Denver labor bulletin., 1918-01-12
WILSON DETERMINED TO
STOP PROFITEERING.
English Labor Demands Con-
scription of Wealth to Pay for
War; Brotherhoods and
Shopmen to Have
Place in Rail
road Cabinet.
By LAURENCE TODD
Special Representative The Denver Iabor
BulletinD


WASHINGTON, Jan. British
trade unionists have met in a great
national conference and have voted a
demand that the British government
give to the toiling masses of the ma
ton reorganized and improved So
cIal order, when this war is done.
The Amalgamated Society of Engi-
neers, which includes a very large
part Of the shipbuilders. machinists,
etc, Of Great Britain, has voted, in
convention, that there must be con-
scripted at least 25 per cent of all
holdings of wealth beyond $4,000. This
demand Is to be debated at another
national conference of the Labor
party within a few days.
Already the British government has
yielded to the demand of the British
labor movement that the food supply
be distributed without favor to rich
or poor, by food card system. The
rich will still get more food and bet
ter food than the poor, for a while.
but the democracy of freedom from
hunger" is steadily Tightening its lines
upon all England.
Justice for Both Sides.
These events across the Atlantic
have not yet won a public echo from
a.
but they are the theme of a great deal
of discussion in union meetings and
among union men and women. There
IS growing agitation in Eastern in
dustrial centers for public operation
OF markets, meat packing plants, flour
mills, bakeries, and so forth. The or
ganized farmers of the Northwest
have been demanding these things, for
the past two years, as a means of Civ
ing justice to both the producer and
the consumer. Now the Eastern con-
sumner, chilled for lack of coal and un-
easy because of the lack of good food
at reasonable prices, has taken up the
cry.
VIII anything be done, nationally,
to cut the cost of food?
All signs point to the Matchmaking
Of the meat packing industry, for one
thing.
Profiteering Beef Barons.
Francis J. Heney of California, who
has been showing up the crooked prof
iteering of the beef barons, is gather
ing together the threads of the evil
dence which the Federal Trade Com
mission will present to President Will
son. 10 show how the packers have
failed to perform the work for which
the public has been paying them such
fabulous profits in years past.
He is going TO help the commission
show to the President and the coun-
try that the packers, instead of stim
ulating the cheap production of food
for the people, have discouraged pro-
duction. treated the workers in the
industry like slaves. and have gouged
the consumers at every point of the
road from the packing plant to the
dinner table
1t looks as tho the government
would follow up the naturalization of
the railroads by nationalizing the meat
business.
Federal Control of Coal
At this date, also. the capital is full
of reports that the coal distributing
system, and probably the coal mines
also. will soon be taken over and oper-
ated by the fuel administration. Mr..
Garfield. the fuel administrator, has
told Congress that the government
will have to distribute the coal, since
the railroads and the coal companies
have made a failure of il
This brings up the question of what
the workers in the meat industry and
the coal industry will get out of the
change of operation from private to
public hands. The best evidence is
seen in the policy adopted thus far by
Director General McAdoo in the rail-
road situation.
To Appoint Wage Board.
Mr.. McAdoo met the representatives
of the four operative brotherhoods this
week, and talked over with them the
wage increases which they had put up
TO the companies before the govern
ment took charge. When they were
thru, he issued a statement containing
these remarks:
"As a result of the discussion, l
have determined to appoint commit
tee of four representative men, whose
regulations will be a guarantee of fair
dealing to all, to make full investi-
cation of the whole matter and report
their findings and conclusions at the
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