A Promise

Before President Harding sailed for Alaska from Tacoma he announced the receipt of a letter from the Iron and Steel Institute. It was signed by the directors of that body, including Elbert H. Gary, Charles M. Schwab, James A. Farrell, E. G. Grace and others. The letter accepted in principle the abolition of the twelve-hour day, and promised that the change from the two-shift to the three-shift system would be brought about as soon as there was a sufficient surplus of labor.

Judge Gary later amplified this statement by declaring that 60,000 additional men would be necessary to effect the change. It would also, he declared, force the price of steel up 15%.

Labor leaders and others were not long in asserting that the promise of the Institute is no promise because it is conditioned on labor supply. Some even went so far as to assert that there was a plentiful supply of labor on hand and that steel companies were turning men away daily. Mr. Gary himself declared that it could not now be "stated with certainty" when the twelve-hour day would be abolished, but that efforts would begin at once.