Evening star., 1937-09-28
BIG PUSH PLANNED
FOR Job CENSUS
N. R. Alike BalIyhoo to Ac-
company Voluntary Count
of Workers.
BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND
The United States has spent bill
Hons on relief bnt it has neper
knotpn erdctly hoiD mdnv jobless
persons there are in the country.
TO supply this information Con-
rress passed bill and the Presi-
dent signed 1t a month ago, calling
for purely voluntary jobless
count. John D. Biggers, president
OF Libbey- -OWens-Ford Glass Co.,
Toledo, Ohio. was put in charge OF
the census at a dollar a year.
The biggest ballyhoo since the N.
r. AS Blue Eagle took off was being
wound up in Washington today to
convince the countrys jobless that 1t
is very much to their advantage to an
swer fully the IA questions on the
unemployment census application
blank, which will be delivered No.
vember l6 and II to every one of the
31,000,00O families in the United
States, Alaska and Hawaii.
John D. Biggers, Toledo glass manu-
facturer in charge of the unemploy-
ment count, has set November 20 as
the deadline for the return of the
blanks. He is anxious to have the
results tabulated by January and the
convening of Congress, so he can re-
port to the House and Senate on the
preliminary tabulation of the number
of workless, the number of unemploy-
able, the number of partially employed
and the number unwilling to work.
The census will be wholly voluntary,
with no coercive features, Biggers
made it clear. The blanks will be
delivered by postmen, and If an un-
employed person considers the ques-
tionnaire an impertinence. he can toss
1t into the wastebasket and know he
is safe from reprisals But Biggers is
out to prove that such course would
be foolhardy.
House to- house Canvass.
After the blanks are in, Biggers ex-
poets to conduct house-to- house
canvass in various areas and make
Investigations to check the accuracy of
the returns through the W. P A., the
national employment service and pri-
vate agencies. He said these investiga-
tions will be made to detect exaggera-
tion or Justification and to gather in
formation which cannot be CLEANED
from the Questionnaires.
'Biggers made these details of his
campaign known last night after a
conference of four and one-half hours
at the White House with experts from
the Government, labor, industry and
agriculture. The conferees read, re-
read amended and edited the proposed
QUESTIONABLE which Biggers brought
with him to the meeting. They wanted
blank which would give the informa-
ton sought without embarrassing the
answerer.
Lewis Praises Move.
II believe the census will add to the
sum total of our knowledge and give 9
more practical approach to the unem.
ployment problem and what we can de
about it," John L. Lewis, chief of tn,
c. I. O., one of the conferees, sale
after the meeting. Boris Shishkin, A
p. L. economist, appearing at tn,
meeting for William Green, who is a.
the A. F. L. Convention in Denver
said:
"The success Of the census will de.
pend the degree of cooperation. WI
are cooperating 100 per cent"
Shishkin said his organization placed
the number of unemployed at 8,0000 900
but the figure was taken from a digest
and study of various Federal report.
and was neither stronger nor weaker
than those reports.
The final form of the questions vii
be composed by Biggers and his staff
during the next few days. The mos