Montana labor news., 1945-06-21
FULL EMPLOYMENT
IS NO PIPE DREAM
IN POSTWAR U. S.
By TRAVIS k. HEDRICK


WASHINGTON.-F -FP) Sumner heat
and the lassitude of the season may be
responsible, but some Of us are allowing
our congressman and senators to forget
the favorite 1914 campaign slogan of go
million jobs"
Because the slogan isn't being used to
any extent in Washington and in the
home districts, there is a feeling among
politicians that maybe the American pub
lie has forgotten the Roosevelt promise
It was back on a cold, windy evening"
oct. %, 1914, when Franklin D. Roose-
yelt, candidate for reelection, spoke to
an overflow crowd in the big stadium at
Soldiers field Chicago Unemployment
was rising through aircraft cutbacks,
and guesses as to the number of jobless
that fall ranged from three to four mil
lion.
Then Roosevelt spoke and if
anyone feels that my faith in our ability
to provide so million full-time jobs is
fantastic let him remember that some
people said the same thing about my
demand in 1910 for $4,000 airplanes.'
From that night on 80 million jobs
was the central slogan of the economic
side of the campaign It caught on be-
cause the people understood it. It car
ried more meaning than the phrase "full
employment"
Roosevelt got his idea from sound
sources. In May Of last year, the con-
servative Federal Reserve Board issued
a statement saying that the U. S. should
have labor force of between So and SO
million by 1850. These figures came
from the boards Alexander Golden
weiser who took the size Of the labor
force in 1889 and added normal growth
of about a half million jobs a year.
In June, 1914, the Census Bureau is
sued a summary entitled "The Normal
Growth of the Labor Force in the U. S.
l94O-195O." It predicted the working
population would reach 59,l65,OOO by
March 1850. So FDR's slogan was just
a popularized rounding out of those
figures.
OF course the exact number, whether
it be 55 million or 60 million is not too
important now. 1t is important, how
eyer not to let tories think that Amer
lean workers have stopped backing the
central theme-jobs for all who want to
work
The Bureau of Labor Statistics last
fall worked out an estimate of 81 mil
lion jobs It's experts, leading manufac-
surers and the Committee for Economic
Development, found from estimates Of
manufacturers, forecasts for agriculture
and self-employed groups a definite
postwar employment need to guarantee
50 million jobs. OF that they added a
million and a half jobs for workers nor
mally moving from one job to another,
and IS million more for the postwar
armed forces. That adds to 54 million
jobs
To this 54 million jobs will be added
the number Of jobs that open up from
new enterprises under orderly reconyer-
sion and the avoidance Of postwar in
flation. One government expert guessed
that this number would be around three
million more, or 81 million These fig
ures allow nothing for the possibility
that the government itself vii make
work opportunities
President Harry s Truman is a tirm
believer in the full employment program
and his political aides scott at the idea
that the so million job slogan has been
thrown aside He is for the full en-
ployment bill now pending in Congress
the one our tories are losing sleep over
This bill has the backing OF War Mobi-
lizer Fred M. Vinson, who said in let
ter to Sen. Robert F. Wagner CD.-N. "
on June 4, "But history shows us that
business, labor and agriculture cannot
in themselves, assure the maintenance
Of high levels Of production and employ
ment The government acting on behal
Of all the people. must assume this re-
sponsibility and take measures broad
| enough to meet the issues
Sec. of Commerce Henry A. Wallac'
on June II, sent an equally strong lettel
to Wagner indorsing the pending bill
He said Private enterprise does not anC
can not assume final responsibility TO
smooth functioning OF the economy
Therefore the government is the on
agency through which it is possible il
a free enterprise system for business ant
labor to expand production on a sounl
basis without depression and withou
speculative booms" Both Ar'L Econo
mist Boris Sshisslin and CIo Recover