The New York herald., 1922-09-04

| producing regions or Kentucky, Michi-
gan and Kansas. were losing nt the rate
| Of 100000 a day because the movement
! of perishables in some instances ceased.
/ Had it not been for the mobiliza-
htion OF motor transport. the motor
| trucks which were brought into service
| in many sections when the effects of
the railroad strike began to be felt,
the losses would have been much great
| er. The extent to which motor trans
port helped 10 keep the avenues open
is believed here 10 be one of the aspects
of the strike generally overlooked.
| But for the feeling of confidence
| gro wing out Of the facilities of motor
| transport there would have been a great
deal more hysteria in some sections.
The factor in the strike which caused
| the greatest concern to the Government
and which cannot be presented in any
balance sheet Of figures was tho acts
| of lawnessness. resulting in many cases
in indiscrimnate killing. Not even the
| Bureau of Census can give an estimate
of the number or persons who lost their
lives as a result Of the coal and rail-
broad strikes No official reports are
made to any department OF the Govern
ment, and. besides. there were many kill
ings which escaped notice even in the
press. Twenty-Five persons were killed
| in the Herrin massacre alone. 1t Is
estimated that at least seventy-hve
killings resulted from strike disorders.
Regarding the cost of the strikes to
the country all experts agree that the
setback will be felt in the pyramiding
of prices because Of increased cost of the
basic commodity OF coal. When the coal
strike started on April l. the average
| - 4t,, al
$3.50 a day. The process of dehatlon
had brought the wages down TO this
point from the high war peak On the
other hand they stood at the average of
$3.50 day in the union fields. 1t was
the attempt to get the United Mine
Workers TO participate in the general
process OF defation that precipitated the
strike
Even as the strike is being settled
coal experts here warn that the battle
Is only postponed that it is merely a
truce and not a settlement. They con-
tend that IL the United Mine Workers
are 20 hold onto their war wage ther.
Is no alternative but for the people to
pay the cost in the form of increased
cost of coal and the pyramiding of prices
all along the line.
If this is the alternative II is only
question OF time until the railroads
come before the Interstate Commerce
Commission to demand an increase in
freight rates, as the business Of the coun-
try is urgently demanding a scaling
down.
Tilted Structure of Wages.
The ability OF the miners and the rail-
road employees to maintain for them
selves scale OF wages higher than the
adjusted scale in other industries has
resulted in an unbalanced and titled
structure of wages. II Is generally con-
cededs-that union labor on the railroads
and in the mines has on the whole
suffered less from the wage dehation
process than similar labor in other in
dustries.
As an instance of the Inequality the
Secretary of Agriculture recently gave
figures which bear out the contention
that the wage scale is completely un-
balanced and that an adjustment is in
evitable II there is to be adjustment all
around. According to Secretary Wal
lace's figures the purchasing power Of
railroad employees wages in 1921 was
81 per cent. less than in 1913, that Of
coal miners 80 per cent. greater that of
farm hands 4 per cent less and of the
farmers earnings from 25 to Is per
cent. less than in 1918
Here is the way Secretary Wallace
vauled the coal miners dollar in terms
Of farnf produce, as compared with
1918:
The average wage in 1913 for mining
n ton OF coal would buy IL bushel OF
corn in Iowa, al pounds OF cotton in
Texas. Z pounds of hog in Nebraska
0.s Of bushel OF potatoes in New York,
IL pounds Of sheep In Wyoming, 1.6
bushels of oats in Illinois. and "a pounds
- ht1tf In nftrf In Ina -,
average wage for producing ton Of
coal would purchase 2.5 bushels of corn,
90 of bushel of wheat So pounds Of
cotton. IA pounds Of n hog, liz OF a
busheI OF potatoes. is pounds or sheep.
81 bushels OF oats and 32 pounds OF
butter.