independent trucking service has been organized in New York. This does not strike at the root of the trouble, however. If the coastwise service is essential, It must be maintained not at the sacrifice of coastwise labor or capital but at public expense.

"It is with respect to another phase of the commission's work that the greatest future usefulness of such an agency may be demonstrated. During the hearings before the commission claims and counterclaims have been made as to the irregularity of employment and the probable monthly and yearly earnings of longshoremen. Information appeared wholly lacking, however, from which to draw definite conclusions. The need of such information was so obvious that the Shipping Board authorized the commission to make an investigation of longshore conditions at the port of New York. The results of the investigation thus far point to large irregularity of employment which is fraught with all sorts of dangers quite apart from the heavy charge on the industry to comIf the commission can help to pensate in a measure for enforced idleness. place the industry on a more sound economic basis it will have demonstrated its usefulness beyond question.

"This brief recital of some of the problems of the commission in peace time would be significant viewed only as the working out of a voluntary arrangement seeking to avoid dislocation in an industry of such importance, and concerning which so much has been said in the name of the American merchant marine. It is significant also in its bearing on industrial relations in general and in proposals for establishing industrial tribunals of whatever name.

"The commission can not be said to have hit upon any novel way of arriving at just decisions or enforcing them. Nor does the experience prove that voluntary agreements, however painstakingly the effort to make them truly expressive of the will of the majority, are necessarily inviolable. What is clearly demonstrated is that public opinion can be marshaled to a surprising degree in favor of an award to which the parties have subscribed in good faith and on which they are represented. In spite of temporary defection such an award is generally observed.

"The future of the commission under the present agreement rests with the industry and with the Shipping Board. At any time after the expiration of one year any party may withdraw by giving the required notice. The agreement is binding only so long as the parties thereto comprise employer groups, employee groups, and the Shipping Board. Whether this provision will prove On the one hand is a source of strength or of weakness remains to be seen. the greater binding force of an award that partakes more nearly of the nature of an agreement; on the other hand is the uncertainty and instability arising inevitably from the possibility of withdrawing from the arrangement and It may be that the public interest in the shipping thereby terminating it. industry demands a greater safeguard than an agreement terminable at will. Machinery of enforcement could be set in motion more readily if the agency of adjustment were governmental. It is probable, too, that permanent Government machinery would be more effective in carrying out any program of standardizing wages or regularizing employment.

"The whole problem is, of course, but one phase of a larger problem, namely, the extent to which self-government is desirable in an industry affecting so Whether it is preferable to establish for the intimately the public interest. shipping industry an arbitrary tribunal similar to that constituted for the determination of railway wages and conditions, or to give a definite and permanent status to the present arrangement is a matter of policy which will be determined, in part at least, by the attitude of the industry itself. Certain it is that the industry can ill afford to be without the stabilizing influence of

a tribunal to which controversies may be referred and which has authority to intervene in case of threatened interruption by strike or lockout. It is pleasing to note in this connection that private shipping interests and the International Logshoremen's Association have expressed their desire to continue the commission."

Oakland (Calif.) street-car strike.-One of the most spectacular and bitterly contested strikes occurring on the Pacific coast during the fiscal year was that of 1,100 platform men against the San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railway in October, 1919.

The strikers were fully unionized and had been working under a signed agreement. In August, 1918, both sides joined in' submission to the War Labor Board of a demand of the men for increased wages, an eight-hour day and changed working conditions. Some months later the board granted a wage increase retroactive to November, 1918, and refused the eight-hour demand, the award to continue in effect for the duration of the war with a proviso that the wage question might be reopened at six-month intervals, beginning October 1, 1919. The War Labor Board having ceased to function the men submitted new demands direct to the company August 31, 1919. Conferences were held without result and a strike vote overwhelmingly carried. The company offered arbitration on September 30, but the offer was rejected, and the men went out immediately.

Commissioners E. P. Marsh and Charles T. Connell entered the case October 3 and joined forces with the Oakland city administration and the Oakland Chamber of Commerce in an effort at mediation. The company stood upon the clause in the union's constitution which provided arbitration before resort to strike and alleged inability to meet the demands without financial disaster. It alleged violation of agreement upon the part of the union. The men contended that the eight-hour day was the paramount issue; that all previous efforts to obtain it had failed; that arbitration subjected them to long delay; that the temper of the men had reached the breaking point and they had become convinced their only hope lay in their economic power. Professional armed strike breakers were imported, and the usual bitter community spirit engendered, resulting in violent outbreaks.

The State railway commission, impressed with the gravity of the situation, played a leading part in effecting a final settlement, bringing both parties together in a conference at which the conciliators were present. The settlement provided immediate return to work, with the prestrike status of the men restored, the points at issue to be arbitrated. The commissioners of conciliation addressed a mass meeting of the men, at which the terms of settlement were unanimously approved.

