The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-02
Censor News As Govt
Appoints Wall St. Men
To MIRA. Boards
By MARGUERITE YOUNG


organization under a plan to bring
about. in the words Of the official
announcement, another step to-
ward administration for compliance
and settling Of disputes by Indus
try itself"
Under the plan, industrial rela-
tons boards of committees, will be
set up in each coded industry to
settle labor complaints, disputes,
strike threats, etc. Each board, pat
termed on the one created by the
recent Roosevelt auto settlement,
will include one labor" representa-
tive, one employer and an Impair
tial chairman"
Aimed to Break Strikes
The program was headlined by
the New York Times: IN. R. A,
Shake-up Plan Will Curb Strikers"
1t is more significant than that. 1t
is an important public step toward
remodeling of the MIRA. to con-
form to the Swope-Johnson plan,
as I forecast last month.
The Swope-J johnson plan, widely
described as industrial fascism"
when it was announced last Novem-
Der by Gerard Swope of the Cen
eral Electric Corporation and en-
dorsed by N. r. A. Administrator
Hugh S. johnson, was polished up
and definitely adopted as the pat
tern for the NRA. during the con-
gress of industry, in which some
1000 leading employers met here
last month.
With reorganization, the NR.A.
put on a censorship. 1t directed its
own officials not to conf1de in re-
porters. The order said:
information to the press should
go out through the public rela-
tions department and not direct
to reporters"
Even the full text of the reor-
ganization program was withheld
from the official publicity channels.
It leaked out through pipe lines.
In charge of this reorganization
is W. AveriI Hartman, polo-playing
son Of the late railroad king, E. H.
Hartman, first assistant to General
johnson and brother of Mrs. Mary
Hartman Ramsey, head Of the Mr..
A. Consumers Advisory Board. OBJ
servers here freely predict that Har-
riman will succeed johnson as the
leading figure of the NR.A,, and
that the organization itself may
well become secondary to the N.R.A.
code authorities, and the new boards
and committees set up by General
Johnson's reorganization orders.
Monop0lists In Code Authority
The N. R. A. code authorities are
composed of the biggest monopolists
of the industries: The cotton code
authority is composed exclusively
of the National Textile Institute;
the steel code authority, of the Steel
and Iron Institute. A few code
authorities include one labor"
american Federation of Labor
representative; none contains more
labor" representatives than one
tenth of the whole code authority
membership; most labor" represen-
tatiyes cannot vote in code author
ity proceedings.
These code authority bodies under
the reorganization plan will assume
more and more of the functions of
enforcing the MIRA. In The Amer
lean Federationist, official organ of
the A. P. OF L., this month there
appears a demand for labor repre-
sentstives in a position to parti-
cipate effectively on all code au-
thorities, because 1t is well known
that nins-tenths of every law is it's
administration.
Increase Profits
That statement implies that the
NR.A. was intended TO provide jus
tice to labor. Johnson himself has
declared the act was intended rather
to increase profits" And he has
no intention Of providing anything
like real participation by labor in
administration, or government, |
representative upon the code au-
thority. Even this administration |
member will act on the industrial
relations committee, according to
the official announcement without |
vote but with veto" The admin
istration representatives named so
far are chiefly business men and
army officers.
CenSors ALI Protest
Each administration member of
each code authority will have one
labor" and one consumers" ad- |
wiser. The advisers are not to be
members of the authorities and will !
attend meetings only on invitation"
They have only the right to ap- /
pear before the code authority to
make statements on specific sub
iects'
The advisers added the an
nouncement, will keep all informa-
ton concerning the industries to
which they are assigned, gained by
virtue Of their position, strictly
confidential. They will confine their
reports, advise, recommendations,
and other statements regarding
these industries to the administra-
ton member of the code authority,
the divisional administrator and the
appropriate advisory board"
This means that, should a ia
Dor adviser discover that the code
authority is amending its code or
taking any action that would af-
feet labor adversely, he cannot
either demand change or report
1t back to the labor unions in
volved.
To all coded industries, including
more than go per cent of American
industry and trade, General john