Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1919-08-06

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confer with him Immediately on the
high cost of living and to consider ap-
propriate measures to reduce prices to
the average citizen. Those requested
to meet in the attorney generals office
were Secretaries Glass, Houston, Red
field and Wilson, Director General
Hines, Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury LeffingwelI and Chairman
Murdoch and w. B. Cover of the fed
eral trade commission.
| Washington, Aug. 1.-"Reduce the
daily increasing high cost of living or
| face bread riots" That in effect, is
| the chief slogan now being impressed
on President Wilson and his chief
aids by national labor and sociological
| leaders. 1t is expected here that Presi-
dent Wilson will, in the very near fu-
ture, ask congress to take drastic
| measures to end a situation that daily
is becoming more and more intoler-
able.
The president was studying the re-
port presented to him by Warren G..
Stone and the advisory board of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
Their flat declaration that "a wide
spread spirit of unrest exists among
all classes, especially among wage
earners whose wages will no longer
provide adequate food, shelter and raj
ment for themselves and families"
hos csfi1 l1n oh of
deeply, his friends declare. This con-
crete warning by the chiefs of the en-
gineers of the dangers confronting the
American people furnished a complete
summing up of many similar state
ments which have been pouring in on
eminent departments ever since the
president came back from Europe.
Living Down or Wages Up.
On top of this statement came an
announcement by William G.. Lee,
president of the Brotherhood of Rail-
way Trainmen, that unless the rail-
road administration had taken action
by October 1 on the demands of the
brotherhood, either that wages of the
trainmen be increased or the cost Of
living reduced, steps looking to the
enforcement of the demands would be
taken. Mr.. Lee said resolution con-
tanning this declaration, adopted last
night by the special committee of six
teen appointed at the recent conven-
ton of the trainmen at Columbus, O.,
would be sent to the railroad admins
tration. The resolution provided that
in the absence of action by the date
named the committee would reconvene
to consider "the necessity for using
the protective features of the broth
erhood."
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 de-
clared an "upheavaP' was nearer in
this country today than ever before,
due to the unrest arising from mount
ing living costs. The railroad and
government departments had better
be assisting "to crush profteering" by
the packers and other industries, he
said, than shouting across the table
at each other" at hearings to consider
further increases.
"All of us are to blame" he said,
because we are exerting every effort
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 Capitol hill, with us and
with every corporation and with ev-
erybody, is that we are exerting our
selves to get the dollar, while the
working man is merely existing and
while the profteer is piling up milt
lions.
81 will admit to you, gentlemen, that
we are going the wrong way. | admit
to YOU that it is time to call q 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
I ever knew it in my years of expert
ence. Just let somebody drop match
in this country of ours and it will be
q sorry day for all of US.
"Unless my vision is most terribly
obscured, there is something coming
to us pretty soon in this country that
we had better take notice of.
Worse Than Peril of 1914.
eve are nearer war in this world
today. I believe, than when the kaiser
threw out the gauntlet Our Iawmak-
ers are to blame, in my opinion, be-
cause the masses of the people would
be behind them If they would attempt
to correct it; and surely there is pow
er to correct it; but instead they are
playing politics, as some of these la
Dor organizations are playing politics,
and it is the same all down the line"
KickIess "Booze" Failure.