Show 0 national topics interpreted by william bruckart Bruck aft Wasl washington olington reminiscent of 0 the stirring days ot of 1917 leaders in the nation are calling for or rallying patriotic a support u p p 0 r t for new war speakers MS are e abroad in the land with a call for united effort posters flap from the walls of public places all in a new war but this war being conducted by our government and its people Is a war to release the country from the bondage of an economic enemy a final gigantic drive to restore a people to the plane where happiness can replace destitution where steady employment can replace idle time and where profits will appear instead of 0 bankruptcy the government through president roosevelt Is calling upon all and sundry to stand together again just as firmly as they did just about this time of 0 the summer of 0 1917 1017 instead of the draft of men however the government Is asking only that employers of labor those who manufacture things to sell those who engage in business of any kind conform to certain rules those who buy the things that are produced by labor are asked to help in the cause by refusing to deal with the individuals who do not operate cooperate co and agree to the rules from which the president expects so much good to come and so we have a national code a national agreement a set of 0 rules of conduct while the farm relief als legislation Is getting under way and it Is well under way that farm prices may b be e increased the government has attacked the other phase of the problem namely relief for the millions whose lot it Is to live and work in ID the cities for them he Is promising shorter hours of work a retention it if not an actual increase in pay of 0 the manufacturers and the wholesalers and the retailers the government Is asking that prices be not raised be yond the necessities resulting from increased cost of raw materials and wages in other words the government has asked that there be no profiteering just as it demanded during the world war that some consideration be given the consumer no Is 0 o one can predict preil lct with what success this new drive will be attended it Is new in character it Is described by gen nugh hugh S johnson the national recovery administrator as an appeal to the conscience and opinion of tile the people and to their good instincts I 1 quote the general further after four years of hopeless and seemingly helpless suffering and inaction it would be not to open to the country the chance it now has under this law to unite once more and overcome and maybe to defeat the depression this Is a test of patriotism it Is the time to demonstrate the faith of our fathers and our belief in ourselves we are a people disciplined by democracy to a self control sufficient clent to unite our purchasing power our labor power our mana management gemen t power to carry out this great national covenant with vigor with determination but with the calm composure and fair play which always mark the american way and true to the thought the philosophy of that last sentence the government Is seeking to obtain the co opera tion of all of the people who must make concessions by having them make agreements with the president voluntarily the president said when he signed the historical document that there would be no coercion it Is the american way in brief the government Is proposing that actual agreements will be signed by the thou the sands who are being to mak inake e con COD national codrea cessions sessions ces the mail carriers have d delivered ell vered blanks to all of them each cach blank carri carries eia in statement of fourteen points to which the employer of labor the manufacturer of 0 commodities tor for trade tile the retailer or other dealer Is being asked to subscribe they constitute the national code it Is to be effective from august 1 to december 31 by that time it Is hoped that individual industries of all kinds will have had an opportunity to work out codes acceptable to general johnson that will serve as rules of principles and practice for that particular industry whether it be for the makers of glue molders of pottery or the manufacturer in the heavy industry such buell as steel the national code Is a stopgap stop gap a bridge for the recovery machinery to use while hile a permanent passage way to prosperity Is being erected on a firm foun foundation industry must pledge itself not to circumvent the agreement in any way labor must pledge itself to avoid ar old disturbances tur bances resulting from its use of the strike as a weapon state boards are being set up they have been named in most states to help out the national administration child labor Is barred A week of thirty five hours of 0 work Is prescribed and if the establishment lish ment must most stay open longer more people can have jobs all at the old rate of pay while the recovery administrators explanation of the code said there would be no coercion it does seem pressure will be used if the basic agreements do not come in signed at a rapid rate it may not dot be coercion but certainly there Is a tremendous economic force to be used for the consumers are asked to deal only with those who have signed agreements to conform during all of this drive to get things going again the code calls it the presidents drive for re employment there are apt to be many unfair and unjust acts by the overzealous there are certain to be who are unwilling to make concessions forsbe for the common good but the most important class of all of those who ho may not comply will be those who are unable to comply because to do so they would be bankrupt 0 4 I 1 have heard beard it suggested in ID conversations here that the sudden move to blanket the nation answering with a voluntary the skeptics skeptic agreement bent on bust bubl ness conduct night might cause many persons in the country to become skeptical that things were not going so well it was feared that those without complete inform information tion as to the plans and purposes of the government might look upon the far reaching action as meaning that a new crisis was impending the suggestions were not altogether without support lag ing reason in the deluge of visitors who have come here to draft new codes in conference with general johnson many have come with doubt in their mind as to the value or the justice of the whole scheme they ft bere iere ere honest in their judgment and simply viewed the program as unworkable and as forcing them the mInto into unnecessary hardships it sceal seems therefore that an analysis of some of 0 the reasons for the national code should be made after it has been stated with some emphasis that there Is no new crisis nothing more serious than before to be seen on the horizon of the immediate future it will be remembered that the announced program of 0 the president ft ahen hen he started the recovery plan was to boost commodity prices ile he wanted to see the farmers get more for their products brodu C t S as a means of saving agriculture from the inevitable bow aws and he wanted the other sources of industrial du life to profit As long as prices were so low there could be no restoration of normal dormal business activity in the presidents view carrying out this line of reasoning there came the farm aid laws the inflation authority the farm and city home re financing bills and other powers the president withdrew government support of the dollar in foreign exchange by saying there could be no DO gold exported obviously prices went up they moved in a hurry speculation crept into the picture in a big way the net result of this was that the cost of living moved rapidly higher but wages and salaries lagged behind the recovery administration thought the problem could be met by the industrial codes but the codes were slow in getting started and numerous controversies trover sies have arisen between units of particular industries and between whole industries and the recovery administration delays were serving only to widen the margin between the two basic factors of wages and prices and so general johnson and the president put their heads together on the code which we have been discussing 0 the recent nose dive in grain prices occasioned quite a bit of talk in washington allom break in especially around the of agriculture grain I 1 prices rices department secretary wallace however was the calmest man of the lot ile he did not let the fact disturb him that wheat dropped off 25 cents a bushel in one adly diy for the reason he be said that mr john Q public was gambling in the market sooner or later the secretary said aid john Q had to take a licking mr wallace said raid however that hint pub lie participation in the grain market was not the sole reason for the sudden decline lie ile thought the rise in price had been too rapid and that a reaction had set in another man in the department of agriculture likened the price rise to the growth of bean stalks in over rich soli BOIL it went all to top put but the secretary said the members embers in of the board of trade in chicago saw the break coming and they sought to protect themselves by calling for more collateral or cash from those who were trading on margins that naturally had bad the effect of frightening many speculators according to mr wallace but b 1 l t lie he did not blame the board 0 of f T trade rade members it was something of ft a combination of circumstances then that broke the grain markets nevertheless the department ot of agriculture ri Is watching the grain trading through numer nu pus pairs of eyes one of the things it already has don done e Is to invoke the provisions of the grain futures law which requires the board of trade at chicago to make dally reports of individual trading where the amounts are bushels or more the purpose of that Is to keep the department part purt ment informed as to who the big speculators are arc since it Is conceived that a speculator can influence the market seriously with lots of a about b out bushels 0 13 1933 weeton newspaper union |