NATIONAL CIVIC FEDERATION, The, an American organization, founded 16 Dec. 1901, the outgrowth of a number of local con ventions representing capital and labor. Its purpose is to seek, by an organization of the best thought in the country, a solution of indus trial problems; to assist in the enlightening of public opinion through study and discussion of national questions; and to promote progressive social and industrial legislation when it seems desirable. It is entirely non-partisan in prin ciple, considering such topics as imperialism, trusts, tariff, taxation, etc., with a view of ob taining the clearest understanding of them. The Federation is controlled by a national executive committee of three factors: the pub lic, represented by the church, the bar, the press, statesmen and men of affairs; employers, represented by large manufacturers, corpora tion heads and officials of employers' organiza tions; and labor, represented by official mem bers of labor organizations. This committee, numbering 54, meets annually, or at such other times and in such localities as may be deemed advisable. Its membership consists of men from all parts and of all occupations of the country, including a Urge number prominent in the various •pursuits of life.
In the natural expansion of its activities the work of the Federation has been yery highly organized under nine general departments, as follows: (1) Trade Agreement Department, devoted to the advancement of industrial peace; (2) Industrial Conciliation Department, dealing particularly with actual or threatened strikes or lockouts, the adjustment of labor disputes by arbitration and the creation of definite con tractual relations between employers and em ployees; (3) Industrial Economics Department, devoted to the study and discussion of the prac tical phases of economics as applied to indus trial problems; (4) Industrial Welfare De partment, with the duty of promoting sanitary working conditions, teclufical training, housing of employees, the conduct of insurance and pension systems and savings and loan opera tions, etc.; (5) Public Employees Welfare Department, devoted particularly to the eco nomic benefit of, that much neglected class of workers; (6) Public Ownership Commission, assigned to the study of the results of public ownership of public utilities in all countries; (7) Immigration Department, concerned with the questions arising from immigration, gov ernmental regulations and safeguards of the country at large, and individual localities in particular; (8) Political Reform Department, devoted to the teaching of practical non-parti san politics, the enlightenment of voters and the promotion of active participation in civic
.and national politics; (9) Woman's. Depart ment, in which nearly all the members are women who are actively interested in industrial enterprises as stockholders, and in active wel fare work, such as prison reform, rural better ment, community nursing and the like.
Under the general departments there are committees almost without number assigned to carefully deliminated lines of investigation and operation, their members selected especially for notable aptitude in their specific subjects. With the entrance of the United States into the great war, the Federation has found an entirely new series of problems presenting, and its member ship has furnished well-equipped minds to at tack them intelligently and effectively.
Within recent years the work of the Fed eration has been intensively developed by the organizations of State councils all over the country, to aid in unifying laws on intrastate matters and to further co-ordination of State and Federal legislation on subjects of public welfare.
At the present moment the industrial eco nomics department has under way a compre hensive survey of social and Industrial condi tions under 26 separate committees, each com posed of members specializing in the particular phase of the investigation to which they are assigned.
The chief mission of the National Civic Federation being educational, one of its most important functions is to give publicity to its labors. This duty is assigned to a bureau of publicity, which besides issuing large numbers of pamphlets and leaflets for general distribu tion conducts a monthly magazine, The Na tional Civic Federation Review, in which is preserved the records of results achieved by the several committees.