Evening star., 1937-05-28

1t processes to do.
In the first place, it exempts rs per
cent Of the working establishments
In America and confines the measure
to the remaining "a per cent. where
= large number Of plants already have
minimum wages of around SIS and
Z 40-hour week.
This impression of the futility Of
the measure Is derived from the fact
that the bill proposes to exempt all
establishments where there are 20
workers or less. Reliable figures are
available to the effect that about rs
per cent of all the enterprises of the
country employ 20 or less workers.
There are other important and sig
nificant features of the proposed bill
which will subject it to sever critl-
cism on Capitol Hill. For one thing,
the bill does not require that Negroes
shall receive pay equal to that OF white
men when engaged in the same kind
OF labor. Nor does 1t require that
women shall be paid equal to men
when doing the same work.
Discrimination Objectionable.
Certainly the many Northern Demo-
Gratis who won their elections in 1886
and expect to win them again IN 1888
will not wish to risk the loss OF their
Negro supporters by permitting any
color Determinations AS for mem
bers Of Congress from the South, they
have been assured informally by the
administration that the National
Wages Board to be created by the pro-
posed law will take care OF their Sit
uations so that discrimination between
white and colored labor in the South
may be continued.
But the assurance can hardly be
permanent If the power IS to be con-
centrated in a national board. sure
ly If the Republicans come into
power they will not dare to permit the
National Wages Board to dlscrlml-
nate against Negro labor. Thus are
many embarrassments being piled up
Of a political nature, but these are
relatively tnconsequential compared
to the economic endorsements that
lie ahead.
The actual operation of the pro-
posed minimum wage and maximum
hour law would, of course, greatly
increase the relief bill OF the Nation.
This would come about through the
fact that employees now getting less
than the proposed minimum OF about
SIS, say $40 per week, would not be
considered to be worth the extra pay.
Employers would be inclined to get
rid OF inefficient help and hire efi-
cient workers. This would mean that
men and women SIS or 60 years of age
who now work at odd jobs In big
plants paying less than SIS week
would be thrown out of employment
and forced on to relief. On the
other hand, there is an extraordinary
number of persons idle between the
ages Of 18 to Is, according to Gov
ernment figures. So a readJustment
in the upper brackets OF age as we'll
as the lower brackets-just above the
child-labor margin-would seem to
be inevitable. 1t will involve a good
deal of hardship and some cruelty
In individual cases, but under the New
Deal the effect on the individual is
less important than the supposed good
OF the State.
The proposed bill gives almost
unlimited power to the national board
of i've persons, who are virtually to
fix wages in the minimum scale. The
next step, then, will have to be to
fix wages above the minimum, too.
For in many companies the same
thing will happen that occurred un-
der the N. r. A. In order to meet
the minimum wage requirements the
workers In the groups just above the
minimum did not get increases in
pay and in some instances were given
less work, because the sum total of
the pay roll had to be spread to take
care Of the minimum required by
law.
Higher Prices Generally.
Unless employers are able to find
the money to to take care of the
minimum rates through cutting other
expenses and pay rolls, they will have
to add 1t to their production costs.
This means higher prices for the
people generally in the things they
buy. Likewise, If rs per cent Of the
manufactured establishments are ex-
empted from the operation Of the
proposed law and can do as they
please about minimum wages, then
much work will go to these smaller
units, and the larger plants will be
compelled to find way to meet this
competition in which human labor