The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1950-03-09

received letter from Grason Doarn-
berger, chairman of the dance com
mittee of the annual Policeman's
Ball, which will be held at Franklin
Court on Friday, March 24-and like
myself you probably put off sending
in your check.
l talked yesterday morning with
the committee, and they tell me that
contributions are really tagging this
year for this really worthwhile
cause.
AS you know, the Fraternal Order
of Police have done away with out
side promotion, which we all were
against, and now every penny that
is contributed is actually used for
the lodges death benefit fund and
other lodge purposes.
So won't you dig out that letter
right now, write your check, slip it
in the envelope that came with the
letter, and mail it right away. Or if
you happen to have mislaid the let
ter, just mail your check to the Fra
ternal Order of Police, P. o. Box
1865, Hagerstown, Md
AS we went to press, the Red
Cross Drive was around $11 900, but
l feel sure that when the final re-
port was made last night, Hagers-
town and Washington County had
once more lived up to their enviable
reputation of never having failed to
go over the top in any worthwhile
undertaking.
Here we go again.
The coal strike is oVer-the oper-
ators state that the new contract will
mean an increase of % cents a ton
in the price of coal at the mine-and
you can bet your bottom dollar that
the entire increased cost will be pass
ed on to the consumer. This is
continuation of a vicious cycle that
finally will bring about depression.
Some people seem to overlook the
fact that union labor represents a
small minority of employed people
of the nation. And the tragic part of
it is that when this small minority
wins an increase in ges-which
always results in corresponding
increase in prices-the burden falls
on the big majority of employed
people who do not get these in
creases.
The government keeps telling us
that in spite of these strikes, 1850
will still be a good year. Maybe it
will, but what about after 1850?
It's just plain common sense that
the public cannot continue to stand
the ever increasing cost of living,
and sooner or later-probably soon
er-there will be crash that will be
heard around the world.
And l just can't get it out of my
head that big business is far from
being entirely blameless in this re-
curing cycle of strikes. The Wall
Street Journal shows that the profits
of big industry continue in the high
brackets-and there's no reason why
they shouldn't when they continue
to pass on every cent of increased
production to the consumer.
During the coal strike it's logical
to assume that the coal operators,
with their mines shut down, got rid
of all their stock pile of coal, and it
is also logical to assume that in that
stock pile were thousands of tons of
coal that they were mighty glad to
get rid Of as we have found out in
trying to burn it in our furnaces.
s%~
And it looks to me as if this bust
ness of making profit is working
its way into our city government.
It's perfectly true that Mayor
NA11lo III 1l1o SoiIIHdISl pldIlOIIll
pledged a business administration,
and although I opposed him in the
election 1 have readily admitted
since then that he has made some
fine improvements in our city gov
eminent. But when he makes a |
public statement that his goal is to
do away entirely with the tax rate
and run the city on the profits of its
various departments, I think he is
going too far.
The city government, as I see it, is
something more than business that
has to make profit. The city be-
longs to the people of Hagerstown,
poor and rich alike. The city gets
a lot of money from the state; from
the light plant; from the water de-
partment; from the parking meters;
to mention just few And it is now
branching out Through its water de-
partment) to get more money out
side the city limits.
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