637-1 Registry No. 1698-04 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

PROPOSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION , 

FOR THE 

LOOSE LEAF 

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY 

ASfSUBMITTED ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1933 

WI DO OUR PART 

-. -- ' 

The Code for the Loose Leaf 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 approval of 

the National Recovery Administration 

as applying to this industry 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1§33 

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For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - - - Price 5 cen ts 

CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE LOOSE LEAF 

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY 

SECOND DRAFT AUGUST 17, 1933 

To effectuate the policy of Title I of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, the following provisions are established as the 

National Industrial Recovery Code of Fair Competition for the 

Loose Leaf Manufacturing Industry. 

ARTICLE I-DEFINITIONS 

The term "Loose Leaf Manufacturing Industry", as used herein, 

is defined to mean the manufacture of loose-leaf devices and supplies. 

The term "person", as used herein, shall include natural persons, 

partnerships, and corporations. The term "member", as used 

herein, means any person who shall have signified his or its assent 

to this Code. The term "Executive Director", as used herein, shall 

mean the person then holding the position of Executive Director of 

the Loose Leaf Manufacturers Institute. The term " employer ", as 

used herein, shall include every person promoting or actively engaged 

in the manufacture for sale of loose-leaf devices and supplies. The 

term "employees", as used herein, shall mean all persons directly 

engaged in production of the products of said industry. The term 

"effective date", as used herein, is defined to be the second Monday 

after the date this Code shall have been approved by the President. 

ARTICLE II-MEMBERSHIP IN THE CODE 

The Loose Leaf Manufacturing Industry imposes no inequitable 

restrictions on membership in this Code. All manufacturers of 

loose-leaf devices and supplies in the United States, regardless of 

size or form of organization, are invited to become members of the 

Code and to have a voice and to participate equitably in the administration thereof and in the promotion of industrial recovery and 

may become a member by signing the form set forth at the end of 

this Code. 

ARTICLE III-VOTING PRIVILEGES 

SECTION 1. Each member shall, prior to the first meeting of the 

members of this Code, or upon his assuming membership therein, 

certify to the Executive Director under oath, the total net wholesale 

value of domestic shipments of all loose-leaf devices and supplies for 

the calendar year preceding the date of such meeting or election to 

membership. 

SEc. 2. The voting power of the members of this Code shall be 

determined as follows : 

9657-33 (]) 
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A Class A member is one the value of whose shipments, as defined 

in Section 1, is less than one fifth of the highest value reported by 

any member for such year. Each Class A member shall be entitled 

to one vote. 

A Class B member is one the value of whose shipments thus 

reported is more than one fifth, but less than two fifths, of such 

highest value reported. Each Class B member shall be entitled to 

two votes. 

A Class C member is one the value of whose shipments thus 

reported is more than two fifths, but less than three fifths of such 

highest value reported. Each Class C member shall be e~titled to 

three votes. 

A Class D member is one the value of whose shipments thus 

reported is more than three fifths, but less than four fifths, of such 

highest value reported. Each Class D member shall be entitled to 

four votes. 

A Class E member is one the value of whose shipments thus 

reported is four fifths of the highest value, or more. Each Class E 

member shall be entitled to five votes . 

. The Executive Director shall certify to each member his designat10n of the class of such member, but shall make no disclosure of the 

specific data upon which such designation is fixed. 

ARTICLE IV-ADMINISTRATION OF THE CODE 

For the purpose of effectuating the policies of Title ~ of the 

National Industrial Recovery Act and of securing the execution and 

enforcement within the industry of the provisions of this Code of 

Fair Competition, there shall be a Code Committee elected by and 

from the representatives of the members of this Code. Such Code 

Committee is invested with such powers and functions as may be 

necessary for the proper administration of this Code and is responsible for such administration. It may prescribe and require the 

keeping of such records and accounting methods by the members of 

this Code as will facilitate the effective administration thereof. It 

may require periodic written reports from the members, containing 

such information as the Committee may deem necessary in the 

premises. It may make or cause to be made investigations into the 

operation of the Code. It may make such rules and regulations, and 

exercise all such other powers, as may be necessary to administer the 

Code, pursuant to the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery 

Act. It may delegate such powers as it shall deem expedient to 

persons, agents, or committees designated by it. In the event that 

the members of this Code shall fail or omit to elect such Code Committee, the members of the Executive Committee of the Loose Leaf 

Manufacturers Institute shall act as such Code Committee. The 

National Recovery Administration is expressly authorized to deputize the Code Committee, named herein and/or the Executive Director 

to do and perform such acts as may be necessary to carry into effect 

the purpose and intent of this Code. 

