GOVERNMENT

Reserve Law Loophole Men on active duty with armed forces may be

releasee! earîy to return fo school, industry

V E riRTUALLY overlooked in t h e new re­serve law just passed by Congress

is a section which could enable chem­ists and chemical engineers now in uni­form to b e released from active duty ahead of schedule. The new law em­powers the armed services t o release 150,000 men each year before their en­listments or induction periods are com­pleted.

Details of the program have not been worked out yet, but there a re indica­tions that some action will be taken soon. Under the law, secretaries of the three services may set u p a series of regulations to carry out the program. These regulations must be approved by the Secretary of Defense (and the Secretary of the Treasury when the Coast Guard is involved).

The new regulations will b e as uni­form as possible and will contain the same basic provisions. Here's how they would operate:

(1) Men on active duty at the time the new reserve law was passed and who have served 12 months in active service may apply for transfer to the* ready reserve. I t is expected that the men will have to give some good reason, such as the return to school or to an essential job in industry-

(2) If the application is approved, the man would be released from active duty and transferred to the ready re­serve. He would have to participate in reserve training until his reserve time, plus the period of his active duty, totals four years.

The law states that no more than 150,000 men could be released in any one year. It also provides for the op­eration of such a program until July 1, 1957.

According to present interpretations, the section permits the services .tp set up such a program, but does not direct them to do so. Increased needs for men in the armed forces could mean that no formal action would he taken on the program and it would he al­lowed to die two years hence.

In some quarters, the program is looked upon as a method of enabling servicemen to return to some more use­ful civilian activity. There is appre­hension, however, that the military could apply the section to -weed out misfits. With military operations be­coming more complicated, men with higher intelligence and more training

are needed. Men who do not measure up to the new standards could b e re­leased "painlessly" under the new law.

The Army maintains "profiles," or service ratings on its enlisted men. Presumably, men with the lowest pro­files would be released from service.

Manpower experts are adopt ing a "wait and see" attitude toward the new section. They feel that the organiza­tion and operation of the program will have to be firmed u p before any over­all conclusions can b e reached.

Automation: Congress9 Next Probe Joint House-Senate committee to hold hearings on

economic implications of automation in industry

q p HE stage is being set for a Con-•*· gressional investigation of the trend

toward automation in industry. From all indications, this could become one of the hottest subjects in labor-manage­ment relations during the coming year.

Formal hearings have been sched­uled for early October by Rep. Wright Patman (D-Tex.), chairman of a joint House-Senate subcommittee on eco­nomic stabilization. The subcommittee hopes to develop "a body of facts'* con­cerning the social and economic impli­cations of new automatic and electronic processes. This information could be the basis for future legislation.

An impressive list of witnesses are slated to testify at the hearings. From the chemical industry, which has a vital interest in the subject, will come Champ Carry, chairman of M. W. Kellogg. The A F of L International Chemical Workers Union will send Otto Pragan, its research director.

Auto makers Henry Ford II and Paul G. Hoffman of Studebaker-Packard will tall the story of automation in their in­dustry. Union presidents Walter Reu­ther ( C I O ) , George Meany (AF of L ) , and John L. Lewis (United Mine Workers) will help to present labor's case. Representing the scientific view­point will be A. V. Astin, director of the National Bureau of Standards, and Vannevar Bush, president of Washing­ton's Carnegie Institution.

The Subcommittee is especially in­terested in pinning down problems which have arisen when automatic processes have been adopted by indus­try. Among the points to be con­sidered will be employment stability, personnel displacement, and the effect upon costs and investment.

Labor's Next Demand? Workers have always kept a wary eye on ma­chines that could replace men on the production line. More than a century ago knitters used sledge hammers on power looms that were being installed

Rep. Wright Patman . . . get the facts

in textile mills. While opposition to automation, called the "second indus­trial revolution," has not been so vio­lent, many workers fear the impacl of this new technology.

Labor leader Reuther has strong views on the subject, which may in­fluence the course of labor-management bargaining in the years to come. Un­like some labor spokesmen in the past, the CIO president does not call for a bitter fight against mechanization in industry. Instead, he believes labor must learn to live in the new era of automation.

But this "learning to live" process may entail new demands on industry and the Government. To offset some of the economic effects of automation. Reuther wants higher wages, bigger pensions and Social Security payments, and a revision of tax laws. He also wants provisions made for retraining and relocating personnel affected by technological improvements.

These proposals are part of a "bar­gaining blueprint" already drawn u p by

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TOXAPHENE

AGAIN! Still number One insect enemy, the boll wecuil returned to cotton fields this year with a vengeance. Hot, wet weather complicated the problem of holl weevil control. In many areas, damaging infestations built up rapidly.

Still number One boll weevil insecticide, toxaphene applied at regular recommended domges controlled weevils quickly and thoroughly. Farmers who used toxaphene dusts or spray materials reported excellent control, prospects for a record cotton yield.

