The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-10-03

- saAS AeOWO NSAOk0UNAAO0 NAVA4VV0 w .
or not otherwise credited In thi
newspaper and also the local news o
spontaneous origin published herein
All rights Of republication Of all othe
matter herein are also reserved.
Code Revision Coming
although President Roosevelt ha.
not disclosed his new plans for thu
MIRA, the long time outgrowth Of thi!
tremendous industrial experiment,
seems plain enough. This will b<
abandonment Of great many detail.
contained in the present plan and
adherence to only few Of the prin.
ciples now contained in the recovery
act. The rest, eventually, will be dis.
carded as unavoidable.
The things which probably will re-
main when the whole affair finally
IS shaken down will be the minimum
wage and maximum hour provisions
and the child labor prohibition
These, generally speaking, are the
factors in NRA which have attracted
the most widespread support and
caused the least trouble.
A glimpse at the things which have
brought discord and criticism dis
closes the MIRA weaknesses.
First Of these is the famous Sec
ton IA, which was intended to clar-
ify the labor situation. Its history
shows that 1t Is either not enforcible
or Is 30 drastic In tone that federal
officials dare not enforce It as q
practical matter.
To the average reader this collec-
tive bargaining provision, inserted ia
please labor leaders, gives organized
workers q tremendous advantage In
dealing with their employers. Labor
leaders have attempted to use 1t as q
club for forcing memberships in labor
unions. In large part they have sue
ceeded,
But the task Of winning recogni-
ton for the rights Of minority labor
groups and the battle over company
and federal unions appears no nearer
completion now than for months
past. Every new strike In which no
real decision Is reached only muddlea
the situation.
It seems certain that section "A
will be revised. Whether it viii Be
redrawn to still further favor organ
lied labor or to clip the wings Of la
Dor leaders win be fought out In the
next congress.
The second largest cause Of trou-
BIKE is the adoption Of fair practice
codes. These were intended to bring
sweetness. light and profit to the
business man upon whom additional
costs were imposed by the minimum
wage-maximum hour provisions
Competition was to Be placed on q
much higher basis than formerly, Il
not eliminated entirely. Many Of the
codes contain price-fixing provisions
the idea being to 70 adjust things
that everyone would have opportu-
nifty to ''live and let live"
It has been much better In theory
than In practice. The competitive
spirit Of dog-eat-dog still exists In q
many breasts that code authoritie.
have been swamped with complaints
Ia many cases. for one reason or an
other. the businessman who observes
the codes has received . neat trim
ming from those who are Away,
skating along tho border line.
Enforcement has been difficult be.
cause many Of the violations are
merely little ones. Sometimes Of.
lenses are merely matters OF differina
interpretations. In other cases code.
are 50 ct variance with former bust.
ness practices that the adage about
teaching old dogs new tricks hold,
good.
It may be. as some contend. that
6 the code authorities 60 along the,
viii build up . body Of precedent!
which win hold for the future anf
thereby make administration easier
but this u by no means certain.
In practice. code administration
have proved cumbersome and uncer
tain. The experiences OF businessme,
make them fear they may be put on
Of business before the thing begin
to work properly. Some take TIL
view that the only way to meet tn
direct and indirect chiselers is o.
their own ground. Is they used to dc
and that the details Of the codes mus
either Be altered o. the fair prac
tice" sections eliminated altogether.
The complaint that the codes favo
the big fellow" has been met with
counter-wan By these interests, Will
the medium sized business below
that It = being pincl,ed from boil
above and below. Atoeether. it Is
disturbing situation.
The codes appeal to the idealisti
sides Of the better businessmen.
There : no question but that the
set up : system which could b o.
served With profit to everyone. Ever
coded business can do q well now .
y did y - ID dsys. usually bsttes