Part 5

The experience through which our country passed in the months of war, exhibiting as it did the willingness of all Americans without distinction of race, creed or class to sacrifice personal ends for a great ideal and to work together in a spirit of brotherhood and coöperation, has been a revelation to our own people, and a cause for congratulations to us all. Now that the stimulus of the war is over, the question which confronts our nation is how can these high levels of unselfish devotion to the common good be maintained and extended to the civic life of the nation in times of peace.

We have been called together to consider the industrial problem. Only as each of us discharges his duties as a member of this Conference in the same high spirit of patriotism, of unselfish allegiance to right and justice, of devotion to the principles of democracy and brotherhood with which we approached the problems of the war, can we hope for success in the solution of the industrial problem which is no less vital to the life of the nation. Surely the men and women will stand together as unselfishly in solving this great industrial problem as they did in dealing with the problems of the war if only right is made clear and the way to a solution pointed out.

The world position which our country holds to-day is due to the wide vision of the statesmen who founded these United States and to the daring and indomitable persistence of the great industrial leaders, together with the myriads of men who with faith in their leadership have coöperated to rear the marvelous industrial structure of which our country is justly so proud.

This result has been produced by the coöperation of the four factors in industry: labor, capital, management and the public, the last represented by the consumer and by organized government.

No one of these groups can alone claim credit for what has been accomplished. Just what is the relative importance of the contribution made to the success of industry by these several factors and what their relative rewards should be are debatable questions. But however views may differ on these questions it is clear that the common interest cannot be advanced by the effort of any one party to dominate the other, to arbitrarily dictate the terms on which alone it will coöperate, to threaten to withdraw if any attempt is made to thwart the enforcement of its will. Such a position is as un-American as it is intolerable.

The personal relationship which existed in bygone days is essential to the development of this new spirit. It must be reëstablished; if not in its original form at least as nearly so as possible.

In the early days of the development of industry, the employer and capital investor were frequently one. Daily contact was had between him and his employees, who were his friends and neighbors. Any questions which arose on either side were taken up at once and readily adjusted. A feeling of genuine friendliness, mutual confidence and stimulating interest in the common enterprise was the result.

How different is the situation to-day! Because of the proportions which modern industry has attained, employers and employees are too often strangers to each other. Personal contact, so vital to the success of any enterprise, is practically unknown, and naturally, misunderstanding, suspicion, distrust and too often hatred have developed, bringing in their train all the industrial ills which have become far too common. Where men are strangers and have no points of contact, this is the usual outcome. Much of the strife and bitterness in industrial relations result from lack of ability or willingness on the part of both Labor and Capital to view their common problems each from the other’s point of view.

Representation is the principle upon which the democratic government of our country is founded. On the battlefields of France this nation poured out its blood freely in order that democracy might be maintained at home and that its beneficient institutions might become available in other lands as well.

Surely it is not consistent for us as Americans to demand democracy in government and practice autocracy in industry.

What can this Conference do to further the establishment of democracy in industry and lay a sure and solid foundation for the permanent development of coöperation, good-will and industrial well-being? To undertake to agree on the details of plans and methods is apt to lead to endless controversy without constructive result.

Can we not, however, unite in the adoption of the principle of representation, and the agreement to make every effort to secure the endorsement and acceptance of this principle by all chambers of commerce, industrial and commercial bodies and all organizations of labor?

Such action I feel confident would be overwhelmingly backed by public opinion and cordially approved by the Federal Government. The assurance thus given of a closer relationship between the parties to industry would further justice, promote good-will and help to bridge the gulf between Capital and Labor.

(_Resolution introduced by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., earlier in the session, which was not debated or acted upon but superseded by the resolution to which the foregoing remarks were addressed._)

WHEREAS, the common ground of agreement and action with regard to the future conduct of industry, with the development of a new relationship between Capital and Labor which the President sought in calling this Conference can only be discovered as we approach the problem in the spirit of justice, brotherhood, and of willingness to put one’s self in the other man’s place, the coming of which means the substitution of confidence for distrust, of good will for enmity, of coöperation for antagonism; and

WHEREAS, this spirit can be developed only by the resumption of personal relations between employer and employee or the nearest possible approach thereto; and

WHEREAS, some form of representation in industry is essential in order to make personal relations possible under modern industrial conditions;

