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NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
North Shore Breeze | 
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Published every Friday afternoon by 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE CO. 
Knight Building - Manchester, Mass. 
J. ALEX. LODGE, Editor 
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Entered as second-class matter at the 
Manchester, Mass., Postoftice. 
January 19, 1911. Number 3 
Volume 10 
The Lawrence Situation 
The labor situation in Lawrence 
resulting from the enforcement of 
the fifty-four hour law enacted last 
year i8 one of the surprising results 
of misunderstanding and mob ae- 
tion. Who could have forseen the 
difficulties of the last week in the 
apparently innocent labor measure 
introduced by the representative 
from New Bedford. The bill was 
introduced as a labor party measure 
and strangely enough the first fruits 
of the act is misunderstanding un- 
employment, mob rule and_ the 
shedding of blood. No one was 
more surprised at the results of the 
enforcement of the law than he who 
introduced the bill. On the face of 
the bill its motives are sincere and 
the results aimed at are most desir- 
able. While the sympathy of every 
human mind must go out to workers 
receiving but pittances as so many 
do at their work in the mills, it 
seems that in the specific act of last 
week does not reveal the error to 
be that of the manufacturers. 
There is no escaping the truth that 
the relations of money and _ labor 
have not been solved yet and the 
outbreak in Lawrence while due in 
no large degree to ignorance and 
folly indicates the slumbering spirit 
of enmity and rebellion not alone in 
the mills of Lawrence but every- 
where. The conditions are serious 
in every relation of employer and 
employee. In this case the manu- 
facturers appear to be handicapped 
by cheap labor in other parts of the 
country with which the manufac- 
tured products the Massachusetts 
producers must compete. They are 
embarrassed by competition on the 
selling and pressure on the labor 
side of the market. The problems 
of readjustment are severe, for no 
one State can meet the difficulty. 
Every situation of strained relations 
between capital and labor requires 
good judgment, even temper and 
eare. While the outbreak at Law- 
rence is lamented it is hoped that it 
will serve to awaken the people of 
Massachusetts to a realization of the 
importance of its labor laws and the 
necessity for great care in their 
enactment. May the day be not far 
distant when these conditions are 
removed. The disturbance in Law- 
rence is only a local manifestation 
of a nation wide unrest. 
The High Price of Living 
Lieutenant Governor Luce has 
presented an ingenious scheme for 
the reduction of the high prices now 
prevalent. He asserts the cause of 
the present high prices to be pri- 
marily the inereased production of 
gold—the standard of value now 
operative. Mr. Luce was a member 
of the Massachusetts state commis- . 
sion which investigated the cost of 
living and which published a _ vol- 
ume of facts, the findings of their 
work, under that title two years 
ago. If a definite relation between 
the standard in operation and the 
real purchasable value of money 
could only be determined the prob- 
lem would be solved. There is un- 
fortunately a fluctuation in prices 
demanded for commodities while in- 
comes and salaries remain station- 
ary. Hence the trouble for the real 
value of the salary or the income is 
not to be measured in dollars and 
cents but in commodities. The 
amount registered in the pass book 
is not the real measure of money but 
what it will buy in the open market. 
When the purchasing value of the 
salary or the income declines there 
has been a real decrease in the in- 
come or salary. If a means can be 
obtained to standardize values and 
to minimize the disparity existing 
between the fluctuating values of 
commodities and the fixed salary or 
income a large element in the prob- 
lem will be solved. Mr. Luce sug- 
gests the appointment of an inter- 
national commission to compute 
prices. The plan is ingenius but 
somewhat speculative because it 
leaves out of consideration the 
power to enforce prices. The prices 
issued by the commission would be 
interesting and serve a purpose to 
the merchant and to the consumer 
but the laws of exigencies, of sup- 
ply and demand would be operative 
as well as the plans of action by 
combinations of consumers or pro- 
ducers and it is difficult to see how 
such quotations could be more than 
advisory. Mr. Luce’s address, how- 
ever, is interesting and contributes 
something of interest on the tense 
problem of the hour. 
The Water Question 
The serious question of water sup- 
ply which has been embarrassing 
Salem and Beverly is not solved as 
yet, but the week has contributed 
considerable information for dis- 
cussion. For years Salem and Bey- 
erly have jointly controlled the sup- 
ply of water in Wenham Lake. 
This supply was augmented later by 
waters collected and earried into 
the reservoir from the Longham 
meadows. But even this added 
supply has been insufficient and the 
two cities have been forced to face 
a steady and alarming reduction of 
the volume of water available for 
the two cities especially during the 
summer months. The bill to use the 
waters of the Ipswich River failed 
and there is nothing to regret. 
Later Mr. Saltonstall’s bill for the 
investigation of the water resources 
of this district by the State Board 
of Health was passed by the legis- 
lature. This commission has made 
a thorough investigation and have 
made an admirable and exhaustive 
report of the situation. It gives 
no encouragement to the Ipswich 
River proposal but suggests as the 
better way the purchase by the City 
of Beverly of the City of Salem’s 
interest in the Lake and the money 
thus obtained by the City of Salem 
could be used by that city to pur- 
chase admission to the metropolitan 
water system. This would provide 
an adequate reservoir of water for 
years to come for both Beverly and 
Salem. This would be a reasonably 
permanent solution of the problem. 
The incoming of a new board in 
Salem and the short while left for 
the introduction of a bill permitting 
Beverly to purchase Salem’s inter- 
G. E. WILLMONTON 
ATTORNEY AND 
COUNSELOR AT LAW 
OLD SOUTH B’LD’G, BOSTON 
SUMMER HOUSES FOR 
WILLMONTON’S AGENCY RENT. 
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE OF ALL KINDS 
SCHOOL AND UNION ST'S, MANCHESTER 
MORTGAGES -- LOANS 
TEL. CONN. 
EE RE ES SEA AL SE OD ELLE DD LE ADELE LEE LAE LEER ALLELE ALLELE LEE LEA A OTE DLE TEETER EOE EEDA TESTO LID LOLI EO CT 
