FOR RELEASE: AM Editions 

Friday, July 23, 1965 

MONTHLY LABOR REVIEI, 

CELEBRATES 50TH YEAR 

WITH SPECIAL ISSUE 

USDL 6664 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

961-2327 

The Monthly Labor Review, the government's oldest magazine, today 

celebrated its 50th birthday. It is published by the Labor Department's 

Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

In a golden anniversary issue, the Review, a professional journal 

specializing in industrial relations and labor economics, included a 

64-page special section containing articles by 13 nationally prominent 

experts in the field; a selection of reprints from past issues spanning 

the period from the Taft administration to the present; a history of 

the journal; samples of how the Review's coverage of a variety of topics 

changed over the years; and a selection of congratulatory letters from 

a large group of editors and publishers" government officials, and labor 

and management representatives. 

The "regularll issue of the Review, with its usual complement of 

articles, court decisions, histories of important recent labor developments, book reviews, and 40-page statistical section followed the anniversary section. 

Following are quotes from the 13 essays by non-government experts, 

with title and authorship identified: 
·'-....-/. 

LABOR DEPT.--Nonth1y Labor Review Celebrates 50th Year: 

7! 26/ 65 --Page 2 

There is a general l a ck of appreciation of the ro l e 

of labor organizations and collective bargaining i n l: L" 

American corrnnunity., The popular view is that unions exist 

to mitigate abuse by managements and to compel wage ga i ns . 

It is dangerous to Ameri can democ r a c y t o have the 

deeper significance of one of its basic institutions so 

little understood. 

John T. Dunlop, Professor of 

Economics, Harv~rd Uni versity 

"The Unfinished Task" 

By the 1960' s I as in the 1920 ' 8/ a g reat public concer;) 

had onc e again aris;n over the benefits and problemr, i ni: i ... 

dent t o automation and other techn~l ogical advances 0 0 .. • 

nne cannot assert that the goals Ifar ameliorating t he e f fe c t s 

of automation and pr eserv ing huma~ values7 . .. <> haVe been 

full y achieved.. There can be no doubt, however, abou t the 

.. • • determination to achieve' them. 

George W. Taylor, Profe ssor of 

Industry , Un iversity o f Penns;'1vania 

liOn Change -and Values" 

• • • Thousands of businesses are going to rise and 

fall on the ability of managers to respond to change . Ob solescence of skills and occupatio~s, products and material s , 

r egional economies and jobs 0 •• \vill continue 0 <) 0 The 

adjustments will no t be easy • 0. • Yet much accommodation 

i s necessary if we are t o avoid an a t titude of resif:ltanc e 

o • • Government polic y and collective bargaining cs 

"ill necess arily seek methods of accommodation and experi.-

ment designed t o ease the human consequences of change 0 ~ • 

William Haber, Dean of the Liter" cy 

College,· University of Michigan 

I1Change is the Taslanaster" 

•••• Consider the following Lfrom the July 1927 Revie';:!l : 

1115 the machine that turns out wealth also ~ ~ 0 giving us a 

permanent jobless class? Is prosperity going to double back 

on itself and bri ng us social distress?" While it mi ght be 

reassuring to reflect t hat technical change, like sex, is not 

a_discovery of our genera t;ion,_another plus c~ change the:tte 

Ifrom the February 1918 Re v ie,,1 ••• is ominous: "Nost 0: 

the Negroes I;;;igrating north for higher wages and "be tter 

treatment" f;und7" considerable prejudice . • II ." 

- Lloyd Ulman, Director, Inst i t ute of 

Industrial Re lations, Unive rsity of 

california, Berkeley 

liThe Constancy o( Problems" 
LABOR DEPT.--Honthly Labor Review Celebrates 50th Year 

7/26/65--Page 3 

••• New and accelerating forces with the strength 

of giants twist and wrench the American economy and its 

social structure "Automation," the "new leisure,1I IIpockets 

of poverty," the"unemployables," "community action,JI 

"economic !!evelopment," ~-these are a few of the shorthan!! phrases that masquera!!e the new forces. But it is 

illumination, not masquerade, that is needed . 

Harold Enarson, Academic Vice 

President, University of New Mexico 

"Relevance is the Testll 

••• We will need not only greater ability to forecast the nature of the changes ahead but also greater 

willingness to experiment ••• sufficiently ahead of 

time • • • For the resolution of pressing social and 

economic problems will not always wait • • • 

John Post, Special Assistan t t o 

the Chairman of the Board, 

Continental Oil Company 

IILook to the Future" 

• 

I think it is quite evident that the organized labor 

movement today, strong as it may still be ••• faces an 

increasing crisis because of its inability to solve the 

adaptive problems arising out of the many-faceted changes 

in the nature of the work force and the changing patterns 

of work. 

Daniel Bell, Professor of Socio l ogy 

Columbia University 

"The Limitations of Structure'l 

It may be that arbitration's past successes were 

attributable, in part, to the relative humbleness of its 

role. • •• Arbitration can be weakened by freighting it 

with public law questions which, in our system, should be 

decided by courts and administrative agencies. ••• Voluntariam is a fragile flower. Arbitration is a consensual 

procedure. It might not survive the requirement that it 

do what is is not equipped to do with distinction. 

