The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-04-13

myself a real industrial democracy
and l concede 1t to every man. The
hope of the world must be recognized
to be justice and fair play. We shall
have them, too, for while injustice for
time may be successful, as might
may be for a time, justice in the end
will triumph. for 1t is part of right
Right will come; 1t always does; but
now is the wrong time to agitate;
now is the time for work; now is the
time when we must take the fullest
possible advantage of our existing
systems and do the best We can with
them; now is not the time to tear
down and rebuild-we have had
enough of tearing down, we already
have enough rebuilding to be done.
Many Things Are Wrong.
Il know many things that are all
wrong Profits are too high. Values
are too high; the American dollar
must be brought back to 100 cents of
value from the 40 cents of value which
it shows at present. BY doing this We
can exercise stabilizing influence
throughout the world. Complete sta
bilization in America almost would
stabilize the world. We must not for
get that.
II believe that a vital economic
| error of our business men is selling
I cheaper in the foreign market than
/ they sell at home. Thousands OF Amer
lean families will be 80 per cent. under
fed tonight.
Don't let any one cndeavor even
to convince you that we in the United
States have no undertaking, that
there are no children here who liter
ally cannot be rightly cared for. I
myself have known cases, and far too
many of them of families, some of
them OF FIVE. which have been forced
to do with one pound Of meat weekly.
There are more of them to-day than
there were yesterday, for the cost Of
living is up so per cent. and wages
have not kept pace with this amazing
increase.
"If material is exported at a cheaper
price than 1t Is sold at home a grave
| injustice is done. therefore.
Some of our business men, like
| Henry Ford. have learned that low
| prices must mean high consumption.
High consumption would mean a
higher development of the people, the
raising of strength standards, the
elimination of disease, the increase of
happiness. the stimulation Of ambition,
the vast augmentation of production.
LAS a matter of fact wages are not
too high this minute for the old time
scale of living prices; they were too
low before. They were too low both for
the employer and for the employed, for
men respond to n high wage with an
increased production, and humanity in
general responds TO an increased pro-
duction with higher intelligence and
greater happiness.
THE wisest thing which the Gov
eminent and the business men of the
I United States could decide upon would
be n careful and concerted effort to-
! ward reduction of the cost of living
| without reduction of the wage scale.
Impossible, you say? Not hit OF
it,
"A very few of all those who would
pay those higher wages would fail to
make moro money than ever they
have made by the old plan.
And the argument that with high
wages and low cost Of living we can
not compete in the worlds markets
has been disproved many, many times
Plenty of enlightened American bust.
ness men have had experiences com
parable with that of Henry Ford
which showed him that raising wages
meant lowering production costs. His
workers responded to raised wages
with raised etfic 'ency. All workers
will do that.
That competition with the world in
which we always shall he quite incom.
petcnt viii he that based on paupeI
labor. That in which We shall be sue
cessful will be that based on making
better things better and faster thar
other nations make inferior things
bccause of the superior perfection OF
our methods and the superior inteIi.
gence of our working population.
"Our ability to do exactly that wa,
demonstrated many times during our
vast war production. That was marked
by plenty of mistakes. heaven knows,
But 1t was not without successes. w,
heard of the mistakes and we did not
hear of the successes"
/ asked Mr. F'rayne to make som,
definite suggestions with regard &c
those methods which might profit.
: ably he pursued in the effort 10 70.
'duce the cost OF living.