FOREIGN TRADE: Workers' View

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The C.I.O. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which got together only six weeks ago on a labor-management pact, got together again last week. This time, before a House committee, they both plumped for extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act.

The Chamber's Clark Haynes Minor confined himself to a plea for the pacts (i.e. for lowered tariffs), because they have been "beneficial to the U.S." The C.I.O.'s bearded Jacob S. Potofsky, secretary-treasurer of Amalgamated Clothing Workers, stole the show with his eloquent argument. Said he:

"Some people say the standard of.living of the American worker will be reduced, if tariffs are cut down. We do not hold this view. We think that high wages result from high productivity, imaginative and progressive managerial leadership and good union organization—and not from tariffs.

"Moreover, we think that real standards of living depend not only on what is in the pay envelope, but on what we can buy with it. The only effective protection the American worker has against so-called foreign competition is not a tariff barrier against foreign goods, but efficient production at home and a decent standard of living abroad.

"I am convinced that ... far from threatening American agriculture, industry and labor, the Trade Agreements Act is an important element in promoting the postwar prosperity of all of them. It is one of the indispensable steps in bringing about a world order in which cooperation among nations replaces strife. We . . . are on the threshold of the first decisions that will determine whether we shall direct our efforts towards that goal."