, be- BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 29 cause I think we do arrange a certain simonnt of good will and Ave have, as a department, done a certain amount of good work. But what I do want to say to you is this: That any good work by which we have arranged that good will could only have been done by that hearty cooperation which labor has given to us. Mr. Bowerman has described to you, and in some degree Mr. Thomas, the method we have always pursued throughout the war. No legislative enactment dealing with labor has gone before the House of Commons which has not first been in conference between the minister of munitions and the representatives of organized labor, and organized labor, let me sixj. has always come to those conferences in the only spirit possi- ble, that is to say, in the spirit of sacrifice. I spoke yesterday to the war cabinet, and I said there something that I want to repeat again here about the sacrifice made by labor. I said there that it is not hard for men on the battle field in a great cause to toss their lives away. That is a great sacrifice, but it is one which the war has shown that men make gladly and almost uncon- cernedly. But there is another sacrifice which a nation is called upon to make in a great time like the present; every class, employer and employee, has got to make the sacrifice of his own prejudices and his most cherished convictions, and it is not easy to do that when you are apart from the battle field and the trenches and when you have not the applause of your own class, and when you have not even got your own applause. That is in some way, I think, the hardest of all sacri- fice, and throughout the war, let me say, speaking for the depart- ment which in England has dealt so much with labor, that is a sacri- fice which labor has made in a most splendid fashion. [Applause.] What I should say, if I could offer any advice to labor and to em- ployers as they sit here, would be that they should lose no time, no matter whether the "vvar is going to be long or short, in coming to con- ference and in a spirit of sacrifice. We are out to win this war, but we have also got a much wider task than that. We are out to win the war, but we have also, after that, to in some sense reorganize the world. We can only do that, I believe, on the lines on which in my own country we have already started. We must get labor and gov- ernment and capital together. We must get them working together and get them at conferences, and we must create between them a spirit of confidence by which they may work together loyally and without faltering in order to overcome the ravages of war. [Applause.] The Chairman. It would be in order now to call upon Judge Amos, who. is a member of the British commission, the envoys of that country, to participate in the conferences which are being held with representatives of the Government, and in part I say that you. as members of my committee, are part of the governmental functions of the United States. I should then call upon the labor men represent- ing the Canadian Government. But there is a gentleman who is with us just now who was just able to get here a few minutes ago. He is the first vice president of the American Federation of Labor. He has been appointed by the President of the United States to be a member of the commission to go to Russia and bring the Avord of greeting from the democracy of America to the new democracy of Russia. I am going to ask Mr. James Duncan to address this con- ference briefly, and I now have the pleasure of presenting Mr. Duncan to you. [Applause.] 30 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. Mr. James Duncan. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, fellow workers in the great cause of humanity, I am very glad to have this opportunity to meet so many of you before I start upon a long jour- ney. I received very sudden information on Friday evening to come to Washington right away, and as I at least once heard one young lady say, I express the same thought, " It is very sudden." How- ever, I was able to arrange my affairs as best I could and had a very interesting conference with the President of the United States and the Secretary of State, Mr. Lansing, yesterday, being photographed and having m}?^ record written up for the rogues' gallery, and all those things that diplomats go through, and I leave this afternoon for a long journe3^ I can not give you the details because I am not posted in that kind of diplomacy, and while they have supplied me with some instructions, when it came to the route and the dates there was a blank, and I was told I would be under Gen. Scott, of the Army, for some time at least, and then he would turn me over to Admiral Glennan, of the United States Navy. So we will leave some port of the United States for some port on the other side, and if fortune then favors us we will then make our way by land to Petro- gracl, Russia. The object of sending the commission, and especially in so far as I am concerned, as one of you and representing you, is to carry a message of good-will not only from the organized-labor movement of the United States of America, and in so far as the American Federa- tion of Labor is concerned for Canada, but for all the people to carry a message of love and esteem to the young democracy of new Russia. Our commission is not going there to dictate to them what they should do, or to interfere in their political affairs. We are to advise them and give them such information as would be of value to them in establishing their new democracy, and, incidentalh^, instead of criticizing or dictating, to ask them in what manner the people of the United States, and incidentally the organized workers of North America can be of service and help them in their present crisis. I fully realize the great responsibility of the commission and with the same spirit backed up by your support for these many years, I shall endeavor to do the level best that is in me to represent you and all the people of the country in that message and in that work. Incidentall3^ when coming to the hall this morning, I thought of the gTeat change that has taken place in the last few years. In 1886 my side partner. President Gompers, and I for sometime past have been the only two delegates who have been attending the American Federation of Labor conventions who were present at the first meet- ing of the American Federation of Labor under its present title in Columbus, Ohio, in November or December of 1886. At that time the organized movement throughout the country had difficulty some- times in getting public halls in which to meet. The press was not with us. If we got a report in the press it was in agate type in the last column on the last page and in the lower end of the last column. In fact, I think they used it as a filler and they did not shed any tears if the make-up man left it out. At the present time the great change which has taken place is not noticeable on the Continent of Europe but among ourselves. This magnificent meeting is an evidence of it and to have one of your number selected by the President of the United States to go upon BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 31 a mission like this is a great honor, I consider it, to the organized- labor movement of North America. [Applause.] It is in part a fulfillment of some of the most recent pugent dec- larations by the American Federation of Labor, that in so far as governmental functions are concerned, organized labor should be represented in some capacity. Senator Root is the ambassador extraordinary, and, so far as diplomac}^ is concerned in governmental affairs, the responsibility of that will rest upon him. By his rank he is entitled to it — he is ex- Secretary of State and was Senator so long and perhaps has as active a brain as any man in the United States of America. We may not at all agree with his politics, but we all agree with his greatness, with his reasoning and the most excellent manner in which he has in a 5 or 10 minutes' speech put more meat into a speech than most any of our public writers or orators. I shall endeavor to do the best I can to conform to the views of the others, having in mind the labor movement here and to do what I can to help the working people of Russia to keep in line, perhaps yielding a point here and there with the other groups in order that they may establish a stable democratic government. I feel if they are level headed upon the subject that they Avill be able to do so. Naturally, they have been held down for a long time in that great country, and, almost on the snap of a finger having gotten their freedom, it will take them a little time to know what they have to do. There will therefore be contentions in the European labor movements and there will be clashing, but we are hopeful that all of that will be rubbed off in time; and from the fact that the leaders in the army take sides with the working people and are meet- ing in council with them at the present time, it looks to me as if there is little doubt but that the army will remain with the working groups, because if they falter and then an army of absolutism is established, it Avill be the first duty of that absolute monarchy to see to it that the heads of the army be immediately cut off because of having stood for what the Czar's family stood for. I think they will therefore be bound to stand pat upon that, and with such advice, per- haps, as they may get from other countries, especially from this country, France, and Great Britain, they will be discouraged in their work. It is a most pleasing thing to drop in for a few minutes and find our colleagues from Great Britain. It shows that Great Britain is recognizing the labor movement as being one of the greatest move- ments in the great make-up of the great country. I have known most of those who are here, have met them, and have admired their great work, and if God is kind to us and He may settle this dispute in P^urope within the next month or two I might then have an opportunity to meet them; and if I have a chance to get back that way to leave a message there of what I have been able to accomplish, it will afford me a great deal of pleasure. [Applause.] The Chairman. I am going to ask Judge Amos, who is a member of the British delegation sent here by the British Government, to say something to us. I had the pleasure and honor of being intro- duced to the judge this morning and of meeting him for the first time. I am told that he delivered an address in New York City quite recently. The Lord is with us and will remain with us. The state- 32 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. ment was made to me that the address which Judge iVmos delivered in NeAv York, almost in the same words, or in the same thought, or anything that he desires to express, w^ould be appropriate at this time, and I have the honer of presenting to you Judge Amos. [Ap- plause.] Judge Amos. Mr. President, I certainly have no intention of ad- dressing you at as great length that I did in New York. I am afraid m}^ speech lasted for at least an hour, and T hope I shall not detain you more than 10 minutes. I feel, Mr. Gompers, after the speeches we have heard this morn- ing, anything I will say will appear to be flat and technical. We have heard speeches from Mr. Thomas and Mr. Bowerman, who have taken a very responsible share in shaping the great masses of policy in England, and I have had no such experience. But I have had con- siderable experience in the bureau of munitions, which, in our opin- ion, has grappled with a problem which is rather a novel one. Our minister thought it worth while to attach me to the British commis- sion for the purpose of going on the witness stand when called upon to do so to explain the way in which we have dealt with the problem which, at the beginning of the organization, may not have occurred to you. The problem is this: In times of peace the conduct of industry, the question of what shall be manufactured and what men shall labor at, what machinery shall be employed for, what material should be used for, is left with satisfactory results to the laws of supply and demand. Manufacturers use their plants for a product for which they can get the greatest money reward. That is impossible in war time. When a great war breaks out we realize a great new element comes into the market, the Government, and it wants enormous amounts of entirely novel kinds of supplies, and those requirements naturally upset the entire organization of industry. Quite apart from the fact in England and France at the outbreak of the war, hundreds of thousands of men left their employment, there was this great demand of the Government for holding new activities. The question that has to be met is, How are you going to shepherd indus- try into the new channels? You could clo it by the Government offering for everything it wanted a price so attractive to labor and to the manufacturer that people would be tumbling over each other to do what the Government suggested. But that would be a solu- tion of a problem which would lead to confusion in a short time, and you have to use other devices. In order to get men for the army we appealed to the principle of patriotism; but we now come to learn, and you have come to the same conclusion, that that was rather a wasteful way of doing it, to rely on that exclusively, and it would lead to many undesirable results. About 200,000 of our miners went to the front in the first two months, and that was too many. That is what lead us to army drafting. That is one of the ways we had to guide people, to tell them what was wanted. It seems easy at first blush to say it is a simple thing to issue instructions to the public, to the manufacturer and to labor, to put Government work first. But when one pauses to reflect, one perceives that is almost impos- sible. It is not only real work you want done, but you have to keep the nation alive, you must keep the railways running, you must keep your towns in a state of sanitation, you must keep your food supplies BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 33 iioing. SO war work is an insiitHcient description of what must l)e absolutely attended to in order to keep going normally. If you come to the question of war work, I will asl< what is war work i It is easy enough to give examples, such as the manufactur- ing of rifles and explosives; but we come down to a little more (bfli- cut (]uestion. Those who heard me speak in New York yesterday must pardon my taking the same example that I did there. Let us suppose there is a man manufacturing a machine, and he knows it is a machine for drawing Avire. An order has been placed with him by a man who is a manufacturer of Avire. The manufacturer of wire knows he is going to numufacture wire nails; the man avIio manu- factures nails has an order fr(m) a man who has a contract for boxes, and the man who has a conti-act for boxes has an ordei- from a man who makes munitions. But how does the man wiio manufactures the machines for draAving Avire know that it is for Avar Avork ^ That i> a problem Avhich arises in tAvo forms; it arises Avith regard to deter- mination of Avhat work a manufacturer should put forth in his shop, and it is a problem that arises with regard to the decision of the (juestion of what men shall be allowed to go to the army and what men shall be re<|uired to stay at their ordinary industry. It is not a (luestion that can be decided immediately but one that needs a great amount of adjudication, instructions, confei-ences. decisions; and it needs a large amount of machinery. We were very conscious in the early days of the Avar that the workmen in the factories wanted to knoAv that they were on Avar woi'k. If a man was not on war work, he wanted to get onto it. HoAV are you going to tell him ^ There is a certain temjjtation of the employer to strain the point in order to tell him, as he desires to knoAV. Well, suppose a man is manufacturing shafting, he has re- cently delivered a certain amount of shafting to a factory Avliich he knows is extenduig itself to take gun contracts. He would be rather apt to go on and say that all the shafting he was making was for war Avork, and once caught doing that he Avill destroy the confidence of his employees that the work Avhich they are doing is Avar work, and it becomes urgent upon the (iovernment to find some means by which (he truth can be told not only to the Aviirkmen, but to the subcon- tractor. The maclunery set up in England grcAv slowly, ajul we by no means realized the importance of this problem. You have the natural c(mipetiti(m betAveen the govermnental de- partments, all trying to pi-ess forward theii- Avork as the most impor- tant. You have the competition betAveen the War Department and the Xavy Depai'tment, and so on all aiound. all wanting (o get the work of theii- department pressed forward first. You also have a natural and a ])r()per competition betAveen the immediate require- ments for Avar supplies and the re(]uirenuMits of industries. You_ Avant to keep your industries alive as far as possible, and some of (hem are necessarv to the country, not only because they maintain vour. trade, but because they are' absolutely essential to the life oC the country. If you will ])ard Avork." r)V that we mean the work Avhich keeps the country alive. Class A is the woi-k re(|uired for the waging of S. Dec. S;4. (i.5~l •'{ 34 BRITISH LABOE/s WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. war. The machinery that we came to ultimately set up involved a committee in London representing as far as possible all conflicting interests represented by different departments of the Government. This body went to work trying to answer questions from all parts of the country, from manufacturers, representatives of labor, and different representatives of the Government, all arguing as to the degree of the unportance of the work they were engaged upon. The committee grappled for months in an attempt to answer these ques- tions one by one. There was a visionary invention tried which turned out to be a success, and it was the machinery under which every British citizen was made a Government official for the purpose of saying whether or not his work was war work. That sounds paradoxical, but I will explain how it was done. I may say in the first month at the starting of this machinery we isued a million forms a month, containing in the first a little code telling people in simple language, and we sacrified accuracy for simplicity, what was war work and what we considered work necessary to keep the country alive. War work, we said, was any contract placed by one of the fighting departments, the minister munitions, the war office, or the Admiralty. Any man who had a contract for one of those departments knew that he was on war Avork. Then we had certain definitions as to what was necessary to keep the country going, such as Tirgent repairs to industrial machinery, etc. The man who manu- factures does not know who is going to buy his stuff unless you help him and he will not be able to keep his stocks up to the level in com- petition with any kind of war work. So we have this little code. Then we practically sent broadcast to every citizen domiciled in Great Britain a pamphlet, and we said, " If you have a contract which comes within the definition of war work and you want to place a subcontract for buying your material, you are entitled to issue a certificate with your order, declaring that your said order is war work." Then the recipient of this certificate was under a duty to obey and to do this work first. If the certificate was given him by another private citizen, it was, nevertheless, a Government order. He in turn would give another certificate to another manufacturer and right along down the scale to bedrock. Take, for example, a man who has a contract for small-arms' munitions. That is by defi- nition war work, because the contract has been placed by the Army. That man wants boxes. He can issue a class A certificate ; the man who wants the nails issues a class A certificate, and all the way down the scale each of those men show on good authority that their work is wai- work. It is an instruction to the manufacturer; it is an instruction to the laborer, and he can ask. if necessary, to see the certificate. -but in any event it is authority to the manufacturer to put the appropriate label on the work, and there is a public interest at work to see that those labels are not abused, and we believe they were not abused at the outset more than in 5 per cent of the cases. The great advantage is that all that is to the good. I am persuaded that this is a problem which in a great industrial country like yours is one you will have to address yourselves to. The whole question of what is the most advantageous employment for men to be engaged upon in war time is not a simple question, but it needs a great deal of earnest cooperation to overcome. I think probably my colleague, Mr. Garrod, can talk witli more knowledge BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 35 than I, h\nn another side from which this (juestion lias been ap- proached. There has been an attempt to define certain classes of employment which are so importaiit that they are considered indis- pensable. Take, for instance, the transpoi-t workers, the men in the steel works, I shoidd say the men employed in farming — just the mere fact that the man is employed on them is a self-evident fact that he is employed on the most important work. There are some types of employment in England which are so insufficiently supplied — the very fact that insufficient men are work- ing in them is self-evident that there are not enough of them; they are too rare. Anybody can say he must not go to the army. One should say what he should do when he does not go to the army. I am sure your sessions here will have to assist in determining that question, and it Avill mean the most ardent and energetic cooperation of labor throughout the country to assist the Government in seeing to it that men who. owing to their peculiar skill or knowledge, are best left at their trade, to see to it that they are guided to do the work which is most urgently recjuired. I am afraid these things are rather arid before a meeting like this, but I must thank you for the opportunity of speaking to you. That is my gospel, Avhicli I was sent here to preach, and T Avant to impress upon 3'ou that organized labor can help determine and help shepherd men into places where they are most needed. Mr. Gompers has asked me to say a word aliout the system of con- trol, but I am not certain that I am the best man to describe that. T found when I first arrived in the United States that there was a belief current that the method of making manufacturers particularly do the right thing had been somewhat of a secret. I do not think that is accurate. I belicA^e, broadly speaking, it is correct to say that the (jovernment has proceeded on the double principle of buying people's work and making them want to sell. That is particularly true, I think, with regard to the manufacturers' point of view. Work is done by contract. People are not ordered to take contracts but they have been put in such position that they want it and that has become more and more evident as time goes on. In most industries there is no good of a man thinking he is going to be allowed to keep his shop running, or that he is going to get work unless he is on work which the Government wants him on. There is an impression in the United States that there are fac- tories in England which are under specific control, where everybody from the manager down has to do exactly what he is told by the (lov- ernment, and there is a man standing in uniform, somewhere, telling him what to do. That is entirely incorrect. We did not know that the rest of the world would be the critics of the language we chose. We call these remarkable instruments " tanks." But it is someAvhat excusable, that you should imagine that there Avas something ex- clusive aliout a controlled establishment here, but I remember for some months there Avas hardly anybody in the ministry of munitions Avho understood the thing correctly. Mr. Thomas has already described to you the kind of industrial treaty Avhich Mr. Lloyd-George set up under the munitions act, under which capital and labor both made concessions. Subject to correction I am almost ashamed to discuss these questions before 36 BBITISH LABOk's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN L-ABOR. some of the gentlemen who know the subjects far better than 1 do. This industrial treaty was put into operation in certain establish- ments which ^vere announced bv proclamation by the minister ; that is to say, the surrender of the right, or the manufacturer giving up a share of his profits in those establishments which were called controlled. This is what is meant by controlled establishments. There are now about 5,000 of them. In the first instance those estab- lishments were working on direct war work, but subsequently, by the (.peration of that which I have