The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1937-02-18

Dor also-the Walsh-Healey bill
which is not under constitutional at
tack in the courts, is planned by
the administration.
The plan is to reduce the present
exemption under the law from Sl0,-
600 to at most So, 500 and possibly
only $4,000. 1t is also planned to
add some other restrictions aimed
at preventing the evasion OF the
purpose of the law through present
loopholes.
The law as it stands provides that
no concern can be awarded gov
eminent contract which does not
comply with certain restrictions as
to hours. wages and conditions OF
labor. Broadly. these restrictions
are very similar to the provisions OF
the old NRA codes. But the law
applies only to contracts amounting
to $4,000 or more.
Lots of bidders have been getting
around it by the simple expedient
of making bids for only a part OF
any proposed order-the part never
exceeding $4,000. Government pur-
chasing agencies have eagerly aided
in the process of getting around
this law. They were not particu-
larry enthusiastic about the law any
how. AS matter of fact, most gov
eminent purchasing agents are far
| from liberal. they are just as hard
boiled as any corporation purchas-
ing agent.
A good deal of the publicity about
big corporations refusing to bid, in
cidentally, has been incorrect. ac-
cording to officials of the procure
ment division at the Treasury de-
partment. For instance, all the talk
about the navy not being able to
get any bids on copper.
No Bid on Copper
1t is perfectly true that the big
copper companies did not bid.
Treasury officials admit. But it is
also true they would not have bid
even had there been no Walsh-Hea-
/ ley law. There are two answers.
One is that most copper has been
sold for years through agents. This
eliminated the necessity of the big
copper companies maintaining sales
organizations of greater size than
they wished. The other reason is
that most dealers in copper have
been convinced for some time that
the rise in price of copper-still far
below its 1929 level of l8 cents
had just started, Thus they were
afraid to commit themselves to con-
tracts which would bind them to de
| liver copper at price specified
now over period of time in the fu-
ture. The war scare demand In
Europe alone was enough to account
for this, in the-epinion of Treasury
officials.
The new twist in the law would
hit a great many little fellows
chaps who have been buying in
quantities from the big producers
and then retailing their purchases
to the government in less than $l0,-
900 quantities. They have been
Swimming nice little profit out oil
the unwillingness Of the big com
panies to subject themselves to the
Walsh-Healey bill.
The profit has been much greater
in some instances than the esti-
mated additional cost to the manu-
facturers using this intermediary
method OF selling their goods to the
government. The reason for this is
that the manufacturers in many In
stances are not convinced that al
the troubles wrapped up In the
Walsh-Healey law would be confined
to the additional cost. In some in
stances no additional cost at all, the
manufacturers concerned assert
would be involved.
But bidding under the terms o.
the law would subject them, they
fear, to all sorts Of government
checks-some of them started b,
disgruntled employees, some b,
discharged employees, but all in al
amounting to big bundle of trou
= BILE. So they cheerfully allowed mid
dlemen to skim little profit rathe
than run the risk.
Farmers Scream
What with the flood this year, ant
the drouth last year, not to mention
piling up of SURPRISES in Europ
against the danger of war, it ha
been more than two years sine
there was any real need for som
artificial method of curtailing crop
in order to keep prices up. BIT
to hear the farmers scream TO tn
old AAA offices-now the soil err
sion nniceS-one would think thu