The Washington times., 1921-01-03
US. STUDYING
JOBSPROBLEM.
Begins Survey Of Adverse Fac
tors Operating Upon Com.
merCial Life.
Continued from First Psge)

Continued from First Psge)
ever the point is emphasized by Gov
! eJnor Harding that banking power
has been well maintained and IN upon
a solid footing.
Unemployment Is most serious in
the Eastern districts, the reserve
board announced. although the per-
centage OF idleness among workers
both skilled and unskilled, is growing
throughout the United States. In the
manufacturing districts OF the East
ern States. especially In the centers
where mills and factories. are either
closed or operating on part tlmn
| schedules. the situation IL especially
unfavorable, the boards survey dis
closed
WAGE CUTS EFFECTIVE.
| , In the last month OF 1920 wage cuts
upon a bigger scale were made Ell
fective, particularly in the textilc IN
dustries. Review Of the situation IN
the New England mill districts snow
ed that most OF those mills nave Ell
fected wage reductions OF approx
mately 22 per cent.
A bird's-eye view OF the labor ult-
| fculty. now becoming nation vide
and fraught with elements or possible
uIuOHs tHV
fered by the reserve board In It's sur
vey. showing these facts:
| In the Boston district IL was SAN
| &c per cent Of the members o. trade
unions in Massachusetts were idle
| The wage cuts affected 10000 in HAsw
Bedford, 10000 in Manchester, N. H..
$500 in the cotton mills OF Lowell.
The idle in the New York bank tor
| ritory was stated TO be 20 per cont
below the maximum reached last
| spring. Principal increases In unem-
ployment were noted in the metal ano
| kindred industries, but serious confi-
| tons are found in the textile anu
| clothing trades In women's clothing
| factories alone, 40 per cent OF the
| normal 10000 workers are idle. In
| Paterson. n. j. only bare 10 per
| cent OF the workers are on the jop.
UNAVOIDABLE ANGLES.
| Other unfavorable angles OF the
| New York situation were noted by
the board as follows: In Syracuse
| 100 factories formerly employing 40
900 have laid off $4,000. Auburn.
Fulton, and Oneida, with normal pay
| rolls of $4,000 last spring, show only
| 10000 at work. In Utica and Cohoes.
| reductions in the knit goods Industry
: shows only 10 per cent OF the voorhees,
employed. In Troy 10000 idle work
ers were reported. mostly women and
| girls in the collar factories. In Rome
lion, Little Falls. and Herkimer
where $4,000 are usually employed,
| $500 are idle,
| Conditions are serious, although
less acute in the Southeastern reserve
bank districts. where wage cuts OF
20 to 25 per cent have been made.
rl.x- ant IN
trict was declared TO have increased
sharply in the last thirty day period,
the lumber. furniture, and clothing
trades being most affected.
| The winter slowing caused very
general unemployment in Kansas city
| district as result of the cuftail-
ment of operations. chief reductions
affecting the mining and petroleum
Industries and in railroading, and to
some extent merchandising establish
| ments.
bright SPOT Is WEST.
The only bright spot in the labor
situation was observed in Missouri
Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas,
| where the coal mines show a less
percentage Of unemployment than in
preceding months. Big reductions
have been made. the board was ad-
7
and -four mills In certain sections,
some mills reducing their forces by
80 per cent. Moro unemployme Mt
exists in Colorado than at any time
in three years the board said.
The building trades as a whole arc
said to be working rather steadily
! and the situation in the coal and
metal mines OF the West is fairly
good. Conditions less unfavorable
are found in Kansas. despite the de-
crease in employment of unskilled
workers. and the unemployment in
Wyoming is not so pronounced as in
| other districts. Bank agents in the
! San Francisco district reported un-
employment increasing. Unemployed
| in the State of Washington number
| 10000.
In Portland, Ore, alone 10000
| workers arc idle.
A factor tending toward further de-
creased output with further decline
! in employment is the bad export stu
alton. Up to this time experts have
been going forward in heavy volume,
but the credit difficulties confronting
exporters and foreign buyers indicate
a sharp decline early in the New
Year in some export com modify
| groups.