xt7wwp9t2q46_15 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61.dao.xml American Liberty League 37 linear feet archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), No. 18 "The Thirty-Hour Week: Dangers Inherent in Proposed Legislation," March, 1935 text No. 18 "The Thirty-Hour Week: Dangers Inherent in Proposed Legislation," March, 1935 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_18/Am_Lib_Lg_18_001/Am_Lib_Lg_18_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_15 xt7wwp9t2q46 uk ir
Pamphlets Available A I A n
Copies of the following pamphlets may be  
obtained upon application to the League’s na-
tional headquarters:
Anégrican Liberty League—Speech by J ouett  
ouse ’
The Tenth Commandment    
Why, The American Liberty League?
Statement of Principles and Purposes
Progress vs. Change—Speech by J ouett ’
Shouse
Recovery, Relief and the Constitution- * * *
Speech by J ouett Shouse
American Liberty League—Its Platform A
An Analysis of the President’s Budget Mes-
sage _
N. R. A.—Its Past, and Recommendations Dangers Inherent In Proposed
for the Future . ·
Analysis of the $4,880,000,000 Emergency Lcglslauon
Relief Appropriation Act
Economic Security——A Study of Proposed
Legislation
Democracy or Bureaucracy?—Speech by
J ouett Shouse
The Bonus-——An Analysis of Legislative Pro- 4E ' Ckylb ·
posals * I  
The Constitution Still Stands—Speech by .· I   gh §
J ouett Shouse eg?) `  gp
Inflation-Possibilities Involved in Existing Y I
and Proposed Legislation
ik
Write to I AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE NATi`g‘§;;“lPPIieggg°;‘SI?"i°uNG
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING WASHINGTON, D. C.
WASHINGTON, D. G. .
p * ir
@4
Document N0. 18
, March, 1935

 The Thirty,]-{our Week quarry, mill, cannery, workshop, factory, or
manufacturing establishment situated in the
* United States, in which any person, except
_ _ , , officers, executives and superintendents, and their
_ LSgISIotIoII to IIIIpoSS S tIIII`I*Y'IIouI` WSSII upon personal and immediate clerical assistants, was
industry agarn is before the_ Congress. Two emnleved mere than nve days rn any Week er
YSSIIS ago MISS FISIISSS PSI`kIIIS> SSoI`SIISI`Y of more than six hours in any day." Agriculture
Labor: WItII tIIS_ oPPI`oVoI of tIIS P1‘€S1d€¤’¤» o,b' and domestic service are exempt from the bill.
JSotS$I_to S SIIIIIISI IIIII oII tIIS grouuu that ItS Exemption permits may be issued for specified
PTOVISIOIIS .WSI`S. #09 SSYSIIS Sud . too IIIuSXIbIS‘ classes or individuals by the Secretary of Labor.
The Administration s attitude, which presumably The gevernment denartmente and contractors
h3S not changed, d€S€_rV€§ COrr1morIdB·tIoII· gn public Works are prohibited f1`0II1 miiklflg _
The BI`ookIIIgS IIIStII2utIoII Iuro I`SSSIII’ Study purchases from business enterprises which fail
ooIIoIIIdSoI that tho IS§§SIotIoII WouIu IIoI’ pI`o' to conform to the thirty-hour requirement. No
moto IIo·tIoIIoI WSIISIS _ _ governmental agency may make or renew a loan
I It WouIu Provo °ISI°I`IIIISIu°oI tg tho IIItSISStS __ to any employer of labor in factories and mines
of Iobor SIS WSIISS otruor oIo·SSSS> SSIII tIIIS IS' I who fails to observe the thirty-hour week rule.
Sooroh orgoIII_ZS·tIoII· It, WouIu not pI`oIIIoIS.I`S' I All codes under the National Industrial Re-
covery and bids well to intensify the depression. covery Aet are to be amended to inelude the
At best its immediate effects would be a spread _ thrrtv_heur limitation.
of omPIoYIrISIIt at tIIS SXPSIISS of SIIISISIISY and It is made unlawful for any employer subject
ProoIIIotIVS output III ItS IoIIg'I`uII IIIIPIISSIISISIIS to the act to reduce, directly or indirectly, daily,
tIIS IIISSSIIIS oIISrS to tho WSIISSIYS of the country weekly or monthly wage rates until a reasonable
merely a choice between more leisure and a more ennertumtv hae been given fer collective bar_
abundant consumption of goods and services." gaining with emnleyeee
Studies by other disinterested authorities sup- The nenaltv fer Violations ef the aet re a nne
port the conclusion that the legislation is danger- ef net less than $200 er imprisonment fer not
ous and unsound. Its objectionable features in- mere than three menthe, er heth_
oIodo tho toIIoWIIIgI The Connery bill proclaims the existence of a
I- It LIS ojo IIIIWoIjro·IItS‘I o·ttSIIIPt ,to ooIItI`oI national emergency during which the thirty-hour
` production in violation of constitutional prin- requirement Shall be in effect- The president
oIloIoS· _ _ _ may declare a termination of the emergency.
