Hammond Times, Volume 10, Number 18, Hammond, Lake County, 14 May 1921 — Page 7

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May 14, 1921.

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There is No Lockout Only a 20 Reduction in Wages Which is Better for the Workman A High Wage and No Work or a Fair Wage and Steady Employment?

Rea3 tHis Column and Compare these Prices it Will Surprise You A YEAR AGO WE SOLD 100 POUNDS OF SUGAR FOR $22.00 Today vne Sell For $22.09. 100 pounds of sugar . . ... . .. . .$8.00 1 bushel potatoes ......... w... 1.00 1 bushel onions ...... . 1.00 1 0 pound Approved ham ................ 3.20 pound bread .10

i pound best butter . . 1 dozen new laid eggs 1 pound Leader coffee 1 dozen oranges . . . . .

W barrel Pillsbury flour m , . ...... 2.53

5 pounds navy beam , 33 1 0 pounds rolled oats -.... .40

.29 35 .29

1 0 pounds corn roeal

1 pound American Cheese 3 cans Imported French sardines

4 cans peas

5 cans corn . . ,. . .

3 cans peaches ............. 6 cans tomatoes .......... ........ 2 packages Uneeda Biscuits ... .... . .....,.

10 pound bag salt . 2.5 1 large Swift's Washing Powder 22

30 .25 .50 .50 .63 .75 .60 .13

$22.00

WHERE IS YOUR ARGUMENT ON THE COST OF LIVING? May 1st, 1921 A Year Ago We Sold 100 Pounds of Sugar and One Bushel of Potatoes for $36.00 Today We Will Sell for $36.00 :

100 pounds sugar, 1 bushel potatoes. 1 0 pounds coffee. 25 pounds lima beans. 25 pounds navy beans. 1 dozen cans peas.

1 barrel flour, 1 0 pounds rice. 1 gallon syrup. 10 dozen eggs. 5 packages corn flakes. 25 pounds corn meal.

1 dozen cans corn.

1 dozen No. 3 cans tomatoes.

Durand Sugar Card S,S.IXJRAND & CO., 326 Madison St., Chicago, 111.

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There in a nut-shell is the one question to be asked concerning the cessation which is now in operation in all branches of the building industry in this region. If the union worker, who is now contending for a continuation of war-time wages, will answer the question truthfully, the cessation will end without more ado. But before he can answer that question, the workman must be placed in the full possession of facts. We do not believe that the average worker really knows the situation as it exists today. We say this because we realize that the American workingman is at heart an honest man. He wants all that is coming to him. it is true, but he never knowingly violates the dictates of common sense as they affect fundamental economic conditions. So we, the Building Contractors of the Calumet Region, are using this newspaper space to acquaint both the public at large and the tradesmen with all the facts in the case. In the first place, there is a terrible shortage of houses not only in Hammond, but all over the United States. According to reliable information, this shortage in Hammond alone amounts to 8,500 homes. This condition means that those who, through force of circumstances, are forced to seek new dwellings, must bid against each other. Landlords have been able to extort higher and higher rents. TODAY, THE VERY WAGE-EARNERS WHO ARE HELPING TO PERPETUATE THIS SHORTAGE OF HOUSES ARE FAYING AN ENORMOUS TOLL IN INCREASED RENTALS. If it were possible to build the 8,500 additional homes now needed in Hammond, rents would tumble immediately, and the whole community, including the building trades workers, would benefit. Yet, so long as building costs remain as disproportionately high as they are at present, there will be but the scantiest amount of building operations. In the last year or two. thousands of prospective builders of houses, flats and apartments have been forced to postpone their operations because of their abnormally high costs. Bankers have refused to loan more than 40 per cept of building costs, because they know that costs must come down some time in the future and that a large proportion of the present costs of putting up a building would be lost to the investor because of a consequent shrinkage of values. All of these conditions have prevented building operations in anything like a normal volume. AND AS OTHER COSTS DECREASE. THE COST OF BUILDING GETS MORE AND MORE OUT OF LINE, so that even less building is forecast for the future than the very limited amount that has been undertaken in the immediate past.

