Evening star., 1933-02-08
OBJEC! To PACT
FOR 4O-HOUR WEEK
Nations Reveal Opposition
to Convention Weighed
at Geneva.
Special Gable to The Star.

Special Gable to The Star.
GENEVA, February 8.-DiScussion at
the International Labor Bureau of a
proposed international convention es-
tablishing the 40-hour week in place of
the 8-hour day has revealed an unex-
pected amount of opposition.
The bureaus report, which forms the
basis of discussion, is in favor of the
reform AS might be expected, the
labor delegates of practically all coun-
tries support the report. But with only
few exceptions, the representatives of
employers and of governments are op-
posed.
Sweden and Spain are the only coun-
tries whose governmental delegates give
whole-hearted approval to the scheme.
The German government delegate in
dorses it, however, on condition that
other great industrial powers give as
Surance of their support
The United States, though not rep
resented at the conference, has shown
q considerable interest. The U. S. Cham
Der of Commerce has indorsed the prin-
ciple of the 40-hour week, and the
Hoover commission recently reported in
favor of 30-hour week-five days of
hours each.
Arguments Questioned.
Arguments in favor of the reduction
of working hours are that it will in
crease the number of workers employed
without increasing the output. 1t would,
it is contended, permit industry to ab-
sorb large percentage of the unem-
ployed and thus give a greater spread
OF buying pcVer which in turn would
be reflected in a revival of trade
Opponents, however, question these
assumptions. To some extent, it is ad-
mitted, they may be true in large-scale
industries, where workers are employed
in units of hundreds or thousands and
where industrial operations are so me-
chanized that labor costs represent only
a small fraction of total operating ex-
penses.
But in many European countries the
typical industrial unit is small. An
establishment employing a few score
workmen, all more or less specialized,
cannot have any considerable elasticity.
In many cases it would be impossible
for such an establishment, on account
Of lack of space, to increase the number
of workers. Two turner's cannot work
simultaneously at the same lathe, and
a 6-hour day would mean that each
lathe would work only six hours in
stead of eight, thus cutting the pro-
ductive power of established capital by
Is per cent.
Difficult in Agriculture.
Moreover the application of this prin-
ciple to agriculture is held to be vir-
tually impossible. Even the 8-hour day, !
1t has been found, cannot be strictly
applied in agricultural work. If in
dustrial workers get a 40-hour week
while agricultural workers continue
working 48 or 60 hours, the conse-
quence will be a further desertion of
the farm for the city.
Some economists also have put for
ward the theory that shortening of
the working day or week would tend to
Gepress rather than raise the prices of
raw materials. Manufacturers. they
argue, faced with increased labor costs |
would combine in an effort to keep pro-
duction costs down by paying less for
steel or cotton. Thus the effect of the 4
reform would be further reduction of
purchasing power among producers of
rawstuffs.
AS one delegate sums UP the situa-
ton: THE 40-hour week scheme is a
plan to cure unemployment by making
two men do one mans work But it
Is foolish to expect that world industry,
which today cannot find the means to
employ one man, will tomorrow be able
to take on two. Obviously If all the
claims made for this scheme could be
justified, employers would be the first
to favor It; but mature reflection will
show anybody that far from helping us
out of the depression, it would make
matters worse"
Copyright. 1880