The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-08-20
Facing The Foc+s
With PHILIP PEARL

i With PHILIP PEARL
Too many people are trying to make
| hay while the war lasts. Everybody
is trying to take his bit, from petty
prOtiteering to wholesale hOggery. And,
as usual, the workers are caught in
the middle.
Price control and rent control were
supposed to stop raids on the poor
mans pocketbOOk But the raids still
continue The cost Of living Is still
going up. Mr.. Henderson's ceiling are
full of holes They are made of rubber
in many instances or they just don't
cover enough territory
Now the worker has nothing to sell
but his labor He can't cheaper his
product ION account of the war" He
can't offer less expensive service for
greater profit ION account Of Driori-
ties" On the contrary, he has to work
harder and produce more to win the
war. He is giving more and getting
| less.
Yet when the worker, MIXED dry by
myriad profiteers, asks for higher
wages so he and his family can get
enough to eat and carry on, great
hue and cry is raised about Imitation"
To say that higher wages cause in
| lation is just as foolish and evil as
Hitler's contention that Holland and
| Belgium were menacinS Germany $
| borders
No "Pie" For Labor
Higher wages are not the cause but
the inevitable result of imitation. Labor
| is not invading the national economy
for purposes of plumber 1t Is standing
its ground i'm sheer self-defense. Labor
Is not getting any pie" 1t Is being
handed n crust.
Before going any further with this
| statement of facts, let us admit that
we are not an expert economist. In fact,
we have n deep and instructive dis
trust of professional economists, know
ing from past experience how figures
may be juggled to prove any lie.
| But ii seems to us II matter of plain
common-sense that American workers
today are earning Il lot more than they
are getting. In other words, their pro
ductivity has increased tremendously
One has only to read newspaper re-
ports of ships being built in half the
time previously required to get con
crete proof of this pOint.And this In
creased productivity is not limited to
shipynrds Every war industry is
breaking production records and beat
ing production schedules.
Now labor is paid on time basis
| SO if workers produce an article in
less time, ii follows that the labor cost
per unit must be cut down. And since
the number of units produced has
mounted so greatly, the savings IN
labor costs are correspondingly height
enrd.
All of this Is incontrovertible. But
while this is happening and while Labor
is saving the Government and industry
many millions of dollars, the rea
wages of the workers are being slasheo
by pronteering and imitation. And tina,
means that while the workers are earn
ing more they are getting less.
The Same Old Greed
Unless the workers are given n part
Of the savings in labor costs which they
are achieving by their own toll, Amer
lea will be killing the goose that lays
the golden egg.
1t takes money to live and keeI
strong and healthy. The workers arc
earning this money. But they are not
getting it. Therefore, the more theil
standards are reduced the less efficient
their work will become.
| The answer is obvious pay the
workers little more toward what
they are actually earning. But at this
point the renctionary economists an,
new Spaper editorial writer's start
shrieking Imitation" TO put more
money in the pockets of workers, they
say. must bring imitation. There Is 4
limited amount OF purchaSable con
sumner goods, they argue, and If ther,
Is more loose money In circulation than
can be spent for available products
imitation results.
In other words, let the rich get al
they want and let the worker starve
There Is the secret behind the sole
wall of opposition to deserved wag,
Increases! 1t Is completely selfish il
motive. The boys that have don't want
to share with those that haven't. They
don't think Americans should be on
even terms. They haven't yet heart
that when nation goes to war anC
things become scarce, all of its citi
zens must be on an equal footing anC
submit to fair and square rationing.
Sure they believe in democracy. Bu
not when it affects their pocketbooks
their mansions, their wellstocked lard
ers and their private wine-cellars.
It's not fear of imitation that's behint
the hysterical opposition to wage In
'creases. Its just the same old greed