Evening journal., 1920-10-29
THE HIGH COST OF STRIKES
Striking at the Nerve Centers of Industry

The best authorities estimated .Aat
at no time during the war was our
production OF normal necessaries cur
tailed more than 20 per cent. Yet
pr;ces went up i07 per cent.
In 1917. the flaxseed crop was only
% pr cent less than the year before.
D the price that resulted from that
suffrage was 100 per cent higher.
IN l9lo, our cotton crop was only 80
per cent smaller than in 1914. but, as
a result OF that decrease, the price
went up 60 per cent.
Ihe 100000 suits OF clothes by
when strikes lessened our supply Of
certain classes OF clothes in 1919 was
less Than 80 per cent OF our produc-
tlon, yet 1t raised the prices Of all
su6h suits over 100 per cent.
But The persistent, partial starva.
tion OF market also adds a psycbo-
logical factor that very much eyag-
gerates this normal price tendency 10
80 up dlsprop0rti0nately to the actual
tinount OF the shortage.
a man who Is used to having pganty
10 eat may be able to continue to
i've Indefinitely, even II his rati1ns
are reduced 10 the actual point OF
subsistence. But II, in addition.
through this long period. he is con-
tinually threatened with having no
food at all, it can easily be under
stood how he would get into a state
OF nerves where he would do almost
anything. or pay almost anything, 10
insure himself Of really enough TO eat
again for a while.
Last fall, during the coal strike,
manufacturers everywhere faced the
possibility OF getting no coal at all q.
But II was a problem they could all
face together and fight together. II
was a definite condition, and there
was a definite enemy TO fight.
There Is ample coal today being
| produced. William B. Culver, OF the
Federal Trade Commission, publicly
reports that there is sufficient coal
and there are sufficient nat cars to
handle our peak production OF coal. "
But during this spring these same
mon. have had coal just dribbled out
to them because OF this half-starva-
tion strategy Of the outlaw railroad
strikers. For months they have had
| barely enough. or Rot quite enough
and almost every day they have faced
the specter OF having even the dribble
cut off.
They realize that their having coal
or not having il depends on the whim
OF strike leaders. who are utterly ir-
responsible and without scruple. Such
a condition is bound, sooner or later,
TO get on the nerves OF men that
have to have coal to run their busi-
ness and are willing to pay almost
anything to be sure OF having enough
coal at least for a while.
Exactly the same situation existed
In regard to most other goods and
materials. Thousands OF manufacture
ers never knew from day to day
whether or not tomorrow they would
have enough raw material to keeI
their plants going. Thousands OF
them had their wareh ouses packed tC
overflOwing with a balance OF goods
they could not deliver and so could
not collect the money on which they
needed to run their business. Such
men, too, inevitably sooner or later
reach a state OF nerves where they
will pay anything to get such raw
material as was availble.
Thousands OF carloads OF ordinary
freight were sent at express rates
which further cut down the freight
trafiic that came through and further
! increased local shortage.
There are many other industrial
nerve cenlers, and professional strike
leaders are learning more and more
how to pick them out with unerrine
accuracy. Here's one Of the simplest
cases right at home and right now.
Painters are rated only as semi
skilled labor. and they work more in
doors and more regularly than mosl
other building trades. 1t is funda-
mental doctrine in the building labor
/ neld-accepted by the men themselves
as axiomatic-that all the other more
skilled and less sheltered workers
should get more than the painters
II the comparatively small number OF
eemi-skilled painters win their strike
for $40 a day. that very fact viii
mean that tens OF thousands OF Other
more skilled workers will be put II
a position where, according to al
Fundamental labor ideas Of justice
they can demand at least si2 day.
or course, that is exactly the rea
inside rea|n back Of that strike.
The public is used to big, cOnspic
uous strikes, like the clothing or thu
coal or the steel strikes, where nun
dreds Of thousands OF men openly
, mit iheir work and The issue anC
, consequences are conspicuous. Public
opinion is able to understand anC
Judge and deal with such a strike.
But in a strike where seldom mor'
, than a few thousand men are oI
, strike at a time. and they are scat
, lered-where who the strikers arr
and what the ussues are are almos
unknown. and because OF that fac
b. purposely muddled how can publi
/ pnion be aroused or organized. Ne
, chamber Of Commerce officials an.
4 other conservative men familiar viii
: the results all speak OF the cost o
2 ihe outlaw railroad strike in terms o
billions Of dollars-far more nan IN
p coal strike cost.
s You cant always tell by the look
e OF q strike how far its cost Wi
jump.