Evening star., 1936-05-23

AtI o8yos eN0 t&pS GtOHh "a ASAASEcAktRs
which must reiieve strain and
anxiety in those led" Ne 10 for al
lowing and encouraging all industries
which cannot meet this primary
minimum wage demand to perish.
Beyond that point, however, hs IL tor
competition, setting his face against
oil combinations. whether Of trade ss-
sociations, trusts, or trades unions,
whose object IL to hold UP prices and
that what u needed Il Q great public
awakening to the fsliacy Of the whole
Idea that prices stabilized at q high
level mean abundance. I'VE must
lower prices without lowering wages," "
he says. "rhis can be done only by
more eficient business methods and
stimulation to business output BY re-
newed and continual applications of
more efacient labor-saving machinery,
with . sufncient rise In profits to
support industries producing capital
goods and luxury services"
Demands FIexibility.
Flanders does not encourage the
contemplation Of 1879 ~ an ideal
epoch. I'VE have never yet. On .
50-hour week, produced enough to
give Q decent standard of living to
the average worker" he says. THE
best of modern equipment will have
to be built, installed and put to work
on an enormous scale II the desired
standard is to be possible on 40
hour week" That such q program
will increase unemployment he cate
gorically denies. But its successful
operation depends upon keeping
everything as flexible as possible above
living wage requirements, and this
would involve sacrifices Of what he
considers false security. beth on the
part OF business and trades unions.
That all industrial societies are
bound to have Q huctuating unem-
ployment problem he admits, and sug.
gests four major ways of dealing with
1t. In the first place there must be
established . permanent, co-ordinated,
Nationwide system Of State employ.
ment ofIices with which every worker
who hopes to enjoy future benefits
must register. This would give US,
first, what we have not got, reliable
unemployment statistics and define
what . genuinely unemployed work.
e1 Is.
Second, there must be established,
and again on a national basis. unen-
ployment reserves the prefers the
more exact term to the looser and less
accurate one of unemployment insur-
ance). payments from which must be
limited in duration, and must be avail
able without any means test to all
unemployed.
Embraces Works Program.
Third, for prolonged unemployment
there must be permanent public
works program. which will hold over
from administration to administra-
tion, and be as detached from poll.
tics as the War College, in order to
do extensive planning ahead. But its
work must consist of normal projects
Of local and State and national gov
ernment, handled through normal
channels, under normal working con-
dttions, 80 that q worker passing from
1t into private employment will not
be confronted with completely Diff
ferent conditions.
And fourth, foreseeing an increasing
gap between the age when youth
leaves school and gets work, he be-
lieves that the idea incorporated in
the c. c. c. should be built out into
. permanent service for youth, with
the discipline but not the militarism
of the Army, invested with pride in
the performance OF 0 national service,
and divorced from the idea of charity.
This would leave on relief, subject
to the humiliation of means test-as
all relief work now is-only the genu-
inc charity cases. the unfortunate
derelicts Of society.
Flanders program has an inte-
grated philosophy and q refreshing
simplicity of expression. In the midst
Of much haphazard thinking, he has
introduced q new and positive pro-
gram for laissez-faire.
tcopyrisht. 1850