ment of the United States to build any kind of a structure, say, and in the course of the erection of the structure which he entered into a contract to erect he required the use of a large amount of lumber. Would the purchase of that lumber be permitted under this contract unless the lumber was produced under the eight-hour day?

"Mr. WILSON of Pennsylvania. In my judgment that matter would be left purely as a question of administration. It is not specifically provided in this measure that it should include the lumber, as suggested by the gentleman from Illinois. It would be a matter that would be determined by the administration in making its contract. [Con. Rec., 62d Cong., 2d sess., vol. 48, p. 381.]

“Mr. MADDEN. I take it the intention is that raw material which enters into the construction of a building would be considered as materials which could be bought on the open market.

"Mr. WILSON of Pennsylvania. In a general way that would be my construction.

"Mr. MADDEN. And finished material made from the raw material would be required to be made under the provisions of this bill.

"Mr. WILSON of Pennsylvania. I did not quite catch that.

"Mr. MADDEN. Finished materials, materials which would require mechanical work after the raw material had been purchased, would not enter into the construction of a building at all except under this bill.

"Mr. WILSON of Pennsylvania. I should judge so.

"Mr. MADDEN. Suppose, for example, a man had a contract to construct a building which would require a lot of rough stone or brick and also a lot of cut stone finished. He could go out in the open market, or anybody could, and buy the raw material, and he could get it in the open market, but he could not go into the market and buy the finished material, the dressed material, because dressed material would have to be made in accordance with the provisions of the specifications under the contract; so that I

take it that the bill would require the finished material to be made in accordance with the provisions of this law, while the rough material which might enter into the construction of a building would not be so required.

"Mr. WILSON of Pennsylvania. My judgment is that finished material would be simply material they have bought in the open market under certain specifications, and it would be exempt from the operation under this clause of the bill. [Ibid. 382.]

"Mr. CANNON. * * Now, as I understand it, under the provisions of the bill the doors of a public building, the cornices, the tiling that would cover it, might conform to particular specifications and not be subject to the eighthour law, if I understand the provisions of the bill. Am I right?

"Mr. WILSON of Pennsylvania. If they are of that nature that they could usually be bought in the open market, then they would not be required to conform to this eight-hour proviso, but if they are of the nature that they can not usually be bought in the open market, then they would be required to comply with the provisions of the law.

*

When you say

"Mr. HUGHES of New Jersey. that any work that is to be done by the Government shall be done according to an eight-hour day, then you enter upon a field which is absolutely amazing in its scope. The Government has stationery made for it, has pencils made for it, and purchases pens, chairs, carpets, cuspidors-practically everything that anybody purchases. It became obvious to the friends of this legislation that some sort of a limitation must be put on the application of this law so far as the purchases by the Government are concerned. That particular exception was drawn, as I recollect it now, by a gentleman named Andrew Faruseth, and, as I read it and as I think its author intended it, it excepts practically everything that is of such a character as to make the application of the law to it impossible. By putting a limitation on the exception itself they have taken from without the exception armor plate. I think that anything practically

that the Government ordinarily buys can be bought in the open market and made to conform to particular specificotions, and does not come within the provisions of this law.

*

* *

"Mr. HUGHES of New Jersey. * Great objection was made by gentlemen coming before the committee that if this law was to apply to the purchase of supplies the Government could not buy canned tomatoes or canned peaches or pears for its soldiers unless the tomatoes, peaches, and pears had been canned under the eight-hour law; that the Government could not purchase uniforms for soldiers unless the cloth had been manufactured under the terms and provisions of the eight-hour law. And the friends of the legislation realized that such interpretations. which perhaps were correct interpretations, of the proposed language, would make the law ridiculous. And they realized that this law in order to operate at all must be made to operate within very narrow limits. As I say, when they put this exception in the bill it practically shut off from the operations of the act nearly everything that the Government is called upon ordinarily to purchase. However, they retained the right to have this law apply to armor plate, and, in my judgment, with the exception of armor plate, battleships, and things of that character there is nothing that the Government can purchase and apply the operation of this law to in that section.

"Mr. CANNON. Or a subcontractor, in the making of brick or doors or tile, can make them without violating the law.

"Mr. HUGHES of New Jersey. Exactly. Made to conform to particular specification." [Ibid. pp. 382, 383.] Mr. Hughes, of New Jersey, then quoted from the message of the President of December 6, 1910, as follows:

"It seems to me from the past history that the Government has been committed to a policy of encouraging the limitation of the day's work to eight hours in all works of construction initiated by itself, and it seems to me illogical to maintain a difference between Government work done on

Government soil and Government work done in a private establishment, when the work is of such large dimensions and involves the expenditure of much labor for a considerable period, so that the private manufacturer may adjust himself and his establishment to the special terms of employment that he must make with his workmen for this particular job. To require, however, that every small contract of manufacture entered into by the Government should be carried out by the contractor with men working at eight hours would be to impose an intolerable burden upon the Government by limiting its sources of supply and excluding altogether the great majority of those who would otherwise compete for its business.

"Mr. KENDALL. Will the gentleman yield for a question? "Mr. HUGHES of New Jersey. Certainly.

"Mr. KENDALL. These are exceptions which the President has stated are incorporated in the bill?

"Mr. HUGHES of New Jersey. These are the exceptions that have been in all proposed labor bills since I have been in Congress.

"Mr. KENDALL. And they are now at present in this bill. "Mr. HUGHES of New Jersey. They are at present in this bill. *" [Ibid. 384, 385.]

*

*

It will be seen from this that the intent of the exceptions under consideration was to exclude from the operation of the act all ordinary contracts of the Government, including within the act only those contracts of a character which will permit the contractor, as a practical matter, to adjust his plant or force to the basis of an eight-hour workday, and thus, on the one hand, render the law effective and, on the other, allow the Government the benefit of large, open competition in the letting of contracts.

Respectfully,

The PRESIDENT.

GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM

EIGHT-HOUR LAW-CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS. The eight-hour workday restriction of the act of June 19, 1912 (37 Stat. 137), known as the eight-hour iaw, applies to the employment of labor on the work contemplated by the contract, and it is immaterial by whom the labor is employed, whether by a contractor, subcontractor, or sub-subcontractor.

Contracts excepted from the operation of the eight-hour law need not contain the eight-hour stipulation.

When contracts are made by letters of proposal and acceptance, the latter should contain the eight-hour stipulation.

Contracts for the purchase of the materials and articles entering into the construction of public buildings herein enumerated are excepted from the provisions of the eight-hour law. (Opinion of January 21, 1913 (30 Op. 24), followed.)

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,

January 22, 1913.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th instant, inclosing copies of opinions rendered by the Solicitor of the Treasury December 11 and 17 last, in reference to the application of the act of June 19, 1912 (37 Stat. 137), regulating the hours of labor on Government work, to contracts let by your Department for the construction of public buildings.

You ask to be advised whether I concur in the views expressed by the Solicitor of the Treasury; and, if not, what my opinion is upon the questions submitted.

Referring to your letter to the Solicitor of December 11 last, as containing the matters on which you seek an opinion, your questions are, first:

"Does the term subcontractor, as employed in said act of June 19, 1912, refer to the person, firm or corporation in direct contractual relations with the contractor, or does it embrace as well subcontractors of such subcontractors, and so on indefinitely?"

The act of June 19, 1912, provides, in so far as pertinent to this matter, as follows:

66 # * * That ever contract hereafter made to which the United States, any Territory, or the District of Columbia is a party, and every such contract made for or on behalf of the United States, or any Territory, or said Dis