The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-01-27
STORY OF GROUPS AND AN AMER
ICAN PLAN FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
BY HARRY CANNES


!" rector of the Manatanzas Sugar Corporation. 4
and one Of the attorneys for the Morgan & %.
National City Bank not long ago said that II his
plan to curb sugar production failed, it would
mean capitalism was failure The plan failed
Mr.. Chadbourne now offers the unemployed an
other plan" for relief called "An American
Plan for Unemployment Reserve Funds"
1t is not Mr. Chadbourne alone who is behind
this scheme, one Of the many that are offered 10
confuse to mslead and to fool the unemployed,
to keep them from real struggle for memploy-
ment insurance, but very rich organisation
called the American Association for Labor Leg&s-
lation is behind it.
Before we analyze the scheme itself gttnzpgS
of its hackers offers an interesting insight T1aay
fall into two groups: u Rich exploiters and sCaS
employers; p Reactionary union officials and
other lackeys of the bosses
Here is the lineup Of group No. /: Mr.. War
burg, partner of Kuhn Loeb & Co.. an interna~
tional banker and imperialist whose millions
have the blood of Chinese Filipino, Latin Amer
lean as we'll as American workers on them; Ger
ard Swope, president of the General Electric Co..
wage-cutter and speed-up expert for Morgan al
Co.; Mrs. Thomas w. Lamont, wife of the lead
ing Morgan & Co. partner; Percy S. Straus OF
R. H. Macy 81 Co.. known for its low wages and
long hours. There are many others with varying
records Of wage cutting.
Acting as labor" front for these pationate
defenders of the rights of the workers we have
the following Group No. 2:
Joseph P. Ryan, president of the New York
Central Trades and Labor Council who voted for
William Green's program of mo unemployment
insurance" at the Vancouver convention Of the
A. F. of L. AS one of his proofs as an eminent
labor leader, fit to travel in such fine company
as we list in Group No l. Mr. Ryan can point
to his successful strike breaking activity in the
Boston longshoremen's strike. Then there is Sid
ney Hillman of the Amalgamated Clothing Work
ers professional strkebreaker, and perpetual
front for any scheme to fight against real I'M
employment insurance that any group Of mis-
leaders may want to present. Himan is for
Mustes scheme; for the Socialist scheme, for
Mrs. Lamont's scheme for Mr.. Chadbourne's
scheme-for any scheme that means no struggle
by the workers. 4
Then there is Professor Paul n. Douglas of the )
University of Chicago. Prof Douglas has a rush
ing business these days writing long and windy
books about unemployment that do everything
possible to exonerate the capitalist system from
blame. AS Professor in John D. RockefeIer's
university, whose speciality is "refutng" Marks
Capital, Douglas is kept busy arguing away
Marks predictions Of such capitalist crises as
we see at present. And so the list mounts up.
AS to the american Plan for Unemployment
Reserve Funds" itself.
This BILL" says the representatives Of Group
No. 1 and Group No. 2, speaking in unison, Ere
quires employers to contribute small fixed
percentage Of their payroYls to a fund which
will be administered so as to furnish TO
pIoyes that is to the wage slaves) such bene-
fits as the condition Of the fund win permit"
This is the central idea What is the sgnifi-
canoe of it? Each exploiter becomes his own
charity institution He contributes a small fixed
percentage of his payroll to fund. Where does
he get the money to contribute? OF course, from
the most convenient place, from the payroll it
self! In short, he contributes by cutting wages,
to fund which Is the property Of the factory
owner.
After allowing the bosses to strip wages, the
American Plan" very kindly tells the workers
they ARE not required to contribute to the fund"
So that they won't feel hurt in the event they
took the clifford Committees 'I-Have-S Shared
propaganda to heart, the American Plan"
soothes the workers by telling them "they do, Of
course, bear a considerable portion Of the cost
of unemployment owing to the limits placed upon
benefits"
This magnificent scheme, controlled by the
bosses created from the wages Of the workers
offers the workers maximum of $40 week for
period not longer than Is weeks. The great ma
jority of the present unemployed, If they were
forced to accept the American Plan" as their
only solution Of unemployment, would BE- dead by
now because over 100000 have been unemployed
for over 100 weeks.
To give the plan flavor OF patriotism the
Secretary Of the American Association for Labor
Legislation, John B. Andrews, declares that the
plan docs not copy any foreign model but Is a
natural outgrowth of successful American expert
ence" such for example the breadline, the
frame-up system, the massive growth Of tbs VA.
employed army.