The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1921-11-10

Success will not lie in waiting for the impossible, but in accepting at
There is a great deal of discussion and a growing concern over
the supposedly large amount of unemployment. The secretary Of
labor has reported that there are between five and six million people
who are not now employed where they formerly were employed.
"This statement mas been given prominence, and the qualifications
of it which were made by the secretary have been ignored.
"As a patriotic duty very many entered employment during the
war, and attracted by the extraordinary wages just after the war,
continued in their occupations. They were, in effect the surplus labor
of the nation which did not ordinarily appear on the pay rolls. ,
"The fact is that it is impossible at the present time to secure
any reliable figures as to the actual amount of unemployment, by
which is meant employees who have been and expect to pursue such
activities for the purpose of procuring a livelihood and who are I'M
able at the present. time to find employment at a reasonable compen-
at is well known that there are many who are not working for
the reason that they are seeking to get a larger return for their efforts
than they have been able to find any one willing to pay.
while the condition on the whole does not appear at the present
time TO be serious, Il is well to recognize that there has been "A tend
.ency in this direction which may become serious if it is not checked
Not only with relation to the employment situation, but also in
the matter of industrial rehabilitation is the vice president able to
at may be proper to remember the resources Of America a well
as TO cast up its liabilities, he said. at is true that taxes are, and
must continue to be high that burdens of the war are heavy and must
be met; that there has been an exhaustion of products, of resources,
and of credits; but that there is also another side of this picture.
"The debt Of the United States and of its various subsidiaries is
a debt to its own people. What is owed by the government is owed by
the people. The debt of the nation is the credit of her people
There is a stupendous amount of gold in the country. There are
very large deposits in the banks and it would appear that the prices
of raw materials have been On the whole entirely lqudated. The ag-
ricultural resources and the industrial ability of the nation were never
larger than at the present time.
"There is waiting a great deal of construction work of a private
and public nature. The great railroads of the country need increased
facilities and new equipment. There is need Of housing and public
buildings. The construction Of highways and other public works are
in contemplation in enormous quantities. The demand of the people
and the consumption OF merchandise is almost beyond comprehension.
''There is in all of this the foundation for a sound business re
vival, but, in order to secure il, il will be necessary for a complete CO.
operation of all the elements that go INTO production and industry.
1t is not going to be possible for any one element to prosper at the
expense of others"
However, the practice of looking to Washington as the fountain
head Of prosperity, perhaps a habit which Americans developed dur
government to have at its disposal every resource Of the country, is
demoralizing to the industrial morale, as Mr.. Coolidge sees it.
Mr.. Coolidge stated. 1t can readjust taxation so that it viii bear
more equtably upon all the people; it can give protection from a
ruinous foreign competition. 1t can provide security for life and
property and AN administration of justice without which there can
be no economic success. But after all this has been done; it is not
IenOugh.