Montana labor news., 1937-11-11
OPEN FORUM
AN EMERGENCY
exists

According to reports, the A. c. M.
Co. netted $20,000,000 in profits the
last six months, topping it off by
discharging several thousand miners
as a measure of economy just as
winter sets in. What is to become OF
these miners with their families and
dependents the coming winter,
dumping them on an already glutted
labor market with relief agencies
loaded to capacity?
After some rustling and vainless
search for a job, person generally
winds up going back and forth be-
tween the federal re-employment Of
flee and the general welfare office
and if his case is considered bona
fide, a case worker is sent to investi-
gate. Many questions are asked,
both pertinent and irrelevant; you
are asked if you have any relations
or friends, and to what extent they
can help you; if you have any credit,
it's listed as your asset and you are
likely to be told to forget your debts,
as some have been. If you are
single, with no dependents, you are
advised to look out for yourself and
make your own job. In one case,
junker, or rag picker was held up as
shining example of person max
ing his own job. This fellow hap
pened to take everything he could
lay his hands on and finally landed
in Jail for stealing some company
copper wire.
Here someone will ask What
about the New Deal?" AS a matter
of fact, the New Deal doesn't aim
to see you have a good job; at the
best, it only means to give you bare
ly enough to subsist on; and the
much heralded Social Security act
is simply a forced insurance; while
the unemployed don't even have a
chance at that, even though it's our
most important national problem
While those in the upper brackets
if they work a definite number OF
years. get a sizeable annuity, the
ones at smaller wages and those in
termittently employed get insignifi-
cant amounts.
Tpe,,ropca ooy,popiac fall ne fb a
so per cent of those attaining the
age of go are either dependent on
relations or friends or become public
charges. Most all pensions for old
people are based on the lowest figure
they can possibly get by on, thus
giving them no chance to patronize
any but the dealers in the cheapest
of necessities While stop gap mea-
sures" like present day old age pen
sions and WPA jobs are indispensable
under the present setup, it might
turn out to be good business to give
DR.. Townsend a chance to try out
his plan which guarantees not only
security, but comfort for the aged
and a promise of work at fair wages
for youth. This can be made pos
sible by 2 per cent TRANSACTION tax
according to statistics he has gath
cred and would add enough to the
consumers purchasing power to do
away with reproduction. II
would be long range program and
do away with recurring depressions.
From a humanitarian point of
view, the A. c, NJ Company could
easily set aside couple of millions
of their net profit and thereby keep
the laidoff miners at work the rest
of the winter as copper will keep
and it would still leave them a neat
little profit. After the World War,
they found it convenient to keep
open house for the returning sol
diers; they could do the same now
or, at least, their dailies could give
us some advice as how to meet the
coming situation.
While the boom was on and wages
comparatively high, the miners and
general public were bulling the stock
market, enabling the bears (the in
siders) to clean up the neat little
sum of $4,000, 100000 when the slump
hit the market which is a small sum
compared to the sixty-eight billions
they made at the last crash in 1929.
OF course these figures don't cover
the loss to the public at large in un-
employment, loss of the smaller