Evening star., 1941-05-10
Son Of Immigrants
Is Force Behind
Argentine Reform
Ghioldi, Socialist Deputy
From Buenos Aires,
Presses Wage Law
By ALLEN HADEN.

BY ALLEN HADEN.
Correspondence Of The star and chicagc
Daily News.
BUENOS AIRES. May 2 by Clip
per, .-Americo Ghioldi, third son of
Italian immigrants. is Just the kind
OF man you would expect to see as
the driving force Today behind
Argentina social legislation pro-
gram.
OF medium height and stocky,
Ghioldi has calm and disciplined
control of himself and absolute as
surance. In a country where sllcked
personal appearance is a fetish. he
has A singularly untidy shock of
hair falling in a double lock over a
broad. high forehead, He looks like
a Younger and slightcr edition of old
Bob La Toilette. with the same
u-ide-nostriled. skullduggery-sniffine
nose. The resemblance should
GROW more pronounced AS his a.
years increase.
In the nine years GhlOldl has rep
resented the city Of Buenos Aires as
one of its five Socialist deputies in
Congress. he has become a reCog-
nlzed force III the Socialist party.
65 Fer cent Urban Population.
Before you can understand what
we have done in social legislation,
you must know what we are, he
said TO me.
Argentina has roughly a popula-
tion o. 100000, computed on the
OF that total, We estimate s. per
cent are urban dVellerS Industrial
workers We figure are about 100000
and agricultural workers about 49,
coo.
"TTiis condition has channeled
most Of our social legislation toward
beneflting urban and industrial
workers. with some small attention
to the rural tenant but hardly any
to protect the hired field hand. our
peon
Accompanying himself with small
and decisive gestures Ghioldi quick
ly sketched the history of industrial
izatior in Argentina and the parallel
rise of the Socialist party. Indus
trializa ton began at the end of the
10th century and the Socialist party
was founded in 1896 by Juan B.
Justo. whose name any tourist finds
profusely used to Christen toWnlets
and avenues in the country. Alfredo
Palacios CnoW Senator was the first
Socialist deputy from Buenos Aires.
The foundation of the party. the
election of Palacios, the first strikes
and their immediate repression by
the police all .oinCided.
First Victory in 1905.
"Palacios won his and our first
victory in 1905 when he succeeded in
forcing through Congress a law re-
quiring one day of rest weekly for
all workers, GIioldi said. But the
real foundation of Argentina'S
faulv good work IN social measures
was the creation of the National De-
partnlent of Labor in 1912"
Pointing to mediocre portrait
OF Justo on the wall. Ghioldi added
proudly: He was scholar. When
he died in 1927 ne had a complete
collection of YOUR Department of
Labor bulletins. We have them still
at our party headquarters
Within a year of organizing the
Department Of Labor we established
an official employment agency. and
in 1915 regulated private employ
ment agencies, to prevent peonage.
white slavery and all the rest. We do
not have unemployment compensa-
tion nor dole in Argentina. One
must work" Ghioldi said. banging
O hard fist on the table.
Child Labor Regulated.
The fight has been uphill but
constant. In 1915 compensa ton for
industrial accidents was made COM
pulsory. Insurance against accidents
was done privately and was not re-
quired by law"
With quick gesture of depreca-
ton, Ghioldi continued: 1T was only
IN 1S4C that we made that law cover
rural workers. That shows YOU the
praponderant attention given to
urban and industrial workers"
In 1924 he went on. female
and child labor was regulated No
woman to work more than eight
hours a day or 48 hours a week. No
child labor under II years of age
and then only # the child has had
minimum grammar schooling. In
1928 we struck blow at peonage in
the country, by requiring all wages
to De paid in currency. The purpose
was to outlaw coupons and wages in
trade at company -oWned stores.
Pregnancy leaves for women
workers came in 1886, though before
that in 1884 all workers we're given
vacations with pay"
Eight-Hour Day in 1929.
"A blot on our record is the eight
hour day for all, Ghioldi continued.
We started agitating for it in 1896.
but only achieved it in 1929. Can
YOU imagine the number of meet
1ngs. speeches and demonstrations
in that time?"
America Ghioldi is passionatelv
devoted to social progress and the
welfare of Argentinas workers.
Within the Socialist bloc, recognized
as the ablest and most cohesive
group of politicians in the country,
the responsibility has fallen on
Ghioldi to draft the proposed law
for a minimum wage and the law
promoting professional and indus
trial apprentices
Those two laws he said, are
the most important before Argentine
public opinion today. Of the two, I
put more emphasis on the latter. I
look TO the youth of our country.
Of the 100000 youths between the
ages of Is and 10, only some 400. 900
study, work in commerce. in indus
try or in the fields. The balance
namely 100 000-hayn neither Schools