Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1947-01-24
Smokesereen


TO a number of causes other than those
which are being advanced by some econ
omists and the paid publicists of big busl'
ness.
There are probably number of causes
for the decrease in the prices of foodstufts
and other commodities. Principal of these
are:
1. Demand of the workers for higher
wages to meet the high cost of living.
2. Seasonal cuts in the prices of many
commodities following the artificial de-
mand brought about by the holiday season.
3. Increased production of many items
with a consequent accumulation of
growing surplus.
4. An attempt on the part of those
who control prices to stem the demands
for higher wages.
5. Inability of the consumers to main
tain a reasonable balance between pro-
duction and consumption because of lack
of purchasing power.
1t is significant that the widely publ
cized price cuts come at a time when
thousands of contracts between industry
and its workers are about to be re-opened
with wages as the principal issue. OBJ
viously, il there is any considerable de-
gree of downward price revision, it will
provide the employers of the nation with
a powerful weapon for resisting wage i'm
creases and once again place labor in the
position of seemingly inviting more price
increases and initiation.
1t now appears that the entire situa-
ton as il affects wages and prices is being
created for no other purpose than to place
labor on the spot and make il appear that
the demand for increased wages on the
part of the workers is both unreasonable
and uneconomic.
Even some of the workers themselves
may be deceived into believing that the
high prices which they are forced to pay
for the things they need i'm order to live is
because of the demands of their Organiza-
tionS for higher wages. After all, not
every worker reads labor papers, but most
of them do read the daily press and be-
lieve much of the big business propaganda
which is printed in it.
What is happening now TO prices is
evidence indeed that the claim made by
the Robert II. Nathan report and advo-
Gated last year by the United Automobile
Workers, that the big industries of this
country, steel, auto and others, could af
ford to give the workers substantial wage
increases without hiking their prices, is
basically true.
II is highly doubtful if any of the more
enlightened labor leaders believe that the
answer to the constant wage-price issue is
increased production alone as the big busi-
ness advocates claim. The answer to in.
creased production must be higher wages,
for increased production defeats itself
without making il possible to secure
greater distribution and consumption and
leads inevitably to industrial stagnatiOn,
unemployment and crisis from which
come all the evils which this nation and
the rest OF the world are even now seek
ing to recover.
r For the business and political leaders
OF the nation to attempt TO confuse the sit.
uation and mislead the people into false
hopes and unsound economic beliefs AT
this time, while il may succeed in avert
ing an immediate showdown, cannot for
ever sldestep the necessity for ultimately
iacing our basic economic problems.
In the final analysis, the entire future
OF labor and industry will be determined
to considerable extent by the position
taken by those who reap the profits from
the nations productivity. Up to this point,
big business has done nothing to indicate
that it is approaching the economic prob
lem with different attitude than it usu.
ally takes.
The current propaganda about infla.
ton having reached its peak and begin
ning ITS descent appears on the face of il
to be nothing more or less than smoke
screen designed to handicap the just wage
demands of the workers and to earn the
support of the public which is uncon-
sciOusly contributing to deflation because
OF its lack of purchasing power.