The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-01-05

where they glut the shrinking mar
ket without any appreciable in
crease of workers. During the
boomlet Of 1888 industrial output
quickly rose to normal" in some
industries, but only a fraction of
the unemployed were rehired. There
have been fluctuations in the num-
Der of the jobless, but never any
significant net decline. Most of the
unemployment has been in the
form of spreading" work. The
workers are forced to bear the brunt
of the burden through part-time
employment. Where the workers
have obtained increases in hourly
rates Of pay, they have found that
their weekly pay envelopes we're
smaller because of part-time work.
Workers Face Wage Cuts
Besides part time employment
the workers are confronted with
seasonal unemployment which cuts
their annual wages-the basic eri-
terion of money wages, down to
levels far below a minimum stand
ard OF deceney and health. Every
industry has become seasonal due
to the fluctuations Of the present
period. Thus the automobile indus
try now has only one good season
lasting some four or five months.
Under such conditions the automo-
bile workers receive wages that by
Roosevelt's admission only run from
$500 to 5000 year, although their
hourly rates are higher than the
general run.
The poor and middle farmers
have also been impoverished during
the second year of the New Deal.
They suffered severely from the
ravages of the drought, and they
were not able to take advantage of
the rise in farm prices. Instead
they now have to pay higher prices
for feed, and other production costs
have also risen. And next year they
will not be able to market much
| livestock because of this years
drastic reduction of the number of
cattle and other animals due to
the drought and governments re-
fusal to come to the aid Of the poor
farmer. Consequently the process
of Ampoverishment among the
the farmers has been accelerated.
The Journal of Commerce in ana
lying government figures on farm
income remarks that It's "assump-
ton that farm purchasing power
will continue to compare favorably
with year ago seems doubtful in
the light of critical analysis Of
available data"
This chronic impoverishment of
the masses is reflected in the sales
of goods which in 1884 were about
80 per cent below their volume in
1929. The dollar sales of the stores
are not very much above the low
est levels of the crisis despite the
large increase in prices. Under
consumption also causes the piling
up of unsold stocks in the ware
houses. The index of stocks on
hand, according to the latest re-
port Of the Survey of Current Bust
ness, was larger in September of
this year than last years figure.
On Surplus Stocks
| Capitalism can find no way of
getting rid of these surplus stocks.
AS soon as they are slightly re-
duced there is an immediate up
ward squirt which Grams the ware
houses to an even larger extent
than before, since wages do not
keep up with prices nor does the
number of workers keep pace with
increased production. The cost of
living has risen over 10 per cent
according to conservative sources
since the beginning of the New
Deal. The real rise has been larger
as any workers wife will tell you.
During 1884 retail prices rose is
per cent Business Week with
especially steep increases in cost of
food. Clothing and food have gone
up about 30 per cent since Roose-
welt took Office. Consequently real
wages-the purchasing power of the
worker-have fallen as the cost of
living outstripped what the work
ers were able to wrest from the
employers.
This is crucial question for the
masses. Only recently Roosevelt
again emphasized his intention to
raise prices. The cost of living will
continue to go up as the admins
tration pushes it's crop restriction
program, encouraged the monopo-
listic fixing of higher prices and pre-
pares for new inflationary moves.
AS one of the results of this pro-
gram, food prices are expected to
rise an additional Is per cent this
year by Food Industries, the voice
of the big manufacturers of food
products.
While the living standards of the
toilers declined, the profits of the
capitalists increased enormously as
the result Of speed-up the reduc-
ton of the wages of skilled work.
ers to the NR.A. code nlininums
and the i1flationary rise in prices.
Profits we're at the highest point
since 1880. Business Week esti-
mates that dividends alone will
total $3,50o,000,000 in 1884, an in
crease of II per cent over the previ-
Gus year. This does not give the
true increase for the monopolies,
whose profits rose by 10 per cent
during the first nine months of the
year according 10 the Federal Re-
serve Board. Dividends plus inter-
est payments for 1884 will top ST.
o0oooo,oo0, and will be higher than
in any prosperity year except 1929,