already described to you, Ave could not draw a line between war work and what was not. As the posi- tion gets tighter you get more interested in cencentrating all your energies toward seeing that nothing is wasted. The number of estab- lishments in which you want to have no waste of effort gets greater and greater and a very large number of establishments are now included under the heading of controlled establishments which would not have been put on that list before. But the main purpose, from the viewpoint of the Government, is to get increased output. I should also mention that various reasons have operated to increase the number of those establishments, and for one reason, I know at one time when the Government was anxious to get establishments controlled, it used to try to persuade the manufacturer that his profits would be estimated in a more liberal fashion by the minister of muni- tions than by the treasurer. I think the ultimate result was they found the treasurer was going to get after them, too. I must call attention to the fact that from the viewpoint of trying to get the Government work done, giving instructions, shepherding people into the right course of industry, that is the operation which we attempt to apply to all departments, all forms of activity in England which is not confined to these 5,000 establishments. These 5,000 establishments will be selected for a purpose for which the machinery is put in operation, but it has nothing to do with the general activity of trying to get everybody. Farms are not con- trolled establishments, but we are putting great effort into develop- ing agriculture. The big railroads, I believe, are not controlled establishments, but the same considerations apply to them. The notion that there are certain establishments in England which are under a particular kind of control by Govermiient is an inaccurate notion, due to an unfortunate use of the word. The whole machinery of the Government is applied in every corner and recess to get people on the job they are most fitted for and doing the most important work. [Applause.] The Chairman. It is now 1 o'clock, and I assume that it is only fair to interpret your desire to take a recess, but I desire to announce that after the representatives of labor, sent from Canada, speak to ns, the discussion will be wide open and every opportunity afforded for asking questions. "■ May I ask that Mdien we take a recess you will Avait in front of the building to accomnxodate the moving-picture people and probablv have a picture taken that mav be of interest to all of us? We are to meet at the east entrance of the White House at 2.15 — ■ not later. It is possible that no one will be admitted who arrive after 2.15. The committee I have requested to act is to identify those who are to enter the Wliite House and they will be there five BRTTTSH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 37 iiiiiiutes ahead of time at least. Immediately after meeting the President at 2.80, whenever that shall be concluded, we will come here and resume our session at once, havina: taken a little luncheon not later. It is possible that no one will be admitted who arrives here, and if you do not register i)lease send in your name and ad- dress to us. (Thereupon, at 1 o'clock p. m.. the committee took a recess, to meet at the eastern gate of the White House at 2.15 o'clock p. m.) At 2.15 o'clock p. m. the members of the committee met at the east entrance of the White House and were received by President Wilson at 2.80 o'clock p. m., when Chairman Gompers made the following; remarks : Chairman (iompp:i{s. Mr. President, the ladies and gentlemen who :ij)pear hvve form part of the committee on labor for tlie conserva- tion and welfare of the workers of the Council of National Defense. On April 2 we had our first meeting, a general meeting of all those who had accepted membership on that committee. Since then wp^ ha^e organized our 10 committees and divisional committees, all making an attempt at the comprehensive work delegated to my com- mittee. The executive committee of 11 has met several times, sometimes twice a week, other times once a week, but always a whole day was given to the meeting. My general committee, the executive com- mittee, as Avell as the other committees ai-e all made up of men and women of all walks of life. They consist of representative labor men and labor women, officers and representatives of the organized labor movement in their respective industries or trades, and the hirgest business men. the biggest captains of industry in all our country, and that means in all the world. We have college pro- fessors, publicists, public men. officers of our Army and of our Navy, men and women, as T say, who have given some service to tlie country in some form or other, and at my invitation have voluntarily accepted service in order to be helpful in the great cause in which our country is now engaged. During this struggle in which we ha\e just entered, and the sac- I'ifices of which we now have no conception, during that period of the great struggle that must ensue, we hope, not only as Ave confidently believe, that the great principles which you have so clearly and em- l)hatically declared to the world, will triumj)!!. that democracy must ])revail; it dare not be defeated. Humanity and civilization an^ the living ])rotests against it and we are of the opinion that the manhood and womanliood. the man power and the woman ])OAver. the con- sciousness that all oi.ii- ])eop]e are standing behind you giving their help to win this wonderful victory which, shall forever put an end to Pru.ssianism and militarism as expressed by their form of govern- ment. During that time it is our hope, and it is the mission of this committee to see to it that the standards of life shall not go down, at least not go doMU excei)t as a last resort, and as a last sacrifice essential to the safety for the defense of our Repul)lic and the ideals for which it stands. This committee comprises men and women froui many ])arts of the country. As you know, there is no compensation foi- tliem. oi- for any of us, nor is there even the exi)enses home for all these wlio have- 38 BEITISH LABOE S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. offered their voluntary services. Tliey come here, about two-thirds of the committee who are engaged in great affairs, and others tell us it is physically impossible for them to come. But they are here and I anticipate their wish in asking that they might have the privi- lege of calling upon you, sir, in order to pay their respects to j'ou, in which I most graciously join. We appreciate our being here and being able to express to you our greatest hope for your continued good health, for your mental and physical power to maintain to the last hour of your life, and may that last hour be long deferred. President Wilson. Mr. Gompers, ladies, and gentlemen, this is '<> most welcome visit, because it means a most welcome thing, the spontaneous cooperation of men from all walks of life interested to see that we do not forget any of the principles of our lives in meet- ing the great emergency that has come upon us. Mr. Gompers has expressed already one of the things that has l»een very much in mind of late. I have been very much alarmed at one or two things that have happened at the apparent inclination of the legislatures of one or two of our States to set aside, even tem- pararily, the laws which have safeguarded the standard of labor and of life. I think nothing would be more deplorable than that. We are tr^dng to fight in a cause which means the lifting of stand- ;irds of life and we can fight tha't cause best by voluntary cooperation. I do not doubt that any body of men representing labor, the labor of this country, speaking for their fellows, will be willing to make an}^ sacrifice that is necessary in order to carry this contest to a successful issue, and in this confidence I feel that it would be inexcusable if we deprived men and women of such a spirit of any of the existing safeguards of the law. Therefore T shall exercise my influence, as far as it goes, most assuredly, to see that that does not happen, and that the sacrifice we make shall be voluntary, and not under the compulsion which mistakenly is interpreted to mean a lowering of the standards which w^e have sought through so many generations to bring to their present standing. Mr. Gompers has not overstated the case in saying that we are fighting for democracy in a larger sense than can be expressed in any political terms. There are many forms of democratic govern- ment; and we are not fighting for any particular form, but we are fighting for the essential part of it all, namely, that we are all equally interested in our social and political life, and all have a right to a A^oice in the Government under which we live, and that when men and women are equally admitted to those rights we have the best safeguard of justice and of peace that the world affords. There is no other safeguard. Let any group of men, whatever their orig- inal intentions, attempt to dictate to their fellow men what their political fortunes shall be, and the result is injustice and hardship and harsluiess and wrong of the deepest sort. Therefore we are jvist now feeling as we have never felt before our sense of comradeship. We shall feel it even more, because we have not yet made the sacrifices that we are going to make ; we have not yet felt the terrible pressure of suffering and pain of war, and we are going presently to feel it, and I have every confidence that as its pressure comes upon us our spirits will not falter but rise and be strengthened, and that in the last we shall have a national BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 39 feeling aiul a national unity such as never gladdened our hearts before. I want to thank you for the compliment of this visit here. If there is any way in which I can cooperate with the purpose of this committee or those with whom they are laboring, it will afford me a sense of privilege and a pleasure. 'May I have the pleasure of shak- ing hands? [Applause.] After the reception at the White House the conniiittee reassembled at the rooms of the American Federation of Labor and were called to order bv Chairman Gompers at 3.20 o'clock p. m. The 'Chairman. Acting in the same spirit by which we are all prompted, under the Governments of Great Britain, Canada, and the United States, the Dominion Government, at my request has sent two representatives in the form of ofHeers of the Canadian labor move- ment to give us the benefit of their advice and experience, for, as we all know, Canada has given of her very best in aid of the tremendous task set before the people of the world. Mr. J. C. Waters is president of the Congress of Labor of the Dominion of Canada, and I have the great pleasure of presenting Mr. Waters to you now. [Ajjplause.] Mr. Waters. Mr. Chairman and friends, I can well understand that the most of you are looking for an opportunity to express some opinion with reference to the problems with which you will be con- fronted arising out of the war. Keeping that in mind, I want to promise you that my remarks will be both brief and commonplace, after listening to the most eloquent, illuminating, and inspiring ad- dresses this morning, and anything that I have to offer may seem, as has been repeated before, somewhat fiat. But, after all, it may result in some little measure of good, because our experiences in Canada have been very different from those of our compeers in the British Isles. I was struck more forcibly than with anything, else with the view presented to us by our brothers from across the sea with respect to the cooperation of the Government with organized labor. I am only too sorry to say that that is not true with respect to the Dominion of Canada. I do not know to Avhat extent it will be true with respect to organized labor in the United States, but I was struck with the force of the remarks uttered by these men from the British Isles, and my mind was carried away back over the years to the time when labor was struggling for some recognition, and only at the present time, because of the war. some measure of the right of manhood, as repre- senting the labor movement, is receiving recognition. I do^^not knoAv but it may perhaps serve the best purpose were I to give vou the position assumed by the Labor Trades Congress of Canada. As most of you are aware, the Labor Trades Congress of Canada is the same there as the American Federation of Labor in the United States. By that I do not mean to say that the congress can take the place of "the Am^erican Federation of Labor, because our trades-unions are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and it is as much our federation in Canada as it is to you in the United States. But, from a legislative point of view, ^ve nnist have a Canadian organization to deal with our Canadian mstitutions. That is why the organization was given birth in the Dominion of 40 BRITISH LABOe's WAE MEySAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. Canada, and it has filled a very effective place in the country. How- ever, it is not my idea to tell you what we have accomplislied there, but foi' what we have done since the outbreak of the war. At the first convention that was held after the outbreak of the war we promised to lend evei-y assistance to the allies in order to prevent the enemies fi'om being victorious. That statement was made with- out qualification at the first conference that was held after the war broke out. At the following convention, because of the agitation that was set on foot, with a view to conscripting men, the congress, rightly or wrongly, opposed conscription. We have maintained that attitude throughout. In addition, however, we have made it quite clear to the Government that our objection to conscription would be removed, provided that the Government wanted to adopt a system of national conservation. By national conservation let me explain what I mean by that : It means that every man, every woman, irrespective of their Avalk in life or their avocation in life, must give their all to the nation; that means, that the wealth of the nation must be used as well as the man power of the nation. In other words, we have stood for conscription of material wealth, since it is far inferior to human values. Conscript wealth before you conscript men. Let us use the material wealth of the nation in order to win the war before we call upon the manhood of the nation to sacrifice what can not be replaced. We may replace the wealth, but we can not replace the lives of human beings. The material wealth should be used before man power is called upon to sacrifice itself. The Government undertook to cooperate with us, and we were not sent down as representatives of the Government to criticize the Gov- ernment; ]>nt I have graduated from that school where we are taught to tell the truth, no matter who it hits, no matter who it hurts, as long as good can be accomplished. I have no idea of criticizing the Government of Canada, and therefore, while I am representing the Government I do not mean to come down here and apologize for the action of the Government; I do not mean to come dowm hei'o and indulge in platitudes; but I wanted to give you the position of the congress and, as near as possible, to tell you some of the problems with which w-e have had to contend in the Dominion. I might say that it almost passes the realization of the ordinary man or woman to understand the sacrifice that has been made by the manhood of Canada. We have largely an agricultural country; we are not an industrial nation such as the United States and Great Britain. A large proportion of our people are on the land; w-e have a population of less than 8,000,000, and we have already given volun- teers to the number of 410,000 out of the small population such as the Dominion of Canada happens to be. which indicates thoroughly the system for which we have stood has stood the test. I doubt if better results could have been achieved if conscription had been put in force. We offered to cooperate with the Government in an effort to bring success to the allies. The "Government, I presume, felt that it was quite superior to the aid of organized workers and to a large extent we have been ignored. On the other hand, we have a very peculiar situation in the Government of Canada. The Imperial Government itself has let contracts in the Dominion aggregating hundreds of millions of dollars. The Dominion Government prac- BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 41 tically exercises no control over the conditions of labor under which the contracts are being executed for the Imperial Government. We have pleaded with the Dominion Government to use its influence with the Imperial Government to have the conditions of tiie workers safeguarded. To the same extent we have pleaded with the Imperial (Tovernment, and I think I have corresponded with my friend, Mr. Bowerman, with respect to some measure of protection that sliould be safeguarded to the workers in Canada. I have cabled I.loyd- (jeorge direct, I liave had the premier of Canada cable to Lloyd- George Avith a view to having the munitions board embody in the con- tracts some measures safeguarding labor. Up to the present time we have been ignored and that is one of the questions we want to take up with the British representatives. So much have we been ignored that time and again the workers in Canada have been on the point of almost bringing about n civil war. to such an extent have their interests been ignored by the powers that be. That is the line on which I am talking — somewhat different from what we have already listened to. Our experience in Canada has been altogetlier diii'erent from what it has been in the British Isles or what it will be in the United States, but it is just as well you shoidd know to what extent we have received the cooperation of our governing poM^ers. I was struck in listening to our confreres from the British Isles, not alone with regard to the coordinating of all the man i)ower and the wealth of the nation in order to win the war, but I was struck with the problem as to what will result after the war is over. It is for you to decide as to how far, or how closely you will follow the lead given vou by the United KingdouL It will be for you to decide for yourselves whether or not the sacrifices made by labor in the British Isles, or whether the concession that has been given to labor ai'e at all commensurate with the sacrifice that has been made. It will be for you to judge Avhether or not the guaranties given by the Government will be fulfilled. It is for you to decide whether or not the Goveriunent can do it. These ai-e all questions that must be decided by yoiL As to your particulai- (Tovernnient — as to what extent you can rely on guaranties given by the Government in good faith^ — is another ([uestion for you to decide. While we are more or less hysterical — because people are in such a war as this — we are not able to bring that measure of calm judgment and deliberation to the questions that would otherwise control us. so that we had bettei- be careful that in our welfare we do not give away more than we Avill be able to have restored to us without a bitter fight. So nmch so have we been im- bued with that imi)i"ession in the Dominion of (\inada that since the Government has failed to give us any guaranty we have re- fused to make any concessions to the Government. In the Dominion to-day we Ji.ave given nothing; and we stand exactly, so far as onr trades-union movements are concerned, and we mejin to stay there until the Government can give us such, backed up with the power to make ^ootl these guai'anties. AVe mean to maintain our rights to strike, if necessarv. in order to safeguard the inteivsts of our work- ers, by maintaining all the powei- within our organizations and give nothiiiL'' unless we have something in retui'ii for it. That is the attitude adopted in the Dominion of Canada until the Govern- 42 BRITISH LABOE^'S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. merit does give us such guaranties as will cany with it a sufficient promise that conditions will be restored to normal when peace again "sets in, that we have given nothing awaj'. It is for you to decide whether or not what you may give will be commensLirate with the guaranty given you, because, after all. if w^e judge what will happen from what has happened, we know that in the past, after the spirit has been awakened, that is latent in anything worthy of being called a human being, after the war that spirit of patriotism dies and Ave may as well meet the situa- tion as it will present itself to us. We will find that our employers, the men who are out to make all they can, will be the same men after the war is over that they were before the w^ar broke out. I knoAv in the Dominion at the present time so many of our boys are coming back crippled, some totally disabled, and it is pathetic to see some of the boys on the streets with crutches, some blind, and some without arms. It is pathetic in the extreme when you come to think of it, and some of those boys who returned can hardly get along. The pension is hardly sufficient to sustain them in any- thing like comfort. I know when they asked my opinion as to rates to be paid totally disabled men I said nothing less than $100 a month. They said there is nothing like that in Australia, the United States, Great Britain, or an^nvhere else ; that $100 a month w^as exhorbitant. I said to some of those members, " Would $100 a month be too much for you ? Would it be too much for your boy if he came home totally disabled ? Would it be too much for you if you had made a sacrifice for your country ? " and they had to admit that it would not. Then I said, " In God's name do not say it is too much for the men who have gone to the front and come back totally disabled." But the Government, to a large extent, is failing to take care of the men returning from the front. As time goes on the patriotism of the employers, who are now looking for the men who are coming from the front, will be looking for the cheapest men. Irrespective of what he has done for the country, they will be looking for the cheapest labor. I may be treading on the grounds of some of the manufacturers here, but, after all, it is not a place to put on any mask. This is the place where we ought to tell the truth, and I hope that will be the spirit that will characterize the deliberations of this assembly. My experience has taught me that the employer who only views things from his selfish point of view, as we all do, will be dominated by that, and it is just as well that we should prepare for what is coming ; and I hope, in outlining your best eiforts to triumph over the enemy, you will also cast around to find means by which to take care of the United States and make it worth living in after we shall have enjoyed peace once again. I suppose questions will be asked relative to these points, and I will be glad to give all the information I can with respect to condi- tions in Canada. I want to say, in closing, I feel very intensely in this matter. I do not know that there has been a man more out- spoken in the Dominion of Canada in favor of the establishment of internationl peace. I am a man of peace. I love peace. I was almost a w^orshiper, to the exclusion of everything else, at the shrine of peace. It was the one idea I had, that we may establish such conditions of humanity that peace could be enjoyed by the world. I stand for peace and the labor movement itself stands for peace. BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 43 We ail hope that tlie time is not far distant when peace will be restored. I hope that Ave will lose no opportunity to find a way by which we can rehabilitate the world. Do not let us be carried away by our enthusiasm, by a spirit of patriotism. Do not let that blind us and our judgment to the fact that even our enemies, perhaps, if we meet them around the council table, as we have often told our employers, " If you will discuss this around the board there is no necessity for a strike, and we will try to find some common ground for settlement;*' and even with our enemies at the present day, when the opportunity presents itself, I think we shall be only too ready to meet them around the council board and see if peace can not be established permanently. I stand for the interests of peace, and because I feel so strongly on that is because some of my nearest relatives have paid the human price. One brother was speaking about the Highland Scotch away back in 1914: when they tried to stop the onrush of the Germans. I had three nephews who made the supreme sacrifice in the Highland Brigade at that time. I have had two nephews return from the front, recovered, and they are back. I had one sister, the mother of all these boys at the front — and per- haps you can understand what it is to be a mother to know that death is staring her boys in the face every day, and Avhen it is brought home to you I think