an example set by the Federal Government would give added weight to the various statements of President Truman and other Government officials who have from time to time condemned the practice of discrimination in the field of employment. The coverage of agencies and instrumentalities of the United States or of any Territory or possession thereof, as is provided in S. 984, would make a major contribution in helping the Federal Government to perform its role as a model to all other employers.

The policy of fair employment practice for Government as an employer is not new. Rule 1 of the Civil Service Rules and Regulations provides that appointments to jobs in the Federal Government be made on the basis of merit alone with no discrimination because of color, race, religion, or place of national origin. It has been impossible, however, for the Civil Service Commission to guarantee the application of this policy because it has lacked machinery for rapid investigation and adjudication of charges of discrimination in Government hiring. S. 984 provides for a Commission which has the right to investigate charges of discrimination in Federal employment and to make the proper recommendations to the President of the United States for the correction of the problem wherever it may exist. This provision if enacted into law will narrow the possibility of continuing discrimination in Federal employment.

Despite existence of rule 1 in the Civil Service Rules and Regulations and despite the various statements against discrimination made by the President, many shocking and disturbing cases of discrimination have occurred and are now occurring in the employment practice of Federal Government without corrective action being taken. As an example of one type of discrimination found in Federal employment, I cite the case in which the personnel office of a liquidating war agency, which in attempting to place its employees with more permanent Government agencies, was informed by 10 agencies of the Federal Government that they had clerical jobs for white applicants but none for Negro applicants. These agencies were:

Bureau of Standards and the Patent Office in the Department of Commerce. Bureau of Internal Revenue in the Treasury Department. Public Health Service in the Federal Security Agency. Public Buildings Administration in the Federal Works Agency. Alien Property Custodian in the Justice Department. Navy Department. Government Printing Office. Office of Army Security in the War Department. State Department.

Despite the fact that the United Public Workers of America revealed this condition to the Civil Service Commission, the White House and the President's Committee on Civil Rights, no corrective action has been taken and as a matter of fact agencies not in the above list have begun to follow the example of discrimination. The original 10 agencies alone represent about half of the agencies of the Federal Government.

Or as another example of the kind of discrimination which is encountered in Federal Government employment practices, I cite the case of four Negro Government workers of several years' experience, all with very good or excellent efficiency ratings who were referred by the personnel office of their agency, which was liquidating, to the Department of Agriculture. After having been interviewed by the personnel office of the Department of Agriculture, they heard nothing with regard to employment by that agency. Some time later one of the applicants received in an officially franked envelope of the Department of Agriculture the application blanks of herself and three other Negro job applicants. Attached to these blanks was a memorandum on official United States Government stationery which was obviously a note exchanged between personnel officers in the Department of Agriculture. The note stated, "attached are the applications I talked to you about. Except for color they look like good girls." The note was dated January 27, addressed to "John," and the words "except for color" underlined in red crayon. The signature on the memorandum was illegible. This situation was revealed to the proper Government officials but to date none of the four girls have yet been hired by the Department of Agriculture and the discrimination which they suffered was obviously but a reflection of a firm policy on the part of that Government agency.

I cite for you another example which concerns the Bronx office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue which had a staff of over 2,000 employees performing essential work in the Government's tax program. Ninety percent of these employees were Negroes. The head of that agency, a Mr. Ernest Campbell, stated prior to the giving of the examinations that he would get rid of most of the Negro employees. The employees demanded that they be retained on the basis of merit and argued that their method of retention should be the same as for any other

Government workers; that is, that the marks which they made on the civilservice examination should be the basis upon which they were retained. The administrator stated that only a few of them would be able to pass the civilservice examination. However, when examinations were given and graded, it was found that large numbers of these employees passed the examination. Immediately thereafter the Treasury Department moved the office from New York, dismissed all but a few white employees, and set up the office in Kansas City, Mo. (It was claimed the move was unrelated to the question of retention of Negro workers, but the sequence of events is as I have described.)

