FOOTNOTE:
[5] Address at the joint meeting of the officers and representatives of the employees of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, Pueblo, October 2, 1915.
VI To the People of Colorado[6]
Of all the many cordial receptions which have been accorded me since I was so fortunate as to enter your hospitable State, none has been more gratifying or more deeply appreciated than the one which you citizens of Denver have to-day tendered me. And I count it a most gratifying climax to my visit to Colorado that I should have this opportunity of meeting so splendid a gathering of the representative business men and citizens of this fair State.
As I have traveled about Colorado the past three weeks I have been charmed with the beauty and grandeur of the scenery; I have been inspired by the invigorating climate, the clear air, the blue sky. I have been impressed with the fertility of your soil, with the vast extent and richness of your mineral wealth. But above all, I have been captivated by the cordiality of your people.
And so I am very happy to have this opportunity to-day of expressing to you, and through you to the people of Colorado, my deep appreciation of the many kindnesses and courtesies which have been shown me during my stay among you.
These I have accepted as intended partially for myself, but largely for my father, whose representative I am, and in whose name as well as my own I thank you.
My father has been for many years a good friend of the people and State of Colorado. His friendship for you, his belief in you, his confidence in the future of this State, have been clearly shown by his having put considerable sums of money into the steel and coal industries of the State through his investments in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company; and, as many of you know, during the fourteen years since he made his first investment in that company, except for one payment made on the preferred stock on account of an accumulation of dividends, there has not come back to him or the common stockholders one single cent of return.
And yet my father has not lost his faith in the State of Colorado nor in the people of Colorado; he believes in you, and the fact that his interest in this company continues to be a very substantial one is a sure proof of his attitude.
I wish very much that he were here to-day himself. I have often had that wish as I have gone among you during these weeks.
Some of the papers have mentioned my democratic spirit. If my father had been among you as I have been, no comment in regard to my attitude would have been made, for of all men he is most democratic and approachable, as hundreds of those who know him will testify, and in that atmosphere of democracy I have been reared. Born and brought up in the country, at an early age he learned what hard work meant.
When his period of schooling had been completed he went into active business for himself, and during the many years following, when he was actively engaged in business, he was constantly in close personal touch with the working classes, among whom he found many of his best and truest friends.
At his country place on the Hudson there are constantly employed several hundred men of different nationalities; many of these employees he knows by name; he is constantly mingling with them in their work, interested in their progress and in their home life, and it is not an infrequent sight, at the close of the day’s work, to see him returning home in his automobile with half a dozen or a dozen Italian and Hungarian workingmen crowded about him on the seats and standing on the running board as he gives them a lift on their way home.
When motoring about the country he may frequently be found talking with a group of men at the country store in a little village, and when he comes upon school children returning from their school he delights to load as many of them into his automobile as possible and give them a ride on their way.
I recall not long since the death of a colored teamster who had for some years been in my father’s employ. My father was among the first to visit the bereaved family in their humble home above the work stable, that he might express his sympathy with them in their sorrow, and as he stood at the grave his tears were mingled with the tears of the other mourners as he paid his last tribute of respect to a faithful employee and a true friend.
When called as a witness in New York by the Industrial Relations Commission last winter, my father stated very clearly his attitude toward workingmen.
Briefly, these were the three points that he made:
That he believed that Labor and Capital were partners, not enemies.
That in any industry with which he was connected he would gladly welcome the workers as stockholders, and further:
That it would be his wish that those who work with their hands be given representation upon the Board of Directors, so that they might come to have a closer knowledge of the problems with which the management of the corporation is confronted.
The word “fear” is not found in my father’s vocabulary, nor does he know what the sensation is, and yet he has the gentleness and the tenderness of a woman.
Although he has been accustomed to think in world terms in the development of the business and philanthropic enterprises to which his life has been devoted, there is no person in his household too humble to receive his frequent kindly and personal thought.