Peter Seitz, Professional Arbitrator 

"The Lirili ts of Arbi ~ration" . 
LABOR DEPT.--Monthly Labor Review Celebrates 50th Year 

7/26/65--Page 4 

• •• Tomorrow's citizen ••• will have to deal with 

labor policy as an integral part of economic policy • • • 

The working consistency between the various sources achieved 

by shrewd analysts was perhaps tolerable in the days when 

we defined an ideal economy as anarchy plus a constable. 

But in today's world ••• prudent action (and prudent inaction) will require a giant step forward • • • 

Stanley Lebergott, Professor of 

Economics, Wesleyan University 

"Fifty Years On" 

• • • Government journalism was born in the Victorian 

era, and the moral values have apparently carried over; 

plainness is not necessary to a lady's virtue, but it 

certainly helps • • • No case can be made /ior eschewing 

discussion of vital issues in government journaliT now when 

the government reaches into every corner of our economic 

and social life , • • The need is nowhere more conspicuous 

than in the field of industrial relations • • • 

George Brooks, Professor of Industrial 

Relation~, Cornell University 

"On the Propriety of Progress" 

• • • The material in the Review is the first place 

to look for factual statements about the vast array of experience cast up by events in the world of • • • industrial 

relations. This. • • is a good image and a highly useful 

role. What can be said against this approach? Well, mainly 

that it leads to dull reading. 

George P. Shultz, Dean, Graduate School 

of Business, University of Chicago 

"On the Progress of Propriety" 

• • • It is precisely because the Review has not confined itself narrowly to statistical studies that it has 

surviv~d without atrophying ••• Labor economics is not p 

static field. Practitioners can learn from • • 0 what some 

believe to be less scientific disciplines. If the material 

••• meets the standards of the Review, it is worth- bringing 

to the attention of those who have found this journal a source 

book of facts and educated opinion. 

Donald M. Irwin, Manager, 

Personnel Research and Planning 

Chrysler -Corporation 

"Survival Formula" , 
LABOR DEPT.--Monthly Labor Review Celebrates 50th Year 

7/26/65--Page 5 

••• The new technological revolution, the rapid 

growth of our urban population, the great strides toward 

the capacity to produce abundance, the changes in employment, the nature of jobs, and the location of industry are 

mere indications of the issues that confront uS o 

Nat Goldfinger, Director, 

Department of Research, AFL-CIO 

"Work Plan" 

Among the articles in the "regular" issue are: 

"Trade Union Positions on Government Ownership," by 

Peter Henle, BLS, a tracing of generally pro-private 

ownership philosophy of American labor. 

"Interindustry Employment Effects," by Jack Altennan, 

BLS, a consideration of what effect a billion dollars of 

input in any given industry will have on the employment of 

other industries--culmination of a 3-year study, 

"Poverty: The Word and the Reality," by Helen Lamale, 

BLS, a new attempt to define the concept of poverty, using 

the consumption patterns of families and individuals under 

varying circumstances. 

"Coinage, Commodities, and Count Carli," by Arthur 

Sackley, BLS, a description of the first price index, compiled in the 18th century with surprisingly modern methods 

by an Italian mathematician, 

~: Facts on the Monthly Labor Review as a publication are attached, 
LABOR DEPT.--Monthly Labor Review Celebrates 50th Year 

7 / 26/65--Page 6 

FACTS ABOUT THE MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW 

The Review is one government publication that earns a large 

part of its own keep. It sells 8,000 annual subscriptions at 

$7.50 and from 4,000 to 10,000 single copies at 75 cents each. 

There is a small free list that covers government officials. 

* * * 

About 60 percent of the paid circulation (excluding libl'aries) 

go to top management (mostly a t the leve l of personnel director 

and above). 

* * * 

Review readers are exceptionally interested in the publication. A readership survey concluded in April drew a nearly 85 

percent response. A full quarter of the paid subscribers have 

been taking the publication for 16 or more years; half have been 

subscribers for 10 years or longer. 

* * * 

The Review won awards from the American Institute of 

Graphic Arts Magazine Show two years running, the only government 

journal invited to compete. Its present typography was selected 

and the design of its format conceived in 1947 by Professor 

Charles Pollock of the Art Department of Michigan State University. 

He is a brother of the late Jackson Pollock. 

* * * 

Since its inception in 1915 the Review has had only four editors.· 

* * * 

Because of its reputation for objectivity and factual reliability in presentation, the Review is often the reference poi~t 

in collective bargaining documentations. This has made it 

referred to as "the bible of industrial relations." 

* * * 
LAEOR DEPT.--Monthly Labor Review Celebrates 50th Year 

~ 7/26/65--Page 7 

Typically, it carries' between 120 and 128 pages. The "regular" 

issue which is published just behind the special section of the 

anniversary is representative of its usual contents and organization. In addition to the statistical section carried monthly at 

the back of the book, the Review published a detailed statistical 

supplement based on statistical data issued by all government labor 

agencies. 

* * * 

The letters beginning on page 765 reflect something of the 

character of its circulation and the esteem in which readers hold 

the Review.