The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1949-04-22
By ARTHUR GAETH
UE-CIO Radio commentator

Are we on the verge of an econom
ic bust or can we go along with the
President and agree that the situa
ton is nothing to be alarmed about
that it is the leveling-off we have
been hoping for? These facts con-
front us: Operations in the cotton
end of the textile industry are off
about 20 per cent. There is a siz-
able amount of unemployment in the
roads have laid off over 100000
workers. There are stable lay-offs
in the repair shops in every major
system. Freight hauling is down at
least 10 percent. In ship building,
only $4,000 people are working on
new ship construction. Drydock
work is gone. Repair work is the
major function of the maritime in
dustry; and in January, 1949, Todd
and Bethlehem laid off 10000 work
ers from their repair yards.
With at least a 50-day stock of
coal above ground, with foreign trade
cut in half and unseasonably warm
weather here in the east, thousands |
of coal miners are working two and |
three days week. In New York, |
a leading daily newspaper has lost
1850 in circulation; the New York
Star went out of business; another
newspaper has been forced to cut
expenses $4,000 a week, is looking
for half million dollar loan. All
newspapers are seeing their adver-
Using cut.
1948 Model Cars Selling $500
Below List Price
In the automobile industry, work
is holding up pretty well, production
is ahead of last year. Kaiser-Frazer {
has laid off 5000 workers. At pres
ent $4,000 of that company's en-
ployees are out for three weeks be- &
cause of re-tooling Lincoln Mer- 6
curry production has also been cut. c
In the selling end of the automobile
industry, heavy trucks are not NOV
ng with the exception of the cheaper :
none of them are very !
cheap today. You can get almost t.
Every car on immediate delivery. In =
New York, in some lines, 1948 mod !
is are selling $500 below list price. !,
t has been long time since that n
+
In the clothing industry, there is 81
considerable under employment - e.
eople working a few days a week d
+ skipping weeks. There is optim- in
SIN there will soon be pick up for IIo
he fall line. That optimism doesn't tt
revail in the shoe industry where w
is limited. In Massa- w
husetts, workers average % to %
ours week. In New York, the Ell
lrgest manufacturer of women's in
noes went broke last month. Twen- 81:
2 per cent of the workers now earn tr
ss than 80 cents an hour. In the ri
ectrical industry which makes ra- of
los, washing machines, stoves, re- OF
Operators, all kinds of appliances
; well as motors and heavy equip tic
ent, about Is per cent of the work er
s employed at the 1948 peak have sa
zen laid off in 433 plants surveyed. or
New Jobs Not Available re
When you view this situation, it so
Mt at is was last year either. At SO
asst the workers don't think so. sO
here were other jobs available then
Id with pretty good rates. Now
orkers finding unemployment often &c
SO at cuts up to so cents an hour. w
had a survey made for me in up EN-
ate New York. In the upper Mo six
wk valley from Little Falls to col
ankfort there is a working force al
few hundred less than 10000 drC
actically SO per cent of them are fiji
today-only about three VIII
lrths drawing unemployment in in
rance benefits, the rest having ex- inc
listed theirs. There are few pros of
It's for employment Even the yea
tied States Employment Office at spe
rkimer admitted that. Workers min
the area have ceased moving cur
und. There isn't community in levt
state New York which could abb 1872