Jfeberal Council of tfje Cfmrcfjesi of Cf)rtsit m America DEAN SHAILER MATHEWS, President 1outfj Jietljlefjem, |)a. This report was received and unanimously adopted at a meeting of the Commission on the Church and Social Service held in New York on June 14th, 1910 Report of Special Committee Appointed by the Commission on the Church and Social Service of the Fed¬ eral Council of the Churches of Christ in America CONCERNING THE INDUSTRIAL SIT¬ UATION AT SOUTH BETHLEHEM, PA. When, on February 4, 1910, three machinists in the Bethlehem Steel Works were discharged ,for daring to protest in behalf of their fel¬ lows against Sunday labor, thus precipitating ■one of the most notable strikes in this coun¬ try, they not only raised issues which concern the 9,000 men employed in the steel works, but brought to the attention of the American public certain industrial problems which can¬ not be settled by capital and labor alone. The American people must assume a distinct share in the responsibility of their solution. RELATION OF ORGANIZED LABOR TO THE STRIKE. Organized labor had nothing to do with in¬ augurating the strike. As a matter of fact, when the strike began none of the employees of the Bethlehem Steel Works were members of any labor organization. The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, to which most of the men would naturally be¬ long, had been systematically forced out of the works since the strike of 1883. At no time did the labor union appear in the demands made upon the Steel Company, and the recog¬ nition of the union was not asked for in any of the demands of the men. It was not until some time after the strike had been inaugu¬ rated that organizers of the American Federa¬ tion of Labor were called into town by some 3 of the men on strike. As a result of their activities during the period of enforced idle¬ ness, practically every trade is now organized, although, as it is one of the avowed principles of the Steel Company to discourage the or¬ ganization of its employees, it is probably only a question of a short time when these organiza¬ tions will lapse. STRIKERS’ DEMANDS. While the strike originated in a demand for freedom from Sunday labor, other questions arose for discussion in the strikers’ meetings, until the grievances definitely shaped them¬ selves into three concrete demands: First, the abolition of unnecessary Sunday work. Second, increased wages. Third, a shorter work day. In the matter of overtime and Sunday-work, time and a half was demanded for such labor. Other requests having to do with the indus¬ trial operations were introduced in these de¬ mands, but all of them bore upon the lighten¬ ing of what was considered a heavier burden than the average workingman could endure. It is true that the President of the company came to the strikers’ meetings, asking them to return to their work and declaring that their grievances would be considered; but, feeling that this was not sufficient assurance of fair treatment by the company, the men preferred to remain out on strike, having their executive committee conduct all negotiations looking to¬ ward a settlement. Whether or not the men were in error at this point, only those having an intimate knowledge of the situation can judge; but no doubt the discharge of the three leaders who made the original request for release from what was considered an op¬ pressive situation made the men suspicious that those who presented their cause would suffer through discharge or in some ether way 4 because of their prominence in championing the strikers’ side of the controversy. In one of the original petitions sent to the company for ihe adjustment of the strike difficulty the men signed their names in a circle so that it would be impossible to tell which was the leader. CONFLICTING ELEMENTS IN ADJUST¬ MENT OF STRIKE. Another matter which made the strike dif¬ ficult of adjustment was the presence of large numbers of foreigners. Probably 50 per cent, of the 9,000 men employed in the mills were foreign-speaking people. There were also other divisions among the workers—social, economic, religious and geographical—which made the strike most difficult to handle. South Bethle¬ hem is situated in a community of about 40,- 000 people, consisting of the boroughs of Beth¬ lehem, South Bethlehem, North Bethlehem, Fountain Hill and Northampton Heights, while some of the workers come from a terri¬ tory beyond this district. The men had been so long deprived of the right of organization and of representation that when once they felt the power of a united movement they were slow to accept any prop¬ osition which denied them this privilege. DAILY HOURS OF LABOR. It appears from the Report on the Bethle¬ hem Strike made by the United States Bureau of Labor that 4,725—or 51 per cent, of all the employees—had, in January, 