637-C Registry No. 501-1-03 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

PROPOSED CODE OF FAIR CO,MPETITION 

FOR THE 

BOOK MANUFACTURING 

INDUSTRY 

AS SUBMITTED ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1933 

WE DO OUR PART 

1 

u.s. 

The Code for the Book Manufacturing Industry 

in its present form merely reflects the proposal of the above-mentioned 

industry, and none of the provisions contained therein :are 

to be regarded as having received the approvallof 

the National Recovery Administration 

as applying to this industry 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON: 1933 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - Price 5 cents 
SUBMITTED BY 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS' INSTITUTE 

(II) 
CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION OF THE BOOK 

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY 

ADOPTED BY THE INDUSTRY IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, JULY 12, 1933, 

AND APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE BOOK MANUFACTURERS' 

INSTITUTE 

PuRPOSE 

SECTION 1. (a) The book manufacturing indu try of the United 

State pledges it ·elf to this Code of Fair Competition adopted by the 

Book :Manufacturer ' In titute in order to do it share, during the 

period of the emergency, in making effective the policies of Title I 

of the National Industrial Recovery Act and in increasing purcha.-

ing power and the consequent consumption of industrial and agri-

<'nltural products. Thi industry, through the instrumentality of 

thi Code, accepts the opportunity of rehabilitating it elf by reducing and relieving unemployment, by improving the working and 

living tandarcl of labor, by minimizing the harmful effect-· of overcapacity, and by eliminating competitive practices which have proved 

destructive of the interests of the public, of employee , and of 

employers. 

(b) The effectiYe date of thi Code shall be August 15, 1933. If it 

. hall not have been approved by the President of the United States 

on or before Augu t 1, the effective date ·hall be two week. after 

the date of approval by the President. 

(c) Thi Code i expres ly subject, under Clause 10 (b) of the 

National Industrial Recovery Act, to- the right of the President from 

time to time to cancel or modify any order, license, rule or regulation 

issued under Title I of the Act, and to cancel or modify his approval 

of this Code. 

THE INDUSTRY AND ITS AGENCY 

SEc. 2. (a) The book manufacturing industry pledged in this 

Code consi t · of the plant wholly or in substantial part engaged in 

one or more of the proce es of book manufacture: Composition 

::mdj or platemaking; book printing; book lithography; binding 

(edition, library, and pamphlet) ; ·and producers of such specialties 

involving bookbinding proce ·ses as superfinish cover , check and pas·-

book , and loo e-leaf cover . 

(b) Becau e the book manufacturing industry is distinct from all 

other branches of printin~, it assumes complete responsibility for 

self-regulation under thi Code. 

Although the various proces es in edition book manufacturing may 

be carried on in different plants, printing and binding of books cannot 

be treated as separate industries because competition increasingly 

covers the complete book; because plants specializing in one proce s 

undertake to do or sell all, and because price quotation are o ·huffied 

9472--33 (1) 
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between the different processes, for competitive strategy, that unfair 

competition could not be prevented in any one process unless all were 

subject to single and simultaneous regulation. Further, the number 

of book publishing markets is few and manufacturers compete outside of the territories in which their plants are located, so that no 

plan of regulation based on local markets, such as for general printing, would be adaptable. Library binding constitutes a specialized 

service, chiefly for public and institutional libraries and public schools 

where books, because of unusual service, require rebinding and where 

periodicals are bound for convenient access and safe preservation. 

The bulk of the output of edition book manufacturers is economically distinct from general c.ommercial printing in that it is not produced for advertising purposes but for resale as a commodity. It is 

also economically distinct from newspapers and magazines in that 

it is nonperiodic and, in general, is produced for customers who depend on its resale for revenue and not upon its use as an advertising 

medium. Library binding is primarily a service and not a commodity. 

(c) This Code shall therefore be the sole instrument governing all 

transactions involved in and arising from book manufacture as defined; but plants engaged in different work, in addition to book 

manufacture, may govern these different operations by any other cor1e. 

Further, insofar as this Code may involve labor employed in the 

printing departments of edition and library book manufacturing 

similar to labor employed in other branches of printing, this Code 

shall be in harmony with the codes of other printing industries. 

(d) The sole agencies for the administration of this Code shall be 

the National Industrial Recovery Board, or other body or person 

designated by the President of the United States, and the Book 

Manufacturers' Institute and its properly appointed agents. The 

Book Manufacturers' Institute _ may delegate such functions as it 

may deem proper to regional or divisional associations or to cooperating associations and their executives. 

(e) This agency, the Book Manufacturers' Institute, imposes 

no inequitable restrictions on admission to membership and is 

truly representative of the book manufacturing industry and its 

subdivisions. 

