The Washington times., 1919-09-09

draft conventions will be discussed
much as q bill 10 debated in Con-
gress or any State assembly. II a
draft treaty is adopted by two-thirds
majority then every State OF the In
ternationhi Labor Conference must
lay such treaty before its parliament
or legislative assembly. II its parlia-
mem approves the treaty then the
state must carry Il ouc by passing
the necessary laws.
The Washington conferences will
deal with four main subjects:
The eight-hour day or forty-eight-
hour week
i Unemployment.
Il The conditions Of women's employ
ment.
children.
A mass Of data has been prepared
outlining the situation in each Of the
forty-hve countries which will be
represented as to the four points.
Thus, each delegate will be able to
view not only the conditions AFFECT
ing his own country. but also those
Affecting other nations. From data
prepared each delegate will get a
bird's-eye view Of the world labor
situation on any given subject
BooE VIII He Permanent
i The international Labor Council
viii have q permanent headquarters,
with stan sufficient to gather and
distribute data on any topic affecting
labor in any and ali Of the countries.
This central world-labor office will
be under direction of a governing
body OF tWenty-four. Of whom six
will be elected by labor and six by
employers. 1t is likely that head
Iquarters win be established in Lon
don.
As regards the forty-eight- hour
week and conditions of womens en-
ployment, Great Britain win be able
tc show an enViable record, for the
government already has determined
to make the eight-hour day national,
except in agricultural, domestic serv-
lee and sea-transport industries. And
legislation recently was enacted
making Women's conditions Of service
on a par with male workers in the
various trades.
Heretofore there have been ''inter-
national labor meetings. with from
| six 20 fifteen nations represented.
| The recent SociaIist-Labor confer
ence ct Berne was an example. There
the political end OF the labor move
ment held sway. Then there was an
international trades union meeting at
Amsterdam. Samuel Gompers attend
ed that The meeting essentially
was to form an organization not
dominated as in the past, by the Ger
| mans. But there has been no move
In the past to bring the state, the
i employers and the workers together
in an international meeting. whose
deliberations and resolutions would
be worth more than the paper they
were written on.
Seeks To Lift Labor.
! The international labor conference,
whose success depends upon the en-
thusiasm accorded It by both labor
and employers, seeks to lift the
social civilization OF the world to a
/ higher general level. This confer
ence hopes to secure minimum con-
! ditions Of life and well-being to the
| workers all over the world In the
I past social and Industrial progress
has often been hindered BY the fear
| Of individual states that improve
ment in industrial and social con-
\ ditiOns Of their workers could only
be had by the loss OF trade in the
international market, which in the
end would prove ruinous.
The international Labor Confer
ence is the machinery whereby stimuli
taneous improvements can be carried
out with little detriment to any of
the nations and with great benefits
to the workers everywhere.
The permanency Of the conference
is one Of its chief assets, for here
tofore when psuedo-international
meetings on labor were held IL was
difficult to reassemble the delegates
at q later date, and it was only the
urgency OF some particularly fla
grant labor condition that made such
conferences feasible in an intermit-
tent way.
VIII Raise New Questions.
The conferences permanent head
quarters will be charged with inVes-
tigation OF questions OF international
interest, constantly, and therefore, by
research, will bring new problems |
into the sphere Of international ad-
justment The old system was hap
hazard and got things down only
when outraged public opinion backed
up the labor leaders. The new sys-
tenn is to be an instrument Of posi-
tive and constant progress. In the
past public opinion forced abandon
ment OF such practices as phosphor-
Gus poisoning. The new plan will be
the international watchdog against
dangerous processes Of manufacture.
or unsuitable conditions of work for
men, women, or children
All questions at the conference Will
be decided by a bare majority ex-
cept the final approval Of conventions
or treaties, which must have a two
thirds vote. The delegates can bring
up any question they desire-the four
subjects outlined are simply to start
the ball rolling"
Use Two Languages.
The sessions. will be rather tedious.
since both English and French will
be used, everything being translated
In both languages. as at the Peace
There is little doubt that the moral
force behind the decisions Of such a
gathering as this con-
ference will be will insure that its
decisions will be adopted by the ma
Iority Of the countries. Few govern
nents could AFFORD to oppose the de-
nand Of labor for enactment Of such
measures as the conference would
II the legislation necessary to give
eject to a ratified treaty is not pass
ID by any country, or II its observ-