Now Therefore be it

RESOLVED, that this Conference recognizes and approves the principle of representation in industry under which the employees shall have an effective voice in determining their terms of employment and their working and living conditions; and be it further

RESOLVED, that just what form representation shall take in each individual plant or corporation, so long as it be a method which is effective and just, is a question to be determined by the parties concerned in the light of the facts in each particular instance; and be it further

RESOLVED, that any form of representation to be adequate must include:

1. Ample provision whereby the stockholders and the employees through their respective representatives, shall give current consideration to matters of common interest such as terms of employment and working and living conditions;

2. Any such further provisions, if any, as may be necessary to insure the prompt uncovering of grievances, real or alleged, and their speedy adjustment.

FOOTNOTE:

[4] Remarks at National Industrial Conference, Washington, D. C., October 16, 1919.

V

TO THE EMPLOYEES[5]

This is a red-letter day in my life.

It is the first time I have ever had the good fortune to meet the representatives of the employees of this great company, its officers and mine superintendents, together, and I can assure you that I am proud to be here, and that I shall remember this gathering as long as I live.

Had this meeting been held two weeks ago, I should have stood here as a stranger to many of you, recognizing few faces. Having had the opportunity last week of visiting all of the camps in the southern coal fields and of talking individually with practically all of the representatives, except those who were away; having visited your homes, met many of your wives and children, we meet here not as strangers but as friends, and it is in that spirit of mutual friendship that I am glad to have this opportunity to discuss with you men our common interests.

Since this is a meeting of the officers of the company and the representatives of the employees, it is only by your courtesy that I am here, for I am not so fortunate as to be either one or the other; and yet I feel that I am intimately associated with you men, for in a sense I represent both the stockholders and the directors.

Before speaking of the plan of industrial representation to which our president has referred, I want to say just a few words outlining my views as to what different interests constitute a company or corporation.

Every corporation is made up of four parties: Stockholders, directors, officers and employees.

This little table (_exhibiting a square table with four legs_) illustrates my conception of a corporation; and there are several points in regard to the table to which I want to call your attention.

First, you see that it would not be complete unless it had all four sides. Each side is necessary; each side has its own part to play.

Now, if you imagine this table cut into quarters, and each quarter separated from the others, what would happen? All of them would fall down, for no one could stand alone, and you would have no table. But when you put the four sides together, you have a useful piece of furniture; you have a table.

Then, secondly, I call your attention to the fact that these four sides are all perfectly joined together; that is why we have a perfect table. Likewise, if the parties interested in a corporation are not perfectly joined together, harmoniously working together, you have a discordant and unsuccessful corporation.

Again, you will notice that this table is square. And every corporation to be successful must be on the square--absolutely a square deal for every one of the four parties, and for every man in each of the four parties.

I call your attention to one more thing--the table is level. Each part supported by its leg is holding up its own side, hence you have a level table. So, equal responsibility rests on each one of the four parties united in a corporation.

When you have a level table, or a corporation that is on the level, you can pile up earnings on it (_piling coins on the table_). Now, who gets the first crack at the earnings? You know that we in New York don’t.

Here come along the employees, and first of all they get their wages (_removing some of the coins_), every two weeks like clockwork, just what has been agreed on; they get the first chance at the pile.

You men come ahead of the president, the officers, the stockholders and directors. You are the first to put a hand into the pile and take out what is agreed shall belong to you.

You don’t have to wait for your share; you don’t have to take any chances about getting it. You know that there has never been a two-weeks’ period that you have worked when you have not been able to get your pay from this company; whatever happens, so long as the company is running, you get your pay.

And then the officers and superintendents come along, and they get theirs; they don’t get it until after you have gotten yours (_removing more coins_).

Then come the directors, and they get their directors’ fees (_removing the balance of the coins_) for doing their work in the company.

And, hello! There is nothing left! This must be the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company! For never, men, since my father and I became interested in this company as stockholders, some fourteen years ago--never has there been one cent for the common stock.

For fourteen years the common stockholder has seen your wages paid to you workers; has seen your salaries paid to you officers; has seen the directors draw their fees, and has not had one cent of return for the money that he has put into this company in order that you men might work and get your wages and salaries.

How many men in this room ever heard that fact stated before? Is there a man among you? Well, there are mighty few among the workers who have heard it.

