The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1946-05-17
NEWS AND VIEWS
By ALEXANDER s. LIPSETT
Gan ILNS Feature)
Dark Clouds at Home
and Abroad


Unless last-minute peace efforts
succeed, the nation will face coun-
try-wide railway strike on May 18.
This, together with the miners strike
now entering it's sixth week and other
demonstrations of severe economic
and labor unrest. has led to situation
in which, to borrow from John L.
Lewis, "our economy is being gradu-
ally stagnated. AS the days progress
tonnage will go off the railroads, fac
tories will close and distress will come
to the American people,"
To get proper perspective of the
railway strike now unwillingly UNDER
taken by the most responsible and law
abiding labor organization of the
country, we must needs recall certain
events leading up to the present con-
flict. There is, first OF all, the fact
that the reasonable wage demands of
nearly 100000 members of the s
brotherhoods and Is incorporating
railroad workers unions have been re-
buffed time and again.
No effort worthy of the name has
been made to bring substantial relief
to the men who, as this column pointed
out some weeks ago, have uncom-
plainingly borne main load of the
nations tremendous war burden. All
they got after months of haggling
and fact-finding hearings was a mig
gardly award, in no way commensur-
ate to the sacrifices and hard labor of
the railroaders to whom their en-
ployers and the entire American peo-
pie owe so much.
Why the carriers should resist an
additional demand of $1.2O per day is
hard to understand, both from the
viewpoint of national economy and the
companies own economic welfare. If
any industrial group is capable of
meeting the wage proposals of it's en-
tremendous resources and war-gen-
Grated prosperity larger than the
American people have ever seen. The
explanation can perhaps be found in
what Governor Arnall of Georgia re-
Gently described as "the linking to-
gether of our railroads into the fat
test and greediest trust of all, which
dominates all the business of the coun-
try"
Be that as it may, the men who
work on the railroads do not ask
the impossible. Neither do they
wish to place unreasonable bur-
dens upon organizations on whom
their own livelihood and future
depends. But they also know
that mere words and passing the
buck" in form of rate Increases
will not give them that measure
OF economic protection to which
they as Americans are Justly en-
titled.
Responsibility for the railway
strike, if it comes about, rests with
the employers who are apparently un-
able or unwilling to read the signs of
the times. A new world is being born.
The eyes of railroad management are
not yet adjusted to the new light.
Reports from England indicate
growing bitterness among job-seek-
ing British ex-service men and
steady rise in the numbers of regis
tered unemployed. The total of serv-
ice men listed as unemployed or look
ing in vain for openings is estimated
at far over a million.
The situation, despite govern
ment efforts to play it down,
closely parallels our own situa-
tion at home. Here as in Eng
land the men to whom raving
politicians and dutifully echo
ing press promised future brim-
full with economic happiness and
contentment, are tramping the
streets in search of work. 1t is
said, here and elsewhere, that
jobs are available. Yes, there are
jobs-jobs SO poorly paid that
living and working becomes sheer