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There has been here and there evident since the signing of the armistice a disposition upon the part of workers to hold their agreements lightly, possibly one of the aftermaths of war, due to a reaction from a high industrial tension during the war period. Whatever the cause or the animus, broken agreements undoubtedly hurt labor's cause. In this connection it is well worth repeating here an excerpt from the award handed down by the arbitration board sitting in this case: In regard to the date as of which this award shall become effective, under normal circumstances the award would almost as a matter of course be made effective as of October 1, 1919, so that the men would receive back pay from that time to the present. But the circumstances are not normal. The men went out on strike in violation of their contract and the rules of their organization and in the face of an offer by the company to arbitrate. It caused the company a loss of about $350,000, very seriously inconvenienced the public, impaired the theretofore friendly relations between the men and the

The

company, injured confidence in the willingness of labor unions to live up to their contracts, and was a serious blow to the principle of collective bargaining. matter is too serious to be ignored or passed by. We have, therefore, determined that our award shall be effective only as of January 1, 1920."

Standard Steel Car Co., Butler, Pa.-On August 8, 1919, at the request of representatives of the employees and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Commissioner of Conciliation James A. Smyth was assigned to assist in an effort to bring about an adjustment of a strike of 4,000 employees of the Standard Steel Car Co., located at Butler, Pa.

Commissioner Smyth upon his arrival at Butler found the plant closed and was advised that the employees had presented demands for a signed agreement, which provided for an eight-hour work day, increase in the wage rate, and better working conditions. Upon refusal of the representatives of the car company to sign the agreement the men left the plant.

In pursuance of the policy of the Department to cooperate with State departments of labor a conference was arranged for with the officials of the car company, representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor, a -committee of the employees, and the commissioner of conciliation present.

The conferences were productive of much good, many concessions being made by each side, but failed in getting them to a satisfactory or final agreement. The position of the company was set forth by the manager in the fol'lowing statement:

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"BUTLER, PA., August 12, 1919.

'In accordance with the expressed wish of representatives of both State and Federal labor departments, the Standard Steel Car Co. and affiliated companies in the Butler district have agreed to meet with a committee representing their employees, and believe that a statement of their position in the present controversy may prove beneficial.

"1. The policy of these companies, since their inception, has been to maintain an open shop and to meet individually or collectively any employee or employees having grievances, and the management will make no change in this policy.

"2. Since the signing of the armistice, November 11, 1918, orders have beer taken for only 500 new cars, while, on the other hand, we have been compelled to accept cancellations for nearly 12,000 cars, and were only able to prevent cancellation of a considerable larger number by making a substantial reduction in the prices at which the orders had been taken.

"3. The conditions at the present time are such as to warrant reduction rather than increases in wages; therefore, the companies can grant no wage increases at this time.

"4. These companies have made all possible efforts to keep the various departments in operation, and at the plant of the Standard Steel Car Co. have continued to build cars in order to afford employment to its employees, notwithstanding the fact that the cars built could not be shipped, but had to be palced in storage, entailing considerable hardship and loss to the company.

5. At the Forged Steel Wheel Co., since the signing of the armistice, orders for more than 32,000 tons of steel have been canceled, and new orders have been, and are, so few in number and quantity that the company can scarcely operate 6 open-hearth furnaces instead of the usual 10, although it has done everything in its power to obtain orders to enable it to maintain its production, and such orders as are obtainable must be taken at prices which do not permit of any increases in the cost of manufacture.

"6. It has always been the policy of the companies to deal fairly and as liberally as conditions permit with its employees in the establishing of rates and working conditions, and the management feels that the employees should have sufficient confidence in it to warrant them in feeling that its policy will be continued."

The employees, who were of many different nationalities, refused to accept the statement of the manager or the several counter propositions, results of the conferences, and insisted upon their original demands.

While the commissioner's efforts to bring about an adjustment of the strike condition were not successful, a better understanding between employer and employee exists, with a guaranty of either individual or collective bargaining for any employee or employees who may feel that they have a grievance.

Building trades and common laborers, South Bend, Ind.-This strike involved directly 3,500 employees and threatened at various times during the negotiations to include common labor in various industries to the extent of about 23,000 who were in sympathy and who knew that whatever settlement was made the same would have its effect upon them as to wages and working conditions. This strike asserted itself during March, 1920, due to questions of wages, hours, and open shop. For several years the building contractors of South Bend had recognized the closed shop as it pertained to the skilled crafts, and the common laborers, who had recently affiliated with the Building Trades Council, demanded a closed shop, together with an eight-hour day and a wage rate of 75 cents per hour. The employers immediately served notice through the newspapers that they would never submit to the closed agreement for common labor. Practically all manufacturing concerns in South Bend, whose common-wage scale was about 50 cents per hour and who were running on the open-shop basis, became directly involved in the controversy. The dispute became so sweeping in its character that it included the entire city. This was due to the attitude assumed by the State associaion, which has jurisdiction over buildingcontract work done throughout the State and which was fearful that if the closed shop were put into effect at South Bend it would be only a question of time when all cities throughout the State would become inyolved in strikes, due to the common-labor unions making demands for the closed shop similar to the demands made at South Bend.

