Evening star., 1933-07-13
Realities Are Only Concern
OF New i. S. Statistics Chief
DIR. Lubin Faces Hard
Task in Mastering
Labor Facts.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Let there be light"
Such is the motto. inherited from COL
lege days of DR.. Isadore Lubin, new
United States commissioner Of labor
statistics.
Dr. Lubin becomes, in effect, the fact
finder of the Governments war on eco
nomic depression. His job Is essentially
to keep track of the constantly swerv-
ing channels of three great economic
rivers-amount of employment, wages
of labor and cost of living.
1t is a horrible tangle at the best.
Statistics" are deceptive, yet they are
the only tools for ascertalnlng facts.
The result depends, in no small measure,
on the skill and objectivity of the man
who is guiding the tool. He must know
life as well as formulae. He must know
the world and the past as we'll as the
present He must apply the rules OF
statistical procedure in the light of this
knowledge. yet his mind must so focus
the light that it will give no false pic
ture HIS findings. whatever they are,
ar> bound to displease many who are
looking upon the economic picture. and
perhaps using statistics OF their Owl,
in the differently focused and different
ly constituted light OF their own feelings
and experiences.
There have been some fantastic
statistics dignity of mathematical
formulae giving weight to descriptions
CT life and conditions in jarring dis
cord with ordinary observation.
statistician is not necessarily a fact
finder. He can use the same tool for
concealing facts A sort of statistics
cult" has risen in the world. The idea
has been that anything expressed in
mathematical formulae must be true.
just as the medieval mind thought
anything written il Latin must be true.
Has Had Wide Experience.
DR.. Lubin takes over his job as both
a StatiStician and t-flndlng-haDng
no preconceived theories of things in
general but with background of eco
nomic Investigations over much OF the
world and a knowledge OF how people
live which is outside the scope Of any
economic treatise and which can be
known only through an intimacy with
life itself The actual facts. he believes.
constitute the only light with which to
penetrate the darkness Of economic and
social superstitions. the distorted an
achronisms which have retained their
integrity out of the pre-machinery age.
The ore supreme guerdon. in Lubin's
mind. is the discovery of facts-the pro-
mitigation Of light. There Is little to
be gained. he believes. by going into
darkness to clean up economic and So
cial pest holes. They are sure to re-
turn The only way is to turn the light
of truth. as revealed by research. upon
them He would go about repairing the
ills Of society in the light of science.
Few men in America have been in
more intimate touch both with the eco
nomic disequilibrium of the last few
years and the suffering it has caused.
But to my mind" he says. the
greatest tragedy of all IS the blow
which has been struck at education
We will recover from the economic ef-
fects. 1t will be far harder to recover
from the great gap that has been torn
in the passing of accumulated knowl-
edge from one generation to another"
DR.. 1ubin has three fundamental
tenets. resulting from his intimate con-
facts with labor.
First is the compulsory establishment
of unemployment reserves. Americas
40 900 900 wage eaners. he says. must
be relieved from the haunting sense of
insecurity for themselves and their
children which is the cause Of more
misery than actual poverty. There
must be an end to the condition where
the right to live" depends on chance
throw of the economic dice.
Familiar With Troubles.