Evening star., 1934-05-27
LAUGHS AND LESSONS
In DARROW'S REPORT
Authors Sudden Advocacy of Social
lied Industry Should Be
Warning to Business.

people ana are paying Them generally
much bigger wages. Whereupon now
comes the N. r. A., through the bril-
liant and charming Mr.. Richberg, and
in effect says to them:
Keep on hiring more people on the
basis of shorter working day and
keep on paying them bigger wages, but
now we're going to take out of your
mouth part of the bait that we put
into it to induce you to do these So
cially noble things. From now on let
social nobility be your principal re-
ward"
Double Fight on Hands.
OF course, it can be argued, and per-
haps truly, that the steel manufactur-
ers will make more money II they for
get price protection" and bang for
ward and sell cheaper steel on wider
market However, what Immediately
impresses me is the grand double fight
that Mr.. Richberg has on his hands.
On his left side he has to combat Mr..
Darrow and on his right side he has to
combat the United States Steel Cor
poration. I could feel sorry for him
if it we're not for his delightful ability
to forget the cares Of this world IN
reading poetry and writing it. I should
think that he would need lot OF
poetry as a solace right now.
The incidental truth Is that price
fixing" for big manufacturing indus
tries is wholly on its way out from the
N. r. A. codes. Gen. johnson is sico
of it. Mrs. Rumsey and Mr.. Keezer of
the N. r. A. Consumers Advisory
Board have for months been occupied
in helping to make him sick Of it.
There was a proposition in the high
est circles in the N. r. A. not long
ago for having the President issue an
executive order abolishing all price
fixing" provisions in the big manufac-
turing codes at one instant stroke.
Then it seemed better to ease these
"price-fixing provisions out gradually.
That is the process now going on.
If ultimately any price protection"
remains in the codes. it will be mainly
for the benefit of the little retailers
or for the benefit, exceptionally. of
our natural resource" industries such
as coal and oil and lumber where the
idea Of conservation" Is thought to
require consideration. Outside such
fields it can be taken for certainty
that the price fixing" and price
protecting" days of the N. r. A. have
passed their prime and are coming
into their twilight.
Miner Wages Improved.
Rrt those "naturaI reso,,rceo indus.
tries! Here's Mr.. John L. Lewis, head
of the United Mine Workers, represent
ing the mass of the human beings who
toll with their bodies to get bituminous
coal out of the ground ask him
what he thinks of the N. r. A. btu
minous coal code and its stabilized
prices" and its effect upon the little
operators. He replies to me in terms
generally as follows:
The Stabilized prices" of the btu
minous coal code have made 1t possible
for the first time in many years for
the coal operators as body to pay
something like a true living wage to
their employees. These stabilized
prices" are desirable from the point
of view of the workers in the industry.
As for the little operators, the "stabil-
lied prices" have enabled hundreds
and hundreds of small mines, which
had closed down, to resume operations.
In fact, these revived small mines con-
Stitute today a new menace to the
industry. They involve the possibility
of a new over production of bitumi-
nous coal, followed perhaps by an ir-
reSiStible collapse OF prices and there
upon by an unavoidable decline Of
wages. Perhaps the surplus coal lands
of the United States ought to be taken
over, as to the coal beneath them, by
the United States Government and
prevented from coming into produc-
ton till socially needed. Perhaps there
ought to be this amount Of "socializa-
ton" of the bituminous coal mining
industry.
Thus Mr. Lewis. What he says is
bound to be impressive even to people
who, like myself, are congenitally skep-
tical of price stabilizations" and $50
Civilizations" It makes me wonder If
any one fixed economic philosophy
even mine-can be applied to all the
industries of the United States.
Recommendations by Sachs.
Perhaps in our natural resource"
industries we shall have to have some
little "socializations" and some price
controls" or production controls"
Perhaps. though, in the manufactur-
ing industries we shall follow the
recommendation recently made by Mr..
Alexander Sachs.
Mr.. Sachs was the first head Of
N. r. A IS Planning Division" He
is very profound student and also
a man of very penetrating vision. He
recently has advised the N. r. A. In
these words:
"Segregate the natural resource in
dustries as separate economic domains
which; for national economic reasons,
may be subjected to greater price and
production control than the rest Of
American business. Then, in respect
to manufacturing industries. limit all
governmental interferences with the
competitive system to such measures
as will remove the hindrances to the
adequate and efficient functioning Of
competition"
In other words, in the industries
which deal with original natural
riches, plan for control! In the indus
tries which deal with the inventive
fabrication Of finished goods, plan lib
erty! Perhaps Mr.. Sachs may turn
out to be quite good prophet. The
N. r. A. is certainly veering toward
making him so.