Transmitted to the Legislature April 7, 1919 [Vol. 19] You will note that the above report represents a thorough study, and I would be thankful to your honorable body if you will indicate to me at the earliest possible moment, your attitude on this question, in order that I may veto the appropriation standing in the appropriation bill, which must be disposed of before Thursday of this week. The bill that accompanies this report could carry an appropriation of $150,000, sufficient to give us a six or seven months' experience, and a deficiency bill passed at the next session to meet the situation that develops after this work has been for one-half year under the jurisdiction of the Commisisoner of Education. I respectfully urge your honorable body to give this matter your earnest and careful consideration. Recently, when your Honorable Body was discussing the advisability of allowing the Reconstruction Commission, appointed by me, an appropriation of fifty thousand ($50,000) dollars, for the purposes of conducting the highly important investigations now being pursued by them, and which discussion ended in the refusal of such appropriation to the Commission, the stenographic reports of the debates in both the Senate and Assembly indicated the desire upon the part of your Honorable Body, to assist the Executive in any way in pursuit of the investigations authorized by the Executive Law or under the provisions of the so-called Moreland Act, which in the judgment of the Executive, were necessary to be undertaken for the welfare of the State. A survey of the appropriations made in former years show [Vol. 19] Transmitted to the Legislature April 7, 1919 that in but few years has the $10,000 appropriated this year been sufficient for the purpose. I now find that the appropriation bill proposes to give to me for the purposes of the investigation under the so-called Moreland Act, $10,000, and from a general survey of the situation I am certain that this will not be sufficient to cover the costs of the investigation which I desire to make in the near future. I therefore am asking your Honorable Bodies to act favorably immediately upon a bill which will be introduced at once appropriating for the Governor for the purposes of investigations under such Moreland Act, the additional sum of fifty thousand ($50,000) dollars. (Signed) ALFRED E. SMITH MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR RELATIVE TO THE Department OF FARMS AND MARKETS (Transmitted to the Legislature April 7, 1919) To the Legislature: I desire to call to your attention a condition in the Department of Farms and Markets that to my way of thinking needs remedy. The Council of Farms and Markets was created by an Act of your Honorable Bodies in 1917. It was patterned after the State Board of Regents and was intended to create a condition. in the agricultural affairs of the State that would take them entirely out of the realm of partisan politics. The bill provided that there should be two divisions, one headed by the Commissioner of Agriculture and one by the Commissioner of Foods and Markets, both appointed by the Council and provided numerous functions which should be carried out by the Council itself. It also created a number of bureaus to be under the direction of the two Commissioners. It is apparent to all that the plan has not worked well in operation. The Council itself has been unable Transmitted to the Legislature April 7, 1919 [Vol. 19] to perform many of the functions given to it and instead of being an advisory body, as undoubtedly was intended, it has been loaded down with administrative duties, which it has been unable to carry. It is agreed by everybody interested that the plan of two administrative heads and divided authority has also failed. I have reached that conclusion after taking counsel with many interested in agriculture, food distribution and farming interests generally. I have held meetings of the various agricultural societies and groups throughout the State and have confirmed my opinion that the only way to get this important function of our government out of the political arena and give it stability and permanence is to confer the power upon the Council to appoint a single head to be responsible to the Council and to the public at large for the proper functioning of the various bureaus, which are necessary for the best interest of this Department. I believe that the Council as composed today, if left to itself, can find a man forceful and able enough to reorganize the entire department, which is undoubtedly over-manned, extravagant, theoretical and too far removed from the very people it was intended to assist. As it stands today, it lacks force and initiative und seems to be chiefly concerned in the enforcement of regulatory statutes. While that is absolutely necessary, it is also necessary that the Department initiate movements looking towards stimulation of production and a solution of the questions of distribution. It is not my purpose to outline what in my opinion could be done to make more efficient this important Department of our government but I do feel free to say that the eighteen bureaus with high salaried directors and assistants, for the most part new men placed over the heads of old employees of the Department, have produced an organization top-heavy and unwieldy. I believe very firmly in the efficiency of a single headed Commission. I believe that the Agricultural Law should be amended so as to continue the present Council of Farms and Markets as now constituted but that their functions shall be purely advisory. I believe very firmly in the efficiency of a single-headed Commissioner of Agriculture with a salary ample enough to induce a [Vol. 19] Transmitted to the Legislature April 8, 1919 man of the highest attainments in these lines to take the position. I believe also that he should be given absolute power to revise the division of work in the Department and that he should not be hampered by the present provisions, which continue in existence, the various bureaus making it mandatory for him to continue the functions as they now exist and being unable to direct the departments as he choses in the best interest of the State. I, therefore, call to your attention the advisability of immediately enacting a measure to revise the law so as to embody the changes stated and appropriate a lump sum of money sufficient to enable the new Commissioner to reorganize and revise in any way in which his judgment is best, the various bureaus. To accomplish this properly, I stand ready to veto the items in the general appropriation bill for this Department and to sign a bill embodying the above suggestions and making appropriation generously sufficient for the reorganized Department to carry on its work for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1919. My sole desire is to do what is best for all the people of the State and I can attribute to your Honorable Body no less desire. I, therefore, ask your immediate consideration of the bill embodying the above suggestions, which has been prepared and which will be introduced immediately. MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR RELATIVE TO MINIMUM WAGES FOR WOMEN And Children IN INDUSTRY (Transmitted to the Legislature April 8, 1919) To the Legislature: I am unwilling to believe that your Honorable Body is prepared to adjourn without at least debating the constructive measures I proposed in my First Annual Message. Let me urgently request you to give your consideration to the bill creating wage boards to fix minimum wages for women and Transmitted to the Legislature April 8, 1919 [Vol. 19] children in industry. At the very least the measure should be brought upon the floor for discussion, and I therefore ask you to bear with me while I attempt to clear up a few popular misconceptions as to what a minimum or living wage is, and what it really does. When we speak of a legal or minimum wage, we do not mean that wages should be fixed or regulated by law, or that the principle of competition in the fixing of wages should be abandoned; or, as it has been otherwise expressed, a living wage does not interfere with collective or even individual bargaining but it establishes the rule that no contract shall be made which to the women workers means the giving away of everything that makes life worth living and results in injury to the whole of society. A minimum or living wage means the minimum standard below which wages should not be allowed to fall in the low-paid industries, and it has generally been defined as the amount necessary to maintain the woman worker in health and decent comfort. Nor does the minimum wage have the effect of compelling the employer to employ the woman at a certain wage, or of compelling a woman to work for that wage. In its essence, the legal or minimum wage is prohibitory, not compulsory in character. The State, in effect, says that to employ women at a wage that is insufficient to sustain them is a public menace, and therefore that danger is prohibitive, just as is prohibited the erection of a factory building without proper fire escape exits or sanitary arrangements. There is a popular impression that in fixing the minimum wage, the Legislature passes a law saying that no woman shall be employed at less than a certain sum per day or per week. That is not the kind of minimum wage law contemplated by the pending bill or was it ever recommended by any agency in this State. The minimum wage we have under consideration is the determination by a commission with the assistance of wage boards made up of representatives of employers, employees and the public, of the sum necessary to maintain women and minor workers in health and decent comfort in any given industry in any given locality. STATE DEPT. REPT.- VOL. 19 2 |