The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1919-09-25
Items from Sept
k-L News
HIGH COST OF LIVING.

LdClIR IDS lllulN loOQAAJ % wa
l~ectively. When prices go up and up
as they have been going, we get to
thinking. This HCL question has be-
a nuisance and a very serious
one at that. And we must solve 1T.
Now it appears very clear that as
long as we apply "Higher Wages" as
the one and only remedy, we shall
v get a solution. For higher wages
means also higher cost of. raw mater
ials and higher cost of ~manufactur-
ing. And that only increases Cost OF
Living again. Which all reminds us
Of the old country "doc" who did not
know of but one remedy for most
diseases and so kept on prescribing
that. Sometimes people had faith in
him, and the medicine worked ap-
parently; but other times it did not.
However, one thing it did accomplish.
It drugged your whole system, so
that it finally refused to function al
together. And you know what happen
ed. So with HCL. Just as high as
wages will go, just as far will the
coss Of living go, and then some.
And this ace has got to stop, or
something very serious is going to
happen. Some profiteers are evident
ly trying to "russia-nize" the U. s. A.
They ought to remember what hap
pened to that same kind of people in
Russia. For the PUBLIC, you and |
included, will not stand for it much
longer. People will get together and
will simply pull down these grafters,
big and small and we will reduce
prices considerably by doing business
on a COOPERATIVE scale.
SOME OF THE CAUSES.
1t started with the war, naturally.
manufacturers were busy making
war material, and gradually the
| shelves with supplies for the civic
population were emptied. We ran be-
low normal for a year, and when
peace was declared it took most of
the manufacturers about six months
to get back to peace production.
Consequently, when we had to feed
the whole country as well as half the
world, we ran short. And then the
gambling began. AS it always does
when DEMAND EXCEEDS SUP
Ply. The export trade started
blooming, and still not enough stores
and materials in our warehouses. To
make things worse, immigration was
restricted so that building, factories,
mines and lumber camps largely sup
piled heretofore with cheap labor
from overseas, ran short Of men. And
then labor began to bargain, and
gamble. We stopped building alto
gether and the population congested
in towns where business was good.
Then houses and flats became scarce.
And rent scared skyhigh. So on all
sides we have made blunders, where
we ought to have c~ooperated, organ
lied and prepared. We still have short
age, and in some places they make
it worse by striking, thus decreasing
production. Labor is waiting for HCL
to come down, and manufacturers
are waiting for labor to get cheaper,
SO they can make a profit on their
investments. And in the meantime
tradesmen and trusts Of all kinds
are fleeing both.
When the public sees the good old
dollar bill shrink in value until it is
worth only about fifty cents, and
our expenditures are out of balance
with our incomes, ACTION is
NEEDED.
WHERE AND HOW.
Analysing this problem further, we
find that we have three main factors
to deal with, namely: Raw materials,
Labor, and Transportation. And we
want to quote right here that Presi-
dent Stone of the Brotherhood of Le-
connective Engineers said in the Lit
erary Digest, 9-16, 1919, "The solu-
ton of the wage problem, not only
on railroads but in all other lines of
business, lies in the REDUCTION
OF LIVING COSTS, not in increas-
ed wages" Under this subject comes
naturally the question of more and
better roads, as we'll as the question
of distribution of food products and
raw materials. When we BOOST LO-
CAL TRADE and LOCAL PRODUC-
TION, we cut down the HCL. Also
when we try to eliminate the thous-
ands Of unnecessary middlemen who
according. to statistics cause an ex-
ira tax of from 22-47% to be added
to the cost of the goods we need. We
can go still further and do what
Great Britain and France are doing
through Cooperative purchasing and
marketing. This is what the farmers
have started out west, erecting their
own elevators, building and operat-
ing their own mills, and establishing
farmers cooperative stores and banks.
Whole communities get together and
buy the winters supply of fuel and
coal, thus reducing the HCL by 1919.
When the railroads, express compa-
MES and truck lines get to be efficient
we will see the same economy intro
duced. AS it is now, it is a matter of
"What is e~verybody's business is
nobody's business"
When we introduce efficiency in