Evening star., 1935-06-14
LABOR LAW NEED
CITED BY WAGNER
Congress Ready to Guard
Industrial Liberty, He
Says in Forum.

(Continued From Seventeenth Page)
us a lasting lesson in good govern
ment. We are thankful for the serv-
ices that have been performed by the
court in ordering Congress to chart a
clearer and more defined course as to
what affects interstate commerce and
what does not. We are prepared to
make plans for changes in legislative
detail and in administrative organiza-
t1on that will conform to the Su-
preme Courts decision.
But we do not believe that there
Is single letter in the Schechter
decision which makes it impossible
for the Federal Government to cope
In any way with economic problems
that challenge the whole Nation.
We flnd no evidence in the decision
that our Constitution compels us to
bow our heads before the dreadful
consequences that inaction would
bring. During the past few weeks I
have received hundreds of letters
from people in all walks of life, mailed
during the first days after the Re-
covery Administration was shorn Of
its powers. These letters tell a moving
story of what will happen If the old
conditions are allowed to return.
One Mans Experience.
One small business man writes:
IN. r. A. helped us give employ
inent for necessary repairs and i'm
provement to our store. 1t has put
us in frame of mind of still ex-
panding our store, and so give more
employment. But now. We are un-
certain. We fear the thought of re-
turning to the bitter cut-throat con-
ditions that existed before N. r. A.
Senator Wagner, I am sure that you
will act to protect small business
gains"
Another communication, from q
worker. says:
In the past year, saw the light
of day, I enjoyed the luxury of a
free week end with my family. Now
the inferno is roaring again, the sweat
pouring again. It is all gone. My
pay has been reduced, my hours have
been heightened. and I have been
tcld to report on Saturdays. All this
in the short space of two days-it
is very bewildering"
Congress does not intend to sur
render. The first evidence of its de-
termination to go ahead came last
month, when the Senate by an over
whelming vote passed the national
laor relations bill, designed to make
section 7(a) of the recovery act
permanent law and to dignity 1t with
adequate enforcement powers. Under
the breakdown of section 7(a) the
vast majority of American workers
were deprived of their precious right
to bargain collectively. They saw the
pledge made by the Government they
trusted violated with impunity. They
breathed the heavy atmosphere of
discrimination. and they we're denied
just participation IN the rebuilding
Of America.
Condition Was Menace.
This condition was q menace to
every worker in America, to those
who were free as well as to those held
IN economic bondage. No worker
anywhere could regard his future with
serenity so long as millions of his
fellows were subjected to oppression,
and so long as the Government was
not ready to vindicate that portion
of the law which meant most to
working people No enlightened bus
mess man had a sense Of security
SO long as workers were unable to
help him combat the depression. pro-
ducing practices of the sweatshop and
the wage exploiter. Nor could any
business man feel comfortable so long
as the causes for industrial strife
were running rampant throughout the
land.
On the ashes of disappointment
and Illustration regarding Section
T(a), Congress is now prepared to
raise a sounder structure to safeguard
industrial liberty. For two years the
National Labor Relations Bill ran
the opposition of every brand of false
propaganda. Finally, public senti-
rnent became overwhelmingly con-
ecious of the fact that the company
dominated union was sham and a
delusion, and that the right of work.
ers to be free men in fact as well
AS LII IldIIle WdS d ptCClUuo hCIACdeC
that should be unf1inchingly pro-
tected. without question. action by
the House will make this bill law be-
fore the adjournment of Congress.
The second step forward was taken
this morning when the Senate, fol-
lowing the House, passed a resolution
partially extending the National Re-
covery Act until April l, 1886. This
legislation will afford an opportunity
for additional study and reflection
upon the mistakes as well as the
accomplishments of the past two
years. It will break the ground for
permanent legislation, hope and
trust, at this session of Congress. In
the meantime, it will permit the con-
tinuation of the principles of the Ma
tional Recovery Act upon voluntary
basis
More Laws Needed.
But let us bear in mind that addi-
6onal legislation there must be. We
must not permit the stalemate of our
Nationwide struggle to maintain de-
cent standards for the business men