Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 October 1942 — Page 16

TUNITY FOR LABOR. to cal YR( NIZED aoe vod be wo 0 gomtr i lo ; to relieve the country, for the duration, of an intoler- | 27801 ¥ Handicap on production by war and civilian industries of oth

We refer tothe law which prohibits’ a work week longer |

in 40 hours unless time-and-a-half i is paid for overtime, fo union contracts which in some: cases impose even

ver limits.

. Robert Ramspotk of Georgia,’ as good a friend as :

in ‘congress; is exactly right when he says— ‘We cannot afford in this crisis to stand pat on a 40ur week, what with thousands of workers willing and | page to work longer hours, with the government lowering | [ age ‘requirements and with ‘congress considering lation to mobilize manpower.” ° This handicap should be removed for the duration, and nly for the duration, because the 40-hour-week lay was| jseded when it was adopted and doubtless will be needed fte the war. We fought to 'put that law on the books, ine mployment then being the great problem, and the deirs bility of spreading the available jobs by discouraging ertime being evident. 8 » » : 8 # » now, when the problem. is to find enough Hands for = | the jobs that must be done, the law is still discouragg overtime. It is preventing millions of men and women doing as much as they could ‘do to win the war on the sduction lines. Many war contractors, to be sure, have |. gthened their work weeks to 44 or 46 or 48 hours or ven more. They can pass He extra cost of overtime on to the, government. But, according to the labor department, the average ork week in all manufacturing industries is less than 43 ours. It is a fraction less than 40 hours in the industries YO fucing non-durable goods—these being generally the

§ that supply the civilian market. Price ceilings prevent |

from passing on added costs. They cannot afford to pay overtime. They are keeping their employees in what, war standards, is partial idleness. aie. 2 nn OR 40 hours a week marks no natural limit of human girance. It is an arbitrary figure. Mr. Ramspeck ‘that faét in his proposed amendment which woul d ipormit unions, by voluntary agreement with em2 ers, to waive overtime up to 56 hours, and which he | as would enable many employees, especially in essential il n industries, to work 48 hours a week during the war. The Ramspek amendment’s effectiveness obviously: uld depend entirely on the attitude of the unions. They d make it meaningless. Or, by taking this proposal : as Pasi for organized labor's own plan to help the country, could go far toward easing the shortage of manpower and toward winning - the gratifude of thelr fellow ericans. And organized labor is going Pe need that. There is nendous resentment in the country against unionism’ 8 fence on retaining ‘special advantages even though y impede the war effort. We want the 40-hour week ed against the time when it will again be needed, We ’t want to see it scrapped as it was in France where, the nation in deadly peril, workers were compelled to from 48 to as much as 72 hours a week and paid for 8 me at only 60 per cent of the regular scale.

10 PAYS HIS BILLS?

are much less than texts for democracy, is waging a Er rma § se in

e ‘Smith i is getting his financing, We can think of no better spot “for a bit of senate in- , bigs How, than the Michigan. race.

istrator—a man Ee in caliber Fin authority illiam M. Jeffers, the rubber director.

Sooner or later it will -have to be. done. Food supply

getting into the same kind of snarl that rubber did, and | § ibili bly for productions des

much the same reasons. Responsi

.waste of 20 million of the 200 million man days a

‘been done already or ‘doing by ancient, slow methods

| | By Stephen Ellis ALD L. K. SMITH, Detroit demagog white. olde i

Lexington during her. mortal battle in the Coral sea

{ boing an “inside” tale without pumped-up color. He

| haa sent the carrier Ryskaku to the bottom of the. { Favife,

| ing ato o Jap shri, down 'to 500 feet before letting | | his 10s 'gomand of ovr Sg mene

A Ledy io the Last :

should be consulted. | Going to the Other Extreme Si

THE RAILROAD UNIONS fly into terrible. rages

at anyone who mentions the featherbed rules which were noble in purpose, as Mr. Hoover said of the foul amendment, and still achieve: some genuinely ‘noble results, but go beyond: that and achieve some sheurdly bad results, too.

