NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

XI. DIVISION OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 251
work, for the determination of general policy, and for, the information
of the Board and its staff, as well as of other organizations and
persons interested in the operation of the Act. The results of this
research took the form of inter-office memoranda mimeographed
research outlines and memoranda, and printed bulletins.
During the fiscal year the supply of a previous publication, Bulletin
No. 1, "Governmental Protection of Labor's Right to Organize",
was exhausted in the stores of both the Board and the Superintendent
of Documents. Over 11,000 copies had been distributed, the greater
part in response to specific requests, the others to governmental
officials and agencies, and to libraries, universities, economists, attorneys,
and the press.
The second printed bulletin of the Division was issued as of
June 30, 1938. It is entitled "The Effect of Labor Relations in the
Bituminous Coal Industry upon Interstate Commerce." 5 Because
of its less general scope, distribution will be more limited than that
of Bulletin No. 1.
Bulletin No. 2 was the result of the Division's studies on the question
of the Board's jurisdiction in coal mining. . An investigation
was made into the interstate commerce aspects of the bituminous coal
industry. The importance to the economic life of the country of the
continuous production of coal was considered. Analysis was made
of the extent of interstate transportation in the distribution of coal
from mine to consumer, and the extent to which instrumentalities of
interstate commerce are dependent on an uninterrupted supply of
bituminous coal.
Finally, the effect of industrial disputes in the industry upon interstate
commerce was inquired into. The bulk of the bulletin deals
with this subject. It discusses the long history of disturbed labor
relations, the necessity for frequent governmental intervention, the
effects of particular strikes and of the fluctuations in union strength,
the relation of labor disputes to the shifting location of the industry,
and the results of the recent recovery of collective bargaining in the
industry.
Work on two other bulletins was approaching completion by the
end of the fiscal year. One is a study of the organization of newswriters
for collective bargaining and its relations to the flow of interstate
commerce. The second is a study of the history and practice of
collective bargaining and of the significance of written trade agreements.
Each of these is an expansion of the material within its
scope prepared for particular cases before the Board. While they
were prepared primarily for use in Board work, attention has been
given to their general usefulness in the belief that public comprehension
of the nature and complexity of the problems of labor relations
will create a better understanding of the objectives and the workings
of the National Labor Relations Act.
Reference has already been made to the introduction into the record
of background material on "independent unions," back-to-work
movements, and other phenomena of nationwide appearance, against
which particular organizations could be examined to see whether they
were threads in these national patterns. Although the preparation
6 Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1938, 77 pp., charts, 20 cents.
108817-38--17