Somewhat to the amusement of everyone who knows, Mr. J. Ji. Thomas, w-p., the organizing secre. tary of the Railwaymen's Union has come forward with a scheme for the actual representation of the railwaymen by railwaymen on the Joint Board which will presumably ultimately control the railways since the nationalization of this means of transport is now thought to be certain. 7 'Mr. Thomas trots it out as a new idea, remarking "The employers never get first-hand the men's point of view, and, on the other hand. the men do not know the troubles and difficulties which exist from the employers' standpoint." Se far so good, but he goes on to remark—"Instead of going on with the old policy of treating the employees as mere servants who must go cap in hand to the employers, I desire to sees thew treated as partners in the in-
This addendum raises quite a different idea, although perhaps Mr. Thomas does not see it. means that it may not be encugn for railwaymen to accept positio.s on Boards of Directors, but they must also be prepared to stand losses as wel] as make profits.
Cooperation Tag 'aLisMax.
Under these circumstances thy suspicion of Sir Albert Stanley, wh used to be President of the Bearn of Trade and is now back in his old position as chairman and managing director of the Londo, Underground Electric Railways, not unnatural, although he "aksu deals with quite another point of jew and that is that "business cannot be run by a Committee."
Sir Albert is, however, not unfriendly to the idea, and he re-
"I agree that there is ample latent talent in the railway service that wants an opportunity 1 developing in order that it may po used to the best advantage. How the scheme is to be worked out 1 practice requires study—_ and thought, but of this I am convinced—that along the road of close cooperation, mutual goodwill and understanding, lies success in dealing with labour."
On the whole Mr. Thomas's idea is a first sign of dawning telligence on the part of the workers that there are two sides to every problem. When they become directors of the railways, or of anything else, they will speedily begin to see the difficulties under
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.