Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-12-11
The Unemployment Problem

'HE pendulum of industry is completing
another arc. year ago unem ployment
was virtually unknown in this country.
There was work for all who would work
and wages were abnormally high But the
pendulum has swung backwards, and today
Richmond, in common with scores of other
cities, though less acutely than the great
industrial centeTs is facing the problem
OF unemployment. Hundreds OF men are
tiocking into the city in search OF work
and all Of them who remain threaten to
become public charges. since Richmond has
no more work at present than barely sunl-
cicnt to provide for its own citizens 1t
is Il problem that must and will be met,
though the solution may prove YeXatous.
There is nothing surprising and really
nothing alarming in the condition that has
set thousands OF men to looking for jobs
and has driven other thousands to the roads.
Rcgrettable il is, il is but a necessary
phase OF the economic adjustm through
which the country is passing 1t is the
inevitable shaking out process which all
thinking persons knew must come to pass
before the country at large could get back
to its old normal and satisfactory basis.
Many months ago The Times Dispatch,
in n discussion OF economic conditions, par
,icularly rs they touched high prices and
3.
keystone Of readjustment was TO be found
in labor, that recessions would not flow
naturally nor stability be obtained until
labor At the source Of production was af-
fcctcd. 1t predicted that the cities would
see the formation OF bread lines before the
winter was over. That prediction is COM
ing 10 pass. The public has refused to buy
and that refusal has led straight back along
the line. through the retailer. the whole
saler, and the manufacturer, until il has
reached labor AS one of the greatest fac
Tors in the high costs that have borne down
so heavily on the consumer. The result is
the natural one. With demand eliminated
factories have been compelled to cut wages
work part time close down entirely
Accustomed to wartime wages. thousands
OF workmen have refused the lower scale
and have gone to swell the vast army of the
unemployed.
Serious the problem is. it will work
out 10 the common good. The winter
promises to be difficult, but when spring
opens up labor will have had its experience
and come to its senses. Then factories will
be able to secure help at fair wages. and
the farmers will find themselves with
labor ut a hire which does not mean bank
ruptcy. The man who works no longer can
pick and choose, nor disdain anything lower
than wartime compensation. Thus the
whole industrial situation will he eased and
all America. employers and employees. will
be the better thereby.
In Richmond. as elsewhere the tempo
rarily unemployed must be cared for. With
the city entering upon a program Of street
and sewer building, and the State cngage
i'll vast BODYBUILDING project-held up
this year because OF inability to secure labor
two or three months from now should see
these public works able to take care of all
who apply. In the meantime, the public
must come To The assistance of the Asso-
ciated Charities. Its treasury is empty. and
1t is facing perhaps the heaviest demand
that ever has been made upon ii. Rich
mond. it is confidently believed, will not
fail in its generous response to the appeal
that is being made upon it,