Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13
BY SENATOR ARTHUR CAPPER


and steady progress is being made
through the aid of mass production in
raising the living standards of all the
people. Not only that, but we nave
elected a man to the presidency who
has demonstrated that he has an I'M
usual capacity for working out the
major difficulties in human administra-
ton. 1 believe, therefore, that the
United States will make substantial
progress in the next few years in solv-
ing economic problems which so Tar
have been left to the ''let alone"
economists.
Perhaps it is not necessary to enter
into an extensive catalog of these. as
they are familiar to every person who
keeps himself informed as to the prog
ress of the American Nation. But some
are very evident, as the one in agrl-
culture, for example. This business has
been out of line with the rest of the
country from the standpoint of profits
ever since the depression OF 1920 started.
Some other industries also are IN
depressed condition, as coal and tex
tiles, for instance. Average annual
wages in certain lines of industry and
in various localities are subnormal; any
one who wishes to go into this angle to
modern business conditions can find
ample data from the reports of the
Department of Commerce, the Federal
Trade Commission and the National
Industrial Conference Board. And there
is altogether too much unemployment,
in my Judgment. Personally / do not
subscribe to the old belief that mil
lion men out of work in this country is
normal or healthful condition. l can
understand that some men will be out
of work at any time, as they change
from Job to job but / think that a
million is excessive. And when the
number becomes much larger than this.
as it was a year ago, living conditions
become very unhappy for hundreds OF
thousands of folks.
Denies Full Employment.
favor the gospel of full employment.
And my mind keeps going back to an
old axiom, accepted by at least many
economists, in reference to industrial
production: IF the right numbers of
people are engaged in the different lines
of work and the channels of distribu-
ton are kept open, there can be no
such thing as overproduction; the only
possible result of such system is to
raise the standards of living for us all.
1t seems to me we have had a consider
able demonstration of the correctness
Of that theory in the progress industrial
life has made during the last few years
in America. Isn't it possible to carry
the movement much further?
Personally, / believe this Nation has
the brains to do just that job And it
seems to me that it is divided into
three general divisions. The first deals
with the problems of business admins
tration; 1T Is purely an organization
matter. Briefly, any industry that ex-
poets to make the greatest progress
must design a system which will bring
out the best that Is in three classes Of
employes-the directing or major exec
utiVes, the subexecutives (some of whom
will take the more important places in
the years to Gomez and the men in the
shop. Maximum loyalty and enthusiasm
for the Job are necessary with all three
groups. And some organizations are
obtaining these. 1t has seemed to me
that the General Motors Corporation,
for example, is doing mighty good job
in developing individual initiative in all
three classes, and this is no doubt re-
sponsible for much of the outstanding
progress it has made in the last few
years.
The National Angle.
The second angle to this problem is
the national one. feel that we should
make greater progress in buying larger
human values with the higher incomes
and greater leisure brought by mass
production. We hear much about the
decline in moral standards among the
American people in the last few years,
and while I am hopeful for the future
over that angle of our national life. l
do feel that from the standpoint of the
real welfare of the country We should
do more in developing the cultural and
artistic values in American life. In
other words, am looking toward the
promotion of the more substantial
values in organized society, which must
always be in the foreground of our
thinking if our Nation is to make the
progress which we have a right to
exnacs.
Then there is the matter of the rela-
tionship of the Government to bust
ness in general and to the employees. |
This takes many forms. One which
we hear a good deal about these days
is the proposal that we arrange for an
elaborate program of internal improte-
ments. which would be started at tie |
first signs of unemployment, thus pro
viding, along with the Federal Reserve |
system, another insurance against !;
panics favor the idea, and I believe |
it will be possible to work out some |
thing along that line which will be
helpful Not only that. but it is evident
that in this Highly complex age in |
which we live 1t is necessary for the |
Government to go considerable dis |
lance with internal improvements as a
settled. definite policy, on year-by-
year basis. There is an illustration OF |
that in the Boulder Dam project |
While there was plenty of disagreement |
over this undertaking, both in Con- |
liz
national lawmaking body, ard the dam
will be constructed.
Good Roads Program.
Whether it will work out from the |
standpoint of economic benefits to the !
paople is question that is, Of course. !
in the lap of the gods, but there is no |
question as to how our national good |
roads program is working out. The |
increasing traffic over the surfaced |
highways in the last five or six years /
apparently has amazed every one, in |,
Guiding the engineers who built them. |
and who perhaps have been regarded |
as optimistic folks. Take the con- |
crete road from Topeka to Kansas |
City, for example, which have had /
ample opportunity to observe. At the |
time it was built. Just following the !!
World War, it carried very little traffic. |
This has increased year by year. until |
it now is an enormous volume. In |
many places the road has had con-
siderable influence in the development |
of more profitable types of agriculture.
1t is obvious that from the standpoint |
of organized society this highway has |
been good investment. And it is |
typical of most of the improved roads.
I forecast that the same result will be |
obtained from the improvement of the
rivers. which will be one of the major
projects in internal Improvements of
the next few years.
We are entering an age which re-
quires that real effort be made in the
development of the natural resources
Much of this work will be done by
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