perhaps you will let us use CA^ery effort in the world to bring about peace in the world, and after it has been brought about I want to sa3^ judging the future from the past, we want to extend the hand of friendship to our enemies, because our enemies in the past are our allies of the future. Our enemies of to-day may be our allies in the future for peace. So, let us recognize our enemies to- day as our brothers of to-morrow, and, I think, if we enter the war in that spirit we will conquer a thousandfold more than if we go on with that spirit that we will avenge. Do not let us avenge any- thing, because vengeance, as a rule, comes back on the man who undertakes vengeance. We must be with our enemies, we hope to make them our friends of to-morrow, we hope to make them our brother working for the common uplift of human brotherhood. [Applause.] The Chair3IAn. In addition, the Government of Canada has delegated Mr. Giddeon D. Robertson, vice president of the National Association of Railway Telegraphers, to confer with us and give us the benefit of his advice. I now have the pleasure of presenting to you Mr. Robertson. [Applause.] Mr. Robertson. Mr. President, ladies, and gentlemen, the request from our Government to attend this meeting carried with it no instructions or credentials beyond the fact that we had been invited to attend and that we should come. I had little knoAvledge of Avhat the purposes of the congresses were, but I judge that the fundamental object Avas to discuss together Avays and means to successfully and economically and promptly do the best possible to assist in the jn-ose- cution of the present war. As Mr. Waters, my colleague from Canada, has said, the people residing in the land of the maple leaf are lovers of peace and ardentlv desire that peace should ahvays continue. Many have in- deed felt that anything else Avas a practical impossibility, in view of the century that has just rolled around in Avhich Ave have enjoyed peace. Nevertheless, nearly three years ago Avar came ujion our 44 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAlSI LABOR, country, and our people have responded under the volunteer system, I think, quite ^enerduslv. Although we have a large area of country, we have a population of less than 8.000,000 people, or someAvhat simi- lar to that of Greater New York. You can realize that practically one-half million men have laid down their ordinary vocations and have taken up arms and gone overseas to assist in the prosecution of this war in the interests of civilization and humanity's future, and that their places have been filled to a very large degree by the women of our country, over 300,000 of whom are now engaged in the manu- facture of munitions and in clerical capacities in banks, stores, and so on, holding positions formerly occupied by our men. In the agsfi-e- gate. approximatelv 700,000. or one-tenth — not of oui' able-bodied men and women, but one-tenth of our total population — are actually engaged in assisting to prosecute this war as best they can. Many thousands of those'Avill never return. Many thousands more have retui-ned, and are still returning, maimed, in many instances for life. On one street in one of our cities less than a week ago I heard a gentleman say that he met 21 men within six blocks who were minus either a leg or an arm. I make that statement to you in order that you may realize, as we do, the serious side of the war. Turning briefly to the experience of the organizations with which I am more closely affiliated, namely, those engaged in the railroad and transportation service of our country, our experience has been some- what different from that of the organizations with which Mr. Waters, my confrere from Canada, is more closely connected. It is true that shortly after the outbreak of the war some attempts were made by certain of our railroads, in view of what they termed hard times and falling traffic, to reduce wages. However, by cooperative action of the employees concerned and b}^ the assistance and timely interfer- ence of some of the ministers of our Government, no reduction in wages took place, and it is a fact that in not a single instance, so far as railway service is concerned, with which I am connected, have the conditions in any way deteriorated, and in many instances, especially during the last 12 months, since the cost of living has risen so rapidly, considerable relief in the way of improved conditions and increases in wages have been secured. There is one particular thing I desire briefl}^ to call to your atten- tion which has, during the past 12 months, caused considerable alarm and is to-day perhaps the most alarming situation with which the Canadian people have to deal, and a matter in which I believe the common peo]:)lc of the United States are now and probably ere long will be much more deeply interested in than you are even to-day. In 1914, when war broke out. it took $1.37 to purchase the quantity of goods that $1 would procure in the year 1900. or an increase of 37 per cent in that length of time. In 1916, three years later, that had risen almost another 50 points, and within the last 12 months has risen another 50 points, and tliere is no sign of the end as yet. To- day it takes $2.20 to purchase what $1 would procure a few years ago in our country in the way of requirements to live. Not only our working people but our business people are becoming alarmed and urging our Government to find ways and means of stopping this con- dition of affairs, and something must be done and shall be done. Many are saying, both on the public platform and through our press, without regard to political affiliation so far as the press is concerned. P.RITISir LABORS WAK MKSSACiE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 45 there is a demand arising from the people of Canada that our (Toverii- ment shall take hold of that question and shall, if necessary, take charge of the distrihution of food and the fixing of prices of the staple articles of food which every person must have. I can say to you. T feel sure without fear of successful contradic- tion, that the abnormal rise in the cost of staple articles of food that have brought the pinch of want to many of our people has had more to do than any other one thing with the slackening up of the volun- teer enlistment of our men. I feel strong upon this subject and have been recently paying some particular attention to it and intend in the future to do all that I can to urge upon our (lovernnient to take this matter in hand, because only by so doing and by bringing some relief are they going to be al)le to restore the confidence and have the complete sympathy of the })eople in the further conduct and prosecu- tion of the war. We all realize that foodstuffs are rexjuired and needed badly in the mother country and to feed the army. But when we realize that foodstuffs are being purchased at one price to-day in one town and sold to-morrow, the sauie goods, at perhaps an ad^ anco of 40 to 50 per cent to the consumer in the same town, I can show you that something is wrong with our system. I notice in this morn- ing's press here — I think the Washington Post — that there seems to be an unrest of a similar natur.' existing amoug the people of the United States. If there is anything that the Canadian labor can do to cooperate with the labor movement in the United States with a common view of endeavoring to bring about some relief froui this situation I can assure you that you Avill have the hearty support of every man who works for wages or eats bread in our country. I realize that you have many very important matters to discuss here to-day, and I feel it would be unbecoming for me to take u]) your time further than to say that if at any time in the future it seems, in the mind of the president. Mr. Gompers, that the repre- sentatives from the Canadian labor movement here can be of any assistance to you, if we can in any Avay cooperate with you so that it will be of mutual assistance in the cause in which we are engaged, it will be a pbasing privilege to meet with you at any time you uiay desire. I thank you. [Applause.] The CiiAiRMAx. 5rr. Thomas has an important engagement re- • juiring him to leave here at 4.45 p. m., and he suggests if there are any questions to be asked of him, that they be asked now, so that he may be in position to answer them and yet fill his engagement. Therefore, if there is any lady or gentleman who desires to ask questions of Mr. Thomas, please do so now. I will recognize any lady or gentleman Avho desires to ask a question. Dr. N. I. Stoxe. T woidd like to ask a question as to what steps have been taken and what methods have been worked out to adjust wao-e disputes in the case of differences between employers and em- [•loyees. and to keep the work going without strikes and yet satisfy rhe enq^loyees in the way of adjustment. Mr. Thomas. Involyed in that is the statement of our friend from Canada, and accepting his yery wise dictum that we should talk plain to each other, I am quite" sure he will be delighted if I start off to follow that example because, after all, as a matter of fact, if 46 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. you will allow me to say, I have been the stormy petrel of Parliament I'or about two years and six months, and no one has criticized more ministries than myself, so I can talk with freedom about this matter. But do let us first come to fundamental principles, one of w^liich is this, that if you have a bad government you must be a bad people, because your government, under any democratic state, is only a reflex of the intelligence, the desires, and the aspirations of the people. [Applause.] Therefore, nothing irritates me more and nothing pulls me right up against ni}^ own people more than mere excuses for their own ignorance and their own inactivity. If the workers of the world desire a change in government, the remedy is always in their own hands, and God knows when we talk of war I know" what it means. I left a wife and five little children, and five days after I was on the water my eldest boy reached his eighteenth birthday, and automatically he becomes a soldier on that day. I w^as not enabled to see him, but I can picture my own wife, with my running the risk of submarines and my eldest boy going to the firing line, so I do not want any reminder of the hell of the business. But Ave are entitled to answer why we will not make peace at this moment. We are en- titled to answer it and we are entitled to let the people of the United States understand just our feelings on this matter, because a little history on this is Aery necessary. Since the Franco-German War, any student of history must knoAv that Germany has lived on a crest of military success. Whatever may be said about the German Kaiser, he has to those people been a good King, that is to say, he has been a successful King. Their people have prospered, their industries have developed, and they have all developed with militarism rampant in Germany and, there- fore, you can quite understand the German people feeling that their method, the military method, the military caste, the military ma- chine, is essential, and when, after two and one-half years of war, they point to the man and say, " We own Poland ; we are in possession of Belgium, we are in possession of Serbia ; half of France is now in the hands of German}^ ; Russia wiped out," can you conceive, friends, that it is only picturing a map of that kind to say to the poor, igno- rant people, "Here is the triumph of our system, the military system " ? The submarine warfare, the outrage on women, the crucifixion of Canadian soldiers, the photographs of which I saAV sent home, the first Canadian soldier to be crucified, those appeals do not appeal to them because they have been successful. Therefore what we feel is that the only way to have a lasting peace is to show to these people that this military machine can not possibly triumph. [Applause.] In other Avords, you have to overcome in the eyes of these people the machine that apparently to them is successful, and Avhen that ma- chine is broken they themselves Avill be able to see for themselves exactly the situation. In other words, it is useless for us to talk about deposing the Kaiser. Any form of government in order to be successful must only be in accordance Avith the aspirations of the ]jeople, and Ave Avant to remo^■e Avhat after all is to us a horrible night- mare — that the policy of might shall triumph over right. We have got to vindicate that right and justice shall prevail, eA^en if the lieaA^ens fall. [Applause.] BRITISH LABOe/s WAE MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 47 'J'hat is why we will welcome a peace to-morrow. God knows there would be a responsibility on the shoulders of any man who Avould prolong this war for one moment longer than was necessary We do not want to prolong it, but we do not want to have a repetition of this war. We do not want to leave the Germans to have another war. We do not want to feel that the lives that have already been sacrificed have been sacrificed in vain. It is because of those things, peace men as we are. anxious for peace, Avith no spirit of revenge in our liearts, we believe that we can only triumph, as I have said before by crushing this machine. Having said that, also let me speak about the reconstruction. Only a fool would attempt to prophesy on the position of this world when the war is over. Treaties, economic positions, and the more one studies the more ignorant one becomes of the whole situation. It is simply after attempting to study that one can conceive the situation. But I agree that it is the duty of the State. On the other side we ha^e ajipointed a cabinet committee, called the reconstruction committee, and our i)rimary object is. as far as one can gauge the situation, to anticipate. No one. as I said before, can say that this is going to hapi^en or that is going to happen, but we can only antici- pate, and the first thing we are doing is this: We are not going to allow demobilization to take place and allow millions of men to come out of the Army on Saturday and find themselves struggling for a job at the dock gates on Monday morning. [Applause.] We will not allow that, and find these men asking themselves, " Is this what I have been fighting for for two and one-half years?" That is the kind of thing that will provide the germ of revolution, and we are getting over it and agreeing. It is not a laboi- point of view alone. There is an agreement with the reconstruction committee, charged, as we are, with covenant responsibility, that the ratio of demoblization shall only be in accordance with the condition of the labor market whereby those coming out of the colors can be absorbed in industry and by that means prevent unemployment taking place. I Applause.] As I have to answer questions, I do not want to make another speech. In regard to the pensions, there is also this answer. Of course, following the Crimean war we read with shame, and admit it to-day, of Crimean heroes finding resting places in a pauper's grave. We found the men who were the heroes of Mafeking and South Africa, with medals on their breasts, eking out existence by selling matches on the streets, and we, as a labor party, made that the first plank in our program, and we said that those Avho are fighting the nation's battles shall be made the nation's charge, and Ave Avent be- yond that, and I Avill giAe you an illustration of Avhat I mean. Charles BoAverman is a goods guard; that is, a guard on a train, Avorking for the English raihvay company. His Avages are ;')0 shil- lings a Aveek. The railAvay company said, "When you come^ back from the war Ave will give you your job and your wage." Tafor- tunately, he has lost a leg in the war. He comes back and the State pension for the loss of one limb is 15 shillings per Aveek. The rail- Avav company says. " With one leg, BoAverman can not possibly act as a goods guard, but he can haAe a ticket collector's job; but the rate for a ticket collector is 25 shillings. He gets 15 shillings per week 48 BRTTTSH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. ptnsion and by our giving him another 15 shillings that will be exactlj^ the same Avage as he got before, 30 shillings.'' But the status of the ticket collector's job is reduced from 25 to 15 shillings. Now, you see the point. That is the earliest proposition I was faced with, and I immediately declared on behalf of my union that we would stop the first time the standard was reduced to the man who had sacrificed a limb in defense of his country. In other words, the pension he received was for services already rendered, and we have got a guaranty now, already in operation, that regardless of any pension that a man enjoys, he gets the standard rate for the job and his pension is independent and not considered b}^ the (Tovern- nient [applause]. If that is not in operation in Canada, then it is not for us to denounce the Government, but it is for labor itself ti> see that it is in operation. [Applause.] Mr. Waters. May I say that it is? Mr. Thomas. Then there is no cause for complaint, because I am sure that there is no difference of opinion, and the moral that I want to draw is about the same thing after the w' ar. I may be wrong, but I believe as true as I am standing here that there is going to be a better spirit in spite of what people have said. You can not have men going through three winters in the trenches, sharing the hard biscuit and the bull beef, some who have come from the slums and some who have come from the farms, some who have been educated in the university and others who can not write their own names; you can not find those men sharing the common danger, sharing the common fare, seeing each other in a different light, in a different spirit from which they ever saw each other before, but that both sides benefit from the experience. [Applause.] If they do not benefit from the experience, so much the worse for both of them: but in any case labor will be making a mistake if it does any other thing than rely upon the strength of its own right hand. In con- nection with this God knows our task is easier. Mr. Gompers's great head to-da,y can look back and visualize not the time when labor was the hero, not the time when to-day I. as a public man, or as a labor leader, can be welcomed in any drawing room or society in my own country — that has not been brought about by the mere assumption that it is a day's work, that has been brought about by years and }ears of sacrifice of those who have passed away, of those Avho have created the platform that we now enjoy. And have we less courage and have we less morals, have we less stamina, in iissuming that even if these difficulties" occur, we ha\e not the courage to take our stand and fight our cause? I would prefer to take my stand and fight the corner with the knowledge that I had done my bit than with a feeling that I stood aside when the fate of democi-acy was in the balance. [Applause.] Now, sir, with regard to the (question about how^ disputes were settled. No machinery of any kind can settle all disputes. No machinery that any (xovernment Avill evei' introduce will entirely ob- literate trade disputes. Please rememb?r that the strike weapon is labor's only bargaining powei'. Take the strike away, and labor would be helpless. The English bulldog will growl at you, and you will be disturbed by his gi-owl, biit if you know that his teeth are extracted his groAvl will not disturb you very much. You have heard the stoi-v of the boy who was trembling, and somebody said. BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 49 ^' What are you trembling for, ladf' He said : " 1 am afraid of that dog.' "Oh," the man said, ''don't worry; the dog is shakin«r his tad." " \es, sir," he said, ''but it is not that end I am afraid^ of " And the same thing applies to labor. If labor loses the power of strike it loses its only bargaining power. 15ut. on the other hand, the strike should be made the last and not the first resort. The strike is a two-edged wea])on which should always be the determin- ing factor in the background. Therefore we "set up arbitration courts, conciliation boards, and a connnittse called the conunittee on production, and the functions of those bodies, which were independ- ent of employer or employee, were to hear as speedily as possible all disputes and give an immediate decision. Now, this other danger operated. Supposing the machinist applied for an increase in wage in order to meet the increased cost of living. The emplover savs. '' We will ignore that application," the power to strike having been taken clearly away. That is the lever the employer can use over the man. But this act provided that if the' employer, within a period of 14 days, refused either to concede the demand or reply to the application the trade-union has the power to declare a dispute within the meaning of the act, and it automatically is referred to arbi- tration. There Avere thousands of cases of arl)itration and conseijuent delay. Pressure was apjilied from the labor forces with a view of supplementing these arbitrati(m boards. That is now being done, and it is true to say that there has been since the commencement of the war no large industrial dispute of any magnitude. There have been many minor disputes; I have been told, and 1 regret to say that I believe there is a dispute at this moment that has happened since we left. I do not know what the nature of it is and therefore, nat- urally, can not express an opinion. The Chairman. Mr. Thomas. I am just informed by the reporter of one of our NeAv York newspapers that a strike is on to-day, caused by the fatigue of the workers. Mr. Thomas. Of course I ha^e already explained to your cabinet and to your various committees that one of the mistakes that we made in the w^ar is to forget the human side. If you are going to have a long war nothing is more fatal than to start to exhaust your men and women at this stage. Xothing is more disastrous, because in health and physique it is bad, it is economically unsound, and it is ruinous to the future of your race. When I tell you that our men and some of our women were working 100 and 110 and 120 hours per week, for week after week and month after mcmtli, and bank holidays were .'■acrificed, it will give you some idea of the fatigue with the result that we have reached a stage where our men and women are really tired, and anyone with any knowledge of trade disputes knows pei'fectly well that nothing makes it more difficult to settle a dispute than when your men and women are really tired and jaded. That is the natural, inevitable tendency in human nature, and all I can say is that taking the thing as a whol ' we have been ]ieculiarly and happily free from trade disputes, and. on the other hand, there has been a genuine de- sire on the part of the (Tovernment and on the part of employers in general to recognize the abnormal increase in the cost of living, and that has been met in the way I ha\e indicated, by the arbitration boards. [Applause.] S. Doc. 84, 65-1 4 50 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. Miss Beeks. Mr. Thomas, some of our committees are anxious to know many things from you, and I will state three questions very briefly: One, on the question of hours. We understand you have been working a good deal seven days a week. x\.re women working seven days a week now? Also, are men working seven days a week, and, if so, how many hours? Wliat is the best method of educating women ? We understand in Great Britain you have sent women to the technical schools first and then into the shop, whereas in France they have placed them under skilled foremen immediately in the shop. Some of our employers here to-day feel that that is the better plan, and we would be glad to hear from you about that. I do not think you have told us the method of paying the subsistence to the dependents of the sailors and soldiers. Mr. Thomas. With regard to the hours, seven days was common with men and women ; not only seven days per week, but it was seven days of 12, 13, and 14 hours per day, and an abnormal amount of Sunday labor. Our trades-unions, from general observation, became alarmed. The Government sent up a committee of inquiry, composed of employers, trade-union representatives, and Government officials, and they unanimously came to the conclusion and have made a recom- mendation that in their judgment nothing is more disastrous, not only to the health of the men and women but to the successful prose- cution of the war, than these abnormally long hours, both for men and women. They have now practically abandoned all Sunday labor, and, as far as possible, they are abandoning woman labor. But it is only true to say, from both sides of the picture, that a tremendous pressure was applied at a time when explosives, guns, and every- thing were essential at the moment. We have now been able to take another view, because we are out of that immediate difficulty. But that is the position so far as men, women, and ourselves are con- cerned. So far as the training of women is concerned, we have adopted both methods for men and women. Classes were instituted at various technical schools, situated in all parts of the country, and invitations were extended to men and to women to come and attend these classes, and they were trained peculiarly in the branch of industry in which their work was most essential. On the other hand, skilled men in the factories were appointed and elected to groups of men and groups of unskilled men and trained in that way. But I believe it is true to say that the most capable return has been brought about by the in- struction given at the technical classes. Now, with regard to the dependents. When the war commenced our soldiers' pay and separation allowance was based upon what is called the old standard of the army. It was miserably inadequate. The soldier was paid a shilling per day. and there was a separate allowance of 7 shillings and 6 pence to the wife and 2 shillings and 6 pence to the child. I here want to explain the labor out in the old countr3^ We have a political as well as an industrial machine, and I am a Member of the Parliament, but- 1 am also a member of the trades-union. We have 40 members in Parliament who work as part of and in conjunction with the trades-union movement, and therefore we sometimes apply both. If we find the political machine is best to enable us to secure what we are after, we use it, and if we feel BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 51 the industrial machine is best, we use that, and sometimes, and prob- abl}' most often, we use both. But, at all events, wiiat we did was that every time we were asking for recruits and addressing-, recruit- ing meetings we said, "We are going to stand by you in demandiuL^ better treatment for you, for yourselves, your wives, and families.