Page Four
Heppner
Gazette Times
Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon
Thursday. January 27, 1938
THE HEPPNER GAZETTE.
Established March 30, 1883;
THE HEPPNER TIMES,
Established November 18. 1897;
CONSOLIDATED FEBRUARY 15. 1912
Published every Thursday morning by
CBAWFOBD PUBLISHING COMPANY
and entered at the Post Office at Hepp
ner, Oregon, as second-class matter,
JASPER V. CRAWFORD, Editor
SPENCER CRAWFORD, Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
One Year $2.00
Three Years 5.00
Six Months 1.00
Three Months 75
Single Copies 05
Official Paper for Morrow County
Can It Happen Here?
rtlNCLAIR LEWIS may have been
considered a pipe-dreamer by
many who read his "It Can't Happen
Here." But there are things happen
ing today that make us wonder
whether such an opinion is correct,
Just last Saturday Oregon Wool
Growers association was notified by
Harry Bridges, union organizer, that
any sacks of wool not marked show
ing the wool to have been sheared
by union shearers would not be
handled by CIO longshoremen.
What, we ask, if Mr. Bridges
forces his point with wool growers,
is to prevent similar action being
taken against wheat growers? Is it
not possible, if present union tactics
are permitted, that very shortly
Mr. Bridges and his ilk will be tell
ing our wool and wheat growers how
many men they may hire, what
hours they shall work and how
much wages shall be paid?
No, certainly, we have all believed
such a thing could not happen here.
But if the course of union organizers
within industry may be taken as a
criterion, we in the farming sections
of the country may expect to see
just such attempts. They are prob
ably foredoomed to failure for many
reasons, but it is time for agricul
ture to wake up. Our farmers are
lying with a strange bedfellow when
they play into the hands of uncon
trolled, unscrupulous labor organ
izers. Recommended to the close study
of everyone is a resolution of the
Polk county Pomona grange passed
at a recent meeting. The resolution
urges remedial legislation defining
labor disputes as only those bona
fide disputes between an employer
and employees, and preventing pick
eting and boycotting unless the con
troversy is an actual labor dispute.
It is further provided that any
controversy between rival labor or
ganizations or between groups of
employees shall not be termed as a
labor dispute, and picketing and
boycotting be prohibited in such inter-union
controversies.
Another proposed feature said to
have won strong support from the
determined Polk county grangers is
a section which would prevent any
individual or organization from us
ing force, coercion or any other un
lawful method to prevent a person
from offering his services to an em
ployer desiring to employ him.
The farmers likewise seek to make
it possible for the courts of this state
to issue injunctions to prevent labor
organizations from picketing or
boycotting places of business which
are not actually connected with a
bona fide labor dispute.
While it is reported that State
Master Ray W. Gill, due to alliance
with organized labor, prevented
through deputies the adoption of a
similar resolution by the Marion
county Pomona grange, indications
are given that other Pomona and
subordinate granges will give back
ing to the Polk county resolution.
Certainly no hope of balanced gov
ernment can exist so long as one
large class of the population operates
outside the jurisdiction of competent
legal authority.
There is no open controversy be
tween shearers and wool growers at
this time to necessitate issuance of
such a threat as has been made by
Mr. Bridges. If and when such a
controversy does arise, each indi
vidual case may be taken as a dis
pute. Bridges' threat appears to be
just an answer to a recent resolution
of the wool growers that they would
favor "open shop" shearing, but it
is nonetheless indicative that at
tempts to force organization upon
all shearers is imminent. It is just a
sample of the method of procedure
of CIO which, belying its name
Committee for Industrial Organiza
tion is attempting to bring all la
bor under one large union, the bene
fits of which to the lay member are
as yet a matter of strong conjecture,
and the accomplishment of which is
a threat to democratic government.
The Protection of
Competition
fTHE veracity of "Big Business" is
J. being put to a test these days,
and there is a general tendency to
overthrow the competitive business
system. In fact some economists have
recently openly preached a monop
olistic system as preferable, and cer
tain administrative principles re
cently advocated support the trend.
Without defense intended for any
unscrupulous practices of moneyed
interests which have worked against
the public welfare, a look into the
heart of Big Business may make us
wonder if, after all, the competitive
system does not vibrate with some
warmth. .
A savings and loan company sales
man from Portland when in the city
the other day recalled that he was
on the road selling for a large meat
packing company in the post-war
price depression era of 1924. The
head of that concern lost a million
dollars a day for thirty days, as
prices went into a tail dive, he as
serted. Called into conference with
the district sales manager the Pacific
coast sales force was told that all
present stocks were to be marked
down fifty percent and that they
were to quote the new prices to the
trade, but that retailers were to be
given every opportunity to unload
their stocks before the new prices
were made public. In other words,
while the large meat packing con
cern was absorbing a tremendous
loss, and one which actually, rocked
the foundations of the long estab
lished business, the head of that
business was determined not to make
the customers suffer from a situation
over which it itself had no control.
