RECOVERY PLANS

Southland Times, Issue 22067, 14 July 1933, Page 7

RECOVERY PLANS

AMERICAN INDUSTRIES REDUCED HOURS; HIGHER WAGES NO CHILD LABOUR (United Press Assn—Telegraph Copyright.) Washington, July 12. With Mr Roosevelt’s signature attached, the so-called cotton textile code approving of a voluntry system for fair competition, agreed upon by the members of this industry under the provisions of the Industrial Recovery Act, the complicated machinery for the regularization of hours and conditions of labour in the chief manufacturing trades of America is believed to be finally in operation. The textile code comes into force on July 17 and abolishes child labour. It establishes a 40-hour week and fixes a minimum wage of 13 dollars in the north and 12 in the south weekly. Seventy-seven per cent of the cotton and textile industry comes under the regulations, and the remainder must accept or will be licensed and forced to accept it. It is computed that the code enacts an average mill wage increase of 30 per cent and a 25 per cent reduction in hours. It is hoped that only moderate increases in the prices to consumers will result, and that 100,000 more persons than at the peak of 1929 will be employed in that industry. The cotton textile code is expected to be a model for the remaining 7000 industries which are to come under control. Timber Trade.

The timber trade code, submitted yesterday, will probably be the second to receive Presidential approval. It provides for a reafforestation undertaking and a reduction of the maximum week from 48 to 40 hours and a minimum wage of 22) to 421 cents an hour.

The bituminous coal industry has agreed upon a five dollars a day wage, but its code is not yet ready for submission to the President.

The New York City needle trades, the most important of the country, have completed their codes, providing for wages of 35 to 100 cents an hour and a 40-hour week and they will probably shortly be submitted. There are under process of drafting nt the present time codes for such diverse industries and trades as steel, tobacco, petroleum, fur, retail grocers, optical goods, ceramicsjewellers, chemist shops, lamp makers, printers and paper makers. Eighty-five per sent of the forest industry has approved of the timber trade code, and whereas it is expected the pay-rolls at the beginning of August will be increased 10,000,000 dollars, it is not expected much reemployment will result, although the industry is employing far below the normal of 750,000 now. Monopolies Must Be Avoided.

It is interesting to note that the basic code issued on June 21 by Administrator Johnson stresses that the codes should aim to re-employ the numbers normally applied to each industry. Manufacturers should seek higher profits from increased sales rather than increased prices. Monopolies or the oppression of small enterprises and the classifications of labour that would then fix the maximum wages as well as the minimum wages must'be avoided. That the imponderables in the vast recovery scheme for industry are already giving Mr Roosevelt and his advisers much concern can be seen in the intimations to-day that, due to the lapse of time necessary before the working of even the first codes can be effective, it is proposed to press immediately for a blanket adoption by industry of a 35-hour week and a minimum wage of 14 dollars. It took a fortnight to frame the cotton textile code, and the great bulk of the industries have not yet even begun their consultations. Tire first hope to get the nation’s industry codified within 60 days has virtually been abandoned. Moreover in the three weeks since the Recovery Act became law business has boomed in anticipation of price increases to an extent which the Government considers dangerous, since it is unaccompanied by an increased purchasing power of the public. Trade Negotiations. Mr Roosevelt has opened negotiations with half a dozen countries, principally in South America, for the establishment of new trade relations. Mr Roosevelt, while with the progress toward the establishment of industrial codes in the United States, is considering a “blanket” order to provide for minimum wages and limited hours of work until the recovery programme goes into effect. Professors George F. Warren, of Cornell University, and James Harvey Rogers, of Yale, both of whom are regarded as outstanding advocates of managed money, have been named by Mr Roosevelt to survey the fiscal situation. Their appointment leads to the belief that a foundation is being laid for a managed currency. FURTHER CODES SUBMITTED. (United Press Assn. —Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 11.10 p.m.) Washington, July 12. Two more codes were submitted to the Government to-day, electrical manufacturers agreeing to a 36-hour week with 35 cents an hour as the minimum wage. The shipbuilding industry offered a 40-hour week with 35 to 40 cents an hour.