The Star. MONDAY, JULY 31, 1922. THE STRIKES IN AMERICA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 31 July 1922, Page 4

The Star.

MONDAY, JULY 31, 1922. THE STRIKES IN AMERICA.

Delivered every evening by 6 o'clock in Hawera. Uauaiu, fioru.uuuy, Ukaiawa, iMiaaiu, Mang&toki, Kaponga, Awatuoa. Opunake, Outkebo, Manutahi, Alton, Hmleyville, Patea, Waverley, Mokoia, WUakaiuura, Ohangai, Meremere, Fraser Road, and Ararata.

The United States has the reputation for doing everything on a big scale,, and the country has often experienced many very widespread upheavals between employers and employees, but nothing greater than the present strike. • For months past there has been a severe struggle between certain sections of organised labour and their employers, due mainly to the reductions in i wages which have been made necessary; by the depression in trade, which hits' i been felt very much by the industries, in spite of the fact that the United States holds such enormous supplies of gold. Depressions are obviously not governed to any great extent by the amount of gold being held, and neither are wages, which are dependent upon the volume of trade and the activity \of industry generally. Throughout all Western countries and America wages ■ were greatly, increased during the war period and for two years after the. ] Armistice, and manufacturers found 1 that they had to meet the demands for | increases in wages or miss the oppor- ■■ tunity of filling the enormous orders ; which were flowing in from all sides. Then came the fall in trade; demand ceased, profits were soon eaten up, and it soon became impossible to continue to keep all workers in employment. Obviously, a reduction in wages became j imperative in order to reduce the cost | of production and to stimulate consump- : tion. Several sections of workers m the United States accepted the reduced rates of pay—heavy reductions they were in many cases—but the coal miners and some sections of transport , workers refused to work at the lower wages, and they have been joined in ' the strike by the railway workers. The strike has developed into a real industrial war, and many horrible crimes have been committed, scores of people ' being killed, with destruction of property. State troops have had to be employed in many centres, and scenes of violence are being witnessed which are very seldom seen in any part of the British Empire. Our people have ' a much greater respect for law and order than certain classes in tkb United States have, and there Is also the important different that Labour ' is a political powttf among British com- ' munities, VS% may llot agree with m&njjr fl? - thQ pi ail k s in Labour's policy,' btt£ £h e £ ac t t j iat tue y lliive re p regen t a - T:"ves in our Parliaments has a tendency ' to encourage amicable negotiations i when industrial disputes arise, and eni ables better communicrttions to be established between the parties in dis- " pute than 1& the case in the United' States. Again British communities are ' not troubled by the large bodies of foreigners from Central Europe as America is, and our people are not led to violence in the way that the highly excitable foreign element in America is. For the moment Britain is gaining somewhat by the industrial upheaval in the United States, but those who ■ look below the surface know that there is no real gain and they will be far better pleased when they read that the strikes are over than they are to read that Britain is experiencing a tempor- , ary boom in the coal trade. Not that the boom is not welcome, but a settlement of the American troubles is of greater importance, and it is to be hoped that the settlement will not be long delayed. The men can gain nothing and must lose very seriously by the strike because of the economic conditions prevailing, and if their leaders are wise they will not continue the struggle.