The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1921-07-01
LABOR COSTS.

LABOR COSTS.
II labor had acted 'more wisely End
Been Wiling to do III part NJ thetre,
Eadjustmnnesh tohoof labor svaahluesss Il IRE
would i fhot hSvs 2basssfh7ffo four Jhqsiilae ill
lion men without Jobs Ii lths' epustry
today gaahads 1agricultafee' would not be
ffRfssatSSnesd with ruff and the na on
With. the disaster that ould.overAke
LII 4 The great basic industry is not
properly sustained. AS long as labor
insisted upon holding to the exces-
sive wages Of the war period although
the cost Of living was tumbing daily
there could be no reimbursement I'm
wise and selfish leaders have lost in a
few months more for organized labor
than it had gained in years.
One evidence of the lack of wisdom
of labor may be cited in the Nash
Vile printers strike. With two ex-
ceptions all of the printing shops of
Nashville were closed shops. The
owners would have continued the alb
normal wage prices of war days, but
labor wanted reduction in hours.
This was not granted and strike
7 resulted. Nov eeeery shop in Nash.
I..vTffig7ibs doing bGsi}Sess at the old
stand obut all salIs genuinely American
36phn's shops, instead Of closed shops
Industry is the gamer but union labor
sufered 4 knock DIT blow in Nash.
If the farmers are to survive and
feed the nation the prices Fat which
they buy must conform tofthe prices
at which they sell. Labor must not
expect to receive two or three barrels
of corn day while the farmer who
produces it cannot expect to make
with his own labor, furnishing all the
capital and paying all the other ex-
penses, that much corn per day. I'm
less labor costs come down where the
farmers can buy at prices correspond
/! ing to those at which they are being
forced to sell there will soon be no
market for the products of industrial
labor and the unemployment problem
will continue to grow ~
T Americas prosperity depends very
largely upon its foreign trade That
I'fs a factor that cannot be overlook
FED. If our costs of production are too
Thigh, and admittedly they are, we
cannot hope Is compete with others
who are selling the finished Duct
nearer THE cost: of the raw materials
lszJWhat is here said with respect to
Tabor applies of course with e1lal
force to capital It must be satisfied
with narrower margin of profit Man
when we were all on a wild debduch
of spending. Both capital and labor
must take "a loss now In order 4hat
conditions may be adjusted on a @air
basis for our, fundamental and Bhsic
industry or 1t is doomed. When agri-
culture Isl destroyed in Anierifa II by
false economical conditions then Cap
ital will be without value and labor
without employment If only labor
and capital could both understand
and appreciate that all of the we'll be-
ing of all the people in the last and
final analysis depends upon the pros
perity of those engaged in the ma
TONS basic industry then our prob.
lens would be easy of solution.
1t would be fine If we could keep all
the wages and salaries elevated dur
ing and after the war. But when the
spredHcer simply cannot and will not
pay for materials and products based
Upon such a'scale of wages. then
mist follow depression and bankrupt
cy. That is the whole trouble with
Ahierica today. If air had recognized
III the beginning inthe beginning that
'lab5r costs Aiidst f3eaf a proper rela-
'fionshfp to thssc5aadof farm products
this period of depression and unem-
ployment would have been largely