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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1920)
c VOL. XXXIX. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 18, 1920 NO. 29 d in P aste DT niial S8( o a on amors 111 Portland Is Fast Becoming Summer Capitol for Nations Touring Workers BY XE "WITT HAERT. THESE are labor's halcyon days, at least by contrast with slirr. . times that can easily be remem bered. Itinerant: workers . especially have their innings right now, and full well are they taking advantage of It. Portland Is being paid a doubt ful compliment by many men who seem to be on perpetual vacation pe riods. While this is a nice indorse ment of the attractions of the city and of weather conditions that make a life of Indolence and ease one that appeals more than one of productive ness, it is not very desirable. Floaters are getting the best period In their history. Give a certain class of men a few weeks' work at top wages and they have a money surplus large enough to tide them over a fair sized period of rest, and they con sume huge quaintities of it. Of course, there can be no criticism of labor In trying to get Its just desserts in a fair market, but present day conditions would seem, judging at least trom the every-day sights In Portland, to be rather unbalanced. With a good de mand and work for all,' the men who would rather stand at ease while their services are needed are likely to create a condition .in the marts of "production that will make even a tighter market later than is being experienced at present. Karma Have Ko Lore. "If tradesmen, who cannot get work at their crafts right at the present time,, would only go out In the country and) gather fruit or assist in the har vests it would do a great deal in bal ancing the labor market during ' the present summer months," . recently said Charles H. Gram, labor commis sioner for the state of Oregon. The fact Is that farmers and land produc ers find It increasingly difficult to obtain their necessary labor, supply. Work in the fields is hard and back tiring and not many men care to go out and tackle it if they can get eas ier tasks at higher wages nearer the amusements of a large city. Emphasis has been placed for some time past on , the tendency that the country-bred boy exhibits to come to the city and "enjoy life." This ret rograde movement from . the soil to the factory has been in force for some time, especially since the rule of high wages in war-time industries. How long it will continue is difficult to estimate, but the adjustment must eventually arrive. Floaters Canse Surplus. "Owing to the continued car short age and the Rose Festival and Shrine conventions in Portland as well as the proximity of the July 4 holiday season, with many logging camps closing down temporarily with con sequent surpluses of released labor as well as a heavy influx of float ers from other Btates, the labor sit uation in Portland shows a large sur plus," states a recent report made by W.- H. Fitzgerald, one of the dollar-a-year zone officers if the federal de partment of labor, who works in Ore gon, Washington and Idaho. Bankers have to keep a wary eye on crop conditions, and Leroy D. Walker, president of the State bank of Portland, on a recent trip through the Willamette valley, reported that the farm labor situation was so acute that In a number of places he visited women were forced to drive teams in hay and barley fields. How well the northwest will be able to care for its grain - crop this year . remains to be r-Q- h I ,t44 - - -n w; Yi-- V ...... X.- it fA V 'dtv .. ... .:.vjfcM . : I1- Year KovncV&tr&fxons &rr prrtS-srefe I'oz-flffjiJS SJi&iy &2-?vrs. Cure of L a tor Loses jzs j4ppf IVAm Zznt? Js j? Z'&jy. seen, for the demand for this class of labor has not yet begun to develop. . If the scarcity is already felt so badly when the call has only been for hay hands there Is a great fear that harvest will bring wages to such a peak that they will be al most prohibitive. Harvest Army Recruiting. However, in. this respect the fed eral government has of late years lent every assistance in getting the crops of the nation tinder cover and even now the government agents are engaged in recruiting the huge army of field hands who will be engaged in this fall's drive for the food of the world. Sociological students sent to Oregon from eastern centers to make a study of industrial conditions in view of the fact that this state is the least troubled by strikes and lockouts of any in the Union, uniformly report that it is the spirit of co-operation that is exhibited by labor and em ployer which tends to fend off these stoppages of production.' Portland itself has had but little trouble from fights between labor and employers. the little picketing that is being done in the city at present having had Its origin in another city in a nearby state. Those who hold that prosperity will be the ruin of the working man, that he will tend to arrogance with over flowing pockets, would seem to have some grounds for their belief, but it must be remembered that a prosper ous community never yet failed to attract more than .its share of atten tion at the hands of "boomer" labor. In other words, that the most of the men seen taking their rest under the shade of the trees in Portland parks and publlo squares are tourists, at tracted here by the top wage and the plentitude of the work. These men have nearly always been of a type, somewhat like, the . harvest hands of olden, . days, who - used . to Infest