GOLDSI.'ITH BROTHEEIS

 E.nnufacturers of Lndies' Hand. ngs

 38-40 West 32nd Street

 ye:'. York City


 February 14, 1934.


nationall Recovery Administra.tin,
Colonel Robert Lea,
Deputy Administrator of Industrr,
Department of Commerce Building,
7ashington, D. C.

Dear Colonel Lea;

 We wish to enter with you our oDotest against the Code of Fair
Competition for the Ladies1 'handbag Industry, as submitted to you in
its present form, in view of the fact that the Code as written is benefi-
cial to the certain few of the 'Tew York manufacturers.

 e bse our protest on the follow-in., and rrhich we ho-oe and have
no doubt'that in view of your fairness will gi-e it every consideration:

 Statistics rill confirm our contention that seventy percent of the
handbags manufactured in the United Sta.tes are riade outside of Ne" York,
and only a small portion of hanncdbags are nide in TTew York City, namely,
the high style and high priced bngs, where a few dollars a week more to
an employee does not hurt the price of the unit in any way. The manu-
facturers, who are in Yew York must have skilled helo with many years
experience in order to manufacture their lines. Today, out-of-town
manufacturers find it very difficult to compete with ?ew York manufac-
turers mailing the same type of merchandise, dup to the increase in wages
made by the out-of-town manufacturers, namely, about 601, which is made
up in the shortening of hours and the minimum scale und.r which the 1'A
permits you to operate.

 We were obliged, in order to coonorate with the President's 'Emergenc;
Fedcsures, to advance our help who were receiving t8.00 and .9.00 a week
to .12.0C per weok, and those getting $12.00 per we, k and over were ad-
vanced proportionately, as also their hours of labor shortened to conform.
with the N. R. A. thereby adding many additional help to our payroll.

 ToWe estimate that the out-of-town manufacturers emnloy approximately
10,000 workers whereas the Ncr York manufacturers employ approximately
2,000.


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