Friday, July 29. 1955
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE THREE
Congressmen Differ on Effect Of Basic Wage on NW Economy
By A. ROBERT SMITH
Kail Tribune Correspondent
V.'.-i-hiii-uon Two Northwest
::?i jrcssrrtn sharply differ on
whether the now minimum wage
law of SI per hour will have any
appreciable effect on the econ
omy of the Pacific Northwest.
Hep. Th'.r Toikf.-on fR-Wash )
contends the new law "placed in
jeopardy not only the jobs of
600,000 forest-product workers
on the Pacific Coast, but the
profitable operation of one of
ti e industries of paramount im
portance to the economy and
well-bciiic of our area.'' Tollef
son was referring to the lumber
industry.
Kep. Sam Coon fR-Ore.) claims
!the bill will not adversely affect
i the lumber industry or any other
i industry in the region, because
the prevailing va2e rate in the
Northwest is already well above
the minimum stipulated in the
new act. Coon is a member of the
House Labor and Education Com
mittee which handled the bill.
Exception Cited '
j Tollefson based his argument
I on a section of the biil which I
I exempts irom its provisions any
forest-product operation employ
ling 12 or fewer persons."
I "Most of the lumber camps
and mills in the South employ
12 or fewer persons: thus the
operators can pay any wages
they wish to tens of thousands !
of workers, giving the products
they make an extremely favor
able competitive advantage over
those manufactured in our area
where a decent wage prevails.'
Tollefson declared.
Ccon said he was convinced
from listening to testimony of
lumber operators from the South
and the Northwest that this
would not be the case. He said
most of the small operators in
the South were producing such
items as wooden food crates and
barrels which are not competi
tive with Northwest lumber
products..
'Our people have been ship
ping more and more lumber
products into the South every
year. Coon said, indicating that
the South cannot offer great
competition to the mills of the
Northwest. He said that while
wages are lower in the South,
Northwest operators find they
are getting a higher rate of pro
duction from their workers who
are paid higher wage scales.
Although Tollefson was crit
ical of this feature of the bill
and Coon said it would not dis
turb the economy of the North
west. Tollefson supported the in
crease in the minimum wage
from 75 cents to SI and Coon
opposed it.
"I think we will probably do
more harm to small business and
those wage earners we are sup
posed to be trying to help.' Coon
said, explaining that many em
ployers told the committee they
might still operate profitably at
90 cents but were doubtful if
they can do it at SI.
Favored 90 Cents
Coon favored the 90 cent level,
as advocated by President Eisen
hower; and he supported efforts
on the floor to amend the bill
to that effect. On the vote for
the bill itself, Coon at first voted
against it, then changed his vote
in support of it
"After doing all I could to
change it to 90 cents," Coon said,
"I thought I might as well go
along with it (and vote for the
SI amount in the final bill)."
About 11 congressmen from
the Pacific Northwest were
among the 362 who voted for the
bill on the final roll call, against
54 who opposed it.
In another congressional ac
tion affecting the lumber indus
try to a degree. Congress turned
down a bid by the domestic hard
board industry for a boost in the
tariff on imported hardboard
from Canada and the Scand-
anavian countries. i
The tariff increase was at
tached by the Senate as a rider
to a bill allowing servicemen to
import gifts duty free. The House
had passed the gift bill earlier
without the hardboard rider,
which was then knocked off in
conference.
Ex-Rep. Lowell Stockman (R
Ore.) lobbied here for weeks to
get the rider approved, after
failing last year to get favorable
action on a bill of the same na
ture. Stockman is now in
hardboard business at Pilot Rock.
Ore.
Arizona farmers near Phoenix
claim they can grow up to 740
watermelons to the acre, a crop
which is at least three times
the- the national average.
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