The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-03-20

Washington, March ,20-The
motor mess in Detroit is going to
cause a lot of grief to the New
Deal before it is cleared away.
The inside story of the mess is
involved and intricate, but inn
portant.
There are several messes
within the mess. One rowland
probably the biggest-is between
the industry and labor. Another
row is between industry and the
NRA. Finally there is row
within the industry and Ford
on the one hand, and the Auto
mobile Chamber of Commerce
on the other.
CRUZ OF NATTER
Crux of the mess is the fact
that labor in the automobile in
dustry never has been organized.
Under the NRA, however, 1t now
is. The American Federation OF
Labor has gone in, now demands
shorter hours and higher pay,
also union recognition.
Some time ago-befOre the A.
+. OF l.. got organized auto
mobile men told General john
son reduced hours were impOssi-
BILE. Rush orders. they said,
necessitatcd IL fOrty-hOur week.
So he yielded.
But faced with a troublesome
strike threat, the auto men pre-
pared a grand gesture, to make
a gratis gift to labor of ten per
cent reduction in hours and ten
per cent increase in pay. 1t was
timed to have a wonderful erect.
UNSPORTSMANLIKE
However. just as words of gen.
crosby were about to flow, the
gesture was checked at the ell
bow. Leaders of other Industries
iron, steel, coal, etc.-held up
their hands in horror.
"What kind of precedent are
YOU setting for the rest of us?"
they asked the automobile men.
wen all be expected to follow
suit"
So far the time being, the
noble gesture was off. That is,
until labor prepared for large
scale walk out.
Faced with this, the Automo-
bile Chamber of Commerce held
q hurried meeting, decided to re-
yive it's magnificent gesture.
Auto-men came to Washington
with the display carefully
guaged for the next day.
They were to announce 1000
1, n
crease in pay
ON THE SIDE LINES
All this time, Henry Ford had
been sitting on the side-lines. lie
does not belong to the Automo-
bile Chamber, frequently clashes
with other auto-men, likes to
put something over on them.
So the afternoon before their
grandiose gesture, he threw IN
u monkey wrench. He ANNOUNCE
ed restitution of his S. minimum
wage. 1t made the other auto
men seem like pikcrs.
Henry Ford had many reas-
ons for his move besides a laugh
on his competitors, one of them
being impending action by the
MIRA against him. Ford has been
under investigation for weeks on
accusations of violating the col
lective bargaining provision of
the industrial recovery act,
faces almost certain court prose-
cution.
TROUBLE INSURANCE
So his move was somewhat in
the nature of Trouble Insur-
ance."
But there were other much
more important developments.
The auto-men served an ulti-
matum against recognizing the
A. +. of l.. They went into the
national labor board, said they
didn't care to have anything to
do with NRA mediation, put on
their hats and walked out. The
A. +. of L. Immediately talked
strike.
SO a four-ring battle impends:
the belligerents being the Auto
mobile Chamber of Commerce,
labor, the government and Hen
ry Ford.
BALL CATCHER
Gutzon Borglum, "a M GU $
sculptor, was dining at the
White House the other night,
one seat away from the presi-
dent. Between Borglum and
Roosevelt was beautiful lady.
an old friend of the presidents.
As they waited for dessert, she
reached across, took ono OF
ROosevclt's hands, and said:
"Mr BOrglum, YOU read char
actcr so well. Tell Inc what you
see in this hand?'
Borglum has sculpted many
hands. from those of George
Washington to William Jennings
Bryan. He knows how to make
hands. but not read them. How
ever, he was equal to the occa :
sion. Gazing at the broad out