Evening star., 1923-07-14
BUSINESS BLOCKED
BY LABOR DISPUTES
Present and Threatened
Strikes Causing SIoW-Up of
Serious Nature.
BY j. C. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, July 14.-Unrest in
the ranks of labor is having a de.
cided influence in the business world
today. The slowing down which has
been plainly evident in many of the
industrial centers Is not entirely sea
sonal, and a part Of 1t at least is due
to the labor situation. That situa-
tion Is not a threat to continued
prosperity, but an influence toward
uncertainty In the minds of the pro-
ducers,, manufacturers and distrip-
utors.
The possibility that mining may be
discontinued in the anthracite field
September is being taken into con
sideratfon despite the apparent amia
bility of the negotiations now in prog
ress at Atlantic City between miners
and operators. This has had a spe-
cial bearing on the northern and
eastern states. but a strike also would
have an indirect effect on all the ter
ritory north of the Ohio and east of
the Mississippi
Several Serious Strikes.
Other labor conditions are respon-
sible for material slowing down in
industrial operations and in new con-
struction in New England, and there
Is no indication of immediate i'm
provement The strike of the tele-
phone operators is still on and the
shoe workers strike in Brockton has
nared up again, with a renewal of
plcketing and miner disturbances
The strike at the Gillette razor works
has been adjusted with an upward
revision of wages.
more stress, however, is placed on
the possibility of trouble between the
railroad brotherhoods and the New
england and connecting railroads
Curiously enough, 1t is felt by many
business men in Boston, that a rail-
ROAD strike might well have a ten
dency to alter the present soft COM
modify price situation.
They argue that such strike
should stimulate forward purchasing
In order to be assured of deliveries.
At present hand-to-mouth buying Is
the rule. These business men, how
ever. are quite willing to admit that
the effect of any such business stimu-
liant would prove but temporary. and
that activity so produced would be
without solid foundation.
Higher Wages Likely.
Labor difficulties involving a de-
cIded upward swing of wage scales
! are feared through the entire north
west as a result of the advent of the
Ford Motor Company into Minnesota
| according to reports from St. Paul
One labor member of the St Paul
| city council has made special trip
| TO Detroit to urge the great motor
| manufacturer to force the Boston
contractors erecting the first unit oil
| the s1O.000.000 Ford plant at High
Dam to pay the union scale. De-
mands have been made in other in
! dustries for wages comparable to the
Ford scale, and thousands of workers
| are prepared to quit their jobs in the
hope OF gaining places in the Ford
plant when 1t opens up.
Farmers, not only in the northwest
but in the middle ives tand south
have been unable to get workers
enough and some southern planters
will be in desperate straits when cot
| ton-picking time arrives.
Situation In st. Louis.
1 Street car service in St. Louis i.
in danger of being tied up by a strik,
of electrical workers of the United
| Railway Company, who are demand
! ing an increase of from IS to 80 cent!
an hour. The company has offered
\ raise to SO cents. but this has no
been accepted. Understandings, how
ever, have been reached with othel
| the company. The electrical worker:
| involved operate power substations
maintain lines and do repair work
In the building trades, even wher,
! demands Tor increases OF wages O
! artisans have been Smet, contractor.
are hesitating over Inauguration o.
i new work, fearing that offers o.
! bonuses by rival jobs may make /
| impossible to hire men at the regular
| scale. Such a situation exists her,
| where bricklayers can find so man,
! jobs at SIG a day and up that it ha.
been impossible to secure men t
! work on public school buildings, whe r,
! the scale agreed on by the union i!
| s12.