The strike was finally adjusted upon the basis of a closed shop for the skilled crafts, the common laborers' organizations waiving the right of closed shop and accepting hours, working conditions, and a 674-cent per hour rate in wages. During the negotiations officials of the State and city became involved. Notice was served on Commissioner Fred L. Feick several times by both sides asking that negotiations be broken off. The strike itself was one of the largest and most bitterly fought in the State during the year. Business men, teachers of economics from the various colleges, and prominent attorneys became involved from time to time during its pendency.

The copper industry.-The dove of peace released by the President's Mediation Commission in 1917 still hovers over the Arizona copper industry, according to the report of Labor Adjuster Hywel Davies.

No industry has suffered a greater relapse since the war, nor have the employers and employees of any other basic industry handled their problems of readjustment with more intelligence or displayed a greater mutual readiness to cooperate in the establishment of the needful ways and means to bridge over a 40 per cent loss of business, a 30 per cent depreciation in product market values, and over 50 per cent increase in cost of production.

The only discordant notes in the copper industry during the current fiscal year came from Butte, Mont., the Ely district in Nevada, and at the International Smelter at Miami, Ariz.

Butte had two strikes: The first strike involved about 1,050 craftsmen in August and September, 1919, over a demand for an advance of $1.50 a day. It was settled by the acceptance of the $1 advance offered by the mining companies and already accepted by the engineers, miners, muckers, and mill and smelter men. The peculiarity of this strike was that it did not stop operations of mines, mills, and smelters, and only about 7 per cent of the employees of the copper industry were out on strike. The second strike was precipitated by a

handful of I. W. W. organizers who invaded the Butte district in April, 1920, and succeeded in closing the mines for a few days, but after an unfortunate shooting affair during an I. W. W. parade marching toward the Anaconda Smelter, in which over a dozen men were wounded and which in turn brought Federal troops to the district, everything quieted down in a very short time to normal conditions and work was resumed in all the mines.

The Ely strike affected all the operations of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. for nearly a month in August, 1919. Work was resumed on an advance of 75 cents a day instead of the $1 demanded, the company cooperating in the reduction in the cost of living by the establishment of a grocery store where provisions were sold at cost.

Reference to the report for 1918-19 will show that the employees of the copper industry in all the Western States manfully cooperated with the employers after the armistice was signed by accepting a reduction of $1 a day in wages in February and March, 1919, which prevented a general suspension of the industry, owing to the fact that there was practically no market for copper between November, 1918, and April, 1919.

With the return of better demand and better prices by July, 1919, and the unexpected increase in the cost of living, wages were advanced in July, 1919, 75 cents a day in Utah and Nevada, $1 a day in Montana, and 75 cents to $1.25 a day in Arizona.

The variation of 75 cents to $1.25 a day in Arizona caused a three-day suspension at the International Smelter in the Miami district through the cranesmen demanding $1 a day instead of the 75 cents due under the sliding-scale rates. The strike on the part of about 12 cranesmen threw about 250 men idle, but it was promptly settled as soon as Commissioner Davies got in touch with the situation. This was the only discordant note in Arizona during the current fiscal year, and this State furnishes 40 per cent of all the copper production in the United States.

It is pleasing to report that at this writing peace prevails in the entire copper industry of the Western States.

The hope of the copper industry lies in some form of final restoration of a world peace and the reestablishment of credits that will enable the industry to resume its foreign trade. It is only necessary to note that copper prosperity depends on its export trade, which before the Great War ranged from 40 to 50 per cent of our production. Restoration of the industry to normal conditions, therefore, depends on a combination of peace-credits exchange and transportation. Given these and the markets will be found, and once more this great industry will catch up with the onward industrial march in prosperity, in which the employers will share with their employees in a great measure the "ways and means that make for neighborliness and continued industrial peace.

Telephone companies, Cleveland, Ohio.-Discrimination against the members of local unions Nos. 38, 39, 78, and 134-A, employees of the Cleveland Telephone Co. and the Ohio State Telephone Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, was charged, the alleged discrimination being in violation of the provisions of order No. 3209, issued by the Postmaster General, June 14, 1919, and consisting of the discharge of employees without cause; coercion and intimidation of members of the union, compelling them to withdraw therefrom; and preventing other employees from joining.

The situation was very complex and adjustment was difficult, owing to the fact that a goodly proportion of these employees were not members of the electrical workers' union, but were members of a company welfare association, inaugurated and fostered by the company in opposition to the employees' union.