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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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textile industry, for instance. If you don't spell out what the safeguards are, you'll have a lot of trouble and opposition.”

Well, of course, the truth is that there wasn't much opposition when they finally put this through, because nobody quite understood it. The only opposition was from people who thought it was going to interfere with the NRA codes.

At any rate, the bill agreed upon was the bill as it finally was drafted and still stands today (1953). There's been almost no change in it.

It was my conception when this bill was drafted, and I'm sure it was Wyzanski's, that in its enforcement and operation, it would actually deal with wages which were below civilized minimum wages. While it might fix wages somewhat higher than the wages established by the NRA codes, it would still be fixing wages in government contracts at a level which could be called a living wage, a subsistence wage, or a little more. We would proceed to find out what the proper living or subsistence wage was in the particular industry by taking testimony or making an investigation which would be introduced as evidence in different classes in labor - that is, how much for spinners, how much for weavers, and so on. We





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