Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-05-20
an entirely fictitiously high figure,

the treasury chooses TO carry 1CS
| eleven billion odd dollars of gold
! holdings at $35 an ounce, after it
has actually dropped say to $50 an
ounce on the world market.
A shrewd Canadian banker on a
visit to Washington agreed with Mr..
Edie's statement that the specula-
tors all over the world have already
discounted a reduction in the dol
lar price of gold, but added that he
did not know what step the United
| States government could take which
would stop the flow of the yellow
metal to this country.
Would Increase Flow
eff you should reduce the price
to $32 tomorrow" he said, 81 am
sure it would increase rather than
diminish the flow. The spectators
in London and Paris would at once
assume that this was merely the
first step. So they would hurry to
sell their gold to the United States
before the price should be further
reduced.
eff you follow the other course
suggested, and boost the charge for
handling the gold from nine cents,
the present figure, say to S 3 $50,
which has been suggested, it would
not stop your imports. The foreign
spectators would assume here also
that this was just the first step, and
would hurry to get under the wire
before any further cut in the net
price they were receiving.
"The handling fee seems the most
satisfactory way out for other rea-
sons, however, for that would not
compel the Treasury to mark down
the value of it's gold holdings. 1t
could 60 on paying $35 an ounce for
gold mined in the United States and
put a heavy handling charge on any
imported gold. Thus the Treasury
could maintain the fiction that it's
gold was still worth $35 an ounce.
There would be no test, because I'M
less the present situation should be
entirely revised there will be no
| QUILL tAlAAl6 dAly LllOIC CD ll1d1Altol1l11lS
the value of a paper currency by
having gold to pay OF demand for
it."
Forty-Hour Week
The administration is definitely
considering the forty-hour week for
industry in the legislation being
planned to take the place of NRA
as soon as the Supreme court en-
largement battle has been decided.
The plan is not frozen. It will prob
ably be changed a great many
times before final submission to
congress-, but there is such general
agreement on the forty-hour week
idea that this phase is almost GER
tain to remain.
There are several flies in the oint-
ment, however. Chief is the ques-
ton of constitutional power. Some
of the New Deal lawyers are by no
means certain that even if they
picked an entire new court of fiji
teen, instead of just six more JUS
tees as President Roosevelt de-
mands, Or perhaps only four or two
more as congress may decree, they
could get approval of the kind of
legislation they desire.
1t would go much further than
the Wagner act, for example. 1t is
the purpose to apply it to all sorts
of industries and plants which are
definitely not within the scope of the
Wagner act as approved by the SUI
preme court.
The New Dealers want to apply
the forty-hour week to all sorts of
plants, which by no stretch of the
imagination could be said to effect
interstate commerce. They want to
apply it to nearly everything ex-
cept farm labor, household serv-
ants, and perhaps a few other small
exceptions.
Their Big Worry
So what is worrying the New
Dealers now is whether it would
not require a constitutional amend
ment, after all, to effect what they
want. Wild horses could not drag
an admission of this from them at
the moment. To admit this public
ly would be equivalent to saying
that the Supreme court enlarge
ment, which is so embarrassing to
so many otherwise loyal Democrat
ic senators and representatives, is
unnecessary-that the administra-
ton is putting them ION the spot
needlessly.
But it is certain of the fundamen-
tai soundness of the forty-hour week
idea. Despite the smiles over the
phrase, there is a lot of support, in
actuality, for the old democracy
theory. With production in the
country way up, above most previ-
Gus levels, there is still plenty. of
evidence of millions of unemployed
men who actually want jobs.
President Roosevelt insisted ear
nestly to callers recently that the
government knew exactly how
many men and women who really
want work are applying for jobs.
The only fly in this ointment is that
he admits there may be a good
!, xyh0 hox,a o~~1ioI - -