_2· Iostoad pf morooomg Porohaomrg POWBY and The bill applies to all forms of employment and
Strmorotrrt IrIdIIStrY It Wotud rotard recovery to all employers in trades engaged in producing,
through rrghor Prroos o·rId_rodoo€d oo¤Surr1Pt10r1· transporting or distributing goods or services in
_ 3- Whrro PIIrP_ortIrI€ to ord ono class of °1t1Z€¤S» or affecting interstate commerce. Agricultural
It WoIIId III rSoIItY IIIJIIIZS ou oIoSSSS· _ workers and persons employed in domestic serv-
4- It WoIIId be IrIIPoSSIbIS to ootoroo Woo Wrth ice and those subject to the Railway Labor Act
or Vast IISW bIIrSouoro·oY· ‘ are exempt. Special exemptions forkfiot tokex—
· ceed 90 da s and for maximum wee y wor ing
Terms Of BIHS periods of xirot to exceed 40 hours may be granted
The legislation is before the Congress in two to employers operating under codes.
forms. The Black bill is under consideration by It is provided that if any modification from
the Senate Committee on Judiciary, while the the strict thirty-hour rule is permitted, it shall
Connery bill is in the House Committee on Labor. · be subject to an adjustment of compensation so
Although different in detail each limits industry that workers will not receive smaller weekly
to a thirty-hour week of five days of six hours earnings than before the law became effective.
and each by a different method seeks to prevent Employers not conforming to the requirements
any reduction in daily or weekly wages. ' as to hours of work or compensation shall not
The Black bill, which would be in effect for a be entitled to exemptions from anti-trust laws
two-year period, provides that "no article or authorized under the National Industrial Re-
commodity shall be shipped, transported, or de- covery Act.
livered in interstate or foreign commerce, which One of the provisions of the Connery bill which
was produced or manufactured in any mine, is not in the Black bill gives authority to the
2 3

 President to establish quotas or forbid importa- Whether or not the thirty-hour bills are so
tion of any commodity which is being imported phrased as to escape invalidation in the courts,
in such quantities as to endanger the operation there can be no question but that both do vio-
of the thirty-hour week. lence to constitutional principles.
Under the Connery bill the penalty for viola-
tion is a Hne of not more than $500 for each Eegngmie Theories
offense, each day such violation continues being _ _ _ _
deemed 8, Separate 0H€nSg_ . The th€OI`y of l}h€ `bh1I`by·hOuI` week IS   It
will force the employment of more workers and
Constitutional Principles that by maintaining daily or weekly earnings
of those already employed, the aggregate pur-
Both bills seek to control conditions of pro- chasing power will be increased. It is assumed
duction. Such a step is a flagrant departure from that the greater purchasing power will make
constitutional principles. While the Constitution possible a larger output of industry and that
permits regulation of interstate commerce, the additional workers will be needed. The spiral
courts have never construed commerce as syn- A thus set in motion is supposed to boom industry
onymous with production. ' and restore prosperity.
The commerce clause of the Constitution forms The experience under the National Industrial
the basis for the prohibition in the Black bill Recovery Act has demonstrated that such a
against shipment of goods in interstate or foreign theory is fallacious. What actually happens is
commerce which have been produced or manu- that an undue limitation of hours, with a conse-
factured by labor employed more than 30 hours quent increase in unit costs, necessitates such an
per week. By adroit methods a dragnet is thrown advance in prices of the products as to cause
out to catch all industries which may not ship buyers to restrict their purchases. Exports fall
- products in interstate commerce. Few could off as prices become less attractive. The lessened -
escape from the clauses which apply to indus- consumption forces industry to curtail produc-
tries under codes and to those selling to govern- tion. Workers are laid off instead of hired.
ment departments and contractors, or borrowing More than 11,000,000 employees under codes
from government agencies. now are operating theoretically on-a forty-hour
The Connery bill bases the control over hours week basis. There are about 2,200,000 employees
of labor on an emergency which has interfered under codes calling for less than 40 hours and
with the free flow of interstate commerce. Under about 8,500,000 employees under codes allowing
this highly doubtful power it limits hours of more than 40 hours.
employment. i Despite the maximum hours allowed under
The bills represent a repudiation of the right ‘ codes factory employment in the United States
of freedom of contract as guaranteed by the due actually averaged in recent months only about
process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the 33 hours weekly.