ARTICLE V-EXPENSE OF ADMINISTERING CODE 

The expense of initiating and administering this Code shall be 

borne by the members. Such expenses shall be apportioned equitably 
among such members by the Code Committee. The apportionment 

may be made on the basis of sales in the United States by such 

members for a specified period of time, or upon such other equitable 

basis as the Code Committee may determine. 

ARTICLE VI-HOURS OF w ORK 

SECTION 1. On and after the effective date, employers in the Loose 

Leaf Manufacturing Industry shall not operate in their manufacturing operations on a schedule of hours of labor for their employees 

directly engaged in the production of merchandise in excess of an 

average of forty hours per week per shift during any six months 

period and shall not employ any person under 16 years of age. 

SEc. 2. Office and salaried employees, except outside salesmen, machine and emergency repair-shop crews, engineers, electricians, firemen, supervisory staff, shipping, watching, and cleaners, receiving 

less than $35.00 per week, shall work not more than 48 hours in any 

one week, and not more than 1,040 hours in any six months' period. 

SEc. 3. 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 Executive Committee, or 

its authorized agent, upon proper showing being made, to exceed 

the foregoing limitation, provided such permission shall be granted 

only upon such conditions imposed by the Executive Committee, or 

its authorized agent, as will make certain that no employee will 

work more than 1,040 hours in any six months. 

ARTICLE VII-WAGES 

SECTION 1. On and after the effective date, the minimum wage that 

shall be paid by the employers in the Loose Leaf Manufacturing 

Industry to any of their employees directly engaged in the production of merchandise shall be at the rate of 40 cents per hour for men 

and 30 cents per hour for women and that incidental labor and learners may be paid not less than 80% of such minimum wage, but the 

total amount paid to such incidental labor and learners shall not 

exceed in any calendar month 10% of the total wage to employees 

directly engaged in producing merchandise. 

SEc. 2. The minimum wage that shall be paid by employers in 

this industry to accounting, clerical, office, and sales employeesexcept outside salesmen-shall be not less than $15.00 per week in 

any city of over 500,000 population, or less than $14.50 in any city 

between 250,000 and 500,000 population, or less than $14.00 in any 

city of between 2,500 and 250,000 population, and in towns of less 

than 2,500 population, not less than $12.00 per week. 

ARTICLE VIII-RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES AND CONDITIONS OF 

EMPLOYMENT 

SECTION 1. Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain 

collectively through repre entatives of their own choosing, anrl shal] 

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

labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in 
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self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose 

of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. 

SEc. 2. No employee and no one seeking employment shall be re• 

quired as a condition of employment to join any company union or 

to refrain from joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization 

of his own choosing. 

SEC. 3. Employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, 

minimum rates of pay, and other conditions of employment, ap• 

proved or prescribed by the President. 

SEc 4. It is clearly understood that the foregoing paragraphs do 

not impair in any particular the constitutional rights of 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. 

ARTICLE IX-PRICE PUBLIOATION 

SECTION 1. Each member shall, within ten days after the effective 

date of this Code, publish and continue to publish as changes are 

made: (a) list prices for all its standard lines of loose-leaf devices 

and supplies offered for sale; (b) the dates when such prices become 

effective, which date shall not be less than ten days after date of 

such publication, except in case of the first publication, which shall 

show prices then in effect; and ( c) discounts and terms allowed, or 

net prices charged to various designated classes of customers. 

SEc. 2. Publication as referred to in this Code shall not be deemed 

fulfilled until a sufficient number of certified copies of the lists to be 

published shall have been received at the office of the Executive Director for his own use and for the requirements of the Code Committee. 

SEc. 3. Failure to publish or to continue to publish, as changes are 

made, any or all of the aforesaid information, or to publish false or 

fictitious prices, discounts, or terms for any item so listed is an unfair 

method of competition and a violation of this Code. 

SEo. 4. No special item of loose-leaf devices or supplies which is 

not covered by the published list of prices of the n1ember shall be 

sold or offered for sale at net prices, discounts, or terms more favorable to the purchaser than the published prices, discounts, and terms 

of any member of a stock item of comparable grade. 

SEc. 5. The Code Committee or the Executive Director shall have 

power on its or his own initiative or on the complaint of any member 

of the Code to investigate any published price of any product filed 

with the Executive Director by any member of the Code, and for the 

purpose of the investigation thereof to require such member to furnish such information concerning the cost of manufacturing such 

product as the Code Committee shall deem necessary or proper for 

such purpose. 

SEC. 6. If the Code Committee or the Executive Director after 

such investigation shall determine that such published price is an 

unfair price for such product, having regard to the cost of manufacturing such product, and that the maintenance of such unfair );rice 

may result in unfair competition in the Industry, the Code Committee or the Executive Director may reguire the member of the 

Code that filed the list in which such unfair price was shown to file 
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a new list showing a fair price for such product, which fair price 

shall become effective i1nmediately upon the filing of such list. If 

such member of the Code shall not within ten days after notice of 

such determination by the Code Committee or the Executive Director 

file a new list showing such fair price for such product, the Code 

Committee shall have power to fix a fair price for such product, which fair price, however_,, shall not be more than the price of any 

other member of this Cocte at that time effective for such product. 

