Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-06-02
PUBLIC OPINION
WAGES AND BUSINESS
EVENING NEWS:

EDlIO EVENING NEWS:
Some people have been fretting,
/ know no better word to describe
their remarks to me, because 1 init
mated in a letter, recently published
in the Evening News, that cutting
wages would in no way tend to en-
liven business or make for better
times.
The process of cutting wage be-
gan about fourteen months ago,
and that day marked the begin
ming of the present business de-
preston. About five years ago there
was a marked advance in the scale
of wages paid to all classes of labor
in the United States, and that day
marked the beginning of the most
prosperous business period that this
country has ever experienced. Are
these two facts significant, or are
they not? When the buying ca
pacity of the great mass of Amer
lean people is cut at the rate of
twenty millions of dollars per day,
does it mean anything to the bust
ness Of the country, or does it not?
Laboring people that have not al
ready experienced a wage cut are
threatened with one. What Is the
result? Every me-, some from ne
cessity, some through fear of the
future, are economizing. I am
wearing my old hat, my old clothes,
cutting my feed bill. and scrimp-
f ing along on as little as possible.
When thirty millions of families are
. doing the same thing it's a grand
IN tntlook for business isn't It?
che II tomorrow it should be an
hsnced that. instead Of more cut
,i.r' Gftin wages there would be a gen.
daaadvance all along the line, our
sfu.serstries the country over would
.sJ. " soon be taking on men instead
@ha laying them off. Does anybody
IA, 1ubt it.? .
Five the people the money to
epend and they will spend 1t. And
right Here Is where the retail pro-
4 fteer shines with a dark red light.
The fellow that is charging-there
are plenty of them in Perth Am
boy-one) cent o a reasonable
and legitimate profit for the articles
they hahdle-whether 1t is coal or
toothpicks-are blocking industry.
They ere a menace to society; they
are wtoefully lacking in the knowl-
edge of what constitutes good citl-
zeTlship: they are on a par with,
and need the same sort of instruc-
tton that they are trying to give,
tthe inmates of the New Jersey re-
.+formatory.
nat WOulu yOu idtic Nv, pNf L"
thousand hats and make fifteen
hundred dollars or sell ten thous-
and hats and make three thousand
dollars? Ninety per cent of Perth
Amboy business geniuses are doinS
business on the thousand hats basis
and think themselves tremendous
Iy shrewd. They let the cream OF
the trade go to other places where
some dealers are beginning to
wake up to the fact that the war
is over. Where they are beginning
to realize that If they don't make
the prices right the people won't
buy-can't buy. If the people can't
buy, the factories can't manufacture
can't employ help, can't pay wage
for the employees to spend. It's
lust a continual round of disaster.
1t was excessive profiteering. not
high wages, that put the business
of the country on the bum. Put
prices down where they should be.
leave wages alone. and In six months
time you wouldn't know the coun-
try.
The inter-town, the ~inter-county,
the Interstate. trade Is the great
big thing in this country. It's a mill
lion times larger than the foreign
trade, SO you fellows that are try
ing to mix up European politics
withlhe American labor wage ques-
-tiorzt.hust get more sand to hid
You headHtn, because people who
know can't sppre time to listen to
srch far-fetched arguments.
thank you.
WIN. B. WOODRUFF,
AVenel, N. j.