Evening star., 1933-08-26
Confidential Letter to DTec-
tor Calls Provision "a
Serious BIunder."
AGREEMENT NOW SOUGHT
IN LABOR CONTROVERSY
Coal Operators Watch Auto Regu-
latlons to Learn Attitude
Toward Unions,
By the Associated Press

SAeiiScS VI OpuIIOu WlLnln tI1f
Roosevelt administration over price
fixing for the oil industry sprang UP
again today with the appearance of a
confidential letter from economic ad-
vlsors to Hugh S. Johnson, the N.
r. A. director, describing the provi-
sion as "a serious blunder.''
The privately-circulated memoran-
dunn, written during the time john
son was opposing placement of price
fixing in the code and Secretary Of
the Interior Ickes was supporting it,
charged that small refiners and dis
trlbutors of gasoline would be
squeezed out" if this method of stabil-
ization were adopted.
The memorandum was signed by
Dr.. Alexander Sachs, head of the
N. R. AS research division, and
Joseph E. Pogue, economic advisor to
johnson on the oil code.
While it was written during prepara-
ton of the code signed last Saturday by
President Roosevelt, and some of the
objections cited were eliminated in the
final draft of the charter, both Sachs
still opposed to utilization by President
Roosevelt of the price-flXing provision.
Seeks Labor Agreement.
johnson, meanwhile, was seeking
final agreement on the controversial la
Dor provisions of the recovery act guar
anteeing collective bargaining for work.
erS.
Endeavoring to thresh out this ques-
tion and get an agreement today on
a code for the automobile industry, the
administration called the first joint
meeting in weeks of the Labor. Indus
trial and Consumers Advisory Boards OF
the administration.
The possibility of final action hung
largely upon the attitude of the Labo.
Board toward a proposed paragrap.l
In the automobile code which would
permit manufacturers to hire or dis
charge employees without regard t.
union Affiliations.
William Green, president Of the
American Federation of Labor. stil
stood on his position that the law pro
viding the right for employees to Or
ganiZe in any manner they chose with
out interference by employers should
stand unqualified The manufacturers,
on the other hand, had written into
their code the phrase permitting ad
vancement of employees without regarG
to union affiliation. They disclaimed
any attempt to modify the law.
Bituminous coal operators were
watching the situation closely and
were reported to be holding in abey-
ance plan of seeking similar pro-
vision in their code should it be ap-
proved for the automobile industry.
Delay for Coal Gods.
While johnson was confident of OBJ
tanning an agreement that would per-
NIT approval of the automobile char
ter, other officials expressed the opinion
that coal code could not possibly be
completed before next week.
An agreement upon 40-hour week
for miners was said by informed sources
to have been obtained, but the mini
mum wage question remained unsettled.
K. M. Simpson, the deputy admins
traitor in charge, said the question of
wage diferentials in various coal fields
had not been approached yet.
Along another tack, new hope was
expressed that a master code might be
worked out for all retailers-including
druggists, who have presented sep
arate proposal. There are wide differ
ences in the number of working hours
dIlU PRICES Llldt nave DteIl sought III
the various codes, but officials hoped
compromise could be found among
these.
A new drug code was produced today
which. with certain exceptions ap-
picable to the drug trade, was similar
to the general code of the other retail
groups.
Wages were set at from $40 to SIS
a week for Sc hours varying according
to populations of towns The cost pro-
vision was changed so retailers would
promise to sell no article for less than
81 per cent over the manufacturers
base price.
Hope for Single Code.
Officials felt that the drug code, still
tentative in form, could be brought even
closer to the general retail code. If
the druggists are brought under a mas
ter code, N. R. A. officials believed it
would be relatively simple to get all
retail groups under the single compact.
Action to keep prices reasonable all
the way from the factory to the buyer
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