The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1946-08-02
LOOKING
AHEAD
y GEORGE S. BENSON
/ PnesideKf--HardiKg college
Searry. Arkaksas
Undulant Socialism

A sick republic, like a human in
valid, passes through crisis in the
course of almost any protracted i'll
ness. After the crisis, the patient
rallies toward recovery or sinks
with alarming haste toward the end.
Whatever is to be done alters cri-
sis must be accomplished with dis
patch, or it is too late. The Eng
lish government passed through a
crisis approximately year ago.
Since England's current admins
tration proclaimed itself owner and
operator of the coal mines, Britain
has been viewed popularity as So
cialistic-one of the collectivist ma
tons. Not all the individuals in the
Empire are socialists. Large ele-
ments are not. But this large mi
nority is being forgotten. Curtains
are being drawn. The crisis is
over and England has gone left.
A Long Time Dead.
There is something strangely final
about it when a free people turns
its course toward State Socialism.
Liberty never comes back without
a revolution and then it's not the
same. Such is the testimony of re-
corded history. Industrially, Eng
land is coal country and private
enterprise lost its last stronghold on
the enchanted island when King
Coal surrnedered.
Now the ailment that Frustrated
John Bull has been communicated
to Uncle Sam. The symptoms are
unmistakable as undulant fever;
wave upon wave of collectivist pow
er, with a show of growing inten-
ssty. Our government has taken
over our coal mines from their own
ers because of work stoppages
through strikes-strikes by the best
paid group of mine workers on
earth.
Here's the Pattern
I think perhaps the workers ought
to have had an increase in pay,
which they no doubt could have OBJ
tanned without striking. Neverthe-
less, they struck and government
took over the business long enough,
at least, to close a new contract
giving an increase of $1.85 a day
per man and a royalty of SC ton
on coal to give their union "wel
fare" fund. The new welfare"
fund has no relation to the unions
sick and accident fund, already
large.
The new contract will raise the
the price of coal Csc to 30c ton
and build up the welfare" fund
at the rate of Is million dollars
year. The Senate has approved the
executive department right to i'm
pose this contract on the mine
owners when they take their prop
erty back. This is an attack of the
undulant socialism.
Works Like This:
Government can now control the
cost of coal to the owner of a mine.
By fixing labor's wage, a ruler can
make coal production cost whatever
suits his fancy. Government al
ready controls the price of coal to
the consumer through the workings
of the OPA. The neck of the coal
industry is in a legal nut-cracker
and government has the power to
choke it to death at will-that, or
take it over entirely.
With the sanction of Congress.
which I hope never comes, federal
officials can do to any industry what
they are doing to coal. Each as
sault on freedom will be one more
attack of the dread disease, undu-
liant socialism. It works like the
fever which, scientific men say, can
be cured in rare instances if vigor-
GUS treatment is begun in the early
stages.