Wage legislation opinion files

Organized into two subseries: Subseries 1, Questionnaires and responses advising the Factory Investigating Commission on minimum wage legislation:Replies grouped by whether or not published, then alphabetical by respondent's last name. Subseries 2, Correspondence and List of Respondents Relating to the "Minimum Wage Symposium":Chronological.

This series contains two subseries: I. Questionnaires and responses advising the Factory Investigating Commission on minimum wage legislation. These records document the Commission's solicitation of views of business, labor, and academic professionals through a questionnaire sent on July 1, 1914. They include drafts and revisions of proposed questionnaires, respondents' original replies, replies as edited by the Commission, and an alphabetical list of respondents. The list of respondents, their edited replies, and the final questionnaire and cover letter were published in the Fourth Report of the Factory Investigating Commission, Volume I (1915), in the section entitled "Questionnaire of the Wage Problem" (pp. 418-591).

II. Correspondence and List of Respondents Relating to the "Minimum Wage Symposium." The Commission supplemented the July questionnaire with a letter sent on September 29, 1914, requesting statements of views on wage legislation; these records document the preparation of the letter and the responses of some of those to whom it was sent. The Commission sent these inquiries to labor representatives, economists, lawyers, and other professionals to gather a broad range of expert opinion on solutions to the problem of low wages, including possible legislation. The Fourth Report, Volume I, contains views of respondents not found in this series and final lists of respondents by profession in the section entitled "Symposium on the Minimum Wage Problem."

Alphabetical list of respondents in each subseries.

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