-432-


 CODE AUJTHOPRITY
LADIES HAi,-DBAG INmUSTRY
 347 Fifth Ave.
 NEW YORK


"ay 13, 1935


r Air an A T a air,,


 It is interesting to note that while the cost of living in Joplin,
 Missouri is 63.03% of what it is in ,TUe' York, the wages paid by
 the Meeker Company are about 50% of the wages paid to the workers
 in "New York. It is evident that the i.eeker Company has already
 anticipated the difference in living costs between Joplin, Missouri
 and ilew York City.



9811


VL.L  VV .L U % 1._.. Z.r "
Assistant Deputy Administrator
Commerce Bldg. .
Washington, D. C. ,

Dear Mr. Locke: ;

 We are in receipt of your letter of fiIay 7 regarding the case of
 the Mleeker Company, Joplin, lMissouri. We not,-' the additional
 reasons they give to entitle them to an exemption from the wage
 rates of the Ladies' Handbag Code. We shall tr?/ to answer their
 arguments and give adu.itionc.,l facts in su Dort of our answer to
 the arguments given in their previous letter.....

 "With further reference to yours of April 13, I aa enclosing herewith,
 as you have requested, balance: sheet for the years 1933 and 1934. These i
 balance sheets are ta.en out of our public accountant's annual report onz
 our business. These accountants are Baird-Kurtz & Dobson, Joplin Nation-l
 al Bank Building, Joplin, liissouri. We can furnish you further informa-
 tion if such is necessary, or you can if you wish co..ununicate direct
 with these accountants."
 ii i

 We accept-as correct the statistics furnished by the United States i
 Bureau of Laboras to: tne re.ative.cost of living between Joplin,
 Missouri and ie'.v York-City as-being 63.03!; the same as it is in
 Hannibal, Missouri, a city mentioned specifically in this report.

 We have prepared a chart which will show the wages paid per hour
 in handbag factories located in ITew York City. In order not to
 disclose the names of the factories, we have numbered them from 1 ,:
 to 5. We have also prepared a similar chart showing the wages paid'
 to workers per hour in the factory -of the Lleeker Company. These A
 figures are taken from the payroll records submitted by the res-
 pective manufacturers and examined as to their accuracy by our in-
 vestigators. In preparing these figures, we nave taken the same .
 month of the year for all factories, November 1934. The New York
 factories, from whose payrolls these figures were taken, manufac-
 ture handbags comparable in style, quality and price with those
 manufactured by the Meeker Company.