The Daily Alaska empire., 1937-05-19
Why Not a Census?
New York Tin1esl

tNeW 4OrK llf0eS)
 | Current employment and unemployment esti- mates confront still another challenge This time he attack from Senator Vandenberg, who 'oices the suspicion that the Department of Labor lnderestimates employment in the United States )y at least 5000,000. MT. Vandenberg's conclusion $ based upon the registration for old-age annuity purposes under the Social Security Act which has cached a total of 26O00Oo0 Adding to this an sstimate taken from a calculation by the National Industrial Conference Board of little 12000000 for employed persons not eligible under the Social Security provisions the Senator gets figure of more than 38000000 persons at present employed In this country outside of agriculture. This contrasts with an estimate of employment of 33,500000 of last February now made by the Department of Labor, estimate that is itself about 25ooooo higher than the one the department made for May of 1886.
 Replying to the Senator's inquiry about the mat ter Isador Lubin of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Secretary Perkins neither accept nor dispute the estimate of employed persons ineligible for social security. Their attempt to account for the discrep ancy is puzzling. Mir Lubin writes:
 "A special study submitted to the Committee on Social Security of the Social Science Research Coun- c comes to the conclusion that of the 26000000 per registered the probability is that approximately 22000000 actually employed. This special study states that of those registered approximately 100000 will be accounted for by applications employed and other persons who not eligible persons who have lost employment after registration. and the normal number of persons out of work due to labor turn over or temporary shutdowns
 When the Social Security Board started to issue registration cards early in December they made it rule not to permit the enrolment of any who was without employment at the time of application for card That 100000 persons, or Is per cent of the total registered lost employment in the next two or three months would be incredible assumption. That there are some Implications and that some in- eligible persons have registered, is no doubt true but on the other hand there doubtless some eli gibe persons who have not registered. In any case as soon these have actually been determined by the Social Security Board the registration figure itself must automatically change.
 It may be that Senator Vandenberg's calculations gre star in the dark But the Department of Labors reply is another stab in the dark. It is within the power of the Government to determine exactly the number of employed and unemployed by taking a census Such a census is indispensable if the real nature an dimensions of the Governments unemploy nent and relief problems to be known Yet the Government has failed to take it.
 It is admittedly difficult to define "unemploy ment" but no hard-and-fast prori definition is needed before such census is taken complete census would indicate how many persons ployed well unemployed and at what occupa- dons which occupations had gained and which lost workers since 1928: now long unemployed workers had been out of work how long on relief WPA and what their previous occupations Not until such facts are known will be able inteigenty to deal with the problems they present.