Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-07-12
HOURS AND WAGES
MAY Be FIXED NOW
President Considers Order
to Be Effective Pending
Codes.
Continued From First Page. }

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for soon enough 20 that agreement. too.
can be put into the hearing within few
days. Coal men are split regionally,
but with Johnson's aid many groups
are ION the verge" Of presenting codes.
Once they do, all will be called on to
thresh out their problems. over which
the industry has warred for years.
Each Of these big industries presents
| special difficulties which are expected
| to exceed the problems encountered and
| overcome in the one and only wage
| raising code SO far heard and promul-
gated for the cotton textile industry
Minorities Are Problem.
Unionization Is an acute issue in the
coal fields, in many OF which bloody
wars have been fought in recent issues
over labor. Even graver difficulty is the
competitive situation between Northern
| and Southern fields, which for years
have been battling over freight rates.
The advantage now Is chiefly with
| the South, where unions are banned
| and wages are low. Northern men want
| the gap narrowed II not abolished.
Southern operators see no reason for
conceding hard won gains.
The oil industry has long been In
turmoil with many independent pro-
ducers aligned against the big COM
parently playing both sides, and With
! terrific overproduction constantly In
| creasing the squeeze Of hard times. The
| fighting points cannot be settled outside
! the emergency administration hearing
rooms
Even after the troubles are thrashed
out and settled in hearings, the ad-
ministration may run into difficulties
bringing defeated minorities into line.
How they will be managed remains to
be seen, even in the case Of cotton tex
tiles where rough % per cent Of the
industry has not agreed to the code.
johnson was emphatic In asserting
| that the National Lumber Manufac-
| turers' Associations 48-hour maximum
| week and 2214 minimum wage
| were not acceptable and would have to
| be revised, but he set the code for
hearing July 20 and said he hoped &C
ceptable terms would be worked out
then.
Asked about q general call for codes,
| johnson said. Il think I'm going to set
q day" He explained this date, q rea-
| sonable time distant, would be followed
by orders for hearings at dates set by
him for such industries as did not
| come forward within the specified
/ time.
He would not discuss extensively the
| question Of calling on industry to es-
tablish general minimum wages and
| maximum hours at set levels, such as
were suggested In his advisory COM
mittees for labor, industry and conSum-
ers. The committee had been de-
scribed as in agreement on IS hours
and Q $14 . week minimum for un-
skilled labor and 40 hours with SIS
minimum for all white collar workers,
but johnson said this was one Of many
| plans. all in "half-baked" stage.
| He pointed out that under the re-
covery law neither he nor the Presi-
dent had authority to promulgate such
limits wholesale but must first call In
| each industry for hearing. and there
fore the whole affair would become
voluntary with business Also. he con-
tended, II industries were bringing in
agreements fast enough to keep his
| organization busy examining them. 1t
would not be desirable to anticipate
their efforts.
Propaganda Spread.
johnson said there had been much
unfortunate conjecture about Tagging
on the part of industry, that generally
speaking he could not put his finger
on deliberate delay but wanted to hurry
things.
He said he had seen statements
| amounting to propaganda" emanating
from business quarters urging indus
tries not to submit codes.
johnson was terse about disapprov1ng
the lumber wages and hours:
"Forty-eight hours is so long ]
wouldn't even consider 1t. These peo-
pie can make q case If they can make
Q case. Generally speaking, 22Ea cents
Is far below what I regard - . mini
mum wage"
The lumber industry's terms were get
on O regional basis and divided &C.
cording to types Of products, with hours
ranging down to 40 and maximum and
minimum wages running Is high O.
slice Of the industry was put on the
unacceptable 48 and 221a basis.
As for prescribing general minimum
wages, Johnson said he was more in
| clined to state to each industry what
was expected of it. Where possible, he
said, economists Of the administration
! would suggest wages and hours which
would take q particular industry back
| to its employe- purchasing power OF q
reasonable year-l929 or 1926, or
whichever appeared proper. In some
cases, other terms would have to be
evolved, he said, because the industries
have been too hard hit by depression
to recover an average level.
Originally, he said, he had opposed
such oficial suggestion. believing In
/ dustry should bring forth its own offers,
but he has become persuaded that many
would be helped by knowing what we
expect of them"
| The lumbermen divided their industry
| into numerous divisions according to
products adjusting wage and hour levels
to conditions in each. Some were
further subdivided. The terms pre-
] scribed In each:
hour, or 5000 per week.