Evening star., 1937-11-14
ROOSEVELT CAN REVEAL
PATH TO SOUND POLICY
Clouds of Initiation, Though Banked
About Nation, May Be Lifted in
Message to Congress.

amounts In cash in return for their
promises to reduce their acreage. The
other method is compulsory-farmers
TO plant only so much as the quota
imposed by the Government, under
penalty Of punitive taxes or other
methods Of compulsion.
Compulsion Hard to Impose.
The argument, it is probable, will
end, as respects most of the crops
affected, in favor OF the voluntary
form OF limitation. Compulsion =
not as easy to impose as 1t was when
Mr.. Roosevelt took office, when the
country was in despair and ready to
accept any requirement of Govern
ment.
But even if the farmers are willing
TO accept any method of crop lirnita.
tlon, whether voluntary or compulsory,
Will the country as a whole be willing
70 accept it? Crop control means a
higher level of prices for crops. for
tood-that is the purpose of it. And
VIII the country be willing to accept
thls policy at time when the cost
OF living is high? Most of the country
was willing, or at least did not make
serious outcry, when crop control was
nrst introduced. in 1893; but at that
Time cost of living was low.
one OF the major measures for
winch President Roosevelt has called
congress into special session is the
enactment of wage and hour" bill.
mat Is, measure which shall saw
tnat workers must not work more
tnan certain number of hours mar
WeeK-tne number commonly dis
cussed Is 40-and that no worker
snail be paid a wage lower than a
certain minimum.
For the minimum wage part NJ III.
measure there is much support
Workers generally like it. Most em-
ployers like tit would enable them
70 pay a decent wage without suffer-
ing from the unfair competition ef
cnlselers" whose only art of competi-
tlon consists of underpaying their
labor. Public opinion generally favors
the minimum wage-though it is con.
ceoeo there are serious difficulties In
rxlng one minimum wage appropriate
Tor one industry and another appro-
pirate Tor another industry, one mini
mum wage for one section of the coun-
try, another minimum for another
section. A minimum wage law suffi-
GENTLY simple; or better, a system by
which each State can fix its own mini
mum and have the Federal Govern
nent protect each States standard
would be favorably received and would
be practicable.
Maximum Hours Difficult.
AS to the maximum hours part Of
the proposed measure, there is gen.
eral assent to that too, in principle.
Yet some Of the maximums proposed
run contrary to the common mans
ideas. One proposal is that no worker
shall be permitted to work more than
80 hours week
The wage and hour bill as originally
introduced went much farther than
merely fixing a minimum wage and a
maximum of hours. The measure as
| originally introduced would have given
to board of five men in Washington
practically autocratic power over all
industry and all the details of all in
duStry. The measure as originally in
| troduced went in some respects as
far in the control of industry as N.
r. A. During the period since the
Senate passed the measure, July 81,
and the sitting of the special session
of Congress to enable the House to
pass it, support for the measure has
diminished. Many labor unions and
labor leaders have come to disapprove
it; the recent national conventiol of
the American Federation Of Labor
formerly disapproved it. The reason
for opposition by labor leaders may be
self-interest: they foresee that If the
Government Is to have as much con-
troll over wages as the original wage
and hour measure would have given
the Government, there would be little
reason left for the existence of labor
leaders or for collective bargaining.
Without doubt the discussion Of the
wage and hour measure in the COM
ing Congress will be in the direction
of limiting its scope. The measure
that the House will pass, and the final
measure that becomes law, will be
much simpler than the original pro-
posal.
,Copyright, 1879