New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-29
Uncle Sam
Industrial Autocrat

FOR nearly two years Uncle Sam has
been an industrial autocrat or Dictator
RE has been the greatest entrepreneur
that the world ever saw, the greatest
employer Of men, the greatest pay
master, the greatest purchaser Of raw
materials, the greatest manufacturer
Being dictator, he was able to bring
our industries into a state of order
and unity which had never before ex-
lsted. Bank credits expanded enor-
mously, prices scared, wages and prof
its were satisfactory
Now Uncle Sam is letting go of the
relns and bidding us seek our own
paths, guided only by that delicate and
sometimes hayward compass. the old
fashioned law of supply and demand.
In other words. the restoration of
peace means that this country indus
tr1ally must pass over from the rigid.
clear-cut. arbitrary rules Of autocracv
TO the seemingly chaotic freedom Of
democracy.
The most difficult problems before us
arc easily stated
First, who will give employment to
the millions of way workers whom
Uncle Sam no longer needs in factories,
in mines, in forests, or at the battle
'front.'
Second since bank credits, hitherto
expanded by government loans, must
contract as the government lessons its
borrowing, it is evident that the prices
Of most ommodities must Decline In
the face of falling markets, will manu-
facturers produce their goods and will
merchants stock their shelves?
Third, the decline of the price level
means ar increase in the purchasing
power Of the dollar and a lower cost
of living for the working man. VIII
nc recognize this truth and accept a
lower money wage without riotous pro-
test! II his wages We're paid him in
flour. he would be content with fewer
barrels If he knew that the barrels
were being made bigger every year Is
he Intelligent enough to realize that
the dollar ir its way serves the same
purpose as a changeable barrel or as
an elastic yardstick
tcmplating such difficult questions as
the foregoing, incline to the prediction
of hard times and labor troubles. And
IT cannot be denied that gloomy predic-
tons will be verified by events during
the next few years if the business and
political leaders Of our country do not
recognize the peril and adopt eXtraor-
binary methcos to avert it,
The war which Napoleon warcd
against Europe 100 yeats ago was ac-
companied by high prices and apparent
prosperity, but when it ended prices
fell, factories We're closed, great masses
OF labor were unemployed and even the
United States suffered great distress
from the resultant panic Unless the
leaders Ct to-day show more construc-
tive wisdom in finance and Industry
than did their forefathers in 1915. tho
peace which we now celebrate is merely
the forerurner of world panic and dis
tress.
But. fortunately, men are wiser in
industry to-day than they We're one
hundred years ago. We know, for ex-
ample, that the prosperity Of the So
called workingmen, who constitute the
majority in our population, is the
foundation upon which depends the
prosperity and welfare of the manu-
tacturer and the merchant. If the
workingmen have not living wages and
cannot buy, then markets are dead and
business is at standstill. If labor is
employed at full wages, then markets
are strong and business prospers.