Meeting Ground

Like Daniel, the Federal Council of Churches put its faith in the Lord and walked right in with the lions.

In the conference rooms of Pittsburgh's William Penn Hotel last week, the Council brought together veteran representatives of management & labor--Movie Czar Eric Johnston, President Paul G. Hoffman of the Studebaker Corp., C.I.O. Research Director Kermit Eby, A.F.L. Research Director Boris Shishkin. Altogether, some 370 delegates--about two-thirds laymen --representing 27 Protestant denominations showed up at the conference.

In polite tones seldom used across the industrial bargaining table, the delegates aired views ranging from moderate left to far right. But a cooperative spirit prevailed. (The hotel shortage forced a New Haven publisher and a Michigan CVLO official to share a single room.)

The lions' den was not quiet enough, however, to put Daniel to sleep. Church leaders, asking the industry and labor men to think of their problems "from God's viewpoint," were occasionally disturbed by such cries from the floor as "Wipe out the evil of monopolistic capitalism!" The Council's new President Charles P. Taft, bossing his first meeting, had to be firm to keep delegates on the subject.

After talking for three days about "The Church and Economic Life," the conferees issued a report on the church's duty to its neighbors, the factory and the farm. Much of the report was a watered-down version of England's famed Malvern Conference findings in 1941. But a few forthright statements showed how Christian principles can provide an area of agreement for the economic antagonists of industrial society:

Full employment: "Each person under God has a right and a duty to take his share in the world's work. . . . The responsibility to provide the opportunity to work rests on all segments of our society."

Production aims: "Production exists to serve necessary and desirable consumption. . . . Profits. . . are thoroughly defensible, subject to proper methods of accumulating and distributing them."

Property rights: "Property represents a trusteeship under God . . . In fields where the present forms of ownership are difficult to regulate for the common welfare, consideration should be given to further experimentation in . . . private, cooperative and public ownership."

Labor unions: "Economic groups should have the right to organize, [if] . . . their purpose and activities do not contravene the welfare of the entire community."

Voted down by a single ballot: a statement condemning "excessive concentration of wealth." Overwhelmingly voted down: amendments to put the conference on record as opposed to the closed shop.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.