The Connecticut labor press., 1920-09-25


 the shoe business there and III Haver- hill is in bad way; large number ot workers are unemployed and "only re- gently the shoe unions asked the city council to furnish relief to hundreds of needy families" Trouble seems to be that the great purchasing public IS not buying shoes; prices exorb1tant, yet there are no signs of decline and un- loading stocks thereby so that more shoes will be demanded and therefore more work furnished for shoemakers. And the price of leather has dropped 50 per cent.
 A New Haven landlord complains loudly about the impending high tax rate and wants to know how i'll blazes he's going to meet the added expenses. . Must be a new kind of landlord or a landlord new to the landlord game. All the landlords l have met, and l have met hosts of them, knew very well how to meet the added expenses" and have a little bit over for fattening the bank roll.
 note that a reduction of about 50 per cent. in the wholesale price of high class women's silk hosiery has been an- nounced This. great news, it is said, will make possible the return of the. $275 silk stocking at setail. But l find no cheerful news about the old cotton socks; prices still aviating and they continue making 'em on the porus plaster plan.
 Out of the columns and pages of newspaper political dope, gulf and bluff, I find only of1e wee bit of good cheer for the vets. A crumb of comfort from MT. Roosevelt of the democratic ticket, Cut it out and paste 1t in your hats, brothers of the HoW-Dry-I-Am- League; it may never happen again. The gem is from report of recent speech by the vice-presidential candi- date, to wit:
 "He said he was for thorough trial of the 18th amendment, but thinks the Volstead Act a trife stringent half. of per cent is ridiculous, if 1t is to describe an alcoholic beverage. But we must all stand for law observance and enforcement he said"
 Henry Ford in announcing reduc- ton in the price of his hivvers to pre- war level, said that there would be no reduction in the wages. Henry hasn't much of reputation for uttering high brow thoughts, nor IS he noted for all- round wisdom, but he ranks high as a truth teller. Says Mir. Ford: Our country is rich beyond measure Ill natural resources, rich i'll all the ma terial things that go to make a nation great, and yet its progress is being held practically at a standstil1 because of the greed of the profiteers.
 That sounds so good that bit more from Henry seems to fit in here: Now is the time to call a halt on war meth ods, war prices, war prohteering and war greed It may be necessary for a everybody to stand little sacrifice, but 1t will be most profitable after all, be- cause the sooner we get the business of the country back to pre-war condi ton, the sooner the lives of our people become more natural-progress, pros7 perity and contentment will occupy the attention of our people,"
 There's bound to be big price re- duction by spring." says Fred Volland, national director of the Retail Cloth iers' Association of America. Eventu- ally if not now Meanwhile what about winter? All of these modern seers are far sighted, it would appear
 New Haven has candidate for the Hall of Fame Carl F. Bollman, clerk of the probate court, has stated that the court only asks for the same appropria- ton as last year, 5000, although he plaintively admits that old high cost has boosted the expenses of running the court as well as everything else.
 This is what Franklin K Lane says, and 1t is mighty significant coming at this time: T am not expecting that the cost of labor will tall off even in the worst of times to its pre-war stage, for I believe that the real differentia1 between directing labor and manual la bor will never again be as great as 1t has been."