DOCUMENT COMMITTEE ON LABOR SEVENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H. R. 238 A BILL TO REHABILITATE AND STABILIZE LABOR CONDI- IN SAID INDUSTRY; TO SAFEGUARD AND AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES DIV.. TO REGULATE THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY MAY 10, 1937 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The subcommittee met in the caucus room, Old House Office Building, at 10:20 a. m., Hon. Kent E. Keller (chairman) presiding. Present: Representatives Keller (chairman), Ramspeck, Gildea, Schneider, Welch, and Smith. The CHAIRMAN. The subcommittee will come to order. This subcommittee meeting has been called for the purpose of considering H. R. 238 which the reporter will insert at this point in the proceedings. A copy of the subcommittee print of the bill will also be inserted at this point. (The bill referred to is here printed in full as follows:) [H. R. 238, 75th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To rehabilitate and stabilize labor conditions in the textile industry of the United States; to prevent' unemployment and to provide minimum wages, maximum hours, and other conditions of employment in said industry; to safeguard and promote the general welfare; and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, FINDINGS AND POLICY SECTION 1. (a) The Congress of the United States as a matter of legislative determination hereby finds the following facts: (1) The production of textile products in the United States and their sale, transportation, and distribution throughout the United States and foreign countries are affected with a national public interest. (2) The flow of raw cotton, wool, silk, and other raw materials and supplies from certain States and from foreign countries to textile mills located primarily in the eastern seaboard and Southern States, and the sale, transportation, and distribution of textile products throughout all the States of the United States and numerous foreign countries constitute a material and substantial part of the commerce among the several States and with foreign countries. The movement of raw materials to, and the movement of textile products from, the textile mills are entirely dependent upon the operation of such mills; and interstate and foreign commerce in the materials and products of the textile industry are directly and substantially affected by conditions in the manufacture of textiles as well as the sale thereof. (3) In recent years this flow of interstate and foreign commerce in textile products has frequently and for long periods of time substantially declined in value and amount, has been subject to severe price instability, has been diverted in large quantities from certain States to other States and from certain mills to other mills by reason of unfair competition in wage rates and other conditions of employment as well as by reason of other unfair methods of competition, has been interrupted and greatly burdened by strikes and other forms of industrial unrest, and has otherwise been disorganized and depressed. 1 Such disturbances have resulted in widespread unemployment and caused heavy financial expense to the Government of the United States, contrary to the public interest. (4) Such efforts upon interstate and foreign commerce in textile products have been caused directly and primarily by the instability of wage rates and other labor costs in the production of said products, by excessive competition in extending hours of labor, in the employment of child labor, and in lowering wage rates and other labor costs, by over-expansion and excess capacity of the productive equipment in the industry, and by denial of the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively. (5) Competitive conditions in commerce among the States in textile products prevent protection of commerce through local or State regulation and make necessary for its protection the exercise of the powers vested in the Congress of the United States. (6) Interstate and foreign commerce in textile products will be substantially and directly fostered, protected, regulated, stabilized, and otherwise promoted, and its flow directed, by the establishment of minimum wages, and other conditions of employment in mills whose products flow in such commerce, by control of excess production in such mills, and by the guarantee of the right of employees in such mills to organize and bargain collectively. (7) The production of textile products which flow in interstate and foreign commerce is frequently so intermingled and connected with and related to the production of textile products which do not flow in such commerce that regulation of the former cannot be rendered effective without regulation also of the latter. Furthermore, regulation of the sale, transportation, and distribution of textile products which flow in interstate and foreign commerce in numerous instances places such products at a serious competitive disadvantage as against textile products which do not flow in such commerce, and thus directly and substantially affects, burdens, reduces, discriminates against and otherwise obstructs the flow of textile products in interstate and foreign commerce, unless the same regulations are imposed upon textile products which do not flow in such commerce as upon products which do flow in such commerce. SEC. 2. It is, therefore, hereby declared to be the policy of Congress to foster, promote, and encourage interstate and foreign commerce in the industry; to prevent and eliminate those factors which burden or restrain such commerce or diminish the flow thereof; to prevent the uses of unfair competitive practices and methods of competition in or affecting such commerce; to encourage and foster fair competition based on the price and quality of products and