The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-01-23


 fit this community, not be used for the purpose of reducing wages and creating an Alaskan peonism.
 As far as We see it, We see no reason why the workers themselves who have to live and mine here, who receive no attention and get no work in the summer time, should not protect themselves as they talk of protecting themselves for the winter. And if it is profitable for business men to make it a prac- tice to patronize outside houses for everything they want outside their own particular line, they are cer- tainly driving to such a condition when there will be only one com pany store here or there will be co-operative store, neither of which ] they will regard as very pleasant possibilities.
 . The Industrial Worker does not appreciate in any way the fact that there are great resources in this section of Alaska. There is quite lot of drivel spoken and written upon the subject, but there is a ker mel of fact in it all. Now what the
 Worker would point out is that
 there has never been any serious
 attempt made to rid the camp of
 wild cat promoters. The dredging companies and others which have
 wages are legion. Yet they came
 here with flourish of trumpets
 and under salvos they started into
 dig. More dredges have failed than
 succeeded because many dredges
 were simply wild cat companies
 rather than anything else.
 Some years ago the town went
 into hysterical celebration of the
 arrival of customs stamp mill
 where the poor prospector could get
 his ore ground and tested. We
 draw veil over it's present where
 ahouts and the pathetic 'innocuous
 desuetude' into which it has been
 abandoned.
 Capital may be going about like a
 roaring lion seeking what it may
 deyour, but capital is not swimming around like a sucker looking for a
 bait to swallow. Yet that ingenious
 notion seems to obtain in some , quarters that all that they have to do is whistle, twirl thumbs and the
 golden shower falls into the wait
 ing poke.
 How many business men will gC down in their jeans and with hard , cash keep prospectors in grub stakes while they seek to develop a
 likely property. There are some ; but they are. in this fair city of , homes, mighty few.
 There is lots of low grade ground . arouud Nome Lots of it, and, the
 only plan apparently suggests itself to thc eHpIoiters is tC lower wages l and 10 work the profits out of the hide of labor. But, try as they may
 they still cannot make it stick, ant the question arises what are vol
 going to do about it? The time is fast coming when the prospectol , will leave this camp. He has 10 5 He has been a very decent kind ot ; ' fellow. He has put what he earned l into coal and grub and grocerie ] and supplies of one sort or anothe { and his dump was at the disposal O ! the merchants in the spring. LabO , has been reduced to the very limit s The same pay is now being givel 2 as was given when prices were siXt.
 per cent less in Nome than they ar l today. The purchasiig power o ! wages has fallen by that amount B and the actual value of the day ' pay is therefore that much less. S' s labor has reached bed rock, and a Q far as exploiting the low grad { ground by that means, you are u e against it. It is true that now ant I then a poor shrivelled- minded sca' s herder may take advantage of som 3 starved out black jack or booze fient
 and set him to work for his board 0 But industry and the camp canno e be maintained that way, at least no s for any length of time.
 You have to consider other cost e of operations: fuel and supple