Evening star., 1939-07-21

He not only ad-
yocated such i~'S''''
changes in the David Lawrence.
form of amendments to the exist
ing law, but persuaded President
Roosevelt to agree to them. and
Mrs. Mary Norton, chairman of the
House Labor Committee, to intro
duce them.
Today, however, Mr.. Andrews has
changed his mind. He says that
because organized labor-meaning
the c. I. o. and the A. F. of L.
have battled to save the wage and
hour law from repeal or drastic
change. he should reciprocate by
surrendering his convictions. What
Mr.. Andrews said to the press was
in answer to question as to Wheth-
er he was still for the 5000 a
month amendment which eXemptS
white collar workers earning that
salary from being subject to the A
hour week provision. Mr.. Andrews
In reply said:
No, put that in as thing that
would make the act adminiStratively
easier. 1t was opposed by organized
labor and now that organized labor
has done such a swell job in help
Ing me fight my battles, I think it
would be unethical for me to press
for that amendment if they object
to it."
Newspaper Guild Chief Objector.
Mr.. Andrews revealed that the
chief objector among the unions to
the provisions eXempting white COL
lar workers was the American News
paper Guild, which is affiliated with
the c. I. o. He is to be the guest
of the guilds convention at San
Francisco in the next fortnight.
Lobbying for legislation which
Mr.. Andrews says in effect was
done by organized labor to save
the wage and hour law is not new
and is a legitimate practice. 1t is
no exaggeration to say that organ
lied labor unions have one Of the
most powerful instrumentalities
here for the keeping of members
of Congress in line on special
privilege laws.
But it is decidedly new for a
public official to acknowledge pub
licly his debt of gratitude to
pressure group and to admit that
he has allowed his own convictions
to be swayed thereby.
Either the proposed amendments
- hn l1xx
unjust in the first instance and
never should have been approved
or else they represented the mature
judgment of the chief official
familiar with wage and hour prob
lens in the United States. The
fact that labor unions have as
much influence with the admins
traitor as to persuade him to alter
his convictions on fundamental
issue involving the administration
OF a Federal statute is not likely
to build up confidence in the i'm
partiality of the wage and hour
administrator, unfortunate though
such an impression would be. For
Mr.. Andrews has shown himself a
capable public official who hither-
to has not allowed any bias or
prejudice to creep into his official
duties.
In a "Horse-Trading' Atmosphere.
1t may be, of course, that Mr..
Andrews, who came here from New
York State, has absorbed the New
Deal technique and lately also the
Republican idea of "horse trading
IN public affairs. The conservative
Republicans recently. surrendered
their convictions on silver purchases
In order to help the silver Democrats
defeat for the time being the bill ex-
tending the Presidents powers with
respect to dollar devaluation. The
whole Washington atmosphere has
been given over at times to political
trades and vote-swapping So Mr.
Andrews is not alone in his theory
that it is "unethical' to refuse to
help who ever lobbies for you to keep
your Office intact.
1t may we'll be that 5000 a month
was too low a point at which to in
troduce exemptions, but it is hardly
likely that the labor organizations
would have objected to higher
limit. AS matters stand now, en-
ployers must keep records of the
hours worked where technicians and
other high-priced employees are con-
cerned, and the employer must at
tempt to Standardize their work
week. The problem might have been
met by change in the law allowing
the exemption limit to be adjusted
by agreement between the employe
organizations and the employers
This. at least, would have been OF
some help to the employers. But. as
Mr.. Andrews said, when organized
labor talks to the wage and hour ad-
ministrator. recollection of what
labor has done for the administrator
Is more important than objective
consideration of the interests of all
classes of citizens in America who
are affected by legislation. Small
wonder the House of Representatives
bv overwhelming vote has just de-
cided to make penetrating investi-
cation of the work of the National
Labor Relations Board. Decisions OF
one sided character do not cOnduce
to harmony between employers and
employees. but only to political COM
bat and discord which, in turn
a