1910, before the strike, a 12-hour work day; 220 workmen had a 12-hour day except on Saturday, when their hours were either 10 or 11; 4,203 em¬ ployees had a work day of 10 5-12 to 11 hours in length generally, with a half day off on Saturday, and 47 worked on other schedules, unspecified. These were the regular schedules, but those who had less than 12 hours were often called 5 upon to work overtime. The 10-hour men fre¬ quently worked several hours additional at the end of the regular period, or on Saturday afternoons or Sundays. This means that while 51 per cent, of the workmen had a 12-hour day, the tendency in other departments was to approach that schedule on account of overtime. Bad as such a schedule of hours must necessarily be under any circumstances, the situation in certain de¬ partments has been intensified by a system of speeding up that kept the men working at high pressure. A time bonus system has enabled a man to win a 20 per cent, bonus if he fin¬ ished a job in standard time. There is said to have been no penalization for failure to do this and no employee has been paid less than his guaranteed daily rate; but these rates have apparently been fixed at points where it has been necessary for a man to earn the bonus in order to bring his earnings up to wages prevailing elsewhere for similar work. If he could cut down the standard time, he received in addition 50 per cent, of his hourly rate for the time saved. The normal speed rate developed under this system has made overtime work especially obnoxious. Apart from this, it is alleged that foremen received large additional bonuses for large outputs, and that this led some of them to drive the men in their departments, hoping to beat the estimated output and win a share of the money saved. SEVEN-DAY WEEK. Beyond, and intensifying, the evils of a 12- hour day is the existence in many departments of a 7-day week. The United States Labor Bureau showed 28 per cent, of all employees working regularly seven days in the week; in addition were those who worked on Sundays irregularly as overtime. The total number working on seven days in a week, both regu- larly and as overtime, in January, was 4,041, or 43 per cent. With respect to both the 19-hour day and the 7-day week, the Bethlehem custom is very similar to that in the Pittsburgh mills. The proportion of regular 19-hour workmen is con¬ siderably greater among the employees of the steel companies in Pittsburgh, owing to the fact that the plants there are steel rolling mills exclusively, where the work is continuous. At Bethlehem there are very large machine shops, where the work is not necessarily con¬ tinuous. The machinists were the regular 10- hour men at Bethlehem. As to Sunday work, however, the Bethlehem situation is worse than that found in the Pitts¬ burgh steel mills in 1907-8 by the Pittsburgh Survey. There 90 per cent, were estimated as 7-day workmen, but in Bethlehem the percent¬ age runs from 98 to 43. It was claimed by the manager of the Beth¬ lehem plant that practically only necessary work has been done on Sunday; that in Jan¬ uary the excess of Sunday work over absolute necessity was about 9 per cent. But it ap¬ pears from the Labor Bureau Report that rolling mills and open hearth furnaces were operated on seven days in every week in Jan¬ uary in Bethlehem. In Pittsburgh in 1907-8 there was a full 94-hour stop for rolling mills each Sunday, and open hearth furnaces were not operated from Saturday night until Sun¬ day morning, and then a full crew was not needed until Sunday noon or later. But in Bethlehem these departments called out practically their full crews in January seven days and seven nights a week. Nothing in the Company’s statements or payrolls, as fur¬ nished the Bureau of Labor, showed that there was any shutdown or let up for 19 or 94 hours by the men in these departments. It is gen¬ erally conceded that for technical reasons blast furnaces cannot be shut down on Sunday, but 7 rolling mills and open hearth furnaces can be and generally are shut down. It has been claimed by the management that Sunday and overtime work is, in some depart¬ ments at least, optional with the men. This is denied by the workmen, and it is obvious that in a great corporation, where there cannot be the close personal touch between manage¬ ment and men, details are in the hands of fore¬ men. With the necessity upon these foremen of getting the output desired by their superiors and the lure of a bonus before them, they can hardly be expected to leave the matter of over¬ time entirely optional. That it is not so left, and that men are either discriminated against or discharged if they refuse to work overtime or on Sundays, is commonly known in Bethle¬ hem. As already pointed out, it was a case of this kind that precipitated the strike. At Bethlehem, as in Pittsburgh