Eagle Hatchery

At the end of last week General Hugh S. Johnson went to bed for a good rest. His program for the week had included: 1) Three days of listening to the complaints of the 5,000 businessmen who constitute industry's code authorities. 2) A wind-up in which he put it up to them to find means of decreasing the working week 10% (from 40 to 36 hours) and increasing hourly rates of pay 10%. With this plea he coupled a warning: "Under specific orders from the President, we are reorganizing to enforce the penal sections of the act. Regardless of publicity, I have been too gentle. We deliberately delayed action because of misunderstandings but--if I may lapse into the ver- nacular--'You ain't seen nothin' yet.' " 3) The formation of two committees, one representing the industries that purvey consumers' goods, the other representing the industries that make capital goods. The job of these committees was to propose definite means of cutting hours, raising pay, employing more men. 4) Preparations for launching a "Code Eagle" drive--a drive for the new eagle which is to replace the old Blue Eagle on the window panes of businesses now operating under individual codes that succeeded the original blanket code. For this purpose he called back from Kansas City Charles Francis Horner, who beat the drum for the Blue Eagle drive and previously managed Liberty Loan publicity. Mr. Horner was badly 'needed at NRA headquarters since Charles Michelson, who handled NRA publicity last winter, went back to his old job with the Democratic National Committee. No help was it to General Johnson's campaign that while he was busy screwing up the courage of businessmen to increase their payrolls, Postmaster General Farley ordered postal employes given furloughs of one day per month without pay, and reduced mail deliveries to cut down the Post Office's wage bill. But General Johnson made it plain that he expected only industries which could afford it to increase payrolls. First and only one to declare its ability to do so, up to this week, was the refractory industry (which mines clay, makes crucibles, firebrick, etc.) employing only 20,000 men. Expected result of the refractory industry's decision will be to subtract 2,000 men from the U. S. total of 8,000,000 unemployed. Particularly cool to payroll increases were the heavy industries. As they were prompt to point out, they have had the small end of Recovery much as they had the big end of Depression. When General Johnson, with something of a headache, went to bed for the week-end his purpose was not only physical recovery for himself but also preparations for arduous bargaining with his two new industrial committees. From them rather than from the "little fellows" who criticized at the earlier field day, will come the real plans for increasing industrial employment through NRA.

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