*^' The result was that the first step taken increased the wife's allow- ance from 7 shillings G pence to 10 shillings 6 pence and the children's allowance from 2 shillings 6 pence to 3 shillings 6 pence for the first child and 3 shillings for the others. That is per week. In addi- tion to that, we found this, that there Avas many a young man who had a widowed mother, who had a sister, who may have been the sole nuiintenance of the family : and therefore we agitated and secured, within the category of dependents, either father, mother, brothers, or sisters, as long as it could be proved that they were de- pendent upon an individual who had enlisted. Therefore, when I now talk about depentlents, we brought all of those within the cate- gory I have mentioned if it can be jn-oved that they were dependent upon the man who enlisted. The disablement allowance was again a miserable allowance, de- pendent upon what is called the chancellor commissioners. AVe always took the view that that was another form of charity, and nothing was more monstrous than to make men who risked their liA'es, who may have lost a limb, to come back every six months and appear before a body of old gentlemen, when the first thing they would ask would be, " Have you a piano in the house? If you have, you want to sell it, as there is no need of a piano." You need not ask me to go into detail as to the kind of inquisition that took place. We have that entirely removed now. We have a pension board set up whereby a body, free entirely from charitable organization, now sit and determine a pension and the disablement allowance for the loss of a limb, partially or permanent, has gone from a maximum of 14 shillings to a maximum of 38 shillings to-day, and a minimum of 15 shillings. The wife separation allowance is also increased and made 12 shillings 6 pence for herself, 5 shillings for the first child, and 4 shillings for the second. We do not think that is yet adequate. We are still agitating for more, because we believe that those men who are fighting our l)attles ought to be free from any worry whate^'er as to how^ their wives and families Avere faring Avhile they were fighting. What Ave do pride oursehes on is this, that the Avhole of the money Avas paid through the post office. That is Avhat Ave Avant to urge upon you. There is no difficulty, no waiting and taking your turn. Our soldiers' wiA^es or mothers, or Avhoever they may be, go to the post office Avith a demand note, and that is paid over the counter, just the same as if they handed in a check and they receive the money for it. We have attached considerable imi)ortance to that, and with the greatest modesty in the world Ave commend it to you. ] Applause.] I am just reminded, as a matter of fact, that one of our own laI)or men is the chief pensions minister. Mr. Abraham Greenstetn. I Avould like to be enlightened on the effect that the war had on the process of oi-ganizing labor wliii-h Avas not organized previous to the Avar. Was it stoi)ped ( Mr. Thomas. The answer is that at this moment Ave are over a million stronefer in trade-unionists than Ave Avere Avhen the Avar broke -52 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. out. My own union is 122,000 stronger than wlien the war broke out. The total accumulated funds of the trades-unions of last year's balance sheet shows an increase of over $8,000,000 more than when the war broke out. When women came into industry we thought it was not only our dutj^ to protect them, but that it was the duty for them to protect themselves, and we opened up our ranks. We have in my own organization, where our rules excluded women, 50,000 women at this moment working as comrades with the men. which is the guaranty of protecting both of us. [Applause.] The Chairman. You have mentioned the increase in the mem- bership of your trades-unions. If my memory serves me right, you informed the Council of National Defense that there were over 100,000 members of your organization who enlisted, and that this increased membership is in spite of that. Mr. Thomas. Independent; yes. Mr. Frankel. As Mr. Thomas will readily understand, the ex- ecutive committee of this committee of labor is very deeply con- cerned in this question of the care of dependents of enlisted men. There is a very strong sentiment in the United States, among many thinking men and women, that pro])er provision should be made by the Government for the care of dependents, and that they should not be left to voluntary charitable effort. It is our understanding, however, that both in England and in Canada govei-nraental aid lias been supplemented by private aid; that in England there is a national fund, and, of course, as you know, in Canada the ]:)atriotic fund which supplements the separation allowance made to families. 1 think it would be of great benefit to this committee in determining its future action to hear from you just to what extent this supple- mental aid has been given and in particular of the administrative machiner}^ that has been used for its distribution and the results that have been obtained through this machinery. Mr. Thomas. Starting at once with the agreement that anything to our soldiers' wives and dependents shoulcl be given as a right and not as a charity, you quite understand the distinction, and sub- ject to that one qualification I say that the additional aid to our women and their dependents has been invaluable. You can quite understand that there are man}' hundreds of thousands of women who do not really understand what they are entitled to: they are illiterate, ignorant, and nothing has been more beautiful than to see the voluntary effort of men and women of all classes who have felt it was their bounden duty to go about and see the women, visit them, and to insist first that they were having their rights from the Government; then, in addition to that, these voluntary funds were used to supplement that. You will know that there will be occasions when more attention and care coidd and should be brought into the liouse to a woman. These women visitors very tactfully have seen the situation, and they have immediately taken upon themselves the responsibility of seeing that the necessai-y requirements were l)rought into the house. They have sometimes seen children turn sick, and, with the danger, perhaps, of infection being spread in the liouse, they have taken the responsibility of either sending a nurse or separating the children, and all the time trying to impress upon these people that it was not in the form of a charity. The varying conditions of house rent in industrial rural centers were such that BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 53 the separation allowance would not be so valuable in some districts as in others. They have been enabled to increase the amount so much per week in order to meet the increased cost of rent in one locality as compared witli another. All of tliose things have been done supplemental, in addition to which there has been set up a civil liabilities committee. For instance, it was found that men with incomes of £400. i::)00, and £()00 a year were crii)pled — men who had a couple of scms or daughters at a public school. Our public school is not like yours. We mean by our public schools the higher type of schools which you call the colleges. jSIen and women mav liave sons and daughters at tliese public schools, and to find them- selves rushed into the army, unable to meet the school necessities, Avas ruinous to the future of the boys and girls. Again, indus- trious men have borrowed money and Avere struggling to biiv a house, and from their separation and army pay they could not meet that: but the result was that the civil liabilities conmiittee was enabled to pay school fees, insurance, mortgages, or any other charge that was on the family connected with the Avar, their maximum being £104 per annum : that is, £2 per w^eek, in addition to and supplementary to everything else that I have described. The anxiety to remove any question of favoritism was also upj^er- most, with the i-esult that when the committee meet to determine this,, they simply haA^e before them a schedule, a tabulated statement, giv- ing the whole of the details, and they do not know Mary Smith from John Bi'ow^n, and therefore the judgment is given always upon the facts as presented to them, and there is no fear of favoritism or bias in any case. The other committees I told you of are set up in every district and toAvn : they are composed of all sections of the people; labor is repre- sented, capital represented, various institutions represented, and by^ .statutory provision there is the inclusion of women by law ; that is to say, women must be included as a condition of the act, because, after all, as sensible men. you will realize the obvious aid of women's help in matters of this kind, in seeing women and dependents and sol- diers' wives, and that has been recognized from the commencement. As I say. starting off w^ith the fundamental principle that we want our soldiers' and sailors' wiA^es paid as a right and not as a charity, all this additional and supplemental work has had a magnificent effect in our country. On the committees I may say that labor again,. 1)y provision, is assured of one-fifth of the representation. Mr. Frankel. And all this supplemental work has not been looked upon as charity? Mr. Thoisias. No : it is State money. There are also many kinds of organizations, as you can quite readily understand, which are local. For instance, in niany of these little Adllages where there are perhaps a dozen or two men, eveiyone knows them, and you can quite con- ceive the interest there is in this kind of thing. Much of that kind of Avoi-k is done, but what I have told you is provided for by State funds. Mr. Athekton. T Avould like to ask the gentleman a question in reference to the protection of the Avorkers in the factories. In some of our industrial States the accidents run from 100.000 per year in some States to three or four hundred thousand in others, the total disabilitv runninof from three or four thousand in some States to as 54 BRITISH LABOE S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. high as 8,000 or 10,000 in others. Wliat has England done to pre- vent those accidents, and has the inspection been increased with the introduction of female or inexperienced help ? Mr. Thomas. No. For instance, the mortality 3^011 have mentioned I can give you right off. In some of our trades in our country the mortality is 1 in 19 killed and injured. You can not beat that even in the United States, because I have examined your figures. There- fore, there are .two forms of inspection. There is inspection by the railway regulations act, there is inspection by the- home office, mines and factory inspectors, and it is true to say that not only has the inspection and supervision not been decreased, but it has been in- creased because of the greater danger of less experienced people com- ing into the workshops. Curiously enough, except for lighting, the accident mortality in practically all streets is less than prewar, the only exception being due to street accidents, and that, as you will unclerstancl, is due to the fact that immediately it becomes dark at night all lamps on the streets and in shops and residences are put out, and it is a question of w^hether we do not kill more of our people by not having the lights than through, the fear of the Zeps. Miss Wald. Mr. Chairman, I should like to ask Mr. Thomas whether there has been any attempt in England to suspend the pro- tective, educational, and labor laws affecting children, and if there was, what Avas the result there? Mr. Thomas. There were many attempts, and the very wise people declared at the onset that all children should be sent into the fields, the factories, and such like. But, fortunately for us, they were the same people who were not very keen on child protection or even woman protection before the war, and, therefore, their arguments were soon suspended. But it is not true to say that there has been any general attempt to interfere with the legislation, but there has been and is, and there are many local efforts whereby on holidays and such like children have been used in the fields, and that is not to their disadvantage. The educational standard was taken up, but last year there was a very clever organization of children of 13 and 14, who were asked, ancl volunteered, and encouraged b}^ their own teachers to do all kinds of useful work in the harvesting during the school holidays. But there has not been any general tendency to relaxation so far as the children are concernecl. We have not quite reached that stage, because we have endeavored to keep clearly in mind that the children of to-day are the citizens of the future, and that the war would be lost to all practical purposes if posterity is to suffer in that par- ticular. [Applause.] Dr. Meeker. I would like to have a brief description of the equal pay for equal work, and I would like to have that brought out, as to how the difficulty of the question was dealt with where women were introduced to do part of a job that was formerly done by a skilled worker. I think that would be interesting information. Mr. Thomas. There are two points in that which you have to keep in mind ; that is, piece rates and day rates. It is a very simple matter to say that I will pay jou a penny for every .sheet of paper you pro- duce, and it is quite immaterial whether a man or woman produces it, because it is paid on results and you can quite see that when we are BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 55 talking of piece rates it Avas much easier to determine that principle than it was with day rates, because piece rates are ()l)viously paid on results, and in the skill and efficiency of a woman— which iii some cases, incidentiilly, enable them to earn more than some men— the employer or no one else suffers. Therefore, that is a shoit answer so far as the piece rates are concerned. When we come to day rates it is clearly obvious that in some of the industries which women came into, their physical condition and their natural incapacity prevented them from being- as efficient as men. In the cotton indiLstries they were quite e(iual. Let me give yon an illustration. Take the illustration of the shell fillers: that occu- pation was put on piece rates. But let me take a better illustration, that of applying them to the railroads. They could act as ticket col- lectors, as porters, as goods guards, and various other things. There the agreement was that wherever they were employed they received the minimum rate of the men, that is, the principle being that all our rates, practically in every trade and industry, are on a graduated basis, the first year so much, second year so much, and so on. By establishing the minimum rate for the women, in starting this gave them an opportunity of showing the efficiency to the period when they became entitled to an increment, the increment being either G months or 12. so that we set out the minimum standard first for women, so that no employer, either after the war or now, would be able to use female labor because it was cheaper than male labor. In other words, we wanted to protect the standard of male labor. We did that and the increments were based upon the cases as they arose, in addition to which the (xovernment. through the munitions department itself, fixed a minimum wage for women, and that minimum ought to be ob- ser\'ed in every munitions factory where women are employed. Dr. Meeker. You have not described the more important thing, where it was necessary to divide jobs into component parts, in order to bring unskilled labor, men or women, to do work more especially done by skilled men alone. Mr. Thoimas. As I say, I know of no illustration Avhere that did not operate in piece rates. In all industries in which they were brought in to do that highly skilled work, for instance, some of the shells and some of the very, very important and highly skilled work was, after the training tliat I have already described, performed by women. But in all this outside semiskilled work, in all skilled work in which women were engaged, they were engaged at piece rates and not day rates. Mr. Baixe. At different times Avhere the men and women w^ere required to work overtime, did they receive any extra compensation? Mr. Thomas. Yes. Whatever Ave had in operation, what is called a district rate. A district rate means that the employers and em- ]>loyees in Washington— that is. the trade-union officials and the emplovees in Washinglon. the machinists, printers, railroad men, or Avhatever thev mav'be — have agreed as to what are the conditions to applv in Washington. There may be different conditions in New York; "there mav be different conditions in Pittsburgh, and that is Avhat I mean bv a district, the district in Washinjrton, Pittsburgh, XcAv York, or as the case might be. Now. then, supi)osmg the rates were time and a h.alf for overtime and double time for Sunday, whicheA-er Avas the general prevalent rate: Avhenever men Avorked 56 BRITISH LABOR S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAIS^ LABOR. over the standard hours they received the district rate, if it was time and a half, or if it was double time, as the case might be. That existed everywhere. Mr. Michael. I would like to ask Mr. Thomas what plan was adopted at the outset of the war to determine how many men should he enlisted, or should volunteer, or be conscripted from industry, which would be called upon probably to serve the Government with supplies? What plan was used to determine hoAv many men should go to the front ? Mr. Thomas. In the early stages of the war, one of the criticisms owerman and Mr. Thomas, as to the extent to which cooperation has been secured in the United Kingdom between the Government and the working union, just exactly as we have heard from Judge Amos as to the extent it has been secured in the working of capital and the working of Government, and I therefore propose this reso- lution: Whereas tlii.s coiuinittee lias heard in this ses.'^ion a full prestiitMtion of rlie cooperation of the Government of the United Kinudoin and oi-.^anized labor during the Wi^r — Resolved, That this committee approve a like policy in the I'nited States and urge and endeavor the safeguarding alike the rights of labor and securing ihe Idghest efficiency and economy in the production of nnniitions and su]i- ))lies. Mr. Mact. I second the motion. The Chairman. It has been moved and seconded that the propo- sition just submitted by Dr. Williams have the approval of this gen- eral committee and that the matter be referred to the executive com- mittee of the committee on labor. Are you ready for the question upon that motion? All in favor will say "Aye"; opposed "No." The motion is unanimously carried. Mr. EvERET D. Waio. Mr. President, I would like to a.sk a ques- tion of Mr. Bowerman regarding the safety of workers, as to whether you have, from England's experience, some suggestion which may be of value in solving problems which I believe lie before- us in the inatter of building factories, hospitals, and in the conversion of factories to uses for which they were not constructed. A^liat meas- ures have been taken for the workers from a sanitary standpoint, fire-protection standpoint, protection against fumes and poisonous gases? I believe that every member of this connnittee will agree that even if the hmnan being, the Avorker of a machine. Avas consid- ered as a machine, it would be the wise thing to preserve the ma- chine and keep them from working too long hours from the dan- ger of burning them up in the building before their Avork is com- pleted, and that Ave should take some measures to helj) our Govern- ment avoid making mistakes along that line. Are there any sug- gestions you can give us from your ex])erience Avhicli uiay be of A'alue to us? Mr. Boaverman. The only answer to that is this: A good many nmnition factories have been established by the Govermnent, and that fact proves that Government inspection — that is, the inspection of the home office — Avas actually outlined in the construction of those buildings. They are buildings of temporary character, not sky- scrapers, btit of" a A-ery modern character: but one of the first essen- tials was — and let me' give the GoA-ernment credit for this — that the 58 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. comfort of the workers was practically, I might say, the first consid- eration. There have been gentlemen at work looking into the wel- fare side of the question. I think I may say this, that the factories which have been established by the Government for the production of munitions have been erected in order that the health of the workers may be preserved to the fullest possible extent, and we are rather hopeful that, as a result of those measures taken by our Government officials, private officials may follow the example set by the Govern- ment and improve the sanitary conditions in their own places. You have heard the word " controlled establishments." The Government has insisted, so far as it can insist, that if there was any fault with the sanitary arrangement, improvement should be made. Therefore we may claim this, that it has been one of the first instructions on the part of the Government that those who are called upon to work so strenuously, as they have been called upon, that their health should be given first consideration. I am glad the question has been put, because in the industrial world we appreciate what our own officials have done in that regard. Mr. H. B. F. Macfaeland. I desire to ask what proportion of the soldiers have been incapacitated by drink and vice and what steps the Government has taken to protect them from the dangers of drink and vice. That has a practical side in the fact that our own boys may have to stay in England on the way over. To what extent have the soldiers been incapacitated? Mr. BowERMAN. Do you speak of the men in the field or the men in training? Mr. Macfakland. In the field and in training, both. Mr. Boweeman. I do not think I can give you the proportion. But, taking a fighting force, I think it will be shown later on that no more sober bod}^ of men ever took up arms than the British, Aus- tralian, and Canadian soldiers. If you refer to our big cities, where men come back from the front on leave for seven days or a fortnight, I think I ought to admit that there are a few cases where the men have been subjected to certain temptations, which we regretted. When we remember that a man has been out to the front, taking his share in the fighting line, probably out there for eight or nine months, and he comes back for a short leave, it is a little pardonable, in my judgment, if that man does just give way a little. Speaking for my- self, I think I would do so. But, at the same time, I want to say that there have been some very strong comments in the London press to the effect that these men have taken good account of themselves; some of them have not been taken in hand quite so well as they might have been. In other words, they have been left more or less to their own resources, and a few have been victimized in a wrj I need not describe. In some cases they have been