Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1916-11-07
By FRANK C. ODELL
Editor Of the Nebraska Farm Magazine

E y
delivered by prompt action by the
President of the United States the
threat of the nationwide railway
STRIKE. The railway managers and
thu representatives Of the iOu,On men
employed in tr;du service, Were dead
locked over hrurS IT Labor and wag"
schedules. President Wilson vulun-
terrcd IT, act rs mediator, hut had
no power to force arbitration. An
impuN>r was reached
The brotherhood issued sirik"
order effective uu Labor bay, Srptcm-
Der !. The railroad mnnuSrn"mtN
showed that they recognized the i'm
mincnc.. If thu strike. EmhnrE" or
derS wor, issued an frriLh, shipments.
Supplies and strike breakers w'r" mo-
bilized. The c"uutry waited breath.
iessly. for the storm To- break. 1t wa~
apparent that neither side was hlui-
nng.
The President saw Il national "alum.
NY impendinE. tie called leaders nj
HIS party into conference with him
and with them wrote the hin present.
ed to Congress With the special ines
cage of the President next day. Mel.
tAer the railroads nor the railway
Arotherhoods were consulted. Neither
eide knew what the bill contained;
asither made any demand, or had the
slightest influence in the framing Of
the bill.
That portion ~ the bill providing an
AighthOur day for employees engaged
b the operation Of trains hccnin" II
hw. It was accepted by the Bruther'
hoods, the strike order WAS cancelled.
the calamity was avertcd.
No class stood to lose SO much from
this strike as the farmer. A single
week OF inactivity in freight and ex.
press service would have paralyzed
his market for a month or more. Com.
inq at the time OF marketing of perish.
able products, his loss from this
course alone would have run into mil
lions.
staggering Losses Averted.
II i, estimated by the railroad man,
n."mrutS that the increase in wages
hv,9ll>" al the riEht.hour day will
n'uurut to from so OOuup1 to SlUU,
H~uuO II year. Allowing their high.
est figure, 500 900 900, the farmer.
of the United States would have lost
more than this in thirty days hao
there not been a man in the White
House big enough to protect the in.
serest Of the whole people.
Five cents Il hISh,l On wheat Il
easy picking frr the pit gnnbleri
when they can play the market at
their own sweet viii. 1t would have
mrrut &IutwI.Onu dollars loss 10 the
turner's uu the billion bu>h"l crop.
james II. Arn>hy, on" Of Iii" Iarg-
est shippers of fruit in California. II
Republican. recently said that If tn"
str.kr had taken plnc" il would hay"
Uninterrupted many Of III" fruit growers
of that State. He said II would have
caused loss OF not less than $780, oo,.
600 to the fruit Industry Of California
alone. This amount is probably much
too low.
The peach crop now going to mar.
ket, with a value Of about SIS, 900. 900,
would have been practically a total
loss. The s2OC 100000 apple crop
would have shrunk by half in value.
The potato crop, of value Of about
S22o000,000 would have involved
further loss of at least s5o,ooo,o0o. The
cahhaI" farmer of Northern ohio, the
grower of Tomatoes for the Cann"ry.
and the celery grower of Michigan and
Florida would have kept mnurnful
company. Melons from Colorado, Cali
fnruia, Arizona aud Delaware, grapes
from western New York, and from
Yakima and Wcuntchee, prunes, pick
les. poultry, butter and eggs would
have gone down in the common cutl-
clySnI.
What would strike have meant to
the live Sturk market Of the farmer?
And what would it have meant to the
consumer, with the cold storage facili
ties in control Of the packers com
bine?
Would Have ParaIyzed Industry.
The direct and immediate loss which
the farmer would have sustained in
case of a strike is but one phase of
the danger which threatened his inter-
ests. The depressing influence upon
market prices. resulting from the in
ability of consumers TO huy because of
lnck Of employment, would have been
felt in every item NJ this years farm
products. Take this single instance: