Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-04-29
By the Associated Press.

CHICAGO. April 2s.-General Inn
] provement In the industrial situation,
| described in several instances as slow
! but steady, particularly over condi-
| lions as they existed in the winter
! months, was indicated In reports gath
! cred by the Associated Press from
, federal, state, labor and Industrial
J leaders in many states Of the Union.
!, Labor commissioners and other off,
!, cials In virtually every state from
/ which reports were received, net only
! declared that unemployment had ma
terially been lessened in the last few
/ months. but nearly all were optimis-
! that the opening of seasonable lines
I of work, such as agriculture, and road
and building construction would help
greatly in absorbing the surplus of
workers.
! 1,sso.OOO stin Idle.
J While no definite figure on the pres
emit number Of unemployed was avail
able. approximately 1.a5O.000 persons
were reported idle in sixteen states
Large industrial states. such as New
! York, Pennsylvania and Massachu-
! sets. contributed more than 100000
] to this total: New York leading, with
an estimated 100000 out of work. The
total population Of the sixteen states
was in excess Of 100000
Samuel Gompers. president Of the
! American Federation of Labor. esti-
mated the unemployed at 100000.
i Miners and other workers on strike
were not included in the state esti-
mates. The miners strike, which
nearly 100000 men. was the largest
| industrial controversy In progress as
May day approached. with consid-
cradle number of workers affected by
textile and stonecutting strikes In
shutdowns in New England and In
| country.
Demand for Skilled Men.
In some cities there was declared
although the supply of common labor.
F.! generally, was declared to be larger
! than the demand. Some state labor
department officials definitely stated
| that the unemployment crisis had
| been passed in their states and that q
| move toward normal conditions was
| in progress. Some localities reported
that conditions already virtually were
normal but from most of the states
| reporting there was declared to be
unemployment in many lines. Only
In a few isolated instances. however,
general tenor of the statements was
one Of optimism. particularly with
reference to the future.
A program of intense building &C
tivity and city and state Improvement
work was outlined In reports from
virtually every state. and 1t was exf
pected that many Idle workers would
find employment Mn a gigantic con.
struction boom which was indicated
from many sources.
! Monthly Records Broken.
Monthly records Of building activ-
| ity kept by the American Contractor
| since 1914 were broken by the total
/ valuation Of building permits at lead
ing cities for March; and the aggregats
by that publication to be the largest
for all time. The number Of permits
issued last month in those cities was
i AS compared with March. 1921. when
the permits numbered $685. and the
! gain In value was SO per cent. New
| York established an unprecedented rec
ord of $104.598,548. Chicago's permits
!, were the largest In nine years. accord
! ing to the Illinois department OF labor.
despite the handicap Of unsettled labor
They amounted to $19.333.900, an in
crease of $12,033.S00 over March OF
last year.
Controversy in Chicago.
| The Chicago building controversy
hinges on the Lands wage award
i which several construction unions
| have refused to accept. and over
| which there appears to be no presen,
! prospect of settlement.
I Although In Kentucky the number
, Of calls for farm labor was described
as the smallest In years, Colorado re-
ported inability to meet the demand
| for reliable farm workers. While
no shortage Of farm. labor was indi.
Gated in the middle west, some states
reported that there was work for
everybody who wanted this type OF
employment, and Kansas declarations
were that only good weather was
| needed to- reduce unemployment to q
| minimum. Farm labor wages general
ly were around $35 a month. with
board and lodging.
Considerable Unemployment was de-
clared to exist among Pacific coast
marine workers, with no indica ton
| of Improvement.
The most adverse statement from
| a state employment head came from
louisiana, where F. e. Wood, COM
missioner Of labor. declared that 1.-The
employment situation in Louisiana
was bad" Mr.. Wood said he estf-