and through¬ out the country, the blast furnaces are oper¬ ated continuously seven days and seven nights a week. Adjustment of the working schedule which would allow every man on such crews one day off a week was recently advocated by W. B. Dickson, Vice-President of the United States Steel Corporation, at a meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute in New York, and, according to the newspaper reports* was sup¬ ported by other practical steel men, Mr. Schwab among them. At present, every time the day and night shift turn about, these 7-day workers are re¬ quired to put in a long turn of 24 consecutive hours of labor. WAGES. In January, 21 men out of the 9,184 em¬ ployed earned 60 cents or more per hour. This would be $ 7.20 or more for a 12-hour day. But, on the other hand, 61 per cent, earned less than 18 cents an hour, or $2.16 for a 12- hour day, and 31.9 per cent, earned less than 14 cents an hour, or less than $1.68 for a 12- 8 hour day. This is a wage scale that leaves no option to the common laborers but the board¬ ing boss method of living, with many men to the room. When a man has a family with him they take in lodgers or often the woman goes to work. It is reported that immigrant pa¬ rents send their little children back to the old country to be reared while the mother goes to work. On such a wage basis, American standards are impossible. The January pay¬ roll at Bethlehem showed, according to the Bureau of Labor, large numbers of laborers working for 12% cents an hour, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. These wage figures do not compare favor¬ ably with the wages paid by the United States Steel Corporation in Pittsburgh, where the rate for common laborers—the lowest rate paid to any workman, prior to the recent ad¬ vance—was 16% cents an hour. It is now 17% cents. Jones & Laughlin, the largest in¬ dependent Pittsburgh mill, paid 15 cents in 1907-8. There has been a raise at Bethlehem since January, and common labor now gets 13% cents an hour. All of this mill labor is paid lower than the rate for day labor in the bituminous mines of Pennsylvania, where the unions enter into collective bargains with their employers, and Common labor benefits along with the skilled men. None of this common labor in any of these steel mills is paid a living wage for an average-sized family. ACCIDENTS. There were 927 injuries in the Bethlehem plant in 1909, of which 754 involved the loss of more than one week’s time; 38 of these lost bodily members, and six lost an arm or leg. Twenty-one lost their lives. There is a benefit association, composed of employees of the plant, who pay dues into its treasury. The company duplicates whatever the men pay in. This association pays $5 a week sick or acci- 9 dent benefit, and $100 to the family of a de¬ ceased member, or $50 in case of the death of the wife of a member. The company does not require the signature of a release when these payments are made. Accordingly its legal lia¬ bility remains. But the only stated and regu¬ lar compensation which a workman is sure of for his family in case of a catastrophe is through the benefit association. So large a corporation might well adopt a regular com¬ pensation policy as the United States Steel Corporation and the International Harvester Company have already done, and as provided for by laws passed this winter by the New York State Legislature. RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO THE STRIKE. Whatever may be true of other industrial reforms it is reasonable to expect that efforts on the part of labor to secure Sunday rest will enlist the active co-operation of ministers and churches. The statement, therefore, given wide publicity in the labor press that during the recent strike at South Bethlehem such an effort by the strikers failed to receive the aid of churches and their pastors is calculated to increase any existing hostility toward the churches which may be felt by workingmen and to widen the breach between them. The statement referred to was made by Jacob Tazelaar, General Organizer of the American Federation of Labor. His charges may be reduced to three: 1. That “the Church, nearly as a whole, the Protestant as well as the Catholic Church, gave no aid to the men who were fighting for a great moral issue.” 2 . That “it is publicly known here (in the Bethlehems) that the Church can collect its fees and dues through the corporation’s office. It is stated here by the workers that the com¬ pany has taken money out of the pay en- 10 velopes of the laboring men without their con¬ sent and paid same over to the clergy, and that there is a standing olfer to all the minis¬ ters by the Bethlehem Steel Company to have the Church dues collected through the com¬ pany’s office.” 