The above-mentioned cases are but examples of the type of discrimination which is now being practiced by the United States Government as an employer. Each case merely represents scores of other similar cases in which Negroes, Jewish workers, Catholics, and workers of Spanish descent are being discriminated against. The United Public Workers of America, CIO, supports S. 984 because this bill would provide for an apparatus which would have the right to investigate such cases and to make the proper recommendation to the President for corrective action. Without such apparatus, the pattern of discrimination against minority groups by Government agencies will grow with a resultant harm to the efficient and economic operation of the various Government agencies and to the whole problem of achieving friendly race relations in the Nation as a whole.

The United Public Workers would like to suggest that the coverage of this bill be extended to include all employees whose pay is derived entirely or in part from moneys appropriated by the National Congress. Such coverage would then extend the benefits of this legislation to the many State, county, and city aid programs being financed, in part at least, by the Federal Government, and would include not only Territories of the United States but activities which are being conducted by the United States Government on leased areas such as the Panama Canal Zone.

We therefore urge that the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare report favorably and swiftly on S. 984, and that the committee use its influences to secure positive action on this legislation in the United States Senate. Our members have watched the development of this issue for some time and it is with real expectations that we present our opinion to this committee, hoping that rapid action will occur as we continue to watch the fate of this bill. The malpractices which the legislation is designed to correct can, if allowed to fester, infect our national life to the point where no strong bond exists to hold the great American people together. The principle of Government of, by, and for the people cannot be qualified. A Government of, by, and for all of the people except minorities would be a tyranny. And the land of opportunity cannot deny opportunity to some without eventually reducing the opportunities for all.

LETTER OF CHARLES E. SANDS, INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, HOTEL AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES' INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE AND BARTENDERS' INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF AMERICA, WASHINGTON, D. C.

SENATE COMMITTEE EDUCATION AND LABOR,

Capital City.

(Attention Mr. Rodgers, clerk.)

JUNE 10, 1947.

DEAR MR. RODGERS: The attached resolution passed by our recent convention which was held in Milwaukee, Wis., April 4 to 12, 1947, was reported to the convention by committee and passed without dissenting vote.

Therefore please insert in the records that our international union wholeheartedly approves of the establishment of a National Fair Employment Practice Act. Our convention was attended by 1,150 delegates representing over 400,000 workers from all over the United States of America.

Very truly yours,

CHAS. E. SANDS.

TO ENACT A FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES ACT-RESOLUTION NO. 110, SUBMITTED BY DELEGATES OF LOCAL No. 110, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. Whereas during World War II the late President established a Fair Employment Practices Commission thereby recognizing the right of all workers to employment without discrimination and making possible the most effective contribution by all American workers to the production essential for the winning of the recent war against fascism and nazism; and

Whereas this policy of the late President Roosevelt has been shamefully abandoned by the present Federal administration and by the present and previous Congresses; and

Whereas the concept of no discrimination in the field of employment is consistent with the finest ideals of American democracy; and

Whereas our international union has traditionally been in the forefront of the labor movement in adhering to and practicing the policy of no discrimination in the field both of organization and of employment; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That this Thirty-first Convention of the HREIA and BILA declares itself for the enactment of a Fair Employment Practices Act as a national policy on the part of our Federal Government; and be it further

Resolved, That the legislative department of this international union stand instructed to work for the enactment of such legislation.

STATEMENT OF ARTHUR SCHUTZER, STATE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, AMERICAN LABOR PARTY, NEW YORK, N. Y.

The American Labor Party respectfully urges this subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare to report out favorably S. 984, a bill to establish a national commission against discrimination in employment and to outlaw unfair employment practices.

The American Labor Party notes the special significance of the introductory sec-tions of the bill.

We refer to section 2 (b) and section 2 (c) which read, respectively, as follows: "SEC. 2. (b) The right to employment without discrimination because of race, religion, color, national origin, or ancestry is hereby recognized as and declared to be a civil right of all the people of the United States.

"SEC. 2. (c) This act has also been enacted as a step toward fulfillment of the international treaty obligations imposed by the Charter of the United Nations upon the United States as a signatory thereof to promote universal respect for, and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion."

