Evening star., 1937-02-21

WTlLeT, LOUIS OIdTk, WTOIe III lie view
York Times a series of articles about
Government relief In seeking causes
for demands on the Government he
found character, a type, who plays
large part in the problem and whom
he called Aunt Susie"
"'Aunt Susie lives on farm or in
a small town, and, until the depres-
sion, was supported by modest sums
sent to her fairly regularly by en-
ployed nieces and nephews. These
contribution ceased when the de-
preston came on. Aunt Susie went
on relief, and so did some of her rel
atives. Others found part-time en-
ployment. Today the unemployed
relatives are beginning to drift back
into employment, but Aunt Susie is
still on relief and claSsed as unem-
playable. If Aunt Susie were the re-
cipient of private charity, the case
workers would investigate her rela-
tives down to the tenth cousin and
exert some pressure on them for the
responsibility of her care. With re-
lief matter of right and with re-
sponsibility transferred to public
funds. such pressure is unlikely to be
applied. Aunt Susie's' relatives hesi-
tate to incur again their former re-
sponsibility."
Old Sense of Self Help.
"Aunt Susie" is a type There are
many of her. And she has a wide
spread kin. There is also Uncle
John" and Father William" and sis
tiers and cousins and aunts to the
tenth degree Before the New Deal, if
they were able to work, they worked; !;
and if not able to work, their rela-
tives cared for them. 1t will be diff
cult ever to restore the old sense Of
self-help for those able to help them
selves. or responsibility of relatives
and friends for those not able to
work. So long as Government follows
its present policy there will always
be unemployed, no matter how COM
plete the recovery.
Not only do many millions demand
work or support from the Government.
They demand the particular kind Of
work to which they say they are
adapted. If they can't, or say they
can't, get the particular kind of job
they say they like to do, they then
describe themselves as unemployed
and demand that the Government take
care Of them. A man describes him.
self as clipping paster or polisher
of enamel on automobile gadgets, says
he cannot find work in his line and
turns to the Government. Apparently
the Government does not inquire
whether he has tried to find q private
job which Is outside his line, but
which he could readily do-and would
do if Government relief did not ex-
iSt.
On this point, Mr.. Stark reports:
"Employability is a matter of classi-
fication. In wholesale classifications
such as those on w. P. A. rolls and on
the United States Employment Service
rolls. the records are apt to contain the
self-ratings of the applicants. Prob
ably many good waitress may be hid
den under the listing of typist.' To
what extent those who describe them
selves as writers might succeed in
other lines is a question. Hammer
and saw men call themselves carpen-
ters and men with an aptitude for
tinkering with machines write them
selves down as mechanics. Thus, to
what degree the w. P. A. may be
freezing in men and women who
might succeed in occupations other
than those in which they have been
classified, is moot question"
Is Imitation Ahead?
I am reproached because some re-
marks I have made in the past about
imitation have not gone as far as some
authorities do in the direction of
warning that imitation may come in
America, accompanied by extrava-
gantly high prices and high cost of
living. 1t Is true that many of those
best able to judge think large degree
of imitation is inevitable. It is true
also that if the best judges believe in
f1ation is coming, their judgment
should be made available to everybody.
the president of a great New York
bank, Percy H. Johnston. in his annual
message to stockholders last month,
included words which said, 1--WE are
in an imitation" The remainder of
his remarks indicated nat he expects
the imitation to be quite extreme.
The stockholders to whom this
bank president addressed his state
ment are mainly a class who can to
some degree safeguard themselves
against the consequences Of imitation
so far as any one can. They are, as
a rule, the financially sophisticated.
And if warning is made available to
these, why should it not be made
equally available to the average man,
who is less equipped to protect him.
self? The question can have but one
answer Yet it is necessary to bear in
mind that the cry of imitation" ut
tered prematurely or in the wrong
surroundings, has the same danger
as the premature cry of fire"
1t is true that majority, probably
a decided majority, of bankers and
other men of large affairs, and also q
majority of teachers of economics and
similar experts, think that some de-
gree Of imitation is likely. The wide
spread extent of this judgment is
known to writer's like myself, and those
who reproach me are right in saying
that If I know imitation is coming
ought to say so. But I do not quite
know it. Neither do know the con-
trary. Also Imitation is an elastic
word, rubber word; to some it may
mean merely 10 per cent rise in
prices over spread Of months or
years; to others it may mean violent
rise, as much as 100 per cent or more.
Answer In Government Deficit.
The answer lies in the Government
deficit more than in any other cause
or area. The whole cause of imitation
is complex, but fundamental in it is
increase in the Government debt, the
lack of a balanced budget. Every bor-
rowing of money by the Government,
every manufacture of new money by
the Government, is an act of imitation.
If kept up long enough, it will infalli-