Evening star., 1937-05-25
Rate by MailHPayable In Advance.
Member of the Associated Press
The Wage-Hour Message.


President Roosevelt has asked the
expected of Congress, law governing
maximum hours and minimum wages
for labor which goes into interstate COM
merce and the production of those things
which comprise interstate commerce.
And Immediately bills to carry the Presi-
dents recommendation into effect have
been introduced into the House and
Senate.
It is the contention Of the President
and of those sponsoring the bills that
only by Federal law is it possible to
reach the workers in all States, and that
It Is necessary to reach them in order
to extend the frontiers Of social prog
ress" The proposal calls for a liberal
Interpretation Of the interstate commerce
clause OF the Constitution. The manu-
facture of goods that go into interstate
commerce, rather than the actual trans
portation of the goods, is to be the basis
of this Interpretation. The President
maintains that it is the right and duty
of Congress to deal with the conditions
under which these goods are produced,
particularly as they relate to the labor
involved.
The standards which the President
proposes for labor that goes into the pro-
duction of goods that figure in inter-
state commerce deal with maximum
hours and minimum wages. with the
enforcement of the right Of collective
bargaining on the part Of employees and
with the elimination of child labor. The
Chief Executive, in his message to Con-
gress, did not specify what should be
tho minimum wage nor the maximum
hours of labor. Those are matters left
to Congress. Neither of the bills in
troduced yesterday attempts to fix
these standards definitely, although they
apparently contemplate that Congress
will write them In. The discussions pre-
ceding the launching Of the bills and
the transmission Of the Presidents mes
sage indicated that the maximum work
week would be forty hours and the min
imum wage forty cents an hour.
1t is proposed, however in both the
House and Senate bills, to create a
Federal labor board composed of five
members with power to administer the
proposed law. This board, it Is now
said, may be given discretion to fix,
within certain limits, the minimum wage
and the maximum hours OF labor in the
various industries producing goods that
20 into interstate commerce It is an
enormous and important discretion,
delegation Of power that might easily
"run riot"
The objectives OF the President are
admirable-the elimination OF child labor
and the elimination OF underpaid over
worked men and women. The field In
which the new law is expected to
operate is of great complexity, as the
President himself realizes. He wisely
recommends that there be not too great
haste In seeking to develop national
yardsticks for minimum wages and
maximum hours of labor.
1VcCOSIllLlIlS I1ldL LueTe is uluCQ 18OOr
that goes into goods and services which
do not become factors in interstate
commerce. the President has declared
that the States should deal with the
problem OF hours and wages which do
not affect interstate commerce. Under
recent decisions of the Supreme Court
1t has become clear that the States have
this right. What the President has pro-
posed is however, very long stride
toward the control OF working conditions
in the States by the Federal Govern
ment. How the plan will work is still
matter Of conjecture, and also whether
It will In the end prove beneft to
workers. What 1t proposes is to give
protection against long hours and low
wages. On the other hand, there is
always the danger that 1t may restrict
Tho IN, );