The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 10, 1917, Page 10

It wasn't so long ago that the old political gang was making fun of the little tree the farmer planted. . —Drawn ‘expressly for the Leader by Frank Chaney Jr. It was such a small tree when first set out. The gang called the farmer a “silly rube” and a “sucker” then. Today that little tree is a great oak, and the gang has been and is still trying to chop it down, much to the amusement of the farmer, whose predictions came true. The gang with the nicked and broken ax can make no impression on the big tree. Profiteering 1s Not Producing * Here is Proof That Excessive Prices for Coal, Iron, Copper and Other War Necessities Are Not Making the Interests Monopolizing Our Natural Resources Produce as They Should—Monopoly the Cause BY PROFESSOR A. B. GILBERT HAT national strength is built around national resources, everyone knows. A nation without coal and iron, for in- stance, can not be in the front rank today. ‘“England, Germany, and the United States are the great nations” according to Professor Goode of Chicago, because these great nations have coal and iron in abundance. To a lesser degree oil and copper are im- portant. These resources establish a nation industrially and give it power in time of war. Judged by these re- sources the United States is the great- est of nations, but more than posses- sion is needed. There must be intelli- gent use. Instead of putting these great unsurpassed resources of ours at . the disposal of labor and capital, however, that the nation’s business might gain as rapidly as possible, we have set the watch dogs of monopoly over them. We discount- ed and neutralized our advant- ages over other nations by allow- ing - private exploiters to take all or more than the traffic would bear Of what advantage to other business is a nation’s coal supply if the native coal costs about as ‘much as the imported? Of what advantage the iron ore, if iron and steel are forced up to internation- al prices? Yet such has been our business position for years. By a thoroughly stupid economic policy, the business of the United States has disinherited itself and can be defeated in trade by any nation possessed of better business asense and some resources, The un- parrelled exactions of the owners of national resources in the years 1915 and 1916 severesly crippled - our possible business and would have thrown us into a panic had not our own government’s needs furnished a new demand of tre-: mendous proportions. During these two years the American people had been clamoring. for relief and when we. entered the war, there .. was a widespread belief that under this all important necessity, the gov-. ernment would find some way to re- store to us the national resources. If . this couldn’t be done for the business of peace,- it surely could for that of war, when the nation’s immediate safety was actually at stake. cost ' of production—for high prices hold back all other production; and second, the supply of coal, iron, copper, oil should be greater than ever before. MILLIONS OFFERED TO GET PRODUCTS Only by low price and maximum supply could we be sure of turning out the goods neded for the war purpose and our feverishly working population. But with the danger of failing in war . upon us, we did not reform. We stuck ta the divine rights of the monopoly powers. We said in effect to these gentlemen: 2 “Here are millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, if you will only give us what we need.” . That was our policy in peace and it has been our policy in war. We have . given—given like famine victims—in the hope that the monopolists would be so good and patriotic as to do the right thing, and we have remained famished. There has been no effective attempt to knock down the.price bar- rier to industry." ; The story of every natural resource needed for war or support of the peo- ple is the same—high prices, high prof- its, serious shortages of supply. No one should be surprised at this. We have absolutely no reason and never have had any reason to expect . monopoly profits to produce service requirements, The monopolist gets more money by high profits on small quantity, and he is the servant of profits first, last, and all the time. There i8 no relief for this shortage in sight except to lift the monopolists bodily and not too gently off the national resources. If they can force higher prices now by holding back production, they can do the same trick over again next week, next month, next year. The effect of the increased stimulus quickly wears off and then more must be furnished—the sky is the limit, : First ° . the price should be low—very near the RESULTS SO FAR NOT SATISFACTORY Throughout the United States, indus- try (both of farm and the shop) is be- ing held up by the price of natural re- sources. In many lines, such as agri- cultural implements, the users are just paying the excessive prices for raw materials charged in 1916, Through- out the United States users are held up by lack of supply at any price—our whole industrial machine is full of brakes. The situation is worse than the average citizen thinks, because of the propoganda of the press. Every- where in the United States there is coal famine. Everywhere in the Unit- ed States there is steel famine. The following figures taken from the New York Times Analist show, not the hoped for increase in iron production, but an actual decline: - 1()(:t. 1917 Oct. 1916 Decline k ee rders ... 9,009,675 10,015.260 1,005,535 Pig Iron Caj pa- city &tons) 106,650 113,189 6,639 Pig Iron ; ¥roduction 3,303,038 3,608,849 205,811 Pig Iron production 10 months 32,097,269 82,549,894 452,626 This is 452,626 less tons of pig iron for this year than last! Think of what that means when ships, guns and am-" munition ‘as ‘well as machinery must be made out of this iron! "Why are the orders on the books of the steel cor- poration over a million tons smaller? Not because the natlon doesn’t need more iron and steel than ever before, but because the prices are too high and because, according to' the Wall Street Journal of October: “Steel manufacturers have declined to sell at the prices fixed by the government! Again the Tron Age of September £ - ‘production figures are mot ayailable, but there s reason to helleve the total said: “Consumers will be unable teo _buy 4t the’new prices until the: old orders ars filled.” In other words: the steel companies can make more money. by running moderately on orders at the old prices than by running to capacity for the good of the nation, and thefr object is of course to make mgdiey. ‘What do protests of patriotism amount to when this record is eonstdéred? In August, 1914, the Germian stam PAGE TRN o s e s M S ATy made a furious rush at the coal and iron fields of France. Granting the “wickedness of- their object we: must, nevertheless, admit their intelligence. They knew that war i8 decided by coal and iron. Also they didn’t depend om profit and patriotism to look after the home supply; nor has England for the last two years. BIG COAIL. PROFITS BUT LITTLE COAL The average price for coal at the mine for the whole United States im 1915 was $1.13. The Ameérican Feder= ation of Labor issued a statement ia July, 1917, that the labor cost per tom had increased only 13 cents a ton in three years. The Wall Street Journal stated in August that the New Haven . railroad bought its 1916 coal for $1.28 at the mine. The prices charged in the winter of 1916-1917 and since were, therefore, almost wholly monopoly, prices and the prices fixed by the gove ernment are undoubtedly far above cost and peace time profit, Secretary, Baker refused the fixed pricé for govs ernment buying as beyond reason. ’1‘2: recent increase of 45 'cents allow: brings the fixed price in important coal states to the following: = Ilinois, Mine run-, Indiana, Mine run - Towa, Mine run .v..visss Ohio, Mine TUn «..ii.svs '~ Pennsylvania, Mine run ..:.. .8.46 ‘ ‘West Virginia, Mine run .,... 2.48 As late as October, however, these" fixed prices applied to only 20 per cent of the soft coal produced. ,The remain« Ing 80 per cent was on contracts at .muchv higher prices, Yet these profits do not give us adequate supply of coal.’ Cufrent for 1917 will be under that of 1916. “Vast armies of coal miners have been idle this year; some operators have brazehly suspended operations to force - :ge .price up. The coke supply is so grt that the fuel administration has ordered the Connellswille préducers to shipionly to blast furnaces. What is to. - bappen to other users: of colis? : But It cur eoal dxd iron are in bad