Montana labor news., 1934-02-01

long a big-navy champion, rose to con-
graduate Carl Vinson, Democratic
naval committee chairman, on his
"big-navy" speech and to say that
Statesmen" believe there will be an
other war within II months. None
of the ABS members of the House rose
in opposition to presentation of the
bill.
***
Lots of money for the admirals but
the CWA boys can go back On relief
if there's any relief to go back on,
between Feb. Is and May L. The ia
pering off will start Feb. Is at the
rate of a million every two weeks.
The official o~ptimists say therell be
100000 jobs in Outdoor work" this
summer.
#4#
RFC gets another $780, 600, 900 for
the banks and railroads and other
overcapitalized and overextended cor
~porations, but the government can't
find the money to keep CWA going
through the summer. That just goes
to show a curious lack Of teamwork
among government departments. Be-
cause the department Of commerce has
just released a report on national in
come that's crammed full of dyna-
mite.
If workers would take those figures
and hurl them in the face of every
advocate Of characterization, the
powers that be might find the money
for CWA in a hurry. The figures,
"the most detailed and complete ever
compiled" according to the commerce
department, show that the owners of
America, through interest, dividends
and rent, collected no less than $10,-
1876, 1000, 900 in 1882. And the bond
holders in 1888 increased their swag
over the 1882 figure of $1,000, 600, 900!
A##
No money for CWA? Well, if the
government, through a real income
tax that would stop up all the holes
in the internal revenue laws, would
just take half Of what the coupon
clippers got in 1882, there would be
So, $50, 900, 900 for civil works and pub
lie works. And why not? There has
been much talk in Washington about
the goal of "r~edistributing wealth.
But the department of commerce fig
ures show that workers got $685.
100000 in wages in 1882 to the $10,-
1876, 000,O 900 which the stock and bond
holders and landlords took in in the
same year.
#*#
"The nations now are carrying on
an intense self-destructive and NUT
ually destructive warfare behind vast
tariff barriers. They are also carry
ing on a cruel and disastrous finan-
cial warfare, a new sort of maneuver-
ing with money and credit of which
the happier world of 1914 knew lit
tie" This quotation from H. G.
Wells heads the section on the "busi-
ness outlook for 1884" in the annual
edition of the Annalist, weightiest of
financial organs.
The Roosevelt gold policy, which
sets the value of the dollar between
so and 60c, is the U. S. contribution
to the "curel and disastrous finan-
cial warfare" 1t means not only a
bitter currency war among the United
States, Britain and France, a prelude
perhaps to military warfare, but that
the workers of the United States are
to be called on to pay the costs
through rising prices.
Although the bill has not yet been
enacted by Congress, prices have
started rising. The labor departments
food price index shows a rise, after
six weeks decline. Wholesale prices
are also going up steadily. The la
Dor departments food price index re-
fleets a 1914 per cent rise oven the
low point Of April, 1888. Unless wages
go up, workers and other consumers
will foot the bill for the gold program