Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-02-03


country is full Of thousands OF idle
men at the present moment is fast
well known to every reader or news
papers-for hardly day passes that
tine press is not full of comment
about the hunery thousands VINO
stand in the bread line and patron
ize the free sonp houses" in every
large center or population. Nor is
this state of affairs due to the policy
of any particular political party, but
rather the out2rowth of conditions
which have Deen slowly but surely
crystallizins for number of years.
In the first place, the Corn Belt the
great bread basket of the Nation
has had series of slim crops in
most sections, and this naturally has
had depressinE effect upon BUSH
ness conditions. Again, we have
been passing through period of in
dustrial read iustment-ot changing
from the loose methods which pre-
vailed dozen or so years ago over
to a policy of strict government con
troll of public service corporations
and sharp inquiry into the conduct
OF all other large corporations-and.
in trying to stamp out the abuses of
the past, the pendulum has swung
SO far in the other direction that so
far as the railroads are concerned
at least, it threatens to- precipitate
the most of them which are not al
ready in the hands of receivers upon
the rocSs of financial wreck and
ruin.
That the depressed financial condi.
ton of the railroads is largely re-
sponsible for the great army of I'M
employed was wildly demonstrated
by prominent st. Louis newspaper
recently when it showed that nine
st. Louis manufacturing establish
ments which deal in railroad sup
plies employed 1853 men one yea-
ago. whereas now they employ only
1903, with a reduction in their pay
rolls amounting to $5SS,700 per
month. or over seven million dollars
a year If the effect upon only nine
enterprises is as far reaching as this
what would the figures show if they
were available for similar industries
and the hundreds of other enterpris
eS affected in greater or less de-
gree throughout the country? Near
ly all OF these concerns have on
hand hundreds of thousands of dol
lars 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
roads are not placing any new con-
tracts, and unless they receive spec
dy assistance from a Nationwide
standpoint the tendency will be for
labor conditions to grow worse rath-
er than better.
In last week 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 year they paid out over
thirteen hundred million dollars i'll
wages to the army of men and wo-
men who conduct their business. We
also referred to the fact that they
paid out almost 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
thc Gus vi
in these great industries.
In view of these facts, is it not
plain to any thinking man that it is
of tremendous importance to the
whole country that the railroads be
permitted to earn a reasonable in
come if the millions of American la
boring men are to be kept probably
employed?
Does not any man know that 4
the thousands who are this moment
hunting for work in Chicago. ST.
Louis, New York, Pittsburgh, Cleve-
land and other large cities were
profitably employed that it would
mean higher price for what the
farmer has to sell and that it would
be reflected in the receipts 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
esary to once more put the rail-
roads upon sound basis? Is not
the amount of passenger fare or
| freight which the average farmer or
other citizen pays out during the
year mere bagatelle when meas
ured against the lucrative employ
ment and the buying power of the
millions of American laboring men?
Another Serious Pha.e.
Important as is the employment o;
labor, there is another very serious
phase of this problem which calls
for profound thought at the hands of
all thinaing citizens, and especially
the farmer. In last week article
we cited the fact that in their des-
perate efforts to make both ends
meet many railroads are burning
the candle at both ends that in or
der to bolster up their securities and
keep out of the hands of receivers
the rolling stock and roadbeds of
many lines have been deteriorating
rapidly for number Of years and
hence are in no position to handle a
big seasons tonnage, should the
strain of heavy crop year suddenly
descend upon them. That the great
| foreign war will produce the highest
prices ever known for the foodstuffs
produced by the farmer is admitted
on all hands, and if there ever was
a.