Evening star., 1937-04-04
4((HOUR TEXTILE
WEEK IS DISPUTED
Japan Looms Large in 0p-
posing Proposals for Lev
cling Competition.
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

The World Textile conference last
night faced a long wrangle over pro-
posab for q universal 40-hour work.
week for the textile industry, yigor-
ously pushed by American speakers
before the international gathering.
The meeting at the departmental
auditorium will be thrown open to
general discussion tomorrow after two
days Of Introductory talks by officials
Of the United States and OF the con-
vention, made up Of 200 representa-
tives Of government, management
and labor in "a countries.
Japan. half Of whose industrial
| employees work in textile mills and
| half OF whose exports are textile prod
ucts, loomed in the forefront Of the
| opposition to the 40-hour plan, which
| is the most controversial issue before
the conference called to find the
secret of stabiliZation of the intensely
competitive textile industry.
Short Work Week Opposed.
M. Kitaoka, governmental repre-
sentative of Japan and one of three
vice presidents of the conference. has
brought to Washington a mass of
argument to refute supporters OF a
short work week Japan, India and
| China are the three important textile
countries whose mill workers are at
| their spindles, looms and knitting ma
| chimes more than 48 hours a week.
| Arthur Shaw British labor delegate
| to the conference, is expected to be
in the forefront Of support for the
short week.
| The 40-hour week is an absolute
necessity" said Shaw. general secre-
| tary of the National Union of Dyer.
! Bleachers and Textile Workers G.
Great Britain, whose colleagues optI-
ate on a 48-hour basis. To escar'
high production costs and to avoid
even the 48-hour week, many textile
/ producers in the Lancashire district
of England have moved their mills
/ in recent years to India.
1t Is only question OF time until
/ the 40-hour week will be established
in industry throughout the nations of
! the world" said Harold B. Butler,
secretary general Of the conference and
! director of the International Labor
! Once, which arranged the meeting.
/ He was noncommittal however, on
whether the movement would gather
weight at the current convention
Five on 40-Hour Basis.
The five countries now operating on
a 40-hour basis are the United State
which introduced it through the
N. R. A. cotton textile code; France
where it became effective three months
ago: Belgium, Italy and New ze7lan ].
In Japan, China and India the
work-day averages from 85 to lis
hours. with seven days week the
usual work period. The 48-hour week
countries include Austria, Brazil, Can
ada. Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Ger
many, Great Britain, Mexico, the
Netherlands, Poland Rumania, Spain,
Sweden and Switzerland. The normal
week In Australia is A hours.
Winant, expanding on an earlier
suggestion from Secretary Perkins, rec
commended to the delegates yesterday
that their countries follow the lead
OF the United States in slicing the
number Of textile working hours, say
ing:
Competition between the States OF
the United States is not unlike COM
petition between the nations. In the
United States, we were able to develop
legislative controls which, even after
the legislation itself disappeared. have
had a lasting effect in raising social
conditions in the industry.
rs it unreasonable to believe that
what has been accomplished in this
country through legislation may not
likewise be accomplished throughout
the world through the cooperative
action of all countries?"
Mid-Europe Voices Plea
From Central Europe came a plea
for international regulation Of the
textile industry, presented by Jaromir
Necas Of Czechoslovakia, who pointed
out:
The workers in the textile In
dustry do not, generally speaking, re-
ceive sufficiently high wages to en-
able them to save enough money to
tide them over periods OF unem-
ployment"
Corneille Mertens, Belgian worker
delegate, reminded the delegates that
a few of them were members Of the
Committee of Fifteen which partici-
pated in a bitter fight II years ago
at the first session of the international
labor offce over a worldwide reduc-
ton of hours of work in all industry
to 48.
Since that date" Mertens said,
"the extensive technical progress made
in methods of production has again
brought the problem of the reduction
of hours of work into the foreground.
Notwithstanding the earlier reduction
in hours. millions and millions of
workers are still seeking in vain for
an opportunity Of earning their daily
bread"
H. C. Oersted Of Denmark en-
ployers' representative on the govern
ing body OF the I. l.. O., said however,
that the conditions Of labor and in
dustrial conditions altogether are so
different in the various countries that
it is extremely difficult to find an
average measure of social legislation
fit to be applied everywhere"
The 100000 men, women and
children in the textile industry have
q wide divergence of duties. They
manufacture cotton yarn and cotton
piece goods, woolens and worsteds,
silk yarn and silk goods, rayon goods,
linens, jute textiles and host OF
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