Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-18
YOUNG URGES FIGHT
ONUNEMPLOYMENT
New York FinanCier Believes
Cooperation viii Overcome
Economic Ills.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, December 18.-Not only
did New Workers yesterday see strong
upward trend in stock market prices
with advances of from 2 to 10 points,
but they also witnessed, under the di-
rection of Stward Prosser, chairman OF
the Emergency Unemployment Commit
tee, the raising of an 100000 unem-
ployment fund Indeed, the amount
raised may exceed the goal sought.
At the final rally-a most enthusi-
astic one participated in by many OF
New York's leading business men-Owen
D. Young expressed confidence that the
dreaded disease of unemployment with
all its social and economic ills" will be
conquered in the next few years.
1T is like flood, an earthquake or
other physical disaster, impossible yet
for us to foresee or prevent" said Mr..
Young, but with fine cooperative spirit
it is possible for us to alleviate its dire
full results"
While the process of overcoming the
UNEMPLOYMENT diseaSs-and disease is
the words slow, it is due largely to no
one having the power to meet 1t, MI.
Young thinks.
yet we want no economic dictator
ship in America" he adds, mo more
than we want a political dictatorship.
We want to be free men, functloning
on our own responsibility, each part
of a co-ordinated whole, which deter
mines our destinies for better or Tor
worse"
Telephone Policy Changed.
japan has completed thorough over
hauling of her telephone system, and
decided to transfer the control OF the
system, now in the hands of the gov
eminent, to a private company.
Beginning with 1881, an increase OF
10000 telephone installations year IS
contemplated. The present charge: OF
about $500 for each telephone installed
is to be discontinued, and all new tele-
phones will be installed free. The de-
Ynand on the part of the japanese Tor
Telephones has been inSistent, but the
big installation charge has prevented
their general use.
Whether the telegraph service will be
transferred to private company at the
same time is problematical, hut the gen.
eral opinion is that it will be.
Steel Operations.
George M. Verify, progressive chair
man of the American Rolling Mill Co..
says that the steel industry as whole
"has not operated to exceed 55 per cent
during the last six months
Our manufacturing institutions,
which consume the products of the basic
industries of the country, such as steel,
copper, paper, ETC., are those that can
best accelerate a recovery OF business, :.
said Mr.. Verify. But the buying OF
merchandise and manufactured products
on the part of the public must precede
greater activity in industry and return
fO more normal times"
Mr.. Verify thinks it is not possible to
discuss the subject of wages as whole,
as every industry has its own problems
In certain industries, like the building
trades, where wages are high, recovery is
liable to be thus retarded. Wages in
the steel industry, however, are not too
high and there is no desire or tnclina-
ton to change them"
But to the worker, the problem OF en-
3loyment is the all-important one.
How can greater stability in this field
be attained?" asked.
ITO my mind the only sound and
permanent remedy for these extreme
periods of unemployment is to find
ways and means to reasonably control
production" replied this Ohio steel
manufacturer. IF that is to be done
modified. 1t would seem that that
could be done without in any way
lessening sound and constructive COM
petition"
Mr.. Verify does not ask for the abo-
htion of trust laws, but for the ''rnodi-
flcation" of them, so that they will still
maintain a sound and healthy compe-
tition.
Commodity SURPRISES.
When Lord Irwin, British viceroy of
India, told the annual meeting of the
Associated Chambers of Commerce of
India this week that India was mo
worse than any other part of the
world" and that rubber and sugar were
suffering from overproduction, while
cotton, wheat and other farm commod-
tiles were affected by underconsump-
ton, he repeated what has been said
time and again.
The man who raises sugar does not
care much whether the economists at
tribute low demoraliZing prices to
overproduction or underconsumption
What he wants is a sugar price that
will give him and his family decent
living, plus enough extra to put in his
crop for the next year. That he
does not get today. The embarrassed
sugar belt farmer does not spend any
time on figuring out what economic
term should be used to correctly eX-
plain his tragic plight. All he kncws
Is that he is in a bad way, financially.
There does seem to have been enough
discussion of these matters to enable
us to arrive at some conclusion But
we are just about as far away from
knowing when business will improve as
we were a year ago. Some call the
trouble "underconsumption" and some
call it "overproduction." But the aver
age man on the street calls it rotten
Dalai IT. Car.noio-
Bogota, Columbia, has started some
thing rev! Faced with big unem-
ploym1nG problem and quiet trade, its
city government met and decided that
a "paint-up, cleanup program should
be started Immediately" And it is not
q voluntary one, either. For the mayor
OF Bogota has issued a decree reQuir-
ing and demanding all buildings anc
homes in the capital city of Colombis
to be reprinted and cleaned up before
the centennial.
Thousands Of men are thus busily en-
gagged at the moment. There are a few
stragglers who have not complied. but
they will soon get in line. since there
is a heavy fine against the owner who
has not cleaned up before the begin
ming of the fair, a few months hence
The unemployment problem has beer
greatly eased, with the city giving thu
appearance of new life. Many cities II
both North and South America nigh
well profit by this example.
(Copyright, $780, by North American News
paper Alliance