Evening star., 1938-02-27
BY JOHN C. HENRY.

~ MARCH 4, 1918, President Will
liam Howard Taft signed the bill
~ creating the United States De-
partment of Labor 1t was his
last Official act as President.
scant few hours later. President Wood.
70" wilson as one of his first acts chose
Representative William B. Wilson of Penn
eylVanla, former international secretary of
. the United Mine Workers, as first Secre-
tary Of Labor
Inc purpose Of the newly-created Gov
ernment agency was declared in the. or
ganic act to be ito foster, promote and de-
Velop the welfare of the wage earners of
the United States. to improve their work.
Ing conditions and to advance their oppor-
tunities for profitable employment"
On Thursday and Friday of the coming
week there will be an anniversary observ-
ance. the twenty-fifth, for this youngest of
full-fedged Federal departments. Friends,
ana perhaps some who are no more than
acquaintance, will gather for a banquet
on Thursday night at the Mayfower Hotel
- as speakers of note discuss the past. present
and future of labor and the part assumed
or destined for the department.
Field Has Broadened.
truly, Government participation in the
held OF labor has broadened tremendously
curing that quarter of century, but per-
haps more significant than the extent of
such participation is the direction in which
c 1.t~-
merely one factor of the economic struc-
ture and Government intervention in the
economic life of people is as old as gov
ernment itself
In Colonial days for instance. we find
traces of governmental influence being ex-
erted in matters OF wages, hours and prices,
such Intervention invariably being in the
interests of the dominant economic group
OF the day-the farmers. To an impor-
tant degree, they were the Government.
Later, as the process of buying and SELL
Ing became more demanding one in the
young nation, there developed the psy-
chology and the political influence of busi-
ness. Gradually and to an increasing de-
gree this quantity made itself force in
Government and received such concessions
as the early transportation grants, tariffs,
corporate laws and laws protecting patents.
And from the original business quantity
developed that of big business" most pow
erful yet in its demands upon Government
because again, to an important degree they
were the Government.
Through these years. dating particularly
from the post Civil War era, labor strived
with comparatively little success to become
articulate to gain itself place in govern
ment. With more courage than is appre-
ciated by those who have not studied its
history, 1t experimental with self-organiza-
tion, collective action, as was the practice
Of those who dominated it.
Labor Made Slow Progress.
Bitterly disappointed many times as Gov
ernment gestures of apparent friendliness
were turned to its disadvantage, labor none
the less made slow progress. As early as
1869, springing from labor's demand for an
unbiased study of the actual conditions of
which it was employed, the State of Massa-
chusetts established the first State Labor
Bureau. In 1884, comparable Federal
Bureau was established, later to become the
Bureau of Labor Statistics which is now a
key division of the department.
In course of time other State and Fed
eral agencies were created, including the
establishment Of United States Depart
ment of Commerce and Labor in 1903 BY
1908 labor had rallied one of the two great
political parties to its insistent demand
for Federal Department Of Labor, and
the Democratic platform of that year con-
tanned plank pledging creation of such
D.. an agency.
The party's failure to win the election
prevented it from carrying out the pledge,
Of course, but in the next two Congresses
there were bills embodying this plan, and
1t was modification of these legislative
proposals that was enacted in 1918 under
the Senate leadership of Borah of Idaho,
then chairman of the Senate Committee on
Education and Labor, and Chairman Will
son of the House Labor Committee, later
to become the first Secretary.
Peaceful Adjustment Sought.
fflIlOuSu Ille purpose Oh IIle department.
was defined only in a general way in its
organic act, it is interesting to note that
proponents of the legislation stressed dur
ing its consideration the part such de-
partment might play in effecting peace
full adjustment of labor disputes"
Accordingly, one of the first units set
up under the new department was that
of the conciliation service, charged with
the duty of using its good Offices to seek
peaceful settlement of any trade dispute
arising between employers and employees
in industry.
In the annual report of the Secretary of
Labor, as far back as 1914, it was re-
marked that "of all the functions. of the
department which it is yet possible to ad-
minister, this one may reasonably be re-
garded as the most important"
Only few weeks ago before the House
Appropriation Committee. Senator Perkins
commented on the increasing reliance