Evening star., 1933-07-23
LUMBER MEN WANT.
code PUT IN FORCE
Seek immediate Approval,
but Johnson Opposes
Proposed Schedules.
n the Associated Press.

Hugh 8. Johnson, the industrial ad-
ministrator. had under advisement last
night . request from the lumber In
dustry that its proposed code Of wages.
hours and trade practices be made i'm
mediately effective.
Several dimculties stood In the way
Of the request. Foremost among these
was Johnson's view Of the hour and
wage schedules As wholly unaccepta-
ble," although 1t was stipulated in the
request that the action asked for be
without prejudice to q redrafting Of
the code into . permanent form.
In addition, ofncials close to John
/! son said they felt the recovery act
made no provision for such action. and
the only way In which the requests of
the lumbermen could be acceded, to
would be for 1t to 60 through the regu-
lar channels and be made effective by
executive proclamation.
Tennent Presents Request.
! J. c. Tennent, chairman Of the lum-
Der code authority, presented the re-
quest Of the industry at yesterday 3
continuation Of hearings before Deputy
Administrator Dudley Gates. Gates said
1t was beyond his authority to rule
upon the petition and passed it on to
johnson.
The attitude Of the recovery ad-
ministration toward the proposed wage
scales. ranging from $40 to $40 weekly
and hours Of work. 40 to 48, was given
point by questions which Gates put
to A. L. Osborne of the Northern Hem
lock and Hardwood Manufacturers As
sociation. He repeatedly asked Osborne
~ - nf
the 22k and IS cent rate proposed
would not be feasible.
Osborne said such . step would
shut us all down."
In view of the fact the district which
Osborne represents competes with
Southern lumber producers. Gates asked
II the wages Of the two sections might
not be equaiized at the 35-cent figure.
Osborne thought this inadvisable.
Situation Explained.
"You can't help labor in Wisconsin
said.
He gave rs his opinion Of the cause
of present difficulties of the lumber
industry that "exorbitantly high wages
to construction labor" had caused q
stoppage of construction and conse-
Quently of lumber use.
Tennent said the request for imme-
date application Of the code was
prompted by the fact certain elements
within the industry were seeking TO
benefit themselves financially by an
over-production now, which they hoped
would still sell at good prices aItef
the code goes into effect.
He was questioned on the proposal
not only by Gates. but also BY EDWARD
- nAy tafp ret
Tennent said that never before had
there been such rate unity witnin the
industry as at the present time. Nc
Grady asked II this unity could not
be utilized to reach q gentlemans
agreement for the elimination Of pres
ent overproduction in advance OF the
codes becoming effective.
Unlest II Revealed.
The industry was so scattered that 1t
would take considerable time to bring
this about, Tennent said, adding that
about 20 per cent Of the industry was
engaged In the practice which he de-
nounced.
Gates brought out tina: If the code
were made temporarily and imme-
diately effective, pending fnal revision,
as much time would be required to
bring the recalcitrant operators into
line as would be necessary to negotiate
q gentleman's agreement.
Tennent spoke Of unrest on the part
of both employees and employers and IN
response to questions from Gates Is to
Just what he meant said employees knew
of the rates proposed in the code and
were anxious that they become ehec-
tive. At the same time. he added. the
employers wanted to stabilize the IN
dustry 1t the earliest possible moment