3. That “the Protestant Ministerial Associa¬ tion, as a body, practically championed the cause of the corporation.” CONFERENCE WITH THE MINISTERS. The Committee of the Commission on the Church and Social Service had a conference with representatives of the Protestant Minis¬ terial Association of the Bethlehems, also an interview with Mr. Tazelaar, and then brought him and the Ministerial Association together for another long interview. 1. In his published charge that “the Church, nearly as a whole, gave no aid to the men who were fighting for a great moral issue,” Mr. Tazelaar referred to the ministers as “sup¬ posed apostles of Jesus Christ, who are un¬ willing to defend the laws of God,” making evident reference to the Fourth Command¬ ment. At the conference referred to above, at which nearly every minister in the Bethlehems was present, it was shown that the ministers had taken a lively interest in the subject of Sabbath observance. Several years before they had held a mass meeting in the Opera House to protest against Sabbath desecration, and since then they had frequently preached on the subject, some twice and some four times a year. It was stated that they had repeatedly appealed to the officials of the steel works in the interest of Sunday rest, which statement was confirmed to the Committee by the general manager. The Ministerial Association also had devoted two meetings to the discussion of the subject. There is no evidence that the churches, as 11 such, took any action relative to the strike, but the Committee representing the ministers declared that “the Ministerial Association at various times gave the most earnest consid¬ eration to the strike, and appointed a Commit¬ tee with a view to conciliation. They were in¬ structed to study carefully the situation and, if the occasion offered, to exert their influence as far as possible for the adjustment of ex¬ isting difficulties. The fact that such a Com¬ mittee had been appointed was not published at the time, lest the object of their work be thereby thwarted.” We are told that “serious and persistent efforts were made by this Committee to find some ground of agreement between the Steel Company and the strikers.” To this end an interview was had with the President of the company, and a number of the strikers’ meet¬ ings were attended. Several conferences were also held with the union leaders, and “all the grave difficulties in the way of reconciliation were investigated.” The Chairman of the Com¬ mittee was in conference with Mr. Tazelaar, and “several important points were being agreed on in a very friendly discussion, as a basis for the men to return to work (viz.: 1. reduction of Sunday labor; 2 . definite increase in the rate for day laborers; 3. special con¬ sideration for all the workmen, in view of the current high prices) when one of the leaders of the strike entered the room and cut off the discussion by saying ‘no proposition will be here considered until the Cossacks (the State constabulary) are dismissed from this town,’ which abruptly ended the conference.” These facts would seem to dispose of the first charge. 2 . In regard to the second charge of Mr. Tazelaar, that church dues were collected by the corporation, it was stated in the joint con¬ ference that the Roman Catholic priests had employed the method of church collection re- 12 ferred to, but never without the consent of the workmen, and that the Steel Company had paid the money to the priests only on the order of the Roman Catholic members. A Protestant pastor who had organized among the workmen a congregation of 200 foreigners stated that his men had proposed the method to the Steel Company as an accommodation to themselves, and that the company on request had consented to it, but he had never availed himself of the opportunity, and added: “The proposition never came from the Steel Com¬ pany in any way, shape or manner.” The other twenty pastors present all arose in af¬ firmation that they had never used such a method. Mr. Tazelaar declared that he could prove his charge, but refused to do so on the ground that he “would not be the means of having workmen blacklisted.” The facts brought out serve to account for the origin of the charge, but there was not the slightest evidence that, as applied to the Protestant ministers, it contained a trace of truth. 