The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1919-09-05
wild-eyed radicals this side of Ge-
hena could accomplish in year"
Can Now Discuss Facts.

wild-eyed radicals this side of Ge-
hena could accomplish in a year"
Can Now Discuss Facts.
With the ending of the war"
says President Scott, "it is possible
to discuss with frankness the wide
spread unrest which has been created
by war conditions. In 1916 food prices
advanced In 1917 they jumped. In
1918 and 1919 the cost of living
scared 60 to so per cent or more above
pre-war levels. In millions of homes
the cost of living did not increase,
for the simple reason that the con-
tents of the weekly pay envelope were
inadequate to meet the increased
prices demanded by the profteers.
One can not squeeze blood out of a
turnip and the inevitable result was
that pre-war standards of living were
reduced.
Sacrifices in Humble Homes
"Old clothes were patched, old
dresses were mended, old shoes were
sent to the cobbler, infrequent amuse-
ments were dispensed with, little lux
uries were abandoned, every house
hold economy was exercised, and even
then the problem Of trying to make
both ends meet became hopeless
daily tragedy, heart-breaking, new
er-ending nightmare from which there
was no escape. The world will never
know the full extent of the sacrifices
which have been made by the wives
and children in the homes of the wage
earners of America in the past four
years.
"Many interesting articles have ap-
peared in newspapers and periodicals
in which the wages paid to some ship
yard worker or munitions employe
were set forth. There was human in
terest in the story of the brawny
riveter who drew down fabulous sums
in the cost-plus shipyard But no one
cared to read of the struggles, the
sacrifices and the poverty in the home
of the mechanic working for pre-
war wage. Yet somehow these men
scraped together the price of a new
thrift stamps or war savings GER
tificates. God only knows how some
of them managed to pay the weekly
installments on the Liberty Bonds for
which they subscribed. But they did
it-only to be forced to part with
them at the Shylock's discount later
on.
Profit Coolies in All Lands.
Every war breeds its crop of COO
ties and profiteers. These vermin
abound in every army and in every
land. No delousing contrivance yet
invented has made an army cootie-
proof, and not one of the governments
involved in the war was able to curb
the avaricious profteers who fattened
on the worlds calamity.
"Indust4ial unrest has been in
creased BIZ the fact that the workers
know they have been systematically
gouged by the profteers during the
past four years. Investigations made
by food administration boards estab-
lished that fact. Retail prices have
been based, not on costs of production.
but on the ability of the profteers
to gouge the consumer. Necessarily
| the burden has fallen heaviest on the
workers receiving the lowest wage.
while the summaries of wage-scale
increases show that substantial gains
have been made in many industries
the fact remains that the members
of large number Of unions have not
received increases sufficient to enable
them to maintain the standards o.
living which they enjoyed in 1915.
"In many instances employers have
granted voluntary increases above tht
rates fixed by local agreements. Some
of these increases have been substan
tial and others have been entirely in
adequate. On the other hand few
employers have insisted on the las
ounce of their pound of flesh undel
the terms Of the contract, and in SOM
cases have gone so far as to deman
extra service not included in the loca