That is just one little incident
which came to us unsolicited from
an unbiased source, at least unbiased
to the extent that the man telling
it now has no connection with the
business. He was, however, in a fa
vorable position to know what that
one large company did when busi
ness was on the skids.
We have on our desk the beauti
fully printed, current year book of
another large meat packing com
pany. This company and the one
above referred to each has been
accused many times of being mem
bers of the "hogocracy," a name once
applied by a vitriolic writer as sig
nifying a monopoly of the meat
packing business. This year book
gives a pictured human interest story
of the company along with a report
of its financial statement for the
year, and a letter of transmittal says
anyone interested may have a copy
free of charge. It is, indeed, a picture
of a very large and successful busi
ness. A few excerpts from this com
pany's story may be enlightening:
"In most industries it is possible
for a manufacturer to plan his out
put several months in advance. On
the basis of field investigations and
information supplied by his sales
force, he can form a fair judgment
as to the amount of product his sales
outlets will take. He can then buy
just the quantity of raw materials
that will enable him to carry out his
manufacturing and selling plans.
"In the meat business, output can
not be planned in this manner. The
meat packer has no control over his
raw-material supplies. He must buy
live animals as rapidly as they are
produced and sent to market, and
then find an outlet for meat and by
products at the best prices he can
obtain. ...
"On the buying side, competition
brings about a parity in livestock
prices from market to market no less
striking than the parity in meat
prices. If for one reason or another
livestock should become relatively
cheaper in Omaha than in Chicago,
meat packers having buyers on both
markets would increase their pur
chases in Omaha and reduce their
buying in Chicago. At the same time,
livestock growers in the west would
send more of their animals to Chi
cago where prices were high, and
fewer to Omaha where prices were
low. Becase of the increased de
mand for livestock at Omaha and
the reduced supply, livestock quota
tions at that market would promptly
rise until they were again in line
with prices at other markets. In this
way the competition of nationwide
distributors holds livestock markets
in line with one another. The same
competition that has made the mar
ket for meat national in scope has
also created a national market for
livestock.
"The meat packing industry is a
free field where there are no favors.
Many new firms are set up each year
to try their hand in the competitive
struggle and to stand or fall on their
merits. Some, whether young or old,
are able to expand their business,
others see their trade diminishing,
and still others fall by the wayside.
Success comes only to those who
study their tasks and who render
essential and valuable service at low
cost. . . .
"The Shortcomings of Monopoly.
As is so often the case with super
ficial observations and criticisms of
this kind, only a portion of the story
is presented. If there is merit in the
contention that competition is waste
ful and should be done away with,
the question then resolves itself into
one of deciding what course of action
would be in order. Obviously the
prpper course the only course
available would be to scrap the
competitive system and to reorgan
ize all trade and industry along
monopolistic lines. The argument
that competition is wasteful neces
sarily implies that monopoly would
be less wasteful.
"If an organized effort were made
to eliminate the so-called wastes of
competition by transforming trade
and industry into a series of monop
olies, the consequences would quick
ly become apparent. In the first
place, the consumer would have no
alternative source from which to ob
tain his supplies. If he objected to
the quality of the goods his retailer
offered for sale, or the kind of ser
vice, or the prices asked, he would
have no redress. He would be in the
position of having to accept what
was offered or go without. Likewise,
the nroducer of raw materials would
have no alternative outlets. He would
be obliged to sell his primary prod
ucts at whatever prices the monop
olist might fix, irrespective of the
price the consumer would be willing
to nav for finished nroducts. Mean
while, the monopolist retailer, whole
saler, or manufacturer would have
no incentive to study the desires of
his customers, to improve quality,
to lower costs, or to reduce prices.
His profits would be assured. He
would have little or no urge to im
prove his efficiency because his sur
vival would not be dependent upon
the efficiency of his operations. . . ."
RHEA CREEK NEWS
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wright left
for Portland Sunday. Mrs. Wright
is suffering from a severe case of
eczema and latest report is she is
at St. Vincent's hospital.
Henry Peterson has returned to
his home from the veterans' hos
pital at Walla Walla.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Parker are
spending a few days at Walla Walla.
Mr. and Mrs. Orrin Wright have
returned from Portland where Mrs.
Wright went for medical care.
Mr. and Mrs. Tyndall Robison
were calling at the Walter Becket
home Sunday.
Mrs. Hilma Anderson has been
ill at her home in Eight Mile.
"TIPTOE INN"
FARCE COMEDY IN THREE ACTS
Presented by the Lexington Student
Body in the High School Auditorium
JANUARY 28 8:15 P.M.
Admission 35c, 25c and 15c
m m m
s5 Pfl
Morrow County
JOINS
Elks Hall Heppner
Saturday, January 29
ELMER STEELE
and His Swing Band
$I.OO the couple
Extra ladies 25c