The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-09-28
THE THIRTY-HOUR WEEK


The American Federation of Labor has
served written notice on all candidates Tor
Congress and the United States Senate
that they will be expected to endorse the
Federation's program for a compulsory
thirty-hour week. The endorsement must
be made in advance of the November cleo
ton. under penalty of FORGETTING the sup
port of organized labor in the balloting.
The program of the Federation, accord
ing to statement by The Texas Weekly, is
designed to organize all industry and la
Dor under the control of the Federation,
as it contains, in addition to the thirty
hour week proposal other points which II
enacted into law would place the organ
ization in a position of dictatorship IN Its
control of American labor.
The Texas Weekly says of the thirty
hour week:
s.The ostensible object of this proposal is to in
crease employment. 1t is based on the fallacious
idea that it is possible to have industry employ
an who want employment simply by reducing work
ing hours sufficiently to absorb them. This is a
fallaciOus idea for the reason that every such in
crease of the cost of production reduces effective
purchasing power and consequently tends to re-
dqee employment by reducing consumption. In the
textile industry the cotton and wool producers have
direct interest here because the textile worker
stands between them and the consumer. But all
fsFmers have an interest because any universal
adoption of the thrty-hour week in industry would
mean an increase of the disparity between condi-
ION in md in iD1uS try
is not possible to maintain a thirty-hour week and
a sixhour day on the farms of the country. Meth
erswould it be possible in domestic service, which
iuAl929 accounted for 100000 of the gainfully
occupied, and there are many other lines in which
it would not be possible All such lines including
farming, would account for more than half of the
gainfully occupied in the United Ctates. When it
is considered that the proposal is to place this
added cost all code occupations, including build
ing, transportation, and trade, as we'll as manu-
creased cost would be enormous and the disparity
in relation to the rest of the population would Re
so great as to cause a collapse of the purchasing
power of the latter.
"Instead of furthering recovery, as its advocates
claim, the thirty-hour week would retard recovery
so long as the attempt to maintain it continued"
eAs The Texas Weekly points out the
thirty-hour week is an economic fallacy.
1t is absolutely impossible and impractical
in many lines of business; and in all other
lines 1t would so increase production costs
that it would result in a decrease instead
OF, an increase in the total business of the
country and it would add to the unemploy-
ment problem for which it is recommend
ed as a solution.
The thirty-hour week-ive days of six
hours-would eliminate The Times-News
as business enterprise. 1t would make it
necessary to suspend the publishing of this
newspaper. With The Times-News, how
ever, would go down many thousands of
small industries and business enterprises
of the country which would find it impos-
slbie to operate under this system. Instead
of solving the unemployment problem the
thirty-hour week would greatly intensity
and aggravate that problem. "-..
The thirty-hour week, as proposed by
the Federation of Labor, is so fantastic
and foolish that The Texas Weekly is slow
to believe it is brought forward as a seri-
Gus proposal for enactment into law. The
Weekly thinks it is trading proposition,
designed to be used on Congress to secure
a law which will give the Federation pow
err to organize all workers of the country
under its control. The facts so far do not
seem to justify this view; but, if it is adj
mitted, the Federation is thereby placed
Ia