The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-10-13

Washington-After two years or fighting what many considered an inevitable downward movement of wages, the Hoover administration apparently feels forced to retreat to a second line of defense and in- sist that American workers suffer no loss in real wages"
 Wage cuts will still be deplored, but it is admitted that some are unavoidable, even though lower wages mean lower purchasing power.
 That is the interpretation placed on such administration reaction as has been expressed since the recent pay reductions announced by corporations.
 President Hoover is represented as "still unalterably opposed to any lowering of the American standard of living and as believing that rents should go down if wages are to be cut. Secretary Doak says the slashes were deplorable, but apparently unavoidable. Chairman Clifford of the unemployment re- lief organization stands on his pre- vious assertion that "the present wage scale would be equivalent to a large increase If commodity prices and the cost of living should stay down."
 This, Tn effect, is reluctant acQuiescence to the belief always
 held by a substantial group that wages would have to come down in this depression just as they have come down in every other depres-
 sion. They may not, thanks in
 large part to Hoover's vigorous campaign against reductions, come
 down to an extent proportionate
 with the loss to labor in previous slumps. In the past the wage movement downward has often
 stopped short of the general de- cline in living costs, leaving wage earners and salaried workers rela- lively better off. And the level of real wages" may be something for the administration to point to with more or less pride. If it is still in power at the end of the present
 depression.
 Rents are always last to drop.
 But the wage cut trend, in past depressions, always came pronto. Wage reductions have been going on for the last year and a half, but there has been no sign of an actual rush in that direction up to the present time. The delay has been due partly to Hoovers efforts and partly to the conviction of indus trialists that, in this age of mass production, wage rates should be
 kept up in order to maintain the
 highest possible purchasing power. Whether the downward wage
 movement will be accelerated
 through the fall and winter is a speculative question. If 1t Is. the extent of any net gain achieved by
 postponement of the process will
 have to be computed by economists of the future.
 The situation at this point can only partly be expressed by the
 available figures because there IS not even a satisfactory method of
 guessing at the extent of wage cut ting to date or the number of
 workers affected.
 U. S. Steel saves $25.O00.000 by cutting wages 10 per cent and thus subtracts $25,OO0. .000 from the
 purchasing power of its employees.
 If all wages and salaries in this
 country had been promptly cut at the outset of this depression the purchasing power of employees
 would have been reduced by more
 than $5,O00, 100000 a year. The na- tional income for 1928 is estimated
 at $90, 900, 900. 900, of which about 57 per cent was in salaries and
 wages. Real wages in industry and agri- culture had increased about 15 per cent between 1919 and 1929 as a result of higher wage scales and lower living costs. Living standards were raised correspondingly. The