Evening star., 1933-10-06
JOHNSON WEIGHS
LIMIT ON PROFITS
Considers Wholesale Cost
Plus 10 Per Cent as
Retail Basis.
BY the Associated Press.


Hugh S. johnson was back today at
a desk stacked high with pressing jobs,
including retail price-fixing and labor
turmoil in the soft coal fields.
A quick decision on the price Stabiliz-
ing guage-forbiodin retail sales at
less than wholesale cost plus 10 per cent
was in prospect, with Johnson favor
ably inclined toward approval Of the
master code despite Farm Admlnistra-
ticn objections.
But coal troubles were a different
II tier Johnson conceded the N. r. A.
just now was stumped at the situation
in steel-oWned mines. But he hoped
for a quick and amicable settlement
that would return striking thousands
to work.
Meanwhile, Gov. Pinchot of Pennsyl-
vania sought to confer with President
Roosevelt today on the Western Penn
sylvania coal mining suspension
situation.
Pinchot found the President busy, but
said he would come back later after a
visit with Johnson.
Code Seen as Cure.
The Governor said he believed the
suspension was spreading from the
Captive mines to the general bitum-
inouS fields.
He told newspaper men the only way
the coal workers holiday could be
ended would be to bring them in un-
der the code-that would do the trick"
The suspension centerS about workers
in the captive" mines of the steel cor
porations, and while the workers have
been demanding recognition of the
union before returning to work, officials
familiar with the coal code are almost
q unit in holding that this Is not re-
cuirement under the code.
Captive" mines are those owned en-
tirely by industrial units which consume
their product.
The boot and shoe manufacturing in
dustry, informed bluntly by President
Roosevelt that the controversial merit
clause must be removed from its code
of competition, meanwhile prepared to
adjust plants and merchandising or
ganizationS under the N. r. A. program
End of Dispute Seen.
Reaction Of the manufacturers 10
elimination of the merit clause, Whlch
they had demanded so inslstently, was
not known today, but N. R. A. ofhclalS
expressed confidence the industry Woulo
offer no further resistance
In ordering the merit clause, Wnlch
asserted the right of employers TO nlre
alton, stricken from all codes. President
Roosevelt said in his order that:
"Because it is evident that attempts
nv those submitting codes to interpret
section IA of the national mouStrla,
recovery act have led to confusion ano
misunderstanding, such lnterpretatlolt
should not be incorporated In cooes Oh
fair competition. Therefore, Artlcle ~ '.
(the merit clause) must be eliminated;
johnson stopped in at N. r. a. mead
quarters yesterday, two weeks aiteI an
infection sent him to the hoSpltal. basC
night he attended a dinner in honor
Of Edward F. McGrady, now Assistant
Secretary of Labor, but long leaoer
in the American Federation OF LABOR:
With other important guests, he hearo
McGrady say:
This national recovery act must be
made successful If it fails this coun-
try will turn either to the extreme rlghI
or the extreme left. The President mas
gwen you the middle course and we
must follow him
REIMBURSEMENT Figured.
N R. A. statisticians, meanwhile,
foresaW a possibility that the re~em-
ployment count now under way may
show b-tween 100000 and 5,00O.OOo
have found employment since last VIM
ter's low mark, CT considerably ABOVE
Labor Department estimates OF apprcXl-
inately 2,500,000.
They have calculated that the actual
count of noses by direct solicitation
will reach tens of thousands OF en-
ployes who do rot report regularly
through ordinary channels.
In making their tentative 1orecaSt
that a million or more re-employment
might he shown by the actual count,
statisticians pointed out that major
ity of employers made no returns TO
any one. ,, .,,,,as ,ooica, y
johnson said, but that was not the
intent of the census we are making.
We wanted to find out Just where we
stand and what progress has been mace.
1t may show that present estimates are
tCo high
Examples Cited.
The administrator cited two exam
ples. however He said that while In
New York he had been assured by clerks
in one of the largest department stores
that employment there had doubled In
the last few months. A Natlon-Wloe
grocery chain reported it had added
more than $4,000 employees in its stores.
Neither of these organizations would be
included in normal statistics.
The 100000 missionaries to en-
ployes are to go out within the next
few days for distribution through post
offices, and the returns will be assem-
bled and counted by the Census Bu-
reau.
Discussing the retail code with news
paper, men, johnson indicated plainly
that. unless he changed his mind with
in the next few days, he would send
the retail code to President Roosevelt
for approval with the disputed price
section intact.
The economists claim that this Is
a pyramiding price device, but I can't
see it," johnson said. Il don't want
any pyramiding, of course. But the
object of this act as see it is to stop
cut-throat competition, and it seems
to me that this is one way of doing it"
johnson cited his industrial expert
ence as attesting that no retailer can
make a profit with an overhead of 10
per cent. He intends to give all OF
his aides who have views on the situa-
ton chance to express them and un-
less they alter his attitude, will recon-
mend the provisions to Mr.. Roosevelt