“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.