The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-09-24
. NATIONAL
 SPOTLIGHT
Pay Standard Apple Cart Upset By The WLB

By The WLB
 (Peter Edson is on vacation. during which time Robert Ruark ls writing his column.
 BY ROBERT RUARK (Waterbry Democrat Washington
 COrrcspondent)
 It couldn't happen. but 1t has. AL most nobody supposed that the War Labor Board could add to the con- fusion. that has confounded its wage policy" But the WLB, ur1- like some other agencies, recognizes nothing that can't be done. Now turmoil reigns once more.
 With all the criticism that greeted the Little Steel" formula, there was 8 feeling that 1t at least offered something relatively specific. The idea seemed to be that, in general, the Board would grant raises only to the extent necessary to preserve :, the January 1941 buying ability of workers.
 Now the whole troublesome mat ter has been cut wide open by a panel decision affecting metal min- CTS.
 This was not one of those excep- tions that test the rule. That is, 1t was not a special grant to an under privileged group. The miners a1- ready were getting from 70 to 81 cents an hour. The existing wage scale was described by the employer member of the panel, dissenting from the decision, as being 40 per cent above the January 1941 level though cost of living has risen only Is per cent by the WLB's own com putation.
 The panels recommendation was argued on the basis that airplane makers, shipbuilders and some other western workmen are getting from 30 cents to $1.10 an hour. Miners have been shifting to the higher paid jobs, and metal production particularly copper-has been drop- ping of.
 Such pirating of labor by one essential industry from another, in- tentional Gas in this instance) or accidental, is what Manpower Ad- ministrator Paul V. McNutt is try ing to stop by his directive that men leaving war industries must obtain separation certificates in order to get work elsewhere. HERSHEY STEPS IN
 MT. McNutt's order has been i'm plemented by instructions from Draft Director Hershey to his sub- ordinates in 12 western states to re- classify any metal worker who leaves his job without permission.
 Without waiting to see whether this approach might work, the WLB panel has gone of on tan- gent of its own, which apparently opens wide the Little Steel" for ] mula.
 At first glance, observers can- not see any stopping point in the new venture short of that of which the minority member, Al- mon E. Roth of the San Francisco Employers Council, warned in his dissent:
 Tt is impossible to differen- tiate this case from hundreds of other masses involving manpower ] shortages. The highest wages be- come the level to which other wages must be raised" Literally thousands of unneceS- sary press releases flow over a Washington correspondents desk during a years time, but occa- sionally you see something that makes you a little sick at the waste of time, paper, postage and typewriter ribbon.
 Army's Bureau of Public Rela- tions, radio branch. gets out a brochure called Behind the Head lines in Our Army" Here are ex- cerpts:
 Private Paul Gordon of Gardner Mass, was granted five-day fur tough to get married. Four days after his departure from Ft. Devens members of his company were sur prised to see Private Gordon in line at reveille. How come you've re- turned a day early?" one of them inquired.
 Realizing that he had indeed returned to camp day too soon Private Gordon quietly fell out oi line and grabbed a cab to the railroad station"
 MORE OF THE SAME
 And here's another:
 women will probably swamp the WAAC recruiting office when they hear of the effect of the Army or Private Mike O'Brien. His bunk mates at Ft. Moultrie were surprised one morning when he bounced from bed announcing: Congratulate me men. this is my 22nd birthday. Hold on minute said one of the soldiers. When you first came tc this outfit you were almost 25."
 T know" said Private O'Brien "but Army has done things fol me. Now I feel like I'm 22!"
 This inane stuff runs on fol pages, and fresh patches come 1T every week or SO. Maybe Army reorganized its press department after the noted "airplane marker hoax" but evidently the reorgani. zation didn't reach far enough This particular kind of stuff cer. tainly has no legitimate place 1T the war effort.
 II STRENGTH