the small towns in the big grain belts and take great joy in forcing dis tracted ranchers to bid their highest for their services. Epic Tale Related. The epic tale of this kind is that of the fellow in the North Dakota city, a big, strapping, capable-appearing chap who lolled on a promi nent street intersection until he was approached by a man who was hard put for help. "Looking for a job?" asked the farmer. "Sure." ' "I . need a hay hand, good place to sleep, plenty of food, my wife cooks, at least a month's work at i a day and found," was the lure that was held out. "What kind of a farm you got?" "Fine little 80-acre place. Just my two eons and myself and we will need just' the one extra hand, you'll be like one of the family." - - "Have you got a piano?" "Oh. yes, and my two daughters play and sing and every evening we have some mighty fine concerts." "Well, you drive In this afternoon and bring your two daughters and the farm with you and I'll look them over." Potential Labor Wasted. Of course underproduction is the bane of the nation today, at least we have been told so often enough and in enough ways to make it so, but what steps are to be taken to over come it must be formulated in the near future. It would seem. Poten tial labor is wasted every day in Portland while the farmers of the state could use them to good advan tage. Reports this year show that a fair sized percentage of the grain acreage ' of the Inland Empire has been abandoned on account of the scarcity of. help for spring plowing and seeding and other causes. Every day's, labor -that -Is lost, no matter what the cause, just makes it that much more difficult for the rest of mankind. As a general arraignment of labor is uncalled for at this time, great care must be taken to have it firmly understood that the home-owning steady worker, the man of family and standing, cannot be brought under fire in this respect. It is only the floater, no matter whether he comes from some other state or where, for we produce just as worthless a breed of them In Oregon as any place else, who can be criticised. One thing is in our favor here, our numerical production Is limited and the Oregon average of drones is exceedingly low, but fe are forced to suffer because the etate makes Itself so attractive that they flock . In from other com munities to live their parasitic ex istence here. Boomers" Enjoy Tonrm. Some few years back even the average tradesman had his feeling of contempt for the "home guards," the fellows who had never left their little communities and broadened their view of life by a "boomer" tour of the larger cities of the country, Credit for originating the "See Amer ica First" idea in reality should be given the boomer tradesmen, for they were really the first who took up the plan of working their way from city to city and then returning to their home town with their outlook well changed. There Is but little question that this plan did make many better mechanics, but, on the other hand, it made many bums. Freight train tours are not nearly so popular today as they used to be. Most of the men who wish to travel and will work, even a portion of their time, well can afford to ride the cushions. Jungles have disappeared, chalk marks on front door posts, gates or barns, . telling in the lexicon of the hoboes vivid code the entire history of the residents, have gener ally disappeared. Elaborate mono grams, of the "Chi Kid" and his Ilk are seen in constantly decreasing ratio on railway water tanks. "Moochers" have taken their way to honest toil, and the old timer of a few short years back would hardly know the old home republic of to day. Everybody has money, the hobo enters the fair class restaurant and dines off a good steak and Java where before he was content to stoke to repletion on mulligan washed down with copious draughts of coffee seconds. Wages Rale High. Just a samrje of what the occa sional worker can get in the line of employment if he wishes: Under the Stale law every office that hires help must file a monthly report with the state labor commissioner. This re port shows the name of the man hired, the occupation he is hired for, the name and residence of the em ployer, the wage that is to be paid and the office fee colfected by the labor broker. In line with the in crease in farm wages it Is interest ing to scan the report and see just what is occurring In Oregon. Farm hands can get as high as $125 per month. Few of the best of skilled mechanics in their line can net this sum after paying the greatly in creased rate of living necessary in a city. Six dollars a day has been paid for hay hands, milkers are hired for $100, cooks get (125. Just a run through a page of the record for the month of June shows the following hiring of farm hands: Cathlamet J75, Woodland 70, Cath lamet $65, Springdale $60, Warren $60, Scappoose $100, Gaston $75, Olex $75, Vancouver $90, Hubbard $60, Woodland $70, Hillsboro, two at $75; Sauvie's Island $60 and $75. Scholia $75, Fairview $75. Lents $70. Scappoose $85 and Yamhill $70. Other jobs, Just as they come, show milker $90, camp cook $100, dishwasher $67, hay hands $6 daily, farmers, two at $125, sheep herders, two A $100; farmer $75, milker $85, hay hands $3.50, milker $90, milker $100, farm hands $75, cook $125, farm hand $80, and so on through the list. Of course it is im possible to Judge Just what these jobs are as the conditions vary to such a great extent, though it is generally the case that men laboring on the land are given their board and