The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-04-24
A Labor Bureau.

On Saturday last, i've hours DEBATE III
the House resulted in the passage OF bill
to establish Bureau of Labor Statistics,
which is one of the series Of labor bills
which had been made the special order for
Saturday. 1t was claimed that the need
for bureau of this kind was found in the
constant and growing demand for authentic
information concerning the wages paid in
various departments of industry, the cost
of living, the relations of capital to labor,
and a thousand questions affecting the
material, sanitary. social, and moral condi-
tions of laboring people.
Mr.. Hopkins, of Pennsylvania, from the
Committee on Labor, held that the estab-
ment of trustworthy tribunal to deter
mine the controverted facts, which he be-
lieyed the Bureau of Labor Statistics
would be, essential to enable our national
legislators to reach correct conclusions
upon the tariff problem, which will agitate
the industries Of the country for years to
come. Mr.. Hopkins incidentally held that
the value Of the report of the Tariff Com
mission was marred by the composition Of
the commission and the hurried manner
in which it was obliged to take ex parte
testimony, voluntarily offered. The OPP
ponents Of the bill, led by Mr.. Blount, of
Georgia, claimed that the proposed bureau
would be powerful force to lead political
thought in one direction on economic
questions, and in this respect would not
be an improvement on the Tariff Com
mission. 1t was also urged that it would
be used by capital to discover new methods
of reducing wages and expressing the
poor. The State rights argument was also
advanced in opposition, but was met by
recalling the fact that the Bureau of Ed
ucatien. already in operation, was open to
the same objection.
I "a number of members of the. House
| favored a proposition to attach the Labor
Bureau to the Department of Agriculture,
but this was defeated, and, as passed, the
bill makes it a bureau independent OF all
of the executive departments, to be con-
Quoted by Commissioner appointed for
flour years, at an annual salary of $4,000,
| with an allowance of $4,000 to cover all
expenses of collecting the statistics and
other information prescribed. Mr.. Bland,
| of Missouri, insisted upon an amendment
providing that the President Of the Knights
of Labor should be the Commissioner and
Mr.. Weller, Of Iowa, asked for the adop-
tion Of an amendment requiring the Pres
ident to select the Commissioner from a
list of names to be presented by commit
tee of the Confederation of Labor" Mr..
Weller was persuaded to withdraw his
proposition and Mr.. Bland's received only
few votes. Afterward Mr.. Spriggs moved
a proviso that the Commissioner be re-
quired to be amember of a trades-union OF
of some labor organization, but this met
the same fate.
Mr.. Morr ison sent up tosthe desk to be
read a newspaper slip containing letter
from Samuel j. Tilden, written in 1855,
in which the author made it more clear
that he was opposed to protective duties
than he did in his recent letter to the Iro-
quois Club. Mr.. O'Neil, of Missouri, re-
marked that that was a singular way for
one candidate for the Presidency to try to
kill off another. After some further dis
cussion the bill passed by a vote of 1872 to
10, all of the negative votes being cast by
Democrats.
1t is a noteworthy fact that whenever q
proposition intended to favor the interests
of the farmers or the laboring men comes
up before Congress, it receives the sup
port of Republicans throughout, whilst
the opposition to it invariably comes from
the Democratic side. The record as made
upon the introduction of the Morrison
bill, the effect of which would be to de-
grade labor upon the Converse wool bill,
and upon the measure to which we refer
above, all point Enthusiastically to the party
to which, and to which alone the people
can look for help and support. Let the
working men think of these things and
remember them when they go to deposit
their ballots.