Evening star., 1937-08-08

4 VIZ " b| NpiiSAeso 1iilhllS SIldtI
wage and hour legislation at
this session, there is every
~ reason to believe that the prin-
cipal function of the bill will be to
serve as a guinea pig for the New
Deals long-awaited experiment in
this field of social reform.
Certainly. it will fall far short OF
relieving the distress of that "one-
third of our population" which. ac-
cording to President Roosevelt, is
'ill-nourished. ill-clad, and ill-housed." :"
On the contrary, when the roll is
called under the bill in its present
form, the bene1ciaries will be con-
spicuous by their absence.
Nobody knows how many workers
would, receive higher pay or work
fewer hours under the Senate-bill Ap-
proximations are pure guessWork and
the experts are in wide disagreement.
The only certainty is that they will
be relatively few in number
AS to the other ramifcations-the
effect on the economic structure, the
cost Of goods to the consumer and
the legality of the act itself-there
is as much or more confusion.
Step Toward Regulation.
Most emphatically, it is not a
satisfactory bill But it may we'll
be that it is a step, however feeble
and uncertain, in the right direction.
There can be no quarrel with the
stated objectives of the act, and the
measure now proposed may serve as
a valuable proving ground to test the
feasibility of using governmental
power to prescribe minimum wages
and maximum hours on an effective
scale.
AS the situation stands today, the
Senate has passed q wage and hour
bill The House has accepted this
bill as substitute for its own, but
has amended the measure to such
an extent there is doubt whether 1t
will now be accepted by the Senate.
Both branches of the Legislature,
however, seem to have agreed on the
provision authorizing the fixing of
minimum wages not to exceed 40
week of not less than 40 hours in
certain occupations.
Before the bill was drafted. a
joint House and Senate committee
held exhaustive hearings and received
the benefit of the testimony of many
experts in the wage and hour field.
One of the best known of these ex-
perts was Isador Lubin, commissioner
of labor statistics of the Department
of Labor.
Saw Two Main Reasons.
Heartily in favor OF the bill despite
its apparent shortcomings, Lubin told
the committee:
I'm going over this legislation I
am convinced that something of this
sort is essential for two specific rea-
sons; first, to permit and protect the
| functioning of the competitive system
as we know it in this country, and,
secondly, to make possible standard
of living for the American workers
which will meet the requirements of
decent citizenship"
Minimum wages and maximum
hours, he continued, are expressions
of the maxim that the welfare and
profits of no private business shall
interfere with the welfare of the
Nation as a whole. "They aim," he
added, "at eliminating from our eco-
nomic order those who seek economic
success at the expense Of the health
and decent living of other human
beings"
If the competitive system is to be
preserved and labor still paid decent
living wage, Lubin added, 1t Is neces-
sary to protect the better type of
employer from the chiselers in his
particular industry.
Labor Pays the Toll.
"1n the race for economic suprem-
acy," he said, I'VE have assumed that
the victory would 60 to the most
emcient producer. Now we know only
too well that it is not necessarily
those who produce most efficiently
or those who render the greatest
service to society that secure the lead
IN the race for economic returns
All too frequently the honors-profits
go to those who can take the greatest
advantage of their fellow men. BY
cutting wages, compelling labor to
work inhumanly long hours, employ
ing children. many a producer has
not only weathered economic storms
but has actually profited from them
And he has usually done 80 at the
expense Of his competitor who ha,
refused to stoop to similar tactics
In too many instances the ability Il
sweat ones labor has s{pplanted