(The following was submitted for the record :) AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION, To All Senators and Members of Congress: The enclosed facts show: (1) That wage increases have far exceeded the amount contemplated by the Little Steel formula; (2) that wages have increased much more than the cost of living; and (3) that farm prices were abnormally low in relation to other parts of our economy during the pre-war period. The American Farm Bureau Federation is not attacking labor but is disclosing the injustices of the demands of labor for either a further wage increase or a roll-back in food prices to the September 1942 level. The American Farm Bureau Federation is opposed to the payment of subsidies from the Federal Treasury at a time when people are able to provide for themselves. Sincerely yours, EDW. A. O'NEAL, President, American Farm Bureau Federation. INCREASE IN HOURLY WAGE RATES ABOVE THE 15 PERCENT ALLOWED IN THE LITTLE STEEL FORMULA (The effect of additional pay for overtime has been eliminated from these The increase in hourly wage rates in manufacturing industries between January 1941 and September 1943 averaged nearly 39 percent and exceeded the 15 percent contemplated by the Little Steel formula in practically all industries. (The above figures were calculated by taking the average hourly earnings as published in the Survey of Current Business, United States Department of Commerce, and correcting them for the effect of additional pay for overtime work according to a formula developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.) Increase in average hourly wage rates in various manufacturing industries between Jan. 1941 and September 1943 [The effect of additional pay for overtime has been eliminated from these figures 1] 1 The above figures were calculated by taking the average hourly earnings as published in the Survey of Current Business, U. S. Department of Commerce, and eliminating the effect of additional pay for overtime work according to a formula developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor. 2 Includes professional and scientific instruments; fire-control equipment; photographic apparatus; pianos, organs, and parts; games, toys, and dolls; and buttons. Comparison of farm prices and hourly earnings of factory workers by 5-year periods, 1910-42 (1910-14=100) Source: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Outlook Charts for 1943. During the past 30 years hourly earnings of factory workers advanced over 300 percent. Farm prices during part of the period were below the 1910-14 average. Agricultural prices were low compared to prices paid by farmers during the 1935-39 period. Percentage increase in average weekly earnings of workers in all manufacturing industries and in the cost of living since January 19411 Calculated from data compiled by the U. S. Department of Labor and published in the Survey of Current Business, U. S. Department of Commerce. Between January 1941, the base date of the Little Steel formula, and October 1943, average weekly earnings of workers in manufacturing industries increased over 68 percent. During this same period the cost of living increased only 23 percent. POST-WAR PLANNING WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1944 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10 a. m., pursuant to adjournment, in caucus room, House Office Building, Hon. Fritz G. Lanham (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. STATEMENT OF FRANK W. CORTRIGHT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS OF THE UNITED STATES, WASHINGTON, D. C. The CHAIRMAN. We have met this morning to hear Mr. Cortright. Will you kindly state your full name, your residence, and for whom you appear, so that we may have that information in the record? Mr. CORTRIGHT. My name is Frank W. Cortright. I am executive vice president of the National Association of Home Builders of the United States. Our office is located at 1737 K Street NW., Washington, D. C. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I have prepared a statement with the thought that I can save the time of the committee. With your permission I should like to read it, and I hope that you will interrupt me at any time. The National Association of Home Builders of the United States, for whom I speak, is made up of a substantial portion of the men throughout the country who are currently engaged in constructing privately financed war housing. Our was assignment is to make available, through new construction and conversion, something in excess of a million housing units for the in-migrant war worker. The CHAIRMAN. That is only a part of your program, is it not? Of course, the private construction of homes is being held somewhat in abeyance for the duration, but when the war is over, your organization would go right along regardless of public construction, would it not? Or is it simply an organization that deals with war construction? Mr. CORTRIGHT. Mr. Lanham, our organization was started in 1935 very modestly as a part of the National Association of Real Estate Boards. Several hundred of the outstanding home builders of the country formed this organization with the object of raising the level of the American home through better practice and better construction. The CHAIRMAN. In view of the fact that it was formed in 1935, when the war was not on and probably not immediately imminent, it |