LABOR PoLICIEs 

SEc. 3.-(a) In accord with Section 7 (a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act, all employers in the book manufacturing industry 

pledge themselves as a part and condition of this Code: . " ( 1) That employees shall have the right to organize and bargain 

collectively through representatives of their own choo ing, and shall 

be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of 

labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or 

in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose 

of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; (2) that 

no employee and no one seeking employment shall be required as a 

condition of employment to join any company union or to refrain 

from joining, organizing, or assi ting a labor organization of his 

own choosing; and (3) that employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and other conditions 

of employment, approved or prescribed by the President." 
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It is clearly understood that the foregoing paragraphs do not 

impair in any particular the constitutional rights of the employee 

and employer to bargain individually or collectively as may be 

mutually satisfactory to them; nor does it impair the joint right of 

employer and employee to operate an open shop. 

Nothing in this Code is to prevent the selection, retention, and 

advancement of employees on the basis of their individual merit, 

without regard to their affil]ation or nonaffiliat]on with any labor 

organization. 

(b) On and after the effective date, the minimum wage to be paid 

by employers in the book manufacturing industry to unskilled workers and apprentices for the first year of their apprenticeship shall 

be at the rate of $0.371j2 per hour for men and $0.30 per hour for 

women. 

(c) On and after the effectiYe date, no employer in this industry 

shall operate on a schedule of labor for his employees exceeding 

forty hours per week, except in the case of repair crews, office and 

supervisory staff, shippers, and messengers. No plant operated 

by any employer in this industry shall be operated more than eighty 

hours per week. In case of necessity, arising from an emergency 

or from the character of the work, or from the inability to obtain 

competent labor, permission may be granted by the Institute Administrator, upon proper showing being made, to exceed the foregoing limitation, provided such permission shall be granted only 

upon such conditions imposed by the Institute Administrator as will 

make certain that no employee will work more than 1,040 hours in 

any six months. 

(d) On and after the efftctive date, employers in this industry 

shall not employ any minor under the age of sixteen years. 

(e) Except in the case of minimum wages, labor scales and labor 

classifications shall be predicated upon the cost of living for equivalent living standards for employees of the same classification in 

the various localities. 

(f) Whenever necessary, modifications in these provisions relating to labor shall be made to keep them in Rarmony with similar 

provisions in such codes for other printing industries as may be 

adopted nationally, but such modifications shall not apply to employees in any edition and library binding departments. 

(g) Whenever it is found that importation of products of the 

book manufacturing industry affects adversely the maintenance of 

standards under this Code, this Institute shall so inform the President of the United States and request such action from. the Government as may be necessary to remedy such conditions. 

TRADE PRACTICES 

SEc. 4. (a) No provision in this Code may be administered in 

such a -way as to tend to promote monopolies or to eliminate or oppress or discriminate against any enterprise in this industry which 

is working in harmony with the provi ]ons of this Code, or in any 

industry to which it sells or from which it buys. 

(b) The following hall be considered unsound or unfair trade 

practices within the meaning of the National Industrial Recovery 

Act, and shall be subject, first to such penaltie · as may be pre cribed 
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by the Book Manufa turer ' In titute, and e ·on l, to the penalties 

pre cribed by the Act: 

1. Selling below co t (a letermined by method. a pproYe l by the 

Federal Admini trator). 

2. Offering or allowing any buyer any conce ion , bonu ·e~, rebates, sub idie , or privilege of any kind, wheth r in the form of 

money ervice , or otherwi e, except a may be authorized by the 

Admini trative Regulations. 

3. Extending credit term in exce of tho e which the In titute 

shall hereafter establish. 

4. Offering commercial bribes ]n any form, including exce · ive 

entertainment. 

5. Deceiving a cu tomer by making promi e impo ible of fulfillment or not intended to be kept, in order to get busine s. 

6. Using material , metho 1 of manufacture, and quality of workmanship inferior to those specified, without the knowledge and consent of the c.u tomer. 

7. Making fal e derogatory statement · in any form, about competitors or their products or methods. 

8. Failing or refu ing to afford equal term , price and advantages 

to all buyers imilarly situated, and permitting unfair discrimination to be made in merchandising terms, price or practice . 

9. Knowingly quoting a price to or accepting the work from a 

cu tomer who i found by the Institute Administrator to be guilty 

of deliberately trying to cause manufacturers to break down any 

standards of the inclu try or provisions of this Code, until a hearing 

has been held. 

10. Hiring away employees, transferring material , plate , or 

semifini heel products in poor condition, or hampering the operations of a competitor in any other way. 

