Evening star., 1934-03-08

kinds of road we made"
abrupt changes on the economic struc-
ture. but we can nevertheless work
together in arriving at a common
objective"
That is why we convened this con-
ference. Did you suppose that it was
gesture?
Did you suppose Gas have heard
that we exposed ourselves freely to
every bombardment Of criticism for
no purpose except then to impose
some fiat? Can a man never be
given credit for honor and faith
and sure intent?"
1t wasn't the least what Kipling's
Vampire" meant and a part of dis
illusioned business seems to have the
same idea. But can't we finally get
the simple truth that there is, at last.
honesty. sincerity and sanity in gov
ernment-"Oh. ye of little faith!"
Some times the cynical observation
that Suspicion is the shadow Of a
mans own soul" is more truth than
| poetry.
I'll tell you exactly what is pro-
posed. We expect as a result of two
weeks Of invited criticism-first of the
public and then Of industry-to ar
rive at consistent policy.
Only one thing was cut-and-dried
in advance and am prepared to de-
fend that conclusion on purely pro-
fessional grounds to the discontinue
Of any opponent-that, In an emer.
gency and until pay rolls catch up
with employment-it is proper to en-
courage increased wages and reduced
hours per week.
But you will all remember the bed
of the Procrustean bandit. If you
weren't long enough to fill it you were
stretched. If you were too long, they
cut off part of you. Nobody in this
administration has ever advocated
that. The President especially re-
pudiated those ideas.
There are some industries that
couldn't do what I tentatively sug-
gested about wages and hours. There
are some where business is so little
that. if they did adopt the rule. it
wouldn't make any difference to en-
ployment. But there are many that
obviously can-and ought to-meet
the suggestion to work on 10 per
cent decrease in hours per week and
a 10 per cent increase in hourly
wages. The President expressly said
that he favored resiliency in any such
rule. We all know that some indus
tries cannot do this. We know that
in some it would be ineffective. But
we know that in many there IS no
excuse for not doing it,
Understanding BY Labor.
The thought has been presented by
one of our best friends that to an
nounce this rule and then invite
proof Of exceptions Is wrong because
it might mislead labor into thinking
that the rule applies to all employ
ment.
Without drawing invidious distinc-
tion-may I say that this solicitude
about labor's lack Of understanding
is unwarranted. We have had more
reasoning, complete, and intelligent
understanding Of policy from labor
than from anybody else. I can assure
my industrial friends that labor un-
derstands exactly what we mean
when we say that this rule will not
apply to all industries, but only to
those to which we find that 1t Is ap.
plicable.
want to say a word about the
Blue Eagle. A man who Is sincerely
and earnestly attached to the idea
that trade associations should con-
troll industry without governmental
interposition Cor at least with very
little Of it, said the other day that
the Blue Eagle was my personal SYM
Dol and that my faith in him was
"pitiful."
Here is what the President said on
that subject:
II want to speak for moment d.
rectly to the public. In my initial
statement Of policy, I said: Finally.
this law Is q challenge to our whole
people. There is no power In Amer
lea that can force against the public
will such action as we require. But
there IS no group in America that
can Withstand the force Of an
aroused public opinion. This great
cooperation can succeed only II those
who bravely go forward to restore
jobs have aggressive public support
and those who lag are made to feel
the full weight Of public disapproval.'
You all know what happened. We
gave the Blue Eagle as symbol Of
cooperation. Its display in q shop
or factory window, or upon gar
ment. or product. or delivery wagon.
informed you that the firm with
which you were dealing was doing
It's part In this great national coop
Grafton to defeat depression. For the
first time-so far as I know-all
Of the people in this country were
given a part In making law effec-
tive. This Is = law for the public
benefit.
obviously. an employer who pays
Blue Eagle or code wages cannot com.
pete with an employer who does not.