The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1933-02-18
Our Government
How Il Operates
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
By Walian, Brucknrt

| THERE is every evidence that
L when, in 1913, congress passed
law creating the Department of
Labor, few of those who we're
most yOciferous in support of the
proposal had any conception of
what the new department of the
I government was to do. A review
of the debates of the time indicates
rather clearly that somebody want
ed to do something for labor, but
they did not know exactly what that
something should be.
So | am prepared to say that it
was the administrative officers who
have filed the several posts from
secretary of labor down the line of
rank who have made the Depart
ment of Labor something of value.
Some of those observers who
watched proceedings when congress
enacted the law tell me that the
movement had every appearance of
a sop" to organized labor, and IL
their conclusion be true, it certain
| ly can be said now that the legis-
Iators builded much better than
they knew.
The law which those legislators
passed said the Department of La
Dor was to promote the interests of
labor, of the working people Of the
! country, that their working condi-
tons might be improved and that
their opportunities might be adj
yanced. While i still entertain
| some doubt concerning what con-.
gress. thought this would mean, 1t
has become quite evident that it is
possible for the great intangible
thing, called government, to act in
very personal capacity when &C.
casions require. 1t has so acted
through the Department of Labor.
Here is an Illustration:
In a great textile mill of New
England, the workers clamored for
better conditions; they wanted
shorter working hours; they want
ed assurance that they would not
be dismissed without notice; they
wanted certain agreements with the
owners as to the rates of pay, and
they sought an agreement with their
employers to reach these under
standings through a committee of
their own numbers. The employers
turned deaf ear to the proposals
and would not even discuss them.
A strike was the alternative which
the workers offered.
One might say that was a private
matter and that the government had
no right to mix into It. But the
Constitutions preamble says that
the government is, among other
things, "for the people" Surely,
here was an instance where some
thing could be done for the people.
for workers and employers alike.
The Department of Labor did
mix into the controversy. 1t sent
several men to the scene. They lis
tened to the grievances of the work.
ers and to the statements of the
employers. They suggested ways
out, one after another, until they
| were able TO get committee from
the workers and a committee from
the owners to sit in the same room.
Eventually, these secret discussions,
always with conciliator from the
Department of Labor participating
developed compromise on which
each side had yielded certain con-
cessions.
The terms are not material here,
but suffice it to say there was no
strike In that mill and there prob
ably never will be one, for the rea.
son that each side learned some
thing about the fairness and the
rights Of the other fellow.
That controversy was simple COM
pared with some that arise and with
which the department has to deal
In order to do what It's officials re-
gard as their public duty that there
may be peace in commerce and in
dustry. It shows, nevertheless, how
the multiple eye of the government
Is upon us all.
1 And in connection with this last
reference, one must recall that In
this same department there is what
has come to be known as the chii-
dren's bureau. 1t goes beyond the
working man In its course of duty.
The welfare OF children of all
classes come within its surveillance.
and throughout the country one now
finds Juvenile courts, orphanages
| and other. institutions having to do
with children who are receiving
constant advice from the bureau In
Washington, d. G. 1t watches In.
dustry. too. that there may be no
undue dangers developed, that con.
dltions conducive to disease may
not be continued and that every aid
within the power OF the national
government is extended to correct
them.
Another phase Of the depart
ment's work gives 1t control of the
entry into the United states Of for
eigners. Our immigration law Is per-
haps the most stringent in the
world, because ii Is cur policy to
conserve orr racial standards. The
meeting pot Is receiving no more
fnrelgn blood In quantity. The de.