Straus, former Secretary of Commerce and
Labor, chairman; Albert Shaw, editor of the Review of Reviews;
Otto M. Eidlitz, former president of the Building Trades
Association; Charles R. Van Hise, president of the University of
Wisconsin; and Frederick N. Judson, of the St. Louis bar.
After five months of hearing testimony and deliberation, this
distinguished board brought in a report that marked, it was
hoped, a new epoch in railway labor disputes, for it recognized
the rights of the public, the great third party to such disputes.
It granted the principle of standardization and minimum wage
asked for by the engineers, but it allowed an increase in pay
which was less by one-half than that demanded. In order to
prevent
similar discord in the future, the board recommended the
establishment of Federal and state wage commissions with
functions pertaining to wage disputes analogous to those of the
public service commissions in regard to rates and capitalization.
The report stated that, "while the railway employees feel that
they cannot surrender their right to strike, if there were a wage
commission which would secure them just wages the necessity would
no longer exist for the exercise of their power. It is believed
that, in the last analysis, the only solution--unless we are to
rely solely upon the restraining power of public opinion--is to
qualify the principle of free contract in the railroad service."*
* The board recognized the great obstacles in the way of such a
solution but went on to say: "The suggestion, however, grows out
of a profound conviction that the food and clothing of our
people, the industries and the general welfare of our nation,
cannot be permitted to depend upon the policies and dictates of
any particular group of men, whether employers or employees.
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