The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-03-26
ECONOMIC NERRY-GO-ROUND.


 of production affords an interesting example of the segments of re yolyiug circle trying to overtake one another in an impossible merry-go- round Quite recently to the immense sa- tisfaction of everybody, the railroad brotherhoods obtained the eight hour day. This means an increased payment to the workers who are members of those organizations ill the form ot over time wages. This decreases the net revenue for distrl- button among the railroad stoekhoid- CTS. or in other words the profits of the industry and the railroad companies. 10 equalize matters ana tbau some. want an increase in rates to overcome the decrease.
 In point Of fact they ask for from ten to fifteen per cent increase in rates for they know that if they eer this authorized they will De ill better position than ever before.
 What will take place then will be that the storekcepers and shippers will place a higher price upon their goods and the costs of living will again tend to increase.
 Thereupon and once again will set in another demand for higher wages to meet this cost of living in- crease and we have gone the whole merry-go-round fol nothing.
 In reality what has been done' has been the fact most clearly de monstrated that there is no solution for these economic problems when you get down to cases, save only and except collective ownership or the means of production and distri- button but that is-socialism,
 We may pretend to solve the la bor questions that arise from time 10 time, but there is no solution eX- cepting the elimination of the labor ouestiou as an exploitation question and the people of the country must make up their mind to tolerate per manently and continuously Gas they have been doingD economic injustice, or destroy it altogether by destroy ing the system which stands for it, which supports it, nay which premi- ses that condition as the sine qua non of it's existence.
 The great spectacle of the costs ot living rising in geometrical progres- sion while the wages have been in creasing in arithmetrical progres- sion and the insistent failure ot all kinds of devices to make the system stand upon it's own feet four square to all. is always before us, and 1t is momumentally and strikingly before us in this demand of the railroads to offset the increase in pay of the brotherhoods
 The railroads do not propose that that industry shall be burdened with the effort to shorten the work day of the employees. And they believe that by placing a little of that burd- on upon each of the industries which it distributes throughout the land, the increase would be in it. self imperceptble as an operating burden among those industries. Thereupon those industries, with the good business instinct which char
 !, ,;,, 1e fn alIot it among the rest of those by an increase of the price of the com modities to meet the increased costs of production and distribution
 In this way, the workers get up against it. Their dollar will not buy as much as formerly and their standard of living decreased. The sum of profits annexed from their labor by capital is finally increased also.
 What has occurred is that the workers sit in at game where the owners play with loaded dice. And it is true that in the end they get the worst of it. The old Greeks had proverb that the dice of the gods were always loaded. That was because they always ran up against the elemental forces to lose. In the same way we might againG apply this proverb properly adjusted to our economy by saying that the dice of the owners are always loaded.