{"value"=>"<p>Chaired by John Mitchell, former president of the United Mine Workers of America, the second vice-president of the American Federation of Labor, and one of the organizers of NCF. The department was concerned with establishing industrial peace by means of arbitration of disputes between labor and capital. As with the Industrial Economics Department, with which it shared common concerns, the work of the Trade Agreements Department was motivated by the specter of socialism.</p> <p>The files consist of general correspondence, 1906-1907, with businessmen, unions, publishers, editors and others soliciting their views on socialism; offering the <span class=\"title\">National Civic Federation Review</span> in exchange for periodicals issued by other organizations; and enclosing abstracts of five anti-socialist lectures concerning the resolution on child labor adopted by NCF. Also in the files are miscellaneous papers including trade agreement documents, financial records, and such printed material as an address by Seth Low on how to prevent strikes, a proof of <span class=\"title\">The Menace of Socialism</span>, and excerpts from various periodicals.</p> <p>Also included is correspondence, 1908-1911, of the department chairman, John Mitchell, with trade union officials and employers reflecting the prolonged and intense dispute over the closed shop, inquiring about binding agreements between employers and employees on hours, wages, and working conditions, and whether there were agreements between employers and employees that could be regarded as conspiracies in restraint of trade under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.</p>"}