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Show f&TLE Creek There are few indeed that would not agree that about the poorest way to put out a fire would be to douse it with gasoline. gaso-line. Such a method has been tried by mistake at times and the results have always proved disastrous. For the past year or so a fire has been burning under the U.S. Steel industry. And sad to say nothing much of anything has been done to put it out. In fact, about the only effort that has been made has been to throw on a little gasoline every so often. Last week an advertisement appeared in practically every newspaper in America that should stimulate every steel worker to do a little serious thinking. The ad and attendant picture were about Vladimir Petrov, a Russian steelworker who makes less than one-fourth as much per day as his American counterpart. counter-part. Of course we all feel sorry for Vladimir and also for the Japanese Japan-ese stcelworkers who make less per day than he. But that isn't the whole story. Spiraling steel wages and the resultant zooming steel prices have just about priced American made steel out of the world market. mar-ket. In fact, foreign steel is now being sold in the United States at prices considerably below those of the domestic product. And the end is not yet. Rumblings from the inner sanctums of the Steel Union's top brass are to the effect that de mands for a whopping wage raise and other benefits will be made soon. From what this writer has been able to observe, the rank and file of the local steelworkers are pretty well satisfied with conditions con-ditions as they are. After all, an average paycheck of $24 a day isn't peanuts. In fact, most of the ones we have talked to are more worried about a layoff than they are about more pay. Of a few basic facts we may be fairly certain. If wages go up, steel prices will rise. They always have. If steel prices go up, less American steel will be sold abroad and more cheaper foreign steel will be sold here. This means only three things more layoffs, shorter workweeks and more inflation. President Eisenhower has made repeated requests of management and labor to hold the line on prices and wages. To date neither side has so much as intimated that they have heard htm. According to recent reports, Walter Reuther and George Mcany are planning a "March on Washington" to demand that the President do something about the abnormal number of their union members who are unemployed. They remind us of the teenage boy who gets into difficulty when he spurns his father's advice, and then yells for the old man to help him out of trouble. No, men and brethren, more gasoline isn't the remedy. So long 'til Thursday. |