PROMOTING THE HAPPY FAMILY PLAN IN AMERICAN INDUSTRY How One Corporation Works In Harmony With Its Men. AN INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY All Grievances Presented by Men Through Representatives Reach Head of Company and Are Honestly Inves tigated. For more than a year a large and progressive industrial corporation with plants scattered over a large territory in several states of the southwest has been improving its relations with its employees through the medium of a so called industrial representation plan an industrial constitution drawn on a basis of democracy and mutual confi dence between the head of the corn pany and the workmen 'vno number from 10.000 to 12.000. To deal with the diverse interests of such a vast body of men is a serious task involving stern responsibilities. Nevertheless the company, through its representation plan, has not only car ried on social and industrial betterment work on a comprehensive scale but has succeeded in settling all grievances without friction and without interfer ence from the outside. During the year several increases in pay have been made upon the initiative of the company. Altogether the plan has demonstrat ed itself to an important forward step in the establishment of amicable re lations between all the factors in in dustry. A more widespread adoption of such schemes in plants and fac tories is heartily recommended by the broad-minded manufacturers of the country who have started the National Industrial Conservation Movement for the purpose of getting employers and employees together. The supporters of the conservation movement realize that the captain of industry and the. workingman must light shoulder to shoulder to protect American industry against conditions that are sure t<> prevail after the War. Workers Elect Representatives. The industrial Representation plan was adopted in its present form by the directors of the company and by a referendum vote of the workmen. By secret ballot the workmen in the company's various plants select repre sentatives who act as their authorized agents in all matters pertaining to em ployment, living and working condi tions. the adjustment of differences and other matters of mutual concern and interest. On the other hand, the president keeps in direct touch with the workmen through officers known as presidents industrial representa tives. Employees have been made to under stand that they are absolutely free to present all their grievances even though they involve charges against the foremen or superintendents under whom they work. Through the work men's representatives the complaints are referred to the presidents' industri al representatives, who in turn investi gate them carefully and report their findings in detail to the president. In every case the grievances have been investigated fearlessly and im partially and adjustments have been made on a strict basis of fairness, ir respective of whether the award was in favor of the workman or the com pany official. The workman, dissatis fied with the decision of the presi dents' industrial representatives, can appeal to the higher officers of the com pany in consecutive order up to the president. Then, if he still feels that he has not received full justice, he can carry his case to the joint committee on Industrial Cooperation and concilia tion. comprised of both employees, rep resentatives and the company's repre sentations, and finally to the State In dustrial Commission. Confer on Wage Increases. Under the industrial constitution drawn up matters of wages, hours of service and other vital factors in the company's relations with Its employees are settled by a written contract. In creases in wages are worked out in conference between company officials and the workmen's representatives. In all matters of industrial better ment the employees' representatives play an important part. They are as signed to joint committees on which they serve with representatives of the company. The names of these com mittees—Safety and Accidents. Sanita tion. Health and Housing, and Recrea lion and Education—give an adequate Idea of the broad scope of the compa ny's interest in its employees. To carry out the schemes endorsed by the committees the company has spent money and effort unstintingly, although it has always avoided any semblance of paternalism. Since the inauguration of the plan the company has enlarged its previous programme <>f providing model homes for its employees who live on company property. The company is fencing, free of charge, ach employee's home. A series of prizes is given every year for the cultivat >n of lawns and gardens. Many of the workers own their own automobiles. At the plants garage* have been ] vovided. with sralls rentoJ to employe at a moderate rate.