Part 8

It is clear that a plan of this kind must not overlook the interests of the stockholders, for no plan which disregards their rights can be permanently successful. The interests of Capital can no more be neglected than those of Labor.

At the same time I feel that a prime consideration in the carrying on of industry should be the well-being of the men and women engaged in it, and that the soundest industrial policy is that which has constantly in mind the welfare of the employees as well as the making of profits, and which, when the necessity arises, subordinates profits to welfare.

In order to live, the wage-earner must sell his labor from day to day. Unless he can do this, the earnings of 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.

On the other hand, a business, to be successful, must not only provide for Labor remunerative employment under proper working conditions, but it must also render useful service to the community and earn a fair return on the money invested.

The adoption of any policy toward Labor, however favorable it may seem, which results in the bankruptcy of the corporation and the discontinuance of its work, is as injurious to Labor which is thrown out of employment, as it is to the public, which loses the services of the enterprise, and to the stockholders whose capital is impaired.

This plan is not a panacea; it is necessarily far from perfect, and yet I believe it to be a step in the right direction. Carefully as it has been worked out, experience will undoubtedly develop ways of improving it.

While the plan provides elaborate machinery which of itself ought to make impossible many abuses and introduce much that is constructively helpful, too strong emphasis cannot be put upon the fact that its success or failure will be largely determined by the spirit in which it is carried out.

The problem of the equitable division of the fruits of industry will be always with us. The nature of the problem changes and will continue to change with the development of transportation, of invention, and the organization of commerce.

The ultimate test of the rightness of any particular method of division must be the extent to which it stimulates initiative, encourages the further production of wealth, and promotes the spiritual development of men.

The Colorado Plan is of possible value in that State, and may prove useful elsewhere, because it seeks to serve continually as a means of adjusting the daily difficulties incident to the industrial relationship. It brings men and managers together, it facilitates the study of their common problems, and it should promote an understanding of their mutual interests.

Assuming, as we must, the fundamental fairness of men’s purposes, we have here possibly a medium through which the always changing conditions of industry may be from time to time more closely adapted to the needs, the desires, and the aspirations of men.

FOOTNOTE:

NOTE.--This article, “Labor and Capital--Partners,” originally appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, January, 1916.

III

THE PERSONAL RELATION IN INDUSTRY

Heretofore the Chief Executives of important industrial corporations have been selected largely because of their capacity as organizers or financiers.

The time is rapidly coming, however, when the important qualification for such positions will be a man’s ability to deal successfully and amicably with labor. Yet how to do this is a subject which, I fancy, is never taught or referred to in the classroom.

Like knowledge of the problems of sex, than which no department of life is more sacred, vital or deserving of full and ennobling instruction, an understanding of this subject is left to be acquired by experience, often costly or bitter, or through chance information, gleaned too frequently from ignorant and unreliable sources.

Just as the first of these two themes is coming to be taught sympathetically and helpfully in our schools and colleges, so I believe the second, the personal relation in industry, will eventually be regarded as an important part of those college courses which aim to fit men for business life.

After all, is it not the personal relations with one’s fellows which, when rightly entered into, bring joy and inspiration into our lives and lead to success, and which, on the other hand, if disregarded or wrongly interpreted, bring equally sorrow and discouragement and lead to failure?

Think what the ideal personal relation between a father and son may mean to both. Some of us have known such contact. Our lives have been fuller and richer as a result, freer from sin and sorrow. Others of us know from bitter experience what the absence of this relationship has involved.

How helpful to a student is such a friendly association with some professor who commands his confidence, respect and regard, and who is interested in his college work, not for itself alone, but quite as much because of its bearing on his future life’s usefulness.

What would college life be without the personal relationships which are formed during its happy days and often continued close and intimate through life?

Can you imagine a successful football team composed of strangers, having no points of contact, no sympathy with each other, no common cause inspiring them to strive for victory? Team play, the support of one player by another, would be well nigh impossible.

Even in the army, where formerly the man who had become the most perfect machine was regarded as the best soldier, it is coming to be accepted that in addition to being obedient and subject to discipline, the man who thinks, who is capable of acting on his judgment when occasion arises, who is bound to his fellow soldiers and his officers by personal friendliness, admiration and respect, is a far more efficient soldier.

And whereas formerly, particularly in the armies of Europe, privates were not allowed to have any personal association or contact with their officers, we learn that in the World War a spirit of comradeship was developed by the officers with their men off duty, which personal relationship was building up rather than weakening the morale of the armies.

What is true as to the relationships which I have mentioned is equally true in industrial relations, and personal contact is as vital and as necessary there as in any other department of life.