drugged and deprived of their money. Here let me pay a tribute to the work of what is known as the Y, M. C. a. — in other words, the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion. The}^ have been as near the fighting line as they could set up their tents. In London and in all of our large cities that association has done magnificent work. They meet the men when they arrive at the station, they go there and get their food at the cheapest possible rate, and that organization is at work throughout Great Britain doing splendid work, and I think you may take it from me that the BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 59 social life of the soldiers during- the time they are on leave is as well looked after as it possibly can be. lUit. I say, there are a few- exceptions. Sonie of the men. as they .step out of "the train, if there was amj^le provision. w( uld ratlier go their own way. Some of their ow^n men have gone their own way and we have regretted it. Mr. Macfarland. As a member of the international committee of the Young Men's Christian Association I am glad to hear this tribute. I was asking as to the measures of the Government with rsepect to the number of saloons, bars, or public houses, and with respect to prohibition of the consumption of liquor during the war. I may say we have had serious statements made, for example, in the Spectator, which is recognized, and in our OAvn most serious publi- cations, and from representative men who have been in England, and from representative Canadians there have been a series of statements Avhich have led us to believe that there has been a serious loss in morale, and even in lives, because of the conditions that prevailed at the opening of the war. I am desirous of knowing what the Gov- ernment has done to reduce those dangers. Mr. Bow^ERMAN. At the beginning of the war it was not an unusual thing to see a man here and there the worse for drink. It was not his fault altogether, but it was the fault of those who shook him by the hand and congratulated him on his jiati'iotism and asked him to have a drink. But the (iovernment stepped in, and they i)ut certain districts out of bounds for soldiers; thev prohibited licensed people from serving soldiers, and that applied to munitions areas, barrack cities, and towns, and so on, and by that means they really stopped the flow of drink to men who otherwise might have been inclined to give way. But I say again, without the slightest hesitation, it is a delight to know the wonderful sobriety that has characterized our men in the cities and at the front. You can take it from me, you can walk through our streets of London, or Newcastle, or Minster, or West- minster and see thousands of soldiers and not one evidence of drunk- enness on their part. So, as I say. when men have gone away and want to seek their own enjoyment it is in those cases where episodes have occurred which we regret. But I rather think, from what you have said, a rather extravagant statement has been made which has reached Canada and mav have reached here. I have traveled with hundreds and thousands of these men m various parts of England: I have seen them in France: I saw them everywhere: and a cleaner, better-behaved set of fellows, whether Canadians or Britishers could not be found, and it is one of the delights of the civilians who are left at home to find how well-behaved these men are in spite ot the fact that thev faced other hardships which we civilians can not appreciate to the full. They have come back to a limited amount of freedom, and they have not forgotten they were soldiers first and civilians afterwards. ^ . , . j; The Chairman. Before we go any further. I notice that one ot our committee has to leave: but before he leaves I think tliat you and I know that I, would like to hear from him and to have ^^ ";^\^^ J the expression of his opinion, not only upon what he ^^'^^ 1;^'^;.^\' ^ut upon he activities and puri^oses of this committee . ^ ^e toimei crovernor of Ohio, the former ambassador from tlie United States to France, Mvron T. Herrick. [Applause.l 60 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICA:^ LABOR. Mr. Mykon T. Hekrick. Mr. President, ladies and oentlemeii : T think if anyone entertains, after these months and years, any doubt as to who began this war. all he needs to do is to make an examina- tion as to who was prepared for this war in the beginning. I hap- pened to see in the beginning that lack of preparation just as we see it here in the United States to-day, and yet those nations there have been face to face with the preparations for 40 years, nearly. A certain number of men there, as a certain number of men here, saw danger and attempted to make preparation for it. But when the final blow came they, like ourselves who had been hoping against hope, found themselves in a condition of unpreparedness such eis Mag^ astounding for those nations who have had a chance to witness that which was before them, both as to their preparation in civil life and to meet a war. Lloyd-George came to Paris in the early days when the British Em- bassj^ happened to be occupying one floor of the American Embassy at that moment, as the British Embassy was closed. He came over there, together with some other men, to look over the situation, just as we are looking over the situation to-day, to see what could be done 1o meet a condition that seemed to be overwhelming England. In those moments he seemed almost in despair and he had ideas of what could be accomplished, ideas that run in common with those that have been expressed here to-day. I remember he was asked if he thought that they could manufacture munitions to meet the demands of their army, because they had no army, so you know they were jjractically out of munitions. He was asked if that could be accom- ]:)lished, because it was apparent that America could not furnish all that they needed, and it Vas further apparent if they did not have those munitions that they would fail. I recollect his pungent answer. He said " If we can not do it and do it quickly it will be our eternal damnation, and we shall do it." Then he outlined the policy that the strong men have been talking about here to-day, dilution and all that sort of thing, and awakening of patriotism and a sense of responsibility of all classes of people in order that labor, productive capacity and government, should go hand in hand for the accom- plishment of that purpose. What has been done you have heard better than I can possibly tell it. I understand that the efficiency in England has increased prob- ably 100 per cent and by 75 or 100 per cent in France. That was just as necessary as it is for us now to quickly arrange to meet the conditions that are now facing us, which are quite like those facing England and France in those days. During some two years and a half, while they have been making these preparations, Avhile that little line running across France and the British Navy have stood between the United States and its aspirations and liberties, we have been waiting and waiting, and doing nothing whatever, practically. I do not speak of this in any fault-finding sense. I doubt if England or France would have appre- ciated the situation sooner than we have appreciated it. But that is the fact, and it is here and upon us, and shall we be equal to the situation? Until the people of the United States make up their minds that we can make Government productivity, labor capacity, and joint organization equal to fight this war. we shall not be on the highway, and it is very hopeful here, Mr. President, that to-day there BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 61 are the kind of men meeting here, receiving advice and counsel from England, from Canada, and from France, in order to in-cpare to meet the situation. I hope we shall be able to do it. While the outlook to-day is not pleasing, the great hope is that we *^hall soon be on the way in perfect organization, because there is no country in the world that has so mucirgood ability, i^o much trained capacity, so much genuine patriotism, and all Ave have to do is to assemble the parts. I think, sir, you are on the highway to accom- plish that. I believe that we shall be able to meet the situation and we shall be able now to perform our part in this great world crisis. I can not for a moment believe that if there can be a victory for the things for which our enemy stands that this Avorld could" be worth Avhile living in. My friend s])eaks here in a true Christian spirit, that of brothers and all that sort of thing. I agree with him. but I have wondered in tlie last two years whether there was a divine guidance overlook- ing the destinies of the peoples of this world, where we are ffoing, whetlier there was a guiding hand that was going to bring us out of this disaster in the world. I belicA^e that there is. and that is the hope, but I say sometimes I almost doubt, Avhen I tliink of the in- human acts Avhich do not seem to belong to that peaceful, happy Ger- man family as T saAv them years ago. Avhen t thiiik of the things that have happened, the things that I have seen, it fills my mind with horror to think that the Avhole people — we Avill admit that the people are right themseh-es — guided and directed, should commit the bar- barities and the inhumanities in this day and age of civilization. When T think of that it seems to me that AA'hile we may receive as brothers these peaceful, happy peojole as Ave have seen them, that avc can only receive them Avhen thei-e has been a complete reformation, a complete change of government, and that the government of abso- lutism, the government as expressed by the Hoheuzollerns, must perish, and that there has to be an absolute change, because the people of the United States, the people of England and of France, as I see them and know them, would ten thousand times rather die than to eA^er surrender and make any peace terms where that .sort of government is going to dominate in the world. [Applause.] The Chairman. During this day a member of the commission sent over by Lloyd-George Avith the three gentlemen avIio have addressed us to-day Avas absent during a large ])art of the day. I do not think the proceedings Avould be complete if Ave did not hear from him. I shall ask Mr. Joseph Davies, the secretary to Premier Lloyd-Cieorge. to address us. I have the honor of ])resenting Mr. Davies to you. Mr. Davies. Mr. President, ladies, and gentlemen: I greatly regret that it was impossible for me to be here during the whole of this proceeding, but T am informed, and I should knoAA; had T not been informed, that vour talk has been intensely interesting. When vour president sent that wire to our prime minister, I knoAV that Lloyd-George Avas extremely pleased to receive it. He took gi-eat interest in the formation of this commission, and T am sure that he Avill be the first to require from the commi.ssion a full report of the Avork they have been able to do and vieAvs they have foiiued after consultation Avith all vou irentlemeu. 62 BRITISH LABOR 'S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. We, in our country, know what an immense service lias been rendered to assist the nation during" this war, and in saying that I can say it from every class of people, from the highest to the lowest, in the United Kingdom. They all recognize that without the willing assistance of labor we should by this time probably have had to recog- nize that our country and our lives had been defeated. And we are sure that America will find exactly the same course adopted by labor. They have a great inspiration in the cause they are fighting for, and in the various discussions and consultations we have had in this country we have been struck with the determination that America is going to do its very best in the great cause to which it has com- mitted itself. I do not propose to touch upon any immediate problem. From what I know of Mr. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman, and Mr. Garrod, in the time that you have placed at their disposal to-day they have not left many questions of the labor problem untold. But I should like to say this, that we have had, since the commencement of the war, various victories. We have had the great event of Italy coming in, but no event has happened since the outbreak of the war that has caused us such intense pleasure, such deep and abiding joy, as the coming in of the American people. I can not find language enough to express the feelings of our people at America coming in. We recognize that you can give us material aid. but the material aid, as great as it stands to me, is nothing compared to the fact that once again these two great English-speaking peoples, the British and those of the British Empire, and those of the United States, are standing side by side, fighting for, the highest ideals, and when the war is over that great alliance will not end, but I believe that the two nations will march forward, side by side, assisting each other, and making one great triumphant progress toward the happiness of mankind. There is only one other word I wish to say, and that is a personal word of thanks for the manner in which we have been received. I know that I am speaking for all of the members of the commission when I say that we have been received with a hospitality and a per- sonal kindliness which has impressed itself on every one of us, and which we shall go back to England and remember as long as we live. I thank you. [Applause.] The Chairman. I shall continue the questions a little later on for such information as you desire, but before doing that I think you will all agree that it would be advantageous to all of us to hear an expression of judgment from various ladies and gentlemen as to the character of our work and the duties that are devolved upon us all. The Council of National Defense, in dividing the advisory commis- sion into seven committees and making a member of the commission a chairman of this committee, empowered the chairman to appoint committees and the men and women whom he desired to cooperate with him. As natural and rational, I was made chairman of the committee on labor for the health and Avelfare of workers. In asking- ladies and gentlemen to become members of my committee I did not confine the invitations to the men and the women of labor alone. I felt that the prime duty of the hour was to bring good men and women, perhaps of diverse points of view and judgment, whose in- terests were not identical. Therefore I availed mj^self of the thought BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 63 that if we are to succeed in this enterprise upon which we have entered, we must mobilize and get the will of the people of this Nation. I asked, of course, primarily, the representative men and women m the labor movement, and then I looked and cudgeled mv brain and called in the assistance of others to suggest to me names of jnen and of women whom I could ask to become members of my com- .: .. 1 , ,. ... •. ^^^^ I'ere . c^c, iptains of industry and ot commerce to cooperate with the men of labor, and the nien of labor to cooperate with them, in order that we mav do our bit, to do our whole share for industry, for couunerce. for the fighting force, and to maintain the standards of life and living and opportunity among the civilians who remain at peace and in produc- tion. I have invited the representatives and the officers of the National Association of Manufacturers, and you know it needs no word from me to say that the relations of tliat association with that of the American labor movement were not of the most friendjy character. But that did not deter me from extending an invitation to the presi- dent of that association. Col. Pope, and to ask him to select and to submit to me some representative for appointment on my com- mittee. Col. Pope has done so. We have had Mr. Ne\in and now Mr. Michael not only as members of the general committee, but also as members of the executive committee. Mr. Elisha Lee, the general manager of the Pennsjdvania Railroad, and Mr. Louis B. Schramm, a large employer of labor, are also members of this committee and of the executive committee. I have asked a man who is prominent in the affairs of the industrial and commercial world, perhaps one of the largest employers of labor in America and in the world, to be a member of tliis committee. He. too, cordially accepted. So, with college professors, business men. publicists, and others interested in this great work of humanity, they have all cordially either offered their services or have accepted the invitation to be of service. I am going to ask one of the gentlemen to address this gathering and to express his opinion. I shall ask Mr. John D. Rockefeller, jr.. to address this gathering. [Applause.] Mr. JoHX D. Rockefeller, Jr. Mr. President and friends, I cer- tainly appreciate the honor which the president has conferred upon me in asking mt» to say a word. Although I hardly feel, coming before this committee to-day for the first time, I can hope to make any suggestion of value. I have enjoyed immensely the most able and informing addresses to Avhich we have all listened from the repre- sentatives from England and Canada. I have regarded it as a great opportunity to be here to-day to hear what these gentlemen have said, and it has been an inspiration to us. When I was askeil by your chairman to serve as a member of this committee, I accepted "because T regarded it as a patriotic duty to accept, and as an honor to have been invited, and I feel that in the invitation which vou extended to me I was particularly hon- ored. I Avas not asked at the outset. T was not present at the last meeting, because mv invitation was subsecjuent to that time. It is evident to me. and I take it as a compliment, that at the last meeting you, Mr. President, and my colleagues, found that it was necessary 64 BRITISH LABOE S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. to add others to this committee, and on that score I was so fortunate as to have been inA'ited to join. 1 appreciate the honor of being invited to come here and I need not say that it will be my pleasure to do whatever I can. as a member of this committee, to advance the niterests of the committee which are the interests of onr country and of our allies. As I listened to the very informing addresses of the gentlemen who ha^e spoken to us from these several commissions to-day, I could but wish that time coidd be given — and, probably, Mr. President, you have already taken the time — to sit down with these gentlemen, not for an hour, but for a number of days, with a stenographer, to put to them the thousand questions which are aris- ing from the thoughts of all of us. but which we dare not begin to ask because of the shortness of time, and take down stenographically their answers. I hastened out after Mr. Thomas to inquire when he was to come back, and hoping to have the opportunity to ask him many questions which I feel he can answer. I feel that this committee would not be true to at least one of its important functions and duties were it not to secure in writing from these visitoi's from abroad and from Canada, the fullest possible information on which they can infoi'm us. in which they have had extensive experience, sometimes bitter, and on which we will need very much information. I suppose this has all been done, and if not, 1 presume it will be done. So that, after these gentlemen have gone iiway and they will not be longer available we will find that there is information which we need and which we have not gotten. There, are others who can speak wdth more authority and more helpfully than I on an occasion of this kind, but I simply want to say, in closing, that it is a great pleasure to me to be here, not only because of all the work that this committee stands for, but because of the opportunity of extending the acquaintance which I have already begun during the years which have passed, not onh^ with the em- ployers of this country, but those who represent to so large an extent the laboring people of this country. It is a great pleasure to me to know increasingly these people. I want them to know that I should like to have them regard me as their friend. I have been brought up to regard those who work with their hands as honorable and frequently more honorable than those who work with their heads, and I sometimes regret that there did not come to me the oppoi'tunity to work with my hands and make my own way from boyhood, as was true of my father and as has been so true of many splendid men who have gathered here. My lot was cast in another field. I have had to do certain things which have fallen to me to do. I have tried and I am trying to do them as best I can, but I honor and respect the man who does work with his hands, and I covet for my sons the privilege of knowing how to work w^ith their hands, of being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who work with their hands, as well as those who work with their heads. So I am happy to feel the brotherhood and friendship with all those who have gathered here to-day. T thank you for the opportunity to say these words. [Applause.] The Chatkmax. It seems to me the advantage I am taking of the opportunity to call upon men is rather agreeable and meeting with good results, and as a consequence I shall continue for a little while longer at least in that same direction. BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 65 I am going to ask another great employer of labor, a man engaged in large alliiirs of our country, to address the assemblage. I have the pleasure of introducing Mr. Daniel Guggenheim. Mr. Guggenheim. This is an opportunity I did not expect, Mr. Chairman^ to come and one that I did not want, because there is very rarely an occasion for me to address anyone unless I come prepared to do so. This is the first meeting I have attended since the organi- zation, and I want to say it is a great revelation to me the way the whole thing has been outlined and the amount of excellent work that has already been accomplished. The words that I have heard to-day from the speakers who have preceded me were a great revelation and have inspired me to a very great extent. I have felt for some years now that my work was nearing its end, and I was preparing to spend the balance of my days in taking things easy. I have worked for 45 or more years. 