The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-01-12

StduudIu uiILli yVu kCI tO ANC Here the governments r in gold was a profound shock, ton Transcript, who write in' things as honor and honestly substance.
 Bankers tell you of this initial shock, the tremors from which still can be felt, months after ward. Then they tell you that it l began to subside as soon as peo- pie found that as practical mat ter of their daily life it made little or no difference.
 SAVINGS AT HIGH MARK It is not for nothing that New . England is insurance and mutual savings bank headquarters for the nation. Mutual savings bank deposits in Massachusetts are al- most as high as they were in 1929. and never declined much . even during the banking holiday. In Springfield they amount to an average of $553.53 for every man, woman and child in the . city. So money is important here in a way that it is not important in Fort Worth, Texas, for exam pie. and the distrust of monetary tinkering is seen plainly on every hand.
 When the Boston Chamber Oi Commerce vigorously demanded an end to "thc deliberate debase- ment of our currency" 1t spoke for most of New England.
 Many bankers hcreabOuts regard the unstable dollar as "the repudl- ation of a solemn pledge" and "a stain on our national hOnOr.'
 FEARS MOSTLY IMAGINARY
 Yet a well-known banker here confessed to me that if people didn't keep up with world events in the newspapers, they never would know the difference in the practical use of their money.
 Further New England was left pretty much out in the cold when tt.a government began dishing out money this summer and fall Since her farms are not dominant the wheat. cotton, corn hog. and all such Iargessos were unaVall- ing.
 Not until the CWA money be- gan to fall did New England mo- tice the stimulus. And then Il felt it Immediately.
 ? 'The checks came in to us i'm mediately on the first pay day, a banker told me. First from groceries, then from department stores.
 COSTLY, BUT PROFITABLE
 -'Of course it's costly to the gov ernmcnt. but it's the right thing. Here we arc getting things donc with CWA labor that we would have had 10 do later any yay--we had plan ready
 Until CWA came along, NRA was the dominant influence of the New Deal in New England. And it's influence was strong. The New England Council, perhaps the most farsighted regional plan ming board in the country, showed by q questionnaire that NRA hac increased employment 20.S per cent, payrolls 2S per cent. and hourly wage rates 2S per cent throughout New England.
 Of 400 firms which replied to the questionnaire, only 176 said they had had no need of new credit, while 123 admitted they had sought 1t. And of those, 20 per cent had been refused.
 GAIN IN SPRINGFIELD
 Springfield is a steady town in employment. most of the workers being highly skilled. Yet employ nent here mounted as follows: January, 28.S67; March, 27,O86; June 3O,S24; and September 633,- 76O, PayroIls almost doubled from the low in March, careful figures of the Chamber of Commerce ln- dicate.
 Yet even here, in a town oi highly skilled workers, there have been labor disturbances. Pocket book makers, electrical workers al the Westinghouse plant, bakers and truck drivers have been on strike at different times.
 Great progress has baen mad6 in organizing workers here. Inc Central Labor Union reports mem bershjp of between 12,OOO and 15,. 100. practically doubled since MIRA went in effect.
 JURISDICTION DISPUTED
 Considerable friction has devel- oped here in the chartering of new federal unions, dozen or more of which have received characters Skilled machinists, for example who make up the bulk of labor in most of the plants usually are claimed by the International As sociation of Machinists, who are accused by the Central of prevent ing the chartering of federal unions in several cases. though unable themselves to organize the work CTS.
 At the Westinghouse plant, some 2,8OO workers are enrolled in the plant industrial union, disregardine the internationals.
 The direct benefits of MIRA are seen in the pocketbook industry here, which had been guilty oi sweatshop tactics. Girls who for merly got $7.50 a week now are getting $14 and are organized un. der the Pocketbood Workers Union "A. Y. of L.).
 There also was some trouble In the apron industry, where pay of from 97 to 90 week was raised to the code minimum of SIS, and tho factories made t0 install time' clocks.
 GOOD FOR TEXTILE MILLS
 New England cotton textiles Ilke their code perhaps even moro
 s