The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-11-02
BY ROGER W. BABsoN

Babson Park. Mass, Nov. .
have lust returned from a confer
ence on wages. Labor was repre-
sented by a very smart lawyer.
and management was represented
by a kindly employer.
Arguments for Higher Wages
"a Labor's lawyer stated that
his people had worked ~ hours a
week before the war; that during
the war they had worked "a hous
week and that for these addition
al II hours received time-and-a-half
pay. The employer acknowledged
this, but stated that the boys OF
the family were then in the Army
and the family needed more in
come. Now these boys have re
turned and the family income, even
! without this overtime, will be is
high as il was before.
(2l Labor's lawyer then com
planned about the deductions
which are made from the pay en-.
yelopo namely. for Social Security,
the purchase Of bonds and the pay
ment OF taxes. The employer
answer ed by saying that the deduc-
ton for Social Security was match
ed by a similar amount from him
and that the total amount double
what was deducted from the EN-.
ploye) is set aside for a pension.
Therefore. 1t is really not de-
duction. The same applies to bond
purchases. These bonds are as
good as money and can be Cashed
in at any time. As to taxes, both
the lawyer for labor and the en-
ployer agreed that these would be
eliminated by the new tax bill go
ing into effect in January. 1916.
Co Lahor's lawyer talked about
the increased costof-liying. This
was admitted by the employer.
but he presented government sta
tistics showing that living costs as
whole have not gone up more
than the base wage has risen
without giving any account for
overtime. II is true that wage
workers are buying certain luXuries
today which they did not buy be-
fore. which Injuries are not tabu-
lated in the official cost-of-liying
figures
Argument for Higher Prices
After labors lawyer got through
presenting his case the employer
stated We would not object 90
strongly to increased wages II We
could correspondinCly increase the
price Of our goods. To do one
without the other. however, is an
absolute impossibility. We would
be obliged to shut down. He
brought out the following points:
a. Not only have the base
wages mentioned above gone up
irrespective Of overtime) but the
cost Of all materials have. likewise.
gone up in an amount equal to the
Little steel Formula
20 Stockholders are getting no
more i'm dividends: yet they must
be 81, on d corresponding increase
in order Tor them to provide addi-
tional capital which is very much
needed for reConversion work.
60 In answer to labor's com
plant about the salaries OF officers.
the employer stated that their IN
crease has been less than the in
crease in labor's base wage: fur
thermore. that il all officers work
ed for nothing. It would provide an
increase Of only from 5,l0cc in the
wages Of all othsr~employ es
Foreign Competition
J did not get into the above dis
cussion but when asked for my
comments, ! called attention 10 the
following three facts:
Gt This country have huge
foreign competition in the years
ahead. from which il was absolute.
ly free during the war. Politicians
can talk about putting up higher
tariff walls. but this foreign labor
must be given work IL we are 10
have world peace.
90 Foreign competition will
first hit special industries. such az
the textile industry; ultimately it
will affect all industries.
ca For awhile this can be com
pensated for by unemployment in