Newspapers / The Charlotte Labor Journal … / July 25, 1935, edition 1 / Page 3
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A s \ HOW THE PROCESSING TAX EFFECTS LABOR By JEFF PALMER r It is apparent from a recent sur vey of the. cotton textile industry, that the majority of the cotton manufac turers have the interest of their eni ployees at heart. Statistics for the first full month of self-regulation bf the industry, after the death of the NR show that observance of code fundamentals exceed 90 per cent. This is rather .remarkable, when one considers the adverse conditions under which the industry is operat ing today. During this period the consumption of cotton was in the de cline, as shown by the report of the census bureau. Cotton consumed during June was 385,046 bales of lint and 61,005 bales of linters, compared with 460,250 bales of lint and 65,501 bales of lihters during the month of May. The active spindles for June numbered 16,486,278, compared with 16,830,156 during May and nearly a million less than June a year ago. There must be something radically wrong to cause this decrease in the manufacture of cotton goods. Are the' people consuming other fabrics in stead of cotton? If so, why? Ever since the depression started five years ago the cotton mills have been cur tailing, and one would naturally think that if there was a surplus of manu factured cotton, that in five years it would have been consumed. Possibly i the response to the President's appeal J to put more employees to work to give purchasing power increased the supply and as soon as the mills? real ized that the market did not respond they were forced to curtail pYoduc tion. This has happened twice within a year. . The claim of the Administration was all that is necessary was in creased purchasing power, and that the farmer and laborer were the greatest consumers. Therefore wages were increased 70 per cent, hours were reduced from 55 to 40. So much for the laborer. Now for the farm er. Cotton was selling for 6c, it was pegged at 12c an increase of 100 per cent. To do this a processing tax of 4.2 was placed upon each bale of cot ton that the mills used, which based on the original price of cotton lint (6c) is approximately 75 per cent in creased production cost. This price increased production cost. This price increase falls heaviest upon the labor er and farmer as they are consumers of the heavier weight cotton goods, which carry a greater amount of tax. Therefore the theory did not work out as anticipated. The processing tax placed a handi cap of $21d)0 a bale on the manufac turer at the start. This the foreign manufacturer does not have to pay. American labor has always enjoyed a much higher standard of living than that of foreign countries and in order to maintain that standard artd have Southern Dairies, INC Ice Cream 600 West Fifth Street CHARLOTTE, N. C Telephone 3-1164 sufficient employment to earn a de cent living, this tax should be remov ed from the mills, and as it is for the relief of the farmer, he should be paid from the 4,880,000,00 dollars re lief fund. This would give the mills much needed operating funds and would also help the laborer and farmer. * The price of finished cotton goods has advanced due to these increased costs of production, which has greatly effected consumption and caused a loss in wages. But unfortunately for the miljs the advance in price has not kept pace with the cost of production. Many are operating at a loss and unless they get relief from these ex cessive (financial burdens, will have to discontinue operation. Why has the market not advanced with the rest of the advances causea by the New Deal? Wallace B. Don ham, Dean of the Graduate Schqol of Business Administration, Harvard University answers the question to a large extent in an article on Japan. He states that “Already some forty nations restrict Japanese imports,” and “we sha|l, in the near future, either restrict her competition or re pent in sack cloth and ashes.” “At the moment we are not defend ing our home market and Japan sends us a constantly increasing number of products in constantly increasing quantities. It is not surprising that she sees no need for a reciprocal treaty. Cotton textiles are an impor tant example. In 1933 she exported to us 1,115,713 square yards of cotton cloth, mostly in print dyed or colored cloths. In 1934 she sent 7,287,017 square yards, with an increase in bleached cotton cloth of nearly twentv-four times, while in January, Pebruary and March, lydo, she has already sent 12,770,887 yards. “The quality is said to be at least equal and sometimes superior to our own products. This cloth may or may not be manufactured from American cotton, but wherever the cotton is grown, it displaces cotton sold to American mills. Our cotton growers get no advantage from a change in buyers which seriously menaces their mill customers at home and stimu lates liquidation of mills in both the North, and South, without adding to the consumption of their raw cotton. Japan has practically taken from American cotton manufacturers the markets in. India, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines and in [various Central and South Americaii coun tries. It is estimated, from the rapid ly increase of her cotton textile ex ports to the United