TOXAPHENE dusts sprays THE CHEMICAL BASE FOR TOXAPHENE IS PRODUCED BY HERCULES FROM THE SOUTHERN PINE

* I0 L For the first time in several sea­sons the Cotton Belt is experiencing a major outbreak of boll weevils. Late summer rains and high temperatures are ideal conditions for cotton produc­tion, but also provide a perfect climate for boll weevils.

Wi th populations increasing rapidly* and with a bolNvorm outbreak threat­en ing , exper ienced co t ton f a rmers turned to toxaphene, both in dusts and spray formulations. Toxaphene, the in­secticide that won acclaim as the out­standing boll weevil killer during the last major weevil infestation, is again proving its value. Results with toxa­phene have been excellent. Farmers didn't have to double their dosages. Toxaphene did the job at the regular recommended rates.

Agricultural Chemicals Dirision, Naval Stores Dcpartmrnt

HERCULES POWDER. COMPANY 932 Market Street? Wilmington 99, Delaware

Plants at Brunswick, G a., HaUiesburg, Miss. Offices at Atlanta, Birmingham, Brownsville,

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GOVERNMENT

Reuther's United A.uto Workers Union. The guaranteed annua l wage, which dominated this year's lahor negotia­tions, is part of this over-all p l a n .

Progress Means Prosper i ty . On the other side of t he fence, proponents of automation do not share Reuther 's fears. Pointing to the history of tech­nology, they maintain that n e w tech­niques will mean more—rather than fewer—jobs.

Reuther's own industry provides an example. The invention of t h e auto­mobile did curse unemployment, chiefly in livery stables and buggy-whip factories. But it created thou­sands of new jobs—making the cars, driving them, servicing them.

New automatic processes which promise higher productivity and better use of personnel can he lp to improve the standard of living, automation ex­perts believe. Automation, they say, will bring more goods at lower prices together with a shorter work week and more leisure for workers.

Problems t o Solve. The change­over to widespread automation in in­dustry will not corne overnight. In the chemical industry, where tremen­dous strides have been taken, t he "push button" plant is stymied by technical and economic problems.

One of the biggest problems is to get top management to recognize the importance of an automation program, according to V. F. Hanson of D u Pont's engineering research laboratory. Pro­grams -to exploit properly new instru­ment techniques also have to b e worked out, he told a MCA^-sponsored panel.

Training the people who will run the automated plants of the future creates its own problems. Industry leaders foresee a growing demand for skilled and trained people which could tax present educational facilities. Some schools already a re planning special courses t o meet the age of automation.

The Congressional hearings cannot promise to provide all the answers to these problems. But they can provide a starting point for better understand­ing in this new machine age.

Commerce Sets Up "Honor Code11 f o r W O C s

Commerce Secretary Sinclair Weeks has issued an order prescribing a code of conduct for the 45,000 employees and advisers of the department. The code was set up to avoid potential con­flicts of interest between an employee's government duties and his outside ac­tivities.

WOCs, the department's unpaid ad­visers from business, must abide by the new code, as must permanent em­ployees. The civilian advisers have

drawn fire from some quarters over a l ­leged connections between their busi­ness background and their government service. Weeks, however, denies that the new code was drawn as the result of these criticisms. Ke says the rules grew out of a Budget Bureau program inaugurated last year.

The code, first of its kind issued by a federal agency, spells out 13 restric­tions on private transactions of Com­merce employees. I t replaces earlier orders governing conflicts of interest which were established during the Tru­man administration.

The order also governs gifts or favors which Commerce employees receive from outside interests. According t o the code, no employee may take a gift which might be interpreted as influ­encing his government activities.

Likewise, any private business t rans­action is forbidden if it interferes with the performance of an employee's duties. Government time or resources may not be used for any project which is not official business or authorized b y Commerce officials.

Employees are forbidden to divulge any confidential business or economic information which they may acquire from government sources. Such infor­mation also cannot be used for personal gain if it constitutes an advantage not shared -with the general public. T h e new order sharply restricts the pur­chase of stocks, bonds, or commodities for speculative purposes.

Commerce people may not partici­pate in any official negotiations of t h e depar tment with former employers o r organizations in which they have a n economic interest. This provision also covers dealings with potential em­ployers wi th which the employees may be negotiating.

Potomac Postscripts

• M o r e FTC investigations are in the wind. FTC's investigation sec­tion reports a 5 0 % jump in the number of investigations completed during the year ending June 30. One big jump was in the anti-monopoly field where F T C com­pleted 537 studies, almost 200 more than in the previous year.

• G o v e r n m e n t t a n k cars left over from the synthetic rubber program have been sold to private industry. Three tank car companies have bought 447 pressure cars at a price of $5100 a car, only $26 less than it cost t he Government to build them dur ing World War II .

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