The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1938-11-17

By GEORGE L. KNAPP

pay envelope shrinks to part time fill
ing or vanishes altogether when stock
gambling has gone too, far. That is
why the new stock exchange regula-
tions issued by the Securities and Ex-
change Commission have a deep and
vital interest for labor, whether in
overalls or white collars; and why, too
the best thing about the new regula-
tions are the frank statement of Chair
man w. O. Douglas that the SEC is
anything but finished with the job.
Throughout the "Big Bull Market"
that ended in October, 1929, an in
creasing quantity of money went into
the stock market, instead of into in
dustry and commerce. Stocks were
boosted to perfectly fantastic figures.
The market value" Of stocks listed
on the New York Stock Exchange
went up more than $21, 1000, 100000 in
nine months of 1929, when it is doubt
full it the real wealth of the country
increased at all. Then came the crash
which threw more than 100000
workers out Of jobs-and some 10,-
100000 are out of work yet.
The new SEC rules, even more than
those which it has put out before,
aim to stop gambling in securities;
and everything that can be done in this
line is gain to workers and farmers.
X x X
Thirty governors of states, 81
United States Senators, and 1914 men,
bers Of the House of Representatives
have signed memorial to President
Roosevelt declaring the sympathy Of
the American people for the rebuilding
of Jewish home in Palestine. How
President Roosevelt and Secretary
Hull feel on this question they have
shown already.
1t isn't much to do; but in the pres
ence Of the most atrocious persecu-
ton that has been seen in centuries,
it may help to find refuge for some
of the victims. And at least, it sets
this nation eternally apart from Naz-
ism and Fascism.
x X X
The world, or this part of the world,
do move, especially in the understand
ing of wages.
Seventeen years ago, railroad fnan-
ciers demanded a cut in railroad
wages; and got it from a government
board, the Railway Labor Board. The
fnanciers asked for 20 per cent cut;
they got an average cut of 1872 per
cent. Maintenance Of way workers,
lowest paid of all already, were cut
IT'S per cent. A little later, they lost
their overtime pay, because, said the
board, maintenance had to be done
while the weather was good.
Can you imagine government
board now cutting down pay in sum-
mer because the men will have little
or nothing to do in winter? The world
do move.
Washington, ID. G.. GLNS).-The
proposal that 45 cents an hour should
be made the minimum wage of steel
mills in IL southern states, as a
means Of qualifying those mills for
Walsh-Healey Act, should be debated
and challenged sharply before being
accepted.
1t is true that the minimum wage
of 62@ cents an hour prescribed for
the other 36 states seems satisfactory
to the workers-though the hearings
haven't been held yet. 1t is true that
only small proportion of steel work
ers are in the depressed region. But
the theory that a depressed industry
should be recognized in government
purchases, that Uncle Sam will sub
sidize, by his orders, steel sweatshops
if they happen to be located below the
Mason and Dixon line, is simply not
to be tolerated without fight. The
first battle may not get uniform rate
at the first battle; but this looks like
a mighty good place to make a start.
The report on which the as cent
proposal is based says that the larg-
est employer of steel labor in the
South pays 36.5 cents an hour. Here
is right good place to show north
ern manufacturers gone south for low
wages that Uncle Sam in on their
trail.
The Federal Power Commission is
OuC Will SOlllc CuccIlllS liC"o LUZ Vic
housewives Of Washington, d. C.
They are getting the cheapest cleo
tricity of any city of size for hun
dreds of miles. They pay for domes-
tic use SO cents for 25 kilowatt hours
a month, while Baltimore pays $1.25;
S31O for 100 kilowatt hours while
Baltimore pays $3.50.
And Baltimore is lucky, compared
to some places. Tilghman, Maryland,
little town on the eastern shore,
pays So for that same 25 XVIII that
Washington pays SO cents for.
The real reason for Washington's
luck is not known to all who share it.
That reason is II years old, with a
kindly face, shock of white hair, and
double barbed tongue when he wants
to use it. 1t is Senator George W..
Norris of Nebraska; who has lam
basted extortionate utility rates so
that no one who can hear him on
Capitol Hill has the nerve to charge