The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1959-05-21
Letter to the Editor
To tho Editor.

TO the Editor
In your recent editorial concern
ing unemployment. and the high
cost of living, you place most of
the blame on labor Unions. After
doing quite a bit of reading and
studying. | believe conditions show
chat most of the fault lies else
where.
l Go not belong to any Union,
and we all know Unions are in no.
wise perfect, but | have come to
the conclusion that they are at
least as honest as Industry and the
Retail Business. Conditions brought
about by the latter, namely the
continual slow rise in price of every
thing the worker has to buy lthis
being in addition to the big Jump
that occurs whenever he does re-
ceive a wage increase at least
partly justify the Union in its de-
mand for higher wages.
Naturally, the raise the Union
gets for its workers doesn't help
the unemployment situation, or
lower the cost of living. But when
the workers find that their pres
Cnt wages just will not pay their
living expenses. there are only a
couple alternatives the Union can
take to help solve the problem, at
least temporarily. No matter which
decision it makes, the continual
rise in the cost of living goes on
Just the same, thus proving to me
that the Union is not responsible
for the unemployment problem, nor
the increased wages it demands, if
it decides to strike for more money,
for the higher cost of living.
Take the two different decisions
the Union can make when the
workers express their need of in
creased pay to make ends meet.
1t can just let things ride as they
are and seek no raise According
to the ones who believe the hike in
wages is the chief cause of the
high prices they pay for things,
this should really help solve the
whole problem. But notice the
course it takes. The workers re-
ceive no extra money to purchase
things with, he buys less and less
unless he goes into debt-and if
he does. with no increase in in
come. and the price of things go
ing ever upward in spite of no
extra labor costs, he will probably
never pay off, goods quit moving
Industry is forced to lay more
people off, for there is no need to
produce goods that cannot be sold,
and the whole thing snoWballs into
a recession. or depression. That's
the end of the road if it makes the
decision of not asking for more
money. But here is the big thing
the continual rise in prices goes on
Just the same.
If it takes the other road and de-
cides the best thing is to demand
higher wages. there may be a boost
in purchasing power for a short
time, and things look little
brighter for everyone. But, the
small increase il wages the work
er received seemed to be the cause
OF things jumping way up soon
after his raise entirely out of pro-
portion 10 his increase, plus the
regular continual rise, and his
take-hOme pay will buy no more:
N OlJelD4N lliAAN II 100 l-AtAAA A. f'CtAANi
when he had to ask for the last
raise That's the end OF the second
road. or decision, and the end re-
suits are exactly the same as the
first onc-the worker can buy less,
goods quit moving, people are laid
eff, and there is still a recession
unemployment, and high living
costs.
Since no matter what the Union
does about the problem doesn't
solve things, part of the solution
must lie lseWhere-betWeen the
producer and the consumer. If you
have ever studied a wholesale book
listing the retail prices of the same
items, you will know what a big
difference there is between the
two. as high as 200et on some
articles. Since the workers wages,
and all production costs are in
cluded in the wholesale price, sure
ly someone else must be partly
responsible for the high price the
consumer has to pay for these
things.
Retail profits are excessive. Sell
AOul Cdl " 4 OCd-Nl anu bllNil LII
vestigate and find the man who
bought it from him. Did the dealer
make a fair profit (he should be
expected to make some profit Of
course) or did he really make
haul. so to speak? Check the price
the farmer receives for his meat
at the stockyards. Make a graph
OF his price fluctuations during the
year. Keep another one of the
prices you pay for meat at the
store Does it move up and down
accordingly, or are the changes
but a small ripple, compared with
that of the farmer Try jotting
down what you pay for several
different articles over period Of
time. The rise in price of some
articles may surprise you, and the
thing is this-many of the workers
who produced these items did not
get even a slight pay increase.
There are naturally various fac
tors entering into the matter which
this letter could not possibly cover.
The Union is not without guilt and
l am not trying to relieve it of
all responsibility 1t definitely has
a responsibility to society, but SO
do the Retailer and Industry in
general, and l don't believe they
ere living up to their part of it any
better than the Union. Therefore,
they should all be blamed, instead
of placing the whole blame on the
Union alone
Sibre B. Skipper