are opposing this proposition which, if defeated, will have the practical effect of killing the Lever bill, because it is admitted that if the Lever bill should pass the House, this or some other resolution would be substituted in the Senate. Of what use is it for gentlemen to cavil? They say this will cause delay. Their constituents, the farmers of the country, will not believe that.

"They will understand that conditions are such as to demand the passage of this resolution if legislation is to be secured. They will understand that the passage of this resolution will facilitate and not delay substantial legislation. Gentlemen object to the expense, when every dollar spent will secure for Congress and the country information which is greatly needed and without which intelligent action can hardly be taken. Gentlemen object to a commission whose report and recommendation they say may be entirely ignored. It should be remembered, on this side at least" (the Republican), "that the reports and recommendations of the Tariff Commission were not carried out. But the information which they accumulated has been used by all students of the subject, ever since it became available, to the manifest benefit of all. Such objections ought not to go far in influencing the action of this committee."

In his speech in support of the resolution, Mr. Simeon D. Fess, of Ohio, also a member of the House Committee on Education, said:

"One-fifth of the entire population of the United States is in school now. As much money is being expended by the states and the nation for education as for almost any other subject. There is no one phase of national life that ought to be a subject of national concern with deeper meaning than that of education. (Applause.) And while we in Congress are speaking of the wealth of our country and saying that the farms in a single year will produce something like $9,000,000,000 and that the manufacturers of the country are producing in wealth so many billions of dollars until the wealth of our whole country would approximate

something like $125,000,000,000-while we are doing that, sometimes I think that the real source of the wealth of the country is in the children and its surest guarantee in the education of those children. (Applause.)

"While we become very enthusiastic here upon the floor in speaking for the material advantage of the country, the one thing that this Congress ought never to forget is that the real source of this wealth is not to be measured in the markets. You cannot measure it out by the yardstick. It cannot be measured by the bushel. It cannot be estimated by dollars. It is a matter of soul and heart culture, and the one chiefest of all functions of a government is to supply the needed education of the boys and girls who are to become the energizing forces in the production of this wealth in the future. (Applause.)

"Everybody seems to be agreed that something ought to be done, but gentlemen are at some variance as to how it should be done. They are also a little in doubt as to who should do it. Of the millions of children that go to school, less than two per cent graduate in college, and less than six per cent graduate in high schools. Ninety-three per cent of all the children that enter the schools of this country in every state leave the schools before they reach the high school. Ninety-three per cent!

"I ask, What are we doing for the benefit of the 93 per cent that leave the schools in the grades? What is their position, going out of the grades, in order to do the work with which they have to make their living? Is our education adapted today to enabling my child when he leaves the grades to live a better life, a more productive life? What have we done to insure this? State after state has tried to do something. The federal government, assisted in 1862 by the Morrill Act, and then again in the second Morrill Act of 1890, and then again in 1906, and still again in 1907, and there did not seem to be very much objection to the nation helping at that time."

VANCOUVER STRIKE

Activities of U. M. W. of A. Like Those in

West Virginia

The Maritime Mining Record quotes as follows from the report of the Special Commissioner appointed by the Canadian Minister of Labor to investigate the great strike being conducted by the United Mine Workers of America in the vicinity of Vancouver, British Columbia:

"In regard to the chief ground of complaint originally set up-discrimination--I have already intimated I did not think the company discriminated against anyone merely for having acted upon a gas committee, though some of the men no doubt so believed, others possibly putting the complaint forward, or being willing to have it put forward, because of its being a good ground upon which to enlist sympathy, as well as an assistance in discouraging men from going to work at the mines. The question of discrimination because of connection with the union is more

difficult. In the two cases specially put forward, other reasons existed for not wanting the men in the employ of the company. The conclusion which I think would be best justified is that, while the companies avoided as far as possible any direct act which could be attributed solely to discrimination because of connection with the union, most of them at all events did not want their men to belong to the union, and the men did, in fact, believe that joining or being active in the union might bring them into disfavor with. their employers, and were not without justification for that belief. The mine owners, as already mentioned, assert that it is the United Mine Workers' Union in particular, as shown in the

nature of its actions on the island and elsewhere, and the dictations of foreign officials, that they especially object to.