— Industrial Conservation, A 7. F. UNITY NEEDED TO HOLD TRADE AFTER THE WAR Labor Must Join In Effort to Meet New Competitive Spirit In Europe. "Employers and workers must unite to meet the conditions that the restora tion of pea<e in Europe will bring." says Eugene H. Outerbridge. president of the New York Chamber of Com merce. "I think there is no single ele ment in industry before this country today of such vast importance as the matter of bringing these two constitu ents into mutual confidence and under standing in a real spirit of co-opera tion. "In the world conditions now pre vailing the peoples of the belligerent nations have, under the stress of a compelling necessity, developed a de gree of co-operation and efficiency in production of which they never be fore knew themselves capable and which has never been approached any where else in the world. "The war has produced many un precedented conditions. This is only one of them. After it is over there will be many we shall have to meet and many changes to which we shall have to adapt ourselves. Some cannot be foretold or foreseen, but it appears to me inevitable that the conscious ness of the efficiency and productive power that has been developed in the European peoples will lead them not to turn to previous methods or lives of indolence and ease, but that they will turn their newly developed pow ers to production in peaceful pursuits and that we then shall have to meet in foreign fields, and perhaps in do mestic trade, the force of a competitive production organized on a degree of efficiency which we have never before had to combat." — Industrial Conserva tion, N. Y. Don't Rock the Industrial Boat. After the European war is over the prosperity of the country will depend on the willingness of labor to co-oper ate with capital in fighting destructive competition from abroad. This is the consensus of opinion among men of affairs who have made a close study of conditions in the industrial and eco nomic world. During the reconstruction period that must follow the termination of the war, these men say. labor and capital will be shipmates, and if there is going to be any mutiny among the members of the crew the result will affect the wage earners' income. In this connection George Roberts, vice president of the National City Bank of New York, says: "I cannot get rid of the conviction that there will have to be a period of readjustment for the general business situation soon after the war. There is only one way to maintain high wages, and that is by increasing the efficiency of industry. We have to convince our own people of the advan tages of large scale, economical pro duction, and we have to satisfy our wage-earners that they are interested not in restricting production, but in increasing production. They must be brought to see not only that wages are dependent upon production, but that an increasing supply of all the com forts of life for the masses of the peo pie is dependent upon \t."—lndustrial Conservation, N. Y. WITHOUT AGITATORS INDUSTRY FLOURISHES Figures Show Big increase In Wages and Factories In Queens. Wherever labor agitators are few, there industry flourishes and workers are prosperous. This is the lesson to be gleaned from the remarkable indus trial growth in the Borough of Queens, New York City, as shown by the fig ures recently compiled by the Bureau of Census for the year 1914. The figures record a decided gain not only in the number of new facto ries, capital invested in manufactur ing, and the' value of manufactured products, but also in the sum total of salaries and wages and the number ot salaried employes and wage earners since the taking of the last census in 1009. From a percentage standpoint, the increase over the several items was as follows: Salaried employes, 62.7 per cent; sal iries, oO.S per cent; wages, 35 per cent: wage earners, 30.7 per cent; capital in rested, 29 per cent; number of facto ries, 2G.G per cent; value of products. 3.8 per cent. While complete figures have not been published as yet for all the cities and States, still from the figures that are now available it is evident that Borough of Queens for the year 1914 exceeded in the value of its manufac tured products many States of the Union, such as Vermont, Delaware. Oregon, Florida, and Wyoming; it ex ceeded, also, in this respect every city in New York State, with the exception jf Buffalo. In fact, there were not more than fifteen or sixteen cities in the United States which produced man ufactured products greater in value than those made in Queens for the the year 1914. — Industrial Conserva tion, N. F. Beat Your Own Record. Don't gauge your own efforts by the activity or output of your fellow work ers. Never mind how little the man next to you does. That is his own funeral, and he will be chief mourner some day. Compete with yourself each day. striving to beat your record of the day before. AN OVERWORKED INDUSTRY! CURBING INDUSTRY; OR THE FABLE OF THE BUSY LEGISLATOR A Lesson In Practical Politics, Outlining the dest Course to Pursue When the Welfare of Industry Interferes With Political Ambition. One dark, stormy day there was bom to otherwise happy and respectable parents an embryonic legislator. He made his debut in the midst of a thun der-clap. This fact may or may not have been prophetic, but in after life he manifested a decided fondness for applause. With no connivance on his part, the infant Solon was named Thomas Jef ferson Monroe Miller. His mother di<l the naming, while his father, a suc cessful retail butcher, stood by in mute protest, thinking of the day when his son should leam the meat business from the bottom up. Thomas Jeffer son Monroe, the elder Miller knew, would find the delivery baskets heavy enough without carrying any excess baggage in the way of a name. But the maternal "boss" had decided that her son was cut out for better things than constant association with steaks and chops and, in the end she had her way, thus depriving the world of an other perfectly competent butcher. At the age of eighteen Thomas Jef ferson Monroe Miller began to fee. that his mother's confidence in him was more than justified. The vista of his ambition