Evening star., 1921-09-14
EXPLAINS FIGURES
ON UNEMPL
Secretary Davis Declares
$685. 900 Idle Represents
Many N0n-Bread-Earners.

Those who are disturbed over the
5,7s5.Ooo unemployed of today. over
look that in 1914 there were 100000
out of work. a larger percentage Of
whom were men and actual bread
winners than in the present unem-
ployed, Secretary Davis said today in
a statement.
Declaring that the country has just
passed through a period when every
effort was made to induce women and
others who had not worked for wages
or salaries before to work and save
starving Europe" Mr.. Davis said
present unemployment figures include
great numbers of persons upon whose
earnings none actually Is dependent.
while we have our unemployed.
let us not forget the 100000 who
are still at work" the statement said.
"A further encouraging fact Is that
$500.000,000 Is now available about
the country in the form of bonds. al
ready issued or appropriated by the
state, county and municipal govern
ments for public work. Undoubtedly.
this will be organized intelligently.
Signs of Recovery.
Positive signs of business recovery
have been furnished by the commits
sioner of. labor statistics, Secretary
Davis declared. adding: Some OF
these signs have an aspect of their
own. I put. them out for others to
must have his head very much in the
air, these days, not to notice the
growing prevalence of silk hosiery
and the use of silks in general"
"A stir was caused all over the
country" the statement said, when
Senator Mccormick called for the ac-
tual figures on current unemploy-
ment, and these figures, as supplied
by the bureau of labor statistics In
the Department of Labor. were found
to be 5,735. 200. Those figures stand
as the best estimate available. but
they need to be read in relation to
the situation of seven years ago. as
well as in the light of the facts OF
today.
Great Total in 1920.
"rake this fact, for instance: In
1920 the number of persons in the
United States employed as wage earn
ers or working for some one other
than themselves reached the total of
eighteen to twenty millions. This
was outside of agricultural occupa-
tions. The ratio Of unemployed to
the total of workers today fs thus
less than the ratio Of unemployed to
the total of workers in 1914, and by
q wide margin.
"The statement had been constantly
made. in the news and in the editorial
columns of newspapers. that the De.
partment of Labor reported b.7S5.0o0
men being out of work. The Depart
ment of Labor has reported no such
thing. It did report that. according
to the best available estimate that
could be made. there are 5.735,ooo
the pay rolls than there were in
March. 1920. There is a difference
with a distraction. 1t is very diff
ferent matter from saying that there
are 5.735. 900 men unemployed.
Nothing Gained by DodsinE Issue.
Nothing is to be gained by stick
ing our heads in the sands and tg-
employment situation. Neither do We
profit by distorting the facts and ex-
aggerating the figures estimated. Here
is one salient fact to be kept in MIND:
Pronably n. n9e eoG more than fna 1rnepa
breadwinners of the family.
'"Taking all the. families In the
United States. there are. on the aver
age. over two breadwfnners to every
family. If one of these breadwinners is
unemployed, it seriously cripple9 but
it does not necessarily impoverish the
family Mind you. I am not saying
that there is not at this time consider
able actual suffering among our peo-
pie, not that this winter may not
bring more suffering unless something
Intelligent and effective is done to re-
lieve the situatit0. I ara simply CALL
ing attention to the fact that while
unemployment today is a grave mat
ter, there are nevertheless about ten
or twelve millions of our people at
work. And comparatively few fami-
lies have had the only breadwin-
ners put out Of job.
Worldwide Problem.
sour problem here at home is all the
harder to solve because it is not by
any manner of means our problem
alone. Unemployment is world wide"
Discussing efforts to relieve the sit
uation, Secretary Davis said that the
employment service of the Depart
ment of Labor was doing all it could