New Ulm review., 1922-07-26

4 that they hive to get enough wages
! for 1875 das work to feed, clothe and
4 house thynselves and families for 365f
days. When the discussion is on how
4 much shese men received a day in pay,
1.-The figures are misleading, because
| thy are forced to be idle almost two
eay fol- every one day that they get
lchance to work, in norman times.
Coal miners, in normal times, have
had a chance to work less than three
days week, on the average. They
are paid by the day for the days they
work only. The owners Of the mines
control the number ,of Gays they.
operate the mines. The owners are
on strike, in normal times, about two
thire $ Of the time. Do you ever hear
any holler about that in the kert
press? RS
Propagandist news writer's tell us
how much the miners were paid a day,
and to those Of US who were not in
formed as to the true facts, it sounded
big. Most Of us din, know that one
day'sSwage had to pay for three days
living. When miners made demand
for = four day week, paid writer's made
much oft in denouncing the @lazy"
workingmen who didn't want to work
more than four days a week, when the
fact Of the matter is that they were
then working only little more than
two days week and their. demand was
for more work because they found it
next to impossible to live Oh the wages
they earned for 9 lily two days q week.
Why won't the mine owners let their
men work more than two days a week?
Because by working two, days a week,
enough coal is mined to supply the
demand and there was surplus of 10
million tons beside at the time the
strike started. If more coal should be
mined, there would be "over-produc-
ton of coal and in the scramble to
get it sold, the price Of coal would
drop. The owners want to keep the
supply Of coal low enough to keep the
American coal-buying public on the
anxious seat to make the high price
easy to get. The explanation of the
high price is always that "labor cost"
is SO high. And again, most Of us
don't know that the coalwhich we pay
$11.O0a ton and more for in New Ulm,
only cost SLIP ton to dig in Illinois
and that the cost Of digging coal in
Indiana, West Virginia and Penn
|sylvania averages $1.95 a ton for
which we pay $14.50 in New Ulm.
That doesn't look asif the high price In
New Ulm should be blamed to labor,
does it? And it is q cinch that it
isn't the New Ulm dealer who gets
away with the big rake-off.
4 President Harding has now shown
how completely his government is
capitalist government by ordering the
mines operated by the present owners
under the exact, terms asked by the
owners and "drafting'' the men to,
work under the new rules laid down
by the owners, the work to be forced
under protection of the American
flag. This act by President Harding,
an official declaration Of war against
organized labor, $50 contrary to every
fundamental principle Of justice as to
be almost unbelievable, And yet it,
probably is the best thing that could
ever happen. Big wrongs are not
righted, as rule, until things become
so rotten as to stink to heaven. This
act of Harding's, coming on top Of
long series Of injustice to labor should
awaken the civic righteousness Of the
nation eliminating in mass action at
the, polls.
Labor needs to be slapped real hard
to awaken to the fact that the ballot
is more powerful than the srtike.
-.&$ - r,s \ s tsas