The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1924-03-01
+. UNEMPLOYMENT IN.
BRITAIN IS SERIOUS
LLOYD GEORGE.
Recalls Conferences With
Labor Leaders in In
dianapoIiS.
BY DAVID LLOYD GEORGE
Former British Prime Minister

~ LONDON, March 1. by Cablel-.
~ This is the fourth year of abnormal
Unemployment in Great Britain. AL
though steady Improvement is indi-
Gated b ytrade returns and the num-
bers dealt with by the various agen-
cies providing for the voorhees,, the
upward movement is slow and stub
- born and there are many disquieting
- features in the outlook
The figures for 1921, the first year
~ Of the great slump are vitiated by the
Us effects of the most devastating labor
~ dispute ever seen in this Countrywide
81 coal strike or lockout. Let us there
fore start with 1922. On Jan. 1, 1922,
the registered unemployed numbered
E 100000 The next few months were
full Of promise and Of hope. Trade
r. showed signs OF returning life and
the business man looked forward to
recovery to normal in 1923. By the
middle Of October, the dismaying fig
ures Of January had fallen by 80 per
- cent.
s-r A Year of Gloom
But 1928. instead Of being a year
of maturing hopes, was a year OF
gloom and disappointment The i'm
provement. without being altogether
arrived, was checked and slowed down
Perceptibly. Where there were marked
increases in any branch of business.
they were due to causes in them
:" selves unsatisfactory and unhealthy.
ms ha -,
exports. They reached the boom fig
ures OF 1913. This was entirely due
TO the closing down OF the German !
81 coal fields, owing TO the invasion Of /
the Ruhr and the consequent passive |
resistance movement Of the West 1
~ phalian miners. ------
Unemployment 1,124,OOO
So the unemployment figures stand /
today at 1,124, 900. In the first ten 1
months of 1922 they fell by 80 per /
cent. During the last sixteen months 1
they have only decreased by Is per /
cent. After nearly three and a half 4
years Of unexampled depression, the 4
numbers OF f1t men unable to find /
work are higher than they have ever /
been in this country. These unem- /
ployed registers by no means account 1
for all able-bodied men who are seek |
ing and seeking in vain. for some /
means of earning a decent livelihood /
for themselves and for those who de- I
pend upon them for subsistence.
The published figures do not cover /
uninsured trades. and the numbers of
''black-coated" 'white-collar'O men /
who are out Of work can only be es-
timated. The bounty OF the State has, I
so far, not reached them and they |
are two proud to avail themselves Of
the charity of poor funds.
Total 100000
Taking all these unfortunate people
into account, we should not be far
wrong in placing the number OF fit
3. unemployed today at 100000. To re-
alize the full dimensions of the prob
lem, one must also recollect that there
lare now 700, 600 men who. before the
= .war, would have been competitors in
1.-The labor market. but who have been |
Z disabled by wounds and are now main ;
= tanned out Of taxation drawn from the |
industries Of the country.
Unless trade expands to such an ex-
r. tent as to absorb these masses upon
n whom idleness has been enforced. |
3 British craftsmanship will be con-
fronted with a new problem Of the /
gravest character. A million men in |
the prime Of life, with nothing to do |
but walk once a week to an Office |
where they draw a money grant which /
supplies them with bare sustenance, |
win inevitably in time fernent mis- |
chief What are the prospects Of alb |
sorption?
Equal to Prosperous Year
One Of the mysteries of unemploy- /
ment today is the fact that. in spite |
Of trade depression, the numbers /
actually employed in our industries
are equal to those at work during the
prosperous year Immediately before
the war. What is the explanation?
- Shorter hours of labor in many i'm
portant industries and, in some trades.
vicious slowing down in production,
necessitate more hands for a smaller
= output.
= In the United States. the production
per worker has incress ed IN recent
years. This is largely due to develop
ments in labor saving machinery and
tho increasing use Of electric power.
In Britain, in spite Of mechanical de-
vices to aid and supplant, the labor
= output per head. all around has
diminished.