Evening star., 1933-10-13
No Currency Imitation.

The American Federation CT LABOR.
like the American Legion, has taken q
sock at currency imitation. 1t does not
look forward to seeing labor paid with
rubber dollars. The leaders Of the labor
movement are wise enough to under
stand that such imitation means higher
prices for everything the worker must
buy. prices SO high that labor will be
handicapped by lack Of purchasing
power There Is positive assurance that
commodities will 60 higher and higher
in price If the currency be inflated.
There is no assurance that labor's wages
will go higher and there Is every reason
to believe that wages, in any event, will
lag far behind currency and price
initiation. The American Federation
of Labor knew just what 1t was doing
therefore. when it adopted yesterday a
resolution urging its Executive Council
to resort to every possible and prac
ticable means to bar any unrestricted
and unregulated imitation of currency"
Those who pirate Of the Joys and pos
sibilities Of regulated" currency infla-
tion overlook the more important ele-
ment Of how to regulate imitation. When
currency imitation begins it has no ter
minal facilities. That has been the ex-
perience Of every country which tried
the experiment. And yet there con-
tiuue to be many who are confident
that II the governments Of the world
will print enough money and pass 1t
out to them. free, gratis. their troubles
will be at an end What any man gets
"for nothing" is usually worth nothing
Labor OF one sort or another, producing
goods of all kinds. is the sole creator
does not come of the printing presses
in the form Of fiat money
The problem is to provide adequate
distribution of the wealth created by
all kinds Of labor 1t Is problem which
President Roosevelt and his N. r. A.
are doing their best to solve. The need
Is for advancing wages to meet ad-
vancing prices. They must 60 hand In
hand or the whole recovery effort will
fail The President and the NJ r. A.
have sought to increase jobs and to see
that the pay Of labor Is increased,
through the codes OF fair practice. Here
and there are evidences Of success. But
there must be a real increase In the
purchasing power Of the people through
increased wages If the success OF the
recovery program is to be national In
scope. BUY now" drives will have little
effect-will falter and halt entirely
unless the people. through increases in
their pay, are put in position to buy.
What Is needed. therefore, is not cur
rency imitation, but wage imitation. With
that kind Of imitation. business is bound
to Jump in every line. If wage in
creases do not fellow speedily upon the
increases in the cost Of everything that
the wage earners must buy, there is
danger of another business collapse
Employers must gamble on the theory
that increased wages will bring in
creased business. But as a matter of
fact, that is not really gamble for
the employers. Labor with money in its
hands will buy and buy again. Under
the buy now" program. the risks Of the
gamble are placed on the shoulders Of
labor alone. The workers must spend
with the hope that their spending will
increase business and make possible an
increase in the pay envelope. There is
little assurance, however, that the profits
will not find themselves going into more
and more dividends for owners, rather
than into more and more pay for the
workers. There IS no such urge for
capital to divide its earnings with labor
as there is for labor, with money in its
hands, to purchase the commodities 1t
needs and desires.
This thought applies to all kinds of
labor organized and unorganized. La
Dor can defeat the Presidents efforts
in this direction by engaging in,
fostering or permitting strikes. Com
pulsory arbitration by the Government.
with tendency to favor labor. Is i'm
possible if labor, by strikes or otherwise,
indicates that it does not submit fully
and in good faith to the arbitration.
The most direct and Immediately ef
fective plan of increasing the purchas-
ing power of the people is to get all. or
large part. Of the deposits frozen IN