“These are rules intended to sop. the sweating of ratiroad men by the management, a situation which certainly cried out loud for correction. But, having

done that, ihey go further and waste men in idle- :

ness who, nevertheless, under the rules and laws, are deemed to be usefully employed. Railroading is dangerous work, as: everyone. recog- | nizes, and railroad men, as a group, enjoy he public respect, but the hazards of the line and the good character of the men do not alter the fad that the featherbed rules “waste manpower. It 8 no reflection on the men to point this out, although when it is pointed out, theip editorial spokesmen, who are vigorous ‘punchers, try to give them an im-. pression that somebody has been calling them a lot of bums. ;

And Then the Others, Too

THE RULES OF the electrical unions have been ‘terrible time-wasters. Their rules are such that certain fixtures made in a factory, even though the factory be a closed shop of the I. B. E. W.,, must be torn apart and rewired on the job by local electricians ‘hired to install them. There were some sensational troubles over that sort of thing at the New York World's Fair, but that was in times of peace and our people just said ain’t ‘that awful and thought about something nicer. Some of the painters’ unions limit the width of a brush to four inches, strictly as a time-wasting and job-stretching measure, although spray guns can whip over the jobs, and there are now available good masks to protect the painters from poison.

it's Not a Trivial Waste

THERE ARE MANY such regulations and the worst of it is that the supreme court has recognized | the stand-by principle on which they are based and insists that unions: have a right to waste manpower. that way. In the theater there have been cases in which the management had to hire men to do nothing at high wages for months and months and it was just such an issue which brought the picket line to a New York show the time Mrs. Roosevelt refused to go through and got her money back. Nobody can say that these practices cause &

year, because: the waste is just incalculable, and it would be a waste of brain power to try to make an estimate, but it certainly is a big waste, not a trivial one, and Arnold should be heard and his information should be soberly considered before there is resort to conscription for work. Conscription might be necessary eventually, but people won’t submit with a will as long as they know that a lot of men are just making motions at mock jobs, tearing down and doing over work that has:

tasks that could be sped up amazingly, and without undue pressure on the workers, by modern means,

Gallant Old Lady

: THE. LONE SAWeaprman on "board the carrier

has put down on paper the whole dramatic story | of that sea struggle . and the Lex's death. And. it's | worth anybody's: reading. The title of it is: “Queen of the Flat-Tops” and the author is Stanley Johnston, the Chicago Tribune's ent. _ Johnston's story ‘has. the ‘great’ shining virtue. of

wrote what he lived through and what he saw. Like Dixon's abrupt and terse fadio message to the Lexington: “Dixon to carrier. Scratch one flag-top!” And the Lexington knew right then that Dixon

plosion,

active. Dig out all your

clear back to Jan. 1, 1942.

them thar bills. ; EL The reason for encouraging your

¥ . HE in all these figures without sex appeal. is simple: It's the

new tax bill. 28 Million will Pay

ON 1941 INCOME, 25. million good eltisens had to

| file returns, though only about 18 million paid federal

income tax. On this year’s income, however, the new tax bill will require some 32 million people to file returns and taxes will be collected from perhaps 28 million of them. : Four million people who ‘have never had to worry

| about filling in an income tax form will have that

« | pleasure by March 15, 1943. And 10 million people

~The Hoosier Forum

1 wholly disagree with what you say, bud ‘will defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

“WHY NOT RATION CARDS FOR COFFEE, TOO” By Mrs. Dora, Marksbury, Indianapolis I'm willing to do my part in this war. Anything we have to do without, I'm there all the way as long as it helps our boy# that’s fighting to make us| free. Now I go to buy coffee, some take advantage of it and get it a while others get nothing. Of course, they get one pound at a time but itheir children, husband or_wife alll together makes up for. them. The grocer, of course, knows nothing, just sells, If there was a ration card for everyone, we could all be equal. - If we are to do without, let’s all be true Americans and stick together and do without, and I'm with you all the way,

®. » 8 “LEAVE SECOND FRONT UP TO MILITARY LEADERS” By Voice In The Crowd, Indianapolis