By declaring that the right to employment without discrimination is a Federal civil right, section 2 (b) affirms a basic right of democracy. Without this right, effectively enforced, other rights become empty and academic; so long as an individual can be denied the opportunity to earn a living because of discrimination on the ground of race, creed, color, or national origin, so long is the very meaning of democracy denied and thwarted.

Moreover, by citing the obligations of the United States under the Charter of the United Nations as one of the constitutional and moral justifications for the enactment of the bill, section 2 (c) renders timely recognition of the role of the United Nations and of America's duties as a member nation.

S. 984 has a persuasive precedent for its purposes and provisions. The President's Fair Employment Practice Committee, which was created by executive order of President Roosevelt, demonstrated the effectiveness of such legislation. In its first report, covering the period from July 1943 to December 1944, the FEPC stated: "At critical points in the production program, minority groups have played an essential role. Every twelfth American in prime war industries is a Negro. In Federal Government service every eighth worker is a Negro." The other minority groups showed a corresponding increase in employment, as a result of the activities of the FEPC, affecting 5,000,000 Jews, 20,000,000 Catholics, 3,000,000 Americans of Mexican and Hispanic origin and 11,C00,000 persons of foreign birth.

In its final report, the FEPC recommended permanent legislation against discrimination in employment, and pointed out that a postwar survey of employment practices in 11 American cities indicated a sharp increase in discrimination. The American Labor Party vigorously endorses the conclusion of the FEPC that "No device will solve the problem short of the enactment by Congress of Federal fair employment legislation."

The defense and wartime civilian employment of Negroes increased by approximately 1,000,000 jobs between April 1940 and April 1944, according to the report of the United States Department of Labor issued January 1945. Employment of Negro men in the same period rose from 2,900,000 to 3,200,000; Negro women from 1,500,000 to 2,100,000.

The magnificent contribution which members of minority groups made to war production in the struggle against facism is typfied by the achievement of Charles H. Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher was the first Negro war worker to win the War Production Board certificate of industrial production merit. Mr. Fletcher was a welder in the Moore Dry Dock yards at Oakland, Calif. He worked out a device to use in welding insulation pins to deckheads. This device was adopted by the entire war shipbuilding industry to speed up tack welding by 400 percent, thus rendering an outstanding service to the war effort.

The example of Mr. Fletcher can be multiplied hundreds of times in the records of members of all minority groups during the war who were afforded the opportunity to participate in civilian production because of the establishment of the Fair Employment Practice Committee.

The FEPC was an essential factor in winning the war against fascism. Today, a national commission against discrimination in employment is equally essential to protect and extend democracy's gains and to realize those goals for which the war was fought.

The American Labor Party respectfully submits for consideration of this subcommittee one important amendment to the proposed bill S. 984.

You will note that whereas the FEPC bill introduced in the Seventy-ninth Congress (H. R. 2232) included a provision requiring that an antidiscrimination clause be included in all Government contracts, S. 984 omits such provision.

The American Labor Party believes that unless such a provision is included in the bill, it will leave a vast area of discrimination in employment untouched and unaffected in terms of every day industrial practices.

President Roosevelt recognized the importance of such a provision by includ ing it as the first paragraph in his Executive Order 9346, which stated:

"All contracting agencies of the Government shall include in all contracts and in all subcontracts negotiated or renegotiated a provision obligating the contractor not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin."

During the war a midwestern telephone company refused to enter into any Government contract which contained the required nondiscrimination clause. The Comptroller General rendered an opinion that the provision in Executive Order 9346 which required that all Governments contracts contain a nondiscrimination clause was "intended only as a directive" rather than as a "mandate." The FEPC appealed the Comptroller General's opinion directly to President Roosevelt. President Roosevelt in a letter addressed to Attorney Biddle, dated November 5, 1943, made a clear-cut and vigorous reply in which he stated that he wished "to make it perfectly clear that these provisions are mandatory and should be incorporated in all Government contracts. The order should be so construed by all Government contracting agencies."

It is true that S. 984 authorizes the President to issue regulations concerning inclusion of a nondiscrimination clause in Government contracts. However, the American Labor Party urges that such requirement be inserted directly and specifically in the very language of the statute rather than leave it up in the air for future regulations which may or may not be issued.

