Charlevoix county herald., 1915-07-31
ALONG THE FIRING LINE

II is strange that the advocates Of
government ownership, who assert the
failure of government regulation, over
| look the fact that government regula-
ton is just as essential under govern
ment ownership as it is today. II the
Interstate Commerce Commission must
be charged with the duty of regulating
rates, supervising provisions for pro-
lection of life, and guarding against
favoritsm and discrimination, surely
all these duties must be performed
under government ownership.
The Montgomery (Ala) Advertiser
shows impatience with Postmaster
General Burleson, who declared the
postal deficit to be ''due to the war"
The deficit was $6,500,000, and the
Advertiser points out that postal re-
ceipts in the last year have decreased
only $600000 while the expense of run
ming the Department increased nine
millions. "And this" says the Adver-
tser, Gin face of the work of reorgan
iZation in the interest of economy,
which has gone on for several months
in the postal system OF the country.
The shake-up in the service was done
for no other reason, we were told at
the time, than to run the Department
on less money. If it cost 100000
more to run the Post Office Depart
ment during the year just ended, and
if the receipts were only 100000 less
than the year before, how is it that to
the war is directly attributable the de-
ficit which is now confronted by the
Department."
The president Of the New England
Shoe and Leather Association asserted
recently that the domestic shoe trade of
this country was not more than fifty
per cent of normal. The people, he
said, are economiZing and the repair
trade has shown an enormous increase.
In other words, people cannot afford to
buy new shoes and they have their old
ones cobbled up to last longer. This
looks to us like fundamental demon
stration that hard times are by no
means over, despite 'war orders
which concentrate large sums of foreign
money in few localities where war
material may be manufactured. The
truth is that business is bad in this
county and that it will not become per-
manently and generally better so long
as the present low tariff is in operation
When the newspapermen called on
Edison and Daniels and asked the
former what he thought about the lat
ter's proposed advisory board, Edison
said, 'It's his idea. Let him talk The
main problem, however, in this and all
other naval matters, is to get Josephus
to working instead of talking.
Mr.. Bryan, announcing his return to
the lecture platform, was he ever real
ly away from it, by the by? takes oc-
casion to remark that while he was i'm
public office the Republicans had to
contribute to his salary, whether they
liked to or not. Bless the man! Doesn't
he know that we Republicans got our
moneys worth out of him every minute
he was in the State Department?
Henry Ford's campaign against "eat-
ing too much" is interesting, but be-
lated. The Democratic Congress beat
him to it by about two years through
the enactment of low tariff.
On the same ballot which the United
States Chamber of Commerce used in
recording its opposition, by 600 to SO
votes, to the Administration ship-pur-
chase scheme, was printed this ques-
tion 'do you favor subventions from
the Government to establish regular
mail and freight lines under the Ameri-
can flag to countries in which the COM
mercial interests of the United States
are important, and to American de-
pendencies?" On this question the
member-bodies OF the Chamber voted:
Yes, 713; no, 81. If the ear of the Ad-
minstration is keenly attuned to the
wishes of the country, there will be no
faltering on the merchant-marine ques
ton. Republicans in Congress, we feel
sure, will put the question squarely up
| to their Democratic colleagues.