Evening star., 1930-06-26
LARGE FIRMS VETO
WAGE REDUCTIONS
Decrease of Buying Power
Held Blow at Recovery
in Business.

Reduction of wage scales has bssp
under consideration by some NJ ths
larger employers of labor throuehou,
the country and in the majority of in
stances has been unheSitatinplv vetoed
One of the large investment bsnkino
houses OF the country and one of the
outstanoing concerns engaged in mass
production voiced their belief todoy
That about the worst thing that comid
happen to business would be linuida.
tlon OF labor. The opponents of actual
money reductions in wages assert that
tnere can be little buying of raw and
manufactured goods unless there is
ouying power in the working ranks.
FAN in Commodities.
commodity prices have dropped. The
hgures of the Bureau of AoricultlIrsj
economies here show that prices foI
commodities have fallen over B.5 peY
cent from last August to May 81. Re-
liable private figures show prices in the
last week fell IL per cent below the
previous week, the largest drop since
January l. Eight groups declined and
and hardwoods Grains, live stock.
cotton goods gasoline and metals wers
among those that dropped.
Hea! wages, OF course, rose as conn-
modities dropped. That means that
workers really could buy more for their
wages than before. Organized lahol
anticipated that dollar reductions IN
wages would be considered. The de.
clSlons not to cut wages proved son1e-
what surprising, although not all EN-.
ployers concur in this view bv anV
means The advance in real wau,-. -
helping to compensate for lack of EN-.
ployment. but is not counterbalanciua
II. Labor leaders point out, in arguing
against dollar reductions, that real
wages are only higher when they are
spent, not when they are saved.
There have been rumors in SONS
quarters that organized workers were
giving secret concessions to employers
This idea is secuted by labor leaders
ana employers alike. Both say that
they do not do business that way and
that any chance they might take ir
relying on such an arrangement would
be greater than the Jobs were worth.
Public Utilities.
The public utility concerns are em.,
ploying additional men, and not onl1
are turning them into employees, but
into investors. The investment factor
is becoming large one in labor and
wage scales. Employers take the stand
hOW OAlob AAOb Ollly WDTkeTS IfdVe
enough to spend, but that they should
have something to invest. The utilities
have projects in view and under way
which will require many millions ID
new capital. Their present policy is tc
go to the general public for 1t, rather
than to the bankers. They are turn.
ing to their own employees, who arC
thoroughly familiar with the business
For this reason many corporations are
issuing stocks in smaller units of dol,
lar value so as to overlook no income
as an investment spring, no matter
how small that income may be. It wa,
for this reason that the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad asked permission to re.
| duce the par value of its shares to $25
The effect of investment habits d,
strikingly shown by returns from {
| QUESTIONABLE sent out by the Americar
Federation Of Labor. The answers
showed that organized labor was bit.
terly opposed to the proposal made In
Congress for an investigation of Wal
Street. The comments may be sum.
married, according to labor leaders, In
the question: What do they want td
do on Capitol Hill? Make chaos. more
chaotic?"
(Copyright. 1s30)