(c) Provision shall be made immediately after the effecti Ye date 

for a comprehensive tudy of cost . Those plant having sound co tfincling systems shall so arrange their reports as to furnish comr arable information as to costs. Tho e plants without adequate costfinding systems hall be required to organize their cost accounting on 

a basis satisfactory to the Institute Administrator, within a time to 

be determined by him. 

ADMINISTRATION OF THis CoDE 

SEc. 5. (a) Upon the approval of this Code by the Industrial 

Recovery Board, every provi ion of thi Code hall apply without 

exception or discrimination to all in the indu try, including every 

officer an l employee of every plant. 

(b) Additions to, deletions from, and modifi ation , of this Code 

shall be made by majority vote of the Institute, a prescribed in its 

By-Law ·, ubject to the approval of the properly constituted GoYernment authority. 

(c) On behalf of th In -titute a agency of a lmini tration un<.l r 

Section 2 (d) of thi Code, the admini tration of thi Code hall be 

the function of the Administrator of the Institute, appointed as 

pre cribecl by the By-Law of the Institute, and such leputie ancl 

staff a he may elect. 
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(d) Detailed reo-ulation · nece sary to th(:: proper administration of 

the Code hall be prepared by the Administrator of the Institute, with the approval of the Board of Director of the Institute. 

(e) Such additional provi ions and sub idiary regulations as may 

be nece ary may be a lopted by and for any divisional or regional 

group of the industry, but no such additional provi ion or regulation may be uch a· to tend to affect ad' er ely any other divisional 

or regional group. 

(f) The Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, or such 

i11dividual or subcommittee as the Board may select, Hnd the Inf:titute Administrator, hall constitute the continuing medium for 

cooperation with the Government authorities in the administration 

of this Code. 

(g) Neither the Institute Administrator nor any member of his 

. taff may have any intere t, financial or otherwi e, direct or indirect, 

in the business of any book manufacturer. 

(h) For purposes of administration of this Code, whether specifically requested by the Government or not, the Institute Administrator shall require any and all in the industry to report such information as may be prescribed by the Act, the By-Laws of the 

Institute, or the regulatory control set up by the Institute, and failure 

to do so promptly and accurately shall constitute a violation of this 

Code. 

(i) In the event of any complaint and/ or dispute and/ or for the 

purpose of verifying any information furnished to the Institute 

Administrator, and subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, 

the Institute Administrator, his deputies, and his staff shall at all 

time ~aYe the right to examine the books of account, records, and 

files of all in the industry; but no information obtained shall be 

revealed to anyone but a member of the administrative staff or the 

proper Government authorities. 

(j) Specifically, the Institute Administrator is empowered to make 

a survey of the productive capacity of each plant and a census of 

equipment. 

In the case of replacement equipment, the Institute Administrator 

shall have the power to arrange for the scrapping or other disposal 

of the equipment displaced. 

In the case of additional equipment, he shall have the power to determine whether or not the proposed equipment is e sential to the 

proper operation of the plant, provided, however, that the m.ember 

affected may have recourse to an appeal to an arbitration board 

selected by himself and the Institute Administrator. 

(k) Violations of this Code, complaints, investigations, and penalties, shall be dealt with according to procedure to be establi heel in 

the Administrative Regulations and/ or the Industrial Recovery Act. 

RELATION WITH PURCHASERS AND VENDORS 

SEc. 6. (a) This industry recognizes the truth that its well-being 

is inseparably tied up with the well-being of those industrie. which 

buy from it and which seJ..l to it. Every effort will be made to the 

end that no provision of this Code shall be administered in any way 

which might be contrary to the ·otmd economic relation. between 

this indu try and those others. 
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6 3 1262 08855 7383 

(b) The Board of Directors shall set up such committees as may be 

necessary to maintain continuing cooperative contact and to undertake joint action with similar committees representing associations of 

customers and vendors. Such committees shall formulate trade customs. When those customs are approved by the Administrator of 

the Institute and a majority of the Board of Directors they shall 

become part of this Code, with the full force thereof. 

(c) The Institute shall set up uch bureaus a may be needed to 

guide the granting of credit, and all customers shall be requir d to 

file with these bureaus uch information a may be leemed necessary, 

before any member shall enter into any transaction involving credit 

with such proposed customer, after the effective date of this Code. 

It shall be a violation of this Code to encourage irresponsible publishers or other customers, by granting price concessions, terms in 

excess of the established standard, or indulging in any trade practice 

that will be detrimental to the established publishers or customers. 

(d) During this emergency period and during the life of this 

Code, it shall be improper for a book manufacturer to give a firm 

quotation, and it shall be a violation of this Code for a book manufacturer to offer a quotation without a covering clause protecting 

him against increased costs due to increased costs of materials and 

such increased labor costs as may result from any provision of this 

Code. 

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