It does not seem that Mr. Isaacs is concerned that the voters should appraise the candidates to measure them up for the public job that they seek to fill. However, when a pressure group seeks to do it under the banner of an organized minority, and purposely to promote the ideals of that group, it is of deep concern to anyone who notes the trend to a government by blocs and not by the will ‘land the consent of the majority so governed. So far as asking a.candidate how he stands on the proposition of the second front, let it: soak in that it is high time that we leave high strategy to those whom “we have long supported and frained for ‘the| job. Men who have spent their lives fighting. in wars and studying wars and who have in position to: study the t war, are the only ones that are capable of deciding on how we will fight, where | man we will fight and when we will

"It is extremely dangerous ‘and not to our national goed for the

laymen to decide for the eandidate]

(Times readers are invited

fo express: their views in these columns, religious conexcluded. Make

your letters short, so all can

troveries

have a chance. Letters must

.be signed) *

whom' they might elect as to how this war will be fought and such practices may soon be considered in their true light as un-Ameri-can, It is true that this is “the people’ s war.” The people must sacrifice and

bleed for and pay Jor this war. The

people will get the benefit of what is saved from the wreckage after the war is won, but 60 million gen-

|erals will lose the “people’s war.”

If one of our public buildings burned it would be the people’s fire, the people would have to pay for its replacement, The people would have too much sense however to interfere, or have their candidate interfere, with those men who are paid and trained to fight fire. . The time. is high for all good Americans to trust and sup-~

port those men who must solve the

unprecedented problems of our

present war. It is the “people’s” job to work and fight and to sacrifice and to hate the enemy, but not to direct or interfere with those men who are likewise good Americans, and who by training are most qualified to direct the war.

® x = “NO MANPOWER SHORTAGE. IF POLITICIANS WOULD WORK”

By Charles William ‘Schaffer, 835 N. New Jersey st. I want to congratulate D. D. on his ‘short article, “There is ‘no real manpower shortage.” I think the Forum should be enlarged and more people express themselves as Americans, The ‘wail ‘and cry of manpower shortage is all’ political Dpalaver.

[Side Glances—By Galbraith

These dumb politicians = in. this

country are Hitler's best little} helpers. . . . : . There is no manpower shortage except what the politicians, “Hit-

ler’s helpers,” tell us. . . .

principal you could get a dozen of them in a peanut shell and still hear the peanuts rattle. . . « This gang of flannel mouth quibblers have done more fo retard production, to cause strikes, to cause public confusion, to peddle misinformation, to hold ‘up necessary legislation and thus hinder the American effort to get going, they have done more damage than all the axis saboteurs we have here. And now I see they criticize Willkie, they criticize the press, they criticize labor, they criticize

I hope’ the ‘American press gives them a “blitzkrieg.” They have it coming by everything that's righteous, pure and holy. You. can’t

suppress the truth, with® lies. . . ..

A these flannel mouth politicians

shortage would be over tonight... . 8 » » “GAS RATIONING WILL PUT MANY BACK ON FARMS” By Arthur H. Stiles, 943 N, Jeffersqn ave. I read an article by . dames. R. Meitzler of Attica. The farmers are always complaining about the farm situation . . . blaming the administration. I am an experienced farmer and like it as an occupation as well as anything I ever did. . Ao I just recently quit a farm job

$25 for 60 hours plus my meals. I do not know anything about the farm situation in this locality. But I do know around Vincennes the farmers go to town with their cream, eggs or whatever they have

and in lots of cases come home with a jug of béer or liquor. hired man is at home doing

4 The theivork wislle the boss 1s in town)

drinking beer (not true in all cases). They wonder why a man does not want to work on their farm for as low as $1.50 or $2 a day for

from. 13 to 16 hours so the farmer

can go to fown. Gas rationing. will put this type

of farmer back to the soil.

