The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-25
HENRY CLEWS'
 WEEKLY. LETTER

N ing ourselves to new standards are usually processes of a painful charac- ter, and are necessarily accompanied ed with much inconvenience and fric- tio. This has always been so. The is both economic and economic because the industrial problem is largely one of supply and demand; and psychologi- cal for the reason that the public mind after five terrible years of sor- row and suffering is irritable and very unreasonable. Under such con- ditions 1t is perfectly natural for hu- man nature to react into all sorts of extremes, and these must be accept ed with forbearance. For the eco homie difficulties, which are mainly those of supply, there is only one cure, and that is, as Lloyd George candidly said, We shall never inc- prove matters until we increase pro- ducmon.' As for the phychologicaI troubles, they are chiefly due to the abnormal state of the public mind: so We must keep cool and make the best of things.
 The whole world Is upset and hay Ing Its fling; by and by it will quiet down and return to sober and more normal conditions. Doubtless there VIII be a new normal and a new level; and while unrest promises to continue for some time into the fu- ture, there is no reason for indulging In pessimistic forebodings As just said, the period of reconstruction is proving more disturbing than the war itself; yet there is one great and en- couraging compensation-reco ton means progress, but war IS hell" The first justifies hope, the second piunges the world into de- spair.
 Cause and Future Effect of the Pres
 cnt Low Value of the Dollar.
 The high cost of living, the neces- sity of helping to provide food for the rest of the world, the big wages paid to all who were engaged in manufacturing goods and munitions during the war, the scarcity of un- skilled laborers due to so many Of that class returning to their home countries in Europe since the war ended and the demands of railroad employees, mechanics and skilled la Dor of all kinds for higher wages have naturally lessened the purchas- ing power of the dollar; and has still more lessened the purchasing power of foreign money. Workmen of all degrees are demanding that railroad and industrial corporations give them not only higher pay but a share of the profits and a voice in manage ment This problem is a most diff cult one to solve and will require great wisdom for its settlement To- day the United States is the money and supply centre of the world and it will be for a long time to come owing to the billions of money we have advanced to other nations. The outcome is difficult to even guess at as there is no precedent in history with which to base a comparison. The best way for employees to gain an interest in the profits of the rail roads with which they are connect ed, which they are now seeking to obtain. is to adopt the same system that the United States Steel Corpora tion has for it's employees, that is, to make a purchase of the securities of the various properties with which they are identified. Then they be- come virtual partners. That is the only way I can conceive of what will enable them to achieve their ambi-
 
 and legitimate way. The quickest and most effective way to put an end to the present strikes is for Congress to apply the provisions of the Sher- man antitrust law in relation to the formation of combinations, for, wher employees strike, they certainly ope~ ate in restraint of trade. If the power to strike were taken from la Dor and it was superseded by boards of arbitration. all questions between capital and labor could be amicably settled without creating the unsettled conditions that now prevail
 The Fall in Exchange.
 The exchange situation is growing more and more difficult; and rates have declined to new low records ow- ing to the great pressure of com mercial bills, especially grain and cotton. Sterling has fallen over II per cent; francs, 35 per cent; lire, 44 per cent, and marks nearly so per cent. Our export trade is all ready feeling the deadening effect of this greG- impairment of buying pow CT; and unless some effective form of relief is found, serious injury will follow to our trade and shipping. If Europe does not soon obtain the ly needed credit, reconstruction lbrL i'd will be halted and turned into industrial and political chaos, the i'll effects of which would be seriously felt over here. Little progress seems to have been made at Washington with the Edge Bill. which permits the formation of American corpora tions to finance foreign trade But the American Bankers Association is endcavoring to awaken public opin- ion to action upon this problem which is vital to our foreign trade as well as 10 European reconstruction, upon which our continued prosper ity largely depends. One promin- ent foreign financial authority has suggested the formation of a co-op- erative international pool for the SUD- port of International crediu. His plan is for a loan of e5.OO0. 900 900 issued to investors in all parts of the world and guaranteed by all the in- terested governments. It is proposed that the United States guarantel f1.OOO, O,OO0,O0o. Great Britain f1,- OG0. .OCO. coo. France $500. .Oo0. 900, the remainder to be divided between Italy. Russia. Japan. Belgium, Greece and several of tho neutral powers The rate of interest proposed is