Evening star., 1933-10-21
Curbing Excessive" Salaries.

SuA uluS GACCSsASC 0oAoAACS'
It is a commentary on the times that
the revelation of the Governments in
tenticn to do something about "exces-
sive" salaries paid to executives by pri-
vate corporations is more apt to be
received with shrug OF the shoulders
than by indignant remembrance against
trespass by the Government In the
hitherto private affairs Of its citizens.
But whatever Is done must, obviously.
be done by Congress. While there are
indications that the administration may
be assembling its ideas on the subject
for presentation to Congress, the battle.
If any there is to be, Is yet to come.
The news that there is something
Of the sort In the air, however. does
| not break with the startling suddenness
that might otherwise make q sensation.
It is hard to isolate and pin down q
sensation these days, because the period
Is crowded with them. It was learned
recently that the President favors some
sort Of limitation on the salaries Of
moving picture stars. written into the
producers code. The details Of Mr..
,, Virgins salary, As active and retired
president Of the Chase National Bank,
| were revealed by Mr.. recon within the
week, which caused almost - much a.
tonishment Is the earlier discoveries
relating to non-income tax payments
by the Morgan partners. Corporations
In New York had received question
naires from the Federal Trade Com
mission designed to learn about sal
aries paid to officers, before the COM
missions investigation Of the subject
| was announced here. The Federal
Power Commission, the Interstate Com
merce Commission, the Federal Reserve
/ Board and the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation are all looking into the
subject.
It goes without saying that the fruits
of such inquiries will be luscious NOR
| sells for the curious public. Nothing Is
quite so intriguing to the average man
as information about what somebody
else is getting" especially In periods
when the average mans own receipts
have been subjected to . painful pro-
cess of shrinkase. But what practical
use the Government will make Of such
data is another question.
For purposes Of revenue-raisins. the
oonfiscation by taxation Of higher SAL
aries would yield nothing Of conss-
quence The income tax squeeses most
from the moderate salaries. as there are
relatively few high salaries. But II 1t
is the purpose to curb payment Of
excessive" salaries. who u 70 Be the
Judge Of what constitutes an 'exces-
sive" salary? Joseph B. Eastman. Fed
eral co-ordinator Of transportation. re-
Gently sought to limit salaries paid
railroad executives to $4,000 . year.
The railroads agreed to . maximum
Of 100000. the agreement being volun-
tary. Well. Is the line to be drawn
somewhere between $4,000 and $50 900?
Is one figure excessive" while the other
represents earned income to which the
recipient is entitled?
An attempt to oct IN arbitrary limit.
along the lines of Senator Longs
discovery that nobody should Be Al
lowed to have more than . million
dollars. would indicate that the nsw
deal s taking W. considerably further
away from hithssto accepted principles
Of the rights Of citisens than anybody
publicly anticipated Il would. The only
excuse for such attempts to limit indi-
vidual earnings would b The oovsrn-
ment's direct participation, through
loans and competitive agreements. IN
private business. Enterprises which