The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-01-31
Americas Strength Shacked by
Big Business Refusal to
Make Sacrifices.
MUST NATIONALlzE INDUSTRY
England Forced TO Government Own,
ershlp and Uncle Sam Cannot
Win Without Doing
Likewise.

uepenu on Inc number Of men 1t can
throw on the firing line. II this were
true, Russia would be the strongest
ngnting nation In the war. But sol.
dlers are of little account unless they
are well m%unitioned and equipped, and
they cannot be well equipped and mu.
nltloned unless the nation is strong
lndustr1ally. Russia is weak indus.
trlaily, and consequently she was the
nrst nation to drop out Of the fighting
despite her millions Of soldiers. Ger.
many, vastly outnumbered SO far .as
men are concerned, is holding her
wn because Of her industrial eff.
cheney, for in modern warfare indus.
trial efficiency 10 more important than
man power.
Germany Is strong industrially be.
u her principal Industries are
controlled by the government. England
n France were compelled to nation.
alize their industries after the wal
began. They found by bitter expert.
ence that privately owned enterprises
could not rise to the occasion
America Learning Same Lesson.
Now the United States Is in the wal
n we are learning the same lesson.
Privately owned enterprises are con.
Quoted primarily for profit instead Of
for public welfare, our national indus.
trial efficiency is sadly shackled, and
we cannot exert our greatest strength
until the government takes charge
and gives industry free play.
The railroads were the first to break
under the strain. Car shortages
caused by the duplicate routing Of
carriers by competing roads-are re-
sponsible for millions of dollars Of
precious foodstuffs rotting on the
ground or spelling In transit.
Every nation In Europe owns its own
railroads, yet even during war our
capitalists r not willing to give up
control. Now they are asking higher
rates, and II these are granted It will
be one more burden for the public
to bear.
We have the richest coal mines IN
the world, but a serious shortage ex.
lists which may cause untold suffering
this winter and interfere with the
productivity Of our factories Italy
has q coal shortage and the result waa
the collapse of her armies.
Steel Production 10 Reduced.
Steel manufacturers also have failed
the nation in this crisis. Despite ex.
orbitant profits the production Of pig
iron up to the end of October, 1917, is
451, 625 tons less than for the same
period last year.
The reason for this criminal failure
Is that the steel companies prefer to
make money by running moderately at
old contract prices than to expand and
run to capacity for the good of the
nation. This sounds almost unbeliev.
able, but the Wall Street Journal Of
October states that "Steel manufac.
turers have declined to sell at the
prices fixed by the government" And
later the Iron Age admitted that "Con-
sumers will be unable to buy at the
new prices until the old orders are
filled"
The, copper situation is even worse.
The government set q price on cop
per Of 23h cents a pound. A recent
report Of the Calumet & Hecla mine
shows that it costs only 11.63 cents .
pound to produce copper. Yet, not con
tent with more than 100 per cent
profit, the government is asked to adj
vance prices still higher ito stimulate
production"
Government Ownership u Remedy.
The story OF every natural resource
needed for war is the same-high
prices, high profits and serious short
ages of supply. Our "a preparation
has been delayed a q consequence.
The situation is more serious than we
realize, for our Big Business press has
kept silent about the facts to prevent
any Investigation.
Any man who attacks the proflteers
ID promptly assailed by Big business.
Big Business seems to that
criticism Of its methods is akin to
treason. It remembers old DIR. John
sons adage that Patriotism is the
last refuge Of q sc~oundrel," and busily
4 waves IuG ud6 W1LA1 OAO A0A0 WAAAO
lgrabbing profits with the other.
Nonpartisans Oppose Profiteers.
The Nonpartisan league exposes and
lopposes the prohteers because 1t sees
that the proiteers + not only rob
bling the people, but seriously handi-
Gaping the United States wa effi-
cheney. And our stand is loyal and
patriotic, although Big Business and
Its pr~ostituted big city press would
make It appear otherwise. For II the
National Nonpartisan leagues sugges-
lions were carried out the fighting
strength Of America would be greatly
Increased. The professionalism
leeches. Who are sucking the Industrial
life blood of the nAtion--and their
hired apologista - the reals tr&ttors
ana disloyaliats u TIT cr1S 80. This
enoAktc - elear seveEy llocpest ~
%&NEH