The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-11-24
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National Topics Interpreted "a fSYFFTTRSS$s
by William Bruckart AIaEn5555IF
National Topics Interpreted
by William Bruckart


with some labor agi-
Urge tators continuing to
Pofience make disturbing mo-
lions, officials Of the
government, wherever they can con-
tact people, are c0unseling patience
more than they ever have since the
gloom of the depression. settled over
us. It Is undoubtedly true that the
great bulk Of the American people
want to see a proper and finaT solu-
ton accomplished for the economic
troubles in which the nation, and the
world, too. finds itself. But 1t does
no good to hide ones head as an os-
trich does and insist that there are no
conflicting interests that are danger
Gus. They exist. and they are virile
and they may cause serious trouble.
Hence, the government policy Of ask.
ing those who want to help to be pa
tient.
AS nearly as I have been able to
arrive at the base Of the present crop
Of conflicting interests, believe much
of the current trouble results from
lack Of understanding of the basic
problems. It seems to be undeniably
true, also, that there are certain indi-
viduals or groups Of individuals who
do not want to understand the situa-
ton. They want to use the bad con-
ditions to further selfish ends Of their
own and they are of the type who will
deliberately and carefully plan to mis-
lead whosoever they can enlist as fol-
lowers. Unfortunately, my research
discloses that there are many follow
ing such leadership who are doing SO
blindly.
There seems to be scarcely a single
official of the government but who holds
the view that such leadership will ac-
complish anything but self-destruction
of a majority of the followers of those
cure-all doctrines. That sort of thing
never has accomplished anything in all
history, and there seems to be no
ground for believing there will be any
other result this time.
Unfortunately as it may be, in our
rush to get back to what we call pros
perity, some groups have become
Jealous of other groups and interests.
This jealousy has been translated in
to action in numerous instances.
do not say that Jealousy is the cause
of all of the troubles, but inbred sell
fishness of one kind or another to-
/ gether with personal motives Of an ul-
terror character can surely be said to
be the general foundation for all of
them.
But the natural question Is: why
should the situation be one permitting
existence of such difficulties as the
farm strike and labor troubles? The
answer seems to me to lie in a law
with which none Of us had anything to
do. namely, the age-old law Of supply
and demand. Just as none Of US had
anything to do with framing that law,
none Of us is going to be able to amend
It or change 1t. Farm strikes, labor
strikes, capital Sinking, boarding Of
money, none Of these things can &C.
complish the purpose. Indeed, the
only way that we can get back to
something like normal conditions is by
pulling together. That Is why the
government is urging everyone to be
patient within reason.
lam indebted to Secretary Wallace.
Of the Department of Agriculture, for
an expression that
Must Pull seems to fit the pic
Tooesh~- ture better than any
have heard. He de-
scribed the condition as one requiring
a tw0-horse team to pull US forward.
BY that phrase. he meant that pro-
Queer and laborer must pull together.
If one of them balks or is unhitched,
the load simply stops. That Is all
there Is to IL.
Let US analyze the necessity for
pulling together which the government
SO strongly urges upon us. If all of
the cobwebs are swept or of the pic
ture, It seems to me to be fairly clear,
and surely there is no point in becom-
Ing more confused as to what the need
IL or what may be done about It or
why things move slowly.
After some research into the field
Of figures. / cannot escape the con-
clusion that there Is an absolute and
positive relationship existing between
the money paid to labor and the money
received by the farmers. There is,
therefore, necessity for the farmer
and laboring man keeping In step. If
one gets step ahead, the team is not
pulling and conditions grow worse.
It really does not matter whether It
is the labor-horse or the farmer-horse
that moves too fast; the result all
through the history of modern econom-
les has been precisely the same, and,
thus, too much selfishness on either
side causes trouble.
The government has collected stat
istics that provide a most interesting
proof of the statement l made above
that there must be absolute team
work. For example, those figures show
that gross income of agriculture and
pay rolls Of factories have been rising
foVother or falling tooefhar 40 condi