1 have been in harness continuously all that time, and I was beginning to turn the work I have done in the past years over to my two sons and to my son-in-law. However, I arranged with them only recently to go to the front when the country called them to do so. I was to stay home, look after their families, and at the same time get back into harness again and do the work they are now doing for me. I am prepared to do it and expect to do it. I did not feel I Avanted to take on any additional work, but when the call came from Mr. Gompers to present myself here and do what work I could I will say frankly I am prepared to do anything I will be called upon to do, provided I can carry it out. The work outlined by this organization is most thorough and is going forward in a great way. It is surprising to have these leaders tell us of the mistakes they have made, and it shows me that we are on the right track and doing the right thing. I am prepared to offer my services to this committee whenever called upon to do so, even though I had practically agreed to retire from all kinds of work and take on less work than I have been doing in the past years. Mr. President, my services are at your disposal whenever you need me. [Applause.] The Chairman. I think it is agreed by all scientists, as Avell as by men of experience, that if we let a man of mature years quit working, he will die very soon thereafter. I congratulate Mr. Guggenheim upon his determination in the course he has pursued. All things being fairly even, he has simply taken on a new lease of life. I am going to ask Mr. McMillan to favor us with a few expressions. Mr. McMillan. Mr. Chairman, it has been almost impossible for four or five weeks for me to talk at all on account of laryngitis, but I shall not attempt to make any speech except to refer to the fact that Mr. Guggenheim has retired Vt a young period of life. The idea of working but 45 years and then retiring shows a little bit of selfish- ness. I only retired about three or four years ago and I Avorked 60 years before I retired. I just want to refer to one single thing, entirely out of the light of the matter we are discussing now. The thought occurred to nie when Mr. Thomas was saying the probability was the world woukl be better that the people Avould be better after the war was over, and a S. Doc. 84, 65-1 5 66 BRITTSH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. warm feeling growing between the comrades in the trenches, that that would be simply marvelous in the future, and I noted that it received general approval. I doubt if there were very many present who knew that that was true and if they believed. I know it is true. I served more than four years in the Civil War, and no one was ever more devoted to his mother than I. My mother sent six sons to the Army, and it is an absolute fact that within two weeks after our- armies were dismissed I had a greater desire to see the men in the various companies I had served with than I ever had to see my mother when I had been away from her for a year. [Applause.] The Chairman. One of the men who has devoted, for several years past, his entire time to public services is with us as a member of our committee. I am going to ask Mr. Theodore Marburg to address us. Mr. Marburg. Mr. President and fellow members of the com- mittee, I think this war is not only a war for democracy, but I feel that it is a test of democracy. Unfortunately, democracy is generally at the cost of efficiency. I think you must face that fact ; it is at the cost of efficiency for the Government in time of peace, and it is more at the cost of efficiency in time of war. Certain people in Great Britain, America, and France have gone through the things so far as democracy is regarded as an experiment, but they have come to look upon it as a permanent factor in politics. The great evil of the past has been the oppression bv the few, and the democracy is the only thing which makes it possible to correct such a thing when it arises without war. But we are in a struggle with an autocratic government that has proved itself efficient in time of peace in the government of cities, in the application _ of science to industry, and has proved a tremendous efficiency in time of war. As a student at a German university I was made to feel that these people regarded our form of government as still an experiment. The professors at Heidelberg looked upon their form of government as a permanent form. They said when we got to social pressure in this country, when we got the disinherited, with the franchise in their hands, that our Government would fall. We went through a political test in the Civil War, but we have yet to come to face the social test. Now it is that belief which has been urging forward the German military class, misleading their people to bring upon this cataclysm. They believe honestly that autocracy is more effective than democ- racy ; they deplore the term. We are too apt to determine progress in numbers, such as pounds of cotton and pounds of iron, and so forth. Progress is not in that direction. Athens at its highest had about 50,000 people and wrote its great name in history. The small cities of Florence and Venice have done immortal things in painting and sculpture. _ It is not numbers, but progress lies in the growth oi spiritual and intellectual things, and particularly in justice, the justice of man to man, the justice written in the law and written in the courts; the justice of nation to nation. That is the thing for which the English-speaking world has stood, for which America has stood, and for which Great Britain has stood, and it is a fight for justice that we are engaged in. The evil of autocracy is manifest in the very acts of Germany, which have been so appropriately characterized by these men as a BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 67 disgrace not only to Germany, but as a disgrace to America. Take as an illustration Belgium, where the men and women work side by side trying to build up a little household and rear their children and lay by something. There everything is swept into the abyss,, the young boy caught with a rifle in his hand and placed against a wall. I ask you what justice fits acts like those ? As to its ultimate issue I have no doubt, and I can not but feel, that this case of justice must triumph. You may have injustice, triumphing in the world at times, but it seems to me impossible that wrong, which the Avhole world recognizes as wrong, shall triumph. Germany has been talk- ing about the will to dictate. Gentlemen, what I fear is that that same apathy which characterized the English nation in the beginning of this war is going to characterize us. I was in England six weeks after the war began. At the end of three weeks one of the colonels told my wife he had been sitting in the recruiting office all day and not one man had applied for enlistment. I fear it will be fidly a year, if the war lasts so long, before this country is aroused to the extent of the task before us. There is a duty before us now. and that is to arouse the people of this country to the real issue of this war and to its seriousness. Over and above the triumph of the cause of justice there is another great issue, which our President has pointed out so well ; and Avhile engaged in the duty of the hour, the duty of preparation, the duty of conducting this fight to a finish which will end forever the autocratic group in Germany which brought this war on. there is the duty of being prepared in another way, preparing an organization, a rudimentary war organization which will prevent a repetition of this cataclysm. Xo one could have pointed out that thing more eloquently than our President in his great Avar message to the Senate. We may see that just as the Stars and Stripes symbolize the union of free States in America, so it may come to symbolize the union of nations making for justice and good will. You will find that democracy makes for good will. The reason France and England have been able to Avork together is that they entered into an entente cordiale some 15 years ago. which was impossible under the old autocratic system. Again I say that democracy makes for good Avill, and Ave must carry this fight to a successful conclusion in order that posterity may enjoy that freedom for which our forefathers haA'e fought and for which we are now joined with the allies in order to accomplish. I thank you. [Applause.] The Chairman. Now, I Avill state to the gentlemen upon whom I have called to address us, and those whom I am about to call here, that I have their names on a list, or others in my mind, so that they will be entirelv unprepared so far as delivering an address is con- cerned. But I assume that in addition to listening to the addresses they are forming in their minds Avhat they intend to say. I am gomg to ask Mr. Colgate Hovt to address us. Mr Colgate Hoyt. :\rr. President, ladies and gentlemen: I feel verv much like the man Avho had fallen into the river and was flouu- der'ino- and splashing around, trvinfi- to get out. and a fiieiiil on the bank,'"lookins at him. said, •• :\lv" friend, how did you come to tall m the river ^ '" "He said. " T did not come to fall in. I came to hsh. 68 BKITISH LABOR S WAE MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. Mr. President, I am a little in that situation. I can not tell you how much I have enjoyed the fishing here to-day. It has been an in- spiration, I am sure, to everyone gathered here. Busy man that I am, I hesitated a moment when I received Mr. Gompers's invitation to join the committee, but I felt it was a duty for every man to do his full part toward this mighty struggle that we are in. I thank God that I have one boy in the Army and one boy in the Navy, and I only wish I had more to. put into the same service, but, as we have heard to-day, there is work for everyone of us to do, there is effi- cient work, there is serious work, and there are sacrifices to be made. At playtime I do farming to some extent. This year I am going to do a little more than play at it. But, as I have seen the unanimity, the cordiality, and the fellowship here, I have felt that these gather- ings are doing a great deal of good. When last month I gathered my men together, and one Sunday afternoon had a talk with them, not knowing what the future would lead to but telling them we would all be in the same boat and all perhaps together, when many employers were losing their employees, and everything of that kind, my super- intendent came to me on the 3d of May, and he said, " Mr. Hoyt, not a man has left," which certainly was very gratifying to me. We have all of us got to do our whole part to keep up the standard of living as much as possible. God forbid that we should ever sink into such barbarism as we have seen perpetrated in the last two years and a half. God forbid that our wives and our daughters should forever work in the fields instead of able-bodied men. No ! But in times like these every child and every woman and every man must do his full part, and I feel very sure that the inspiration that we have received here to-day will send every one of us home with a determi- nation and a resolution that so far as we are concerned, we will not be found wanting. [Applause.] The Chairman. I am reminded that we have had a long session. It is now after 6 o'clock, and you are accustomed to take your dinners about this time, though I am perfectly willing to be governed accord- ing to your wishes. Is it your wish that we should sit here for an hour or two longer, or shall we take a recess and reconvene at 8 o'clock this evening? Mr. Macfarland. Mr. Chairman, I move you that we take a recess now and reconvene at 8 o'clock this evening. The Chairman. I would like to conserve the desires of you ladies and gentlemen, and you may have no consideration for me, for I will go along as you direct. Before the motion is put, I would like to get an expression of opinion by a vote, whether you, ladies and gentlemen, will, if a motion is adopted, reconvene this evening at 8 o'clock, because if we are not to have a representative gathering it would be useless to have a few come. Mr. Macfarland is a public-spirited citizen of the District and was for many years one of the three commissioners, and chairman of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. Mr. Macfarland moves, and it has been seconded, that we now take a recess and reconvene in this room at 8 o'clock p. m. All those in favor of the motion will signify by raising their right hands. The motion is carried unani- mously. (Thereupon, at 6.10 o'clock p. m., the committee took a recess, to meet at 8 o'clock p. m. of the same date.) BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 69 EVENING SESSION. The committee reconvened at 8 o'clock p. m. The Chairman. I think it would be well to open the evening session with some remarks from a labor man, and I am goino- to^'ask the ]iresident of the United Association of Plumbers and Gas-Fitters and Steam-Fitters, and the vice president of the American Federation of Labor to address the conference at this time. I call upon Mr. John Alpine, Mr, John Alpine. Mr, Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: I am very glad the president saw fit to designate my few remarks as an address, because, really, I would not have assumed the responsibility of so designating them myself. Confidentially. I had hoped that your president would ask me to say something, not that I had assumed that I would be able to add anything to the eloquence that ha(l already been offered, but simply that I might get my name in the minutes. However, I think I am a sufficiently good American and trade- unionist to say just a few words that may be apropos of this occa- sion, which may not be deemed worthy of the title of an address. Like all the rest of you, I am deeply concerned in the crisis we are now facing, and this meeting of to-day, bringing together as it does so many men and women in various walks of life, and with as many varying industrial points, to me reindorses the declaration made by the British delegate when he said something tliat was closely akin to the declaration that while war may be all that Sherman said it was and that we believe it to be, it is also a leveler of opinion and brings us all to a common plane, not alone in the trench or trenches on the battle front, but here where we are meeting in an endeavor to find ways and means best calculated to serve the interests of our oAvn Na- tion in its cause and the cause of the allies with whom Ave have aligned our fate. It has occurred to me, and I know Ave all hope it to be true, that in spite of all the evil that is prevalent noAv as a result of this world-Avide Avar, in spite of the evil that may be resultant thereof, there Avill come out of all the smoke and tumult of battle ii better w^orld, a better people, a better understanding, not only Avith regard to men Avho fight shoulder to shoulder in the actual trench line of battle but in the industrial centers as Avell, since this brings us into more closely allied contact with all forms and classes of hu- manity. May it not be, after all is said and done, a blessing in dis- guise if it brings to us those benefits that more than outweigh the evils through Avhich w'e are passing; perhaps it may bring in its train a few more republics in Europe as a result of the conflict. There is one thing it Avill establish or, rather, reastablish. It Avill establish to the Avorld that, as much as Ave love peace, as peace loving as we as a people are, it will reaffirm, reestablish, and agnin demon- strate to the Avorld that there are no better men, there are no better soldiers, than the citizen soldiers of our Nation. Avho have proven that fact time and time again, and Avho Avill prove it again in the days to come if this conflict lasts sufficiently long for this proof to be needed. There is no need of my or your tongue proclaiming to the Avorld the loyalty of the labor movement of our country, since that has been further established in the days that have passed and Avill continue in establishment in the days of the future. It is not my purpose to 70 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. intrude upon your time. I came here at considerable disadvantage to myself, but with a firm knowledge that I would be amply repaid for such inconvenience as my own personal affairs have suffered, and unfortunately was unable to be here in time to listen to the addresses of the morning, but have felt more than repaid because of the privi- lege of having been present during the afternoon session. President Gompers very frequently, in introducing me, has referred to me as the president of the plumbers and steamfitters of the United States and Canada, and has added to that the soft impeachment that I was the president of all the robbers of the world. I heard here this afternoon one of the gentlemen, Mr. Guggenheim, say that he had retired from business and after having devoted something like 45 years of activity in the business world, and I would like to say to him and to you that ordinarily the men whom I represent in part retire much earlier than Mr. Guggenheim retired. They are in a position so that they may retire long before they have put in -15 years of actual activity at their trade, because of the lucrativeness connected with their business. Seriously, I am indebted to you for the privilege and honor you do me in allowing me to make these few scattering, and I fear in- coherent, remarks. I just want to say this in conclusion: I have just left a son, not old enough to be drafted, but who is now on the way to Illinois in order that he may rally to the colors. I have never realized quite how young I am myself until I saw that boy ready to do his bit in defense of the greatest country that God ever gave existence to, and I feel as if I was ready and prepared to do my share just as every man among us feels if the occasion requires. We are a peace-loving people, we have not gone into this war of our own volition, but only after we had been driven into the matter because of the unjust and barbarous practices of the enemy we are about to face. The labor movement has issued its declarations, and those declarations will be reenforced by actual practice, and no doubt can exist as to the standing of the labor movement at this time in this crisis Ave are facing. I thank you, Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen. [Applause.] The Chairmax. And jot^ Mr. Alpine would accuse me of flattering him when I said he would deliver an address. One of the men, a large employer of labor, who has given the world a demonstration of wonderful ingenuity, is with us. He is the man who provides the machines and makes people sav. without articulation, " Keep straight, $1.68." Mr. John Patterson", of the National Cash Register Co. [Applause.] Mr. JoHx Patterson. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, this is my first conference and it strikes me as an international school for industrial betterment, for the betterment of the new industrial army. I am very thankful for the able teachers we have had from the other side and am very grateful to them for taking such great risks on the ocean in order to be here and give this country the advantage of their experience and telling it to us in such a simple, straight- forward, broad-minded way. It will do lots of good. 'Mj onlv regret is that they could not remain in this country long enough to give these talks in many parts of the country. I can look forward with a great deal of satisfaction to the improve- ment that will come to capital, labor, and management throughout BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 71 this country by the meeting here to-day and the meetings that will take place hereafter when I hope to be present. [Applause.] The Chairman. Suppose we hear from the man who helps to keep us warm in winter by the production of stoves, Mr. W. T. Barbour, of Detroit. [Applause.] Mr. W. T. Barbour. ]Vfr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I will go home greatly and deeply impressed with what has been told us, and I am going home and try to do what I can toward carrying out the ideas I have heard expressed here. The Chairman. We will have a word from a trade-union woman, an officer in a trade essential to industry wdiich is going to play a great part in this conflict, Mrs. Sarah A. Conboy, secretary and treas- urer of the United Textile Workers of America. [Applause.] Mrs. Con BOY. Mr. Gompers, friends, brothers, and sisters, I think that all of us who have attended this conference to-day have been deeply impressed by the stories, if you will, that haye been told us by our friends from across the water. I think the lesson that they have taught us of the question of preparedness, the w ay that they have handled the question over there, is going to be of the greatest 'and deepest moment to us in the work that we, in this committee, are trying to do. I feel sure that the trades-union women who are members of this committee are going to do their share in helping to carry out the work of this committee, for, after all, women are a very essential part of the nation to-day, women are taking their places in the fore- front in all industries, and I think it is going to be the job of the women, as well as the job of the men, to see to it that when women are put into places to take the work formerly done by men, that they are going to get equal pay for equal w^ork, and I believe that the com- mittee, of which I am a member, and of which Mrs. J. Borden Harri- man is chairman, has that in mind at the present time. I am not going to make any lengthy speech, but I am glad to have this opportunity to say for my trade-union sisters who are here, and who perhaps will not have "this opportunity, that we have very much enjoyed the talks made by our delegates from Great Britain and from Canada, and I believe that the lessons they have taught us are filled wdth all the good things for us that will make us know and understand and profit by the mistakes which they made. I might say that I, perhaps, fully realize only too intensely what war means. Just returning from 'Canada, I spent a day in Toronto in the convalescent hospital and talked with a number of the ycnmg men who were there. . , I think it will be interesting to you, perhaps, to know the spirit that permeates so many of these men. Seated on the porch was a young man who had received nine w^ounds, two of them thej thought were fatal, but after 14 weeks in the hospital he recovered, and I said to him, "Do vou think of going back?" And he said "Do I think of going back? There is not any think about it. i am going back to-morrow." That is the spirit that makes men and makes women. , , /: j.i i. .i„^ Mr Chairman and friends, T am sure that the women of the trades- union movement, the women who are associated ^^ ■^^'^';}^'^ Gompers in this great human work, are gomg /o do then sliaie Perhaps we can not go into the trenches and fight, but we can stay 72 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. at home and do a whole lot of great big work and be of great service to the men who do go. I thank you, Mr. President. [Applause.] The Chairman. I am going to ask Col. Isaac UUman to favor us with a few remarks. Col. Isaac Ullman. Mr. Chairman, as the others have said, there is nothing further to be said. The last word was said this morn- ing, when the gentlemen from Great Britain spoke, and this after- noon when they were followed by our friend from Canada, and when the gentlemen from Great Britain so masterly stated their case when opportunity was given them to reply to questions which were so readily answered. It is a great pleasure to be here; it is a pleasure to represent at a gathering like this, old New England, and I might add that in a radius of 50 miles from my home town, New Haven, we are manu- facturing at this time about 50 per cent — slightly more than that — of all the arms and ammunition manufactured in the United States. So you will understand what has been said to-day is indeed inter- esting to us, and we have asked and are asking some of the gentle- men who came here and favored you here to-day with their remarks to come to us at New Haven and show us what we must be shown, in order that we may avoid the mistakes they made originally, and mistakes we are bound to make unless some one helps us avoid them. We are growing, too, having learned our lesson, and I hope they make come there and we may give them an old-fashioned New England welcome. It is a great pleasure to be here and join with you. Anything I can do at any time to cooperate with 3^ou in order to make the work a success I will be only too glad to do, and you should call on me and I will be glad to do my share. [Applause.] The Chairman. I am going to ask Mr. Clark, of the Eailroad Brotherhood, to address the conference. Mr. Clark. Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen, this is very unexpected, indeed. Like the gentleman said in his talk this after- noon about a little boy who went fishing, that is what I came here for to-day — to listen to the stories and try, perhaps, to get a little nibble ; and I say that I have got a good big one now before I land the fish that you expect me to do. I am exceedingly glad and consider this a great honor to have the privilege of being a small unit of a great committee like this. The more you analyze it the more you realize the great and far-reaching effects for which this committee has been called together. It is be- yond my conception, this being my first experience here, and the subjects that have been discussed this morning and this afternoon have thrown a great light upon me, and I can hardly realize what it all means. I happen to be the representative of the railway conductors, one of the vice presidents located here in Washington, trying to do my little bit to assist in legislation that will be beneficial to the men that I try to represent. We have made some progress and hope to make more, and I am sure that in the final analysis you will find the railroad men, the men who operate the trains, willing and anxioiis to at all times do that which will be their duty in the coming conflict. I am very glad, indeed, to have had this opportunity to say just these few words, and if the railway conductors or the railway men in BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 73 this country can have the opportunity, I am quite sure that they will not be found lacking. Mr. Chairman, I thank you. [Applause.] The Chairman. 