Evening star., 1949-02-27
Plenty of r e ason S
Cited for Present
Adjustments
By Sierid Arne

workers, or working them shorter
weeks.
Jumping unemployment figures
have altered economists in the
Labor Department, Commerce
and the Social Security Admins
tration.
Government economists gener-
ally agree today's events mean
we are shifting to lower prices.
But. they say. this need not mean
continuous unemployment. Some
where along the line they, think
large numbers of buyers should
show up again as prices drop.
because they estimate Americans
still have holdings of $265, ,000,-
100000.
The Republican View
Republicans in the House argue
this view. Several have referred
to a Truman depression" in the
making.
Representative Halleck, Repub-
lican, of Indiana, floor leader in
the last Congress. says he doesn' t
want to contribute to undue
pessimism" but that many signs
show Stacking off, in particular
the drop in farm prices"
He thinks many policies advo-
Gated by the Truman administra-
ton are creating a lack of conf
dence not only among manage
ment leaders, but among farmers,
small businessmen and wage
earners."
Representative Wilson. Repub-
lican. of Indiana told the House
1.-The Truman depression is on
He was speaking about a request
for more money for the United
States Employment Service and
protested that during the 80th
Congress, there had BEEN no such
need to help jobless. He said
Had we elected a Republican
President we may not have
had this unemployment today"
Government research shows
that the dropping prices are
spotty. Social Security experts
say they hit luxuries. such as furs
and jewelry, first. They are now
hitting some clothes and shoes.
They have not yet hit the scarce
and high-priced steel products.
Variety of Reasons
Both prices and jobs began to
drop in October. BY January. the
numbers of those newly out Of jobs
began to level off.
One job expert lays today's sit
uation to a variety of reasons. He
says: This is the first year since
the war manufacturers have taken
time for inventories. (That is.
they have stopped buying all the
materials they can get and are
stocking up for limited periods.) }
For another. people are catching
up now on the shortages. Fur
ther, January is traditionally a
month Of low employment. To-
days employment is not yet seri-
ous."
! He cites the lists of people get
ting unemployment compensation.
In January. 1.519,9o0 made
claims. But at the same time
about l.25o,ooO people left the
rolls, apparently finding new jobs
after brief search.
Secretary of Labor Tobin, tes-
tifying before a congressional
committee, said both textile and
shoe workers in New England were
denied further wage increases re-
Gently because the negotiators
thought the industries couldn't
take on added costs. So far there
have been no strikes in those
groups.
The United Auto Workers has
one contract-With General Mo-
tors-which may ease the drop in
Detroit. 1t permits lower wages
when the cost-of- Living index
drops. Mr.. Tobin says it has
dropped about 2 per cent in the
past half year.
Emphasis on Security
One Government labor expert
says labor union leaders are
shifting their concern. to security
management may'b more
willing to promise pensions for
old people for the reason
that pensions are a cost which
can be put off,"
Here are some other conditions
which economists think could pre-
vent the severe drop which hap
pened in 1929.
/. Both labor and management
know more about economics and
are more alert to the danger OF
unemployment.
2. Many more workers belong
to trade unions. and union leaders
will resist too fast drop in either
employment or wages.
3. The Federal Reserve now asks
that people buying on installments
pay down a third the price Of an
auto and a fifth the price Of many
house furnishings. Any time such
industries have real trouble, the
Federal Reserve could take off the
down-payment rules to stimulate
buying.
4. The Government supports
prices of some important farm
products so they can't drop too
far.
S. The Social Security System
now pays out small checks to
workers over IS years and, for a
time, to workers who lose jobs.
/ 6. Our world commitments may
shortly see us helping to rearm
Western Europe. This would mean
y>erh opc n I,iJlioy, q 1yoor snanf here