The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-01-12

than those of the south, for here they claim that at last they are put on & competitive footing with the labor costs in that section. Freight rates are such that raw cotton can be delivered by boat from gulf port to a New Eng land mill just as cheaply as 1t can be sent by rail to North Caro- lima.
 So the New England mills arc rejoicing that at last the code has eliminated the unfair" competi- tion of cheap southern labor. It is felt that this will prevent fur ther movement of mills from New England to the south, and even may turn the tide the other way.
 Massa chusetts especially, which always has had rather progressive labor laws, feels that neighboring states as well as southern ones are being kept in line. A well-known authority in tho textile field claims 1888 was the l most complete reversal ever re- corded in the industry, and that the NRA has given it it's oppor- tunity."
 The New England Councils fig l ures suggest that NRA in this sec tion was almost a share-the-wo proposition. for despite an in- crease of better than 20 per cent in number of workers, the number of man-hours increased oly 2.2 per cent last summer and fall.
 w. l.. Carter, chairman. of the councils industrial committee, has said that "We note a grow ing acceptance of the Recovery Act as the new rules of the game, and recognition of the fact that increased costs due to the codes operation may be offset in various ways without reducing wages or salaries or seriously in- creasing prices"
 SHOE INDUSTRY BENEFITS That is perhaps what Ernest G. Wheeler, president of the Spring field National bank, meant when he told me that "The leaders have learned to do their job better in these last few years"
 The shoe industry, also
 benefactOr from its code, mOv-
 ed upward sharply at the
 ycar-end after a. lull in the
 idn. anu HAhE Ob ehC "OohNh
 mills in the Boston area re-
 gently boosted production to
 take care of increasing de-
 mand for clothing.
 NRA compliance here was in general willing, Carlos B. Ellis, compliance chairman, told me. One evil condition was allowed to continue temporarily. A manu- facturer had women working iE their homes stitching doll dresses at 22 cents dozen dresses. They couldn't earn q living wage at that rate, but the employer had not signed the blanket code, and there was no way to get at him. Questioned, he proved that this work was under contract for the Christmas trade at a figure which would permit no higher rate of pay.
 AGREES TO RAISE PAY
 So it was allowed to ride through the holidays, but the employer agreed that on all such work after the first of the year he would pay no less than $13 week.
 There seems no doubt about the continued popularity of Pres ident Roosevelt in this normally republican state. An extremely well-informed editorial writer told me that People here regard the CWA and even the PWA as mere temporary relief-a form of dole which is definitely unsound on anything approaching a permanent l basis.
 But they seem necessary this winter, mad thongh people here- abouts distrusts the presidents experiments with money, they feel that, with his background and qualities, he cannot lead us very far astray. I feel sure he would carry Massachusetts tomorrow"