The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1933-09-14

Presidents dictators have been in
turmoil. These numerous businesses
are "slackers," according to Donald
Richberg, General Counsel for the
National Recovery Administration,
because they have delayed in signing
the blanket code which would put
them out of business because of the
many complications in their methods
of operation that cannot be changed
so as to enable them to operate under
the code.
Despite this, however, Mr.. Richberg
states that eff an employer cannot
sign the agreement" because of ina
bility to change union contracts and
reorganize his business, che cannot
get the blue eagle" and he appeals
to the public to boycott such firm.
That part of the Presidents blanket
code which makes it utterly impos-
sible for hundreds of thousands of
employers. and especially small con-
Germs to sign it are the sections that
refers to the "hours, wages, and hours
of operation" The code compels the
firms that sign it to reduce the hours
of their employees to thirty-five in me-
chanical departments, ct cetera, and
forty in clerical departments. At the
same time it binds them mot to re-
duce the hours of operation of the
business" to less than the hours of
operation previously established. This
forces a gap between the hours
worked by the regular employees and
the hours of operation of the business,
which is supposed to give additional
employment to others. But under the
code, an employer also agrees "not
to reduce the compensation for en-
ployment now in excess of the mini
mum * Notwithstanding that the
hours worked in such employment
may be hereby reduced.
Under this section most concerns
operating under union contracts which
employ approximately five million
union men, are helpless, since they can
not under the code reduce the hours
of operation under which they have
been working, or the weekly wage
scales, while they must reduce the
hours of their employees to thirty-five
and forty. If under their union con-
tracts, for instance, they are bound to
pay $55 week for forty-two hours,
by signing the Presidents code they
must pay $55 for thirty-fve hours and
keep their plants open fortytwo
hours, and under the union rule are
forced to employ the additional labor
to fill out the gap in hours at the
union scale.
To thousands of struggling concerns
it means Sign the code and close up
business" or, as Mr.. Richberg puts it,
become "a Stacker and a ten percen-
ter" and thereby be subject to his
boycott program. Most of the firms
facing the Stacker" insult and the
boycott of Mr.. Richberg are those
which have always paid two or three
times and over the minimum wage Of
$14 as set by the administration as a
fair living wage, and which have
operated their plants on a forty-eight
hour per week basis. These patriotic
concerns are now evidently to become
"slackers" in the eyes of the admins
tration at Washington.
But while the administration is busy i
denouncing these concerns as "slack-
ers and ten percenters" and is asking
the public to boycott them, it con-
tinues to operate government depart
ments and agencies on newly reduced
wages and even longer hours than be-
bore, and still allows government con-
tractors to work their men long hours,
at old wages. The office forces hand
ling the dictatorial act and working |
in other branches of the government
service which are trying to force in
dustry to bow to their demands, are
toiling late into the night. Of course,
this is because the government cannot !