WAR CONTRACTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 March 1942, Page 3

WAR CONTRACTS

BIG SALARY INCREASES IN UNITED STATES ATTACKED BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE. SOME STAGGERING FIGURES. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, March 25. Mr Edmund Toland, chief counsel of the House of Representatives, Naval Affairs Committee, which is investigating Avar profits in connection with the Smith and Vinson Bill to limit war profits to 6 per cent and suspend overtime payments on work in excess of 40 hours a week in the war industries, told the committee today that his staff had completed a survey of salary increases among the ordnance contractors who had supplied information in response to questionnaires, hut many companies had failed to give the information required.

Mr Toland said that executives of 15 big naval ordnance contractors received increases in salary ranging from 22 per cent to 1331 per cent in the first year of the United States’ defence programme. Using the salaries which were paid to executives from 1934 to 1940 as the basis of comparison, Mr Toland said that 26 out of 41 executives received over 100 per cent increases, 14 out of 26 received over 200 per cent, 10 received .300 per cent, seven received over 400 per cent, and five received over 500 per cent. Mr Toland explained that these tremendous increases could not be attributed solely to defence work, as 1934 was a depression year, yet there were a number of large increases in 1940 over 1938, which was a normal year. The salaries during this period rose as high as 181 per cent. “While the salaries of the officials increased tremendously during the first year of the defence programme, incomplete figures for 1941 indicate that there will be a much greater increase as the programme progresses,” he added.

A message from Cleveland (Ohio) says that the Jack and Heintz Corporation, which has been accused of making excessive profits on war contracts, has announced the voluntary limitation of its profits to 6 per cent in future, and drastic salary reductions for the company’s three top executives.

The president of the corporation, Mr William S. Jack, announced that any profit above 6 per cent would be returned to the Army and the Navy at the end of each year. Representative Thomas, chairman of the Senate Labour Committee, accused the United States Chamber of Commerce today of seeking to engender confusion by urging the local and State chambers of commerce and industrial associations to become aggressive in bringing about widespread expressions to Congress demanding new labour legislation. Mr Thomas said that probably in the history of the United States no such confusion-engendering document had ever before been sent out.