Milford chronicle., 1946-09-06

THE PEOPLE OF THE United States have suf-
tcred untold millions of dollars in damage from auto
mobile strikes, coal strikes steel STRIKES railroad strikes
and smaller strikes too numerous mention. The .
technique of the modern organizer is to make his I
demands a deadline, call a strike and force an
arbitrary settlement
Fortunately for the public industry does not fol
low the same process in seeking or price increases
But 1t cannot prevent the inconvenience or damage
suffered b. the public the result of dlatory prac
tlceS by public authorities in granting relief which Is
necessary to render efficient public service
Today seeing the months drag by while
regulatory authorities consider rate increases asked bv
the railroads the tremendous rise in wages and
costs OF materials which they bear. During
the war they did magnificent hauling Job Because of
the shortage of material for purposes they were
denied almost all new equipment while they wore out
their rolling stock and engines war work Now that
their expense is up billion dollars year, while their
income IS gong down, they are kept hanging in the
air on rate increase made necessary by conditions
which have affected every other industry As result
they are delayed in their ability procure needed
equipment The boxcar supply is tighter than for
any period during the past IS years"
For variety of the railroads arc unable
to handle the volume of freight per car, in many
cases, during the Strict wartime orders for
maximum loading and minimum turn around time
no longer obtain. Manufacturers anxious to move
stuff quickly, don't wait until they have full car
loads Work weeks shorter and cars frequently lie
unoaded the Weekend Nevertheless, the roads
still making records in handin gthe traffic.
Is 1t not possible for government agency which
responsible for the regulation of an industry such
as the railroads, to get quicker action rate ques
tons which causing conf and loss the rail
roads? Or has it become the established government
policy to hold industry up months and years over
VIII
demands which raise and prices, the barrel
head?
AN EX-G L. OBSERVED the way the other
half" lives in his travels around the world EX-Scrg
can't Vim. +. Garvcy saw what any g. |. could have
who passed through the cities of the Orient en-
THE bush'-lnda'S beggars; cows anb!inE
nonchalantly along sidewalks; Mohammcdans turn
ing Mecca the painted marks of religion and Caste
the roadside vendors of ridden cheese and fruit,
shoe accs and worthless trnkets; the hagglng over
prices of wares; the smclls scarcity of food of any
sort; the ragged thousands sleeping the cack around
the floor in any public building railway station;
clothing beaten shrcds flat rocks in lieu of wash
ing; thousands of staggering skeletons wailng for
something to eat.
1t is no mystery to him why living standards arc
so low in these countries. Methods employed in gam
ing 4 livelihood in such countries are still SO primi-
tive that barely produce enough keep
alive, whereas in America capital has built up great
industries which make the United States land of
uxureS Few indeed, arc the locations outside Amcri-
ca where people take for granted automobiles, radios
refrigerators, bathtubs, washing machines, vacuum
cleaners, sewing machines telephones electricity gas
fresh running and modern sewage disposal.
India can't duplicate what have in America
overnight, because capitalism requires saving. To
tOrtSl lt 1 he
plains, we must forego of the Satisfactons of
the present. By pooling savings with others
purchase production equipment beyond our means
individuals, and produce consumer goods Cheaply
and in quantity In India capitalism is just in the be
ginning.
II like American system like my radio and
electric refrigerator, extra suit of clothes, and
on the table | never impressed by the street cor
ner propgandst who was always trying to prove that
the capitalists oppressors grinding heel on
the neck of downtrodden common people. There was
a time when used tao think they didn't know what
they ere talking about. Now know OF course there
abuses of the Capitastic system but I've seen
how the other half lives. I'm back home and glad of
it. like it here"
"AMERICAN LABOR HAS A natural interest
in the relationship of wages and costs" says the New
York Times edtoraIIy 1T has right to set it's sights
steadily higher standard of living and it will be
bad day for the country if loses sight of that
objective But the shortest and sraghtest road this
goal does not lie through sharp wage increases if un-
accompanied by increase of output, for this merely
brings higher prices to consumers, and wageearncrs
themselves consumers. The right method is in
creased production, through higher skill, better work
and the aid of modern industrial science"
The Times editorial occasioned by 4 report
from Detroit that the CO and the United Automobile
Workers have abandoned any thought of wage
increases in favor of aout effort preserve the
present purchasing power Of the dollar The UAW
has decided, in with the CIO, that TO make
fresh wage demand this time might set an nfla-
tionary spiral in motion"
This is the very heart of the labor wage controver-
sy. Ever-ncrcasing wages without relative increase
in productivity benefit in the long run
Every general rise in prices further reduces labor,
"take home" paw. II is good TO know that some i'm