Part 17

“I believe it to be the duty of every citizen to do all within his power to improve the conditions under which men work and live. I believe that that man renders the greatest social service who so coöperates in the organization of industry as to afford to the largest number of men the greatest opportunity for self-development, and the enjoyment by every man of those benefits which his own work adds to the wealth of civilization.

“In order to live, the wage-earner must sell his labor from day to day. Unless he can do this, the earnings from that day’s labor are gone forever. Capital can defer its returns temporarily in the expectation of future profits, but labor cannot. If, therefore, fair wages and reasonable living conditions cannot otherwise be provided, dividends must be deferred or the industry abandoned.

“I believe that a corporation should be deemed to consist of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees; that the real interests of all are one, and that neither Labor nor Capital can permanently prosper unless the just rights of both are conserved.”

It was in line with these views that the plan of industrial representation recently proposed by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, and already adopted by the directors and by a majority vote of the employees of the different camps, was developed.

The underlying principle is that of coöperation, the theory being that the interests are common interests, and this leads to the development of the committees called for in the plan, as joint committees, on each of which the representatives of the workers have equal place with the representatives of the officers of the company.

In contrast with this spirit of coöperation is the spirit which too often has been in evidence in some organizations of labor. There, seemingly, labor is arrayed against capital. It is war! And apparently success cannot come to either party except failure or harm comes to the other.

I need not point out to you men the fact that in this day and generation we cannot hope for industrial peace, we cannot hope for prosperity in this fair land, until labor and capital join hands and recognize that their interest is a common interest, that what hurts one hurts the other, that what develops the well-being and the prosperity of one must of necessity develop the well-being and prosperity of the other.

May I also point out the spirit of democracy which underlies this plan? All of the employees in the corporation are entitled to join in it, regardless of whether they are or are not members of any society, fraternity or union, as contrasted with any plan, where only those who elect to join an organization are eligible to the benefits which come from it.

Every man in the camps of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company is considered in this industrial plan, is represented and can be heard, and his complaint, be it great or small, can be carried from one officer to another until it reaches the ear of the president of the company.

Those who have coöperated in the development of this plan recognize that it is far from perfect, that it will have to be changed and adapted to the requirements of the company in which it has been adopted.

On the other hand, it is the earnest hope of all who are associated in the plan that it may point the way toward a closer coöperation between the employees and the other parties in interest in this company, that it may so establish relations of friendship and of mutual confidence, that it may so benefit the workers, the officers and the stockholders of the company, that there may never come a day when there will be repeated the industrial disorders which have occurred in the past in this company and in other companies in this State.

And it is our hope that toward that end all of the citizens of the State will coöperate, for, as I have said to the representatives of the workers of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, to many of the men themselves, as well as to the officers and directors of the company, there is one thing which must never happen again in that company, and that is a strike. Wantonly wasteful of human life and human property, no parties in interest are benefited thereby, but all seriously and permanently harmed as well as the public and the citizens of the State.

The way to prevent war is to cultivate and develop those qualities of head and heart which promote happiness and peace, and it is with that purpose in mind that this plan, to which I have referred, has been developed.

The time has come when the business man of this State and county must think in terms of the laboring man, and the laboring man must think in terms of the business man; when each must strive to imagine himself in the other’s place; when the teaching that every man is his brother’s keeper should no longer be a dead letter but a living reality; when coöperation and not conflict should be the watchword.

The opportunity to lead the nation in the permanent establishment of industrial peace is yours; if you will lay hold upon it, the name of this fair State will be written large in the history of the nation; if you let it pass, you and your children and your children’s children, will never cease to regret this day.

And if in any smallest way my coming to Colorado may prove to have been of service to you in approaching the solution of this world problem of industrial relations, I shall feel a sense of satisfaction and gratitude beyond expression.

FOOTNOTE:

Address at the Chamber of Commerce Luncheon, Denver, October 8, 1915.

APPENDIX

THE INDUSTRIAL CONSTITUTION

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYEES IN THE COAL AND IRON MINES OF THE COLORADO FUEL AND IRON COMPANY OF COLORADO AND WYOMING

REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYEES

1. Annual meetings for election of employee’s representatives.

Employees at each of the mining camps shall annually elect from among their number representatives to act on their behalf with respect to matters pertaining to their employment, working and living conditions, the adjustment of differences, and such other matters of mutual concern and interest as relations within the industry may determine.

2. Time, place and method of calling annual meetings, and persons entitled to be present and participate in the election of representatives.

The annual meetings of employees for the election of their representatives shall be held simultaneously at the several mining camps on the second Saturday in January. The meetings shall be called by direction of the president of the company. Notices of the meetings, indicating their time and place, as well as the number of representatives to be elected, shall be publicly posted at each camp a week in advance, and shall state that employees being wage-earners in the employ of the company at the time of the meeting and for at least three months immediately preceding, but not salaried employees, shall be entitled to be present and vote. Special meetings shall be similarly called when removal, resignations, or other circumstance occasions a vacancy in representation.

3. Method of conducting meetings, and reporting election of representatives.

Each meeting for the election of employees’ representatives shall choose its own chairman and secretary. At the appointed hour, the meeting shall be called to order by one of the employees’ representatives, or, in the absence of a representative, any employee present, and shall proceed to the election of a chairman and secretary. The chairman shall conduct, and the secretary record, the proceedings. They shall certify in writing to the president of the company the names of the persons elected as the employees’ representatives for the ensuing year.