two always had quarrelled about the division of the product and were still quarelling. As a severely practical political economist Mr. Hanna could not be satisfied with results "in the long run." Big strikes, particularly about wages, were very embarrassing to a political leader who was trying to convince the mass of the people that they were bound to get their full share of the fruits of prosperity. If his political system was to prevail, the ultimate identity of interests must somehow be made more immediate; and it became in a sense his duty to make it immediately effective. As a joint result, consequently, of his politico-economic system and his increasing personal prominence and responsibility, he was being driven to take an active interest in the settlement of labor disputes; and during 1901 it so happened that an instrument was placed in his hand which enabled him to give systematic practical expression to this interest.

In 1893 there had been organized in Chicago a Civic Federation, the purpose of which was to gather together people of all classes and interests for the purpose of investigating and discussing various questions of public policy. One of its chief objects was to bring to the investigation and discussion of these questions contributions from men who were dealing with them in a very practical way and from radically different points of view. The idea met with success, and as the conferences increased in size the Federation found imperceptibly its work and its membership becoming more than local. It had engineered conferences on combinations and trusts and on the reform of primaries, to which people from all over the country were invited; and finally in June, 1900, it changed its name to the National Civic Federation. Senator Hanna's attention had been called to the organization before and during the campaign of 1900. The Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Lyman G. Gage, was an honorary President of the Federation and took a lively interest in its work and welfare. He introduced its Secretary, Mr. Ralph M. Easley, to President McKinley and Senator Hanna with the express object of having the purposes of the Federation explained to them. Mr. Hanna was not, however, at that juncture likely to be interested in a discussion club-no matter how intelligently conducted. The campaign

was ahead of him. His attention was fastened on a little voting club called the Electoral College. So the Secretary failed to arouse his interest, and the Federation probably looked to him merely like a body of conversational reformers.

During the following summer the strike among the anthracite coal miners raised the labor question in an acute form, and that question became the subject of first conference of the Federation as a national body. An Industrial Arbitration Department was formed, which subsequently assumed the better name of the Department of Conciliation and Arbitration. Little by little this department waxed in importance. Its work and the classes of men interested in it broadened. Besides many prominent business men, a number of even more prominent labor leaders joined the Federation and became active in the Conciliation Department. Mr. Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor, was a member of the Executive Council. John Mitchell, President of the United Mine Workers of America, and Dan J. Keefe, President of the International Longshoremen, Marine and Transport Workers' Association, were closely associated with the work. The department had quickly grown to be a really efficient agency for the better association of business men with union leaders and economic experts.

In December, 1900, an increase of the arbitration committee was considered desirable. Mr. Easley asked Dan J. Keefe what employers on the Lakes his union dealt with largely, and found fair in their general attitude and behavior. He mentioned several, but added that Daniel R. Hanna, Senator Hanna's son and a member of the firm of M. A. Hanna & Co., was the fairest of them all. The Secretary shied away from the suggestion. He feared that any prominent association of the name of Hanna with the Federation would arouse political prejudices and hurt its proper work. The next day the Arbitration Committee met, with Mr. A. C. Bartlett in the chair. When the question of increasing the membership of the committee came up, Mr. Easley stated with reluctance that the name of Daniel R. Hanna, Chairman of the Dock Managers' Association, had been suggested, and awaited an explosion. But no explosion followed. George Shelling, a labor union man, a cooper

by trade and a Commissioner of Labor under former Governor Altgeld of Illinois, rose and said: "There is no more radical Democrat on this committee than I am. I move that Daniel R. Hanna be made a member of it. I know from what Keefe said he is all right." The invitation to join the Committee was issued and accepted. The firm of M. A. Hanna & Co. had remained true to its traditional policy of dealing fairly and generously with its employees, and for that reason one of the partners was naturally suggested as a member of a general committee on conciliation and arbitration.

