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THE
SETTLEMENT OF WAGE
DISPUTES
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
THE SETTLEMENT OF
WAGE DISPUTES
BY
HERBERT FEIS, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in EconomicsUniversity of Kansas
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1921
All rights reserved
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Copyright, 1921,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and printed. Published October, 1921.
Press of
J. J. Little & Ives Company
New York, U. S. A.
To
37 Mellen St.
PREFACE
"The Settlement of Wage Disputes" falls naturally into two almost equalparts: the first an account of the present industrial situation in theUnited States, and of the factors which govern American wage levels atthe present time; the second an attempt to formulate principles whichmight serve as the basis of a policy of wage settlement for the country.The proposals made in the second part are based on the theoreticalanalysis of the first part.
Certain chapters in the first part (III and IV) may prove difficult forthe ordinary reader. They are intended to be merely an analysis of aparticular set of facts and tendencies—those which affect the presentwage situation in the United States, or may affect it in the nearfuture. Such an analysis of a particular set of facts is all thateconomic theory can successfully accomplish.
This book was first projected in the summer of 1914. The Dress and WaistIndustry of New York City had set up a Board of Protocol Standards tosettle wage disputes. The late Robert C. Valentine was then engaged infinding a basis of wage settlement for the industry that would beviii ofmore than passing value—and as his assistant, I first became convincedthat there could be no permanent peace under the wages system, oncedifferent interests became organized, unless a clear body offundamentals principles applicable to all industries are supported andenforced.
In the course of the work I have incurred many obligations both in theUnited States and Great Britain. I can only acknowledge a very few here.To my teachers, Prof. F. W. Taussig and W. Z. Ripley,