WAR LABOR BOARDS. As the United States speeded up its industries for the success ful prosecution of the war it appeared early that much depended on the attitude and effi ciency of Iabor. The United States Labor De partment was called upon to adjust problems of employment, wages and hours, mediation and the maintenance of a labor morale. A pro gram of labor administration was formulated at a conference between the Department of Labor and the Council of National Defense in January 1918 and in approving the program President Wilson also appointed Secretary of Labor Wilson, Labor Administrator. The pro gram called specifically for six agencies as fol lows: (1) an agency to establish Federal Labor Exchanges which would advise as to the meth ods of trainhig workers and secure a staple labor supply; (2) an agency to deal with ques tions arising in regard to hours, wages, etc.; (3) an agency to secure proper working condi tions; (4) an agency to secure adequate housing and living conditions; (5) an agency to collect and digest labor information; and (6) an agency to keep the public well informed. An advisory commission was appointed by Secretary Wilson and on 28 Jan. 1918 this commission reported in favor of extending the progratn above outlined to include agencies for women in industry, train ing and dilution, etc., and also recommended the formation of a War Policies Board. From these suggestions there developed the War Labor Policies Board and the National War Labor Board, also known as the War Labor Conference Board and the Taft-Walsh Board. Directors were then appointed to administer the. several agencies. On 13 May 1918 Mr. Felix Frankfurter was made chairtnan of the War Labor Policies Board; with him served repre sentatives of the Labor, War, Navy and Agri culture departments, the War Industries Board, the Fuel Administration, Shipping Board, Emer gency Fleet Corporation, Food Administration, Railroad Administration and the Committee on Public Information. Its chief function was ft>
co-ordinate the industrial services of the de partments and boards represented. It aimed to standardize employment conditions and thus to stabilize industry.
The National War Labor Board, formed 29 March 1918 was empowered to settle labor dis putes by mediation and conciliation in all in dustries classed as essential to the successful prosecution of the war; to establish tneans to bring about such conciliation, and in the case of failure of local mediation to bring the par ties in question for a hearing before the Board itself. In case the decision of the Board was not unanimous the case was carried before an umpire appointed by the President of the United States. The Board consisted of Messrs. W. H. Taft and F. Walsh as representatives of the public, Messrs. L. A. Osborne, W. H. Vander voort, L. F. Loree, C. E. Michael and B. L. Worden as representatives of the employers, and Messrs. F. S. Hays, W. H. Johnston, V. A. Olander, T. A. Ricicert and W. L. Hutcheson as representatives of the employees. The basis of the relations between employers and em ployees in war industries which the Board rec ognized, included the right of workers to or ganize trade unions, collective bargaining„ main tenance of satisfactory health and safety pleas ures, equal pay for wotnen, the eight-hour day as basic in certain industries, mobilization of labor by every available means.? the fixing of wages, hours, etc., in accord with local stand ards, the recognition of the principle of a liv ing wage. Among the important decisions of the Board were those in the cases of the tele graph companies, the Bethlehem Steel workers, the street railways, the Smith and Wesson tnunition workers and the Bridgeport strike.