States, tha( by the end of the present year approximately 37 per cent of the American output of bleached cotton cloth and 25 per cent of the domestic print cloth. This is good manufacturing, for Japan but very disturbing ito our mills because she has the advantage of not paying the processing tjax and only pays about one fifth of what our mills pay for wages. She therefore can sell her product so much cheaper that we can that there is no profit for the American manufacturer, and unless a sufficient protective tariff is placed on her goods and the process ing tax is shifted from the mills thou sands of laborers will be thrown out of work. , Subscribe for The F. G. CAMPBELL Dry Cleaner (Member Teamsters and Chauffeurs Local) 719 Louise Ave. Phone 2-1033 “Ratcliffe’s Flowers Brighten the Hours.” LOUIS G. RATCL1FFE, INC. U1 SOUTH TRYON PHONE 41U Why Rush - - - through life ?—Pause long enough to give a thought to those dear to you. An occasional flower from Ratcliffe’s for them will bring you much pleasure. AMERICAN DRY CLEANING CO. 1 Linens and Wash Suits ' ■ | Let Us Serve You PHONE 3-3155 319 E. MOREHEAD ARE YOU PROTECTED Against FIRE — WINDSTORM — HAIL — RESIDENCE BURG LARY — AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS AND AUTOMOBILE FIRE AND THEFT? We Write All Kinds of Insurance Except Life L. S. Boyd, Manager Insurance Department Citizens Savings and Loan Company 114 E. 4th Dial S-1181 1 Shoppers i of Organized Labor Merchants and Others Advertising in These Columns Are Friendly to Labor and Aiding Your Labor Newspaper. Both Publishers and Adver tisers will Appreciate Your Consideration of Them. ANDREWS MUSIC CO; EVERYTHING MUSICAL” j/ 231 N. Tryon St. Quality Clothing FOR MEN AND BOYS MELLON’S I SOME OF THE THINGS WE LEND MONEY ON Diamond* Watch** Jewelry Man's Clothing Tool* Sporting Good* Silverware Shot Gnna Kiflaa All Business Strictly Confi dential. When in Need of Money We Never Fail Yon Reliable Loan Co. 209 East Trade Street See Us for Bargains in Diamonds, ; Watches, Jewelry, Clothing, etc. MANGEL’S Misses’ and Women’s Apparel Telephone 2-2982 121 North Tryon St. Charlotte, N. C. Plato la Trunks Addins Maehinaa Baca Suit Caaa* Muaical Inata. Kodak* Trpmrritan t It Pays to Trade With Doggett * Lumber Co. Phene 4288—'2-1648 The Janice Shoppe 110 W. ^RADE ST. UNION - MADE LADIES’ READY-TO-WEAR PEPSI-COLA BIG NEW 12-OZ. BOTTLES REFRESHING—HEALTHFUL Charlotte Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. SHOPPING GUIDE NOTES ■H--' V Our members and subscribers are requested to look through the other columns of the Labor Journal for current advertisers who do not appear in 1 * Shopping Guide and to give credit and co-operation accordingly. Their absence from the Shopping Guide does not denote unfriendliness, but a greater pprecmtxon of this newspaper as a medium to carry their message to the USE . . . ZORIC Dry Cleaning Phone 517S Pender Stores Answer Your Problems of ECONOMY AND QUALITY Get This Picture Fixed In Your Mind! This is the store in Charlotte that carries over 300 nationally famous brands of time-tested merchan dise. This is the store in Charlotte thalj offers you the backing of a Carolina firm owned and operated by Carolina men. This is YOUR STORE IN CHARLOTTE. We do appreciate your patronage. Charlotte Dairies FOREMOST MILK AND ICE CREAM PHONE 711C PALMER’S OPTOMETRISTS Specialist in the treatment of defective eyes and the art of f i t’t i n g glasses. Lenses ground. 230 N. Tryon. Phone 2-1430 * 129 West Trade St—Phone 351S1 Delivery Service— Home-Owned and Operated Friend of Organized Labor SELWYN CUT RATE DRUG STORE A HOME ' OWNED STORE i ~i- . QUALITY JEWELRY M. B. SMITH Jewelers 105 E. Trade St. MAY WE SERVE YOU? Lebo’s Shoe Store Agents for W. L. DOUGLAS DUNLAP J. P. SMITH INDUSTRIAL BANKING SAYINGS & LOANS Morris Plan Bank 122 S .TRYON ST. Jv TIPTON ?/ Funeral Home Ik Reasonable and Rename runeral Director* I* a eoryloe institution IBP assigned to furnish fu ll nerais at Rccnomy Urn o»s " raoNB sin—sin ( i 1 ROSELAND FLORAL CO. 202 N. Tryon—Phone 7481 Night Phone 7970 Shaw-Horton Tire Co. 6th and College. Phone 7111 Call Your Nearest Denier B.&M.0ILC0. 534 S. TRYON ST. C. L Elliott Co. CLEANERS AND DYERS 727 West Trade St. Phones 7135-7136 Spoon’s Ice Cream A CHARLOTTE-MADE PRODUCT 1115 Pegram St Phone 4715 Mecklenburg Hotel Home of Station WSOC Radio and Electric Fan in Every Room Best By Test Try SUN FLOWER Self-Rising and ELIZABETH Plain Flonr For Yoor Next Ord« PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS COMPLETE LINE OF UNION LABELED HATS, SHIRTS, TIES, ETC. (SUITS MADE TO ORDER National Hat Shops 108 South Tryon Street ..| ... 1 1 1 ‘ * »****i»«'»********M CHARLOTTE BEVERAGE COMPANY distributors Piel’s Beer, McSorley Ale, Fidelio Beer Telephone 6392 P. O. Box 1474 Charlotte, N. C. Fri* - Sat. * Who is the Black Rider? Why did the body of the murdered Borg disappear? When will the Black Rider ride again? ... to kill? SEE RANDOLPH SCOTT r;. in - Coining - Mon. - Tue. Edw. G. Robinson in “THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING” Wed. - Thu. “JEALOUSY” with Nancy Carroll Donald Cook
The Charlotte Labor Journal and Dixie Farm News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 25, 1935, edition 1
3
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