3. It was charged that “the Protestant Ministerial Association, as a body, practically championed the cause of the corporation,” and it was hinted that this might have been in return for the collection of church dues by the company. This insinuation has already been disposed of. The supposition that finan¬ cial considerations may have influenced the pastors to favor the corporation is rendered untenable by the fact elicited that the churches are far more dependent for their support on the workmen than on the officials of the Steel Company. THE ATTITUDE OF THE BETHLEHEM MINISTERS. It must be said, however, that the tone of the statement made by the Committee of the Ministerial Association, which appeared in the South Bethlehem Globe for April 20th, af- 13 fords some warrant for the belief of the strikers that the ministers inclined to favor the corporation. The Committee administer a sharp rebuke to the strikers for “using any means, whether fair or foul, to embarrass and cripple the Steel Company,” but we find no corresponding censure of the officials of the Steel Works for compelling unnecessary and increasing Sunday work through a period of years. If, as the Committee state, “only the officials of the company can accomplish the righting of any existing wrongs,” then evi¬ dently those officials are responsible for the continuance of such wrongs. And yet there is not a word in the statement to bring this truth home to the conscience of said officials. The Committee put to the strikers the ques¬ tion: “Is it reasonable to expect that by at¬ tacking your employer openly and in secret, by trying to destroy his property and his busi¬ ness, you can best persuade him to deal gen¬ erously and magnanimously with you?” But we find no equally pertinent question ad¬ dressed to Mr. Schwab and his associates, such as the following: “If it has been your policy in the past, as you claim, to reduce Sunday labor to a minimum, and yet there has existed notwithstanding ‘an undue amount of Sunday work,’ what guarantee do you offer that under the same policy in the future there may not exist a like ‘undue amount of Sunday work’?” There is evidence that the ministers were sincerely desirous to serve the best interests of the workmen, including the strikers, but the question addressed to them, and quoted above, is proof positive that they are too far aloof, from the workingman to understand him and win his confidence. Nothing could be more exasperating to the workingman than to as¬ sume that he desires to persuade his employer “to deal generously and magnanimously” with him. What he desires and demands is not 14 generosity and magnanimity at the hands of his employer, but simple justice. Not until ministers get close enough to the workingman to gain his point of view can they hope to influence him to any extent. We deem it the duty of ministers not simply to record a for¬ mal protest against industrial evils, which may serve to pacify a partially awakened con¬ science, but to arouse a righteous indignation on the part of the Church and of the general public which will make the continuance of such ills impossible. SUGGESTED RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE TO THE FEDERAL COUNCIL AND TO THE PUBLIC 1. A 12-hour* day and a 7-day week are alike a disgrace to civilization. There is a way of avoiding each, but they will not be avoided until society requires the backward members of the community to conform to the standards recognized by decent men. The continuous in¬ dustries—those necessarily operating on seven days a week—are numerous enough to require special regulation. They include to-day: rail¬ roads, street cars, telegraph and telephone lines, heat, light and power plants, newspaper offices, blast furnaces, hotels and restaurants and other industries. There should be laws requiring three shifts in all industries operat¬ ing 24 hours a day, and there should be laws requiring one day of rest in seven for all workmen in 7-day industries. Add one-seventh to the force and each could have a day of rest while the industry goes on. The New York State Department of Labor is about to pub¬ lish a monograph on the general subject of Sunday legislation which throws much light on this point. The churches could do no more for the cause of human betterment than by work¬ ing for such laws. They could well initiate a movement for 6-day legislation comparable 15 with the old Sunday observance movement, which resulted in the placing of Sunday laws on the statute books of most States. Many of these laws prohibited all work except that of necessity and charity. With the development of industries and public service many work operations have become continuous, and the tendency has been to spread to other occupa¬ tions ; so much so that the Sunday laws in most States are in many respects dead letters. These Sunday laws are sustained by the courts up to the Federal Supreme Court, not on the ground of religious observance, but on the ground that unremitting toil debases man. Therefore the courts could be expected to sus¬ tain by similar reasoning 6-day legislation, pro¬ viding that when an industrial operation is necessarily continuous each man shall have one free day. Massachusetts and California already have such laws. 2. That the churches inaugurate a move¬ ment to place in the hands of the courts, or some similar appropriate body, the authority to determine when industrial operations are necessarily continuous, and must necessarily be performed on Sunday. As it is now, the decision is in the hands of managers who are pressed for haste by purchasers, for output by their directors and for profits by their stockholders, so that it is unfair to put the responsibility for drawing a line between what is necessary and what is unnecessary upon the shoulders of the managers. Those industrial operations which would be declared by such a tribunal to be unnecessary on Sunday would thus fall within the scope of the old Sunday laws; those declared to be necessary would fall within the scope of the proposed 6-day legislation. 