The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1921-06-24

tOrldl on WudG SIIIhCS dlS uOlllS
in the world. With strikes still
affecting trades throughout New
England:
According to the latest reports,
strikes are bringing the proud mari
time nation of Great Britain from
affluence to poverty. The British
ioiners or ships carpenters, have
been on strike for the past nine
months, making it necessary for
owners of British ships needing re-
pairs to send them to French or Bel
gian yards, as no work could be done
in the home yards.
These strikes have made shipping,
especially secondhand boats, practi-
cally worthless, as they have fallen
in value 85 per cent in the past 10
months. 1t is almost impossible to
secure cargoes of any kind, because
the strikes make it difficult to secure
crews and the freight rates are so
low as to render a profit on a voyage
most problematical. For these
reasons the British mercantile marine
which was worth in the neighborhood
of 1,O00,OOO,OOO pounds in March,
1920, is now valued at less than one
quarter the amount.
This should be a warning to the
United States. We have vast fleet
of wooden vessels lying idle and de-
preciating in value every day. Our
marine workers are on strike, de-
manding wages and working condi-
tions which the employers are unable
to grant, and workers generally
refuse to bear their share of the
burden in bringing about readjust-
ment in the affairs of business.
1t requires very little foresight to
comprehend the outcome of all this.
The signs are plainly to be seen and
their meaning is unmistakable
There are no strikes in Germany.
The industries of that country are
functioning practically at capacity,
the laborer is working in harmony
with the employer and great results
are being accomplished. This means
that Germany will hold first rank as
an industrial nation in the course OF
a few years and that no tariff wall
can be built so high as to keep it's
products out of this or any other
country.
While the ships of Great Britain
and the United States are lying idle,
allowing a great opportunity Tor
commercial expansion to pass by;
while these ships are growing old
and obsolete, Germany is building
new ships equipped with all the
modern appliances. AS Germany will
operate these ships for 80 per cent
less than it will cost Great Britain
and America to operate their ships,
the inevitable result will be the
ocean supremacy Of that country.
Whom the gods would destroy
they first make mad" Surely, it
seems as though this were being
exemplified by the workers in the
English-speaking countries. With
overstocked with |
goods they must sell at sacrifice;
with retailers cutting the price of
their wares in many instances 30 per |
cent, workers still insist on being |
paid wartime wages when the pur-
chasing price of the dollar has de-
preciated one-half. The dollar is
now approaching its normal value,
the cost of living has decreased
and yet laborers are
standing out for the payment Of in
flated wages.
We have only to glance across the
water to see the folly of such a pro-
cedure. Behold the great maritime
nantion Of Great Britain trembling
on the brink of ruin because of in
dustrial disturbances brought about
by strikes. We should profit by this
spectacle and mend our ways before
we have similar experiences.
All countries in the recent
war are honoring the typical sol
der by burying the body of an
unknown soldier in some popular
shrine. Westminster has its I'M
known hero and we are to have
ours. At first it was thought
that the Amphitheatre of Ar
lington would be the place. The
setting is classic and beautiful
and the great company of the
heroic dead, known and I'M
sleeps near, but there is
an agitation, backed by many
Legion men, to make the burial
in the crypt in the Capitol build
ing. just north of the rotunda.
This is of course the heart of the
nation and thousands would
stand before this spot, ten hun
dreds who would visit Arlington.
It would be a place set apart
perhaps as no other place would
be, although should the Amphi-
theatre be chosen, it would be a
national shrine and fitting one
The body of this soldier typifies
the country's sacrifice.
Memorial Day is over but there
we're many features to it which
t will do us no harm to think