Evening star., 1937-06-15
WACE-H0UR Bill
HELD UNJUST|F|ED
U. S. Chambers President
Sees No Emergency
Calling for It.
BACKGROUND

use OF professional strtke-breakers
and industrial spies.
Reaction to bill as noD drafted
has been mired NTH principal con-
tropersy centered oper ,pide dis
cretionery po,oerS granted to .dd-
ministratiue board.
Claiming the total Of unemployment
measured In q realistic" sense Is
considerably below the amount held
in popular opinion, George H. Davis,
president OF the United States Cham
Der of Commerce, told the Senate and
House Labor Committees today that
he saw no emergency suf1icient to
| justify such Extraordinary legisla-
ton as the pending wage and hour
bill
Today's hearing on the bill also
disclosed difference 81 opinion be-
tween John L. Lewis and Sidney Hill
man, co-leaders of the c. I. O., on
section S. one Of the major provisions
Of the bill
Appearing this morning, Hillman
spoke at considerable length in support
of the provision which would empower
the Labor Standards Board to estab-
lish minimum wages below 81 200 year
ly in industries where collective bar
gaining had been found to be made
quate or ineffective.
Lewis previously opposed the pro-
vision, claiming it would lead to wage
fixing and intruded into the proper
field Of collective bargaining.
During questioning Hillman ex-
planned the difference OF opinion by
citing differences OF the coal and
clothing industries in which the two
leaders have gained their principal ex-
perience.
Leandon c. Painter. spokesman for
the Association for Progressive Po-
litical Action, of Alexandria, Va. ap-
peared in support OF legislation direct
ed at improved wages and working
| conditions.
Measure Held Extraordinary.
Judged by any standards, the
measure which you have under con-
sideration is extraordinary in char
acter," Davis said. There would
seem to be possible justification for
consideration OF such legislation only
in some extraordinary emergency. I
know Of no such emergency, I am
not able to discover in our member
ship knowledge of such an emergency
and have not learned Of any other
source from which information can
be obtained.
On the contrary. the emergency
which we had has been passing All
Of us, know, have been looking
forward to the time when we shall
have it well behind U.S. A committee
Of the chamber which for a good
part Of last year studied employment
with the assistance or more than zoo
member organizations reached con-
clusion early last Winter that unem-
ployment measured in any realistic
sense was less than the figures given
popular circulation, and that the time
had come to concentrate on training
men and women for employment SC
that they could advance beyond the
class of common laborer."
Turning to possible effects of the
legislation on agricultural pursuits
Davis claimed that, despite mention OF
exemption Of farm workers, it woulc
appear to be within the discretion o1
the Federal board to apply the wage
and-hour provisions to most of the
regular employees Of grain farms, dairy
farms, the farms which feed corn tc
cattle and hogs which they ship in
terstate to market, the live stock
ranches and the fruit and vegetable
growers that look to markets in other
States. According to my own reading
Of the bill, there can be no other in
depreciation Of the language as 1t is
written.
Costs Would Rise.
| III some construction were found
for this bill which would prevent its
provisions from being applied to asri-
cultural enterprises, and they were
confined to industrial production, the
measure would still have an impor-
tant effect upon agriculture in all It's
forms in every part Of the country
This bill would operate, and believe
the intention is 1t should operate, to
increase the costs Of industrial pro-
| duction. It is unavoidable that In
creases in such costs would be re-
flected in price increases in everything
the farmers buy.
| srTka a ro y,,oi oh y q
been obtained through the efforts OF
the Federal Government toward CIV
ing something like economic parity tc
work in agricultural production with
work in industrial production would
disappear, and the results of years
Of endeavor would be wiped out. We
would be back where we began, with
agriculture in q depressed situation
IN comparison with the other fields OF
economic activity in the United States
Many Of us believe that the ere.
alton of such inequitable and unfair
conditions would have serious effects
upon industrial enterprises themselves
and all of their workers. The buying
power of our farm population and Of
the still wider population directly re-
lated to the farm population cannot
be impaired without serious economic
consequences for everybody"
Business Hesitation Feared.
The chamber spokesman warned the
committee that uncertainties OF bust
ness costs, as threatened by the wage
hour legislation, would force business
to hesitate and keep future business
commitments down to the minimum.
"The great bulk OF our business in
the United States is done on very
narrow margins" Davis continued
which any increase in costs may
more than wipe out, resulting in RED
figures that help no one. least Of al
Huge Slabs of