The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-01-06
NDITFUL YEARS
 FOR lADORERS
slafy of Labor Per- ||s Presented Annual Report of Her Dept.

#6sningtoa, Jan. 6.-(Ur)-- A4a4ame Secretary of Labor Francis ENrkliis produced . jubllant annual report lo congress today, finding the f1CAl gear ended last July perhaps A'te NtbBt fruitful for the working mnM M all American history.
 With social security, old age pen- Mlon and other beneficial legislation becoming the law of the land, NAd0D1e Secretary even found Q certain BAtisfaetion in lg35's unlis- uel number Of labor disturbances, which she said were due in part to che natural expectation of labor to share ii1 the early fruits of business Improvement"
 industrial Utopia
 For the future Miss Perkins en- Viseeed an industrial Utopia for the tlafi who works with his hands, I'Skiuk q minimum wage law, onnoft work week of perhaps 70 htuEs, compensation insurance, and gtEict regulation of machinery to prevent industrial accidents, as things to come.
 Ali of these seem to be minimum Standards which every wage earner ln the United States, without re- gard to the state in which he works and lives, has right to expect" che said.
 Five Advancements The year past, she said, produced these five advancefnents for labor: !. Unemployment compensation, accomplished through the social se- ctrity act.
 2. Cld-age security, brought about also by the social security act.
 3. Establishment of boards for settling industrial disputes locally.
 {. Greater cooperation between the states and the labor depart ynent, through regional conferences 5. Development of the United States employment service.
 Social Security Act
 Miss Perkins called the social sec curity act ''one of the most signifi- cant pieces of legislation of this generation, having inestimable and Heneficial effects upon the lives of wage earners in the future"
 ~The American working men and women can expect in the future a definite security and protection from the most preyentable economic dis osters," she added. She said that s'nore legislation, state and federal, calculated to benefit labor was en- acted during the last fiscal year than in any like period of our his- tory"
 The most conspicuous cause of lnboe disputes was wages, she re- ported, union recognition, the closed shop and discrimination or discharge also were factors.
 'aThe heaviest loss of man hours came in September, 1884, which witt messed the general textile strike, and in IGay, 1855, a month disturbed by q usOIonged lumber strike in the Faciflc northwest and the Chevro- let and Fisher Body strikes in Ohio," she said.
 Hopeful Words
 She closed her message with these hopeful words:
 Tt is to be hoped that men and women who work for living will have greater opportunity for pro- fitable employment as further pro- gress is made, through united ef- forts, toward continuing the gains in the war on the depression. An encouraging sign is the upward movement in the durable goods in- dtstties. which are the worst hit in c depression and take the long est time to recover. If there ad- vance in employment and pay rolls continues in the coming year other industries will be stimulated and this increased activity should fur- nish many more jobs at good wages"