"What was done by the United Workers' organization or its officials at Nanaimo in bringing on the strike there cannot but be condemned I think by anyone looking fairly at the facts. A collective working agreement was in force, binding as far as any agree

ment of this nature can be binding.

a way was provided in it for dealing with grievances; no grievances, if any existed, were brought to the attention of the mine management, nor any notice given or attempt made to negotiate in any reasonable way-for I do not think that the two circulars sent out many months before by the president of an organization which, even months after, according to his own evidence before the Labor Commission, had only ‘a a very small percentage of the col miners of Nanaimo, as members, could be considered a reasonable approach of the company in the circumstances: a strike was declared without any vote by those concerned; attempts to get a proper vote taken were met with tactics that I think must be considered very reprehensible; misrepresentation was in some respects practiced: and the order for the strike emanated from an outside and, so far as the country is concerned, irresponsible au thority who at least was not solicitors for the welfare of the industries of Vancouver Island. That the majority of the miners at Nanaimo at that time were not in favor of the strike. I have no doubt, and that Foster and the other strike leaders so believed is evidenced by their determined refusal to allow any vote to be taken. Disregard of the wishes of the majority of the men concerned can surely not conmend the methods of those who art supposed to be fighting for the rig of these men.

"The allegations made as to unsafety of some of the mines are at least grossly exaggerated. The statement

that the percentage of fatal accidents at the mines of the Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir). Limited, had increase! over 200 per cent from 1911 to 1912. while correct, arises from the fact that in 1911 these mines had an abnormal low percentage of fatal accidents, only 0.94 per 1,000, while that of the prov ince was 2.32 per 1,000. In 1912, th company, though showing, as alleged. a great increase over 1911, was stil very low, and. little over half that for the province, the exact figures being 2.12 per 1,000, while that for the prov ince as a whole was 3.93."

Three months have now elapsed since the National Council for Industrial Safety took possession of its offices in the Continental & Commercial National Bank building, Chicago, Ill., and set out upon the route charted for it. This period has been one of much activity for its officials, its Executive Committee and other willing helpers, who feel that "SAFETY FIRST". and all that this implies, must be lived up to and acted upon in every nook and cranny of the country.

Apart from considerations of public and private safety, the Council's chief aim is to reach every employer of labor and make him realize the economic and humanitarian aspects of accident prevention; how, as an economic factor, this means larger earnings and more uniform product, and how, as a humanitarian factor, it leads to diminished suffering, and fewer cripples, widows and orphans.

Of course, in these matter of fact days there is little room for more theories. An enterprise is judged along the plane of "things done", and the laying down of sane and consistent plans for future activity. This, the Council realizes to the full-hence the following summary of the more important items of work accomplished.

From its inception, the promoters of the Council have recognized that in order to justify itself it would require to afford its members a full measure of "service" in return for the dues paid. To meet this necessity, its "Information Bureau" was estab

lished, working along two directions:

(a) That of distributing every week interesting bulletins, pictures and other information, showing plainly how to reduce accidents and telling how others are doing it. This distribution plan was commenced on Monday, December 1st. Four such distributions have now been made among members, and the work will be continued right along. That the matter sent out in this manner has been appreciated by recipients is demonstrated by many appreciative letters which the Council has received from those competent to judge and

It

(b) To have members submit to it for solution aspects of the safety problem which meet them in their own plants and which call for the special aid the Council is ready to afford. stands to reason that at times knotty points crop up which the experience of any individual firm is not competent to unravel, and it is here that the Council, drawing as it does on the experience of all, can suggest ways and means to appropriately overcome a difficulty. The Bureau which has already in its files a varied and comprehensive collection of safety data is of especial service to any concern which is just starting out on safety work, because the information - afforded as to organization, interesting the men and getting their co-operation, etc., has been proven out by experience as practical; and this eliminates the danger of not beginning correctly.

If the Council's sphere of action were limited to only these

two sub-divisions enumerated, it would still be worth the while of every industrial enterprise to affiliate itself with the organization, because the service rendered is peculiar to it alone. But the Council's ramifications embrace many other phases.

In the establishment of local councils in geographical areas so that members of the National Council may have an opportunity of profiting by an interchange of ideas through discussions held by these "locals", gratifying progress has been made. Such councils have been organized in

Harrisburg, Pa.

South Bethlehem, Pa.

Youngstown, O.

Chicago, Ill.

Peoria, Ill.

And others are in course of formation at

Pittsburgh, Pa.

