New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

armies. And surely, if we can take
peace-time organization and turn
it almost over night into a great
military machine, we can take a
military organization and, with the
same energy and the same intelli-
gence, transform it into a peace
time machine.
If our industrial activities could be
restored Immediately to their pre-
war magnitude, even though it might
be on a postwar basis, there would
be no problem of rehabilitation. At
the time that we engaged in the war
there was very little unemployment.
Not any more than we normally
have. We usually have a consider
able amount of unemployment in the
United States even during periods of
industrial activity My own judg-
ment is that the reason for that lies
in the fact that we have the highest
ideals existing anywhere, and when
ever you have people with high
ideals and their surrounding circum-
stances, there is a tendency on their
part to keep moving on and on and
on in search of the ideal. That creates
for us the larger number of migra-
tory workers in the United States.
SO that in our periods of industrial
activity we have in the neighborhood
of a million unemployed. During
the periods of industrial depression
we have sometimes as high as three
millions unemployed Since the
signing of the armistice there has
been gradual increase in the num-
Der of unemployed. The total now
runs very close to 100000 in the re-
ports that we are receiving, and we
are receiving reports from about one
half of the industrial establishments
OF the country. That means, then,
that we have about 100000 unem-
ployed in the United States at the
present time
The number is not in itself
alarming, because it isn't greater
than we frequently have during
periods of industrial activity. The
only cause for alarm, if there is
any cause for alarm, lies in the fact
that the number is still increasing,
although not so rapidly as it did.
For the first weeks in December and
during the months of January and
February there was frequently an
increase weekly as high as $4,000
IN the number Of unemployed. That
has been reduced until we are now
having an increase of from 1000
to 5000 per week in the number of
unemployed. We are getting nearer
to the point where we are absorb
ing the demobilized soldiers and
war workers as rapidly as the de-
mobilization takes place We have
not reached that point yet There
has been a reason for it. The rea-
son has been that employers gen.
orally, business men generally, have
feared to engage in their usual
business enterprise ), lest their COM
petitors starting later have a de-
cided advantage over them. There
has been a feeling that the cost of
material is higher than it ought to
be and higher than it will be and
that the price of labor is likely to
come down, and the fear exists
among business men that if they 90
into the market for the raw mate
rial in their particular enterprises
the prices they will have to pay
now may be 10, 20 or even SO per
cent higher than their competitors
may have to pay for it tomorrow !;
and if their competitors can buy the
raw material at a lower price than
they can buy it then the competitor
has an advantage over them when
seeking a market, and the DISPOSE
ton has been to hold off on that
account.