” 8 2

“AL WILLIAMS WON'T LIKE

SOVIET GENERAL'S REMARKS”

Je By W. E. ¥., Indisnapolis

I read that Maj. Gen. Zhuraviev

Eo {ot the Soviet. army reports that the 1 defense of Stalingrad proves coniclusively that air power alone can-| {not win a war—that “the basic force in war is the land army.” Your Maj. Al Williams wont liké ™

so x

Some of them are so small in|

everyone who speaks fearlessly andj: frankly as an American. Personally | §

would all go to work, the manpower | i

to : : go to work in a restaurant at and watch municipal expenditures. -

who have never paid income taxes before will begin forking over. : : In recruiting all this new taxspaying talent, "Uncle Sam will be putting the finger on a lot of citizens who have never Kept books. Small farmers, for instance,

‘| peddlers, and a lot of Joe and Jane wage-earners.

Any single person faking in more than $9.62 per week, any married person getting more than $23.08 per week. That’s dipping pretty well down toward the bottom of the barrel to find pay dirt, but the victory tax of 1943 will go even deeper.

Just Peek at This == =

THE IMPORTANCE of having Bll people earning = . more than these minimum wages keep books comes from two principal reasons. : yi The first is that your Uncle Samuel], instead “ being content with only a minimum of 4 cents or 6 cents out of every taxable dollar you earn, is now about to take a minimum of 19 cents of every dollar you earn above the personal exemption figures of $500 a year for the unmarried; $1200 a year for the married. Six cents of this 19 cents will be normal income

} tax. ‘The other 13 cents will be surtax. For incomes

over $5 million, the tax is 83 cents per $1. So it is important to you to take advantage of every deduction you can possibly list. With a minimum of 19 per cent federal income tax on every taxable dollar, for every $5 you ‘can deduct from your taxable income you are saving yourself a minimum of 95 cents, which is not an unimportant saving.

A Few Ways to Save

THE ITEMS TO keep track of are rather numerous. Among the more important are: - Keep track of all your doctor bills and your health and accident insurance. - Keep track of all the money deducted from your pay envelope after Jan. 1, 1943, for the victory tax, which will probably be 5 per cent of all your earnings over $624 a year. Keep track of all your contributions, to the church and to established charity and welfare organizations. Get receipts for your charities. Dimes given to pan‘handlers don’t count. But ‘the panhandlers, if they gross more than $500 a year, will have to file tax returns and they should therefore keep books, too.

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

@ Ford Re ? RECENTLY I HELPED a little with ‘a: money-raising campaign for the League of Women Voters. Hard as that sort of job is, it gives one an additional respect for the intelligence and generosity of businessmen. Their concern wii things political is lively these days and, what's more, they realize at last ‘that certain women’s organiza tions, which they may once have scorned, are useful groups, necessary fo: ‘public welfare, because they act as guardians of law and order -

‘and decency.

' “I'm glad to help,” said one of these men, “because I regard you as our political watchdogs. We men have all we can do to make a. living“ and pay our taxes. No matter how we may deplére it, we simply don’t have time to keep iab on: local or state officials. “We want good government, and God knows we pay out enough to get" it. - Just the same, without you we'd have to take our elected officials on trust. 1 think you ladies are doing a swell job. You sit in on city council meetings; you study bond issues That's a valuable contribution to democracy. I think the least I can do is to coniribute my bit to your small annual

‘campaign for expenses. You're our’ sentinels—keep

up the watchdog stuff!”

They Exert a Real Influence

WITH THOSE WORDS he voiced the: opinion of many businessmen. “They, are beginnning. to realize that women’s function in ‘the political world is im- Wi portant, and growing more so every. day. “system is so vast and complicated that it is “riipossible for

the individual to Keep track of ‘every issue and have

knowledge of ‘every department. : That's where organization such as the League, Pro-America and others function. "They obtain

facts for the busy people who quite literally do not

hve time to investigate political matters. So long as these groups comprise’ women of local respect and intelligence they can exert a tremendous =

influence. They have gained national prestige because -

their past work has left an honorable record. Without any claims to infallibility,.they promise to give earnest study to political details and trends, and then | pass on their knowledge to all Who ars concerned with good Sovemments

newsparer sre their owiw. They are