Evening star., 1933-06-29
TEXTILE PARLEY
CONSIDERS COSTS
Drops Its Study of Dispute
Between Employers and
Labor on Wages.
Continued From First Page.)

hibitive prices that an actual hardship
would be worked upon labor.
The basic law of supply and demand
can't be eliminated by legislation" he
said, noting there was no assurance that
an arbitrary schedule Of hours would
absorb idle labor
Already the differences are sharply
drawn by the cotton textile manufac-
turers on one side and labor, headed
by william Green, American Federation
chieftain, on the other.
A protest against exclusion from pro-
visions of the code Of cleaners and out
side employees was made by John B.
Davis, executive secretary of the Negro
Industrial League.
He said the great proportion OF col
ored workers in cotton mills came with
in the excluded groups and asserted 1t
was as important to textile manufac-
turerS themselves as to the colored per-
sons to lift the purchasing power OF
colored families in the South.
Asks Equal Treatment.
He submitted reports by private in
vestigators which, he said, showed that
in the South colored workers worked
longer hours and received lower wages
than did white workers on the same
jobs and he recommended that the
code be revised to permit application OF
the minimum wage to colored and
white laborers.
Davis also asked that . provision be
inserted In the code that it was the
policy OF the administration In re-
employment Of labor that no discrimi-
nation be shown between racial groups.
If the purchasing power Of colored
families Is raised" he said, ut will do
much to take up the slack in trade re-
sulting from loss Of export trade to
American manufacturers"
Miss Maud Younger, chairman Of the
Congressional Committee Of the Ma
tional Woman's Party, urged equal
standards for men and women in all
regulations.
I'VE do not take any position as to
other phases of this code nor as to
whether improved working conditions
should come about through legislation
or other agencies" she said, but what
ever the agency. We urge that all regu-
lations regarding paid employment
shall, as In the textile code. apply alike
to all persons and that this standard
Of equality of opportunity for men and
women be observed by the industry re-
covery administration"
Miss Mason objected that "exemp-
tion from this code Of learners for a
period of six weeks and Of cleaners
and outside employees from the mini
mum wage provisions seriously weak
ems the scope and effectiveness Of the
cotton textile code and is in conflict
with the intent Of the act as explained
by the President.
Permission to pay less than the
minimum wage to any group Of workers
opens the door to evasion OF the code
by unscrupulous employers and would
make the whole enforcement Of the
code dimcult, uncertain and complex"
She protested the minimum wages
proposed as too low" and said they
would merely result in removing the
cotton textile industry from the reSu-
lation Of the antitrust laws without
power which it is the purpose Of the
industrial recovery act to insure"
Miss Mason insisted particularly that
the textile and all other codes be ap-
piled to white collar workers. She as
serted that automobile manufacturers
in Detroit were discussing the exclusion
Of this type Of worker and quoted Pres
ident Roosevelt'S statement applying
the plan for higher wages.
Consideration also should be given in
the various codes. Miss Mason said,
10 obtaining workmen's compensation
legislation in States which have none.
The representative of the Consumers
League proposed elimination OF night
work except where it Is necessary in
continuous processing, and suggested
substantially higher wages for the
night shift in those cases.
In response to . question from Allen,
Miss Mason said she was unable to give
q definite answer as to whether making
the minimum wage generally applicable
to all employees would lead to the en-
ployment almost entirely Of white
workers in the South in preference to
Negroes. Referring to the proposed 81
differential in the minimum wage be-
tween the North and the South, Miss
Mason said that some slight difierential
seemed justif1sble.
In place of George Harriss Of Char
lotte, N. c., who was the temporary ap-
pointee, B. E. Geer Of Greenville, s. c.,
has been appointed to the committee
named by johnson to investigate the
stretch out" system In the mills under
which each man is required to tend
q number Of machines.
Geer was expected to arrive late to-
day and the committee will meet to-
morrow. Other members are Robert w.
Bruere OF New York, former head OF
the Bureau of Industrial Research, and
George L. Berry. president Of the Print
ing Pressmen's Union.
Higher Minimum Urged.
President Green of the American
Federation Of Labor took the stand late
Yesterday and said the proposed $11 q
week minimum in the North and $40
in the South was not . bare sub
sistence wage"
He added that If prices returned to
the 1925 level the wage should be
$17.48 q week, and suggested fixing the
minimum at between $14 and SIS.
Green was questioned by johnson
with regard to the number Of addi-
tional employees the textile industry
could absorb.
my thought is we can't do this
all in one bite" johnson said. we
can't put too many on the first in
dustry, with others to come Are con-
ditions such in the textile industry
tnaC ZlV,uVV WOfkeTS CaIA pe ApooEpeo
at one time?"
Green contended that to absorb more
than I2,0OO,000 persons he said now
were unemployed an industry would
have to take on some new labor not
formerly employed in that business.
johnson asked about the proposed
reduction in machine working hours.
Green said that If q mill wanted to
work "a hours q day on q labor basis
of a five-day. week and six-hour
Gay "let them do It,"
But we know they can't" johnson
remarked.
II wouldn't be opposed to machine
hour limit If your investigations show 1t
Is needed" Green said
johnson said the Industrial Admins
tration would have to see to 1t that
minimum wages do not become q maxi
mum and agreed with Green that
"graduations normally existing in labor