Montana labor news., 1949-08-18
Action Necessary
For Unemployment


Amcr,cdn democracy will not last
unless il ovrrcomcs the evils Of
mass unemployment.
Workers who cannot find jobs
week otter week, month after
month. lose their savings. their
homes, and their hope. They are
hungry. ill-clad and ill-housed in
the midst Of possible plenty. Their
children are denied a fair chance TO
develop con,truciively.
Present laws Tor unemployment
compensation and relief are entirely
inadequate 10 assure decent levels
OF living or security during unem-
ploymcnt. They must be improved
Al once. and at the same time Wig
oruus steps must be taken to cut
down the number OF unemployed.
In the past, initiation has been
followed BY depression. Some pc
oplc argue now that business will
soon pick up again. But we cannot
count on this. The. same argument
was made after the crash of 1929.
We cannot afford to let things drift
INTO 4 real depression. Nor will
American workers be satisfied with
merely an end to the downward
trend. Our population and ability
to produce are constantly rising. So
must output and levels of living.
Stop the Downward Spiral
Once the economy OH the down.
ward path, unemployment tends to
keep growing.
When four million workers are
reported As completely unemployed,
millions more are partly unem-
ployed Plants run only two or
three days a week, and hours are
cut in other ways. Family income
shriuks rapidly below the danger
point,
Naturally. even workers not al
lcctcd are scared they may be laid
oil any day. They cut down their
purchases. The new car must wait,
and So must the new bed. suit. and
Stove. ii Will he safer To cut down
the grocery .hill less meat. more
potatoes.
Sales At retail stores fall sharply.
They IN turn buy less from whole
salcrs and factories. Fewer order,
mean still lower levels Of output.
More workers go on short work
weeks or are laid oil. So the snow
ball OF unemployment grows.
At the same time the banks get
more and more frightened. They
have loaned dollars to factories and
stores and transportation companies
and utilities. They want to be
sure their loans will be repaid. So
they get s~tricter on credit and force
mailordcr houses and credit COM
panies to be stricter. This cuts
buying power and production still
more.
The farmers market keeps drop
ping. Farm prices fall way be-
low the high levels Of a year be-
fore. With lower incomes, Far
! mers likewise must spend less. The
new tractor must wait, and the
new car and the new hat. SO the
orders from factories fall lower,
and more workers are Jobless.
Every group i'll the nation SUI
icrs. We are all poorer. Ameri-
cans realize something is wrong and
must be corrected. We expect our
government in Washington to act
to stop the SNOWFALL, to reverse the
downward trend.
Workers know that the New Deal
saved us in 1888 when fifteen mil
lion workers were unemployed and
farmers were burning their crops for
incl Now they expect Congress and
the President to do whatever is
necessary to restore iull employ
ment.
Business has again shown that
its practices ci high prices and high
profits lead us into disaster. The
people want their representatives in
Congress to rescue us from danger
now, not alter it is too late.