Approved Code No. 474-Amendment No. 2 Registry No. 231-16 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

AMENDMENT TO 

CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

FOR THE 

NEEDLEWORK INDUSTRY 

IN PUERTO RICO 

AS APPROVED ON APRIL 3, 1935 

WE DO OUR PAR'f 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON: 1935 

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Approved Code No. 474-Amendment No. 2 

AMENDMENT TO CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

FOR THE 

NEEDLE,VOR,K INDUSTRY IN PUERTO RI'CO 

As Approved on April 3, 1935 

ORDER 

APPROVING AMENDMENT OF CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE 

N EEDLDWORK INDUSTRY IN PUERTO Rico 

An application having been duly made pursuant to, and in full 

compliance with, the provisions of Title I of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, for approval of an amendment to the Code of Fair Competition for the Needlework Industry 

in Puerto Rico, and the Deputy Administrator for Puerto Rico 

having made and submitted to the National Industrial Recovery 

Boa.rd his report on said amendment, containing his findings with 

respect thereto, and the annexed report of the National Industrial 

Recovery Board on said amendment, containing findings with respect 

thereto, having been made and directed to the President: 

NOW, THEREFORE, on behalf of the President of the United 

States, the National Industrial Recovery Board, pursuant to authority vested in it by Executive Orders of the President, including 

Executive Order No. 6859, Executive Order No. 6543-A and otherwise; does hereby incorporate by reference said report of the Deputy 

Administrator for Puerto Rico and the annexed report of the National Industrial Recovery Board, and does hereby expressly concur 

in and adopt the findings of fact made therein, and does find that the 

said am~ndment and the Code as constituted after being amended 

comply in all respects with the pertinent provisions and will promote 

the policy and purposes of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act; and does hereby order that said amendment to the Code 

of Fair Competition for the Needlework Industry in Puerto Rico be-1 

and it is hereby, approved and that the previous apl?roval of said 

Code is hereby modified to include an approval of said Code in its 

entirety as amended, subject to the following condition: 

126618 °-1740-18-35 (1) 
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That this Order and Amendment shall become effective twenty 

(20) days from the date her~of unless good cause to the contrary is 

shown to the National Industrial Recovery Board before that time 

and the National Indu trial Recovery Board issues a subsequent 

order staying or modifying this Order of Approval. 

NATION AL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY BOARD, 

By vV. A. IIARRIMAN, Administrative Officer. 

Approval recommended : 

P RENTISS L. COONLEY' 

Division Adm,inistrator. 

WASHINGTON, D. c., 

April 3, 1935. 
REPORT TO THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY 

BOARD 

NATION AL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY BOARD, 

National R ecovery Administration, 

Washington, D. 0. 

GENTLEMEN : This is a report on the proposed Amendment to 

Article II, Section 1, of the Code of Fair Competition for the Needlework Industry in Puerto Rico, which section defines the Industry embraced by the Code. At the time the Code was originally proposed, 

it was the intention of its proponents that all articles of needlework 

produced or processed in Puerto Rico should be included under the 

Code. The present definition contained in this Section reads as 

follows: 

"The term 'Industry' as used herein includes the manufacturing 

and/or processin&.t including sewing, wholly or part, within the Territory of Puerto ti.ico, of articles having drawn work and/or embroidery done upon them by machine and/or by hand, including the 

business of contracting with reference thereto." 

This definition fails to include needlework done on any articles 

which did not have on them drawn work and/or embroidery. There 

is a considerable quantity of needlework in Puerto Rico consisting of 

the manufacturing and/or processing of hand-made hems on piece 

goods, to convert such articles into handkerchiefs. In order to carry 

out the original desire of the Industry to embrace all needlework produced in Puerto Rico in this Code, it is proposed that this Section be 

amended to read as follows : 

" The term ' Industry ' as used herein includes the manufacturing 

and processing, including sewing, wholly or in part, within the Territory of Puerto Rico, of articles having drawn work and/or embroidery 

done upon them by machine and/or by hand and/or the manufacturing and/or processing of hand-made hems on piece goods to convert 

such piece goods into handkerchiefs and/or decorative articles for the 

home, such as (but without limitation) luncheon sets, pillow cases, 

bedspreads, towels, including the business of contracting with reference thereto." 