1 am going to ask Dr. Halberstadt, of the Phila- delphia & Eeadmg Coal Co., Pottsville, Pa., to favor us with a few remarks. Dr. Halberstadt. Mr. Chairman, I am another one taken by sur- prise. I want to say to you people we must not forget the fact that you need coal. Next to munitions in w^arfare, next to the farmer, comes the coal miner, for if you can not get coal you can not make munitions. I want to Sciy to you that up in the anthracite coal region we have already furnished our quota for this war. You know these men in the anthracite regions are fighters; they would rather fight than eat any time. They got 30 per cent two weeks ago. They know how to fight; but the trouble is if you take our men away from us you will stop the production of anthracite coal, for the reason that no man can work in an anthracite coal mine without a certificate, and it takes two years to get a certificate. Now, it is a serious proposition, and if you want coal the Army will have to let our men alone. The War Department asked me a month or two ago to take all my men — I have been in charge of the first-aid insti'uction for the company as chief surgeon for 15 years — and to train the 2,500 men, and w^hen the foreigners or people from the Western States, from the United States Bureau of Mines, asked where to go to see the best first-aid work, I must confess that the,v sent them up to Eeading. I made a census of my men to see how many Ave could take into this war, and almost every man is married; almost every man has a family. The coal regions have furnished their quota and we want the Army to keep their hands off as many more men as they can and let us mine coal. A question came up this evening which was presented by a lady who addressed us on the women's work. I want to say to you ladies, and to you men, here to-night, that women's work begins long before she has to go to the munition factory, to the farm, or anywhere else. Were it not for the women, where would our armies be? Who is it that goes to work, did go to work two years and a half ago, and begin to make dressings to send to Europe? Why, it was the women of this country. Wlio has been at it ever since ? Why, it was the women of this country. Who have furnished the ambu- lances, who have done a majority of the work, but the women ? Now, I want to say to you this, that our women in Schuylkill County, Pa., furnished a whole lot of dressings that were sent to the station in Philadelphia a year ago, and two years ago, and two years and a ouarter ago, to be sent across the water. They could not send them over, and when that explosion took place at Eddystone a few weeks ago the dressings that were rushed to Eddystone to cover up those poor men and women who Avere mutilated by that explosion came from the lower anthracite coal region, they came from our little town of Pottsville and Schuylkill County. , . . . • nr Now, the women do not have to go to work in factories. My mother is 83 years of age and she has a little difficulty with hearing and eyesight, but she can sit down and knit. Last week, Avith her eyes shut, I found her knitting a new form of eye bandage to send abroad. I do not want you ladies to worry about going into factories. What I see is up to you to do is to get at your bandages and dressings, 74 BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. stir your stumps and do just as much as you can and you can do just as much as the men. The other evening I was sent to go to our office in an assembly room, and there I found a large gathering and a band of music. As 1 entered the door I found it was a Red Cross meeting. They told me that I need not make a speech and I did not, after Mr. Corey, the representative of the Red Cross, got through with his speech, for the enrollment cards were taken up and I found some of the audience slipping out of the back door, and it was hard to talk on a subject you did not know anything about. When I was a youngster at Sunday school our bishop came to see us and took as his text " God has a plan for every man." I told them I did not remember the story, but I thought I remembered the gist of it, and it was this : A boy had been born a cripple, and something happened in the little town in which he lived. Something terrible happened in the little town in which he lived; he was the only person who saw what was going on, and he gathered his strength together, got out and gave the alarm and saved the town. Through his exer- tions he lost his life, but there was a boy who was born a hopeless cripple, who saved his town but lost his life. Now, we can each do our bit and we will do it. I have been very much interested in this talk to-day, and I am sure I am going back to Pennsylvania and do what I can among our people to further the objects of this organization. I feel highly com- plimented on having been made a member of this subcommittee. The Chairman. I am going to ask the gentlemen whose names I shall call, to please confine their remarks to, say, two or three minutes, because we want to return to the questions and to the answers. I am going to ask Mr. Wharton, the president of the railway employees department of the American Federation of Labor, to favor us with a few remarks. Mr. A. O. Wharton. Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen, I can assure you, as have previous speakers, that I have certainly enjoyed the opportunity of being present at this meeting to-day, and the in- formation that has been conveyed to us by our brothers from across the pond and from Canada will leave a mark and be an epoch in so far as I am concerned. I represent a class of men who are seldom heard of — they are the men who make and repair and provide for the safety in transporta- tion, the machinists, the boiler makers, blacksmiths, sheet-metal v>'orkers, electricians, and carmen who perform a service that is above all essential to many of the things that we have skirted around to-day in our remarks. Without them we would be almost helpless, and ihese same class of men are principally engaged in the building of munitions, the building of ships, aeroplanes, and everything that goes in and goes toward making a modern civilization possible. For these men I desire to say, in closing, that their loyalty can not be ques- tioned. They are Americans in heart and soul and they believe in the principles which have been so fully enunciated by our President. They are backing our country, and they will work and cooperate with this committee to the fullest of their ability. In closing I desire to say that I appreciate the honor of having had this opportunity of speaking these few words. [Applause.] BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 75 The Chairman. I am going to ask Miss Lathrop to address this conference for a few minutes. [Apphiuse.] Miss Lathrop. It is perhaps a natural enough coincidence that I was just wishing that I might have a chance to say something to this audience, but I did not for one minute thinlc that I woukl be asked to speak. I have been thinking of this war, that it is to be fought, in one sense, in a new way; that we are to find at the end of it. whether the men come back victorious or beaten, that the true test of it is behind the lines, in the level of life which Ave have been able to maintain in the families of the men who have gone to the front. If those men do not come back, then are those families to be weakened and crippled by poverty which leaves their children far. far l)elow the level which their fathers themselves have attained or which their fathers would have kept for them if thev had been alive? If the fathers do come back, are they to find the families suil'ering from all the deprivation, all the misery which those years of anxietj'^ and un- happiness and poverty have brought upon them? Is there any place in America where one can say more fittingly than at this place that now is the time for us to determine what the compensation of the soldier who goes to the front shall be? Shall it not be based upon a decent allowance for the soldier, a decent famil}'' allowance, some provision for insurance, some provision at every point which means that that family — Avhose welfare, in the long run, is going to be the test of the level of our democracy — shall be taken care of, and shall not sink down? [Applause.] The Chairman. I am going to ask Mr. George W. Perkins, presi- dent of the Cigarmakers' International Union of America, and a member of the Illinois Council of Defense, to address us for a few minutes. [Applause.] Mr. Perkins. Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen, it seems to me that if the lessons taught here to-day, this morning and this after- noon, find lodgment in the minds and hearts of the people here and we discharge our full duties, we shall be doing our share to conserve human life and human good. One of the representatives from the British Government this morn- ing told us that they found it necessary to soften up the number of working hours and "the number of working days over there in order to conserve human life. In fact, he told us that if that was not stopped the whole machinery of construction and production at home would go to smash, and with it the war as well. This afternoon the greatest sentiment I have heard since I have been here was given us by our President Avhen he said that in fighting to establish democracy for the peoples of the Old World, Avith a better condition for work- ing men and Avomen and the people generally. Ave must not destroy democracy or conditions here at home. That thought sank deep into my mind'; and I say, if we carry forAvard the lessons taught here to-day by the men Avho understand the movement over there and by the able men and Avomen Avho have advised us here, thei-e is a Avonderful future for this committee. The labor movement, as I understand it— I do not profess to speak for it— but I know in so far as mv own knowledge goes that thev first stand squarely behind our President. That is a matter ot record The labor movement understands the reason tor its exist- 76 BEITISH LABOR ^S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. ence. It has struggied hard, faithfully, and made many sacrifices to bring about a better condition for the working men and women. It stands just as loyally behind those conditions as it does behind our President and our country. We will stand for both, and we will fight for both — first for our country, yes, and secondly to maintain conditions that ameliorate the condition of the working men and women of our countr5\ [Applause.] The Chairman. I find myself in a quandary because I can not ask all who are here to address us, so that all of us, in turn, may receive the benefit of the advice and suggestions and appreciation; but it is not within the limit of our time and our endurance. But I can not close this session so far as addresses are concerned without calling upon a woman to say something, even if it be only a few words. For the first time in the history of America, and I think for the first time in the history of the whole world, a woman has been elected to the parliament of the country, the Congress of the United States ; and I ask that Miss Eankin will address this conference for a few minutes. [Great applause.] Miss Rankin. Men and women, I can not say anything to-night that has not already been said ; but it seems to me that we ought to be conscious, every one of us, that it is the workers who are going to fight the battle — the workers at home and the workers abroad — and when we are fighting this fight that we should remember always that we must come out of it with something greater than just the mere commercial values and returns that we get; that we must come out of it with some sort of an ideal. I do not think that the work- ers can ever be too conscious of the fact that this is their battle, that they are fighting it, that they should get the returns, and that they should come out with greater democracy for the workers, and they should come out with that exalted spirit that comes from fight- ing for something that is real and something that means something to the workers; and at the end of this fight that all the workers in the world will feel that they have earned their liberty, and that they will come out feeling that they are men and not slaves. Thank you. [Applause.] The Chairman. And now we will return to the grill. [Laughter.] I am sure that both questioners and respondents were in happy accord after the answers and the explanations had been made. I now, on behalf of the two labor representatives of the British Government, request you, if you desire, to ask anj' question in con- nection with the conduct of the war, and particularly as it affects the workers of the allied countries. The chair is ready to recog- nize any question. Mr. A. F. Bemis. Mr. Chairman, I should like to ask Mr. Thomas a question, which I partially asked him as he was going down this afternoon in the elevator, but I think perhaps the present meeting would be interested in his reply — in regard to the question of hours of work in the different industries in Great Britain under war con- ditions. Mr. Thomas has given you a statement in regard to the hours of work per week by the men and the women under the early conditions of the war, and has stated to you that Sunday work has been cut out, and some other things. I think he has not stated to you, however, just what the present status is in regard to the hours of labor in the different industries. BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 77 I notice in the summary of the report of the British ministry of illunitions this statement in regard to the matter : The principle of \ar.ving the lumrs accordins to the eliaracter of the worlv aud the sex and age of tlie worlcers should be observed. I should like to ask Mr. Thomas to explain just how it is, under present conditions, that they do regulate the hours of work in the different industries, and in what Avay they discriminate between the different industries. Mr. Thomas. I find that in the interval between my leaving you and the present time you have had a sort of confessional. In our religious revivals we have this kind of confessionals, but it is quite a new experience to find it outside of a religious revival. [Laugh- ter.] I did not happen to hear the whole of the confessions of either sins of omission or sins of commission: but what I did hear has convinced me that both sides needed coming together, and it is very gratifying to us to feel that this magnificent spirit prevails in the early stages. In response to the question that has just been put, one can not give what you would call a straight answer, because you have got to consider the circumstances existing in Great Britain to-day after two years and a half of war, and the circumstances connected with the United States in its entering into the war. For instance, no greater mistake could be made by your GoAernment than to view this war from the mere standpoint of a military machine. That is to say, I felt early in the war, and two years ago I presented to our cabinet a report asking that the Nation be treated as a unit. The point was made by some one who was talking from the miners that it would be foolish to send miners if they can do more useful work hewing coal than fighting. In the same waj', it was madness on our part to send experienced engineers and machinists to France at a time when the supply of munitions was more essential than the fighting soldiers; and what you have got to keep in mind is this: If America's first need is to supply us with ships, then the first thing is to concentrate on the thing that is immediately necessary ; and if you found it necessary to work longer hours immediately to get over the temporary difficulty, say, of submarining, that is a matter that must be determined in considering the kind of assistance that you are going to render the allies. We, after tw^o and a half years, have found that in regulating the hours of men and Avomen they must be regulated according to the industry. For instance, if women are engaged in what we call T. N. T. work — what would be the definition for America of T. N. T. ? Well, you know Avhat it means. I understand you call it T. N. T.. too. "Now, there, clearly the effect of that Avork has been dis- astrous in manv respects to those engaged: and clearly there must be more restriction in the dangerous occupations than there is in less dangerous ones. The object of that report is not to set down any definite standard and sav that five or six or seven or eight or nme hours should be the limit, but rather to say that discretion must be given and due regard paid to the dangerous nature of the Avork, and, in accordance Avith the dangerous nature, reduce the hours and the conditions under Avhich the people work. That is done in the vari- ous industries, Avhich results in some men and some Avomen working 78 BKCTISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. much shorter hours than others, because, as I say, of the dangerous nature of the occupation. Mr. Bemis. Mr. Chairman, I should like to ask Mr. Thomas a fur- ther question on this same point. Now, what I should like to ask Mr. Thomas is this, whether, not- withstanding the mistake that he said was made in going to the ex- treme, running 100 hours a week, for instance, in some cases, there may not be a certain amount of increase, say 10 per cent or 20 per cent per week over a temporary period of six months or a year which, in this tremendous strife, we might be justified in ? Mr. Thomas. What you put to me is this, that whilst long hours have proved disastrous in a long period of two and a half years, an urgent provision for a given thing that would limit the long hours to a shorter period may in the end be temporarily adopted. That is, shortly, your point. Now. there are two answers to that, it appears to me. The first depends on whether the machinery could be adapted to a continuous shift. For instance, instead of, if you like, increasing the hours to 10 or 12, if arrangements could be made to utilize the machinery on two shifts instead of one without increasing the hours of the indi- viduals, you would there get double or perhaps treble your output: but that must be regulated in accordance with whether or not the machinery itself would stand the strain ; whether you could organize your factory to get a continuous running of your machinery, or whether you could not. That is the first point. The second is this, and it appears to me an essential thing to be done: There may be men here this afternoon — I do not know, and therefore I am not casting any reflections — there may be men from the employer's point of view that never before quite understood the worker's point of view in the same sense. On the other hand, there may be workers here who always looked upon the capitalist as an enemy to society, and the best place for him would be in the German trenches, and we fighting him from our side. [Laughter.] I quite concede that that is a natural characteristic of society. But both sides having been brought together, they find that there is much more good in both than they anticipated. Now", what I would suggest is that wherever a contingency^ arises such as you name, and many others that may arise, the easiest way to solve that problem is for both sides to take each other into their confidence. Let the employers show to organized labor that they have a case that organized labor did not understand until they had met. Let organized labor, on the other hand, be able to give the benefit of their experience to the employers. Sometimes a suggestion will get over the difficulty. My experience is that if both sides come together anxious to find a bridge, they will do it ; but if both sides keep apart, they will not. I would seriously recommend that in such a contingency as you name, both sides come together, face the situation, and as the result of the brains and experience of both sides of the question, I am sat- isfied you will be able to find the solution ; always keeping in mind, of course, that neither you nor the other is anxious to take advantage of the other, but both of you are anxious to serve your countr3^ [Applause.] BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 79 Mr. CoLLis Lovely. Mr. Chairman, I should like to have Mr Thomas explain the matter of awarding contracts by the British Gov- ernment for the production of articles for use in the army. Mr, Thomas. Such as Mr. Lovely. My reason for asking this question is that this fore- noon I understood Mr. Thomas to say that if there was a scarcity of labor, say, in Washington— I am going to say in a shoe factory, be- cause I am more familiar with them than I am Avith anything else— and there was a surplus in New York, the surplus from New York would be taken to fill the vacancies in Washington, and that if a higher rate existed in Washington that would be the rate paid. Now, if the contracts were allotted or had been awarded upon the lowest bid, and the bid from Washington had been based upon a low scale, what effect would that have in your country in the matter of award- ing contracts ? Mr. Thomas. The short answer to that is that by parliamentary action of labor in our country we got the House of Parliament to adopt a fair-wage clause which compels the Government, in issuing a contract or inviting tenders for a contract, to make it a condition on the part of the individual accepting or tendering for the contract that he will observe to the full, in spirit and letter, what is known as the fair-wage clause. That fair-wage clause means that whoever the employer may be, whether he engages trade-union or nontrade-union labor, the fact of his having accepted a Government contract compels him immediately to put into operation the fair-wage clause, which means the trade-union rate in that district. By that means it equal- izes all employers and prevents the " sweating " employer getting an advantage from the Government over the good employer. [Ap- plause.] Capt. Cruse. I heard with great interest of your measures for the adaptation of laborers to new tasks. I should like to know whether your measures of selecting the people who were to be adapted to the new tasks have worked out to advantage, and whether you can advise us how we should select the laborers for adaptation to the new tasks. Mr, Thomas. I am afraid that when you are dealing, as we had to deal, with hundreds of thousands, a very strict scrutiny on selection is hardly possible; and therefore what really arises is that if folks, after a fair experience, do not find themselves adapted to a particular sphere of industry, the fact that they are capable of doing something equalizes itself by their migrating to some other field; and there- fore 3'ou will see, of course, that that does not apply to the selection. That would apply equally, we will say, to a soldier. There clearly can not be that selection for a soldier which comprises a million people that there is for the officer, whose position is a supervisory one. If I were engaging a man to direct m}^ factory, it would be obvi- ously to my advantage that very great skill and care would natu- rally be observed in his selection; but if I Avanted to engage 10,000 meii, even if a thousand of them were " wrong 'uns," the balance of the 9.000 at least would have served my purpose. I can only say that if you started off with a direct measure of selection of that kind, it occurs to me that you would be creating an army of unnecessary officials who might prove themselves more unsatisfactory than the people they were called upon to reject. [Laughter and applause.] 