Evening star., 1939-01-01
SCIENCES GOAL:
JOBS FOR ALL
s>uaa
Continued from poge seven

sections - wings and fuselages. In
this country we are attempting to
make doors, building panels and furni-
ture. The possibility of putting great
doughy mass of plastic material 1T
press and. in one operation. stamping
out a complete window frame is allur-
ing indeed.
The items that have been men
toned so far represent the big jobs
to be done - jobs which will give
employment to millions of men. Still,
the bulk of the unemployed must be
absorbed in smallscale industries -
in the making of small. low-priced
objects that other men will buy.
Efficiency must be maintained at its
highest peak and machinery must be
utilized wherever possible. Otherwise.
prices will be high and demand small.
This, you may think. will further
aggravate the problem of unemploy-
ment. But let us see.
In one of the most remarkable in
dustrial surveys ever made 1t was
shown that between 1921 and 1881
production of electric-light bulbs was
increased 400 per cent While this in
crease was being made, employment
fell so per cent! The surface conclu-
sion to be drawn was, of course, that
the industry was employing only an
eighth as many men as 1t should be
employing In other words, that
great many workers had been thrown
out of jobs by more efficient ma
chinery.
In this respect the survey was mis-
leading. 1t would have been highly
enlightening if it could have shown
how many men were put to work by
the increased use of electric-!lght
bulbs as direct result of their cheap
ness. Certainly more coal was re-
quired for this increased use OF power.
and more attendants were needed at
the power stations More glass. cop
per and tungsten were needed for the
bulbs. Lighting the night helped to
boom the vast entertainment industry
and enormously expanded the book.
newspaper and magazine field. With
more and better light, people could
spend additional hours reading each
day 1t would therefore appear that
instead of decreasing jobs. this better
machinery in the lamp industry helped
make jobs for additional tens of
thousands Of men.
There is one simple fact that will
help to allay any fears that labor
saving machinery is decreasing em-
pioyment 1t is this: In the last fifty
years the fraction of our population
which is ga.nfully employed has in
creased 25 per cent And there is
another important fact to be remem-
bered: high efficiency and high wages
go hand in hand And together, they
mean greater purchasing power The
wages of the average worker in this
country Will buy twice as much as
they would twenty years ago.
An average steelworker in the
United States earns enough in one and
half hours of work to buy one pound
each of beef. bread. bacon. butter.
potatoes and sugar. plus one quart of
milk and one dozen eggs. In Russia.
where technical progress has Jagged
and where different political system
controls wages and costs, the average
steelworker would have to work
twenty-three and one-half hours in
order to buy the same materials
1t is along the lines of further
technical progress that We must move
if we are to solve the problems that
confront US. To be sure. there are
many pressing demands ahead. Many
millions of men want Jobs. Labor de-
mands higher wages and shorter hours.
and business demands higher and
more assured profits. People generally
want greater security and the govern
ment wants more taxes. 1t is certain
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