Evening star., 1934-05-09
FUTURE REFORMS
TOA|DLABOR SEEN
Miss Perkins Says Benefits
to Workers Must Be
Permanent.

Closer cooperation between Federai
and State Governments in solving the
problems of labor and six-point pro-
gram for joint accomplishment were
outlined last night by Miss Frances
Perkins, Secretary of Labor, in an
address in the National Radio Forum.
The National Radio Forum is ar
ranged by The Washington Star and
broadcast over a coastto-coast net
work of the National Broadcasting Co.
It was broadcast locally through WRC.
I'VE are recognizing as nation,
Secretary Perkins said. that pro-
grams long thought of as merely labor
welfare, such as shorter hours, higher
wages and a voice in the terms and
conditions of work, are really essential
economic factors for recovery and for
the technique of industrial manage
ment in production age"
Favors Wagner Lewis Bill.
She urged the enactment of the
Wagner-LeWis bill providing for un-
employment insurance, and called
upon the States within the next year
to pass conforming legislation so their
own industries may participate in pro-
viding security for wage earnerS.
Unemployment insurance would in
the future take the place of the bread
line or other charities as a systematic,
honorable method of tiding over a
slump period for those who want work
and lack it."
Miss Perkins recounted a series of
Federal-State conferences held during
the past year and urged continuance
Of the conference method. Turning to
the future. she said:
Il expect to see the following
made permanent: Cd Shorter hours
throughout industry and trade; (2)
higher standards of wages, and par
ticularly a machinery for regulating
the minimum levels of wages: 81 the
permanent abolition of child labor;
(4) the use of Government purchas-
Ing power for supplies and equipment
10 maintain industrial standards: go
boards for hearing locally and investi-
eating, making findings and adjusting
complaints of industrial practices; 60
the general recognition of the desira-
bility of competent wage earnerS' rep
resentation, selected through organi-
Zation, In all matters affecting indus
try, labor conditions and civic devel-
opment."
Text of Address.
The text of Miss Perkins address
follows:
The United States Department of
Labor has large responsibility in in
forming the Republic of the needs of
our 100000 individual wage earnerS.
Not only does the department make
employers aware of the necessity Of
providing fully and equitably for the
wage earners. but it assists wage earn
ers in analyzing special problems and
in their solution. These problems are
all fraught with a great public inter-
est and affect the general welfare Of
our country.
Industrial sanitation, health and
safety, security, wages, working hours,
housing, adult and vocational educa-
ton, employment opportunity and
many other factors, which bear upon
the lives of our workers, are being
studied by the department to the end
that this year and the years to come
may bring steady wages and social
benefits to those who work for wages.
This in turn will make for benefits to
industry, farmers. investors and the
general welfare of the country.
The Department of Labor is dedi-
Gated to the working people of the
Republic and is being administered
for their economic advancement and
their protection physically. The act
creating it in 1913 said: THE pur-
pose of the Department of Labor shall
be to foster, promote and develop the
welfare Of the wage earners of the
United States, to improve their work.
ing conditions and to advance their
opportunities for profitable employ
nlent."
Aims Of Department.
We have been through a great war,
period of great prosperity and a
great depression since 1913. Perhaps
1t is Of even more importance than
before. because of the problems left
in the wake of great catastrophies,
that the Department of Labor be ad-
mlnistered in the interest of the
welfare of all wage earnerS, whether
organized or unorganized, as the Hon.
William B. Wilson. first Secretary of
Labor. said 20 years ago. The de-
partment, moreover. must be admin
istered in fairness between worker
and employer, between employers and
employer. and between each and the
public as a whole If it is to accom-
plish its purpose as set forth by the
Congress. Only by doing so in har-
rnony with the welfare of all workers
and with legitimate business can the
best interests of the country be
served.
The idea is now generally held that
employers have a certain public social
responsibility in the conduct Of their
industries. Wage earners as well as
Government agencies should be a
factor in formulating these policies of
public responsibility. and they should
be invited and permitted to make
constructive contribution in solving
the economic problems that confront
us On the industrial side OF our
national life.
We are recognizing. as a Nation,
that programs long thought of as
merely labor welfare, such as shorter
hours. higher wages and a voice in
the terms and conditions of work, are
really essential economic factors for
recovery and for the technique Of in
dustrial management in mass-pro-
duction age. The test Of adjusting
our industrial life to the patterns of
democracy and the needs of a new
mechanical period mark both gain
in the standards of life and work for
wage earners. and also a new respon-
sibility for constructive leadership on
the part of labor. We cannot have
the purchasing power necessary to
balance our production capacity unless
We develop opportunities for leisure.
All these. with the interests of all the
people considered. the Department of
Labor is striving to promote.
Insurance Needed.
1t is hoped, in the interest of the
country as whole. that some form
of unemployment insurance will be
set up in the near future in the diff
To-