Evening star., 1936-04-28

tinued, so that today four men in a
factory can accomplish as much as
five men in 1929.
Approach Era Of Abundance.
"It has always been our American
philosophy that these so-called tech
biological improvements have been
good for the people as a whole. We
have felt ourselves progressing farther
and farther away from the olden
times, when human drudgery was the
only form of labor, and when stand
ards of living were very low. We are
now approaching the possibilities of
new era of abundance, when stand
ards of living will be uniformly higher,
and when working people will have
greater opportunities for leisure and
self-development. But If we are to
capitalize upoA these. possibilities,
work must be found somewhere for
the millions who are being displaced
by new inventions. Otherwise, q
costly army of unemployed. draining
our national resources, will more than
outweigh the benefits flowing from the
new machinery. The great challenge
still confronting our country. and in
fact all civilization, is the challenge
of the jobleSs.
"All business interests are in unani-
nous agreement upon one phase of
this problem. They are all agreed
that the best way, the only perma-
nent way, to remedy unemployment is
to create useful jobs in private in
dustry. They are also convinced that
the occupation which offers the widest
field for expansion at the present time
is home building. While SO many of
our industries have climbed back to
normal, the construction of dwellings
is still in very decided slump. Only
one family was provided with new
quarters in 1885 for every 10 families
so provided for in 1925. During the
first four months of the present year,
home building has been proceeding at
only one-fourth the normal rate. It
is clear that about one-half of the
total unemployment today is due
directly to the lag in the construc-
ton industry.
Major Economic Problem.
"The housing bill which have in
troduced is therefore addressed to-
ward the major economic problem of
| today. 1t is designed to assist in
bringing the construction trades back
to normal. 1t does not attempt to do
| this by substituting government for
private initiative; for that would be
| hopeless and an un-American task
But the measure is based upon the
firm conviction that, just as the Gov
ernment helped so much to protect
$500 900 home owners from fore
closure and eviction, just as the Gov
eminent played its part in clearing
l up a mortgage situation that was
running both lenders and borrowers,
so the Government can and must
face the affirmative task of getting
the construction industry going at a
faster pace
The bill is based upon another
equally important sense of response
blllty. We all recognize that during
the crisis of the recent emergency
1t was necessary to put people to work
as rapidly as possible. Under such
circumstances it was humanity impos-
Slble IN all cases to select the most
useful and permanent type of under
taking. 1t is remarkable how much
good was done under the circum-
stances. But now the time has come
Nhen we should tie up re-employ-
ment even more closely with the de-
velopment OF long-term projects of a
self-supporting character, selected
solely upon the basis of their useful
ness to the Nation.
There is nothing that could be so
useful to the Nation as better hous-
ing. At least 100000 families
meaning approximately $4,000, 900
people, are now living under condi-
tlons that do not protect their health
and safety. These bad housing con-
ditlons are not confined to the CITY
nor TO the country. The traveller who
sets out upon a tour of the United
States will find slums and shacks,
inhabited by the underprivileged. In
every State and county from New
York to the Golden Gate.
Danger of SIums.
IF the traveller puts aside the su-
| perficiality of a quick visit, and DELAYS
long enough to enter these lowly
homes and study the lives of their
people, he will gather a very tragic
history. He will learn that the dan
ger of contracting tuberculosis is 30
times as high within the sIums as
elsewhere. He will find that in the
lowest class of tenement rooms the
infancy death rate is three times as
high as normal. He will discover
rundown sections of our country.
where the rate of Juvenile delinquency
IS 300 times as high as in more pros
porous areas. He will see that gen.
Grafton after generation of American
children are forced to live in environ
ments polluted by crime, by disease.