New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-12-20
OUR IMPORTS
FROM FAR EAST
RUNNING HIGH
AMERICA MUST PROTECT
IT'S INDUSTRIES OR SHORT
HOURS AND LONG WAGES
WILL BE IMPOSSIBILITY
VERY SOON
Special to State Record:

Washington, Dec l8-"No indus
trial autoeracy, no reduction o
wages, no lengthening of hours" ar,
the chief planks in labor's recon
struction programme lad down b.
Samuel Gompers, president of th'
A. F. of L. Labor has gained ad
vantages during this war;" declare
Mr.. Gompers, but" said he. refer
ring to recent remarks of membe
Of the Founders Association, "wha
the devil does he and his type thini
we made all these sacrifices in tn,
war for?" 1t is an appropriate tim,
to call Mr.. Gompers' attention t.
situation fast developing, not Sc
remote, which should give American
tabor, union or non-union, pause tc
consider, and that is the vast in
dustriai development taking place il
the Orient. The lowest ESTIMATED
population of China is 40O,0J0,OOO
They eFe the most industrious peo-
pie on earth. Work is their reli,
gion. And they are the lowest paid
Union hours and union wages do moi
bother the Chinese. Japan and its
possessions have population oi
74.O00,000 The Japs are industrious
alert, adaptable. initiative If no,
creative, and commercially thorough.
ly modcrnizcd. Their wage scale is
but little greater than that Of the
Chinese. The influence of their en-
terprising industrial leaders over the
vast industrial hive of China is in
creasing each year, and the exploita-
ton of Chinese labor and the cnor-
nous untouched resources Of China
is the dream of all Japan.
From October 1917 to September
1918 our Japanese imports totaled
N000O00OO N value. For the same
period, l0l3-l4, the first II months
under the existing Democratic tariff
law, their value was $lC9000 900
compared with $9700000O for the
1928 period the last IL months
under protection. Chinese imports
Ieaped from $4O,OO0O00 for the l9l3-l4
10 $142O0OOO0 for the 1ol7-l8 period ;
imports from all Asia. from 1884,
10000 to $s74,00OOO0--nearly 80 per
cent of our entire import trade for
the l9l7-l8 period, and greater than
our entire European import trade
prior to the war. Such was the con-
tribution of coolie labor to our
home market, much of it finished
goods. On the other hand, about
20 per cent of our export trade to
Japan since 1911 has consisted Of ma
terials for plant construction, or for
manufacture in those plants. Raw
cotton, for example, aggregated $685.
100000 in value for the four pre-
war years, and 100000 for the
single fiscal year 1918. This comes
into competition with American
cloths at home, and is rapidly GUST
ing us from Oriental trade. Either
way hurts our labor.
American labor can not support
as ardently as Mr.. Gompers sup
ports the leader of the Democratic
party and expect to maintain its
wage and living standards. much less
better them 1t is a mathematical
impossibility, and for that reason we
suggest that Mr.. Gompers memorize
the resolution unanimously adopted
by his own Federation 'lastldyear in
Buffalo: "RESOLVED, That this
convention go on record in favor of
industrial preparedness and the
enactment of laws by Congress that
will adequately protect all wage
earners of our country against loss
Of employment through any invasion
Of the products of any other ma
ton" And the Republican party
alone will vitalize that resolution.
Hun Punishment
1t is reported that one of the
very first questions to come before
the peace conference will be that of
exacting from responsible Germans
punishment for their crimes commit
ted against civilization. It can not
he doubted that the American people |
favor punitive justice. but the fre-
quent pronouncements of the Presi-
dent for Justice tempered with
mercy" give ground for the fear that
he will thrust aside the demands of
the people he is supposed to repre-
sent and refuse to stand with the /!
allies for proper punishment of in
dividuals. Premie Lloyd George
has served notice that England will
demand such course, and Mr..
Clemenceau of France is understood
to take the same position.
War has its attendent sufferings,
deaths. and devastations. When a
nation deliberately enters upon q
war it knows that all those con-
sequences will follow. But under
laws established for
many years. and to which Germany
was q subscriber, there are certain
limitations that control the actions
Of individuals. of armies. and of
ships. 1t is something quite outside
the sphere of war to sink an
unarmed passenger ship like the
Lusitania. The naming, starvation,
and crucifixion of defenseless pris-
oners have no place in war between
countries. Atrocities COM
mitted on the civilian population of
occupied territory are expressly pro-
hibited by international covenants.
Yet individual officers and soldiers
in the Kaiser's army have commit
led all those crimes. The Kaiser
so far from Furnishing them,
has caused medals to be struck in
of the sinking of
he Lusitania, and has elevated in
-ank some of the most blood thirsty
IF his officers. III
Those acts against civilization were
apart from the waging Of