This change in the definition will enable that section of the Industry which is engaged in manufacturing and/or processing articles 

that do not have drawn work and/ or embroidery thereon to receive 

the benefits already bestowed upon the remainder of the Industry 

as a result of the Code. 

Article VII, Section 8 (f), authorizes the Code Authority to propose amendments to the Code. Pursuant to the said Section, the 

Code Authority proposed this Amendment. 

The Code was originally sponsored by the Puerto Rico Needlework 

Association. This association represented in excess of ninety per 

cent. of the volume of the business and of the membership of the 

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Puerto Rico Needlework Industry. Therefore, I find that it was 

truly representative of said Industry. 

The By-Laws of the Association allowed all members of the Industry to join its membership, and I find that it imposed no inequitable restriction on membership. 

There are about seven thousand factory workers, and approximately seventy thousand home-workers engaged in the Needlework 

Industry in Puerto Rico, a considerable number of whom are not 

included under the present definition of the Industry, but will be 

embraced by the proposed Amendment. The standards of labor in 

this Industry prior to the approval of the Code were very low. 

In the factories the average working week was approximately fortyeight hours. The home-workers were engaged in the needlework 

occupation from sixty to seventy hours a week. Article III, Section 

1, prohibits the working of employees in excess of forty hours in any 

one week, or eight hours in any day, with the exception that employees may be permitted to work seventy-two hours overtime in any 

calendar year, provided twice the normal wage rate is paid for such 

overtime. The approval of the Amendment and the Code as amended 

will thus result in a substantial increase in the number of people 

employed in the Industry, and I so find. 

The wages paid in this Industry have always been exceptionally 

low. Prior to the Code, factory machine-workers were paid an 

average of $3.32 per week of forty-eight hours, with man; receiving 

even less. Under the Code they receive a minimum o $5.00 for 

a forty hour week. Factory hand-sewing and hand-embroidery 

workers averaging from $2.00 to $2.10 per week prior to the Code 

now receive a minimum of $3.00 per week under the Code. Before 

the Code was approved three home-workers would work on the same 

product in one home, and the aggregate earnings per week of the 

three would be about $1.00. The piece-rates established under the 

Code by the Piece Rates Commission result in a very marked increase to these home-workers. The increase in wages and employees 

resulting from the approval of the Amendment and the Code as 

amended, will effect a considerable addition to the mass purchasing 

power of the Island. When this increase is added to that which will 

be effected by the approval of codes for other industries in the 

Island, there will result a marked increase in the amount of goods 

consumed in Pm~rto Rico, which goods will be imported principally 

from the Mainland; consequently, one of the principal obstructions 

which diminished the amount of commerce between Puerto-Rico and 

the mainland and, indirectly, among the various States will be 

removed, and I so find. 

The increase in wages will remove a part of the burden from labor, 

which has been carrying more than its share, but will not add an 

unreasonable expense to the employer's cost, and I so find. 

Further improvements will be brought about in the standards of 

labor by the Code provision eliminating child labor. This abuse 

was especially prevalent in Puerto Rico, and its elimination will be 

one of the biggest accomplishments of the Code. No person under 

sixteen years of age is allowed to be employed in the Industry under 

the Code. Labor standards are likewise raised by the requirement 

that employers should provide for the safety and health of em-
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ployees, and that standards of safety and health should be submitted 

by the Code Authority. Likewise, the prohibiting of tamping, cutting, washing, pressing, folding, ribboning, and ticketing in the 

home of employees is another most exemplary improvement in the 

standards of labor. 

The Executive Order approving the Code provides for a Needlework Commission to study and to make recommendations concerning the question of competition between the Needlework Industry 

on the mainland and in Puerto Rico. The purpose of the appointment of this Commission was to effect a better mutual understanding 

of their problems between the members of the related mainland 

industries and the Puerto Rico Industry. Likewise, the activities 

of the Code Authority and the cooperative action in the Trade Association sponsoring the Code tend to promote the organization of 

the Industry :for the purpose of cooperative action among trade 

groups, and I so find. 

