Evening star., 1942-04-28

its wishes.
First reactions 10 the Presidents
program are not surprising. The
fact that labor was left out caused
immediate comment. but, on the
other hand. the President knows fun
well labor will not be omitted long
II the rest OF the program goes
through.
In other words. the persons OF high
income and those engaged in busi-
ness enterprises will have TO take
the initiative in acquiescing In the
drastic program lest a vicious circle
be created where one group declines
to go along because another group
is omitted.
May Step Up Unionization.
Freezing of wages is inevitable the
moment salaries and profits are cut
to the bone. Labor union leaders
will not venture 10 ask the War
Labor Board for wage increases in
the face of such a contingency. They
viii turn their efforts to other activi-
ties that will enhance their positions
within the union labor field, such as
compulsory unionization schemes.
Apparently the President is going to
support compulsory unionization, SO
there is very little that the citizen
can do about 1t except through Con-
gress, from which body perhaps not
much action on labor legislation can
be expected this election year.
Mr. Roosevelt's proposal that all
profits above q certain fixed per cent
be taken as excess profits will not
prove as unpopular as the critics Of
business have been trying to imply.
Businessmen are ready to make sac
rifices and win deem it q privilege
to do 80. Very little publicity has
been given to 1t, but many corpora
tionB have voluntarily given back
vast sums when they found their war
contracts could be executed on .
more economical basis. The United
Aircraft Co., which makes the Pratt
& whitney engines, has voluntarily
saved the Government more than
$4,000. 900 by returning that sum be-
low contract prices. The Sperry Gyro-
scope Co.. according to Secretary
Knox, Is turning back s100, ,000. 900.
This is due to re-examination Of
costs once the large orders placed
hastily last year have been brought
into production. Other companies
will be found doing the same thing.
But 1t Ii desirable that the Gov
eminent place = ceiling on war
profits. II for no other reason than
to keep all costs down so as to pre-
vent runaway imitation and dis
torted price level.
Incapable Umpire"
Wages constitute a dificult item
TO handle, and the Presidents re-
lance on the War Labor Board to
do the job is regrettable. for that
body has shown itself incapable Of
acting as an umpire. In the latest
dispute, for instance, with the Fed
eral Shipbuilding g. Drydock Co.
the public members brazenly accuse
the employer of ''long defiance OF
the Government" because 1t stood
out on a principle against COM
pulsory unionization.
This in itself would not have beer
20 regrettable comment If the
public members had not deliberately
omitted the most disgraceful chap
ter in the record, namely the solemn
agreement signed by the c. I. o
shipbuilders' union a year ago moi
to strike for two-year period anc
the violation OF that agreement by
q strike almost Immediately there.
after. The Secretary of the Navy
the chairman of the United State.
Maritime Commission and the SwC
chairmen of the o. p. M. signec
that stabilization agreement, bu
the C. I. o. union made a scrap o
paper of it. Yet the War Labo
Board rewards such a union with
compulsory unionization agree
ment and calls itself an umpire,
Wage increases, moreover, hav
been granted constantly by tn
War Labor Board. and it is rar
that q union demand for highe
wages has been turned down. Will
such a record, 1t is hardly probabl
that wage stabilisation by means o
the War Labor Board can be ex
pected.
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