Evening star., 1942-10-12

oT1ng out q ~
system Of ma ~
tional socialism.
supporters Of David Lawrence.
tne administration, including thos,
VINO nave been bit skeptical bu
who have insisted that the Presi.
dent isn't really radical at heart
have been indignant at any suct
suggestion. They have declared thai
the purpose of the President is tt
win the war and that it was unfair
II not almost reasonable, to init.
mate that he would ever take ad.
vantage Of the war powers con-
ferred upon him to accomplish re-
forms which were not within the
intent Of Congress.
The opportunity to settle this de-
bate has arrived. Congress has be-
slowed on the Chief Executive in
broad terms the power to stabilize
prices, wages and salaries affecting
the cost Of living lin order to aid
IN the effective prosecution of the
war"
Will increases in the salaries or
wages affect the cost of living?
viii the increases in wages or sala-
ries or their decrease laid in the
effective prosecution of the warp"
This Is the only criterion of judg-
Ment and the President must be
able to justify-not to any Supreme
Court for it may never get the case
but to his own conscience and to
all fair-minded persons whether the
orders he or Director Byrnes may
issue actually do laid in the prose-
cution of the war"
First Order Discussed.
The law says nothing about a
$4,000 limit but the first executive
order arbitrarily selects the $4,000
year salary and in effect states
that it doesn't laid in the prose-
cution of the war; for anybody to
retain that amount from his salary
after payment of taxes. The same
executive order says that fixed OBJ
legations may be deducted and, that
there must not be ."any undue
hardship" but, as Great Britain has
already found in the matter Of
salary restriction, the incentives to
hard work are impaired when man.
ayers are forced into financial en-
barrassme1t by restrictive measures.
The success of Americas indus
trial production program depends on
the enthusiasm. Of management as
well as that of labor. But the guam
tity of management available is
limited. Today as normal facilities
have been expanded in some in
stances tenfold and even hundred
fold, the duties of the managers
have increased tremendously. They
work no mere 40-hour week but
closer to 70-hour week. They bear
a strain unprecedented in their lives.
And now the Government comes
along and decides that their per-
sonal finances must be revised
downward.
No such sacrifice is demanded Of
any class except the managerial
class. Labor, Of, course is to be per-
mitted a Is per cent increase over
the cost of living level on January
l. 194l, and there is provision to cor
rect "substandard" wage levels and
"inequalities" which, OF course,
means that there will be more wage
increases and certainly no wage de-
creases.
The War Labor Board has not
heretofore reduced any groups
wages and since its precedents will
be followed the chances are that the
present wage levels will be frozen.
Political Motive Charged.
The new executive order doesn't
merely provide against increasing
salaries. 1t provides for the actual
reduction Of salaries above s25 900 a
year after payment of taxes. The
number OF individuals affected is
probably less than 10000 and by no
stretch OF a fair-minded mans i'm
agination could it be said that the
reasonable increases In salary that
might be made for the managers of
Americas industrial enterprises
could even infinitesimally affect the
cost OF living or interfere with the
effective prosecution OF the war. On
the contrary 1t could be more easily
proved that reasonable increases
would aid in the prosecution of the
war.
Then why are salaries to be re-
duced among Americas most capa-
BILE managers? The real reason is
that the President told labor leaders
he was going to do this to get them
to accept wage freezing. 1t was
political and not an economic cir
cumstance. Thus the salaries Of
the executives wouldn't affect the
cost Of living but runaway wage
scales among the workers would
bring about such a result. So Amer
tcan management, even though the
victims Of the deal. may as well
swallow the restriction with the
comforting fact that they are being
called on not for equality of sacri-
fice" but sacrifice to help the ad-
ministration out Of the hole into
which it has been plunged by long
series of steps granting special priv
ileges and wage increases to labor.
Having promoted imitation, the ad-
is struggling to curb 1t
by Furnishing the minority who had
nothing to do with 1t.
On the metal collection drive you
have m s card. Go the limit.