The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-12-26

NAT every CITY VI aAy SANS -
country is fulul of thousands OF idle
men at the present moment Is TACT
we'll known to every reader of news
papers-for hardly a day passes that
the press is not full Of comment about
the hungry thousands who stand in
the .bread line" and patronize the
free soup houses in every large cen
Ter of population. Nor is this state Of
affairs due to the policy OF any par
ticuIar political party, but rather the
outgrowth of conditions which nave
been slowly but surely crystalizing FOR
a number of years In the first place.
the Corn Belt-the great bread basket
of the nation-has had series OF sim
crops in most sections. and TINS nat
uralIy has had a depressing erect
upon business conditions Again, we
have been passing through perloo
of Industrial readjustment-of cnahs-
ing from the loose methods winch
prevailed a dozen or so years ago over
TO a policy of strict government con-
troll of public service corporations anu
a sharp inquiry into the conduct OF
all other large corporations-ano IN
trying to stamp out the abuses OF the
past the pendulum has swung SO 1ar
in the other direction that SO 1ar as
the railroads are concerned. at least
II threatens to precipitate the most OF
them which are not already IN the
hands of receivers upon the rocks Oh
financial wreck and ruin
That the depressed financial condi-
ti.n of the railroads is largely re-
s,onsible for the great army of I'M
employed was wildly demonstrated by
prominent ST. Louis newspaper the
.ther day when it showed that nine
It. Louis manufacturing establish
ments which deal in railroad supplies
employed 1853 men one year ago.
whereas now they employ only 4.5OS,
with a reduction in their pay rolls
amounting to $5ss. 200 per month. or
over seven million dollars a year. If
the effect upon only nine enterprises
is as far reaching this, what would
the figures show il they were avail
able for similar industries and the
hundreds of other enterprises affected
in a greater or less degree throughout
the country Nearly all of these con-
Germs have on hand hundreds of thou
sands of dollars worth of finished
equipment which was ordered by the
railroads a year or so ago, but which
they have not been able to pay for;
in the meantime. not being able to pay
for goods already ordered, the rail-
raods are not placing any new con-
tracts. and unless they receive speedy
assistance from the Interstate Com
merce Commission and the rate-making
ing authorities of the different states
the tendency will he for labor condi-
lions to grow gradually worse rather
than better.
In last weeks article we referred to
the fact that the railroads are the
largest employers of labor in the United
States and that during the last fiscal
yead they paid out over thirteen hun
bred million dollars in wages to the
army of men and women who con-
duct their business. We also referred
to the fact that they paid out almost
a thousand million dollars for steel.
coal. lumber and other supplies. of
which they are the largest consumers
in the country. and therefore the chief
support of the hundreds of thousands
employed in these great Industries.
In view of these facts. it is not plain
to any thinking man that it is of ire
mendous importance to the whole
country that the railroads be permit
ted to earn a reasonable income if the
millions of American labcring men are
to be kept profftably employed?
Does not any man know that if the
thousands who are this moment hunt
ing for work in Chicago. st. Louis.
New York, Pittsburgh. Cleveland and
other large cities were profitably en-
plcyed that it would mean a higher
price for what the farmer has to sell
and that it would be reflected in the
receipts of every merchant and the
output of every factory in the nation
In view of such a serious state of
affairs. can the average farmer or
business man afford to oppose the
small increase in rates which is nee
essary to once more put the railroads
upon a sound basis? Is not the
amount of passenger fare or freight
which the average farmer or other cit
izen pays out during the year a mere
bagatelle when measured against the
lucrative employment and the buying
power of the millions of American la
boring men?
Another Serious Phase.
Important as is the employment OF
labor. there is another very serious
phase of this problem which calls for
profound thought at the hands Of all
thinking citizens, and especially the
farmer. In last weeks article we
cited the fact that in their desperate
efforts to make both ends meet, many
ra--- ads are burning the candle al
both ends'Athat in order to bolster
stock and roadbeds Of many lines have
been deteriorating rapidly for num-
Der of years and hence are in no posi-
up their securities and keep out OF
the hands of receivers the rolling
ton to handle a big seasons tonnage