Evening star., 1937-06-06
Continued From Third Page.)

been increasing. II labor costs are to
be further increased the increases may
be reflected in a generally higher cost
of living. Increasing taxes, rising
prices of important raw materials.
and pressures for further substantial
increases In wages are exerting power
ful influence in the direction OF
price advances" states the Brookings
Institution.
The basic need today is to absorb
the unemployed in the private pro-
duction of additional goods and
services, rather than in sharing with
them current production. Once the
slack of unemployment has been taken
up. the only way to increase the
workers standard of living is to bring
about higher wages relative to prices.
II, for example, both wages and the
cost OF living double, the worker is
obviously no better off. To benefit, the
purchasing power of his pay envelope
must increase; the only effective way
for workers as group to attain a
larger purchasing power is through
increased productiveness per worker,
whether as result of technical ad-
better efficiency of the workers them
selves. The more goods produced, the
more real wealth there is to divide.
This is undoubtedly what Represent
ative Kvale has in mind.
Questions Raised by Bill.
In addition to the problem Of avoid
ing a reduction of national output
rolls, there are interesting questions
raised by the wages and hours bill.
Only few of these can be discussed
in the space limitations of the present
article.
The Black -Connery bill provides
that Interstate commerce" means
trade commerce, transportation, or
communication among the several
States or between any State and any
place outside thereof. This does not
seem complicated. But elsewhere the
bill includes labor practices affecting
interstate commerce. In otherwords
it reaches into fields of activity here
tofore generally regarded as intrastate.
Thus, the proposed Federal wage
and hour control cannot be discussed
constitutionality. The plan, as IS
clearly developed in the Presidents
message as we'll as in the bill itself,
aims to employ the Governments
interstate commerce power in the
broadest sense. Interstate business"
now apparently includes anything
closely enough connected with inter-
state business to affect it.
Criticism of Powers Given.
An important criticism of the pres
ent bill is that it proposes to delegate
extremely broad powers to the Labor
Standards Board of five, which it
would set up. In the N. r. A. decision
the present Supreme Court un-
animously opposed the granting of a
rowing commission to any branch or
agent of the Federal Government
Will it agree to this delegation OF
powers?
According to the bill, the board
would have the responsibility and
power to determine fair labor stand
ards throughout the country. This
might well prove to be a herculean
task. Moreover, the bill, in acknowl-
and exceptions to the general stand
ards Of regional, industrial and other
variations, grants to the board "the
power OF life and death over in
dividual businesses" It is not MAIN
tanned that the boards powers would
be used for political purposes, but that
at times they well might be-
The bills hackers, on the other hand,
do not accept this criticism, pointing
out that business lived through the
N. r. A., under which code authorities
had the broadest powers over hAsi-
ness, They admit that the board
would have important power to dis
cr1minate between regions, but assert
that this power Is no greater in its
field than those of the Federal Trade
Commission, the Tariff Commission
or Of the Supreme Court. No more nor
less than these.
Warns Against Too High Hopes.
Apart from the factors already
referred to, not too much should be
expected from the proposed legislation
To Ak maximum hours by law does
not mean that all factories will be
able to work the maximum. Their
ability to do so depends upon busi-
ness. In other words, the law does
not guarantee to workers a full work
week and pay envelopes, or fair an
nual income
Also, it is claimed, employers in
the textile industry can circumvent
minimum wage provisions. "Under the
existing operation and working policies,
most OF the workers are on piece work.
Immediately after the (N r. A. codes
were accepted, the employers reduced
the piece-rate prices, making it i'm
possible, in number of instances, to
make the sl3 minimum wage"
Testifying on the Ellenhogen BILL
Francis German. textile labor leader,
asserted the suggested sl5-minimum
wage was too low, being less than the
average wage in the entire industry
In 1895. Even at $l8 per week. or
1896 per year, the lower rank Of
textile workers would be insuff1ciently
paid, since their work is subject to
seasonal fluctuations. Thus even $l8
lis not decent wage"
The textile workers organization
Is also opposed to regional differ
entiation, as permitted in the mini
mum wage bill. Uniform labor stand
ards without differentials must be
established quickly in the textile in
dustry. and must be made sufficiently
tnheNble that evaSions are too costly
to indulge in" states Mr.. German.
However, there already exist differ
entials Of as much as $40 in the textile
industry. agreement on this point may
prove difncult to obtain
Effect on Farmers,
We already have referred to the
effect OF higher prices on the general
public. Particular mention should be
made Of the adverse effects on the
farmers Of any material increase in