St. Louis, Mo.

Kansas City, Mo.

With prospects of many others coming into being within the next few months. The aim of the National Council is to have a chain of the subsidiary organizations throughout the country, each working effectively in its own territory and promulgating the work for the benefit of individual communities.

Preparations for the publication of the "Safety Primer" for the use of school children and apprentices are well under way. It is apparent from the many letters received from superintendents of schools throughout the states that such a handbook is urgently required. Then again, the Proceedings of the 1912 Safety Congress, which was held in New York last September, are now in the in the printer's hands, and when issued and distributed among members will prove a mine of practical information upon everyday points in accident prevention work. A pamphlet on "Organization of Safety Departments in Industrial Enterprises" is also in the press, and this

ought to prove a decided boon, as effective organization has always been a difficult and much debated quetion.

Sectional committees are being formed to take charge of the points which are encountered in the organizz tion and safety-guarding of a long list of distinct manufacturing enterprises. In this fashion the peculiarities and requirements of each industry will receive special consideration and treatment and definite standards established along lines of proven success. A Standardization Committee has been nominated to lay down certain simple standards for known types of safety

devices. This, of course, is an age of standardization-such procedure is the easiest path to maximum efficiency.

The Council is, moreover, compiling and adding to a list of safety experts, lecturers, etc., whose services may be requisitioned by members as occasion requires. The profession of the "Safety Engineer" is as yet in its infancy; but even now the demand is greater than the supply and the Council is keeping in close touch with the best available talent in this direction. Another project is well under way to re

duce the alarming growth in automobile accidents. The Council, working in conjunction with the Secretaries of State of the states, will shortly put into operation a practical plan to effect this.

Such, then, are the principal avenues along which the Council is directing its efforts. Many others remain to be traversed, and some openings blazed in directions where no path has heretofore existed. Little by little, however, the Council will push its way in these directions, and thus carry to full fruition its motto of "Universal Safety" and its aim of "Unstinted Service".

To conclude: Its membership roll is growing apace. But, naturally, the

more members it can enroll the more effectively and rapidly can its purposes be accomplished, and the more. varied will be the scope of its distributions of safety literature. A call is, therefore, made to all friends of the Council to lose no opportunity of bringing home in all likely quarters the benefits of affiliation with the organization. The moderate membership dues, which carry with them all the rights and privileges the Council offers, are not an outlay but an INVESTMENT. The Council points the way to an increase in a concern's net profits through a decrease in accidents-the whole forming a unique combination of money saved and the fomenting of humanitarian principles.

Increase Freight Rates

The directors of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, at their regular monthly meeting on the 2nd of January, adopted a resolution endorsing the horizontal increase of five per cent in freight rates and have requested the members of the Association to take up the matter at once with their Senators and Representatives at Washing

ton.

"Shippers attention!" says their bulletin. "Wire President Wilson, wire your Senators, wire your House Member to signal the Interstate Commerce Commission to go ahead. A five per

cent advance in rates at this time will put business over the hill. A showdown means a rear end collision. The track ahead is the track to watch, not the track behind! Call in the rear flagman and run to the next station. There is freight on the platform ahead and there are loaded cars on the sidings. The industries cannot move if a danger signal is set against the carDo not riers. Telegraph at once!

delay."

Investigates Protocal

The Federal Commission on Industrial Relations has been investigating the workings of the protocol entered into between the International Ladies' Garment Workers and their employers. Both parties to the agreement testify that it tends toward industrial peace, and is an aid to settling differences without resorting to strikes. Under the protocol the highest court is the board of arbitration, and Charles H. Winslow, statistician of that body, made this statement of the work accomplished: "Between April 15, 1911, and August 31, 1913, there were 7,556 cases settled. All these but 179 were settled by the chief clerks of the union and the Manufacturers' Association. Of these, 170 were settled by the board of grievances under the protocol, and only nine went to the board of arbitration."

Telephone Girls' Union

President McNulty, of the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, affiliated with the A. F. of L., announces that charter No. 1 of the woman's branch of the international has been issued to the Boston telephone operators, who were formerly connected, as a sublocal, with Electrical Workers, No. 104.

The last convention authorized separate unions for women, and the Boston girls are first in line. Operators at New Bedford have just been organized and reports from other cities. in that section show that the theory of trade unionism is being rapidly accepted by these workers.