Evening Star Newspaper, April 20, 1937, Page 7

BACK WAGNER ACT, BARKLEY ADVISES Law Is Great Step for In- dustrial Peace, Senator Says in Forum. Observance of the Wagner labor re- lations act by employers, workers and the public was urged last night by Senator Barkley, Democrat, of Ken- tucky. He spoke over the National Radio Forum, sponsored by The Star and broadcast over a Nation-wide net- work of the National Broadcasting Co. “Now that this great step toward in- dustrial peace has been justified by the subsequent course of legislative and Judicial history, let us hope that it will be accepted by both employers and em- Pployes,” Senator Barkley said, “and by the public generally as a sincere and practical method by which our indus- trial system may be elevated to a higher standard of efficiency and of Justice among those whose brains and whose muscles and whose very lives are devoted to the production and dis- tribution and enjoyment of the things which we have come to regard as so essential to the American way of liv- ing.” The Wagner act, since it has been declared constitutional, will materiaily reduce “the causes of friction” between capital and labor, Senator Barkley said. “More than one-half of the strikes that have occurred in the past year have grown out of the refusal of em- ployers to accord to their employes the right to bargain collectively in regard to their conditions of employment,” he declared. These statements followed a pre- view of the entire labor situation and a brief history of relations between capital and labor from the early days in this country, when mass production was still unknown dress follows: I have been asked to speak briefly this evening on some phases of recent industrial controversies in the United States in the light of legislative efforts to resolve them and thus contribute to industrial peace, and in the light of recent judicial interpretations of these efforts in the field of State and Federal legislation on the subject. 1 presume that all reasonable and patriotic men and women will agree that industrial peace, good will and mutual understanding are desirable, if not indispensable, to the progress and happiness of our Nation. That the relationship of employer and employe ought to be one in which quently said Congress has the same right to regulate the commerce that it has to regulate the railroads which carry the commerce, and this principle has been extended to apply to all carriers by land, water, steam or other propelling power which are engaged in interstate commerce, and it has even extended to intrastate commerce where it operates as a burden upon or affects directly commerce among the States or with foreign countries. Recognizing the right of labor to organize and reasonably enjoy the fruits of its labor, Congress has within the last four or five years en- acted a large number of measures de- signed to safeguard the rights of la- bor in its relationship with its em- ployer. Among these legislative acts the following: The national labor relations act, which defines and strengthens the rights of workers to organize and bar- gain collectively as a means of set- tling and prohibiting labor disputes. An act prohibiting interstate trans- portation of strikebreakers. A resolution providing for investiga- tion of violations of the right of free speech and assembly. An act designed to assist the States in the enforcement of State laws reg- are | ulating or prohibiting the sale in the open market of prison-made goods in competition with the products of free labor. Maritime Regulation. An act which regulates conditions of employment of seamen and en- | bine-room workers in our sea-going merchant marine. An act creating the United States Maritime Commission with power to investigate conditlons of employment in ocean-going shipping with a view to revising the contracts providing for subsidies and incorporating in them better standards of labor. The public contracts act yhich pro- vides in Government contracts for ma- terial. articles, supplies and equipment in amounts exceeding $10,000, for labor standards governing hours, wages, child and convict labor and working | conditions. The text of Senator Barkley's ad- | The social security act providing, under certain circumstances, for un- employment compensation, old-age se- curity, security for children, aid to the blind and the extension of public health service and vocational rehabili- tation. It also passed the railroad retire- ment act, providing annuities to rail- | road employes retired at the age of 60 or after 30 years’ service, which was invalidated by the Supreme Court, as was also the Guffey act, whose purpose was to stablize the bituminous coal in- tions and labor conditions. The workmen's compensation act, which enables States to apply their workmen'’s compensation laws to Fed- dustry and improve its industrial rela- | THE EVENIN$ STAR, Urges Wagnér Act Suppoft SENATOR BARKLEY, —Star Staff Photo. ployes, but also to improve the condi- tions under which men and women and children must work and accord them a measure of security during old age and periods of unemployment. During the recent depression the | workers in practically all classes of | industry underwent hardships and | the privations never before endured by the American people and made it necessary for State governments and | the Federal Government to engage in | enormous expenditures for relief and to afford employment to the unem- ployed. There has been a marked improve- ment in the employment situation during the last three or four years. ‘We have undoubtedly turned the cor- ner and are definitely on our way to & more permanent and more fairly distributed prosperity. During this process of recovery there have been numerous labor disputes growing out of wages and hours and the right to bargain collectively