Arizona republican., 1921-08-25
THURSDAY MORNING. AUGUST a5, 1921
The three things most difficult are-to keep e secret, to forget an injury and to make good use of leisure. -Chilo.
A Standard of Living

Standard of Living
 The proposed strike vote of the railway labor unions may result in bringing head several fun damental questions in relations of employer and empoye which have been disturbing those relations for some generations.
 In the beginning these relations very simple. The powerful were the employers and the weak the employees The former fixed the conditions of labor. the wages which only allowed the workers sufficient subsistence to enable them to keep working and then they had to work whether they wanted to are not They built pyramids and palaces roads and bridges under the lash. But that relation between employer and employe passed out of existence many generations ago though under the soviet it was revived in Russia
 The rights of the employe and more to be recognized Labor took higher place until it came to be understood that the wages were to be what the employer could afford pay for if, the scale became dependent upon the employers profits That seemed just arrangement and perhaps 1t would have been allowed stand but for the tendency of employers to exploit employees.
 Later and comparatively recently basis of wages was proposed by the employe. princi- pie wes laid down-'1abor is not a commodity wages were to bs determined only by the need of the employe to live support his family decently and to provide surplus against sickness and old age. For the first tme large employers in con- ference at Atlantic City four years ago acceded to this principle but it does not appear that they piled 1t to the men in their employment
 We known to agree that white is black just to. avoid further purposeless argument. To agree that labor is not commodity Is not to make it not a commodity. No employer will keep labor at a loss himself long after the business in which is employed yield profit regardless whether not the wages he afford to will enable the employe to maintain decent standard of living,
 The proposal and acceptance of this new principle brought many perplexities which however did not directly disturb private employment. There the pIoyer merely quit when ends did not meet some- times he quit by the way of strike lockout.
 The principle though was applied the govern ments management of the railroads There the gov ernment was able to tax the patrons Of the roads for any amount necessary the difference be- tween the cost of operation involving wages high enough to maintain decent standard of living, and the revenues of the roads. To meet this deficiency taxed in two ways. by the regular process of taxation freight passenger rates
 The people could not help themselves and paid without great complaint with cheerfulness. because they felt that somehow they were helping to win the In the meantime, the private employers had nobody to tax to enable them to the difference between revenues and the of opera ton. Their patrons paid either willingly It happened though during this period, that they paid willingly because there demand for every thing that could be produced and everybody had money.
 But the time came when the people quit paying Then the private employers either reduced pended operations. to resume. if at all, with lower wage scales in which no account is taken of the maintenance of decent standard of living
 If all employers and all employees were just and reasonable the thing would work itself properly. and there would be universal decent standard of living. But majority of both are neither just nor reasonable, so that we think of way by which 1t may be worked out.
 But speaking more particularly of the railway wage situation. which government manage rnent has made difficult with various increases of scales its national agreements" which became more burdensome to operation than the scales both increased cost of operation and in essened eff- ciency. Golfers. in the current issue. speaks the astounding principle developed in government man. agement-that high wages must be paid regardless of the earnings of the roads.
 Now the situation is this There Is a public clamor on sides for the reduction of The claim made and it doubt is true that the present high rates lessening traffic and throtting busi ness. The roads claim that they reduce the rates without reducing the cost of operation which is made up chiefly of wages. The railway laborers claim that the roads could reduce rates by more economical operation
 As to the last two claims we do not know. But we will suppose just to form situation. that tn, roads claim and that the railway charg. of carelessness operation is not well founded the roads are giving the best and cheapest service possible considering the cost of operation We wil also suppose that the workers receiving nor than enables them to maintain decent standart of living.
 Then we come into an impasse. Who is to keel up this standard? Is 1t to be done by the patron of the roads, who find that the rates already S high that they ship only at a loss? Do you knov be done? We do not.