Constitution. The employee may not sell more The effect of a flat thirty-hour requirement
than a fixed amount of his labor nor may the would be to increase greatly the unit costs of in-
employer buy more than that amount. dustries now operating on a basis of 40 hours or
· Such arbitrary restrictions of conditions of more. If a worker now employed for 40 hours ·
production in industry in the two measures are were to receive the same wages for 30 hours
without precedent. They go far beyond the Na- his hourly rate would be increased by one-third.
tional Industrial Recovery Act which authorizes Such an increase necessarily would be passed on
· industrial groups to join in codes under govern- to the consumer in higher prices. ’
ment supervision. That act provides that the U In recent hearings before the National Indus-
codes, which in theory if not in practice are trial Recovery Board it was testified by Charles
voluntary agreements, shall contain conditions g R. Hook, president of the American Rolling Mill
of employment. No maximum hours are spec- Company, that a thirty-hour week would mean a
ified. It would have been contrary to principles 16 per cent increase in the selling prices of its
laid down by the Supreme Court of the United products. The added wage cost under a thirty-
States in the child labor cases to write into the hour week to the entire steel industry would have
law requirements as to hours of labor, wages or been $185,000,000 on the basis of 1934 production.
child labor. What has happened under reductions in hours
4 . 5

 may be illustrated by the operation of the Cot- Workers with fixed incomes not directly af-
ton Textile code. As against increases in pay fected by a thirty-hour week law would also be
rolls, hourly wage rates and the number of per- injured. The higher costs of industry and con-
sons employed, there was a decrease of domestic sequent higher prices would reduce the purchas-
consumption in 1934 of 13 per cent and a de- ing power of the incomes of this group. This
crease in exports of cotton goods of almost 50 would contribute to the general reduction in
per cent. consum tion which would affect industr ad-
In numerous industries already suffering from , versely.p y
increased labor costs a thirty-hour week could . Agriculture is exempt from both the Black and
not be endured. There would be wholesale bank- Connery bills. The spokesmen for organized
ruptcies and liquidations. labor argue that the farmer would benefit from
By reason of the present low average hours the increased purchasing power of industrial
of employment a thirty-hour week would by no workers. This might be true if the legislation
means absorb all of the idle workers. While in actually should increase the purchasing power
certain industries it would mean an increase in of any group for a very long period of time. In
the number of employees proportionate to the _ real fact, however, not only would such increased
shifting from a forty to a thirty-hour week, the purchasing power be lacking but the farmer and
.. average increase would be only that involved in the farm laborer like everyone else would feel
chaiging from a thirty—three to a thirty-hour the effect of higher prices of industriallhcomg
wee . . modities. Persons in domestic service a t ou
One of the false assumptions on the part of exempt under the bills, would be affected by tie
the sponsors of thirty-hour week legislation is l increased cost of living.
that by reason of technological advances the ·
millions of unemployed cannot be entirely ab- A New Bureaucracy
sorbed in industry without an over-production .
of goods. The Brookings Institution in studies A. tinnltwnour Week law Weuld mean e· further
On “Am€1,iCa,S Capacity to Pmducen and ¤•Am€I,_ addition to the yast and ever-growing bureau-
iCa,S Capacity to Consumeo found that the cracy. The National Recovery Administration
United States has not reached a stage of eco- has about eaooo employees exelnewe of persons
nomic development in which it is possible to oonnooteo Wltn the ereraooe of eodee Wno are
have genuine over-production. Its conclusion noo on one eoreromeof Payroll- Deepllle tbelr
was that we cannot materially shorten the work- beef efforts enforoement nee broken, down-
ing day and still produce the quantity of goods Under the P1I°P°S€d leeleleooo It would be
and services which the people aspire to consume. neeeeeery Po rebee eoorooo mennfeeonnng Planes
besides mines and quarr1es and countless retail
Effects On Workers itores and other liE1esHof_businesls)i gif? rletail
. usiness a one wou o er msupera e i cu ties.
It is doubtful if any class of workers would Before long a bureaucracy would be built up
benefit from a thirty-hour week law. At first a Whloh Would seek to perpetuate itself at the ex-
worker receiving the same pay for 30 hours of la- pense of the taxpayers.
bor as for 40 hours would be better off. His earn- * * *
ings would remain the same while he would have The best interests of industrial workers or of
considerably more leisure in which to enjoy life. the public generally would not be furthered by
The increase in industrial costs due to the this legislation. Over the years there has been a
thirty-hour week would mean higher prices of . very material decrease in working hours simul-
the articles which the worker must buy. His j taneously with an increase in average earnings.
purchasing power or real wages would quickly j The reduction in the working week from 1900 to
show a decrease. He would be forced to adopt a 1929 was 13 per cent, the increase in the per
lower standard of living. The reduced consump— ’ capita income during the same period being 40
tion of goods by the public generally would be per cent. Since 1929 working hours have been
reflected in a curtailment of production. The I reduced still more. Economic laws rather than
worker might find his earnings decreased through high-handed attempts to shackle industry must
ia redgiction) inltactucall hours below 30 or he might achievefany further benefits accomplished in this
ose 1S jo a oge er. connec 10n.
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