in determining wages and hours and conditlons of employment. These disturbances dur- ing periods of recovery from long de- pressions are not unusual. They have status they enjoyed prior to the de- pression. As a result of this situation during the last year or two, we have witnessed numerous labor disturbances in the country. This has been particularly true in the shipping industry, the automobile industry, the textile in- | dustry and certain merchandising en- terprises located in large cities. But it ought to be stated that in those indus- tries which have heretofore recognized | ; and now recognize the right of collec- tive bargaining among their employes, there has been the smallest proportion of labor disturbances throughout the United States. This is particularly true of the railroad employment and of employment in the coal industry and in certain portions of the textile industry where collective bargaining has been recognized and practiced. Of the more than 1,000 strikes of various types and sizes which have oc- curred recently in the United States, between 500 and 600 of them, or & decided majority, grew out of the un- willingness of the employer to recognize the right of their employes to bargain collectively over wages, hours and con- WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, tions; the discharge of men because they see fit to join a labor union, or efforts to coerce or force them into so- called company unions fostered or ‘Initiated or dominated by :the em- ployer, and many other practices which are recognized as unfair which the law seeks to eliminate in the interest of more friendly relations in the in- dustrial fleld. Attacks Upon Measure. Many of the large manufacturers in the United States ignored the pro- visions of this act and resorted to the courts to defeat its purposes. In so far as this law is concerned, the atmosphere has been somewhat clarified by the recent decision of the Supreme Court. In that decision the court recog- nizes the effect which may be wrought on commerce among the States and with foreign countries by the sort of “| labor’ disagreements and disturbances which the Wagner act was set up to avoid. The court recognizes that if Congress can regulate railroads and other instruments of commerce, and Ccan even regulate carriers wholly within one State if the State imposes conditions or permits practices there- on which operate as a burden on in- terstate commerce, then Congress may exercise the same power over the commerce which is transported by the carrier. In other words, it rec- ognizes the inconsistency of saying that Congress may regulate all the practices of a railroad engaged in in- terstate commerce and may set up machinery for the settlement of labor disputes on such railroads, but that Congress should not be held to have the power to do the same thing with relation to the commerce that passes over the railroad or other carrier which is being regulated. While this decision upholding the labor relations act passed muster of constitutionality by a narrow mar- gin, the result was most gratifying. But in spite of the gratifying nature of this decision in the five cases passed upon by the court on Monday last, we need not console ourselves with the thought that we are out of the woods in the matter of constitu- tional Interpretation of the powers of | Congress in dealing with industrial | subjects which are national in their scope and which cannot be success- fully solved under the guiding super- vision of any other authority less than the Government of the United Btates itself. It is not enough to say that Con- gress may concern itself with the set- tlement of labor difficulties in fac- tories which import raw materials from other States and then export the finished product to other States, thus constituting a sort of “bottle neck,” as the court has said in the process of conducting commerce among the Btates. If shipping raw materials from sev- APRIL 20, 1937. the processes by which commerce is fostered and carried on, then Con: gress may set up certain standards of fairness and unfairness and provide the machinery for their administra- tion without regard to the direction toward or from the plant where the conditions prevailed. Criticizes Guffey Decision. In the light of these deductions and in consequence of the logic of the Supreme Court jn the five decisions rendered laust Monday upholding the constitutionality of the labor relatiors act, the labor provisions of the Guffey .coal act ought to have been held to be constitutional by the same court instead of being nullified as con- trary, to the Constitution and beyond the power of Congress to deal with. Many of us in positions of respon- sibility have been asked . frequently in the past week what effect the fa- vorable decision of the court will have on the relations of employer and em- ploye and on the further organization of labor in the unorganized industries of the country. In view of the fact that more than one-half of the strikes which have oc- curred in the past year have grown out of the refusal of employers to accord to their employes the right to bargain collectively in regard to the conditions | ‘of their employment, it seems to me in- | evitable that the assertion and observ- | ance of this right will materially re- | duce the causes of friction, the sources | of dispute and unrest among labor- ing men, and will result in a more friendly approach from both sides to | the settlement of their differences, and will, consequently, reduce the number of strikes of all kinds throughout the | Nation, " It is my opinion also that the ob-| servance of this congressional enact- | ment by both sides to thdustrial con- troversies will result in the increase in| the number and membership in labor | organizations; for in practical opera- | tion it is almost impossible