Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-05

according 70 q report to the National
Automobile Chamber of Commerce, some
10000 motor buses in use In the United
States Assuming that each one of these
gives employment to only one driver
and many bus services have both drivers
and conductors-there is a creation OF
at least 90, 900 new Jobs of a highly
responsible character. In addition each
of these buses has to be kept In re-
pair and serviced. A recent study Of
this subject estimates that for every
three motor coaches In operation two
men are needed for repair and service.
Many of these men are unskilled, but
many are skilled mechanics; 1t prob
ably requires as much skill to build,
operate and service q motor coach as
it does to build. repair and service a
railroad car.
These examples might be increased
to show how the development of motor
transportation has created work not dis
similar from railroad work for large
groups of workers, both skilled and I'M
skilled. There are as yet no very &C
curate statistics on the subject, but such
scattered data as are available, as we'll
as common observation, indicate that
the newly created jobs growing out of
this new phase of the transportation
industry must run into the hundreds
of thousa nds."
Machines Make Inroads.
Now, naturally the business depression
which has hit all kinds of industrial
enterprise has affected the motor truck
and motor bus industry. as we'll as all
other occupational services. The report
from which the quotation is taken was
made two years ago. Since that time
the number Of motor trucks and buses
has increased materially and the num-
Der OF men employed probably was
much greater In the Fall Of 1929 than
1t was In the Spring Of that year Then,
however the country's business troubles
began and the occupational figures for
that time are serviceless today.
There are many fields of industry
into which labor saving machinery has
been introduced. 1t is In use In the
cotton fields in the wheat fields and
in the fields Of other agricultural &C
equations. Ship loading and unloading
are not longer matters Of wholly manual
labor The instances Of displacement
or threatened displacement might be
multiplied.
In recent report by the American
section Of the International Chamber Of
Commerce 1t is said in effect that al
though mass production has made
things cheap. 1t has carried the elimi-
nation Of labor TO point where. &C
cordlng to statistics, 1t seems an open
question whether there are as many
men hired TO do the work as would have
been employed II mass production had
not been instituted.
Solutions Always Arrive.
It Is stated In the report that those
employed In industry in the Nation at
the beginning and close of the decade
show a slight decrease in numbers in
stead Of large increase, which, taken
in comparison with the average yearly
increase in population, makes it appear
that the great advance in productivity
has been achieved at the expense of the
numbers OF the working force
From the beginning of time there
always has been found a way out.
When one sees an airplane overhead or
looks upon the diving Of a submarine
he realizes that what was thought TO
be impossible in the rast has become
the commonplace Of TO- day. He feels
also that because thS~e has been no
check In the constant appearance Of
inventive marvels in the past they will
continue to make their appearance in
the future. Every new thing means
that much more work for men
1t Is this advancement in the inven-
tive genius of the people that has kept
the balance between work and the
workers fairly even Steady and ener-
getic effort in the future probably will
be able, think. to insure work for all
willing workers at all times when de-
preston in business conditions of the
country does not make for the general
i'll of all men and women.
In aviation and in all that belongs
TO its field Of supply the advancement
recently has been rapid From a bulle-
tin compiled by Carl Byoir and aSso-
ciates, entitled Graphic Facts About
Aviation It Is learned that the num-
bers of yearly airplane passengers in
creased from 5000 in 1925 to 400 900 in
1880. The express packages carried
increased in weight from $500 pounds
in 1925 TO $4,000 pounds in 1880 In
1925 10000 pounds of United States
mail we're transported by plane. In
1880 the weight of the mail had in
creased to 100000 pounds
Attention is called to this airplane
statement simply to give an example of
the rapid development in one new field
of endeavor-a field which. like others
newly cultivated, offers the certainty of
an increase in the employment of labor
No one knows what next is to come. but
that II will come the history of the
past proves, I think. fairly conclusively
Certain 1t is that so far as the good of
labor is concerned its guardians always
will be alert to its well being.
STEAMSHIPS.