The Civic Federation feels there is a possibility of inaugurating a great work, of promoting a better feeling and better relations between the employers and the workmen, and thereby removing some of the chief obstacles militating against industrial peace. We have been criticised; peacemakers always are. I want to answer one or two criticisms that have been made in reference to our organization. One of the misconceptions is that the Civic Federation is a board of arbitration. Its purpose is to mediate, to conciliate, and only in very exceptional cases, when requested by both sides, to arbitrate between capital and labor. It has been said that the existence of such a body would stimulate laborers to threaten to strike or to strike or to make demands which otherwise they would not make, with the hope that the subject might be brought before this body, and that they might thereby gain concessions which otherwise they could not hope to secure. It might as well be said that preventives and curatives stimulate disease. It has also been stated that we promote the organization of labor, and that organized labor stimulates strikes. The Civic Federation’s platform or statement of objects distinctly provided that its province would embrace _unorganized_ as well as organized labor. The scope of the Federation is embodied in the By-Laws: “The scope and province of this Department shall be to do what may seem best to promote industrial peace and prosperity; to be helpful in establishing rightful relations between employers and workers; by its good offices to endeavor to obviate and prevent strikes and lock-outs, to aid in renewing industrial relations where a rupture has occurred. “That at all times representatives of employers and workers, organized or unorganized, should confer for the adjustment of differences or disputes before an acute stage is reached, and thus avoid or minimize the number of strikes or lock-outs. “That mutual agreements as to conditions under which labor shall be performed should be encouraged, and that when agreements are made, the terms thereof should be faithfully adhered to, both in letter and spirit, by both parties. “This Department, either as a whole or a sub-committee by it appointed, shall, when requested by both parties to a dispute, act as a forum to adjust and decide upon questions at issue between workers and their employers, provided, in its opinion, the subject is one of sufficient importance. “This Department will not consider abstract industrial problems. “This Department assumes no powers of arbitration unless such powers be conferred by both parties to a dispute.”