Show Higher Wages Not The Answer The statement attributed to President George of the CIO that higher wages for labor are needed to keep the American economy from floundering reminds us of the motorist who claims that higher speeds are needed to cut down the mounting death toll on American highways Greater speed this motorist argues will cut down the time tune spent going from one place to another and so because people will be traveling fewer h hours urs to get where they want to go there will be less time in which to have an accident and so there will be fewer accidents The greater the speed the less chance for accident And this motorist actually believes his theory is right in spite of the mounting piles of mangled bodies of persons whose lives are snuffed out because of too much speed on the highways We doubt if Mr really believes his theory Certainly Certainly thinly he is too intelligent for that or how could he ever have reached th the high position he holds Just as most labor unions are now making a heroic effort to get rid of crime corruption criminal coercion coercion contempt contempt contempt con con- of law and other evils and tempt strong-arm strong practices practices not so many years ago deemed a sacred right of labor organizers so they must also come to realize that I increase after increase of wages without comparable increase increaser r in production can lead only to disaster That is as sure as asis asis asis is th the ultimate tragic end for the motorist who insists on higher and higher sp speeds eds on the highways Already the higher and higher wages with their inseparable inseparable inseparable arable shadow of higher and higher prices have robbed millions millions millions mil mil- lions of Americans of billions of dollars Take the patriotic middle aged people in World War II days who skimped and saved to buy all the savings B bonds they could to help the war effort and as a means of support in their declining years What do they now have They have bonds which in actual value are not worth one half what they cost They have havethe havethe havethe the bleak outlook of actual want or a meager existence on on some government dole or other charity during their last years The same is true of retired persons on fixed incomes of many white-collared white workers many professional people and others The combination of wage-price wage boosts coupled with governmental deficit spending have stolen from these people much of their their independence their self respect A their confide confidence ce in government and the future their initiative f and their incentive for creative work These standard American American American Amer- Amer ican virtues are being replaced more and more by a the use attitude The governments government's taking care of everyone else and they can take care of me is an attitude one ne encounters encounters en en- j counters more and more I Another thing this constant boosting of wages is doing j is making it impossible for the farmer and the small business businessman m man n to hire the help needed Wages paid by the big corporations corporations corpora corpora- lions which pass the increases right along to the consumer are higher than the little man can pay and stay in business So while Walter Reuther talks of a four-day four week for his auto workers the small business man is being forced to do doI doand I more and more of his own work often putting in a day 7 week of 12 hours per day The same is true of the farmer farmer- who would be happy to hire some help and who used to do a lot lotof L' L of hiring when wages were at a point he could afford to pay Now bankruptcy or curtailed production and ultimate failure ff is plaguing many small business people who cannot me-et me meet the wages paid by big corporations on government projects etc The The wage-price wage increase race could also and make impotent the entire Social Security program There can be beno no security where there is lack of justice and fairness The thing America needs most is more honesty in government in labor negotiations in price setting and in inhuman inhuman human relations That will call for some changes in present practices of big organizations be they industrial governmental r I or labor But it is the only sure way to a more secure American Am Am- economy an economy in which everyone can have confidence and about which no one need worry or be ashamed Lets Let's all be on the level and also do a bit of leveling off of this constant race between the ever climbing wage spiral and price spiral both of which could become destructive tornados destroying practically all the gains made by labor laborin r t in the past quarter century |