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If building costs do not come down, all building must stop. The tradesman, who is not willing to bear his shaje of the deflation will be forced to continue out of employment, because there will be no demand for his services. IT WAS BECAUSE OF THESE CONDITIONS AND PARTICULARLY BECAUSE CONTRACTORS BELIEVE THAT THE INTERESTS OF THE CONTRACTOR AND THE EMPLOYE ARE MUTUAL THAT THE BUILDING CONTRACTORS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO BRING ABOUT A CONDITION WHICH WOULD KEEP THE TRADESMEN IN STEADY EMPLOYMENT AT A FAIR RATE OF WAGE. These contractors have voluntarily reduced their own profits. Many of them have been operating at an actual loss for the sole purpose of keeping their organizations intact But a sacrifice of the contractors' normal profit alone cannot bring building costs down to the point that will satisfy the public Neither can the decrease in the cost of building materials permit a sufficient cut in building costs to stimulate the industry.

number of workers that the Building Contractors of this city requested the workmen in the eleven building trades affected to consent to an average reduction of 20 of the 1920 wages WHICH WERE THE HIGHEST WAGES EVER PAID IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRIES. That this reduction is not drastic is proved by the fact that the U. S. Bureau of Statistics reports a decline of 27.66c from the peak prices for commodities prevailing in 1920. IF THE WORKERS ACCEPT THIS REDUCTION, THEREFORE, THEY' WILL STILL RETAIN 10 GREATER BUYING POWER THAN THEIR 1920 WAGE GAVE THEM WHEN PRICES WERE AT THEIR HIGHEST.

IMPORTANT! Many men are now accepting work on building jobs in an independent capacity. It is important that these men, and those who employ them, should know that the State of Indiana has very drastic and just laws, requiring an owner or contractor to take out Compensation Insurance. Where an owner employs a workman, union or non-union, for any kind of work around his premises, if said workman is injured during such employment, the owner is subject to the compensation payments set out by the law. Should a serious accident occur, it might work a very serious hardship on the owner. Builders should guard against such a contingency by requiring the workman to produce a certificate from the State, showing that the contractor has taken out insurance as required by law.

LABOR REPRESENTS THE LARGEST SINGLE ITEM OF COST ENTERING INTO BUILDING. FULLY 50 OF THE COST OF ERECTING A BUILDING AFTER THE MATERIAL HAS BEEN DELIVERED ON THE GROUND IS THE LABOR COST. UNLESS THIS LABOR COST IS REDUCED, THE COST OF ERECTING A BUILDING MUST REMAIN SO HIGH AS TO BE PROHIBITIVE IN ALL BUT THE MOST NECESSARY CASES. In Baltimore, Maryland, the Labor Unions have accepted a voluntary wage reduction of from 10 per cent to 20 per cent. As a result, many millions of dollars worth of new construction are now under way and the members of the building trades of that city are at work at wages that permit them to have all the advantages they enjoyed when war-time wages prevailed. It was to bring about a similar revival of building, with the consequent employmnet of an increased

And since the offered wage is to be GUARANTEED FOR A FULL YEAR, during which STILL FURTHER decreases in living costs may be reasonably expected, the offer seems more than fair. THE UNIONS, THROUGH THEIR REPRESENTATIVES HAVE DECIDED TO REJECT THIS TAIR OFFER. BY THAT REJECTION THEY WOULD PERPETUATE THE HIGH COST OF BUILDING WHICH HAS THROWN THOUSANDS OF THEIR MEMBERS INTO SERIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT, We especially want to call your attention to the left-hand column, showing comparative prices; and we want every working man, business man and the public to note the purchasing power of a dollar now to that of a year ago. Further, the impression is given the business public that the difference of $1.25 per hours against $1.00 per hour is a trifling matter in the cost of a building and should not be considered. We wish to call attention to the facts in this matter. The School Board of Hammond in receiving bids on the additions to be built to the High School asked the bidders to submit the difference of labor between $1.25 and $1.00 per hour. One of the lowest bidders, the McLennon Construction Co., gave the difference as $17,057.00. They will stand by their figures if given a chance to do so. We ask the public, and the members of the unions, to weigh the above facts and to realize that to accept the proffered wage reduction will give employment to many thousands of workers at a wage which, in comparison to living costs, is really higher than that of last year. We believe a full realization of this condition will prompt the same patriotic and unselfish action in Hammond as that which in Baltimore has created for the members of the building trades a most prosperious condition. AFTER ALL, IT IS A QUESTION OF WHETHER THE WORKER WANTS A THEOretically HIGH WAGE BUT NO WORK WITH WHICH TO EARN IT OR A GENUINELY FAIR tt'AGE AND AMPLE EMPLOYMENT TO ALL.

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