Organic Act of the Department of Labor

The Organic Act of the Department of Labor was act of law reluctantly signed by former U.S. president William Howard Taft in 1913 that created the Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce, dividing the former Department of Commerce and Labor.

Taft was reluctant to sign the Organic Act of the Department of Labor into law because he felt that leaving the Department of Commerce and Labor as one entity would be a more efficient way of running the two departments. Taft believed that the two departments had very similar goals, but he signed it into law on his last day in office because he was certain that his successor, Woodrow Wilson, would sign the act into law anyway.

A federal department of labor was the direct product of a half-century campaign by organized labor to gain a "Voice in the Cabinet," and an indirect product of the Progressive Movement. In the words of the organic act, the new department's purpose was "to foster, promote and develop the welfare of working people, to improve their working conditions, and to enhance their opportunities for profitable employment."

When President William Howard Taft signed into law the Organic Act of the Department of Labor, he had reservations, which he detailed in an accompanying memorandum. This is the text of that memorandum:

"I sign this bill with considerable hesitation, not because I dissent from the purpose of Congress to create a Department of Labor, but because I think that nine departments are enough for the proper administration of the government, and because I think that no new department ought to be created without a reorganization of all departments in the government and a redistribution of the bureaus between them. The distribution of bureaus between the existing departments is far from being economical or logical, and if there is one thing that is needed in the present situation it is a reorganization of our government on business principles and with a view to economy in the administration of the regular governmental machinery.

I forebear, however, to veto this bill, because my motive in doing so would be misunderstood. There is a provision in the bill itself for a recommendation by the head of the new Department as to the reorganization of bureaus that may itself lead to a general reorganization which is so much to be desired."