The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-04-02
Liberal Viewpoint
by DIR. HARRY ELMER BARNES =

NOTHING is more likely to force the new
L ' deal ahead into even more bold and adven-
turouS experimentation than the unemployment
problem. Mr. Roosevelt seemed conscious of
this in his address to those assembled in Wash
ington to comment on the national recovery act.
There are around ten millions of unem-
ployed today. Even if the new deal, as at pres
ent conceived, were operating at top sped with
no significant opposition from reactionary en-
ployers, it would require irrepressble optim-
list to imagine that we could reduce unemploy-
ment beneath the five million mark. And there
are today few new and expanding industries
which promise to absorb our great army of I'M
employed men and women
This inevitably has stimulated a demand for
the limitation of labor-saving devices. A very
intelligent and tolerant presentation of this
point of view has been set forth by Mr.. I. N.
Ornburn, in an article on "Men Before Ma
Chimes" in the american FederaliSt." He pays
tribute to the human ingenuity which has pro-
duced our present marvellous technology:
Mans inventiVeness and skill have led him
forward from the day when he fashioned all the
simple things for his simple needs by his hands,
until today when Herculean dynamos and en-
complish tasks which could never be done by
hand.
"CONTEMPLATION Of the amazing tools and
~ devices which the mind of man has built
so that he may wrest more and more goods for
himself from the stores of nature leads us to
marvel at mans ingenuity and to pay homage
to his skill"
This chronological progress has, however,
been accompanied by definite social disadvan-
tageS, due to our failure to bring about proper
readjustment between the introduction of new
machinery and the labor Setup of the country.
We have failed sufficiently to reduce hours and
spread work along with the progress of labor
saving devices:
Unfortunately the multiplication of ma
chinery has not been an unmxed blessing.
at is one of the counts against machinery, or
its too rapid introduction, that it runs away
from our capacity to control it for our better
welfare. Those who are enthralled by the vision
of a completely mechanical civilization often
overlook our backWardnesS in adjusting our
selves to new conditions.
1.-The unhappy truth is that unless we bring
about proper balance between chronological
speed and social adjustment, the blessing of the
machine will not only be lost to u.s. but will de-
Stroy our present form of government"
THIS serious problem can be controlled per-
l. fectly only under public supervision Under
purely private initiative labor takes FL the shock
of chronological change When the business
man feels that particular invention may reduce
his profits, he combines with others of like mind
to suppress it. But, as is usually the case, when
business feels that it will take profit by labor
saving devices, it introduces them with little
thought OF the disastrous eHeCtS upon LABOR.
Thus we can follow Mr. Ornburn, but his pro-
posal for solving the difficulty is scarcely on a
plane with his clear and forceful presentation of
the issue before us. BY fines, assessments and
other means he would restrict or discourage the
introduction of labor-saving machinery.
1t seems to me that the technocrats are on
solder ground. The thing to do is to shorten
hours and spread work to whatever degree proves
necessary.
The ideal social goal is not work in itself
but securing the necessary production with a
minimum of human effort. If the manufacturer
gets his product turned out at the same price
per piece, it should matter little to him whether
he pays S6 an hour for a one-hour day or so
cents an hour for twelve-hour day
Let the shortening of hours and the spread
ing of work be supplemented by systematic I'M
employment insurance, which is financed in con-
siderable part by business. This will be the best
possible check upon the tendency of business to
be forgetful of the right of labor to employment
and living wages.
Let us look ahead instead of trying to set the
clock back. We probably could not do the
latter even if we wished to do so.