The American Labor Party urges prompt passage of S. 984 with the amendment suggested above. No isolated FEPC legislation can by itself meet the problem of discrimination in employment. The FEPC bill is essential as part of an integrated program which must include effective planning for full employment, together with legislation for real rent control, a long-range housing program, an increase in minimum wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a Federal antilynch bill, and increased social-security benefits.

The American Labor Party thanks this subcommittee for the opportunity to submit this statement for the record of its hearings.

LETTER AND STATEMENT OF HON. LEWIS B. SCHWELLENBACH, SECRETARY OF LABOR

Hon. ROBERT A. TAFT,

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

AUGUST 12, 1947.

DEAR SENATOR TAFT: This is with further reference to your request for my comments on S. 984, a bill "To prohibit discrimination in employment because .of race, religion, color, national origin, or ancestry."

I regret that I have not been able to take advantage of your invitation to appear before the subcommittee of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare which has had S. 984 under consideration. I am, however, transmitting herewith a statement of my views concerning the bill.

It is requested that this statement be inserted in the record of hearing on S. 984 in lieu of testimony. I have taken the liberty of assuming that it will not be necessary for me to submit a separate report in compliance with your letter of March 31.

The Bureau of the Budget advises that this report is cleared without commitment as to the relationship of each specific provision of S. 984 to the President's program.

Yours very truly,

L. B. SCHWELLENBACH,
Secretary of Labor.

I am glad of this opportunity to express my views on S. 984, the proposed Federal antidiscrimination bill.

The principle of freedom is fundamental in the American system. Our national history is in a sense the story of a gradual but steady progress toward the realization of the great ideals proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence. The proposal you have before you today represents the crystallization of decades of progress and is another significant step in a long historic development to make America practice what its founders so nobly preached.

Freedom, in terms of the American system, has many aspects. There is the freedom of enterprise which is at the heart of economic system and without which we could not have achieved the high level of productivity which won victory for us in World War II. There are also political, religious, and social freedoms which assure us the right to speak out our minds, to worship as we will, to assemble, to petition and to receive equal and nondiscriminatory treatment by courts. These freedoms are basic in our American way of life.

Under modern industrial conditions, however, the freedom to earn a livelihood for oneself and one's family without being discriminated against on the accidental and irrelevant basis of race, religion, color, national origin, or ancestry is no less important than those more generally recognized and accepted freedoms. The vast majority of our people depend upon worker's wages and salaries for their livelihood. Denial of the right to be free from discrimination in employment deprives the average bread-winner of genuine opportunity to enjoy rights in the protection of which Americans have fought and died.

It is not honest to profess principle and to act otherwise. The United States has an obligation under article 55 of the Charter of the United Nations which requires the member States to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion," to take appropriate Federal action to end discrimination in employment. The existence of discrimination in employment weakens the moral standing of the United States among the peoples and nations of the world. Enactment of this bill will do much to assure other peoples that it is our fixed national policy to afford persons of all colors, religions, races, national origins, and ancestries an equal opportunity to earn a living and that this policy is to be enforced, when necessary, by legal sanctions.

It is important to realize, I think, that discrimination in employment has the effect of subjecting to severe economic disadvantage large and significant segments of our population. Prejudice against minorities results in blighted areas, social problems, increased relief appropriations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has computed from census data that in 1939 white wage and salary workers had an average income of $1,134, while Negroes in this class received only $470. It is not uncommon in these times of relatively full employment to see jobs going beggingand production lost-because these jobs are not open to certain groups in our population. Discrimination in employment constitutes a constant threat to wage levels adequate to sustain our American standard of living and levels of purchasing power and production adequate to maintain prosperity under our American free-enterprise system.

Discrimination based on color is not, of course, the only type of discrimination in employment with which, as a matter of Federal policy, we need to be concerned. There is discrimination in employment because of religion-large groups of our people find employment opportunities reduced or barred to them because of their religion. There is also discrimination in employment because of race and because