3. That directly growing out of the Bethle¬ hem situation the Federal Government be urged to include in its specifications for armor plate, war vessels, construction work and the 16 like, that the work be done on a 6-day basis, and that where operations are necessarily con¬ tinuous the 24 hours be divided into three shifts of eight instead of two of 12. In let¬ ting its contracts for the great aqueducts now under construction New York City has pro¬ vided that, along with certain specifications as to tensile strength of steel, grade of cement, etc., the contractor in these outlying camps shall provide adequate water, sewage and shel¬ ter for his construction gang. This has been occasioned by the presence in some camps, which are temporary and peopled with tran¬ sients, of conditions so unsanitary as to threaten the districts \vith epidemics. It would seem similarly that the United States Gov¬ ernment could provide for certain minimum labor conditions in its contracts, as well as minimum specifications as to materials. A*s it is now, the progressive employer who wants to be fair to his men must compete for con¬ tracts at levels set by the least scrupulous. The tendency, therefore, is toward a lowering of standards, which the churches of America ought to be courageous enough to stand out against. The Government is rich enough to pay for vessels constructed under the best sanitary and economic conditions. 4. That the various churches making up the Federal Council be urged to set aside a day at their conferences, assemblies and conven¬ tions for the discussion of industrial condi¬ tions and the relation of the Church to the same; especially in line with the action of the Council in declaring against the 12-hour day, the 7-day week and for a living wage. Appro¬ priate sources of information could be sug¬ gested in this connection, such as the Bethle¬ hem Report of the Federal Government and the report to be issued by the New York State Department of Labor on “Sunday and 7-day Legislation.” 5, That the attention of the churches in all 17 parts of the country be called to the existence of the continuous processes in such industries as iron and steel, paper, railroads, street rail¬ ways, telephone, telegraph, mines, smelters and glass. That ministers be urged to visit the works and public service corporations of their localities and learn to what extent employees are obliged to work on seven days in the week. 6. That the Federal Bureau of Labor, the Russell Sage Foundation, or some other prop¬ erly constituted body, be urged to take up an adequate study of the cost of living and wages in our different industrial districts, such as will inform the churches as to what is a living wage: a. One on which the immigrant laborer can safely undertake the responsibilities of home¬ making in each district without jeopardizing the health of his family and children. b. The minimum upon which an ordinary American household may be maintained as a permanent proposition so as to provide not only for physical necessities, but for the edu¬ cation of the children, and for a fair degree of comfort, a fair share in the recreations, church support and other activities of the com¬ munity, provision through insurance for death, injury and sickness, and a competence for old age. Less than this cannot be considered a living wage in America. 7. That the Federal and State Bureaus of Labor be urged further to investigate and re¬ port upon the extent of continuous industries in this country and their working hours. We commend the Bethlehem Report for its incisive array of facts. Such reports should show us not only the extent to which the steel industry elsewhere is carried on along similar lines, but the practice in other trades and in public ser¬ vice corporations. Massachusetts, as well as New York State, has investigated the extent of Sunday work within its boundaries. 8. It is essential that there be some method 18 whereby employees may approach their em¬ ployers with their grievances without preju¬ dice against those selected to represent them. The Committee would raise the question of the recognition of the right of all workmen to organize in such a manner as may seem best to them, provided that they keep within the limits of the law; and we recommend that em¬ ployers of labor recognize such organizations when they speak in behalf of their members. 