Norwich bulletin., 1922-01-14


 though their efforts are in the public 1 interest they have Iittie help from the | public. Railroad wages In shops and fer l common labor are so far above the wages l paid for similar work along their lines | that the companies find 1t practicable to | make important savings by contracting for their repairs and much other work The New York Central has contracted for freight-handIing at some of it's ter minals, and the Erie. has contracted for track maintenance over a portion of it's line.
 The operat4on of railway repair shocs always has been regarded as a matter of policy within the discretion of the management. If a company can save mon ey by operating Its own shops 1t should do so and by the same reasoning if ncF- ey can besaved by letting out the work that should be done. The railroads are maintained primarily to give service to the public and the public is entitled to have them operated upon level of costs corresponding to what the public pays and receives for like labors and services. Continuity Of service and merit in ser vdce may we'll be recognized, but com pensation should be based upon, the value of services rendered. Any other system would make railroad employees a favored
 
 companies, but of the public, including millions of people who have less pay than the railroad men.
 We have a letter from Montgomery, Ala. in which the writer says:
 '@T'ne producers are forced to sell beet for from 1-2 to 3 cents per sound and hides for from to 3 cents and the con- sumers pay from 25 to 40 cents per pound 5 for shoes. The same is true off all ether products. The negro porters on railway trains get a salary from s100 to s200 per 1 month for eight hours of easy work day {: while the farm laborers work from 10 to 14 hours day in the dew and cold and receive salary of from sS to S15 per month, and the farmer loses money pay ! ing that salary. Something Is radically | wrong and I fear the result will not be good for cur country" The prospect is for cessation of coal mining when existing contracts expire on April list. The pay for mininy coal | is so far above what 1t was before the war that the price of ccal is one 0 fthe most serious obstacles to the general re- l 0Uction of living costs and the revival | industry. The increased cost of coal and | increased cost of transportation are caus- 1 shin in this country than any other two l influences that can be named No pre- l dictions can be yentured as to when in- 1 dustry will be running full time so lont l as 1t laibors under such handicaps Conditions in the agricultural sections are far inspiring, but in the cotton coun- try the feeling is a little better. The fi- nal government estimate upon the cotton creo is S,S40,000 bales, which compares with the October estimate of 6,537 ,00O bales, an increase that might have been expected to play smash with the market The explanation given for this extraor-
 dirary revision is that the department oi
 Agriculture was crippled in tn ebureau ot estimates by a reduction of it's force oi investigators, and was nIisled as to tht acreage planted in cotton. The ginn:ngE
 proved the inaccuracy of the October es
 timate, and the conclusion seems to b.
 forced that the acreage curtailment was
 much less than claimed by the organizer.
 of the movement
 The first effect of the revised esti mate was 10 cause cottcn to sell off, Jan
 uary contracts going under r cents. bu
 since thc1 with good conditions in tin
 cotton trade prices have advanced abou
 two cents the pound Exports of ccttoi
 since June have been well above thos
 of the corresponding months of last year
 and here is some feeling in the Britisl
 cotton trade that world stccks of cot
 ton goods are low and that better buy
 ing Is not far off Trade in India is un
 favorably affected by the patriotic boy
 colt of British goods.
 The Governments final raoort make
 this country's production of wheat abou
 54,000,0 ,0o0 bushels above former figures fN,. December g, as reported by Bradstreet'
 aggregated 231 100000 b sAen agatsl 23S,00O,000 in the corresponding time las
 year. The market has been unsettled ap fluctuating, but at the end Of Decenba ?
 was upon about the same level as a
 the beginning. Worlds needs and supple
 seems to be closely balanced in this croi but the growing crops in this country rated at a low condition.
 The West has surplus Of corn whic l rest sheayily upon the market but rrice have held their own during the pas | month, and gained couple of cents, part l ly on the strength of prospective pur chases for Russia. Cattle are depressed
 but hogs around s7 per hundred-weigh l in Chicago yield fair return to tn ; lfarnler what has grown a good crop c 3 corn. Dairy products also are bringin
 
 Farmers who own their land and ar out of debt can get along very well un der present conditions although foca | taxes have been pushed up in recar . years until they are as much as rent wa , twenty years ago. Farmers who went ir 3 l to debt for land at tho prices rulin two years ago halye an interest eharg ' which cannot be met from tho land. Thi will be the first year in a great many i : which numerous defaults will occur i the payment of interest upon farm mort
 gages.
 There is good reason to believe tha present prices for farm products ar ! about the lowest that will be seen. Tn last two seasons have been unusualk favorable for the grain crops The car
 ry-oyer Of wheat certainly will not D l. large and the growing crolp has q noo } start It would be remarkable to hay another bumper corn yield after thre great crops, and there Is reason to be , lieve that less corn will be planted thi ; year Moverover it Is likely that the llo crop will be increased During the year when corn brought high prices, it be came the popular thing to sell OeTn an a good many farmers got out out of hog
 They are likely to get baoq to nor !evenIy balanced agriculture, with pror 7 milch cows, more pigs, rscrs grass an l 1 forage ccoDs and z!1ore scientific ctii