SEc. 7. The Code Committee may, for the purpose of executing this 

Code and to insure fair competition, require each member to submit 

to it or to the Executive Director specifications and samples of every 

item offered for sale, and shall have the power to assign each of said 

items to its proper classification. 

SEo. 8. When an unsuccessful bidder feels that the successful bidder has quoted an unfair price, he may demand that the successful 

bidder shall show the specifications and prices of the order to the 

Executive Director, who shall determine whether any infraction of 

the Code has been committed. The Executive Director shall have 

authority to obtain from other bidders all information they shall 

have concerning the work and their negotiations concerning same. 

ARTICLE X-UNF.AIR TR.ADE PRACTICES 

The Code Committee may prescribe such equitable regulations and 

take such action thereunder as will insure fair competition. Such 

regulations will in all cases conform with the Industrial Recovery 

Act or any supplementary ruling issued by the President concerning 

the application of said Act. 

For all purposes of the Code the following described acts shall 

constitute unfair practices: 

A. Making or promising to any purchaser or prospective purchaser of any product, or to any officer, employee, agent, or representative of any such purchaser or prospective purchaser, any bribe, 

gratuity, gift, or other payment or remuneration, directly or indirectly. 

B. Procuring, otherwise than with the consent of any member 

of the Code, any information concerning the business of such member which is properly regarded by it as a trade secret or confidential 

within its organization, other than information relating to a violation of any provision of the Code. 

C. Imitating or simulating any drawing, sketch, trade mark, or 

brand used by any other member of the Code. 

D. Using or substituting any material superior in quality to that 

specified by the purchaser of any product as a means of price cutting 

or using or substituting any inferior grade of material tending to 

deceive the purchaser. 

E. Canceling in whole or in part, or permitting the cancellation 

in whole or in part of, any contract of sale of any product, except 

for a fair consideration, or paying or allowing to any purchaser in 

connection with the sale of any product any rebate, commission, credit, discount, adjustment, or similar concession other than as is 

permitted by the Code and specified in the contract of sale . . F .. Dissemi!1ating, p_ublishing, or circulating any false or misleading 1nformat10n relative to any product or price for any product 
6 1111111111m1l\11i1~11\(II i1111i1\ 11~1\ [1~illill111111111 3 1262 08584 3174 

of any member of the Code, or the credit standing or ability of 

any member thereof to perform any work or manufacture or produce · any product, or to the conditions of employment among the employees of any member thereof. 

G. Inducing or attempting to induce by any means any party to 

a contract with a member of the Code to violate such contract. 

H. Aiding or abetting any person, firm, association, or corporation in any unfair practice. 

I. Making or giving to any purchaser of any product any guaranty 

or protection in any form against decline in the market price of 

such product. 

J. Stating in the invoice of any product as the date theerof a date 

later than the date of the shipment of such product, or including 

in any invoice any produce shipped on a date earlier than the date 

of such invoice. 

K. Making any sale or contract of_ sale of any product under any 

description which does not fully describe such product in terms customarily used in the Industry. · L. Rendering to any purchaser of any product in or in connection 

with the sale of such product any service, unless fair compensation 

for such service shall be paid by such purchaser. 

M. Selling below cost, as determined by methods approved by the 

Federal Administration. 

N. Any violation of any other provision of the Code (whether or 

not therein expressed to be such, or using or employing any practice 

not hereinabove described which the Code Committee shall have 

declared to be a practice that would tend to defeat the policy of 

Title I of the National I ndustrial Recovery Act and, therefore, an 

unfair practice, and of which determination by such Committee, 

the Executive Director shall have given notice to the members of the 

Code and to the President. 

ARTICLE XL- GENERAL PROVISIONS 

SECTION 1. Modification of Oode.-This Code, or any of its provisions, shall be canceled or modified, and any approved rule issued 

thereunder shall be ineffective to the extent necessary to conform to 

any action by the President under Rule 10 (b) of the National Industrial Recovery Act in cancellation or modification of any order, 

approval, license, rule, or regulation pertaining thereto. 

SEc. 2. Violation of Oode.- Violation of any of the provisions of 

this Code, or any of the rules and regulations established thereunder 

by any person, is an unfair method of competition, subject to the 

penalties provided in the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

SEc. 3. A1nend,1nents to Oode.- This Code may be am.ended by a 

two-thirds affirmative vote of the members of this Code, provided 

that the amendment is approved by the Code Committee and the 

President. 

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