9. The Committee reaffirms, in the name of the Commission on the Church and Social Ser¬ vice, the three principles for which the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America asserts the Church must stand: First. The gradual and reasonable reduc¬ tion of the hours of labor to the lowest prac¬ ticable point, and that degree of leisure for all which is a condition of the highest human life. Second. A release from employment one day in seven. Third. A living wage as a minimum in every industry, and the highest wage that each in¬ dustry can afford. SUGGESTIONS MADE BY THE COM¬ MITTEE TO THE MINISTERS IN BETHLEHEM. 1. That they collectively take a definite and pronounced stand against 7-day labor, so that the working people of the Bethlehems may know without question how they stand. If the present Ministerial Association, for constitu¬ tional limitations, cannot declare on such is¬ sues, it would seem that collective action could still be taken by those ministers so inclined through a committee or through a special meet¬ ing for this purpose. 2. In view of the statement made in the ministers’ letter, that workmen have abused their holidays and Sundays by drunkenness, ball games, and the like, we recommend that the ministers appoint a committee to investi- 19 gate what opportunities for clean recreation are open to the working people of the Beth- lehems; what opportunities a 6-day, 12-hour man has for enjoying any outdoor amusements except on Sunday; what opportunities the 7- day, 12-hour man has at any time for enjoying them; what the mechanics and others who have Saturday half holiday do with it; what public provision there is for adult recreation in Bethlehem other than that on a commercial basis—that is, enterprises depending on the admission tickets, foods and drinks sold, in contrast to, for instance, the public recreation centers which serve many of the low-rent dis¬ tricts of Chicago. 3. That they organize an open forum for discussion, securing the co-operation of the Catholic priests, .at which workmen and mer¬ chants, non-churchmen and ministers could discuss industrial conditions and civic prob¬ lems openly and without fear; so that there will not be the mistrust and misunderstanding which characterized this strike between the strikers and the ethical forces of the com¬ munity. 4. We would suggest that the Ministerial Association give over at least four meetings a year to a discussion of the Church’s respon¬ sibility toward labor conditions in the Beth- lehems. We were gratified at the specific and democratic testimony which was offered at the meeting we attended. For instance, when one of the general officers of the company was quoted as saying that Sunday work had been entirely optional with the men, there were min¬ isters present who testified that reliable church members, church officers and others had been obliged to work, whether they wanted to or not. 5. That, inasmuch as the Bethlehem Steel Company has assured the ministers of Bethle¬ hem that Sunday work will be cut down to what is inevitable and necessary, the ministers conceive of themselves as the Sunday guard- 20 ians of the community, and, taking the com¬ pany’s statement in good faith, request a weekly report as to the number of men em¬ ployed on Sunday in each department. This suggestion is not offered in a spirit of espion- age, but in a realization that in a large plant such as the Bethlehem works, where contracts must be turned out rapidly, where foremen and superintendents are rated on their output, the pressure is inevitably in the direction of overtime and extra work. Such a weekly re¬ port, published in the local paper or read in the churches, would automatically exert some pressure in the opposite direction. 6. That the Bethlehem Ministerial Associa¬ tion appoint a committee on industrial acci¬ dents to make inquiries as to the exact pay¬ ments made during a given year to the fami¬ lies of workmen killed or disabled at work. The Bethlehem Steel Company has a relief association which provides weekly benefits in case of injury and funeral benefits in case of death; and in this the men co-operate. But it were well to go beyond this and find out the. exact payments in case of death to take the place of the loss of income, so that when the question of amending the present em¬ ployers’ liability laws comes up at the next session of the Pennsylvania Legislature the Bethlehem community as a whole will be awake and informed and a center of influence touch¬ ing this problem, which has been engrossing the attention of state commissions in Minne¬ sota, Wisconsin, New York, Illinois, Massa¬ chusetts and New Jersey. The recent action of the American Manufacturers’ Association in declaring against existing liability laws and proposing an indemnity system which would put American practice somewhat on a par with that of England or of Germany, shows the moral obligation resting on a great industrial State such as Pennsylvania in getting abreast of the world movement in this field. 