The Hope pioneer., 1921-04-21

/ whose support the transport and
| ing to DIR. Julius Ruppel, chief Of the
German financial delegation in Paris
He says the time allowed is altogether
too short for estimating the total
liabilities for reparations. and that the
German experts have been forced to
| rely on written statements that are
| neither accurate nor adequate. A
Paris journal asserts that the sum to
i be demanded by the allies will be be.
tween 80 and 3S billions Of dollars
and that when Germany refuses. to
accept the figures two classes Of
French reserves will be called to the
colors and the Ruhr basin occupied
In that region are the most important
industrial plants and the largest coal
mines of western Germany.
Once more Premier Lloyd George
has been able, by super-juggling, to
avert economic disaster from Great
| Britain. The strike of the miners
federation, which threatened to involve
nearly all the organized labor of the
United Kingdom, was called off by the
federation Friday evening. Just how
this result was brought about is not
known at this writing, but apparently
| it was due primarily to the action OF
the railway men and transport work.
ers. These are the other two ele.
ments in the triple alliance" and,
having been called on for support by
the miners, they had decided to quit
work Friday night. But Mr.. Lloyd
George and other indefatigable per.
sons worked on them to change their
minds, and six hours before the hour
set for striking they announced that
they would not strike. The triple al.
lance was thus split, and the min.
ers must have seen that their cause
was hopeless.
Another reason for the change OF
attitude by the miners is seen in the
evident intention Of large number
of members of the house of commons
to see that justice is done the work.
ers in the matter Of wages. After
they had heard from the premier that
the miners refused to reopen negotia.
tons, they themselves conducted an
inquiry into the matter.
Presumably the plan for regulation
Of wages on national basis, accepted
by the government some time ago, will
be put into effect. The national pool.
ing of profits, also demanded by the
miners, was declared impossible by
the government.
An important step toward the re
vival of industry in America was made
last week when the United States
Steel corporation announced a new
price list showing lower prices 70,
steel. The cut ranges from $1.5O te
| SO ton, and the price of tin plate
also was reduced SIS ton. The de
creases are confined to certain prod.
ucts and, according to builders and
architects, are not in themselves suf.
ficient to revive the building industry;
but the cut does remove uncertainty
and establish a general stabilized price
level for steel and experts in the trade
say it should stimulate industry. The
| first concrete result was the announce.
ment by the International Harvester
company of straight 10 per cent re.
duction on its products in which steel
is the principal raw product useh
Secretary of Labor Davis in an ad.
dress in Chicago made his first public
statement of his attitude toward la.
Dor and capital. He called for q fail
deal for capital. decent living wage
for labor larger profits for farmers
through lower rail-shipping rates, and
the settlement of all Industrial dis
putes through conferences between
employees. He warned labor that II
it is to take share in the policies of
the nation it also must share the ma
tional responsibilities, declaring it was
up to labor to see that transportation
conditions were such that the farmer
could make fair profit.
The federal railway labor board has
issued an order that clears up the
transportation situation, or should dc
so speedily. Briefly, 1t terminates the
national working agreements on Jul,
l; meanwhile conferences between thu
carriers and the workers are ordered
to settle the controversies over work
ing rules as far as possible; on July
l, the board will promulgate "just ant
reasonable" rules for classes of en-
ployees regarding whom rules have no,
been reached by agreement. Both
sides are urged to act as quickly as
possible.