What you have been told, what has been heralded from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is that those Rockefeller men in New York, the biggest scoundrels that ever lived, have taken millions of dollars out of this company on account of their stock ownership, have oppressed you men, have cheated you out of your wages, and “done” you in every way they could.

That is the kind of “dope” you have been getting, and that is what has been spread all over the country. And when that kind of talk was going on, there were disturbances in this part of the country because the four sides of this table were not square and the table was not level, there were those who in the streets of New York and in public gatherings, were inciting the crowd to “shoot John D. Rockefeller, Jr., down like a dog.” That is the way they talked.

The common stockholders have put $34,000,000 into this company in order to make it go, so that you men will get your wages, you officers have your salaries, and the directors get their fees, while not one cent has ever come back to them in these fourteen years.

If there is anyone who questions that statement, let him speak. Now, let me put it to you men, is it fair, in this corporation where we are all partners, that three of the partners should get all of the earnings, be they large or small--all of them--and the fourth nothing?

Is there a man of you who would put his money in the savings bank and leave it there for one year even, unless he was sure to get at least four per cent. interest? Otherwise you would say that the savings bank was trying to cheat you out of a proper return on your money.

But for fourteen years, to my knowledge--how much longer I do not know--the common stockholders have gotten not one cent out of this company. I just want you to put that in your pipes and smoke it, and see if it tallies with what you have heard about the stockholders oppressing you and trying to get the better of you. That does not sound like oppression, like trying to get the best of the bargain!

And you cannot expect that any one of the partners will remain indefinitely in this or any other corporation if he does not get a fair share of the earnings, with the others. Capital is entitled to a fair return, just the same as labor is.

Would you continue working in some mining camp for even a week, much less a month, a year, or fourteen years, without pay? Of course you would not. You would go to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio--anywhere else on God’s earth where you could get a fair return for your work.

Now, the stockholders have been pretty patient all this time; they have taken a lot of abuse because people have not told the truth.

I think if we had all gotten together, as we have to-day, months and years ago, and discussed these questions, and the facts had been fairly presented, that there is not a man in this room but who would have said:

“That is not a square deal, and in so far as I have anything to do with this company, whether I am digging coal, driving mules, or sitting in an office directing operations--whatever my position, I will do what I can to see to it that every last man in this big family here gets a square deal.”

Now, I am not here to seek sympathy for the common stockholders, but I just want to point out to you what you ought to know: that capital will not stay indefinitely where it does not get proper recognition and a reasonable return.

And not one man in this room can afford to have the capital invested in the mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company become discouraged and withdraw, because as capital gets discouraged and withdraws, work falls off, mines are closed, wages go down, men are thrown out of employment, and the whole enterprise is endangered, and all of these things may result because only three of the four sides in the corporation have received consideration.

(_Interruption by Mr. Ben Beach, superintendent of Coal Creek mine_:)

“Mr. Rockefeller, I wonder whether I may say a word right here?

“Mr. Rockefeller and Fellow Workmen: What Mr. Rockefeller has stated in regard to the common stock I can vouch for, for about eight years ago I bought some common stock in the C. F. & I. Co. and I have been one of those sorry men because I never got any returns for it.”

Mr. Rockefeller: That is testimony that comes directly home. I have been expecting to hear such expressions from the stockholders. I have been expecting that there would be criticism, and just criticism, from men, like our friend here, who have had no dividends on their stock all these years. They may well say:

“What right have you to go on spending money for club houses, bath houses and fences, for this improvement in the camps, or that, simply to add to the comfort of the men, when we common stockholders have never gotten a cent?” That is just the way the stockholders may well feel. I am glad you brought up that point, Mr. Beach.

I want to show you another thing in connection with this table, this corporation with its four sides, working harmoniously, and with earnings piling up. When any one side says to itself:

“I am not satisfied with my fair portion; I am going to grab all I can and let the others take care of themselves,” and thereupon commences to reach up and lay hold of more than its fair share of the earnings, then it happens that the earnings commence to fall off, there is trouble and nothing is left to divide.

