The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-10-07
Unemployment Letter
TO Secretary Hoover
Copy Of letter senO

NCpDl VI ltlltl SEM
Newark, N. j., Sept. 2G, 1921
Hon. Herbert C. Hoover, Chairman,
of Conference on Unemployment,
Washington.
Dear Sir: If unemployment is to
be substantially reduced or eradi-
Gated it must be first recognized
| as a social disease, diagnosed and
the cause removed.
Health being the normal bodily
condition, and employment the nor
NAL social condition, unemployment
is as unnatural as bad health and
as truly a subject for diagnosis and
removal of cause.
The cause of closing manufacture
ing plants was once laid to over
production, but it is now recognized
that the cause is underconsumption;
human wants are unlimited and the
inability of some people to buy
goods is the immediate cause of I'M
employment for others.
Labor and capital both depend
wholly upon land (including mater
ials produced from or on land) for
their opportunity to produce COM
modities to meet human wants; and
any restriction upon their access to
land inevitably increases cost of pro-
duction, dimishes the buying power
of the people, and tends to unem-
ployment.
Land values are a dead load upon
labor and capital. The economic
rent of these vast land values, in
stead of going into the public treas
ury for the benefit of the people
who have created the land values,
has been and is being diverted to
the individual profit of relatively
small number of people in each
community. In place of this natural
public revenue to meet the cost of
government, taxation is imposed on
labor and capital. This increases
the cost of production and thereby
curtails consumption, decreases pro-
duction and causes unemployment.
This diversion of land value from
public to private benefit has made
greatest speculative movement in
America and throughout Christen
dom, the full force of which, is con-
centrated on holding usuahle land
out of use, thus producing monop-
oily prices in land, the prime factor
upon which labor and capital both
must depend for continuous profit
able employment.
There will be q multiplicity of
suggestions at your Conference, look
ing to special phases of unemploy-
ment and proposing surface treat
ment; but very few will go deeper
and if the present is like some
experiences with similar subjects,
the discussion will ramble through
a maze Of confusion and bring little
clear and positive result unless some
new viewpoint is adopted.
The fundamental causes of I'M
employment are: (D the price which
is imposed upon labor and capital
for the privilege of using land and
obtaining the raw materials of in
dustry therefrom; and (2) the i'm
The Keller bill Oh. R. 6773) now
in Congress offers an approach to-
wards the removal of these funda-
mental causes of unemployment
There is no other dependable rem
edy. Until these causes are removed
there will be ever-recurring periods
of unemployment just as until the
Federal reserve banking system was
established there were ever-recurr-
ing financial panics.
If your Committee earnestly stud
les the roots of the problem and
fearlessly recommends the obvious
remedy your service to this Nation
will outrank any other achievement
in recent history. Yours truly,
Manufacturers & Merchants Taxa
ton League, Charles H. ngersoll,
President.