The provisions of Article IX as to price filing tend to prevent the 

destructiYe price cutting which :formerly exi ted in the Industry, 

with the resulting inability to pay living wages. These provjsions 

contain sufficient safeguards to protect the small employers and 

consumers :from improper price fixing, and I so find. 

There are no provisions in the Code which would tend to promote 

monopolies or to eliminate or oppress small enterprises or that discriminate against them, or that will permit monopolies or monopolistic practices. 

The increased purchasing power resulting from the approval of 

the Code will create additional demand for goods and commodities 

of all sorts and kinds. In order to meet these demands, the productive capacity of industries will be promoted and utilized. This 

increase in production will have the effect of beneficially encouraging interstate commerce, both in the movement of raw material used 

in the process of production and in the production of finished goods 

and commodities. Thus, the Amendment and the Code as amended 

tend to promote the :fullest possible utilization of the present productive capacity of Industry, and I so find. 

There exists at the present time an undue restriction of production 

due to the r.bsence of demand for goods produced, which in turn is 

caused by the depressed purchasing power. The increased purchasing power effected by the approval of the Amendment and the 

Code as amended will tend to avoid this undue restriction of production, and I so find. 

In addition to the findings above set forth and for the reasons 

adduced above, I hereby find that: 

(a) The amendment and the Code as amended comply in all 

respects with the pertinent provisions of Title I of the Act, including without limitation, Sub-Section (a) of Section 3, Sub-section (a) 

of Section 7, and Sub-Section (b) of Section 10 thereof; 

(b) The Association sponsoring the Code imposed no inequitable 

restriction or admission to membership therein; 

( c) The group sponsoring the Code was truly representative of 

the Industry; 

( d) The Amendment and the Code as amended are not designed 

to promote monopoly or to eliminate or oppress small enterprises 
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and will not operate to discriminate against them and will not 

permit monopolies or monopolistic practices; 

( e) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend to remove 

obstructions to the free flow of interstate and foreign commerce which 

tend to diminish the amount thereof; 

( f) The Amendment and the Code as amended will promote the 

organization of Industry for the purpose of cooperative action among 

trade groups; 

(g) The Amendment and the Code as amended will induce and 

n1aintain united action of labor and management under adequate. governmental sanctions and supervision; 

(h) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend to 

eliminate unfair competitive practices; 

( i) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend to promote the fullest possible utilization of the present productive capacity 

of Industries; 

(j) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend to avoid 

undue restriction of production; 

(k) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend to increase the consumption of industrial and agricultural products by 

increasing purchasing power; 

(1) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend to reduce 

and relieve unemployment; 

(m) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend to improve the standards of labor; 

(n) The Amendment and the Code as amended will tend otherwise 

to rehabilitate Industry; 

( e) Those engaged in other steps of the economic process were 

not denied the right to be heard prior to the approval of this 

Amendment and Code as amended. 

It is recommended, therefore, that this Amendment and Code as 

Amended be approved as submitted. 

Respectfully, 

MARCH 30, 1935. 

BoAz LoNG, 

Deputy Administrator. 
AMENDMENT TO CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR 

THE NEEDLEWORK INDUSTRY IN PUERTO RICO 

Amend Article II, Section 1 to read as follows : 

1. The term "Industry" as used herein includes the manufacturjng and processing, including sewing, wholly or in part, within the 

Territory of Puerto Rico, of articles having drawn work and/or 

embroidery done upon them by machine and/or by hand and/or the 

manufacturing and/ or processing of hand-made hems on piece goods 

to convert such piece goods into handkerchiefs and/or decorative 

articles for the home, such as (but without limitation) luncheon 

sets, pillow cases, bedspreads, to"'els, including the business of contracting with reference thereto. 

Approved Code No. 474-Amem1ment No. 2. 

Registry No. 231-16. 

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