the efficiency and ingenuity of those engaged in the industry, but to discourage and prevent any person from gaining any competitive advantage not through his own contributions but at the expense of others, whether of labor (by the payment of unreasonably low wages or the exaction of unreasonably long hours of service), or of competitors (by appropriation of their trade marks or trade names, or by espionage, defamation, or other unfair acts), or of the consuming public (by misrepresentation, false advertising, substitution, discrimination, or other unfair selling practices); to stabilize the industry and the commerce therein; to prevent and diminish bankruptcies, receiverships, reorganizations, and other business troubles; and to regulate the industry for the purpose and with the effect of preserving to the United States a source of taxable revenue. DEFINITIONS SEC. 3. As used herein (1) The term "industry" or "textile industry" shall include, but without limitation— (A) The manufacture of the following products, whether composed of cotton, wool, silk, rayon, hair, jute, or any other artificial or natural fiber, or combination thereof: (a) Woven or knitted fabrics in the piece; (b) Yarn, thread, twine, cord, or cordage; (c) Rugs, carpets, or other textile floor coverings; (d) Felt, felt products, batts, pads, wadding, welts, or bindings; (e) Surgical dressings or sanitary napkins; (f) Lace, lace curtains, trimmings, braids, and braided fabrics; woven, knitted, or braided elastic fabrics; bias tape; (g) Pyroxylin coated leather cloth and lacquered fabrics, window-shade cloth, book cloth, impregnated fabrics for book binding, or table oilcloth; (h) Hosiery; (1) Knitted outerwear or underwear apparel; The term "manufacture" shall include sorting, dyeing, bleaching, mercerizing, weighting, printing, finishing, throwing, or other processing of any of the foregoing fibers or products: Provided, That it shall not include the ginning of cotton. (B) The sale of any textile product by the manufacturer thereof, directly or indirectly, through any agent, broker, subsidiary, selling agent, or otherwise, or the sale thereof at wholesale by any person principally engaged in the purchase of textile products and the sale thereof for purposes of resale. (2) The term "textile product" shall include any product of the textile industry. (3) The term "person" shall include one or more individuals, partnerships, corporations, associations, or the legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers thereof. (4) The term "employer" shall include any person employing labor in the conduct of any branch of the textile industry. (5) The term "employee" shall include any individual employed in any branch of the textile industry and shall include his family or relatives doing production work, and shall include any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any change in work assignment, or any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice (as defined herein or in the National Labor Relations Act, approved July 5, 1935), and who has not thereafter obtained any regular and substantially equivalent employment. (6) The term "representative" shall include any individual or labor organization. (7) The term "commerce" or "interstate commerce" shall mean trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between the District of Columbia or any Territory of the United States and any State or other Territory, or between any foreign country and any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or within the District of Columbia or any Territory, or between points in the same State but through any other State or any Territory or the District of Columbia or any foreign country. (8) The terms "affect commerce,' or "affecting commerce" shall mean affect or tend to affect the free flow of commerce or the amount thereof; burden or restrain commerce; restrict or tend to restrict competition therein; give or tend to give an undue competitive advantage in commerce; or discriminate or tend to discriminate unduly in favor of some persons or localities as against others. Whenever the existence of an effect upon commerce, as defined herein, depends upon facts, the finding of the Commission that commerce is directly and substantially affected, if supported by evidence, shall be conclusive. (9) The term "Commission" shall mean the National Textile Commission, created by section 4 of this Act. (10) The term "label or stamp" shall mean a label or stamp or other insignia issued, authorized, or approved by the Commission. (11) "Documentary evidence" means all books, documents, papers, and correspondence, in existence on or after the effective date hereof, which are relevant to any inquiry made by the Commission, whether in any investigation or proceeding, and which in the judgment of the Commission are necessary for such investigation or proceeding. (12) "Circuit court of appeals" shall mean and include the circuit court of appeals within any circuit where the person who seeks a review of an order issued by the Commission or against whom the Commission seeks to have its order enforced, resides or carries on business; or the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, whether or not such person resides or carries on business in the District of Columbia. In any such case, any process, summons, or subpena against any person issued from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia shall run in any place within the jurisdiction of the United States with the same force and effect as if the same had been served within the District of Columbia. NATIONAL TEXTILE COMMISSION SEC. 4. (a) There is hereby created a commission, to be known as the "National Textile Commission", which shall be composed of five members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. |