Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-14

| AHutOBTdpHeU DeIOre the mlcrOpnOne III
cast an address last night on the empl'
ipate unemployment. When It comes
| appropriations mean but little AS I
said In my letter to the Senate COM
mittee concerning the proposal to ap-
| propriate $150,000,000 to relieve unem-
! STIMULATING Federal construction pro-
| grams.
:. The appropriation authorized to re-
ileVe unemployment during depressions
! is mere drop in the bucket. Suppose
| we had recurrence of the conditions
OF 1921, with practically 5000 900 peo-
pie dropped from the pay rolls in one
year. In the building trades this $3.50 :
UOO,oOO would furnish but 100000
men, in round numbers
Employer Best Agency.
! When you come down to it, the best
employment agency is the employer
himself. If OUT employers really put
| their minds down on it, there would be
| no employment problem. II we put as
much thought on employment as we do
| on installing new machinery, there
would be little or no unemployment.
! believe we are coming to that. But
! 1t will take time, and unemployment
must be handled now-right now.
Shall We have a Federal employment
| service, or create Federal agencies in
certain States that will establish en-
ployment agencies. 1t is too serious a
matter to handle politically, and State
agencies should not be used for political
benefit, with State employment officers
changed whenever a new governor is
elected and a new commissioner of
| labor appointed.
AS I have said before, while new ma
chinery and methods are diSplacing
workers, We also have an annual in
crease Of a million more population
Every year 100000 boys and girls come
of working age. Every year 100000
people come from the farms to the
cities, seeking work. Each year nearly
100000 immigrants knock at our doors,
mostly in our cities, competing for jobs.
As I was told the other day, on ac-
count of the open immigration from
the Western Hemisphere, young men
now come across our border, appear at
the factory gate before they have been
in the country two hours, and take jobs
from men who have been in line look
ing for work and who have homes and
families to maintain at the American
standard of living. How long will the
4
wonder If we are to get the same relief
from this Congress that we got from
the last-namely, none at all.
100000 Born in u. S.
We have more than $4,000, 900 for
eign-born in the country. The COM
plant has come to me recently of an
alien who was on the verge of securing
his citizenship having his job taken
away from him and given to another
alien who had just come in. We must
protect not only the alien who is al
ready here-about 100000 of them
unnaturalized-but also the 100000
American boys and girls coming OF work
age. Cut down these numbers in front
OF the factory gates and the employer
will look with a great deal more favor
on the man past As years of age, and
won't be SO anxious to discharge him.
We will have this unemployment as
long as we have underconsumption
Many of our factories are producing
more than we can consume. This over
development in coal, as I see it, is
a glaring example of that It is an
industry run by rule of the jungle and
not by the rules of good, sound bust
ness. Men are out of work. There
are 100000 more men in the industry
| than are needed to produce the neces-
sary supply of coal. Not only are these
| men out of work, or working part time,
but the owners of the mines are clos
ing down or working them intermit-
| tently. The towns in which the work.
ers live employed in these coal mines
represent loss Of investments made in
| them by the business men. In the
towns where the miners are not work.
ing today you can buy property at
! your own price. The buying power of
! the people in these towns is prac-
| tically nil. Even if the mines do work
one or two or three days week, the
workers haven't enough money to buy
the products produced by the factories
| to which they ship their coal.
We could take this one industry and
| show what can be done to stabilize en-
| ployment and make the business profit
able. If there are laws that stand in
the way of this, am sure Congress
| would amend them.
| My job as Secretary of Labor was
created to foster, promote and develop
| the welfare of the wage earners of the
United States, to improve their work.
ing conditions and to advance their
opportunities for profitable employ
ment." Nine years ago advocated
the principle of the Saving wage"
Certain people opposed it.. Now prac-
tically all are In accord that our fac
tories cannot run and there will be
no consuming power to keep the ma
| chimes moving unless the man who
operates the machine receives a good
wage.
Must Control Machine.
We cannot "robotize" America, be-
cause we must remember that the ma
chine does not eat or sleep. 1t does
nothing but produce. It consumes moth
ing but a little oil. We must watch
out that with our efficiency and modern
management we keep control of the
machine. If the machine ever con-
trolls us, civilization is gone.
The crash in the New York stock
market affected business. We are most
fortunate that when this crash did oc-
cur, President Hoover was at the head