Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-27
CONTINUES Prom First pagel

(C0nIinued From tHSJ PaSeD
the unwillingness Of a majority Of the
Labor cabinet 10 agree to a reduction
In balancing the nations budget, again
raises the question OF the dole and
the part it is playing, not only in the
economic, but in the political life OF
most of the nations In Europe. What
are the. facts briefly with reference
to the dole in Great Britain? What of
the dole in the economic life of mod
ern Europe today? What are the ef-
fects OF the dole upon our own eco
noffiic and industrial policy? These
are a few OF the questions which are
passing through peoples minds while
the change of England's government
is current news.
Certain general observations about
the dole can be male at the outset.
First of all its effects Upon the econ
ony of one nation are bound by the
law of economic interdependerce or
nations 10 have an effect upon the
economy of other nations.
Fell Because OF Dole.
Already we have seen the manner
In which substantial loan was made
by American bankers to sustain the
had been made that there would be a
curtailfneht in the unemployment
benefits in Great Britain. From the
standpoint Of banker, the demand
was not unreasonable. The lesson to
be drawn from this procedure is clear.
We have the assurance, however, of
Mr.. Ramsay Macdonald, in an off,
cial broadcast upon the formation of
the national government that the
change In government was not due to
a banks ramp" Yet there Is GER
tain aptness to the Characterization OF
the fate OF the Labor government by
one of its cabinet members who as
serted in a public address that 'the
first Labor government fell because Of
of a red letter'-and the second be-
cause Of a bankers order" The gov
eminent did fan and 1T fell because
of the difficulties with the dole!
What then, briefly, are the facts
about the dole so far as Great Britain
is concerned The total indebtedness
of the unemployment fund to the Brit
fish treasury, due to payments on &C 1
not ' less s than sSso, 900 600. with deficit
mounting at the rate of $4,000, 900 q
week. In addition, Britain Is faced
with two other facts; first, that the
number of unemployed Is increasing
and win number 5000, 600 by the f1rst
of the year, out Of total working force
of IL ,0O0, 600; secondly, prices have fall
len 81 yer cent since 1922 and liz per
cent since 1929; and yet there has been
no reduction in the dole. Furthermore,
q series OF ai1analies in payment Of the
dole have added some inequalities to
these complex problems. Anomalies,
however, are likely to be reduced greatly
r,f
the recent Royal Commission on the
dole
Macdonald Arguments Sound.
It Is well to remember that Mr.. Mac
Donald rested his case for q reduction
in the dole with the plea that reduc:
ton Of 10 per cent In the dole would
leave the recipients IL per cent better
of than In 1929. The argument was
tenable and carried weight. on the
other. hand, viewed quite effectively,
Mr.. Philip Snowden's courageous sub
mission Of the new budget, which calls
for the distribution Of sacrifices equally
among all the people, can hardly be ex-
pected by the provision Of 10 per cent
reduction in the dole, which itself rep
resents q saving OF only S4,500,0OO
monthly. to reduce substantially the
dole expenses as compared with an in
dehtedness of nearly i've times that
amount monthly. The net result OF. this
situation Is that the new Snowden bud
get provides q basis Of taxation in
Great Britain which IT. Is difficult to
contemplate for the United States,
The unsettlement in the budgets Of
many of the countries In Europe Is also
traceable to this single factor-the dole.
In Germany, for example, the ministry
OF labor recently appeared before the
German Federation Of Trade Unions
and stated very frankly that the. dole
would have to be cut because of the
costs Of these social services
In the national budget. Similar cases
Of financial structures tottering because
Of these vast expenditures made on ac-
count Of the dole can be found In other
It should be asserted in full fairness,
however, that to many. If not most, of
the countries of Europe, unemployment
insurance has, in fact been revolution
insurance. It IS the price which the
state has had to pay to keep her In
voluntarily idle from starvation. To
have failed to meet this social RESPONSE
bility any of the European nations
would have faced social revolution
the result, not Of revolutionary idelogy,
but Of starvation and utter despair.
Device to Prevent Revolution.
Thus we have the dilemma Of the
modern state-tlle dole as q device to
prevent social revolution from the bot
tom, at the same time threatening the
financial structure from above. What
the final answer is, probably no one can
predict. 1t would appear clear, II con-
Trajectory, to say for those nations that
have embarked on the path Of the dole,
that they can't afford to do away with
it and they can't afford to retain 1t.
One other factor has become clear
with reference to the present world
crisis. Unemployment insurance may
begin in normal times as insurance on
a sound actuarial basis but In a crisis
or prolonged depression it becomes a
dole. That is the history OF the act In
England; it appears to be the trend In
Germany and in other countries which
cover today no less than 45,000,000
wage earners In Europe. OF the English
act no less an authority than Sir VIII
liam Beveridge, perhaps the most cele-
brated authority in the world on uf1eff1-
ployment insurance, wrote recently,
unemployment insurance Incorrectly
called the dole up to 1922 lin Great
Britain) the dole incorrectly Called in
surance. since 1922" That appears to
be the fact! While it is true that Ger:
tain persons have used the phrase
"dole" to prejudice the concept in the
public mind, the present day fact Is
that one by one every actuarial feature
has been stripped away Under the crisis
and it has become a public dole to pre-
vent involuntary poverty. Men every
where had sensed this fact and in the
words Of MFR walter Lfppnnann In the
Herald Tribune, THE inindof the world
has fastened on the dole as the symbol
Of the causes Of the British difhculties."
UnsettIes Politics as well.
The dole has unsettled not only
British finances but British politics in
q significant manner. 1t viii continue
to unsettle governments as well as
finances The Iahhr envhrnYr1ef1t fell