Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1937-01-07


bility many times gain information,
understanding, of the problems
with which they must deal in Off
cial positions.
And so it is that, as Washington
returns to normalcy, we have q
congress = the seventy-fifth - be-
ginning its labors with perhaps a
confusion as great as any in recent
years with the exception Of that
which opened the first term of the
Roosevelt administration. In my
own mind, doubt that the confu-
sion of 1888 was as great as it is
now because in that period of emer-
gency, the important wheelhorses OF
government were concerned with
only one thing, namely, quick en-
actment of policies that would help
in bringing order out of the eco
nomic chaos in which we found our
selves.
The current congress gets down to
work, however, in a different at
mosphere. Agencies of the govern
ment time after time have held
lately that the emergency is over;
that policies considered now must
be considered on a permanent basis
and that if there is to be a new Or
der, the makeup, the consistency,
of that new order must be exam
med with the idea of fitting the
various pieces into a compact and
workable whole.
It is in this atmosphere, there
fore, and under the circumstances
Time to ing landslide Of
Take Stock votes by which
President Roose-
welt was returned to Office that the
administration must take stock of
what has happened in the last four
years and must analyze the pros
poets as far as the future discloses
them.
Probably the most serious long
range problem confronting the coun-
try involves the relationship of gov
eminent and business. For weeks,
l have sought information and views
| of individuals concerning the real
crux of this problem because it has
so many different phases. From all
of this research I am inclined to the
opinion that the fundamental ques-
ton to be answered is that peril
that faces the portion Of our people
that have passed the age of forty
five.
It may seem like a broad state
ment to pin down the relationship Of
government to business to that one
question of what to do with work
ers above forty-five but I verify be-
ieve that is the crux.
It will have to be treated briefly
in these columns but nevertheless
it seems to me that all Of the grow
ing howl about social security"
centers on this one point. It CEN
ters there because politicians and
starry-eyed wishers have made so
much noise about the government
looking after the aged that natural
reaction has taken place in indus
try and, in consequence, there is q
growing disinclination among en-
| ployers to take on workers past
forty-five.
Under the whip of competition
and in an effort to Offset the costs
of the present social security pro-
gram, manufacturers everywhere
have been looking for methods by
which they can substitute machines
for human workers. Where that
was impossible, they have turned
to younger workers so that the in
crease in protection per worker, &C
cording to the best calculations, is
not all due to the use of machinery.
Greater efficiency has come from
the employment of people able to
60 at high speed throughout the
working period.
This development has been in
progress in the manufacturing in
dustries for at least 20 years but it
has received its greatest impetus
in the last three or four years since
it became evident that the federal
government was going to force upon
commerce and industry protection
for the older employees
Federal Reserve board figures re-
veal that 16 years ago, nearly 70
per cent Of all gainfully employed
workers were in the basic indus
tries while 80 per cent were en-
ployed in the professions and serv-
ice groups mentioned above. Five
years ago, so per cent were in the
basic industries and 40 per cent in
the professions and service indus
tries while at the beginning Of 1885,
about 81 per cent were in basic
industries and the professions and
service groups embraced about 43
per cent.
From this it will be seen that an
enormous transformation has been
taking place in the type Of work that
people do. It represents, of course,
changes in our national life, prac-
tees and traditions but who is there
to say when and where this trend
will halt. Equally, what government
authority can be able to say that
social security laws enacted now
will be applicable and workable by
the time the Roosevelt administra-
| tion ends2