Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-07-28
Parity Wage
Crops Up in
Price Talk
Apparently Set as Policy
Henderson Dissents
BY PAUL MtLLON


w bor personageS have hccn g
running in and out OF the White
House for the past two weeks.
With each one has emerged
new r1Imor. bearing an official
flavor. Of what President RooSc-
welt intends TO do about rising
wages.
First. il was virtually an
nounced that ne would send a
message 10 Congress asking that
both wages and prices be frozen.
But visitors Phil Murray and
William Green. representing the
one-sixth of the nations workers
who are in Go or AF'L, pro-
tested such course.
Later word relayed from the
inside, suggested the President
would order the freezing by ex-
ecntive decree without congress
Slonal action.
But at his last press confer
ence, while declining 10 say
what steps he would take TO dis
Sipate the rising spectre OF in
flatlon, he used a strange new
phrase parity wages
THlS dninouS phrase seems
L already 10 have been adopted
by the government as It's wage
policy Leon Henderson dissent
ing). Mr.. Roosevelt appears al
ready 10 have worked out and
applied his solution without an
nouncement.
/ understand the War Labor
Board has followed up its Little
/ Steel decision with the adoption
of Is per cent wage increase
yardstick measured back 10
Jan. !. 1871. That is. the board
has decided the cost of living
has gone up ID per cent since
that date, and therefore wages
should be II per cent higher.
TNHE War Labor Board has
Il suggested TO the United
States cancellations service, John
r. Steelman. director. that il
try TO settle all wage issues on
the same basis. If a union has
had ID per cent increase. il is
10 get no more. If il has had 8
per cent. presumably it is to
have another Z per cent
About half Of the 100000
organized workers in the coun-
try are supposed TO have re-
ceived their Is per cent increase
already. Nearly all the others
have received some increase.
This program is meat for Ma
Perkins. Murray and Green. the
WLB and other laborites in the
government, but has Mr.. Hen
derson tparing off his clothes
and tossing them out the
window.
NO GREATER evidence that
~ parity wages" will not stop
imitation, but will help 10 bring
II about, could possibly be found
than the fact Henderson is
against II, and trying TO stop it.
Parity wages is nothing but
nice excuslng phrase for wage
increases, which will cause price
increases and eventually more
wage increases. 1t has an old
political ring
The farmers concocted the
phrase parity farm prices" in
order 10 keep prices continually
going up.
Mr.. Henderson has warned
that food prices were going up,
meaning the cost of living is
now on the way TO higher
levels.
When this happens. labor will
come back again and ask for an
other increase. and the farmers
Will have TO have a similar in
crease. and the whole vicious
spiral of one helping the other
10 force both wages and prices
into high inflationary levels will
inevitably proceed
MEANWHILE the other a.
I'l 100000 workers in the
country whose economic well
fare seems 10 be ignored i'm this
government mana aged war
economy. will find all values Of
everything they own and earn
shrinking as the spiral Of am
billions OF the unions and farmers
forces prices into ever higher
ground
Mr.. Henderson has been try
ing to keep wages from forcing
prices up by warning business
men in private phone calls. cor
reSpondence and through the
press, that any wage Increases
undertaken by employers with
out an order from the War
Labor Board, will not be con-
Sidered by him as a Justification
for price increases
Mr. HenderSon'S attitude is
complicating Mr.. Steelman'S
Cancellation service efforts 10
avoid strikes Obviously en-
ployerS Hre not going 10 enter
Mr.. Steelman'S voluntary settle
ments calling for any wage in
CreaseS. until ordered by the
War Labor Board
So far in this war. tho conCili.
alton service has handled 5000
cases. Of which only 300 tough
ones have been sent up. TO the
War Labor Board. Now the
War Labor Board is likely IN he