Criticized, maligned, and condemned these many years, not only for his business success achieved through his ability to gain the confidence and coöperation of men, to bring all parties into harmony and to effect economies in every possible way, but also because of his philanthropic endeavors, there is still not the slightest trace of bitterness in his character and he holds in his heart nothing but good-will toward every man.
And if, in their kindness of heart, the people of Colorado have found in me anything that may have seemed admirable, that, and whatever else I am or may be, I owe to my sainted mother and my honored father, whose training and example I regard as a priceless heritage. And so again I say I wish that my father were here that he might meet you men personally and be confirmed in the view which he has held during past months of unrest and conflict, to the effect that many of the evil and censorious reports which have been spread about the country in regard to this great State and its people are untrue; that you, on the other hand, coming to know him, might realize the injustice and the cruelty of the things that have been said and written about him during these many years.
And again, in his absence, on his behalf, as well as for myself, I thank you for your kindness and the evidences of your friendship to him and to me, which have been countless during these days of my happy residence among you.
There has been so much said with regard to the views which my father and I have held and do hold in regard to the organization of labor, and also in regard to the relations which should exist between the various parties in any company or corporation, that it is perhaps not unfitting for me to state in a few words just what those views are.
The position I took when called before the Subcommittee of Mines and Mining of the House of Representatives in Washington two years ago, in regard to the right of every American workingman to work for whom he pleased and upon such terms as he pleased, has been frequently misunderstood and misrepresented.
It has been construed as indicating that my father and I were not only opposed to the organization of labor, but that we were persistently and continually fighting it. No such inference is correct, for absolutely the contrary is the fact.
I can, perhaps, present in the briefest and clearest way the views which we hold on these two subjects by referring to several paragraphs from a statement which I read before the Industrial Relations Commission in New York last January:
“First, with reference to my attitude toward labor unions: I believe it to be just as proper and advantageous for labor to associate itself into organized groups for the advancement of its legitimate interests, as for capital to combine for the same object.
“Such associations of labor manifest themselves in promoting collective bargaining, in an effort to secure better working and living conditions, in providing machinery whereby grievances may easily and without prejudice to the individual be taken up with the management. Sometimes they provide benefit features, sometimes they seek to increase wages; but whatever their specific purpose, so long as it is to promote the well-being of the employees, having always due regard for the just interests of the employer and the public, leaving every worker free to associate himself with such groups or to work independently, as he may choose—I favor them most heartily.
“Combinations of capital are sometimes conducted in an unworthy manner contrary to law and in disregard of the interest both of labor and the public. Such combinations cannot be too strongly condemned nor too vigorously dealt with.
“Although combinations of this kind are the exception, such publicity is generally given to their unsocial acts that all combinations of capital, however rightly managed or broadly beneficent, are thereby brought under suspicion.
“Likewise, it sometimes happens that combinations of labor are conducted without just regard for the rights of the employer or the public, and methods and practices adopted which, because unworthy or unlawful, are deserving of public censure. Such organizations of labor bring discredit and suspicion upon other organizations which are legitimate and useful, just as is the case with improper combinations of capital, and they should be similarly dealt with.
“I should be the last, however, to allow the occasional failure in the working of the principle of the organization of labor to prejudice me against the principle itself, for in that principle I strongly believe.
“In the further development of the organization of labor and of large business, the public interest, as well as the interest of Labor and Capital alike, will, it seems to me, be best advanced by whatever stimulates every man to do the best work of which he is capable; by a fuller recognition of the common interest of employers and employed; and by an earnest effort to dispel distrust and hatred and to promote good-will.
“I believe that the ultimate object of all activities in a republic should be the development of the manhood of its citizens; that such manhood can be developed to the fullest degree only under conditions of freedom for the individual, and that industrial enterprises can and should be conducted in accordance with these principles.
“I believe 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.
“A business to be successful must not only provide to 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.
“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.