for large | groups of employes to select those who | are to speak for them unless they are organized and can engage in their ne- gotiations in an orderly and well-rec- ognized manner instead of under the | | chaotic conditions which frequently| | accompany unorganized efforts along | the same line | | Urges Act Be Observed. | Now that this great step toward 1n-} dustrial peace has been justified by the | subsequent course of legislative and | Judicial history, let us hope that it will be accepted by both employers and | employes, and by the public generally —_— as & sincere and practical method byl which our industrial system may be elevated to a higher standard of ef- ficlency and of justice among those | whose brains and whose muscles and whose very lives are devoted to the production and distribution and en- Joyment of the things which we have come to regard as so essential to the American way of living. Let us believe that the Government | of the United States is not a great | monster seeking to establish some mys- | terious and brutal sway over the iives of men and women and children for whom it feels no real concern; but that it is an agency set up, ordained, supported and perpetuated by the | people themselves for the present and | potential exercise of all its powers and | functions in guiding the people in the | solution of hard problems they cannot | resolve by their individual efforts, and in protecting them from the in- humanity and the rapacity of any element or combination of elements | Which seek only to use that Govern- ment to enforce their own special privileges in & world Anybody Can selfish and | of modern | s A7 and humane standards of life and of work, We who hold office or possess great power sometimes boast in our hearts of the great contribution we think we make to the sum total of human hap- piness. But who can say that the man who digs a ditch in the middle of the street to lay a pipe or a wire or a cable to bring light, heat and comfort to the homes of millions of people has not rendered a greater service to society than a Senator or a Governor or a judge upon the bench? In our approach to these great social and economic questions, let us be fair. Let us be just. Let us be open-minded. Let us rememper that even an impersonal government should protect the weak, restrain the strong and seek constant improvement in every relationship which binds the people together. Water From Volga. With the completion of the Moscow- Volga Canal, the Russian city will receive water from the Volga befors 1938. Guess at the Cause of This «+..IT IS BETTER TO KNOW! In my years of SPECIALIZATION as a scalp and hair HYGIENIST the most inportant thing I have learned 1s THAT EACH CASE IS AN INDIVIDU- AL PROBLEM AND MUST BE TREATED INDIVIQUALLY and then only after careful study has deter- mined which is the RIGHT treatment for that particular case. THAT TREATMENT MUST BE DIRECTED SCIENTIFICALLY AND EACH STEP WATCHED CAREFULLY BY ONE FAMILIAR WITH THE CAUSES AND CORRECTION OF CONDITIONS LEADING TO FALLING HAIR AND BALDNESS. IDIRECT ALL TREATMENTS MYSELF eral Stal t ! t reciprocal confidence and respect pre- tes to a factory in one State vail cannot be denied, and that it should form the basis of genuine co- operation in the productive enter- prises which constitute so large a part of the social and economic life of the Nation is equally undeniable. I presume we may also agree that such confidence and respect may not and ought not to be secured by the denial to either party of the just pro- portion to which each may be entitled of the profits of the joint productive eral projects within their geographical boundaries. In addition to these Federal statutes, | an unusually large and significant body of labor laws have been enacted by a large number of States during the | past year. These include child labor | laws in five States, Collective bargain- | ing laws in two States, industrial home | work in one State, prison labor laws in | tice of such a policy. The fact re- five States, public employment oflke&‘ mains it does occur, it has occurred in three States, safety health sanita- | anq always occurs in periods of great tion in 21 States, State Departments of I have only one office see every case. I supervise every treatment. I SURROUND MY CLIENTS WITH EVERY AVAILABLE ANTICEPTIC SAFEGUARD. I use only equip- ment that has proved itself in scalp treatment, SUPPLE- MENTING MECHANICAL AND MANUAL MANIPULA- TIONS with measures that are VITAL to success. I GUAGE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MY METHODS BY THE RESULTS THEY PRODUCE. A Consultation Costs You Nothing and ditions of labor. These conditions and these results| 20 the subsequent shipment of fin- emphasize the wisdom of the policy | Shed products from the factory to and the theory out of which grew the | Other States gives Congress juris- Wagner labor relations act, wmch}‘““’““ over the settlement of labor disputes in the factory because those has just been sustained by a five-to- | 5 four decision of the Supreme Court | disputes may have a direct effect on the flow and continuance of inter- of the United States. state commerce, then it seems to me This act undertook to set up the | seems machinery through which both labor | that Congress may exercise tne same authority where the factory merely and capital, both employer and em- ploye might negotiate on equal terms | 8hips into other States the product | of its enterprise regardless of the for the settlement of their Jabor and | occurred at the end of every depres- sion and during the process of re- | covery. During long depressions not |only does industry separate large | numbers of workers from their posi- tions, but they also reduce wages and | impose harder working conditions upon their employes. I shall not here attempt to discuss the