The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1922-08-11

and exploitation must share the very
serious responsibility. There is no
doubt at all that this strike is part
and parcel of the process of "defiat-
ing labor" which was begun so de-
liberately and carried on so heartless-
ly at the close of the war. 1t is even
now being whispered across the coun-
try, as a kind of secret campaign
argument, that manufacturers-es-
pecially nufacturers-must be pa
tient with the present destructive sit
uation because it is only part of "the
program of putting labor where it
belongs" 1t is openly charged in
various reports in the hands of the
president that these setrikrs were de-
sired by the owners of railroads and
mines. The strikes were desired by
the railroad owners because they
would encourage by fair means or
foul the government purchase of the
roads. And the strikes were desired
by the mine owners because of an in
tolerable condition which has been
fastened on coal mining. The rail
roads are so decrepit that even Wall
street has discarded them in favor of
the movies, as investment PROPOSE
tions. Coal mining has been so sep
arated from the public by broker
age system that only drastic readjust-
ment can be of any use.
In both of these instancesp however,
the administration is not blameless.
The time for government to act is
before the catastrophe, to prevent it..
The administration had full knowledge
and ample warning of what was to
occur; it knew the protest of the rail-
way. workers uttered at the time a
government agency was busy slashing
$500, 100000 off the workers annual
income; it knew the situation with
regard to coal; yet not by one act of
| forethought or one step toward pre-
vention did it seek to forestall what
| it clearly saw would occur, and what
| it must have known the enemies of
labor dearly desired to occur. Nc
amount of tardy buster and fluster
will make up for that.
In the railway matter the wages of
the men must be put back. The strike
| is wrong, but the men are right.
Railway management has made its
last confession of absolute failure
when it takes its working capital out
of the pay envelopes of the men.
| The salvation of the railroads does
not lie in that direction. Reduction
of wages and increase of rates is GER
tain suicide. Reduction of rates, in
crease in the quality of the service
and higher wages are the guarantees
of railroad prosperity. Minds of the
old order cannot see that, but it is
the truth of railroading.
AS to the coal situation, the con-
ditions of coal mining are and al
ways have been a disgrace to civil
lied people. We have enjoyed our
coal at too great cost of flesh and
blood. We have permitted our pub
lie press to degrade the name of miner
until it means Titles less than outlaw
We have forgotten that the best OF
the British stock comprise the bulk OF
our mining forces-Irish, Welsh and
Scotch-men whose minds are fit soil
for the seeds of liberty and Christian
Justice. We have thought, because
they belong to one of the most an
cient trades in the world, the trade
of mining, that anything was good
enough for them and that they must
somehow be themselves to blame or
they would not have so many suffer
ings. And that is about the total ex-
tent of the public's contribution of
thought to thes mining problem.
The mine owners want strike be-
cause it will reduce stocks, make coal
scarce and raise prices. There is CO.
lossal irony in the fact that the coun-
try faces coal famine because there
is too much coal. There is so much
coal produced and so many mines
running that, in spite of the high
daily wages paid to miners, the days
work are so few that in West Vir-
ginia last year miners earned $500
and in Illinois S1,OOO-the lowest and
highest figures for years income.
And in earning that pittance, $500
were killed and 10000 injured!
The miners produce coal at the high