included a front ele vation of the Presidential chair. During his college course, the pro spective statesman was so busy set tling the affairs of the nation in ora torical contests and debates that hf had no time to spend on the problems of trigonometry. At the end of four years he had developed a magnificent rush of words to the face and. although he was somewhat puny in mathemat ics, the faculty decided that the best way to get rid of him was to hand him his sheepskin. By this time our future legislator had grown a wonderful crop of back hair that curled gracefully over his collar, and had acquired the habit of posing for his photograph with a cor rugated look about his brow and his right hand in the breast of his coat. By comparison with the most authori tative portraits, he was every inch a statesman, so he returned to his na tive State and offered his services to the "boss" of the Party in Power. The hard-hearted political czar would have none of him. however, and Thomas Jefferson came to the conclu sion that the Party in Power was cor rupt. Therefore, he joined the ranks of the Reform Party and lent the crushing weight of his oratory in an effort to convince the "plain peepul" that the Predatory Pilferers in office had stolen everything but the brass hinges on the Capitol door. After several years of incessant ora tory. the promising youth was sent to the legislature on the Reform Ticket He won instant recognition bv propos ing a bill to prevent employers from speaking harshly to their employees. That was the first of a series of spec tacular laws which he managed to have enacted to curb the iniquitous tendencies of "Big Business." With the naked eye the busy legis lator could not have told an invoice from a petty cash account. A high powered ear trumpet would not have enabled him to distinguish the song of the loom from the chant of the buzz saw, but his six-cylinder, self starting oratory had to have some kind of a road to run on and the avenue of in dustry was the most inviting to his hectic eye. In other words the busy legislator consecrated his lung power to the work of helping the various leg islative bodies of the country maintain then* record for enacting an aggregate of 12.000 new statutes per annum deal ing with production, distribution, em ployment and organization. Like most industrial reformers, he possessed the rare genius for managing other peo ple's affairs. As a result of his active legislative campaign, several of the biggest man ufacturing houses in the State were curbed into bankruptcy, but the jobless employees gathered 'round the remains and gave "Three Cheers" for the "Friend of the Workingman." In a few years Thomas Jefferson Monroe Miller had "Big Business"' gasping on the mat and pleading for help. There was apparently nothing left to curb, but by that time he had contracted an insatiable thirst for reg ulating things, so he turned his atten tion to the liberties of the individual. He made it a crime for a man to put his feet on the desk while dictating to his stenographer. Next he put through a statute forcing restaurants to have on hand a stock of Maxim silencers for diners whose audible fondness for soup interfered with the orchestra. Thanks to him, the proprietors in hotels must now furnish their guests with bed sheets of statutory length or run the chance of being fined or imprisoned. Meanwhile the Busj Legislator not reduced the height of his youthful ambitions. He has been standing around with his hat in his hand, ready to slip into the first vacant seat in the United States senate, and his constitu ents are convinced that he will not have to stand much longer. A commit tee of his townsmen recently visited a sculptor with a view to having the hero's facial facade perpetuated in th. purest marble. The statue will t placed in the town square after Millc has gasped his last speech. Moral: They all look good in tl "Hall of Fame." — C. A. Rieser, Indu.< trial Conservation, N. Y. CONSERVATION TRUTHS. Sow while you are young and you'll reap when you are old. This applies to grains of industry as well as to wild oats. Never be fearful of doing more than is required of you. If you wait for more pay before you do more work the millennium will probably find yon on the same old job. Remember that an agitator never yet filled a pay envelope, although ho has helped to keep many a one un filled. It takes three forces to run a busi ness or factory—labor, capital and e>. ecutive management. Men who betray their country are not the only traitors. There are also men who betray their employers, their families and their friends. Safety first—lndustrial patriotism al ways. Industry is of the people, by the peo ple, for the people. Let us all get to gether. The average reformer Is only op posed to capital so long as the other fellow has it. Let him get a slice of the melon he condemned and his rad icalism will be cured for all times. Success In Industry: Of 2G0.000 cor porations in the United States engaged in manufacturing and mercantile busi ness over 100,000, according to the Federal Trade Commission, are mere ly existing. They do not earn a penny of profit The 22,000 failures annually in the United States show that busi nesses cannot run along at a loss im definitely. Business success depends on good management; efficient loyal workers, from the head of the firm down to the messengers; and lreedom from outside interference. Where Do You Stand? Someone has divided mankind into four classes—those