The labor standard., 1922-02-15
SETS CAUSES OF
 UNEMPL0 0YMENT
National Industrial Conference Report Says Problem War
 rants Deep Study.
MANY WHO WILL NOT WORK
Factors Entering Into Relations Be- tween Employers and Workers
 Emphasized-Averag Worker Loses AZ Days a Year.

I New 4Ork.-UnemplOymen IS a l continuous industrial problem, suffi- l cient in importance to warrant con certed effort by economists and busi- 1 ness men to remove certain of it's l causes, is the stand taken by the na- tional industrial conference board, in I report on '"The Unemployment Prob lem." The report gives comprehen- sive survey of the extent of unem- | ployment during normal periods and l during the present business depres- sion, discusses the causes and analyses remedies suggested.
 The object of this study is to set forth fundamental principles to be talk en into account in considering the problem, derived from analysis of data and experience, and from basic eco homie considerations, in order to pro- vide a guide by which employers or organizations may approach their un- employment problems more intelli- gently.
 "Tbe report" says a statement from the board, makes careful distinc- tion between idlenesS and unemploy- ment, which refer to very different causes. likeness proceeds from three principal sources: Unwillingness to work on the part of those who are capable of performing work; disabil- ity, physical or mental, of otherwise willing workers, and lastly, unemploy- nient of those who are capable and willing to work, but cannot find work because of industrial maladjustments within the plant or industry, or be- cause of general economic conditions at home or abroad.
 Causes of UnempIoyment.
 The statement then takes up the causes of unemployment. They fall into two classes, described in the re port as follows:
 1. Internal causes arising from con- ditions within individual manufa actur- ing plants. These embrace:
 Gal Personal factors such as strikes and lockouts, and disability; (b) inn personal factors relating either to faulty factory organization, to high production costs within the control of management, ineffective sales methods, lack of materials and equipment, high labor turnover, or to failure of en- ployees beeauSsses ses, of m m,- inefficiency, or to the-aispls plsseeIise4eslef--hand 1ahnr- by machinery.
 Tn the aggregate these causes pro- duce more or less continuous per centage of unemployment from month to month and from year to year.
 2 External causes due to influences operating outside of the plant. These are:
 {a) Of economic origin, resulting from seasonal variations, business de- pressions, wastefu1 systems of com modityt distribution deficient labor placement facilities; (b) of political origin, due to immigration and tariff policies and international relation ships.
 Tt is estimated" the statement says, that in 1920 the total number of per- sons engaged in gainful occupations in the United States was about 41,OOO,- OOO Most of the available employ ment statistics pertain to wage-earners in the groups of manufacturing sand mechanical industries, which numbered, in 1920, about 12,8OO,OOO. During nor nal times, it is estimated that about 1,SOO,0OO of these are out of work, since, on the average, about 42 days per year, or about 14 per cent of his total working time, is lost by each in dustrial wage-earner About seven days of this lost time is due to sick ness. Deducting this, the total loss caused by unemployment of the aver age wage-earner in the United States is about 35 days year. This does not include loss from part-time employ ment, for which no reliable figures are to be had.
 Days of Unemployment.
 ''The average of 35 days does not apply to every industry, for the work CTS ill many industries are subject to longer periods of unemployment, while in. others the average is low.
 The report estimates that more than. one-quarter of the industrial wage earners were out of work on, June l, 1921, representing an estimated total of 3,5OO,OOO persons.
 Many concerns, the report says, are inventing means to better arrange ments within their plants affecting the cause of unemployment attributed to personal and impersonal factors within the eStaDl1Shment. Better methods ana more thorough organization to reduce friction and to develop industrial CO., operation between employers and em- ployees are being tested in many in- dustries. The report points out that in attempting to remedy the causes of unemployment attributed to influences operating outside the plant, there is need for more adequate system of col Iecting and disseminating information showing the trend of prices, the actual cost of operation and revenues from industry. "Such system" 1t is said, twill afford reliable basis of com parison within plants at different times and between individual plants in the industry as a whole"