The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1912-05-01

have turned corner into relative
scarcity and that our industrial sys-
tenn for the time being at least has
been thrown out of balance. The in
comes of wage-earners and salaried
people do not reach as far as former
lily and they naturally press for more
pay; employers find profits diminish
ing and they refuse the demands or
grant them in part only. They are all
under pressure and reaching out to
!recoup themselves somewhere. There
lis unrest and discomfort everywhere
due to the feeling that conditions are
hard and that somebody is to blame.
The fact is that as a people we are
not getting so much for nothing as we
did a few years ago. And | think that
only the fact that we are great ag-
|ricultural people and that the prosper
ity of the farmers has quickly reacted
to other classes has prevented our
feeling it more than We have. AS 1t
lis a considerable share of the natural
gains of industrial progress have been
offset by the rising costs OF raw proc
|ucts.
mo doubt we shall adjust our
selves to the new conditions, but it is
impOrtant that we look these cOndl-
tons in the face. We shall be more
patient and reasonable and the adj
justment will be more speedily and
peaceably made. Our civilization de-
ponds as we believe upon the main
ltenance of present standards of liv
ing and our people are impatient un'
<ho1, 10 And VET ALL
the things that minister to our physi-
cal wants are certain to cost more IN
the future unless we gain enough in
individual efficiency and by new pro
cesses of production to offset this
tendency to scarcity in land and natur'
al products.
eve feel perfectly assured that the
production of food and materials can
be enormously increased; | 40. 1T
may be that we are as far from real
)izing the productive capacities OF this
country as the native Indian was from
Ia knowledge of our methods; ! be-
|lieve that. But how fast can we en-
pect to raise the level of efficiency
lin great population, and will this
Increased product be secured without
a greater outlay of labor? Is is one
thing for a locomotive to draw train
lat thirty miles an hour and another
land very different thing in costs to
|sreed the same train up to fifty miles
Ian hour.
eve are bound to sympathize with
the thousands of men and women who
labor for what seem to be distress
|ingly low wages in the great cities and
industrial centers, but it is impos-
sible to escape the conclusion that
many of them should be out on the soil
growing food for themselves and the
others, and if they would show an in
c]ination to go there, or the way could
be opened for them to go there, the
wage disputes and the industrial prob
lem as a whole would be greatly simi
rlified. Our sympathies must not blind
our eyes to the fact that there is an
obligation upon every member OF So
ciety to find the place in the indus
trial organization where he is most
needed. No one has right to set up
d claim to employment in any partic-
u!ar place or in any particular work.
and the people who are determined
to live in cities and work 50 or So
hours a week, must pay somebody to
live in the country and grow food for
them.
There is our problem. 1t must be
solved by the better education and
training OF our people, by invention
and discovery, by the elimination OF
waste, by more effective organization,
and nv an increasing accumulation and
use of capital, and to some extent
perhaps by a shifting of population.
All classes must work together in
spirit of cooperation to accomplish it.