Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-28
EMPLOYERS SEE DUTY
1 in EMPLOYING MEN
Wheels of Industry Must Be Kept Turn
ing-Comparison With Past
Times of Depression.

snip anu management Is, 50 lar as IL
is at all practicable, to keep a regular
force regularly employed.
It is new idea in industry, one that
has gained ground only in the last few
years. It Is an idea that, so far as
most of those who now have it are con-
cerned, was born after the business
slump of 1921. It is an idea that was
nurtured, given practical meaning and
brought TO the attention of industrial
leaders generally as an outgrowth of
the Presidents Conference on Unem-
ployment, of which Herbert Hoover was
chairman while Secretary Of Commerce
In times of business distress It is
easy to become historical. Almost every
one Is ready to believe that conditions
never were so bad; that the country is
bankrupt; that there Is no recovery in
sight. and that nothing can or Is re-
ing done to improve the situation.
1t seems, therefore, worth while to
point out at least one important differ
ence between present conditions and
those Of previous depressionS. It is q
difference that will go long way to-
ward laying foundation for recovery
and an increasing prosperity.
What is that difference?
It Is essentially the difference in
viewpoint suggested in the preceding
paragraphs.
0Abh4SAUA 1AOb IA CdA1C way
When bad times" came in 1893, 1907
and 1920 just about 100 employers out
of 100 met the situation in the same
way. That way-to take a specific
caSe-waS to post O notice Wednesday
night on bulletin board, reading:
due to reduced orders, the South
works will close down Saturday night
AL tools should be removed then.
Wages in the North works viii be re-
duced 20 per cent, effective Monday
next, both hourly rate and piecework."
And the South works did close down
and the wages were reduced, just as the
notice said. Three thousand men be-
came unemployed at the end Of three
nearly i've months, practically all of
them, because nearly every other fac
tory in the city had followed the same
course. Just o notice to quit, and the
men were out, not knowing how long;
without distinction between married
men with families and single men;
without regard to length of service or
age; without any hope of financial as
sistance from the company in pur-
chasing food, fuel and clothing during
the long Winter ahead. Many Of the
men owed mortgage interest on their
homes. They lost them. In many of
the homes there was sickness, and
neither money, food, fuel nor medicine.
Charity was unorganized, and many
cases Of need were overlooked or had
TO be neglected because Of lack Of re-
sources in the organizations.
When business recovery came most
duced wages. They were in debt for q
long time afterward.
And that was the way business men
everywhere met recurTent depression.
The man who first sensed q period of
reduced sales and frst put into effect
wholesale discharges of hands" and
reductions Of wages was considered the
shrewdeSt and most capable industrial
ist. II any man at the head Of buSi-
ness had suggested even such mild
measure of relief as giving the workers
O months notice before closing the fac
tory or giving an extra weeks pay on
discharge, he would have been consid-
cred decidedly queer" About the first
question that bankers asked when the
matter of renewing notes Of q per-
fectly solvent business was discussed
were: Have You cut your sorce down
as -aEacf - possible, and how much
more can you reduce wages?"
That was the viewpoint Of business
until after the 1920 stringency. It ex-
pressed the belief that industry owned
labor nothing more than q daily wage.
Managers Attitude Changes.
Such is no longer the general atti-
tude Of managers of business. Perhaps
not in every establishment In every
kind Of business, but there is O change
of thought on the subject Of employ
ment among probably the majority Of
business men. It is now believed to be
sound policy, good citizenship, good
business, to maintain as far as possible
Q continuous employment and conse-
quently sustained buying power Of the
largest buying class of our population.
The head of one of the great railroad
systems has said: Il know that previ-
GUS to the war we didn't think it wrong
to hire 5000 or 5000 new men in the
Summer for track work, such as putting
in rails and ties, get it done as quickly
as possible, and lay the men on. We
had always followed that plan, at least
to large degree"
But his attitude and that Of the board
81 directors has changed. That road
has changed its entire working method;
has managed TO keep on the pay roll,
even during q long period Of greatly re-
duced txafflc, thousands of men whom
II would have fired" instantly in the
old day at the first faint indication OF
q falling on Of trafic. Recently sin
gle adjustment Of Working arrangements
on this railway insured continued en-
ployment for LOO men who otherwise
would have been discharged. A large
proportion Of the men are working less
than full time, but through the en-
ployes' federation they have expressed
preference for that rather than have
some men given full-time work and
many others thrown into idleness. 1t Is
but a single instance Of the practical
result OF the new viewpoint OF industrial
leaders.
OF course, there is unemployment; Of
course, there have been some reduc-
tons in wages and salaries; there are
instances Of human suffering and dis
treSs because Of lack Of work. But
never before, in my Judgment and in
the judgment of others who have made
detailed observation and study, has the
effect of business depression been so
minimized in its production OF hard
ship TO human beings. The very fact
that so much is being done now to pre-
vent and alleviate that which occurred
in previous business depreSsions has
tended 10 create the impression that
conditions are worse than ever before,
whereas the very reverse Is true. Never
before has there been such effective,
scientific and widespread organization
70 prevent and relieve distress from
Unemployment.
Steel Industry Example.
Take the steel industry. for example.
The largest factor in that industry has
anrNsInced definitely that there viii be
no m sc "lay OFFS; that II production
Is Decreased work will be prorated
among employees.
At the very beginning Of the depres-
sion the head Of another big steel or
ganization stated that there would be
no cut in wage rates, thereby protect
ing the workers financial status when
E..1f