The Washington herald., 1918-06-27
30RLAND BILL
DAMNABLE--
GOMPERS
labor, Civil Service and
Other Officials Stand
Aghast.
APPEALING TO WILSON
TO VETO S-HOUR LAW
Claim Is Measure Will Drive
Thousands from Cap
ital Service.
HOPE FOR PRESIDENTS VETO
AFTER ARGUMENTS OFFERED
Protest Meeting to eB Held Sunday
in Masonic Temple at 3
O'clock P. M.
TO WILSON
TO VETO S-HOUR LAW
HOPE FOR PRESIDENTS VETO
AFTER ARGUMENTS OFFERED

Appeal to President Wilson for a
~quare deal and q living wage will
e the opening gun in the determined
light the National Federation Of Fed
eral Employees intend to wage against
the Borland amendment, passed by
the House yesterday. Only the sigma
ture Of the President now Is needed
to make the bill a law.
Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation of Labor, char
acterized the amendment as "damna-
BILE" in the present crisis, and authori-
ties in the Department of Labor, the
Civil Service Commission, and other
departments Of the government were
aghast at the probable consequences
of the act in driving clerks and other
employees from the service.
Hope d PresIdent
Tho great hopes of the clerks now
Is the President. In many quarters
1T was declared ne would veto the bill
when 1t came before him because of
the obnoxious amendment Should he
do so. Congress would probably repass
the bill with little delay, minus the
provision that would force govern
ment workers to add to their working
hours with no additional pay.
From his speeches, his general
attitude toward labor problems, this
declaration of a living wage for. all
rather than a minimum set by COM
petition. the Federation of Govern
ment Employees feels that he will
veto the bill.
To be sure that the bill is thor
oughly understood. the committee
will wait on President Wilson to ex-
plain that the Bo.land amendment
ads an hour t. The minimum time
an employ" st put in each day or
adds fourteen per cent to his work.
ing time while the $12o adds very
little more than the five and ten
per cent increase of last year.
President Wilson will also be
shown that the government is in
sistent that throughout the country
all employees in munition factories,
shipyards, arsenals and all indus
trial concerns working on govern
ment contracts. shall pay overtime
wages for all work over the eight
hour day.
Is the government employe, espe-
cially the one who has given up
much to help the government and
has suffered by the prof1teering of
Washington. less than a human be-
ing? asks the National Federation.
Samuel Gompers, of the American
Federation of Labor, will probably
aid in calling the matter to the
attention of the President who is
the friend of labor.
"DamnabIe," says Gompers.
1T is damable." said Mr.. Gompers
in his office in the American Feder-
alton OF Labor Building, when ask
ed concerning the Borland bill,
1T is damnable that the mini
mum of time should be raised now
when every one Is working up to
capacity and there is need for aid
ing the workers"
The instigator of the bill he char
acterized as that upstart BorIand.
from Kansas, who pretended to be
the friend of labor and who was
now stabbing it in the back"
If the President should not veto
the bill, and authorities on the hill
say he will not. then a campaign
for additional pay for the overtime
work will be waged by the National
Federation. Employees who will not
receive the raise-and thousand
will not-and who will also lose
the and 10 per cent increase of
last year, will only be compelled
to work seven hours. These en-
ployes should receive time and a
half for all overtime work, the
National Federation of Labor holds
The authorities at the Department
Of Labor yesterday were aghast at
the bill
Calls 1t Infamous.
It was characterized as infamous
by Samuel Gompers, chief clerk of
the Department of Labor, who was
in despair as to how workers could
be obtained or how the bill could
be applied in the department..
We would have to close the De-
partment Of Labor" said he, "if the
government should say that clerks
were to work but eight hours. The
clerks work here ten, twelve, four
teen hours; hey work Sundays and
all night and with never a cent of
extra pay. We could not get along
with but eight hours a day for each
clerk. If a clerk works an hour
less than seven hoprs any day now
he has it taken out of his pay"
TT is going to make 1t exceed
CONTINUED ON PAeE'rwo.