The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1944-12-26
Q BEHIND THE SCENES
IN WASHINGTON .

half the population at work in
the peacetime world.
All such dousing of pie in the
sky with cold water by prophets
of gloom gives extreme annoy
ance to the onward and upward
prophets of optimistic postwar
planning.
Undersecretary of Commerce
Wayne Chatfield Taylor, speak
ing at New Orleans the other
day, took occasion TO blast at the
individuals who talk mourn
fully about how terrible peace is
going to be-"
Secretary Taylor referred spe-
officially TO imported econOm-
lists saying, 1T is difficult TO
understand why some of US in
sist on paying fat fees to those
gentlemen for telling us that
democracy will surely fail in the
United States because certain
half-hearted attempts failed in
Germany"
AS ONE IMPORTED
ECONOMIST" SEES 1T
One of those he apparently
had in mind was DR.. Julius
HirSch, New York economist who
at recent New York and Boston
conferences on management and
distribution took occasion to
hcckle the undersecretary and
DR.. Amos Taylor, head Of the
Bureau Of Foreign and Domes-
tic Commerce.
Hirsch, a former minister OF
finance in Germany, made his
way TO Denmark with the advent
of Hitler, lectured at University
of Copenhagen, then was per-
mitted to cross Siberia to Japan,
where he lectured for short
time before coming to the United
States and setting up as an econ
omic consultant for hire.
Hirsch's position is that de-
flation has already started, that
wishful thinking cannot produce
so million jobs and that the best
possible private industry en-
ployment-not counting those on
public works projects-Will be
in the neighborhood of 40 mil
ion jobs.
The viewpoint Of Hirsch and
similarly-minded gents may be
not so much pessimistic as mere
~ realistic in demanding to be
shown where all these jobs are
coming from. But on top of this
there has now come a new note
"a demand TO know why il is
necessary to have 60 million peo-
pie employed, and a charge that
60 million jobs would mean the
end Of the American way Of life.
WHAT WOULD WE DO
WITH ALL THOSE JOBS?
Most vocal exponent Of this
idea is William F. O'Neil of Ak
ron, president Of General Tire,
who, pointing out that there are
1875 million people in the U. S.
and that the average family con-
sists Of four and half persons,
says that Sixty million jobs
would mean two jobs to every
family, and this is too much
"Amcrica has been built
around the family" O'Neil goes
on. The man Of the house works
to provide his wife and children
with a home. To supply 60
million Jobs is TO break up that
home because il means that the
wife, too, will probably be work
ing. II means fewer child
rem, and they will have to bring
themselves up as best they can,
until they can step into one OF
those 60 million jobs them
selves"
ONeils formula is first 10 see
how much manufactured or
grown produce can be asslmllat-
ed, then see how productive
work can be given to the heads Of
families. The weak spot in his
argument is that it makes no
provision for the millions Of
young folks able to work but
not able to step right into family
responsibilities.
Aside from that, maybe he is
aiming at something real and the
sights have been set too high in
shooting at so million jobs.