Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-25

The passage OF the Wagner bill.
creating an Employment Sterilization
Board" to be made up OF four cabinet
officers, whose duty it VIII be to keep
the President advised as to business
trends, is welcomed as an important
step in the direction of dealing with
periods of depression, though not re-
garded at all in the light of a cure-all
Senator Wagner has been one OF
the administrators Severest critics
particularly on the score of unemploy-
ment relief legislation" says the New
York Times, which remarks that lin
signing the Senator's sterilization bill
President Hoover heaped Goals of fire
on his head" especially in the words
Senator Wagner and Representative
Graham have worked out an admira-
BILE measure" 1t is the opinion of the
Times that the legislation lis indeed
an interesting experiment IN political
economics, significant both for the Fed
eral policy it enunciates and the ex-
ample it may set to the States and
municipalities"
The Rochester Times Union is inter
ested in the fact that lit Is rather un-
usual Tor a Republican President TO
praise a Democrats bill" and considers
that 1T would be helpful II Repub-
licans and Democrats could md more
to praise in each other. Too often
the policy is to call bad what the
other docs aud to oppose il. The pub
lie often suffers loss III such practices,
this paper concludes.
So favorablv impressed by the bill Is
the Springfield CMass.) Republican that
it advises editoria1ly that "a State plan
ming system, like that established by
the Wagner bill should be set up in
each of the States Of the Union as a
cushion against future employment
crises" This journal explains the func-
ton of the new board: ITO adjust
Federal construction programs for pub
lie works from time to- time, in cor
reSpondence with the condition of IN
oustry. 1t is q preparedness measure, :
it says. Each department is required
to keep in readiness construction plans
for six years ahead" it explains fur
Their, and lit must suggest to the Pres
ident that the publicWorkS program
be expanded whenever it concludes that
an industrial depression IS imminent" "
x X X X
"This is highly interesting. The task
will be eXacting," says the New Castle
News, which suggests that the work
of keeping statistics will have to be
done with great care, and even then 1t
will take the best kind of good judg-
ment to predict what the future is to
be in building or in other lines OF
activity" This paper is pleased that
the new bureau will be under the di-
rection of the Secretary of Commerce,
thus increasing the importance of a de-
partment of the Government which has
steadily grown in power and usefulness
since Mr.. Hoover became its head The
Dallas Journal states that adequate
advance planning by Nation, States and
cities would make it possible to carry
on with needed improvements more
surely and more intensively at time
when men are in need of employment
To delay planning until emergency is at
hand is to delay relief of the emer-
Hayerhill Evening Gazette is of the
opinion that 80 simple and logical is
the principle of this bill that the Won
der is it has not long existed in Statu-
tory form
Directing attention to the fact that
'the basic plan of the Wagner act first
was advanced at the Presidents Conf
ference on Unemployment in September,
1921" and that it was also recon-
mended for adoption in the report which
the Committee on Unemployment ana
Business Cycles submitted in April,
1929" the San Antonio Express $ug-
gests that had Congress adopted the
suggestion then, the present unemploy-
ment situation largely might have been
prevented. Certainly it could have been
alleViated." The st. Paul Pioneer Press
also asserts: Had it been passed five
years ago, unemployment might have
been checked before. the cumulative
effects of the processes became stable
in the Winter of 1880. But then man
is VIGOROUSLY unable to see farther than
the end of his nose" concludes this
paper. u.s.
ut Is to be hoped that it wilIsPe many