The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-12
For the Good of
 the Community

R W. HUE, of Philadelphia, Ark, has asked this question of the Manufec- turers' Record of Baltimore:
 With the rapid increase in the world's population and meagre increase in the production, the steady increase of tae high cost of living, forcing higher scaIe . of wages, is thus drawing the young men from agricultural pursuits The question naturally arises Who will be the pro ducer?
 ''This question has suggested itself to me so often now invite the wiser men .of the country to answer the question"
 The Manufacturers Record, after re- ferring to the fact that farmers work from daylight to dark and at less pay than the mechanic or machinist or other laborer in industrial lines, says:
 Farmers of the world have grown 50 accustomed to being the worlds buro en~ ; bearers in the production of foodstuffs, through long hours of work for the farmer and his employees and for the women of the family, that they have come to accept it as matter of fact that the city laborer should be paid far in excess of the farm laborer. They have also accepted it as fact that while the city laborer demands eight hours the farm hand must work twelve and fourteen hours.
 "There has been no open, outright re- bellion on the part of the farmers and farm laborers, and hence this situation, but we do not believe 1t possible much longer to hold to the conditions of the past In all human probability farmers will demand shorter hours and higher wages, and the cost of production of food stuffs will be enhanced in exactly the same way that the cost of manufactured products is enhanced by the limiting of the labor through lessened efficiency or shorter hours.
 'In this way the mechanic and all others engaged in industrial pursuits will find that having demanded shorter hours for themselves with ever-increasing pay they have set in motion forces which will compel the farmers to take the same stand. It is not to be supposed that set of workers like those engaged in agricul- ture will forever submit to the hard con- ditions of work which have prevailed with them when they see before their eyes the constant drive for the reduction of hours of labor in industrial pursuits with wages in the latter which are far and away be- yond what even the average landowner is able to make himself.'
 The Manufacturers Records answer to the question is that the farmer will in the end work fewer hours with consequent increase in the cost of production and higher prices to be paid by the consumer of the things he produces and con- cludes it's article with the suggestion:
 'Mr. Huie has raised an interesting question. It demands broad consideration and careful study on the part of the government, of labor union leaders and of business generally, for it's so- lution means permanently higher cost of produc- tion."
 The question asked by Mr. Huie and the com ments thereon made by the Manufacturers Rec ord are we'll worth considering. Those who would further increase the cost of commodities foodstuffs and all other things by increasing the cost of handling them, that is, transporting them from the place of production to the place of con- sumption, should consider this question before