(_At this point, Mr. Rockefeller raised one of the legs of the table, thereby tilting it and causing the coins piled upon it to slip off._)

There is still another thing I want to speak of in regard to this table. Here is one of the four parties in the corporation who says:

“I am tired of doing my share, holding up my end of the game. We wage-earners are tired of this thing, we don’t like to carry our fair share of the burden, let us try to get all we can out of the company and put in just as little as we can. Let us do each day just as little work as we can and hold the job down.”

Now, you know there are men going over this country from one end to the other who are saying to the workmen of the country:

“Your game is to get the shortest possible working day you can, to do the least possible work that you can get away with and not lose your job, and to get just as much as you can for what little you do.”

Any man who preaches that doctrine, instead of being your friend, is your deadliest enemy, because see what happens. Here is the side of Labor; it says:

“We will get out from underneath, we won’t work so hard; we will do just as little as we can.”

And Labor’s corner begins to drop down (_lowering the corner of the table_), the earnings fall off (_coins slip off_) and there is nothing left for anyone (_the table is bare_).

Men, only when every man connected with that square corporation which is on the level, is interested, unselfishly, not in what he can get out of the corporation, but what he can put into it for the benefit of every man in the concern, will that man himself get the most out of it.

And I think there is no one thing that threatens greater harm to the interests of the workingmen of this country than that pernicious, that wicked, that false doctrine, that a man should do just as little work in a day as he possibly can, and just as poor work as he possibly can, and hold on to his job.

We see, then, what this company ought to be, what any corporation ought to be: a concern that is square, and always on the level, with every man doing his part. You do not need to take my word for it, you see from the illustration of the table that the interest of every man is sacrificed when any other principle governs.

Now--the problem which lies before the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company is to so interrelate the different elements in the company that the best interests of all will constantly be conserved, and the wage-earners, seeing the situation as it is here shown, must say and will say--because they are square men:

“We only want a square deal; we only want what is our fair proportion of return from this corporation; we will do our best to make it a success because we know that our success is dependent upon the success of all our partners.”

The officers must say:

“Our interest is to have every man that works with us realize that we are his friends, not his enemies; that there is no reasonable thing that he may want to talk about which we will not gladly discuss with him and explain.”

The directors must, on their part, give their best energies and efforts to the devising of policies which will be in the interest of all. The common stockholders must be patient yet awhile as they look at that empty table from which the rest of you have rightly taken your earnings, and they will be patient, I am sure, if they feel that all of the other elements in the company are earnestly coöperating to bring about the highest success of each and to secure a fair deal all around.

This meeting has been called to-day for the purpose of seeing whether we can work out and agree upon, among ourselves here, some plan which will accomplish what I feel sure we all want to accomplish. I have been asked to explain the plan which is up for our consideration.

I may say, men, that for years this great problem of Labor and Capital and of corporate relationships has engaged my earnest attention and study, while for the last eighteen months I have spent more of my time on the particular problems which confront this company than I have put on any other one interest with which I am related.

I have talked with all of the men whom I could get in touch with who have had experience with or have studied these vital questions. I have conferred with experts, and I have tried in every way to get the best information I could, looking toward the working out of some plan which would accomplish the result we are all striving to attain.

Nearly a year ago the officers of the company, after having studied this question with us in New York, introduced, as you know, the beginning of such a plan, namely, the selection by the men at each camp of duly chosen representatives, to confer with the officers of the company in regard to matters of common interest.

That was the beginning, and Mr. Welborn, in discussing the plan with you men, told you that it was only the beginning, that as rapidly as it became clear what further steps should be taken in order to conserve the common interest, those steps would be jointly discussed and introduced as soon as agreed upon. And so, in conjunction with Mr. Welborn and other able advisers, we have worked out a further development of the plan adopted last fall.

Then I said to myself: nothing shall be said about this plan, nor will we undertake to complete it until I have myself seen every mining camp operated by the company.

And now I have visited every camp, with the exception of those on the western slope, and lack of time alone has prevented my getting over there to see you men.

I have gone, as you know, to every camp in the southern fields, have talked privately with every superintendent, except one who was away, and with all of the representatives at each camp with the exception of some two or three who were not available at the time; I have gone into scores of your homes and I met your wives and children, and have seen how you live; I have looked at your gardens, and in camps where fences were only recently built have seen how eagerly you have planted gardens the moment opportunity was afforded, and how quickly you have gotten the grass to grow, also flowers and vegetables, and how the interest in your homes has thereby been increased.