The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1922-07-15

institutions.
Yes it is good live in America, better still in North
America and. better yet, in the United States his In
face of the few discouragng features OF our national
life that are only temporary and capable of rech-
cation One of these discouragng factors is eco
nomic system which very much out of true that we
are continually in the midst of strikes of one kind
other At the present time there are in progress two
labor disturbances of moment, being the strike of
the miners and the other the strike of the shopcraft
workers on the railroads The former has been running
several weeks the latter only two weeks old Either
one is reason enough for national the fact that
both have together is afofding ample cause tor
worry on the part of the federal government President
Lewis of the Mine Workers of America has rejected
the propositions made by the United States government
Tor settlement of the dispute there IS little hope
Of the conending parties reaching agreement in the
near future Of course Florida not vitality concerned
or interested because coal consumption is not reg
uar bill Of fare any time of the year and at the pres
ent time The railroads and electric light and power plants
are the largest coal users in this State But the coal
burning engines and locomotives rapidly giving place
to the oil burners hence the essenrg demand here IN the
far South for the product of the ccal MINES AS tor the
railway strike, that qIe another thing and does vitality
affect Florida as we'll every other State. Particularly
is this true of Lakeland which the headquarters for
two divisions of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad here
are employed here several hundred railroad in
capacity or another the aggregate OF the payroll repre-
senng Lakeland's greatest industry. Every business
ENTERPRISE in the city is more or less dependent on the
wage earners en- the pay roll of TIE Coast Line that
when these wage Gamers are idle CT ON half time,
subject to reduced wages, the business the first to
suffer- Therefore the merchant. the professional man
any person who has wares services to SELL is directly
interested in the class Of customers his Immediate held
His viewpoint is that the better paid his customers
the better able they to pay their bills and not only
that position to purchase Better class OF goods or
demand higher type of service. Ask any merchant
in Lakeland whether he would like 10 have for his Gus
toners a group Of men and women earning around -
day a group earning not more than 81 day
The answer is obvous-indeed it is foolish 10 ash such
a question On the other hand the of the rail
roads who are locking for ard demanding dividends,
happy when told that labor is cheap and plentiful. They
then have visions Of lcng profits and what they term tar
returns on their investments 1t has always been but
that is no reason for the assumption that 1t will always be
SO. There is happy and just medium, common
ground of mutual interest; that is the goal sought in the
present instance and there of the American puo-
lie fooling themselves into the belief that things 60
ing back to where they in the good old days. be-
cause thew are net Labor has had taste of what ii
means to enjoy the blessing of a living wage business
has experienced the bcuyant effect of this condition;
the sources of stored wealth drawn TO make pos
sble this satisfactory condition in the business world
Granted that tie program carried to an extreme
during the war and that certain advantage taken OF
an abnormal state Of affairs, there enough OF per-
manency in the process leave behind the conviction that
with proper notifications, living conditions could be
made more agreeable ard the general standard OF all
the people raised to such degree that American citizens
could well be looked upon representing human de-
veOpment ecpsing anything heretofore known in mans
experience. In this present instance it behooves gov
ernment-and that means ourseves-to search for the
right that justice may be done those who labor and
square deal given capital for the footing of the bills
1t is pleasure to note the coed start made in the
carrying on of Lakeland welfare program The coming
of Director George E. Bennett and the renewal of active
work in reOrganzing the Boy Scouts Of Lakeland, has
put fresh heart into those who are deeply concerned in
rendering this celIphfftIl 10 he