Milford chronicle., 1957-03-08


that would curl your hair.
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A LOCAL BUSINESS
Ever since The federal minimum wage
law came into being, certain service enter
prises, retailing among. them, have been eX-
empted. Periodically efforts have been made
to extend the law to retailing and that is the
case again this year.
The reasons for the retail exemption are
sound, and nothing has happened to change
the situation For one thing retailing is a
local business, governed by local needs and
Notwithstanding local living costs. 1t
is obvious that blanket law, covering the
great cities and the little towns indiscrimi-
nately, cannot be just to all
For another thing retailing is business
which can provide jobs and training for mar
ginal workers whose value is very small. If
high federal minimum wage is imposed by
law, retailers will have no choice-they will
pare that kind of employment to the bone.
Then beginners will look in vain for the jobs
which would help prepare them for future
positions requiring SkillS and offering good
pay.
1t has been proposed that the minimum
wage law be extended to cover only the larger
retailers, such as the chains But this begs
the issue. For, to repeat, retailing is a 100
per cent local business-and an outlet of the
biggest chain must still compete on the local
level, and adapt its operations to local con-
ditions in every respect
Congress, recognizing such facts as these,
has always refused to eliminate the retail
exemption. In that, it has set an excellent
precedent for the present and future.
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UNKNOWN SOLDIERS TO BE BURIED
The Defense Department has announced
two additional unknown soldiers, one who
gave his life in World War II and one who
died in the Korean War, will be buried in
Arlington.
AS the reader probably knows, the tomb
of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington con-
tains the body of an unknown soldier who
gave his life in World War l. The tomb is
guarded day and night and is the shrine of
the people of the United States to the memory
and bravery of those who lost their lives in
World War |.
Ii is appropriate that a soldier from
World War Ii and one from the Korean War
be added to the Arlington memorial. The
adding of the two bodies will take place in
1858, on Memorial Day, which is May 30th.
1t is interesting to note how the soldier
from World War Ii will be selected. This is
the greatest war in which America has par
ticipated and claimed the lives of many Am
ericans. AS a result, one body is being chosen
from among the graves of men killed in the
Pacific during that war and one from among
the graves of those killed in Europe. At a
later date, one of these two will be selected,
and this unknown soldier will represent all
those who died during World War ii.
One grave is being selected at the Ma
tional Cemetery at Honolulu, Hawaii, as the
one which will be transplanted in tomb at
the unknown soldiers memorial
The addition of two unknown soldiers in
Arlington is appropriate, and keeps faith
with the memory of those who gave their
lives in our last two wars.
LOW HOME INTEREST RATE
One of the prerequisites to proper dem
ocratlc society is decent rate of interest fol-
the veteran, or responsible American citi-
zen, who wishes to purchase home for his
family. The natural thing for any young
American who gets married and starts 9
family, or who has been married for some
time, saving up for the purpose, is to buy
a home for his family.
The purchase of home by most families
means that some of the money will have tC
be borrowed. We do not believe in social,
iZing the construction industry or the financ-
ing industry but we do believe the Govern
ment has responsibility to see to it that
citizens are not fieeced in purchasing what
is usually the largest single item of their
lives.
This can often mean the difference be-
tween happiness and dissatisfaction fol
many and the difference in dollars can ado
up to several thousand in lifetime. There
fore, we think Congress should see to it thai
the Government makes available enough re
insurance authority to properly take care Of
all veterans who wish to purchase homes
and others who have paid their taxes anC
been lawabiding citizens and are, therefore
responsible citizens.