Evening star., 1934-04-08
Dear MIR. Congressman

en- economic sanity ever seen In any
nation. In a space of few days mil
lions of employers were rushed into
the agreement, thousands upon thou
sands of them without even reading
it. 1t was instantly apparent that
they could not continue business
under 1t.
And then began the pilgrimage to
Washington, where chaos reigned.
Out of it all came hastily prepared
codes, unscientiflc. uneconomic, con-
fiicting, discriminatory and unwork-
able. The most delicate and vital
relationships in industry were settled
by table pounding. Hot-dog stands
and beauty parlors, auto industries
and hosiery mills suddenly found
themselves under codes approved by
guess by stampeded administrators.
Ten months later there is still dis
order and conflict. The labor clause
let loose the dogs of industrial war.
Uneconomic hours and wages had
been imposed. For six consecutive
months before this extravaganza be-
gan, from March to August, 1888, the
curve Of business activity was going
up. We were coming out of the de-
preston. And from the Gay the N. r.
A. opened the curve went ominously
down, to the end of 1888.
Little Fellows Vote.
It was soon evident that the
stretching of N. r. A. to cover clothes
pressers and peanut venders was a
foolish business. 1t was evident also
that the codes worked bitter hardship
on the little fellow Whatever you
may decide in the end about the con-
tinuance of the N. r. A., 1t seems
now that at the next elections great
many little fellows are going 70 ex-
press their opinions at the polls.
Long hours, low wages and hard
work have been the lot of mankind
for 10000 years. If it were possible
to eliminate these burdens by law. the
fact would have been known before
the present administration. Although
it is a hard thing for a Southern
Democrat to admit, suspect that
some Republican administration would
have made the discovery.
There is just one way to raise wages
and improve economic conditions, and
that is by increasing production. And
yet you are debating that same old 30
hour-week bill that the Senate passed
last year. 1t hardly seems credible
that you are seriously considering
such a measure You do not want to
enact law that will reduce wages
throughout the Nation. destroy all our
export trade and close down a large
portion Of our enterprises A univer-
sal compulsory 30-hour week would
almost certainly do all these things,
and more. Some of you have chauf
feurs. 1t would take three to operate
your car on a 30-hour week. That
would not concern you long, for after
a little while there would not be any
autos And if you insisted on enforc-
ing this law. after time there would
not be any Congressman.
where IS Courage?"
There is no doubt you are sincerely
seeking what every decent American
citizen wants; and that is. Immediate
ly. recovery from depression and, ulti-
mately. greater social justice in our
country, a better living for us plain
people who earn our living by work;
and a cleaner, fairer life for all. Much
OF what you have done in the last
year is aimed squarely at this object
i've. Much of the heavy expenditures
you have incurred for us taxpayers to
shoulder is more than justified Your
measures to curb financial evils, to
aid the unemployed and to assist
stricken industry are very much
worth while, even if some of them
are defective in details.
1t is too bad if in your efforts to
promote these fine objectives you ac-
cept fantastic experiments and vision
ary projects and force them on the
people. In the last year a lot of you
have voted for measures you wholly
disapproved. That is not a very
courageous performance. and in the
end it is not good politics
There are many courageous and
able men in your membership. A little
group among you have steadily grown
in the judgment of thoughtful men
simply because they support every
measure they consider desirable and
fight every measure they consider
wrong. Senator Carter Glass is not
the only one of these. They belong to
both parties, and are in both Houses
The people who elected you to Con-
gresS love a fighter. even if they dis
agree with his views.