The Effects of the Administration of the Anti-Trust Laws Upon Labor and Services
| Author | Wheeler P. Bloodgood |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271623014700115 |
| Published date | 01 January 1930 |
| Date | 01 January 1930 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
111
The
Effects
of
the
Administration
of
the
Anti-Trust
Laws
Upon
Labor
and
Services
By
WHEELER
P.
BLOODGOOD
Member,
Executive
Council
and
Commission
on
Industrial
Inquiry,
National
Civic
Federation,
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin
I HAVE
been
asked
to
deal
with
the
effects
of
the
administration
of
the
anti-trust
laws
on
labor
and
services.
What
part
of
the
prosperity
or
profit
of
the
producer
is
passed
on
to
labor,
the
distributor
and
the
consumer?
Is
the
division
equitable
or
inequitable?
What
is
the
undercurrent-content
or
discontent?
I
should
hesitate-in
fact,
refuse-to
express
views
or
a
conclusion
on
a
sub-
ject
so
vital
to
the
prosperity
of
our
nation
if
it
were
not
for
contacts
that
I
have
had
during
the
past
twelve
years
as
a
member
of
the
Executive
Council
of
the
National
Civic
Federation,
an
organization
created
by
Mark
Hanna
and
Samuel
Gompers
to
discuss
and
attempt
to
mediate
conflicts
between
labor
and
capital,
and
during
the
past
two
years
as
a
member
of
its
Com-
mission
on
Industrial
Inquiry.
It
should
be
understood
that
the
pic-
ture
I
have
attempted
to
paint
and
the
conclusions
drawn
therefrom
are
not
to
be
understood
as
those
of
the
commit-
tees
on
which
I
have
served,
and
am
serving.
I
shall
consider
the
legal
aspects
only
in
so
far
as
they
have
a
bearing
on
the
human
aspects.
No
one
will
seri-
ously
question
that
government
is
an
art,
not
a
science;
that
its
true
purpose
is
to
reconcile
individual
liberty
with
an
orderly
progress
of
society;
that
the
cause
of
most
wars
has
been
largely
due
to
commercial
rivalry;
and
that
class
or
civil
warfare
has
as
its
basis
discontent
growing
out
of
economic
and
industrial
disturbances.
Therefore,
if
the
ad-
ministration
of
our
anti-trust
laws
is
not
in
the
interest
of
labor
and
services,
and
not
functioning
for
the
general
good,
if
our
form
of
democracy
is
to
prosper
and
continue,
the
defects
in
these
laws
and
the
administration
thereof
must
be
remedied.
NATIONAL
CIVIC
FEDERATION
INQUIRY
At
the
twenty-seventh
annual
meet-
ing
of
the
National
Civic
Federation,
held
in
December,
1927,
Mr.
Matthew
Woll,
then
and
now
President
of
the
Federation
and
Vice-President
of
the
American
Federation
of
Labor,
stated
the
problem
facing
business
and
labor
due
to
the
administration
of
the
anti-
trust
laws,
and
closed
his
address
as
follows:
The
interpretation
of
the
anti-trust
laws,
coupled
with
the
growing
equity
power
of
our
courts,
presents
problems
and
ultimate
consequences
that
should
demand
the
at-
tention
of
all
serious-minded
and
unbiased
persons.
These
problems
can
no
longer
be
lightly
regarded,
nor
be
dismissed
by
a
prejudiced
or
partisan
justification
or
condemnation.
It
was
unanimously
decided
to
make
a
study
of
three
related
questions,
the
cause
of
much
bitterness
between
the
two
great
f orces-capital
and
labor-
these
questions
being:
(1)
Should
our
anti-combination
and
anti-monopoly
policies
be
modified
or
abandoned
to
permit
better
industrial
organization
and
more
eflicient
pro-
duction ?
(2)
Is
there
need
for
the
abolition
or
modification
of
the
use
of
the
injunction
in
industrial
disputes?
(3)
Are
promises
required
of
work-
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