Evening star., 1938-01-26
PRESIDENT PUSHES
WAR ON PAY CUTS
Wage Farmers Power to
Buy Must Be Kept, He
Declares.
BACKGROUND

Furry Of conferences betneen
leaders OF business and Govern
ment has been going on for past
tho months in hopes Of devtstno
plan to check doDnwdrd spiral OF
business. In early statements, Pres
tdent Roosevelt has referred seperal
times to erorbttantly high prices
and to high wages tn some cate
0ories of skilled labor. Spokesmen
for organized labor haze been pio-
lent In opposition to curtatlment OF
buying po,oer by decrease in ,rdpes.
BY the Associated Press.
A primary objective in the ad-
ministration's business -betterment ef-
forts. President Roosevelt has made
plain. is maintenance Of the wage
earners power to buy what he needs.
Mr.. Roosevelt resorted to a formal
statement at his press conference
late yesterday to reiterate, clearly
and unequivocally," that the way out
Of the recession is to cut prices. not
wages.
IL lCS lCduNo Nd6CS Ililc
winter and spring they will be de-
liberately encouraging the withhold
ing of buying" he declared. They
will be fostering a downward spiral
and they will make 1t necessary for
their Government to consider other
means OF creating purchasing power"
These "other means" quickly be-
came a topic Of speculation They
were interpreted by some observers
to mean more vigorous demands for
legislative control over wages and
hours, increased relief spending and
new public works.
Lewis Asks Spending.
John L. Lewis, chairman of the
Committee for Industrial Organiza-
ton. had called for such measures
in An address made only q short
while before the Presidents state
ment.
Mr.. Lewis. speaking at the conven-
ton Of the United Mine Workers.
advocated a sl,0Oo,o0000O increase
in this years Federal relief spending
and a $4,000, ,oo0, 900 housing program.
Mr.. Roosevelt's don't cut wages"
argument was written reply to
question as to whether he agreed
with the assertion of B. F. Fairless
OF the United States Steel Corp. that
steel prices could not be cut without
cutting wages.
Those who believe in the profit
system" the President said, must
recognize that those who get the
profits when business is good must
bear the losses when business is tenn
porarily slack.
The steel industry cannot make a
profit at 80 per cent capacity, but
it can at so per cent or IS per cent
Of capacity. The only way to get VOL
ume is to produce goods for price the
public will pay"
To cast the burden Of a temporary
business recession on workers, the
President contended. lis not only
moral bankruptcy, but the bankruptcy
Of sound business judgment"
Purpose to Increase Pay.
In some cases. Mr. Roosevelt indi-
Gated. houfly wage rates might be
considered too high, but even there
our primary purpose is to increase
and not decrease the total Of the an
nual pay of the workers"
The President coupled his advice to
business Of all types with another invi-
tation for business to confer with
him. He summoned 600 small busi-
ness men" to meet with Secretary of
Commerce Roper. probably next
Wednesday. A committee then will re-
port to Mr.. Roosevelt the sentiment
OF the whole group
Persons who disagreed with Mr..
Roosevelt's statement that there has
been . start made on general wage
cutting cited figures released by the
Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
These showed that fewer than l per
cent of manufacturing employees have
suffered cuts in wage rates, exceptions
being some shoe and textile plants in
New England
The bureau estimates the average
hourly rate at the end Of December
was 66 cents. compared with 66.l in
November and 666 in December.
The index Of employment fell in
December, however. from 94.7 to 88.5.
Factory pay rolls declined s.e points
to 800.
The bureau explained the decline in
total wages was greater than in per-
sons employed because OF efforts by
emn10verS tn cuf hours If ,,nork in efno 4
OF reducing wage rates or employment.