New-York tribune., 1920-11-09
Concerted Action by EN-.
ployers, Workers and
Public Needed to Avert
Hardships This Winter
$4,000 Idle i'm One
N. \. City Industr,
Legislation That Will Pro.
vide Labor Emergency
unds Is Advocated

Hundreds Of thousands Of workers in
all the vital industrial ccntcrs Of the
ceuntry are without Jobs, and only the
concerted effort Of employers. en-
p!oyees and the public generally can
avert the menace Of bread line crisis
this Winter.
That Is the opinion expressed yester-
day by John B. Andrews, secretary OF
the American Association for Labor
Legislation, who bases his conclusion
on reports received from all sections
Of the United States, rejecting the
thought of both employers and labor
on the situatitA.
Inquiry into conditions in the mems
and boys clothing trade yesterday re-
vealcd that $4,000 workers in this in
dustry were out of work in New York
City alone; that half of the manu-
facturers had closed down and that
most Of the remainder were working on
part time
Many Industries Curtailed
In discussing the gravity of the ma
tional situation, Mr.. Andrews points
to the virtual decentralization Of the
textile industry throughout New Eng
land and in Philadelphia, the serious
curtailment Of automobile production
in Detroit and other centers and the
available reports of state labor bu-
reaus, all of which indicate a marke d
decline in the demand for labor dur
ing the last two months.
"a number Of the big automobile
factories in Detroit have recently sus-
pended production for periods vary
ing from several days to a month, -
he said, "and nearly all of them are
working with materially reduced forces
even during the time they are in opera
ton
THAT, YOU may say, is incidental.
But when it j. considered that any cur
tailment in t. production Of automo-
biies affects a vast number Of subsid-
larry industries the condition become
more alarming.
Many thousands of workers in the
textile industry have been laid off, and
reports from the chief centers show
that a general exodus Of employees
from the mill cities is in progress.
"The October report Of the Public
Employment Office Of the Massachu
sets Department Of Labor and Indus
try indicates that there has been a
shrnkage of % per cent in the demand
for labor there since September. Re-
ports from the United States Bureau
! wide shrinkage of cons derable proper
tions. and that for New York State
shows increasing unemployment.
Wage Scales Too High
"Whatevor may be the reasons for
the conditions, the situation clearly in
dlcates the necessity Of immediate leg
lsation to relieve The workers in a
measure during periods of unemploy-
ment. The Nolan bill. which was ia
vcrably reported out of committee at
the last session Of Congress and has
fair prospects Of passing at the next.
is an admirable initial step in this d.
rection.
"A law more comprehensive in its
scope becomes effective in England to-
day, and if we had such q measure on
the statute books in this country the
menace of suffering through unen-
ployment would be materially reduced.
The British law provides for contribu-
e4VliS W tilpioNceS, employers and the
government to a fund from which
laborers may draw a meager allowance
to insure them against aggravated
want during periods of unemployment. D."
Mr.. Andrews said the labor explana-
ton OF the present condition is that
manufacturers are reducing produc-
ton IN order to create q shortoge in
Vanous commoditle es and thus maintain
prices at an artificial level.
"But that is only one side of tho
question: he continued. "The emplov-
ers, on the other hand. assert that
labor used the war to hold them nm
and establish wages on a scale that is
entirely incompatible with normal
prices. They say the public has put on
the brakes and refused merchandise
at the prices that must be obtained in
order to let them out, and that the
only solution is to decrease produc+ion
until 1T either costs less or the demand
Tor goods at present prices has in
creased.
Remedy Is Legislation
"lf the condition continues to become
aggravated, however, the responsibility
VIII be placed somewhere. The work.
Continued page three)