merciless monopolies control the food supply of the nation, that they can extortionately raise prices whenever a pretext presents itself and that in this case there was a pretext and they did it because they could. When food speculators in the European countries involved in the war began to raise prices of food stuffs the governments of those countries promptly fixed a maximum figure on each commodity, beyond which the price of such commodity should not go. But evidently all the United States Government could do was to investigate and report. There was some talk of finding evidence on which to prosecute the food speculators for "conspiracy," but to undertake to prove conspiracy in Federal Courts against our food trusts or any other kind of trust—judging from past experience along this line-would, we fear, be a futile task.

How Long Will the People Tolerate It?

Now the question is, how long are the people of the United States going to submit to being robbed and plundered by these food monopolies? Is it not as much a province of government to protect them from this imposition as it is to protect them against other evils, and if constitutional limitations are such that Congress has not now the power to enact legislation essential to such an end, why not amend the constitution?

That a free people should remain helpless victims of the extortions of ruthless and soulless combinations that speculate in the necessities of life is preposterous and if necessary for the protection of the people against their depredations the government should by all means assume control of the production and distribution of all of life's necessities.

In an effort to relieve the "war price" situation a bill was introduced in Congress to prohibit the exportation of food stuffs and other materials from the United States, in so far as such a 'course was necessary to prevent an increase in the price of such commodities to consumers in the United States. This is a wise and beneficial measure, but can relieve the situation only for the immediate present. There is no more justification for the high cost of living that prevails at present and that has prevailed for many years past than there has been for the increase of prices since the European war began and an incontrovertable argument in support of this assertion is the immense accumulation of wealth by combinations that control the cost of life's necessities-the vast private fortunes being amass by the members of such combinations.

We have said that men in the United States who are earning $15.00 or less weekly, and who must support families on that wage, will number millions. With these men and their loved ones it is a constant struggle to exist, and there is nothing that will crush the heart of parents more completely than to see their children want, yet notwithstanding their meagre earnings, they must meet every call for tribute that is issued by the monopolies that control the necessities of life, they must quietly donate, contribute or whatever we may choose to call it, such portion of their already insufficient wages as the trusts see fit to assess them in the form of increases in the cost of life's necessities and for which the trusts give nothing in return. This they must pay because the food supply of the country is controlled by privileged individuals who do nothing to produce it and who perform no useful kind of work whatever.

To what extremes of oppression and want will the masses of the people be forced before they are awakened to the necessity of adopting measures that will make these conditions impossible?

THE AUTUMN WOODS

BY ADELBERT CLARK*

I'm standing in the autumn woods
Among the golden trees;

The haunting breath of summer past,
Is borne upon the breeze.
The spirit of the woods is here
With bright and golden hair,
And robed in crimson garments gay,
And decked with jewels rare.

"Long years ago," the maiden said,
"A hermit used to sing
Within a marble palace, where
There ruled a mighty king.

And when this king, that Ivan loved,
Was lain away to rest
Forevermore beneath the sod,

A song was in his breast.

"O, Ivan! sing my favorite song;

You know the one I mean,

The woodland with its fragrant flow'rs,
And giant trees of green.

Thou art a sweet and faithful friend,
And when I've crossed the sea,
The forest rich with pine and oak,
Shall come, my lad, to thee.'

"For years, the singer lived among
The mighty spreading trees,
And when he died his song was caught
Upon each passing breeze.

The bluebird tried to imitate

The song he loved to sing,

That meant so much to his one friend-
The great and noble king.

"Tis said he planted all his gold
Throughout the woodland dim,
And every autumn it appears
Memorial for him."

So this is why the trees put on
Their splendid robes of gold,—
At any rate-this is the tale

The woodland maiden told!

*These verses were written in the heart of a forest twelve miles from the nearest railroad or residence.

Communications intended for publication should reach this office not later than the 10th of the month to insure their appearance in the following issue. Write on one side of the paper only. Sign name and address in all instances, not necessarily for publication, but as evidence of good faith. Correspondents may, if they desire, use a nom de plume, but no attention will be paid to anonymous communications. The Editor and Manager reserves the right to revise or reject any communication if he deems it to the best interests of the Brotherhood to do so.

