Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1921-05-04
sCHwAB TALKS ON CONDITIONS.
Must bo II Re,,djustment Of Railroad
Rates and Wages rs Beginning.

through tne economy ana SaCTliCeS
Of her working people, has settled
down to real production and is out
stripping the United States and the
allied nations in the fight toward
normalcy, Charles NJ. Schwah de-
clared here to-day in an address be-
fore the chamber Of commerce Of the
State Of New York.
MIR. Schwab was the guest of the
chamber at a reception given in rec
ognition Of his service to the coun-
try during the war.
Germany to-day can put ton Of
steel in England at price twenty
dollars ton cheaper than England
can make it," he said, land is selling
pneumatic tools in Detroit where
formerly we shipped such machinery
to Germany and sold it cheaper than
she could make it.
"The difference is solely matter
| Of labor costs.
at is estimated that 100000
men are out Of work in this country
| 1t is, accordingly, Of supreme import
ance TO the working man as well as
to the capitalist to restore our pros
perity.
| Mover before was the need for
products so great, never before was
such valuable machinery and facili-
ties available. never before was
| ihnrn 60 h,i
done
II have just returned from Iu-
rope. and | came with renewed ad-
miratiOn for the courage and deter
mination displayed in Italy, France
and England. However, Germany
was ahead Of them all in production.
''ls it possible that, after having
won the war, we Of the Allied ma
tions. with everything in our hands,
will allow Germany to win the peace
through the efforts of her labor?
Labor, on the whole, can be paid
only what labor, as ii whole, returns,
and if some sections Of labor exact
more than their share of the cur
rent product of the world, other sec
tons are going to suffer. i under
stand that our railroads to-day pay
to labor over sixty cents out OF every
dollar received. The labor cost Of
making ton of steel to-day is S5
cents out Of each dollar Of total cost.
Labor costs underlie our railroad
| hSst
the excessive railroad rates. We for
merly sold pig iron at q profit at
about $14 ton. To-day the total
freight rates involved in making a
ton OF pig iron are more than $14.
But the railroads cannot give SER
vice even at present rates with their
existing costs.
"Railroad costs must come down
and it is in the interest OF national
prosperity that our government, act
ing through the labor board and
every other agency. shall reduce rail
road wages and bring costs down to
q living point.
''The same situation cOnfronts our
merchant marine. In the operating.
building and repairing of ships the
labor costs are hopelessly high. That
this is true is shown by the millions
Of tons Of shipping now lying idle
the great number of ship-yards with
| no work to do, and the hundreds of
thousands Of shipping and ship
building Workmen.
''ln so far as our people in Amer
lea are prepared to go to work at
reasonable wages. in so far as we
are prepared quickly to abandon the
artificial extravagances Of the war,
will we lay the foundations for a
prosperity never enjoyed before.
"Ths is the route through wi ch
MOI merely America, but the peoples
! Of our allies as we'll, can find their
way out and triumph in peace as
they did in war"
The chamber presented Mr.. Schwab
bronze tablet, at the top of which
was inscribed words uttered by Iachi-
mo. character in Shakespcarc's
! play. Cymbclne. The quotation is
as follows: "lIere's a voucher even
stronger than the law could make"