Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-08-31
TALK ALONE WILL NOT HELP
THE COUNTRY'S UNEMPLOYED
Those WHO Are Summoned to Mr.. Hard.
ins's Conference Will Have to
Work Hard or Fall

THE general question of unemployment
L which President Harding has prepared
to bring up for survey and scientific scrutiny
at conference in Washington next month
Is larger than the question of the uncm-
ploycd-if by unemployed you mean wug,-
carncrs temporarily without work. It in
wolves >hardships for business mon in a.
limos of trade whose fortunes rise or fail
with the fortunes Of those whose needs the,
supply. Through these business groups tee
dSagreeable and unwholesome reactions Of
unemployment continue backward to others,
and in turn the effect of idlcness in one
trade is idleness in another.
The Federal authorities estimate that over
5000 900 adult wage -earncrs are now with
out jobs. IL that estimate is to he accepted,
and there Is no reason why it should not be
accepted, about O,O00, 900 persons in the
United States, as well as the businesses which
their patronage usually supports, are facing
hard and uncertain winter
Something like miracle of industrial
reorganization or industrial financing will Ec
necessary to clear the air before the snow
flies. The causes of such unemployment as
there is are so various that it will be i'm
possible for any conference of business men
and labor leaders to eliminate them at o
stroke. The source of most of our economic
trouble Is in Europe. There political un-
certainty continues to depress the value Of
foreign money in relation to the American
dollar. \ decline of foreign purchases in the
United States follows as matter of course
Russia used to be large buyer of American
manufactures. Now Russia is buying little
or nothing from us.
simultaneously the warlike spirit mani.
Tested by organized labor and by capital alike
has made idleness compulsory in many sec.
tions of the country. 1t might be argued
that the Presidents conference should find
way to reconcile the interests of organized
labor and the employing groups. The mem
Dcrs of the second industrial conference
called by Mr.. Wilson did its utmost in that
direction when Mr.. Hoover presided over il.
But even now the unions and many of the
large employers of labor seem disposed 10
seek other ways out of their difficulties and
ignore the fine logic ard the humane and
scientific spirit of the Hoover report.
Each side still appears to believe that It
can best serve its own ends by war of
attrition waged against the other. Mr..
Hoover has implied that he seeks to let the
light of publicity in on some of the causes
of present unemployment. We have seen
groups of gamblers and cXploiters delibcr
ately cOrnerng national supplies of building
materials and, with the cooperation II dis
honest labor leaders, bringing about almost
a complete cessation of building operations
in many parts OF the country. Publicity
ought to be good for the building trades 1t
ought to be good for many other manufac-
turing industries in which hundreds of thou
sands of men and women are enduring dire
poverty on one hand and owners are riskipc
the loss of their mari kets on the other with
the single hope of gaining Il permanent ad-
vantage over the so called opposition class
1T is incOnCpvabc,' says Mr.. Hoover,
THAT people willing to work should be out
of employment in n country so rich and
resourceful as ours OF course it is in
conceivable. Most of the wage -parncrs in
Germany were kept employed even when
all the markets of the world were closed to
their employers after the war But Ameri
can industries not so financed as To
make accumulatve production possible.
The finances of many of the great COR
porations are in disorder. Railways and
street car lines aren't buying equipment.
They haven't the money and they haven't t
the necessary credit. In the smaller in
dustrics unemployment could be reduced by
30 per cent II labor and the employers could
find a way to permanent agreement and co.
operation. The unemployment conference
can urge cities and States to engage largely
in public works. 1t may find means to
bring the prices of raw materials somc-
what lower. If it can do more it will be
a thing to marvel at, and It's members will
deserve the gratitude of the Who'll" country