Obituary notices and resolutions and detailed accounts of events of a purely local nature can not be published. Pictures are published only when same are of general interest.

All orders for subscriptions should be sent to the Editor and Manager.

Members when changing their address should immediately notify the Magazine office. All changes for the Directory should reach this office previous to the 10th day of the second month of the quarter in which it is desired that such changes should take effect.

Inquiries for the address of or any information concerning another, should be made through the secretary of the lodge nearest the residence of the person making such inquiry.

Arbitrators Representing Employes and Railroads Fail to Agree on Remaining Members of "Board"

In accordance with the Arbitration Agreement between the railroads representing the Western Joint Concerted Wage Movement and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the railroads selected as their arbitrators Mr. H. E. Byram, VicePresident, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and Mr. W. L. Park, VicePresident, Illinois Central Railroad.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers selected Mr. F. A. Burgess, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen selected Mr. Timothy Shea as arbitrators for the organizations represented.

The four arbitrators so selected met in Chicago Monday, August 24th, for the purpose of endeavoring to select the remaining arbitrators to complete the Board, as required by the law. After consuming fifteen days, as required by the law, and failing to agree, the following telegram was sent to Mr. Wm. L. Chambers, United States Commissioner of Mediation and Conciliation, of Washington, D. C., which commission will be required to make the selection.

"The undersigned, appointed by the railroads and the organizations involved in the Western Wage Movement of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, and duly ratified and approved by the United States Board of Mediation and Conciliation, as arbitrators under the provisions of the Act of Congress of July fifteenth, Nineteen Hundred Thirteen, and of the agreement to arbitrate, signed by all of the parties dated August third, Nineteen Hundred Fourteen, beg to respectfully report that they have been unable to agree in the selection of the remaining arbitrators to complete the Board, as required by said Act of Congress. Letter confirming this telegram, with further details, mailed you this date."

Recording Secretary and Postmas-
ter Arrange Plan to Properly Dis-
pose of Undelivered Magazines.
It is only when a member's address
is unknown to and cannot be ascertained
by the recording secretary of his lodge
that the name of such member should be
dropped from the mailing list at the
Magazine office.

Under the existing arrangement postmasters sometimes notify us to drop members from our list who have moved from one address to another in the same city or town simply because the mail carrier finds that such members are no longer at the address to which their Magazines are directed the members themselves having failed to notify either the Magazine of fice or their recording secretary of the

new address.

With a large proportion of these members the recording secretaries and other officers of their respective lodges come in contact quite frequently during the period that they are not receiving their Magazines and these officers know nothing about it and in the majority of cases the member does not even hint to them that he is not receiving his Magazine or that he has changed his address.

each month what members of their lodge were not receiving their Magazines because of having changed their address without notifying either the Magazine office, the recording secretary himself or the letter carrier.

It may be some months after his failure to have a member's Magazine delivered to him that the postmaster notifies the Magazine office to drop his name from our mailing list. During this period the Magazines of such members are accumulating at the postoffice and are ultimately letter carriers do not know where to dedisposed of as waste paper because the liver them.

In some cases members themselves, evidently overlooking the fact that they have moved, wonder why they have not received their Magazines and, after waiting two to five months, and in some cases much longer, write the Editor and Manager complaining that they are not receiving their Magazine and requesting that back numbers for the period during which the Magazine did not reach them be forwarded. On looking the matter up we find that the only reason they have not been receiving their Magazine is because they have changed their address without notifying either the Magazine office or the recording secretary of their lodge, or anyone else who would be likely to have the Magazine follow them to their new address, and that the postmaster being unable to reach them has ordered their name dropped from our list.

Recording Secretary and Postmaster

Arrange Plan.