wisdom or jus- efforts which make and have made American industry the giant it has come to be. Close Relationship Severed. ‘The growth of industry, the use of machinery, the development of the industrial corporation, the combina- tion and consolidation of producing units, the inauguration of mass pro- duction and the wide distribution of these products through the States and throughout the world have severed the close personal relationship which previously existed between employer and employe. Under the former system the em- ployer knew his employe, his cir- cumstances and his family. Frequently they associated in the same social, fraternal or religious circles, and the worker enjoyed an approach to his employer which made it possible for each to possess full knowledge of the other’s economic surroundings. If the employe needed more wages or improved working conditions, he might go personally to his employer and lay his needs before him in the confident belief that they would be given personal and sympathetic con- sideration. ‘With the growth of industrialism and the advent of the so-c.lled ma- chine age, the broad expansion of cor- porate forms and control and the wide separation of plants and units under the same management, the personal relationship between employer and employe practically ceased, and the individual employe became a small cog in the great wheel of industrial and economic transformation, which he witnessed but could not guide or gontrol Growth of Labor Union. Out of this condition grew the labor union. Under modern industrial sur- roundings the individual laborer be- came helpless by his single efforts to improve his condition. If he was not satisfied with his wages, he was told that he might quit his work. If he complained about his working condi- tions, he was told that he might look elsewhere in search of employment. Often no account was taken of stand- ards of living, of family obligations or of the worthy and laudable desire of the head of a family to give his chil- dren the opportunities of education, social advancement or the enjoyment of a decent standard of living, accord- ing to accepted American models. It became increasingly necessary, therefore, for the workers to organize into unions, in order that they might present their grievances and their needs as a unit and not as individuals. They realized that in union there is “atrength and without union there is impotence. The formations of the unions gave the employes a bargaining power closer to the level occupied by the employer, and this has given rise to the legis- lative and judicial recognition of the right of collective bargaining for em- ployes in the United States who wish to enjoy its benefits and participate in its processes. This right has been recognisec. by both State and national enactments over a long period of years. In the transportation act of 1920 Oongress made & somewhat abortive effort to establish this process for the adjustment of railroad labor disputes by the creation of the Railroad Labor Board. The provisions of this act were not successful or satisfactory, and they were repealed by the railway la- bor act of 1926, which was enacted in substantially the language of the Howell-Barkley bill, of which I had the honor to be the author in the House of Representatives. This act was amended in 1934, and three weeks #go was sustained in a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court. Scope of Act. This act, of course, dealt only with employes of railroads engaged in in- terstate commerce, and there was no Just or reasonable ground upon which its constitutionality could be attacked, N but as the Supreme Court has fre- 4 | labor in 24 States, minimum wage laws in three States, wage payment and time of employment laws in seven States. Purpose of Legislation. These enactments both by Federal and State authorities have been de- signed not only to improve the rela- tionship between employers and em- | industrial depression. When the processes of recovery be- | gin, and profits begin to be realized and accumulate in the industries themselves, it is natural that the em- ployes of these industries should not only seek to recover the ground they lost during the depression, but it is also natural that they should seek to advance their position beyond the industrial problems. It undertakes to define certain well recognized unfair labor practices, among which are the denial of the right to organize for their mutual ad- vancement and protection; coercion or intimidation in the selection of the representatives of employes who are to participate in the negotiations over wages and hours and working condi- source from which it secures its raw materials. In other words, if s manufactur- ing plant is engaged in interstate commerce, it does not matter whether that commnerce flows in or flows out | of the State, or whether both occur. | If the conditions of labor which pre- vail are such as to promote strife, dis- agreement, strikes and interruption of CONSTIPATION 5 V.7 INITHOUR : — IGHTING words, but Mike’s grin takes the sting out of them. He’s trying to get his friend to be a real beer drinker and drink a dry beery beer like Gunther’s. It was Prohibition and its sweet home brew and “needle” beer that gave so many Americans their taste for a sweet beer. But ask any REAL beer drinker what HIS idea of real beer is. He'll tell you it’s the dry (not sweet) beer with a beery tang. That’s the kind for all real men to drink. It stampsjyou as a real beer drinker. What’s more, this type of beer doesn’t tend to “fill-you-up” and it’s a real appetite-builder. Drink dry beery Gunther's for just a week and then just try to go back to a sweet type beer. >~ Dosen't Obligate You in Any Way F. D. Johnson Scalp Specialist 1050-53 Shoreham Bldg. HOURS—3 AM.-7 P.M. Phone NA. 6081 Sat. Till 3 PM.