The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1931-08-07
7heCherry
~ Where with ear
roo Little Hatchet
We tell the truth
about many things. sometimes pre-
foundly, sometimes Aippantly,
sometimes recklessly.

Will Rogers always starts his
pieces by saying, "All l know is what
see in the papers,"
The man who reads the newspapers
and especially his weekly labor pa
pers-carefully and thoughrfully, can
know great deal.
Our weekly labor papers, including
this one, tell us that the average wage
of union workers is more than twice
as much as the average wage of non
union workers. That is as important
in the history of the world as what
happened to Napoleon when he met
Wellington, and it ought to mean
Waterloo for non-unionism
We see by the papers that the
warden of Rhode Islands penitentiary
has abolished prison censorship, be-
lieving that prisoners ought to see
the newspapers without having holes
cut in them. That, too, is news of
progress in human thought.
But, speaking of prisons-which we
speak of more under so-called pro-
hibition than formerly-we read in
the papers that there are &c men in
the death cells at Sing Sing, waiting
for that last tragic march. The
youngest is 18, the oldest AL!
The chief clerk at Sing Sing says
that back of nearly every case is a
young mans desire to show a girl
good time "A young mans salary
will not stand the strain" he sagely
observes, adding that "only three out
of ten that came to us this year have
any kind of work.
We may say if we like that there
is an indication of lacking moral fiber
in these youths, but we must see also
that society has created a condition,
or tolerated condition, that can turn
a young chap into murderer by
closing to him the opportunity that
normal cravings need for their salts
faction. In that way, or in some way,
society has slipped in fulfilling its re-
sponsibilities toward youth and young
chaps whose backbone is not as good
as it might be take a terrible revenge.
Somehow, it is difficult to see
where we quite "get even with them
or deter their successors merely by
pumping them off in a hot seat"
after the damage has been done.
In the papers there also is talk of
fabricating houses 'by machine"
John w. Love, writing in the Cleve-
land Plain Dealer, poses a pertinent
question about that. What good will
it do, Love inquiries. to fabricate
cheap houses "by machines" if people
don't have the money to buy them {?
The building trades workers, with
their high skill, will be interested in
the proposal to fabricate houses out
of steel or something else All of us
are interested in knowing whats the
good" of any such project if wages
aren't paid in good sums to those that
would like to buy good home and
who can only buy out of savings from
wages.
Love tells of a Clevelander who
once, in hard times, urged the city to
build ten thousand homes. Somebody
stopped his chatter by asking him
where he would have them button
a raft?
1t isn't of much use to make any
thing, or build anything, unless it is
possible for people to buy and use.
Merchants are learning that lesson
as they worry about empty aisles.
Back of them manufacturers are
worrying because orders don't come
from merchants who don't order be-
cause they aren't selling because too
many wage earners are unemployed.
About this all-important matter
you find all the news in your labor
newspaper, including this one The
daily newspapers, operated solely for
profit and edited mostly by bright
young men" who feel bound to show
how "smart" they are, don't tell us
very much about this matter that is
more important today than anything |
else. Instead they regale us with the
doings of Mutt and Jeff and the wage
Garner that doesn't see through it can
put himself in the place of the much
battered little Jeff.