bed as part of their wage. Canada Pays High Rate. Information from Canada is to the effect that the United States is not the only sufferer .on this continent from high labor prices, as she is also getting hers. Prairie farmers are be ing forced to pay as high as $100 per month and found for the ordinary type of farm hand and they shudder to even thins of what the peak will be. this fall in tile harvest fields. On the south of us Mexico is too busy in her formation of varied govern ments to trouble herself a great deal with production, and in other sec tions of the world the same falling off is noted in created wealth though from varied causes. So that it can readily be seen that there is not too much to be frightened at on account of local conditions. Just now, when labor is supposedly in great demand, it seems to hit the average observer between the eyes to see so many men loafing. In the winter months this situation is to be expected to a great extent on ac count of the closing down of essen tial industries that absorb a great number of workers. Last fall, for instance. Portland was faced by an acute problem, mainly created by the release of so many men from the army who came home and searched for jobs. The officials of the Amer ican Legion met this situation nobly and, by means of personal appeals and canvasses, managed to make an American record In seeing that these boys were placed in positions of value, most of which have since been turned into permanent ones. One factor was found to very generally apply in the case of the man who had served his trick with Uncle Sam's forces and that was that he appre ciated the value of steady employ ment. Right at present there are very few members of the American Legion out of work. Floaters Flock to Oregon. Last fall, as soon as It became known in other sections of the coun try that Oregon was so religiously caring for her returned soldier sons, a number of discharged men from other states hastened to adopt Ore gon, an honor that, while appreciated, created a bad situation insofar as it concerned the placing of the men, as it was found that there were too many for the Jobs. The same is true again in this state this summer, for word has gone out broadcast that htre In the wes is a state where top wages rule, where the state herself, through the labor bureau and strin gent laws, protects the interests of the workers, and where there are plenty of jobs for all who desire to work. The trouble with many men who have no craft or special line of work in these 1920 days is that they do not care to take up lines wherein they are needed, but want to pick and choose. Farm work has never possessed too great a lure, neither has railway maintenance, and the railways of the west are chronically short of hands, mainly due to the low scale of wages that they pay. Com mon labor at present can get work, .but it is not any. too. plentiful. Other lines In Oregon are normal, but the labor barometer about July 4 each year In this section shows almost a similar condition, with the laying off of large numbers of woods crews and mill hands for the annual vaca tion and overhauling of plants. Right now this phase of the situation is in a process of readjustment as the mills and woods are again absorbing their share of labor. It must at all times be borne in mind that the tim ber industry is the great one in this state, and on its prosperity in gen eral depends, to a great extent, the prosperity of labor. With the con tinuation of the car shortage some hard spells are liable to ensue, as mills are well supplied with orders but have no way to get them to mar ket. June found Oregon at normal, as the employment agencies of the state re ported that they placed 8599 indi viduals in positions. Whether the abolition of the federal office has in jured the situation in this state is a matter for debate, though some hold that farmers find it harder to deal with the paid agents -than they did with the government office, and that its loss, if not already felt, will be come more apparent as the season ad vances. However, the labor agents who work for fees are handling Just about the number of jobs that they are expected to, judging from the records of past years. May was the peak month. 13,000 Jobs being filled. and both March and April surpassed last month. January saw 5809 po sitions filled, February 7673, March 8979, and April 8855. Officials of the state labor bureau say that the situa tion here is no more acute than at this time in any past year, though they do etate that there may be a scarcity of good farm labor this falL Reports are to the effect that the laborers that use the state office have never been so prosperous, and they carry with them sums that would astound some years ago, and that would be regarded as email fortunes. Recently a sheepherder came in to have a wage dispute adjusted. He had been working for four months at $90 and found. Found .in the sheep country means several cans of beans, some bacon, a little flour and con densed milk, a blanket and the wide world. He was a big, raw-boned Irishman and the dispute arose over a box of cartridges that he had pur chased from the camp outfit, they, through a mistake, having charged him with two boxes. Independent to the last, the man walked away, came to Portland, and presented his claim to ' the state labor commissioner, at the same time proffering a goodly wad of bills and Inviting the official to take what he wished. "But this service does not cost yoo. Concluded, on Face ..
