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REPORT

OF THE

INFORMATION AND EDUCATION SERVICE

REPORT

OF THE

INFORMATION AND EDUCATION SERVICE.

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT.

SIR: Provided for in the labor administration act of July 1, 1918, following the recommendation of the Advisory Council to the Secretary of Labor, the Information and Education Service was organized and the undersigned was appointed chief. The function of the service was to disseminate information to business men and to workers concerning the work rendered by the various branches of the Department of Labor and, in order to stimulate production, to create through the press, public speakers, motion pictures, and posters a spirit of cooperation, good will, and mutual understanding between capital and labor. The work of the whole Department of Labor, especially its Bureau of Labor Statistics, was largely educational and informative, but the Information and Education Service was designed to handle that portion especially needed on account of the war emergency.

During the war it was daily sending out material to over 5,000 newspapers and distributing 1,000,000 posters a month to factories, stores, and railway stations. In carrying on its campaigns it organized a force of 20 staff speakers and several hundred volunteer speakers, composed of employers, employees, and representatives of the Department of Labor. It served over 12,000 plants in its efforts to promote personal contact between workers and their employers. Furthermore, it made careful economic studies and presented to the workers of the Nation-as never before-the need of greater production.

Details concerning the work are given in the following pages of this report. If ever the country again becomes involved in either foreign wars or internal dissensions, the experiences herein recorded will be of inestimable value. For convenience the report has been divided into two portions-the first covering the period from July 1, 1918, to the signing of the armistice, and the second from the signing of the armistice to June 30, 1919.

CONFERENCE OF GOVERNORS AND MAYORS.

Attention is especially called to the conference of governors and mayors which was held at the White House. Other governors' conferences have been held, one of which was called at the White House during President Roosevelt's administration. This, however, is the first conference of the kind which included mayors. The conference

showed that the mayors of our cities are very close to the hearts of the people. They seem to have an intimate knowledge of local conditions not possessed by many officials. This conference adjourned to meet again, subject to the call of the Secretary of Labor, early in 1920. The conference appointed an organization committee of five, consisting of Mayor George L. Baker, of Portland, Oreg.; Mayor Frederick W. Donnelly, of Trenton, N. J.; Mayor W. Montague Ferry, of Salt Lake City, Utah; Mayor Daniel W. Hoan, of Milwaukee; and Mr. R. J. Wheeler, of Allentown, Pa. Of this committee the writer was elected secretary. It is strongly urged that the demand for this conference early next year be kept in mind, remembering that this body is constituted of men whose counsel will prove invaluable, to whom can be presented plans which the Department may be desirous of putting into force, and through whom the wage workers of the country can be reached at any time.

THE GUNDLACH COMMISSION.

Another very important work was the sending of the Employers' Industrial Commission to Europe. This commission consisted of Commissioners E. T. Gundlach, R. G. Caldwell, Dorr E. Felt, William H. Ingersoll, Eldon R. Keith (deceased), and R. R. Otis, accompanied by Dr. Royal Meeker, B. M. Squires, George E. MacIlwain, James R. Hawkins, Edgar N. Phillips, and John A. Witt. This was the first employers' commission ever sent to Europe by this Government for a study of labor matters. It seems altogether fitting that such a commission should be sent by the Department of Labor. Their conclusions have been printed in full as a separate document, and therefore need not be included in this report. The report of the Conference of Governors and Mayors also has been published in a separate volume; for this reason it will not be referred to.

The writer was taken out of the ranks of business and placed in this position of trust. Never before had he worked for the Government, and realizing that probably never again will he have the opportunity to render a report of this kind, he desires to take this occasion to present certain thoughts which impressed themselves upon him during the 18 months that he had the pleasure of working with the Department of Labor.

SOME PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS.

At the present time the employers and the wageworkers are chasing each other about in a merry-go-round. Prices go up on account of increased taxation, then wages must be increased to meet the increased cost of living. As wages are boosted prices are boosted again to meet the increased wages. History shows that the employer is merely a middleman and passes on to the consumer most of the increases in taxation and all increases in wages. The result is that the ultimate consumer is really paying both increased taxes and increased wages. As the ultimate consumer is usually a wageworker it is selfevident why most wageworkers are so unhappy at the present time. What of the future? Certainly prices are not coming down so long as taxation and wages continue at their present or higher levels. Certainly wages are not coming down until prices come down.

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