Montana labor news., 1948-08-26

president trahaIn
We are gathered here a, our annual
Convention to consider what has hap
pened IN the past year and to endeavor
To chart a course for the future.
During the past l. months. imitation
has developed to immense proportions
and must be considered a grievous evil.
Initiation is an economic disease that
causes proilteering to flourish and de-
vclops the greed Tor gain. Imitation, ii
allowed To continue, will cause malnu-
triton. misery. death and desolation in
man, lands.
Congress is responsible Tor imitation
IN this country. Congress can proven,
and stop initiation, or. allow II to de
vclop until II equals A pcstilence.
The standard Of living OF the Ameri-
can people IS gradually and rapidly be
ing lowered By the blight Of imitation
that IS nov upon IL. The purchasing
power 81 the dollar today i, worth 25c
when compared To the one hundred cent
dollar d 1910. or. eieh, years ago,
Therefore. we must consider the dollar
that the workers are paid with 4 25-cent
dollar compared TO the dollar the work
er> received before Pearl Harbor. How
ever. making demands Tor higher wages
will not improve the standard Of living.
as the cost OF the necessities oi lie IN
crease more rapidly than any increase
in wages Won BY the demands OF organ
lied labor. Therefore. we must seek
other ways and means 10 prevent the
standard OF living dropping any lower.
We are told that the scarcity oil any
article will make the price oi il 20 up
however. there IS no scarcity OF eggs.
Hour, iruit, grains. p~otatoc, or vege-
tables III this country. yet the retail
price of these are gong sky high and
continuing tn 20 higher.
During the past year thousands oil
tons ui apples rotted ior lack OF buyers.
| the price being too high Tor the workers
dollar. While III Florida. oranges were
selling at live cents per box and grape
fruit at 2Sc per box. the buyer TO pick
the fruit oil the trees. The owners oi
the orange groves shook the trees 50
that the oranges would fall on the
ground to become A fertilizer. At the
same time, oranges we're selling high
Yin Montana. higher than many people
could afford To pay. Potatoes are SO
plentiful that a large surplus has had
to be destroyed. yet in many homes the
potato is a rare article on the dining
table-for the reason tha, the housewife
cannot afford 10 pay the proiiteering
price charged.
Government Expenditure
We have Tough, 4 very destructive
and expensive war. ior which we must
pay. However. the high cost OF living
caused by initiation is going to make
paying the deb, very burdcnsome.
Four billion dollars was the budget
OF our government three years after
World War /. Forty billion dollars
was the budget OF the government Tor
the last fiscal year ending June Nth..
approximately three years alter World
War II. Present indications are that
the present year will see an expenditure
Of ~ billion dollars BY the government.
1t IS estimated that there is a federal
tax paid by the workers of 25c on every
dollar earned i'll wages. This tax IS one
OF the causes lor the high cost Of liv-
ing and the lowest standard OF living.
1t it not generally known that there
IS a federal sales tax placed OF a num-
Der OF articles purchased by the masses.
There is a sales tax OF about ~ per
cent on the purchase price OF electric
light bulbs. II the workers buy alarm
clocks. 80 that they may get UP on time
to 20 to work in the morning a sales
tax is also added to the purchase price
oi the clock.
No wonder people grumble,
When they tax you more and more.
Did you ever see such dong,
In the Congress Ger before
The convention should recommend u
the local unions and central councils
that they inform their Congressman
that Congress is responsible Tor inila-
non and demand OF them. that they
vote 10 repeal the Federal Sales tax
and all taxes that add to the cost oil
the nece>sarIe, 81 lie
/, Il further recommended thar or
gained labor in Montana stand read,
to cooperate with other groups. busi-
ness. labor and management in any
thing Of a practical nature which will
tend TO stop imitation and get our coun-
try back on an even keel.
Shortage Of Housing
Housing is a nationwide problem al
present. which also contributes to the
high cost OF living and sub-standard OF
living Shortage Of building material
and %manpower are the causes given for
the task oil houses.
At the same time, there is 4 great
boom on in heavy construction including
dams and public building.
II would be well il we could have a
moratorium on heavy building con-
sruction. except highway construction.
until such time that the housing con-
struction has been taken care Of. VII,
go ahead with large public construction
when there is inadequate housing for
the mass OF the people, Our public
officials should be given a tip to lay
off with their public building program
and leave that to the time when unem-
ployment is threatening.
Wilful Waste
Recently a number OF old battleships
and cruisers have been sunk at sea after
being subject to bombing from the air
and as targets for large guns aboard
units OF the Navy. This practice was
called carrying out experiments by
naval officers.
With an acute shortage OF scrap iron
effecting the nation, the carrying out
OF the experiments was on par with the
tCeatinueA - Page Fesr)