National Affairs: 216-to-198

(2 of 2)

Lawrence Connery of Lynn, Mass., elected to serve the unexpired term of his late brother William who sponsored the bill, had his own caustic comment on the proceedings. He proposed that the Black-Connery Bill's name be changed, because, altered by a host of amendments since its introduction, it was no longer "in accord with Billy Connery's aims."

Said Michigan's Representative Michener: "I take it you would leave the bill named'The Black Bill?' "

Replied Mr. Connery: "I have no objection to that. . . ."

Although Majority Leader Sam Rayburn and the Labor Committee's Chairman Mary T. Norton were at first confident that they had enough votes to pass it, straws soon appeared in the wind. The House voted down a substitute bill suggested by A. F. of L.'s President William Green, calling for a flat minimum of 40¢ an hour and a flat maximum of 40 hours a week, entrusting the law's administration to the Department of Justice instead of to the Department of Labor. (The Senate had proposed a five-man board.) Day after his substitute failed, Mr. Green sent identical telegrams to all House members asking them to vote for recommittal of the Black-Connery Bill. To members of Congress the A. F. of L., not the C. I. O., stands for Labor, and William Green's intervention was decisive.

As the Wages & Hours Bill went down to defeat, Chairman Norton remained slumped in her seat, incredulous while her fellow members gathered to congratulate her on having made a hard but losing fight. Several days later, an "unofficial House steering committee" indicated after conferring with President Roosevelt that some form of wages-&-hours legislation would be reintroduced during the regular session.