ls, an endorser of the old maxims. I merely
add my voice to the thousands who have testified before me that the old
truths are the only truths, and they are all the guidance that we need.
I am an educator of the young, not an astounder of the old; and it is
for the boys and girls who read my book that I thus point the morals
that life's tale has taught me.

Had I proved unfaithful in my first office I could not have gone to
higher offices. My opponents would have "had something on me." As
secretary of labor, I am called on to settle strikes and to adjust
disputes between employers and employee. I could do nothing if either
side distrusted me. But since both sides believe me to be honest, they
get right down to brass tacks and discuss the cases on their merits
only. Sometimes the employees ask too much, sometimes the employers.
When either side goes too far I feel free to oppose it.

I approach each problem not only from the economic but from the human
angle. I took my guidance from the words of President Harding, when he
said:

"The human element comes first. I want the employers to understand
the hopes and yearnings of the workers, and I want the wage earners to
understand the burdens and anxieties of the wage payers, and all of them
must understand their obligations to the people and to the republic. Out
of this understanding will come social justice which is so essential to
the highest human happiness."

The Labor Department has been able to settle, after candid argument,
thousands of disputes saving millions of dollars for workers and
employers and relieving the public from the great loss and inconvenience
that comes with strikes and industrial war. I have but one aim, and that
is justice. I know but one policy, and that is honesty. I am slow to
reach decisions. I must hear both sides. I want the facts, and all the
facts. When all the facts are in my mind the arguing ends; the judgment
begins. I judge by conscience and am guided by the Golden Rule. Decision
comes, and it is as nearly right as God has given me power to see the
right.

Out of four thousand disputes handled by the Department, three thousand
six hundred were settled. These directly involved approximately three
and one-half million workers and indirectly many others. At first
seventy per cent. of the cases were strikes before conciliation was
requested. Now, in a majority of the cases presented, strikes and
lockouts are prevented or speedily ad