Omaha daily bee., 1919-08-01
WILSON SHOCKED
into ACTION ON
COST OF LIVING
Head of Trainmen Brotherhood
Presages Riots and Strikes
If Prices Do Not
Tumble.
Continued From Page Ope.)

l SohSihuou EAVAAA = uBo oAVy
army food stocks valued at $124,000,-
900.
Officials who attended the confer
ence declined to discuss what took
place. Mr.. Palmer stated that the
conference was called chiefly for the
purpose of making a survey of the
situation, developing any informa-
ton on which the head of the ma
tons law enforcement machinery
might act to curb profiteering.
"Upheaval" Near in U. s.
Mr.. Lee made public an abstract
of the report of hearings recently
held by the board of railroad wages,
on the trainmen's demands, at which
he declared an "upheava" was
nearer in this country today than
ever before, due to the unrest aris-
ing from mounting living costs. The
railroad and government depart
ments had better be assisting ito
crush profteering" by the packers
and other industries" he said, than
Shouting across the table at each
| other" at hearings to consider still
further increases.
"All of us are to blame" he said,
because we are exerting every eff
fort to get more money for ourselves
and better conditions. Every day
we must realize that the profteers
are taking double from the working
men what is given them; and the
trouble with the people on the hill
(capitoD, with US and with every
! corporation and with everybody, is
that we are exertlng ourselves to
: get the dollar, while the working
man is merely existing and while
the profteer is piling up millions.
Everyone Going Wrong Way.
II will admit to you gentlemen,
that we are going the wrong way.
| admit to you that it is time to call
halt; and l admit to you that until
we get together, until we commence
together to stop this, there will be
| hell in this country-and it is nearer
today than l ever knew it in my
years of experience. Just let some
body drop a match in this country
of ours and it will be sorry day
for all of us.
Unless my vision is most terribly
obscured, then there is something
coming to us pretty soon in this
country that we had better take no.
tice of. We had something of peace
IN this country prior to the war con-
ditions. We were getting along
fairly we'll until profiteering became
so noticeable everywhere and until
the commodities that working peo-
pie are compelled to pay for were
permitted to be increased, doubled
and trebled. without any question
and often seemingly with the ap-
proval of the government.
| I'VE are nearer war in this world
today, | believe, than when the kai-
ser threw out the gauntlet. Our law
makers are to blame, in my opinion,
because the masses of the people
would be behind them if they would
attempt to correct it and surely
there is power to correct it; but in
stead they are playing politics, and
some of these labor organizations
are playing politics. and it is the
same all down the line"
Against Class Advantages
Answering questions, Mr.. Lee
said he did not believe in giving any
one class advantages at the expense
of another, but said as long as pres
ent methods continue he believed i'll
everybody getting his share, as near
ly as he could. Until the final up
heaval comes, and, in my opinion,
is looking us in the face he de-
clined to suggest how prices could
be reduced, saying the country was
paying millions of dollars to the
men on the hill Capitol, who are
supposed to have all the brains in
the country" and they are not act
ing to stop the increases.
~ am not a red card man, but
am coming close to it. if this thing
keeps up" Mr.. Lee said
| Asked what would be his opinion
as to wage rates based on present
food prices, if the price level should
decline materially, Mr.. Lee said he
did not feel justified in going into
the question, but asked to be al
lowed to tell of his experiences in
the recent strike at Winnipeg, where
he said, he found conservative,
| homecoming members of his Or
ganization throwing away all they
had gained in rs years of member
ship and joining the general strike,
because, they said, ITO hell with all
this; we cannot stand it any more
Come with us and we will correct
it,"
Couldn't Make Future Contracts.
Mr.. Lee said they could not make
contracts for the future, not know
ing what tomorrow would bring
forth. He declared he could not
justify the fact that wheat was $2.26
in this country and flour perhaps
| $l4 barrel, when -four made from
the same grade of grain sells in
| England for SSH.
II want, if possible, to see some
plan devised here that will permit
somebody to say that beef, pork and
commodities of that kind cannot 60
above a certain per cent Mr.. Lee
said.
Mr.. Lee also expressed emphatic
disapproval of cost plus" war con-
tracts, by which, he said, owners of
inferior factories had obtained fine
plants and big profits at the expense
of taxpayers. 1t was such things,
he declared which caused the rail
road employee, faced by growing ex-
penses, to be willing to follow a
"red flag or anything that comes
along"