South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-08-10

OF their ropes The threatened railroad strikes
regardless OF whether they materialze or not.
dictate the direction In which great OF Amer
lean minds is tending. end 1t has been enough
to naturalization 70 create apprehension OF pos
sibie accomplishment
While he railroad men might not be able 10
force government ownership OF the roads in
partnership with the railroad their insist
upon it might easily throw the business of the
country into awful panic-and it is the high cost
OF living quite without question that has driven
the TO their demands They have acknowl-
edged that their wages are already high and high
than stable business demands. but still insist
that they have not gone up in proportion to the
OF life. and that If everybody else to insist
upon "a the traffic will bear" what is sauce for
the goose is sauce for the gander."
AS an alternative to their demand for increase
of wages they demand a decrease in living costs
else that the government take over the roads
with the workmen in partnership rescuing the
roads from the present system Of stock gambling
and speculation in partnership with the govern
ment-in which would have a virtual soviet
applied the railroads. just a start fairly
good one.
We remedy for high prices in the
proposed change Of railroad ownership except in
the industrial depression that would sure to en-
sue. and that would strike the workingmen first.
II looks to US like the sheerest folly However those
behind the movement believe it would eventually
settle things, and the temporary depression would
be worth the ultimate results Prohteers are fool
ish if they cannot the trend OF such doctrine
That living should have proceeded to jump. as TO
cost, from the moment the armistce was signed,
and regulation by the food and fuel admnistra-
tions removed, is significant furthermore of the
good that those administrations did in keeping
doW Drfce VIII
prohteers wish to bring them back or would they
prefer to be decent without it the food and
fuel administrations were a sort Of soviet economic
though not political. introduced an emergency in
time Of war and given up as possible there
after Must them back now in time of
peace?
People had say in criticism of Food
Administrator Hoover and Fuel Administrator
Garfield. and all pretty glad them
go. but the profteers have seen to 1t that we paid
for their going. They are seeking to make up now
for what they they lost by being held down
through these administrations during the war
and with each boost in prices came demands from
labor for boost in wages and with each boost in
another IN prices. The railroad men ad-
init the endlessness of the circuit how with every
increase Of their wages has come increased freight
and with every increase in freight rates has
come not only an increase in the cost of the com
modities carried, but collection by the proHteers
from the consumer, of good profit on the in
creased freight rates and They say they want
to create a jumping-off place somewhere on the
circle
Heaven knows nobody wants to see a railroad
strike. tying up the business country, and we
probably wont see il, but at that the threat of it
may still prove something of blessing in disguise.
1t has forced the high cost of living issue Presi-
dent, cabinet and all of them, are get
ting busy and with deal of earnestness which
may bring resuts-doing the work that the
president called congress together to do, along with
other things away back in May The congress seem
ed pleased, however to let the matter slide until
the president should return with the problem OF
the peace treaty mis- hands both must
lay aside temporarily the proper business OF the
hour to accomplish that which should have been
done and with.