Now if the recording secretary had a way of knowing that the Magazines intended for these members were lying at the postoffice and could not be delivered because they moved and failed to notify him or the Magazine office or the letter carrier of their new address, he would in all probability mention the matter to them when he would happen to meet them and would thus ascertain their new address and notify the Magazine office, and would also suggest to them that they go to the postoffice and get the back numbers of their Magazines before they were destroyed. In fact the recording secretary would in nearly every case make it his business to hunt these members up ranged between Postmaster Kirby of and become informed as to their new address, and if the plan we are about to relate were universally adopted the recording secretaries would be sure to know

Every member is entitled to a copy of the Magazine each month and we want every member to receive a copy, even those who are so forgetful as to fail to notify either the Magazine office, their recording secretary, or the letter carrier when they change their address, and we believe that a plan that has been

ar

Water Valley, Miss., and Bro. F. M.
Waldron, Recording Secretary Lodge 402,
would, if in general operation, insure the
Magazine reaching all members except

those whose whereabouts the recording mailing lists to recording secretaries secretaries of their respective lodges quarterly or semi-annually would be obwould be unable to ascertain. viated.

Michigan Members! You Should Vote and Work Against this Proposed Amendment.

Postmaster Kirby was formerly a member of Lodge 402 of our Brotherhood and is at present chief engineer of Division 99 of the B. of L. E. He has therefore a special interest in seeing that our Magazines and the official publications of the other railroad labor organizations are A proposed amendment to Article 12 of delivered to members who have failed to the Constitution of the State of Michigan notify their respective editors of their to be known as Section 10 will be subchanges of address and whose Magazines mitted to the voters of that state at the or journals consequently remain unde- election to be held November 3, 1914. livered at his postoffice. He has therefore very kindly arranged with the recording secretary, Brother Waldron, so that whenever any of our Magazines remain undelivered at his postoffice, after a lapse of a certain number of days subsequent to their arrival, he will save them and turn them over to him, Brother Waldron, for delivery to the members to whom they are directed.

If, as we have said, this plan could be adopted generally the result would be that all such members whom the recording secretaries of their respective lodges could reach would get those copies of the Magazine which because of their neglect to report their changes of address, they would otherwise fail to receive.

The adoption of this amendment would mean that our Michigan members would be subject to extra assessments without getting any additional benefits therefrom. It would mean that our Brotherhood would be compelled to change its laws within one year after the adoption of this amendment.

This change of laws could not be effected without a special convention of our Grand Lodge and such a special convention might find it necessary to set the State of Michigan off in a separate jurisdiction by itself and provide that Michigan death and disability claims would be paid by Michigan members only, for the last section of the amendment provides that "all liabilities accruing on Michigan business may be made payable from assessments on Michigan members."

All fraternal organizations in the State of Michigan excepting one are opposed to this proposed amendment and this one, we understand, is responsible for it.

The proposed amendment provides for initiating changes in the constitution and by-laws of a fraternal organization upon a ten per cent vote of the membership and for a referendum vote of the membership on any changes in the constitution or by-laws upon petition of the same percentage. It would also require the furnishing of a complete list of the membership upon the petition of five lodges whenever such a percentage of our Michigan members would decide to initiate changes in the constitution.

It would also result in all such members whose whereabouts are known to their recording secretary being notified of the necessity of having their correct address recorded on the mailing list at the Magazine office. In this way a constant check could be kept on members who neglect to give proper notification of change of address and consequently fail to receive their Magazine regularly, and it would not be necessary for the postmasters to send drop cards to the Magazine office unless in the case of members whose whereabouts would be unknown or not ascertainable by their recording secretaries. If a plan of this kind could be adopted throughout the United States and Canada it would result in a great majority of those members receiving their Magazines who, because of their neglect in notifying If this amendment becomes effective it the Magazine office or their recording sec- would be practically necessary for us to retaries of their change of address, would have a separate organization for Michinot otherwise get them, and instead of gan and every member of the Brotherhood these Magazines being disposed of as voting in Michigan is earnestly requested waste paper at the various postoffices, to do everything possible to bring about they would, with a very few exceptions, its defeat. get into the hands of the men for whom they are intended. It would also mean The proposed amendment is as follows: that a great many members whose names "An amendment to Article XII of the are at present dropped by postmaster's Constitution of the State of Michigan, orders would be retained on our mailing to be known as Section 10 and to read list, and thus the necessity of sending as follows:

Amendment.