Evening star., 1921-09-24
NAVY YARD PAY CUT
HELD IMPERATIVE
Administration Faced by Ne
cessity of Restoring Coun-
try to Normally.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Wages must come down. The Hard
ing Administered ton. faced with an is
sue Of continuing the present wage
scales in the navy yard here, resisted
the appeals of organized labor and
made a drastic cut. The controversy
was carried up from the Navy Depart
ment to the cabinet, where President
Harding himself took a hand. AL
struggling with this question for
months. the government has avoided
giving any moral support to either
side. When the navy yard dispute
arose the issue was inescapabl bic and
now the word has gone forth from
the administration that the quickest
way to normalcy hereabouts, is by
wage cuts.
The White House mails have been
full of letters from taxpayers urging
a dIminution of government eXpendi-
ture. The administra ton has felt that
wage cuts, especially in government
enterprises. are an inevitable and logi-
cal answer to the demand for econ
omy.
Political Effect Considered.
Politically speaking, the indorse-
ment by an administration of any
issue that relates to wages always
has its dangers. The Wilson admin
istration granted practically every
demand for wage increases and while
earning the friendship of organized
labor. it lost the support of many
employers who insisted that the gov
ernment was setting an uncomfortable
precedent 1t is realized by admins
tration officials that everything the
government says on the subject of
wages will be the basis of discussion
by both sides.
Fortunately for the Harding ad-
miniStration the railroad problem had
been passed over to the Railroad Wage
Beard, a separate institution. and the
roads were in private hands, so that
the onus for wage, reductions did not
fall on the administration. The situa-
one in which the administration
takes complete responsibility. The
hope, of course, is that. painful as
the processes of reduced wages may
be. the aim justifies the means, and
that when normalcy comes the scale
justed so that the cut in the pay envel-
cpe will not be so much resented.
Labor in Paradoxical Position.
Organized labor is in paradoxieal
position, however. with respect to
the navy yard cuts. Labor has taken
firm stand for disarmament. The
reduction in the work in the navy
yards means a curtailment of govern
ment expenditure for armament. Labor
cannot very we'll make much of an
outcry against the laying off of work.
men who are engaged in the
armament race
On the other hand it is reported
that the purpose of the wage reduc-
tion is not alone government econ
omy, but an effort to transfer to pri-
vate interests much of the work that !
has heretofore been done in govern
ment yards. The government has al
ways paid high-grade mechanics a
scale of wages higher than those in
private yards. This has kept within the
navy yards a class of skilled labor !
uneXcelled outside the government.
The drop in pay may drive these me-
chanics into the private yards and en-
able them to do more government
work than heretofore.
1t may be that the movement for
the. abolition of government navy
yards is growing. 1t is an age-old
with much to be said on
both sides. But labor suspects that
the private interests will reap an ad-
vantage from the cutting of wages
and will gather in>. SO many, high
grade workers as to enable them to
get most of the construction work
hereafter.
- Copyright. l921.l