The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-08-01
THE NEW YORK DISASTER.

The only serious feature of the New York disaster is the number of killed and injured. Under this delectable system of economy, in all other respects it is a blessing. The destruction of property means serious loss, but it also means more work, better times, greater indus trial activity.
 The production of commodities depends upon the law of supply and demand. As everyone knows or pre- tends to know, which is the same thing, when times are good, 1t means that there is a big demand and the manufacturers do their level best to increase the supply to cope with it. Just as soon as they satisfy the demand the times be- come dull, business is depressed, and we have what is called over production but which is more cor rectly termed under consumption.
 We listen then to the expressions of opinion on this New York dis aster, as to the destruction of pro- perty and appraise the expressions of horror where sincere as very un' thinking. As far as the loss of hu- man life is concerned, it is a terr- ible thing but otherwise the dis aster is not serious. There are plenty of factories turning out millions of the same kind of pro- ducts daily. Some oT these had concluded their contracts and were just at their wits end where to get some more. They had overtaken the demand, and it was only a mat ter of time until they had to close down lacking orders. The Brltlsh Minister of Munitions had plainly stated that there would be compara- lively small orders given foreign countries. because they could take care of the munition problem them selves. And with this consumer having it's demand satisfied where were they to turn?
 There was at one time high hopes that humanitarian motives mlgh' turn Mexico into a shambles and ln doing so consume vast quantities. or ammunition made in America; there was a determined effort to force tremendous military and naval establishment upon the Unit11 States and this would mean stack ;ng the a,mories throughout the land with vast supplies of war ma terial. But these plans went on half-cocked and did not fully ma terialize, and there can hardly be any question that the war babies were about to suffer from insufficl- ent of their golden nourishment.
 With millions destroyed by ex- plosion and fire, the entire situation is changed. The destruction of pro- perty before it reached the hand of the consumer means that the stocks will have to be replenished. This being the case, some secret satisfaction will be felt in the ter rible explosion and as far as the ln- terests of property are concerned Il is not half as bad as it looks.
 Besides we can hardly believe that the loss of so much life Will DC really a matter for serious concern to the munition makers. It cannot be denied that the destruction or human life is after all the purpose for making shot and shell, and men engaged in that business are not go ing to lose any sleep over the Tact that few hundred are killed In America through their goods when millions have by it been slain Tn Europe. A human life is a human life and it is a peculiarity of the commandment thou shalt not XIII that it did not make an exception n favor of any particular race, nation or creed. It is badly and most un- periodically denationalist.
 Moreover, one is fortified in the belief that the loss of life will be re- garded as a bagatelle by the proper tied interests inasmuch as one good explosion in a coal mine may often kill as many without any particular thrill of horror manifesting itself throughout the nation, especially