ORDER OF PROMULGATION. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., October 15, 1915. The Department of Labor was created by the act of Congress approved March 4, 1913, entitled "An act to create a Department of Labor." 1 For purposes of organization under that act, I, William B. Wilson, as the Secretary of Labor first appointed and confirmed pursuant thereto, issued on March 4, 1913, a general order which, after quoting the act in full, proceeded as follows: That all regulations, instructions, and decisions in force March 3, 1913, given by competent authority, applicable or pertaining to or affecting the above-mentioned offices, bureaus, divisions, branches, and departments of the public service, their business, duties, powers, authority, effects, and employees, shall remain in full force and effect until further ordered, subject, however, to the jurisdiction of this Department, and with such changes as may be necessary to carry into effect the transfer of supervisory and other powers of this Department. Some of those regulations, instructions, and decisions had been compiled and published in book form as "Circulars of the Department of Commerce and Labor in effect July 1, 1911." The others had been subsequently published from time to time in sheets. Both the compilation and the sheets contained requirements relative to functions of the Department of Commerce and Labor which had not been transferred to the Department of Labor and therefore were inapplicable under the order quoted above. Other requirements have been abrogated or superseded since that date, and of the remaining regulations some are inadequate or otherwise unsatisfactory. A revision of the existing rules is consequently deemed necessary. But in itself a revision would not be enough. The Department of Labor, with duties and responsibilities as to industrial interests broader than those lodged in the Department out of which it was carved and from which its rules have come, needs additional rules as well as a revision of the old ones. In order, also, that the Department and its branches may be a unit in administration as they are in statutory purpose, the revision of the old rules and the making of new ones should be correspondingly unified. Therefore this code, to be known as "Regulations of the Department of Labor," is hereby promulgated to take effect October 15, 1915, in place of all regulations, instructions, and decisions theretofore in force for the administration of the Department and its branches. W. B. WILSON, Secretary of Labor. ARTICLE I.-FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE. STATUTORY DECLARATION. SECTION 1. By section 1 of the organic act of this Department the purpose of the Department is declared to be (1) to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States; (2) to improve their working conditions; and (3) to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY. SEC. 2. The policy of the Department in administering the foregoing statutory declaration of purpose will continue to be as heretofore promulgated,2 namely: 1. Wage-earning interests.-The Department has no authority to foster, promote, or develop for wage earners any special privileges; but the inference from the organic act is irresistible that Congress intended it to conserve their just interests by means of an executive department especially devoted to their welfare. 2. Labor unions.-The Department was created in the interest of the welfare of all the wage earners of the United States, whether organized or unorganized; but inasmuch as ordinarily it is only through organization that the many in any class or of any interest can become articulate with reference to their common needs and aspirations, officials of the Department of Labor should turn to labor organizations for advice, suggestion, and information. If the statutory purposes of the Department are to be subserved through an intelligent and effective administration of its authorized functions, its officials must invite the confidence and encourage the cooperation of responsible labor organizations and their accredited officers and committees. 3. Other industrial interests. Similar relations, to the fullest extent to which they themselves permit, with unorganized wage earners, with employers and their organizations, and also with other organizations are likewise a duty of officials of the Department. 4. Guiding purpose. The purpose that should govern the Department in every relation and be understood and acquiesced in by every 1 Act of Mar. 4, 1913, entitled "An act to create a Department of Labor." See Appendix A. 2 First Annual Report of the Secretary of Labor, Dec. 31, 1913, pp. 5-7; Second Annual Report, Oct. 31, 1914, pp. 5, 6. |