Industrial Relations
1. That the terms Capital and Labor as commonly used are misleading and suggest a wholly unnecessary antagonism.
2. That we rejoice that under our American system of freedom, in which individual initiative and prowess have free play, we have been able to build a great civilization with large aggregations of wealth, both individual and corporate, which make possible our great industries and give labor its largest and best opportunities for remunerative employment; and that our per capita wealth is more widely distributed among the citizens than in any other nation, and that living conditions with the laboring masses, while not perfect or always satisfactory, are better than in any other nation in the world.
3. That we recognize the right of ownership and the right of capital to investment and to a reasonable return upon investment; that all men should recognize that ownership is trusteeship and that all property, whether large or small, should be administered unselfishly and for the good of humanity.
4. That we recognize the right of labor to organize and to engage in collective bargaining to the end that labor may have a fair and living wage, such as will provide not only for the necessities of life but for recreation, pleasure and culture.
5. That there is no necessary clash or conflict between capital and labor and that they should work harmoniously with each other for the good of each and for the good of the general public.
6. That we condemn all violence on the part of labor or capital and all arbitrary and illegal acts that violate fundamental principles and personal or property rights; all questions and contentions between labor and capital ought to be settled in the American way by conference and arbitration.
Child Labor
1. That we approve and applaud the action of the legislatures of the several states of the Union in enacting laws regulating and limiting the employment of minors in gainful industrial pursuits and making school attendance compulsory, but recognizing the right of minors to engage in domestic and farm work under the direction of parents and guardians.
2. That we urge our Baptist people as citizens to be diligent in demanding the proper enforcement of existing child labor laws, and demanding the enactment by the several states of whatever additional legislation may be necessary to prevent the exploitation of child labor and to promote the best possible development and education of the youth of our land.
3. We likewise commend and applaud the repeated refusal of the legislatures of those states which have refused to ratify the so-called Child Labor Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, under which, if ratified by the necessary three-fourths of the states, the government would “have the power to limit, regulate and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age.” While exploited as intended to protect children this amendment would really place in the hands of the Federal Government the complete control of all young people up to eighteen years of age, destroying in principle, and we fear ultimately in practice, all parental authority and making children wards of the government. Nothing could be more un-American or destructive of the home life of our people or could militate in a more definite and radical way against the well-being of the children and youth of our nation. We hope that legislatures will continue to stand firm and to resist every effort to induce them to place the stamp of their approval