1 68 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



ethical effects of the methods they are tempted to employ. This con- 

 stant tendency to organize is creating an opportunity which unless care- 

 fully guarded will enable corrupt men to get control of industry and 

 conduct it so as to put a premium on corrupt methods. 



ORGANIZATION NOT VICIOUS IN ITSELF 



It is the same with industrial organizations as it is with political 

 parties. There is nothing wrong in either workmen or employers 

 organizing ; any organization is apt to fall into the hands of designing 

 men. Organized employers as well as organized workmen are a power 

 that may be corruptly used. The point is that organizations, both 

 political and industrial, must be jealously watched by a patriotic and 

 public-spirited people in order that they may not be used against the 

 public weal. 



When two industrial organizations are so well situated that they are 

 able to control by a monopoly the conditions of labor, and though they 

 are antagonistic bodies, it is quite likely that they will follow the methods 

 of other monopolies and form a combination to advance the interests 

 of each. This has been the industrial experience of the large concerns 

 of the United States. It is not likely that any organization will long 

 keep up a fight when it can do better by making peace with its adversary. 

 This is the rule of progress in all directions. It always follows the line 

 of least resistance. In 1870 the railroads found they were wasting their 

 strength in a useless competition, and they hit upon a scheme to com- 

 bine. By this method they have saved the energy they had been wasting 

 in strife with each other and greatly increased their profits. It seems 

 clear that labor and capital will pass out of the fighting stage, in which 

 they now are, as soon as they learn that it is only necessary for them to 

 combine in order to charge and obtain the monopoly prices they desire. 



CAPITAL AND LABOR UNITING TO THE INJURY OF THE PUBLIC 



In the last bulletin of the Department of Labor published by the 

 Massachusetts bureau are the agreements in twelve cities between the 

 unions and the employers' associations. The officials of the bureau 

 state that these agreements are fast becoming a most important factor 

 in the industrial life of the present time. In none of these agreements 