21 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS WHICH MIGHT BE DISCUSSED AT A MIN¬ ISTERIAL MEETING, BEAR¬ ING ON 7-DAY WORK. a. What is the law in this State with re¬ spect to Sunday observance? b. In what industrial operations is it not observed? c. Do the men in these operations have to work seven days a week, or do they get one day off? d. If it is stated that it is optional whether they work Sunday or not, are we sure that in practice it works out that way? If a fore¬ man has to get out a piece of work requiring 50 men on Sunday and only 30 volunteer, what happens? e. What is the effect of Sunday work on church attendance? f. What sort of fathers can the men be who work seven days a week; when do they get a chance to be with their children? Do you con¬ sider it important, as a churchman, that a father should have time to spend with his children? g. What sort of a householder can such a man be? What sort of a church member? What sort of a citizen? h. Is a 7-day week a more exacting, strength-consuming, soul-shrivelling program than a 13-hour day? i. What sort of recreational opportunities have men who work 13 hours a day? j. What free time for refreshment and re¬ laxation have they besides Sunday? k. What do the men who have Saturday half holiday do with it? Has it any effect on their Sunday church attendance? l. Have any steps been taken in your State to provide for one day of rest out of every seven in those industries where Sunday work 33 is nesessary? (Massachusetts and California are the only two States that have passed such laws.) m. Is it the Church’s part to support such 6-day legislation? n. In continuous industries 24 hours must be split up between two shifts of workers, or three. It is a choice between 12 hours or 8. Is the issue clear-cut enough so that the Church can favor legislation requiring three shifts of 8 hours each in continuous indus¬ tries? o. Is overtime paid in your locality for extra work after hours or on Sunday? p. What would be the effect if time and a half or double time were paid for such over¬ time? Would men prefer to work Sunday and lay off some other day? Or would such a tendency be rendered negligible by the man¬ agement transferring all such work to week days, wherever possible, in order to save the extra pay expense? q. What sort of activities are commonly pro¬ ceeded against under your Sunday laws? Sa¬ loons? Ball games? Candy shops? Manufac¬ turing plants? r. Aside from such repressive measures, what is your community doing concerning en¬ tertainment, outdoor recreation and relaxation that a workman may secure in his leisure hours ? Is this provision left entirely to those who make money out of this natural desire for such things? Is it less important for the com¬ munity to provide recreation centers than it is to provide a fire department or a jail? The Committee was greatly assisted in its investigation and in the preparation, of its re¬ port by Mr. John A. Fitch of the New York State Department of Labor. ( CHARLES STELZLE. Committee ] JOSIAH STRONG. ( PAUL U. KELLOGG. 23 THE COI _ 3 0112 098204974 Jfe&eral Council of t; Cfmrcfjes; of Cfjrnt ttt &men NATIONAL OFFICE 1611 Clarendon Building, 215 Fourth Ave., New Y \ FRANK MASON NORTFI, Chairman CHARLES S. MACFARLAND, Secretary Frank Mason North Ernest H. Abbott Edward T. Devine John M. Glenn William I. Haven J. Howard Melish COMMITTEE OF DIRECTION Willard L. Small Charles Stelzle Josiah Strong Fred E. Tasker Charles L. Thompson Charles R. Towson Leighton Williams SECRETARIAL CABINET Charles S. Macfarland Frank M. Crouch Henry A. Atkinson Charles Stelzle Samuel Z. Batten Harry F. Ward Warren H. Wilson MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION Ernest H. Abbott Henry A. Atkinson Samuel Z. Batten Thomas N. Carver George C. Chase Edward T. Devine Edwin L. Earp Levi Gilbert Washington Gladden John M. Glenn Howard B. Grose Peter S. Grosscup Thomas C. Hall William I. Haven Hubert C. Herring Paul U. Kellogg William Lawrence John B. Lennon John McDowell A. J. McKelway Shailer Mathews J. Howard Melish William H. Morgan Frank M. North John P. Peters Arthur B. Pugh John H. Prugh Walter Rauschenbusch Jacob Riis Willard L. Small Edward A. Steiner Charles Stelzle Josiah Strong Fred E. Tasker Graham Taylor Charles L. Thompson Charles R. Towson Alexander Walters Harry F. Ward Herbert Welch Herbert L. Willett John Williams Leighton Williams Fifth Edition, 1-27-13