The Carlisle independent., 1921-02-03
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
(By J. E. Jones)
Out Of Their Jobs

1 The condition Of unemployment is 1 shown very exclusively by state ment of the United States Department of Labor, Which dis
 closes the uncomfortable infor-
 mation that 3,473,166 less persons
 are employed at this time than a year ago. A survey of the labor situation has been in progress under direction of the Government, and while the above figures do not prove
 absolutely that nearly three and a half million people have lost, and are still out of their jobs, yet in the sum- ming up of the statement the conclu- sion is quite inevitable that unem- l ployment reaches substantially that figure. Michigan suffers most be- cause of the hardest hit of all indus
 tries in the automobile. Second in rank is the reduction of employees is the building trades, with approxi- mately 52 per cent out of work. Tex tiles and leather come next. Follow ing Michigan those states most af- fected by the slump are Ohio, Illinois,
 Connecticut, Massachusetts, Wiscon- sin, New York, and New Jersey. Ali
 the large cities of the country show | highest in the percentage of unem- ! ployed workmen.
 | No Time For Political Puttering
 When the big vilunteer army was disbanded the Federal and State Gov.
 ernments were active in their efforts | Co place the returning soldiers ii
 civil employment, and the four mil lion were absorbed in--industry. Rv- ely function in official activity was utilized to make jobs" Today it is evident that the business of .legis- lating work" is not functioning; and whatever the conditions are in indus try that are responsible for the great unemployment that exists, they must be corrected by economic and indus trial conditions working out their | own salvation independent of politi- cal puttering. Only the farmers have chung to the hope of relief from such measures, but almost before the ink has dried on the bill recently passed to relieve them by resurrecting the war bureau to finance and conduct foreign trade, the farmers realize that they are not going to get any substantial help by the methods em- ployed to "help them" by the route of new laws. Are The Shelves and Bins Empty? The expected return to "good times"' is based on the hope that man. ufacturers and dealers have been dis posing of their old stocks, and that everyone has been "waiting for things to change" Information re-
 'eived in great volume in Washing ton indicatets that shelves and bins are empty everywhere, and that those who have building projects have been holding off their expectancy of bet ter credits, cheaper supplies and lower labor costs. Summed up, t',a country has imiatted Dickens Micaw- Der in waiting for something to turn up" to the extent that Old Mother Hubbard is finding her cup board bare. Congress can not pass laws that will help the plight of Dame Hubbard. If the above diagnosis is correct then there is only one solution of the situation, and that rests in re- newed industrial activity For months the country has been fighting high prices, and considerable progress has been made in regulating them through economic pressure. This eff fort has checked production until new production has become positive ne- cessity, for come what will, the shelves and bins must have some thing on and in them. This spells renewed employment.
 Life Insurance Money
 | Recent reports show that there are 67,OO0,O0O life insurance policies in force in the United States. People who stop to wonder how the insur- ance companies use the great volume of money in their possession in such way as to make it pay a profit to the company and to the policy holders
 may be somewhat enlightened to learn that the street railway invest ments of companies are S110,000,000 in bonds, and S7,00O,00O in stocks; electric power and gas, $84, STA ,681
 bonds, and S4,636,000 in stock; tele- phones, $26,5O0,000. The public util- ities investments, which probably GOV CT the foregoing, are reported as be- ing $237,000,000. MT. P. H. Gadsden,