Evening star., 1933-10-11

Proposal from President William
Green of the American Federation of
Labor that national employment be put
on a 30-hour week has been received
by the public with a tendency to
analyZe its probable effects.
Some believe that it is inevitable, in
view of unemployment, while others
take the position that under the N. r. A.
moderate gain in employment would
increase demand for goods. so that
many additional persons would be Of
fered work. Much attention Is paid
to the cost that would be passed on
to consumers under higher labor cost.
Another point made is that If industry
standard of living would be lower.
Without reference to specific action.
the Pasadena Star-News declares that
''the future must evolve the shorter
work day and the shorter work week
Machinery is doing so much" it con-
tinues, that manual labor is not need
ed in such volume as in the past;
hence there must be reduction of the
hours of labor 1t would be suicidal
both to labor and to industry to keep
up a process Of steady overproduction.
1t is economic wisdom to limit pro-
duction to the consumption needs of
mankind"
1t is pointed out by the Haverhill
Gazette that under the N. r. A. "the
limit on working hours was set too
high to provide much new employ
ment" and that paper feels that "since
we have often been informed that the
goal of the movement was a 3O-hour
week. probably it didn't dare to make
too drastic change in working sched-
ules." The Gazette adds: The estab-
lishment of 30hour week generally
would have placed too great flnan-
cial burden on employers, some of whom
have been embarrassed by the 40-hour
week. Such, probably, was the N r. A.
theory. The outlook Is now, however,
that the problem presented by such a
financial burden will have to be met
with scheme for Government
financing of industries unable to op-
crate under an N. r. A. program that
will meet the emergency for which it
was drafted. Organized labor Is threat
ening to take its demand for q 80
hour week to Congress. This is
threat that means something. The last
session Of Congress recorded a lot Of
support for legislation establishing the
30-hour week. The failure of the
N. r. A. to provide more re-employ-
~ 6oAA6 w CISOu1dSC
OF this abbreviated working period"
Those now unemployed would have
a considerably better living" says the
Dayton Daily News. "and those now
employed at full time would take
correspondingly lower standard of liv-
ing" The Daily News offers the analy-
sis Of the situation: "The question will
remain, are we content with the product
OF a 30-hour week. or would we rather
work more and have more? Would
SO-hour week put car in every ga
rage, a chicken in every pot? Or
would it yield only pedestrian living
on bread and, sometimes, a slice Of
pork? The American temperament has
expressed itself usually in q willingness
to work more in order to have more.
How much work-how many hours a
week-win be required to produce the
level Of living for which the average
American yearns Is not yet established
or known. The immediate problem is
to get everybody back back to work.
After that the question Of how much
work. It Is q question whether an
arbitrary or excessive reduction in gen.
eral working time would produce the
desired result"
We have found from our experience
with the N. r. A. Codes" according to
the Baltimore Sun, that such reforms
tend to push prices up faster than
wages and that the utmost care is