80 BEITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. Dr. Albert Shaw. Mr. Chairman, may I ask Mr. Thomas a ques- tion? The Chairman. Certainly. Dr. Shaw. Mr. Thomas, may I ask a question somewhat closely associated with two or three that you have already answered ? I have in mind certain manufacturers. Our Government has already ap- proached them and asked them to take munition contracts. Those contracts would not occupy the whole of their manufacturing facili- ties, would occupy let us say 20 per cent of their manufacturing facilities. These businesses are now on a 10-hour basis. The con- tracts that the Government would have them take would have to be taken, let us say, on an 8-hour basis, with time and a half for over- time. Now, those men would like to do the Government business; they would like to take those contracts ; they want to be patriotic ; but if they took those contracts on the 8-hour basis — pardon me for speak- ing so long, but I will state my case clearly in a few words — if they took those contracts, which they would have to take on the 8-hour basis, they would be compelled to make over their entire factories upon an 8-hour basis, because their other men working on other things would probably demand the 8-hour day. These men are so situated at the present time that they can not make oyer their factories, in their own estimation, on the 8-hour day basis, with- out very, very serious disaster. That problem is not hypothetical. It is a very practical problem. It is a problem which at this very moment we are compelled to face in this country. What is the answer to a problem like that in the process of transition — because, of course, it is a transitional problem ? Mr. Thomas. If you will allow me to say so, you have succeeded in putting to me what is in the minds of a lot of people, but it has not been put quite so directly. In other words, I would be deceiving you if I did not know that that was at the back of many questions that were directed to me, and an equally burning question. [Laughter.] Therefore, knowing it, I am going to be quite as frank as I have been throughout, and try to face it ; because we would not be serving you and we would not be honest with you if we did not face a difficulty rather than skip over it, and I do not think it would be fair. Dr. Shaw. I am in the position of a disinterested friend, and I can ask a frank question. [Laughter.] Mr. Thomas. In other words, you can say really what you are quite sure others would prefer you to say than they. [Laughter and applause.] Dr. Shaw. Possibly. Mr. Thomas. That is diverting. Now, it is only fair to state first the difference between the manufacturer in this country and the manufacturer in our country on this particular point. The first dif- ference is this : The difficulty of the manufacturer here is that if he himself were given all war work, whilst it may be temporarily profitable to him, from the fact of all his business competitors not doing any war work they would be left free to steal the business of which his capital provided the basis. Now, I am putting it as fairly, as I can. That clearly is a great disadvantage to the manufacturer and one which capital and labor and the Government itself must fairly recognize. That did not arise in our country, for the reason BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 81 that everybody was put on Government work, and the Government prohibited the export and the manufacture of nonessential things, and therefore when the war was over the manufacturers started on an equal footing and did not have the disadvantage which vour manufacturers have got of Brown working for the Government\nd bmith collaring Brown's orders. [Laughter.] That is the manufacturer's point of view. The second point that he is faced with is this: He is well aware that conditions of labor, like profits, is a disease, and it is contagious. [Laughter.] That is to say, just as you rightly say. when vou introduce into a factory eight hours for a given number of men the disease will spread to the remainder. [Laughter.] You will have to call in a doctor to deal with the disease of the whole. But, of course, that is not limited to the worker, because equally if one employer is making 10 per cent and the other 20 the one that is making \0 per cent is not content until he makes 20, so that there is no difference so far as the principle is concerned. But the difficulty that your Government is up against is this: If you are given an order and the order, say, is immediate and urgent, will only last three months and will only occupy 20 per cent of your staff, you are faced with the difficulty of turning down that order when you can not if you like, having calculated your expenses, take the risk of maintaining eight hours for all. Now, that is your problem. ' . There are two ways, I think, of meeting it. The first would be a universal eight-hour day for all, and that would put them all on an equal footing. [Applause.] But I am not going to skip it by as- suming that that is the only solution. That, I submit, would be the equal solution, would be the fair and equitable solution, I believe, in the end, because our experience with the eight-hour day is this, that all employers that have adopted eight hours in our country have never gone back to a nine-hour day, and the general experience is that the eight hours has proved beneficial to the employers as well as the emplo3^ees. But we are dealing with war. and the emergency it creates, and the general economic situation does not arise. Now, I believe, and I am satisfied from what has happened here to-day and what has hap- pened during the fortnight that Ave have been with you, that there is a genuine desire on the part of organized labor to meet any and every difficulty. That is one of the difficulties that is recognized, probably, as the most urgent on both sides; and I would say that the liost nnd the surest sign of the coming to an agreement is for you to do as 1 said just now" in answer to another question: Let the manufacturer or the contractor who is faced with that problem immediately get in touch with the representatives of the men in that industry, come together, face the fact that here is the difficulty, here are the facts of the situation, here is the Nation's emergency, and I am satisfied that with give and take on both sides a bridge will be found for that. I have an idea our bridge could be found, but I am not dictating or lecturing the American people. I am giving them the benefit of our experience; and I am quite confident that with a desire to find a solution on both sides, you will find one. But I would beg of you not to be edging around the question, not to be assuming that the con- S. Doc. 84, 65-1 6 82 BEITISH LABOR ^S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. tracts can not be done, but let any contractor faced with that diffi- culty frankly send to the trades-union representatives and say, " Let us meet in conference to discuss this question with all the cards on the table." Let the employer say, " I am not desirous of taking ad- vantage of the war to break down something that I never believed in." On the other hand, let the employees say, " Whilst anxious to main- tain the law, we are not anxious to take advantage of the war to enforce something during the war that Ave could not obtain in peace times." With both sides recognizing that, I repeat, I believe they will find a solution. The Chairman. In connection with this point, I think it might prove advantageous to have a bit of information. The question was discussed in an informal way as to the relaxation or the suspension of the eight-hour provision in the contracts for work for the Government of the United States. As a representative of the working people as well as a citizen of the United States, and having had the experience as well as the testimony of men who have put the eight-hour day into operation, I was unwilling to yield the proposition for the universal suspension of the eight-hour workday. I was willing that there be an understanding between the employers and the workmen, and in their representative organized capacity, so that they would have a united voice in submitting or resisting; but I was also willing to have the enforcement of the eight-hour law left in the hands of the President of the United States. I felt that he would not submit to the relaxation or the suspension of that law or any other law which it has taken half a century to write into the statutes of our country without there being a real emergency, and that he would not submit to the hysteria, and, under the guise of patri- otism, the effort to drive the last ounce of energy and blood out of the workers, the men, and the women. When that position was refused, I withdrew the entire proposition. I did not feel warranted in offering to yield the wider scope of the eight-hour principle, and, by yielding, invite the employers to insist upon the suspension of the eight-hour workday. That is the thing; that is the real fact Avhich Dr. Shaw has pre- sented. I was confronted by the statement that the introduction of the eight-hour day in establishments for, say, 20, 30, 40, or 50 per cent of the employees would disrupt the work — the Avord " disrupt " was used — of the entire establishment. As a matter of fact, there are contractors now who are performing but 10 per cent of their work under the provisions of the eight-hour law, and the balance of the men are working nine hours a day. It has had the effect of infecting the other workers with the desire for an eight-hour day ; but that is the human aspiration, and it has no right to be curbed, particularly when it will make for the industrial advantage of the employer, of the country, of the workers, and of the industry. I had hoped that Mr. Henry Ford would be here to-day. He has accepted membership on this committee, and on last Saturday his general secretarj^ both telegraphed me and telephoned me and wanted to know whether Mr. Ford's presence was a necessity. Of course, I could not say that it was. The presence of any one particular person, the chairman included, is not a necessity ; but I thought and said that it would be advisable, and I regret very much that he is not here to-Jnight in order he might give testimony — as he has already given BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 83 testimony— of the greater efficiency of the Avorkers under the 8- hoiir clay, of their greater prodnctivity. and that it has been profit- able to his company, profitable to the men, and has resulted in an in- creased production, ranging from 20 to more than 60 per cent, with the same group of men, with the same tools, performing the same work, under the 8-hour system as compared with the 10-hour system. It is not the destruction or the disruption of the firm or the" firm's interest : it is the unwillingness of some of the men to yield to what is a demonstrated fact aud truth. They have held to their old svstem so long that they are unwilling to yield and accept the truth. 'Back of it all is their unwillingness to meet Avith their workmen as a col- lective entity or Avith the representatives of the trade-unions in their trade. [Applause.] I had with me to-day documents Avhich I left in the hands of my secretary, and thought that I might at the start read or present them to the attention of the PresideiitlT I had not any time to prepare for an address or any remarks to the President, and what I said were the thoughts that came to me at the moment; but I had the documents, the resolutions, and the declarations on the one hand of the organized labor movement and the national and local trade-unions, of their devotion to the interests and the welfare of the country, and their offer of service, military or industrial, and to follow unreservedly the lead of the President of the United States wherever he may direct them to go ; and on the other hand I had the documents shoAving the refusal of large employers of labor to even receive a committee of their oavu employees in order to rectify grievances and complaints, the refusal to meet a committee of their oavu employees, organized or unorganized, organized temporarily because of the necessity of meet- ing this ncAv situation and the demands made upon them. I did not bring it to the attention of the President. I knoAv how greatly he is burdened with all the affairs of State, and I did not Avant to add to them one jot. They are going to be brought to the attention of the officers of the Government of the United States. They are going to be brought to the attention of the Council of National Defense and the advisory commission. I say this uoaa' — conscious of all the responsibility of the utter- ance — ^that Ave are not going to give up our liberty. [Oreat ap- plause.] We are not going to give up our rights. The right of self-defense is inherentin us. I believe that the fight we are mak- ing and are Avilling to make is in self-defense of the Republic of the United States. The Eepublic can not endure Avith the Imperial German Government's policy. [Great applause.] They can not coexist. What matters it to' the men of labor if, in the struggle for the freedom and the democracy of the United States, Avhile that struggle is going on, chains in the guise of slavery are fastened upon them i 1-1 We Avill give service, and probably we Avill ignore the insults and the injirstice Avhich is attempted to be inflicted upon us. Only this afternoon I had the statement made to me that m one of the Government arsenals the commandant there, or one of the under- strappers (I do not know his title or his name), when a committee of the emplovees in that department undertook to meet him, re- quested him to meet them, said he would not talk with them. He said- "You are not civilians. You are in the military service ot 84 BRITISH LABOR ^S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. the country ; and yon will do as you are told, and I will not consider anything that you may want to present." Now, that is not the proper spirit. That spirit tends to disrup- tion and division; and our movement and this committee more than anything else is undertaking to mobilize the good will of all the people of this country. It is our function. We will furnish our men, we will furnish the soldiers — they will be the soldiers and the men in the Navy^ — the other men will work and the women will work. We will all do our share in every way we possibly can ; but we are going to insist that the Government of the United States shall not be a party to the encouragement of this antagonism and this genius of profiteering, and having nothing else in view, and using the term " patriotism " simply as a lip utterance, and having no responsive part in their hearts. [Applause.] The employers of labor must come to realize that this labor move- ment is not a mushroom growth overnight. It has been the devel- opment of decades. It has been the result of the misery and the struggles and the scars of generations, aye, of centuries. The labor movement is not going to be and can not be swept out of exist- ence. We have had some experience with this attempt, and we have been growing stronger and more powerful in numbers and I hope in influence as time went on, and despite the struggles. We have learned in the meantime and during our growth the responsibilities which rest upon us, the responsibilities expressed to-daj^ hj one of our British friends who has come amongst us, when he said that we must impress upon the employers and upon the employees, upon the organized workmen and employers, that whatever the agreement may be, when reached it shall be honorably enforced by both. There comes this question: Men and women have organized in their trades-unions, and, in agreement with employers, have estab- lished wages, rates of pay, hours, labor conditions, covering a period, say, of two or three years. In the meantime the cost of living has gone up probably 60 or TO and in some instances more than 100 per cent, and the employers have sold the finished product at prob- ably 50, 60, or a greater per cent than at the time when the agree- ment was made with the workmen. What are the workmen going to do during that period? What are the workwomen going to do during that period ? As a matter of fact, whenever the cost of living has increased, say, 50 per cent, and there has been no corresponding increase in wages, it has meant a reduction of wages, a reduction of the purchasing power of wages. There must be some consideration of these conditions, or you will spread such a feeling of discontent that you do not know where it is going to lead. I am sure I did not intend to say what I have said; but, like the Friend or the Quaker, " the spirit moved me," and I said it. [Laugh- ter and applause.] Col. Isaac Ullman. When you speak of eight hours a day. how many hours a week does that mean? Mr. Thomas. Forty-eight. Col. Ullman. How do you work it if jon have a half holiday? Mr. Thomas. The Saturday afternoon holiday is a long-estab- lished custom in the old country. Col. Ullman. I know that. BRITISH labor's WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN LABOR. 85 Mr. Thomas. The result is, when we talk of eight hours per day, we do not mean six days consecutive eight hours. It works out nine and a half for five days in the week, or whatever it may be, and the short day of Saturday. Col. Ullman. I see. That is what I wanted to know. While I am on my feet, I might add this, not in the nature of re- plying to any of your remarks; but I do hope that you have not any idea that all the employers of labor are trying to '* do '" the laboring man at this time. That is rather what you intimate, and I trust The Chairman. Pardon me; if I have left that impression upon the mind of any man or woman here, I hope I may have the oppor- tunity of correcting it, because that is not what Iineant to convev. I know that the employers generally are fair-minded and fair dealing. Col. Ullman. I hope you feel that way, because I believe at a time like this nobody has a patent on patriotism; and the employers. I think you will find, as a general proposition are as patriotic as the employees; and I have not the slightest doubt that vice versa will be also the case. As to this question of collective bargaining, I am not going to argue with you, but I would say this to you: I have been connected with our concern now 40 years. It is 40 years this month since I entered our factory, and I have grown up with our people. Our factory is not organized. Various attempts have been made to organize it. all of which have thus far failed. I stood in front of the factory two years ago Avhen a meeting had been advertised to be held in the noaniel Guggenheim, president American Smelting & Refining Co., New York. G. H. Halberstadt, surgeon in chief Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co,, Pottsville, Pa. Mrs. Borden Harriman, former member L^nited States Industrial Relations Commission, Washington, D. C. Edward Hamlin, president Metropolitan Coal Co., Boston, Mass. A. M, Harvey, American Public Health, Chicago, 111. S. E. Heberling. president Switchmen's Union of North America. Buffalo, N. Y. Myron T, Herrick, former United States Ambassador to France, Cleveland, Ohio. F, Hewitt, editor International Association of Machinists' Journal, Wash- ington, D, C. F, L. Hoffman, statistician, Prudential Insurance Co. of America, Newark, N. J. Stephen C. Hogan, president International Association of Marble, Slate, and Stone Polishers, Rubbers, and Sawyers, New Yoi'k, Hale Holden, president Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co., Wa.sli- iugton. D. C. Arthur E. Holder, legislative committee, American Federation of Labor (Inter- national Association of Machinists), Washington, D. C. William G, Holder, president International Steel and Copper Plate Printers,- New York. Colgate Hovt, Colgate Hoyt Co.. New York. R. S. Hudspeth, Hudspeth & Rysdyk, Jersey City, N. J. W. G, Hudson, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del. BRITISH LABOR'S WAR MESSAGE: TO AMERICIN LABOR. 99 Andrew C. Huahes. president Coopers' International I'uioii, Newton Hi-dilands Mass. A. L. Humphrey, vice president Westinghouse Air Bralce Co., Pittsburgh, Pa William L. Hutcheson, president United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Indianapolis, Ind. John J. Hi'iiesj. president Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers, Kansas Citv, Mo. Andrew C" Imbrie, treasurer United States Finishing Co., New York. Harry Jenkins, secretary Glass Bottle Blowers" Association, Philadelphia. Pa. Dr. J. \V. Jenks, director of division of public affairs. New York University, New York. Harry Pratt Judson, president University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. U. W. Kearney, disbursing office. Agriculture Department, Washington, D. C. Dr. George M. Kober. Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. Walter E. Kruesi, Qmirtermaster General's Office, War Department. Wash- ington, D. C. , S. J. Konenkamp, president Commercial Telegraphers' Union of Nortli America, Chicago, 111. Frank Kolootziejski, Detroit, Mich. B. A. Larger, Garment Workers of America. Miss Julia Lathrop, Chief Children's Bureau, Department of Labor, Washing- ton, D. C. J. H. Lorcli, Local Steam Engineers' Union, Washington, D. C. Thomas F. Logan, AVashington Post, Washington, D. C. James Lord, president mining department of American Federation of Labor (United Mine Workers), Washington, D. C. CoUis Lovely, vice president Boot and Shoe Workers' Union, St, Louis, INIo. J. A. McClelland. International Association of Machinists, Washington. D. C, Vance C. IMcCormick, chairman Democratic national committee, Harrisburg, Pa. AVm. J. McGeory. business agent of Yonkers (N. Y.) Building Trades. T. A. McGinley. vice president Duff Manufacturing Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. Miss Gertrude McNallv. secretarv Federal Labor Union. 12776, Washington, D. C. Emerson McMillin, president American Light & Traction Co,, New York. P. J. McNamara, member legislative committee, representing Railroad Brother- hoods, Washington, D. C. Wm. J. McSorley, president Lathers' International Union, X^leveland, Ohio. H. B. F. Macfarland, Red Cross Society, Washington, D. C. V. Everit Macy, president the National Civic Federation, New York. ilrs. V. p]verit INlncy, New Y^ork, Eliz. Maloney. Hotel & Restaurant Employees' International Alliance, Chi- cago, 111. A'an. H. Manning. Director Bureau of Mines. Washington, D. C. L. B. Marks, consulting engineer, New Y'^ork. Theodore Marburg, political economist, Baltimore, Md. Louie P. Marquardt, president Georgia Federation of Labor, Atlanta, Ga. Royal D, Meeker, commissioner of statistics. Department of Labor, Washing- ton, D. C. Dr. Theodore C. IMerrill. Bureau of Chemistry. Washington, D. C, Charles Merz, The New Republic, W^ashington, D. C. George IMesta, president Mesta Machine Co.. Pittsburgh, Pa, C. Edwin Micliael. president Mrginia Bridge & Iron Co., Roanoke. Va. H. E. Miles, chairman industrial training committee. National Association of Manufacturers, Racine, Wis. Tom Moore. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Canada. Frank IMorrison. secretary American Federation of Labor (International Typo- irraphical Union), Washington. D. C. P. F. Murphy, president Bill Posters and Billers' International Alliance. Chi- cago, 111. J. M. Neenan. president National Window Glass Workers, Cleveland, Ohio. Miss Marie L. Obenauer, executive secretary of bureau of registration and information. National League for Women's Service. Washington. D. C. Rev. John O'Grady, Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. James O'Connell, president metal trades department American Federation of Labor (International Association of Machinists), Washington, D. C. Lew R. Palmer, president National Safety Council, Harrislnu'g, Pa. James Parmelee. Washington. D. C. Prof. Jessica B. Peixotto. University of California. Berkeley, Ci-. M. M. Podolsky, mechanical engineer. Philadelphia. Pa. 100 BRITISH LABOR "S WAR MESSAGE TO AMERICAN" LABOK. John H. Patterson, president National Cash Register Co., Davton, Ohio. G. W. Perkins, president Cigarmakers' International Union, Chicago, 111. Geo. M. Price, director joint board of sanitary control. New York. John F. Pierce, Baltimore Federation of Labor, Baltitnace,. Md. f F. L. Purtill, vice chairman Illinois State legislative lKWil|^olkKi-(.fl)ei-]ioo(l of Locomotive Firemen aiid Enginemen. Duqnoin, 111. '^♦#^ V Blanchard Randall, president Chamber of Commerce, Baltimore. MtL ^ l Edith S. Reider, welfare secretary International Harvester Co., Chicago Til R. C. Richards, chairman Chicago & North Western Railway, Chicago ' 111 Thomas A. Rickert, president United Garment Workers of America, New York E. E. Rittenhouse, Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, New York. Senator G. D. Robertson, Ottawa, Canada. Thomas Robins, secretary United States Naval Consulting Board, New York. Jolin D. Rockefeller, jr., New York. Dr. J. W. Schereschewsky, Public Health Service, Treasurv Department. Pitts- burgh, Pa. Louis B. Schram, chairman labor committee United States Bi=ewers' Association, Brooklyn, N. Y. Miss Melinda Scott, vice president Women's Trade Union League, New York. John W. Sculley, president United Hatters of North America, New York. Dr. Albert Shaw, editor Review of Reviews, New York. T. J. Savage, machinists' union, Everett, Mass. Mary P. Scully, general organizer American Federation of Labor, Troy, N. Y. C. C. Shay, president International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees,. New York. E. M. Silsbee, secretary American Iron and Steel Institute, New Y'ork. William J. Spencer, secretary building trades department American Federation of Labor (United Association of Plumbers and Steam Fitters), Washington, D. C. Charles B. Stillman, president American Federation of Teachers, Wilmette. 111.. N. I. Stone, statistician, Washington, D. C. Percy S. Straus, R. H. Macy & Co., New York. Thomas Sweeney, secretary Journeymen Tailors' Union of America, Chicago, Uh Andrew Ten Eyck, Albany, N. Y. George Thornton, Mule Spinners' Union, Central Falls, R. I. Dr. W. Oilman Thompson, New York. Lydia J. Trowbridge, High School Teachers' Federation, Chicago, 111. Col. Isaac M. Ullman, president chamber of commerce. New Haven, Conn. G. C. Van Domes, vice president International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths. and Helpers, Chicago, 111. John A. Voll, president Glass Bottle BloAvers" Association, Philadephia, Pa. D. Everet Waide, treasurer American Institute of Architects, Washington. D. Cv Miss Lillian D. Wald, head worker Henry Street Settlement, New York. Dr. Frank J. Warne, economist, Washington, D. C. Dr. J. M. Wainwright, chief surgeon Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rail- road Co., Scranton, Pa. A. O. Wharton, president railway employees department American Federation of Labor (International Association of Machinists), St. Louis, Mo. Arthur Williams, New York Edison Co., New York. Dr. Gustavus Werber, American Association for Vital Conservation. Washing- ton, D. C. Charles B. Warren, Detroit. Mich. Miss Emilia Weiss, International Cigar Makers' Union, Detroit, Mich. Dr. Talcott Williams, Columbia University, New York. Charles H. Winslow, vocational educational advisor, Newark, N. J. H. E. Wills, assistant grand chief Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Wash- ington, D. C. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Free Synagogue, New York. Clinton Rogers Woodruff, secretary National Municipal League, Philadel- phia, Pa. W. G. Woodward, American Public Health, Washington, D. C. A. H. Young, director American Museum of Safety, New York. Max Zuckerman, secretary LTnited Cloth Hat and Cap Makers of North America. New York. o