The Washington herald., 1919-01-26
Alarming Reports from All
Sections Convince Officials
Situation "Is Rapidly
Becoming Serious"

ment throughout the country are
shown in the weekly survey of the
Department of Labor, and for
the first time the department ad-
mits the situation is rapidly be-
coming serious"
The area of unemployment is
spreading all over the country" the
report states. The total surplus of
labor in the comparatively small
| number of cities canvassed by the
department has jumped from a
shortage of $4,000 to a surplus of
100000 in the last eight weeks.
Twenty States-mostly those whic n
| contain the larger cities and manu-
featuring centers--report surpluses.
an increase of fourteen in the last
month.
Cleveland shows the largest short
! age of'any city. the total there hav-
ing jumped from 10000 to $1,000 in
the last>week. Detroit has 10000
out of work, Buffalo, 1900; Toledo
and Butte, Mont, 10000 each.
Shortage In Many Cities.
Other figures given are: Worcester.
Mass, 5000; Albany. 1000, an in
crease of 1000 in the last week;
Trenton, n. j., 1000; indianapolis,
| 1000; Minneapolis, 1000: Nashville
| 1000; San Francisco, 5000; Portland,
1000. Massachusetts, has a surplus
of 1900 machinists, 100 factory
hands and 5000 boot and shoe
makers.
Pittsburgh. Scranton, Pa, and
| Louisville, Baltimore. Wilmington,
| Del. Atlanta. Raleigh and Whining
ton, N c.. report slight shortages,
while Norfolk, Va. has work for
! 1905.
Discussing labor conditions by sec
tions of the country, the report is
even more alarming.
"A surplus of labor is reported in
every large city of New York State,
New York City, Syracuse, Rochester
and Utica all reporting heavy sur
pluses,", the report states. Dis
charged soldiers continue to remain
in the large cites and many of them
are having difficulty finding work.
Every cecter in Connecticut except
New Britain reports surpIuses, and
| there supply and demand are about
equal. Lynn and Lawrence, Mass.
report surpluses. Boston and Spring,
field report the supply and demand
about equal. but other reports show a
surplus in Boston. Maine has a sur
! plus of shoe and woolen textile
workers, with a slight demand fol-
women and shipbuilders.
Surplus in New jersey.
! Shortages in Philadelphia and Har.
| risburg have been wiped out, and
Erie, Pa. reports a large surplus
This week has brought surpluses in
nearly all cities of New Jersey.
| The situation in Ohio seems &c
be steadily growing worse. Only II
F, Akron and Columbus is the supply
! equal to the demand with large sur
= pluses in Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton
| Cincinnati and Youngstown.
| Illinois reports surpluses at nearly
| every point, and the expected lay-on
at the Rock Island Arsenal will aftec
! both Illinois and Iowa. Grand Rap
| ids, Jackson and Flint, Mich, all re
| port surpluses. and Indiana has worI
only for boilermakers and maChinists
I MINNEAPOLIS has a surplus of build
| ers, high-class engineers and clcrica
help, with a slight demand for ma
| chinists.
In the copper districts conditions
are serious. Mines and smelters ar
being closed down every day becaus
of the low price. In Arizona rs min
ing companies have cut down thei
| forces. In Colorado, Iowa and Idah
| the supply exceeds the demand TO
every class of labor. Oklahoma has ;
surplus of builders, and New Mexico
has very little work. Nebraska alon,
shows normal conditions
Unwilling to Leave.
Heavy surpluses are reported il
San Francisco. Oakland and Lo
! Angeles. Laborers and returning
! soldiers seem unwilling to leave Sar
Fra ncisco. where there is a surplus
of 5000. The situation in Oregon
particularly Portland. is acute
Washington has 9 large surplus anc
great unrest in the Puget Sound shiI
I yards.
"Alab bama has some demand fol
miners and agricultural help. At
lanta has a slight shortage. bu
Georgia as a whole. has a surplus
Richmond, Va, has a surplus, Will,
Baltimore has a substantial shorta z,
and there is a demand for miner.
| throughout Maryland. Delaware ha!
a small demand for shop men, ma.
Chinists and laborers.
/ North Carolina has a surplus O.
cotton and tobacco mill workers
South Carolina has a small shortage
and Louisiana has work for som,
tions are generally poor"