Norwich bulletin., 1919-08-26

i construction. If we fail 1t will mear
 national disaster. The very first steI l is to increase production and faci1i- 1 tate, transr ortation, so as to make UT for the destruction wrought by the war, the terrible scarcities it created and so as soon as possible relieve oui
 people of the cruel burden of high prices. The railways are at the cen 1 ter of this whole process.
 1 High Wages-High Prices.
 "The government has taken up with
 all it's energy the task of bringing the profteer to book. making the stocks ot necessaries in the country available al lowered prices. stimulating produc- tion and facilitating distribution. and very favorable results are already be- ginning to appear There is reason to entertain the confident hope that sub- stantial relief will result. and result in increasing measure. A general in crease in the levels of wages would check and might defeat all this at it's very beginning. Such increases would inevitably raise. not lower. the cost of living Manufacturers and producers of every sort would have innumerable additional pretexts for increa sing pro- fits and all efforts to discover and de- feat profteering would be hopelessly
 confused. I believe that the present
 efforts to reduce the costs of lviing will be successful. if no new clements Of diff1cu1ty are thrown in the way; and I confidently count upon the men engaged in the service of the railways to assist, not obstruct. It is much more in their interest to do this than to insist upon wage increases which will undo everything the government attempts. They are good Americans along with the rest of us. and may. l am sure, be counted on to see the point
 Wages Would Follow Prices.
 Tt goes without saying that if our %< 1f 1fxrtr1 d nx should fail. after we nave had time enough to- esta blish either success or failure, 1t will of course be necessary to accept the higher costs of living as a permanent basis of adjustment. and railway wages should be readjusted along with the rest. All that I am now urging is that we should not be guilty of the inexcusabie inconsistency of making general increases in wages on the assumption Siat the present cost very time that we are trying with great confidence to reduce the most of living and are ble to say that it is actually beginning to fall.
 Case of Railway Employees.
 "I am aware that railway employees have a sense of insecurity as to the future of the railroads and have many misgivings as to whether their inter estS will be properly safeguarded when the present form of federal con trol has come to an end No doubt 1t Is in part this sense of uncertainty that prompts them to insist that their. wage interests he adjusted now rather than under conditions which they can not certainly foresee., But I do not think that their uneasiness is we'll grounded. I anticipate that legisla- ton dealing with the future of the "ailroads will in explicit terms afford adequate protection for the interests of the employees of the roads: but, quite apart from that. 1t is clear that no legislation can make the railways other than what they are. a great pub lie interest. and it is not likely that the president of the United States. whether in possession and control of the railroads or not, will lack oppor- the decision of questions arising be- tween the managers of the railroads and the railway employees. The em- rloyes may rest assured that. during my term of office. whether I am in actual possession of the railroads or not, I shall not fail to exert the full influence of the executive to see that justice Is done them.
 invites Hearty Cooperation.
 TT believe. therefore. that they may be justified in the confidence that hearty co operation with the govern cost of living will by no means be prejudicial to their own interests, but will, on the contrary, prepare the way for more favorable and satisfa ctory relations in the future.
 T confidently count on their co-I operation in this time of national test and crisis"
 Statement to the Public.
 The presidents statement addressed to the public follows: My Fellow Citizens
 A situation has arisen in connection ( I, -1 .<<,4,- At..- ways which is of such general signif1- canoe that I think it my. duty to make a public statement concerning 1t. in crder that the whole country may know what is involved
 The railroad shopmen have demand ed a large increase in wages. They are now receiving 5s, 63 and eS cents per hour They demand S5 cents per hour. This demand has been given careful and serious consideration by the Loard which was constituted by ths railroad administration to adjust questions of wages, a board consisting of an equal number of representatives of employees and of the operating This board has been unable to como to an agreement and it has therefore devoive dupon the director general of railroads and myself to act upon the merits of the case.
 The shopmen urge that they are en- titled to higher wages because of the higher wages for the present received by men doing similar work in ship yards, navy yards and arsenals, as well as in number of private indus 1 tries, but I concur with the director l general in thinking that there is no 1 real basis of comparison between the l settled employment afforded mechan- les by the railroads under living con- ditions as various as the location and | of the railway shops themselves and the fluctuating em- pIoyment afforded in industries excep- | -ionally and temporarily. stimulated 1 oy the war and located almost with 1 put exception in industrial centers | where the cost if loving is highest
 The substantial argument which the