Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-01-15
TIP ISSUE RAISES
SHARP CONFLICT IN
HEARING ON WAGES.
Conferees Urged to Disre-
gard Gratuities in Setting
Waitress Pay.
SERVICE CHARGE SEEN
IF PRACTICE ABOLISHED
Employers Claim Double Pay
ment" Creates Home Meal
Competition.

The question of customers tips in
relation to fixing a minimum wage for
Mattresses in hotels and restaurants
aroused sharply conflicting opinions at
yesterdays hearing before the Con-
ference Committee of the Minimum
Wage Board with a resultant agree
ment on only one point. namely, that
"the public must always pay"
Dr. Elizabeth May, an assistant pro-
lessor of economics at Baltimore's
Goucher College, took up the cudgel
on behalf of the consumers as repre-
scented by the Washington League Of
Women Shoppers. She argued stoutly
and at length that consideration Of
tips should be excluded in establishing
and administering minimum wage
Employe representatives on the Con-
ference Committee challenged the right
Of both the employer and the public
to interfere with tips" The employer
group. on the other hand, argued
generally that if tips are abolished, up
will 60 the prices of food. They warned
that 30 per cent service charges"
would be the rule and that many res
taurants would post no tipping" signs
through necessity to keep from charg-
ing the public twice for service"
Interference Questioned.
When Claude Woodward and other
employer representatives hammered
away at this argument, Miss Vivian
6xrav If tho
employees, demanded:
IT the public wants to pay twice,
why should you interfere?"
Mr.. Woodward made quick reply:
1.-The housewife is our competitor. The
salaried workers-theylls eat their
meals at home"
The employers commended that rs or
70 per cent of the mattresses are re-
ceiving more than the minimum"
wage In comparison with the SIT fixed
for women workers in the retail in
dustry. From the employees end of
the conference table came the chal-
lenge that they were seeking a $3.50
weekly minimum for mattresses.
DR.. May, who was introduced on
behalf of the League of Women Shop
pers by Mrs. Elizabeth Coleman. de-
clared that tips never serve as
satisfactory substitute for a living
wage"
We, as consumers" she said, ARE
entirely opposed to the establishment
either OF a minimum wage which is
lower than a living wage on the as
sumption that it will be supplemented
by tips. or the establishment of a living
wage. for which the employer is only
partly responsible, inasmuch as he is
required to pay only the difference be-
tween the tips his employees receive
and the minimum wage
Cites Laws of 3 States.
The feminine economist declared
that the minimum wage laws of three
States specifically include provisions
against the inclusion of tips in wages.
The States are California, Oregon and
Ohio. mo State explicitly permits
the consideration of tips as factor"
she said.
In the District of Columbia, the
order of May 4, 1920, released by the
old Minimum Wage Board provided.
she said. that tips and eratuities shall
not be construed as part of the legal
minimum wage"
Urging that the board reindorse this
stand, DR.. May added: AS consum-
ers, though we recognize full well that
the ultimate burden of adequate wages
rests on the public, we feel that the
direct responsibility for paying an ade-
quate wage must rest upon the en-
ployer"
she was unprepared to answer if
she THOUGHT mattresses we're undergrad
with respect to the wages fixed for
women in the retail trade.
The employer group contended fur
cher that tips were recognized as wages
under the Social Security Act and
must be reported by the mattresses as
part OF their compensation.
Board House Issue Unsettled.
The Conference Committee with
held vote to determine the exemption
OF employees in boarding and roomine
houses from the minimum wage law
IN the case Of houses with less than
10 paying guests"
A new element of boarding house
competition" was raised by Ralph S.
Scott of 1926 Twenty-frst street, who
appeared as an unexpected witness in
behalf of 81 houses, each of which
rents rooms to more than 10 persons.
He urged that the Conference Com
mittee retain the former provision,
which exempts houses with less than
-FOUR dodgers. To raise the exemption
to 10 persons, he warned, would set I'D
. competitive group.
A house renting five rooms at the
average rental of $40 a month would
derive an income of $4,000 year,
allowing for occasional vacancies. Mr.
Scott said. The proprietors Of houses
renting more than four rooms can
AFFORD to pay little more in wages,
he declared and added: If any bust
ness has to be subsidized by 81 or so
from the poor working girl, that BUSH
ness ought not to exist"
a