who consistently do less than is expected of them; those who do what is expected of them but no more; those who do things without having to be told, and finally, those who have the magnetic power of inspiring others to do things. All the failures in this world are recruited from the first class. The second class comprises those who scrape along in some form of drudgery or hackwork. Men of the third class are always in great demand in the fac tory and in the office, but the four J class represents the highest rung ;.i the ladder of success. In the world of industry the fourth class is attained by the diligent few who have caught the spirit of their task and are able to impart it to the men under them. They are the men who, without being slave drivers, are able to increase the output of an in dustrial plant- Industrial Conserva tion, N. Y. MANUFACTURERS INSURE MEN RY THE THOUSANDS Some Policies Provide For Pay ment ol DIG Age Pensions. GROUP PLAN FAVORED Part of General Campaign For Indue trial Betterment Some Concern® Adopt Plan to Give Their Employees a Share In Prosperity. A striking: evidence of the willingness on the part of manufacturers as a class to do something material for the bene fit of their employees is to be found in the growing popularity of the group in surance plan. Industrial concerns all over the country are insuring their workers against death, sickness, acci dent and old age under the group sys tem, and insurance companies are gar nering in millions of dollars in pre miums. This new manifestation of the em ployer's concern for the members of his industrial family may not be found ed entirely on altruism. If it were it would probably revolt the self respect ing worker. It is better than that how ever; it is indisputable proof of the em ployer's willingness to go more than half the necessary distance to meet his employees on the common ground of mutual helpfulness, and thus help to wipe out any misunderstandings that have existed between them. The group plan has had a remarkable growth since its inauguration about live years ago and has recommended it self not only to industrial concerns but to banking and mercantile establish ments in all pats of the country. Many of these establishments adopted it in stead of giving a bonus at Christmas time; others gave both bonuses and In surance. Policies Total Millione. During a few weeks before Christ- I mas the Traveler's Insurance Com pany wrote group insurance policies aggregating $0,000,000. Both the Trav eler's and the Equitable Life Assur ance Society did a larger business in group insurance during the year 191 IX because of the willingness of manufac turing and other concerns to grant their employees a share in their pros perity. Among the manufacturing concerns insured within the past few months by the Travelers are: Bullard Machine Tool Company, Bridgeport, Conn.—ssoo and upward; 750 risks; about $500,000. Raybestos Company, Bridgeport, Conn.—ssoo and upward; about 300 employees. totaling $200,000 of insur ance. James S. Fuller, Inc., Kingston, N. Y., shirt manufacturers.—lnsurance according to length of service; 150 risks for about $lOO,OOO. Benton Harbor Malleable Foundry Co., Benton Ilarbor, Mich.—lnsurant-* on unmarried men, $500; married men» $1,000; total insurance of $-100,000 on 450 risks. Buffalo Gasoline Motor Company, Buffalo, N. Y.—loB risks for sllo.ooot F. E. Byers & Brothers, pump manu facturers, Ashland, O.—According to length of service; 050 risks for $325,- 000. Faultless Rubber Company, Ashland, O.—According to length of service; 440 risks for $220,000. Sperry Gyroscope Company. Brook lyn, N. Y.—Each man insured for ono year's salary; 750 risks for $700,000. Kellogg Toasted Corn Flakes Com pany, Battle Creek, Mich.—According to service; 400 risks for $250,000. L. Barth & Son, hotel fixtures, New- York City—loo risks for $lOO,OOO. Neptune Meter Company, water meters, New York City.—According to salary; 400 risks for $300,000. Michigan Lubricator Company, De troit, Mich.—27s risks for $150,000. Adams & Westlake Company, Chi cago, 111.—According to service; 450> risks for $250,000. Frank L. Hall Company, Buffalo, N. Y.—According to service; 100 risks for $75,000. .» Many Other Policies Written. Among many other industrial con cerns the Equitable insured the fol lowing: William M. Crane & Co., New York. -From $5OO to $3,000. covering ai>- proximately 1,000 employed. Favorita Silk Company, Paterson, N. J.—Life insurance to all employees in amounts ranging from $5OO to sl,ooot. Garner Print Works and Bleachery.— Life insurance aggregating over $1,000,- 000, covering thousands of employees at the plants at Gamerville and Waj>- pinger Falls, N. Y. Sohmer & Company, Piano Manufac turers.—Life insurance of $5OO for each employee. Other manufacturers who have adopt ed the group system of insurance for their employees are Montgomery Ward 6c Company of Chicago and Kansas City; the B. F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio; the Standard Cloth Com pany of New York; Robert Gair Com pany of Brooklyn; the Studebaker Cor poration of Detroit and South Bend; Roos Brothers of San Francisco; the Union Oil Company of California and the Simmons Company of Kenosha, Wis. The group insurance policy as offered by various companies covers death, disability, ill health and even superan nuation. Each policy is arranged to suit the particular cas e.—lndustrial Conservation, V. T.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers