Evening star., 1937-10-29
WAGE-HOURS BILL
CHANGE REPORTED
New Measure to Be SubSti-
tuted by Administration,
House Chairmen Hear.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

Chairman Norton of the House
Labor Committee and Chairman
O'Connor of the House Rules Com
mittee have heard rumors that the
administration legal craftsmen are
putting the finishing touches on
new wage-and-hours bill, which it is
proposed to have brought up promptly
in the coming special session for
hearings. Both of these chairmen,
however, declare they know nothing
offcially' about the rumored White
House bill
1t became known today that Mr.
O'Connor and Mrs. Norton have been
IN conference and that plans are be-
ing laid so that the new bill can have
its hearing.
The present -and-hours bill is
tied up in the Rules Committee, where
1t ran into stalemate in the closing
days of the last session. Chairman
O'Connor now is negotiating with
members of his committee in an effort
10 get the bill reported to the House,
and he feels certain this will be done.
The inside story is that the votes will
be mustered to report this bill out of
the Rules Committee with the distinct
understanding that Chairman Norton
then will make the request that it
be recommitted to the Labor Com
mittee. When the old Connery bill
gets to the Labor Committee the
plan is to have the new administra-
ton bill taken up instead for hearings.
Present Bill Criticized.
n seems to be generally admitted
by administration leaders that the
present wage-and- hours bill can't get
very far, especially since both branches
of labor, as represented by President
william Green of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor and John L. Lewis,
generalissimo of the Committee for
Industrial Organization, have gone
out of their way to criticize it. This
has led many members of Congress
TO announce that under the circum-
stances they would be unable to sup
port it.
The wage-snd-hu bill, including
prohibition of child labor, is one of
the five major legislative proposals
the President announced he wishes
considered by the incoming special
session, which will convene in a little
more than two weeks. The President
said these are pieces of legislation
@the American people Immediately
need IN his radio address of Octo-
ber IL.
The others include surplus crop con-
troll, to embody the ever-normal
granary plan, for which Chairman
Jones of the Agriculture Committee
has presented six-point program to
his committee; legislation to set up
seven agencies for regional planning;
legislation to reorganize the executive
branch of the Government with the
House having already passed two of
its four bills, and the Senate embody-
ing the entire program in one omnibus
bill which was reported and rushed
onto the calendar in the closing days
of the last session, and provisions for
strengthening the antitrust laws in
order to end monopolies.
Reorganization Plans.
Chairman Cochran of the House
Reorganization Committee is return
ing to Washington next week to take
personal charge of plans for putting
through the two remaining House
reorganization bills: % to abolish the
present Civil Service Commission and
set up single personnel administrator,
with an advisory board, sponsored by
Representative Mead, Democrat, of
New York, and ~ to set up new
auditor general for Congress and to
take the present controller general
from Congress and make that Office
subservient to the President, spon-
sored by Representative Vinson, Demo-
erat, of Kentucky.
1t was disclosed today that much
valuable assistance has been given
10 the administrations craftsmen on
the new e-and-hours bill by Repre-
sentative Ramspeck, Democrat, of
Georgia, who ranks next to Chair
man Norton on the House Labor Com
nittee. Mr.. Ramspeck has been called
into frequent conferences, while it
Is understood that Chairman Norton
has not been consulted at all, although
she Is stalwart administration sup
ever, is not at all surprising to those
who have watched the course of pre-
pairing administration measures. Mr..
Ramspeck, although chairman of the
House Civil Service Committee, was
very conspicuously ignored in framing
the administrators program for abol-
ishing the Civil Service Commission,
and it is positively known that he
is not at all in sympathy with this
proposal.
Each of the measures scheduled
by the President for consideration in
the approaching special session was
the subject of a special message at
the last session, or of letters to chair
men of House and Senate committees
in which the President asked "im-
mediate action" or action before ad-
3ournment." That session, however,
did not complete action on any of the