The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-06-18
Facing The Fac+s
With PHILIP PEARL

President Roosevelt has condemned
loose talk" which he considers de-
structive to the nations war effort He
warned that much of this talk ema-
mates from Washington.
We agree with the President fully.
In fact, we think he can and should do
something about it, For much Of the
ooSest talk that has come ont of the
nations capital in recent weeks has
been spouted by some Of his own aides.
The outstanding, high ranking Of
tenders have been Chairman William
II. Davis of the National War Labor
Board Chairman Paul V. McNutt of
the War ManpOwer Commission and
Leon Henderson, War Price Administ-
traitor.
These gentlemen have freely engaged
in the process of thinking out loud to
the detriment of the entire nations :
morale.
Now we are quite certain that these
officials mean we'll and are trying to do
IL good job But they seem to be suffer
ing from some inner cOmpulSion to talk
through their hats every time they get
Il bright idea, without first trying to
find out what the score is.
The worst part of such loose talk is
that ii shakes the confidence of the
people In their government. That is the
most dangerous thing that can happen
tight now.
The Zero Boys
For instance, Mr.. Davis seemed to
take the Presidents message to Con
greSs ON the stabilizatiOn of the cost
of living as Il mandate to issue hap
hazard verbal DEGREES on wage-freeZ-
Ing. Day after day, we saw Mr.. Davis
quoted i'm the press as saying that
workers should not get any wage in
creases, that 500 Il week would be Il
wartime wage limit and that employ
ers and their employees could not get
together on pay revisions without first
getting his consent. Now we doubt that
Mr. Davis has been quoted and inter
prctcd with perfect accuracy, but even
making allowances for newspaper dis
tOrlionS, his statements add up to zero
In fact the National War Labor
Board itself was forced to reprimand
Mr.. Davis and instruct him, when the
urge came upon him in the future, to
talk for himself and not for the Board
Mr.. McNutt, crowned with authority
over the manpowcr mobilization pro
| al l,t 4.
mean Il lease on loose language. Thus
we saw II statement by IL spokesman
| one day to the effect that all wal
| workers would be "frOZcn" In their
present jobs for the duration. And tn,
next day we saw that statement re
tracted and modified. And the mex,
day came II bold pronouncement from
Mr.. McNutt that the War Manpowel
Commission would issue Il Work on
| Fight" order, but that there would b,
! All these confusing and disturbing
statements were made without consult
ing organized labor, as Mr.. McNutt ha,
agreed to do before formulating any
definite policies. And after the verbn
/ blitZkreg was all over no one knew
any more than before ii happened JUS
what the Governments policy meant.
The Prize Confuser
But Mr.. Henderson is in II class by
himself aS public confuser. His jol
! is to fix prices and to keep them frozen
! Hut each week sometimes from
day to day-the cost of food, clothins
and other necessities of life is mount
! ing. Mr.. Henderson may show us sta
don't pay of butcher and grocer bills
with statistics. 1t takes hnrd-enrne,
cash. And that's Il subject which Seem'
to interest Mr.. Henderson more thar
keeping prices down. He is going M
and down the country warming tina
wage increases will bring about inila
| ton. II seems to us that what Mr.
| Henderson needs to worry about NOR,
than anything else right now is self
imitation. That goes for Mr.. Davis an,
Mr.. McNult, too. 1t is Self-innatioi
which makes them talk SO much and 81
! rlditulouSlN.
one more item on the agenda of al
ministrHtivc ineptitudc. This concern
the Presidents recommendation fo
time and d-a-half overtime for Govern
ment employees, In lieu of wage In
CreuSeS. What do you think the Govern
ment big-wigs are doing about 1t? The,
are trying to "gyp" the Governmen
employees by the sort of cheap tricl
that they would be the first to condemn
If private employer attempted il
Government employees are on IN annua
pay basis In order to figure Overtim
rates, ii Is first necessary to dctermin
the regular hourly rate of pay. TO d
this, some Government departme,
heads are dividing the years pay b.
800 days, and then by eight hours
: That is equivalent to saying that if
, man makes $40 week for fve-da
week, his daily pay is not $S but S5.7'
which would be true If he worke
seven days week.
All of which reminds us that th