Evening star., 1937-08-10

REPRESENTA-
for the overtime employment. This
provision is safeguarded from chisel-
ling however for the bill proviG tina,
if this privilege is used to circumvent
the policy of the legislation the board
may declare a substandard labor con-
dition to exist and thereby bar the
goods in question from interstate
commerce
Under the third part goods made by
child labor may not be transported
in interstate commerce. However
this is modified slightly to permit the
employment of children under l6
years of age if such employment will
not interfere with their schooling and
if the conditions under which they
work will not interfere with their
health and well-being and if they have
certificate attesting to this fact is
sued by the chief of the children's
bureau.
Under the fourth part there is Gre
ated labor standards board charged
with the responsibility of applying
the provisions of the bill to occupa-
tions affected by it.
Divisions Of Measure
In order to give you an even clearer
picture of this bill I shall divide these
A ~orfc 3pyo
course, it would be impossible because
of the various exemptions for me to
summarize the bill SO that each OF
you listening might know whether or
not it applies to you. I wish that
might do this and thus set at rest
many of the needless fears l have
heard expressed by men and women
with whom I have had the opportunity
of talking and which I know are
shared by many of you However,
times does not permit me to go that
deeply into my subject AS a substi-
tute for this I can only suggest that
you write your Congressman asking
for a copy Of the bill when it has
finally been enacted into law. Until
that time there is. of course, the pos
sibility of revision both on the floor
of the House and later in conference
between the House and Senate, and
thus you might be needlessly upset
by a serious study of it now OF
course, the main objectives, as I have
q M ill Il,
when the bill is enacted into law and
I hope and pray that for the benefit
of the terrifying and discouraging
working conditions of too many of
our people that 1T will be so enacted
in this session of Congress.
Now to summarize:
l. The bill has been drafted in ac-
cordance with the principles OF con-
stitutional law, particularly those
in the recent minimum
wage and Labor Relations Board de-
cisions of the Supreme Court of the
United States, and we have thus tried
to safeguard the constitutionality of
the BlackConnery bill so that our
work for the Improvements of work.
ing conditions may not 60 for naught
as has happened too frequently in the
past.
1t applies only to industries en-
gagged in the production of goods for
interstate commerce or directly af-
fecting interstate commerce 1t does
not affect the purely intrastate
business.
3. Legislative definitions of terms
used in the act clearly express the
intent for the guidance
Of the board. Most of the exemptions
Of certain types of employers and
employees engaged in the production
Of certain goods are contained in the
definition Of the word "employe." The
term produced" as I have used it, is
defined in the bill to mean "produc-
ton, manufacture, mining, handling,
or In any other manner
on any goods The term "em-
ploye" is clearly defined in simple
language and contains the exclusion
OF executives, administrative emploves
and professional men; those employed
IN agriculture, seamen, fishermen and
certain types of transportation COM
pany employees. Throughout the bill
are distributed other exemptions from
the hour provisions of the bill where
the type of work is of the sort that
must be performed Immediately be-
cause Of the seasonal nature of the
work.
Administration of Act.
4. The administration of the act is
placed in board of hve men, ap-
pointed by the President in accordance
with the requirements Of geographical,
industrial and labor differences and
must be confirmed by the Senate. One
member of the board must be from
the Northeast, one from the North
west, one from the Southeast, one from
the Southwest and one from the CEN
trail part OF the United States, and
one of such members shall be a rep
resentative OF the employers and one
OF employees. This insures a repre-
on the board from each
geographical division of the United
States. In country divided 50
sharply as is ours, because OF climate,
fertility Of the soil and other factors,
it is of prime importance that the
viewpoint Of each section be taken
into consideration. One Of the most
frequent criticisms OF the bill seems
to be that it will affect one section of
the country more than any other.
But with fair representation on the
board each part of the country is Ger
tainly assured Of honest, conscientious
consideration in setting minimum
wages and maximum hours. BY stip-
ulating that one member shall be a
Of the employer and