Early in 1901 the Industrial Department found itself very much in need of Senator Hanna's help in order to deal with a difficult dispute in the anthracite coal trade. We have already remarked that during the campaign of 1900 Mr. Hanna used his influence with the coal operators to settle a strike which was hurting the chances of Republican success. An agreement had been made which expired on March 31, 1901, but this agreement was a temporary compromise which satisfied neither side. The Union had voted to strike on April 1, unless a more satisfactory arrangement could be made with its employers. The Conciliation Committee could not get in touch with the operators in order to make an attempt at adjustment; and remembering Senator Hanna's contribution to the former agreement, they decided to ask his assistance. They were warned that the Senator's interest in the matter might not be as keen as it was during the campaign, but they decided to take the chance. Mr. D. R. Hanna arranged a meeting with his father. Senator Hanna responded immediately. He went to New York, had a conference with Messrs. Mitchell and Keefe and decided to place the matter before Mr. J. P. Morgan. The latter turned it over to President Thomas of the Erie Railroad. Senator Hanna arranged a meeting between Mr. Thomas and Mitchell, and as a result of this conference, an agreement was reached which was to run until April 1, 1902.

During his visit to New York on this business, the plans and purposes of the Conciliation Committee of the Civic Federation were explained to Senator Hanna and immediately aroused his interest. Its program was based upon the idea that the great majority of strikes might be averted, provided conferences

could be arranged, grievances and demands fully discussed and a fair compromise embodied in some kind of a trade agreement. Such a program could not but appeal to the Senator. They were proposing to adapt to a larger field the methods of personal intercourse, which he had used in his own business and which had proved to be thoroughly practicable. Moreover, he could see an opportunity for effective work on his own part. The basis of his power was personal confidence and influence. Could not his own influence be effectively used in order to bring about these necessary and fruitful conferences between employer and employee? Later, after he had gone to Cleveland, Messrs. Mitchell and Keefe followed him thither, and spent some little time in explaining more in detail the ideas and hopes of the Committee. If there had been any hesitation left in the Senator's mind, it vanished. He not only approved, but would actively and cordially coöperate. "Boys," he said, "this looks right to me. I'll do anything you want."

During the summer of 1901 a strike occurred in some of the plants of the newly organized United States Steel Corporation. The dispute was serious, and involved both fundamental issues and a large number of men. The Conciliation Committee of the Civic Federation made several attempts to secure conferences and bring about an agreement. Mr. Hanna was intensely interested. Throughout the summer the strike and the means taken to end it bulked larger than any single subject in his correspondence. After many failures a conference was finally arranged between President Schwab and his associates and a labor committee, consisting of Gompers, Mitchell, Sargeant and others, which reached an agreement. Mr. Hanna had much to do with the arrangements for this decisive consultation, and its successful result convinced him, finally, that the Committee of the Federation was working with immediately fruitful methods. During the fall he publicly associated himself with the work.

As soon as Senator Hanna publicly identified himself with the Federation and its work, certain influential members of it, particularly Messrs. Mitchell and Keefe, proposed to make him Chairman of the Industrial Department. The suggestion provoked lively opposition. Many members of the association

were by way of being reformers, and did not approve of Mr. Hanna's political purposes or methods. They and others who personally liked the Senator were afraid that the Federation would be injured by the political prominence of the proposed Chairman, and would begin to look like an annex to the Republican National Committee. The late Bishop Potter, who had recently joined the Federation, was particularly vigorous in his opposition. Nevertheless, Mr. Hanna was chosen, and no injurious results to the Federation followed. Public opinion was coming to place a fairer estimate on Mr. Hanna's motives. The tendency of editorial comment was to consider the Senator sincere and disinterested in assuming responsibility for the most important branch of the Federation's work. In the end opponents, such as the late Bishop Potter, admitted their error. He said: "Mr. Hanna has grown up to the size of the job."

On Dec. 16 and 17, 1901, the second National Conference of the Federation was held in the rooms of the Board of Trade and Transportation in New York. It was addressed by a number of the most prominent and representative union officials in the country, and by the heads of a number of large corporations and employers' associations. In all of these speeches the program of the Federation was explicitly and cordially approved. Mr. Hanna himself made a short speech, proclaiming his confidence in organized labor, his complete approval of the methods of the Federation, and his readiness to place his own services at the disposal of the Industrial Department. The meeting was a great success, and increased the prestige of the Federation. Public comment was widespread, and approved almost without a dissenting voice. Senator Hanna was made Chairman of the Executive Committee, Samuel Gompers, first Vice-Chairman, Oscar Straus, second Vice-Chairman, Charles A. Moore, Treasurer, and Ralph M. Easley, Secretary. The membership of the general committee was enlarged to forty, one-third of whom represented the unions, another third the employers and their associations and a final third the "general public." Out of this general committee were to be selected special committees to help in the adjustment of disputes in particular trades.

From the moment this committee was organized under its