The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 8, 1924, Page 5

“The idea becomes Power when it pene- trates the masses,” ~——Karl Marx, rapid and ment is growing, I. The great eco: i which started in 1922" high point about May, 1923, on. 1923 we see a constant gravation of the econ the great change. a decline of about 40 rg 1923 aily Pig iron was 124,764 tons. cember, 1923, 94,225, which cent. of 16 per cent on the stock exc in the second half of 1923, The fee and steel industry’ reports Showed a ase of full time operation from - per cent in May to 68 per cent ae to 58 per cent in Novem- her’ and to 57 per cent in Decem- a In December only a third of ie full time operating establish- ments were utilizing their full capa- city. Exports of iron and steel were running on an average of about five million tons a year (for about six years, until early in 1921); exports iron and steel in 1923 fell a few ro a tons short of two million _ Slump If Mining Production. ~ Coal mining is in a senition, Dr. Honnold, ‘stator. - or bitu elared that “the No- be rig emand so far has dropped 28 per cent below that of last year. It means a slump of about 30 per cent in production in both the Illi- nois and Indiana fields. At least 72 mines in Illinois with a potential daily capacity of 100,000 tons and 69 in Indiana with 50,000 tons have been closed or abandoned since Jan- ‘uary 1. Of the mines still active at least 75 per cent are operating upon only 40 per cent of normal time. The situation is occasioned solely thru lack of demand. Every day scores of cars are loaded at the mines and left standing on switch tracks. More mines have been closed in Illinois during the last six months than at any previous period in the history of mining in the state.” The total value of building under-|' taken in December, 1923, fell by 4 per cent below November. The textile industry is almost completely’ paralyzed thru the de- pression. The number of active cot- ton spindles in December was about 700,000 less than a year ago and fell over 300,000 in November alone. In Massachusetts, the center of the textile industry the December report of the Department of Labor shows a majority of the establishments on a part capacity basis. Dun’s Jan- uary 5, 1924, review said: J “Curtailment of: proauction is con- tinuing in many cotton, wogl an silk goods centers ... In cotton goods this tendency is expected to increase.” Shoe Industry Decline. ; In the shoe industry the Massa- chusetts December report shows that only 34 per cent of the leather shoe establishments were operating at full capacity. In Haverhill, a shoe town, in November and December, 30 per cent of the workers have . been laid | vances, no doubt reflects the excep- off and only 5 out of 34 establish- tional character of the cotton situa- ments are operating full time and | tion. But to the extent that it indi- cates unwillingness among buyers of goods to follow a rising market in their purchases. (unless they have used, up their stocks of t has its bearing on the ral business situation. A sen- ‘trade boom’ must in the nature of things rest on the taking ite attitugde py consum- they will not take it in nywhere, full capacity. In Lynn, oft Be me geeten. ay ‘ber re D4 eres cased that a. = "fat no in cent of the ron ag establish- ts reported part e operation 2 per cent were entirely closed And in addition to that one- of the establishments 238 id T= economic depression makes great advances—pro- duction is decreasing, and vinenighay- d Prosperity ‘reached © its t In man respects this Prosperity shows tecord pees, But from the middle of a heaton ag- mic situation. Three figures illustrate best of all The monthly un- Steel Corporefion 5 1923, only 4.44 million, which is [ The » average daily output of In De- a decline of almost 25 per ra ‘and a third figure is the average decline Economic Depression and Unem full time below full time capacity, ations, II government id 3 rn il prOsr ; ada an anks’ at-las good, at eee in Pansion of means pis. fo make. the i i at. , Of production and in volume of pro- | ‘hat with the beginning ‘of aeghs FEY. economic the better, operation were operating j In connection with the tremendous of the volume of produc. a decrease of rail traffic and a decline of railroad ps The Propaganda of the capitalist October, 6 ¢ conditions are cena -o and at the end of Janu MON as ah ee ee THE DAILY WORKER. Oe. Cm comme. hardly be expected elsewhere,” Efforts to Check Depression, monthly summ tions covering 36 vario that of the 36 trades © end of ary, 1, — SS But the Dogs Will Fight. change in the general situation. We should not forget that the unfilled orders of the Steel Corporation at the end of January, 1924, weil less by 2,112,000 tons, or over 30 per cent, less than at the same date in 1923. Iron production was in the last week of January 6 per cent less than in the same month of 1923. The New York Times of February 4 was forc- ed to admit that: “To predict repe- | tition of the wholly abnormal indus- ‘trial boom of the early jronths of {1923 would be a little rash.” And | the same New York Times states about the textile industry in the same article: “The singular dilemma in which the textile mills are plac- | ed, between raw material costing 25 | Per cent more than a year ago, and | finished goods which are selling 5 ECONOMY Depression Galley ss af holding out obstinately against ad- absolutel: goods), gene sational pall ers, @ tthe cotton trade where, if a clined to do) that the capitalists, notwithstanding big monopolies which eliminate competition on a na- tional scale (thus making it so much the sharper on an_ international scale) that these capitalists are in a position to change the normal cycle of “vitality, prosperity, over-produc- tion, crisis, and stagnation” of in- dustry, as Marx puts it. Despite that the number of busi- ness failures is growing from month |to month, that in individual sections | the small banks fail by the hundreds, the economic depression thus far has not assumed the character of a panic. The main reason for this is the un- usual abundance of money. The Fed- leral Reserve ratios recently reached |its highest point since 1917. The unheardof plentifulness of money is due to three causes: (1.) The export of American capital decreased in 1923 because of the insecurity of Euro- pean conditions. (2.) The United States is today the creditor nation of the world and the profits of ex- ported American capital and foreign securities bought up, bring an unin- terrupted stream of gold into the country. (3.) Foreign capital flees from Europe to the United States. The first wave of fugitive capital came from Germany; the second wave, recently, from France and Great Britain. We cannot pass final judgment today whether the present economie depression will turn grad- Fn it can The Philadelphia Reserve Bank’s ary. of business condi- us trades says | t at thevend of tades could be classified the end of November December, 3, would be entirely watl-Maaer G believe (as some comrades are in- SECOND SECTION March 8th, 1924, This magazine supplement will appear every Saturday in The Daily Worker. ployment ison ually in a slow process to th or whether it will turn tat ny ‘ac matic panicky crisis, The curtail ne h ment of production, ¢ closing up of factories, or se = Bsc ee opération caused -increas, ot ig pe ing unemployment e United States has No reak employment statistics, so Chars 3 ~ 9 easy to form a complete picture of the 69 and depth of unem- d ut the figures and . | Which we could ascertain ar characterize the situation. e have no figures on wor in the steel industry, he unemployment; amon th oe 18 especially very pth The Illinois Industrial Review of Decem- ber 6, 1923, stated: “The miners are face to ee ae a winter of unem- é n Illinois 20 per ce the mines have been deabd. i oo unemploy- f working time. eee fields the suffering of the hala is taking an even more acute Mines Closing Down. A. E. Lafferty, a Wes irgini mine inspector, said in Fen a Coal mines thruout West Virginia as well as Ohio and Indiana are clos- The business slump has ume, and its ; se It will be a pee ore -denleveht: ther-—acv1s ho theory when we say that our organization is composed of a vast army of reserve members that only get to work, in hundreds of instances, one day a week, and not even that in many localities.” And the unemployment among the min- ers has been growing recently, too. The report of the Illi~ois department of Labor for January says: “Coal mines in Illinois and adjoining states have closed down throwing hun- dreds out of work. ee The railroad workers are virtually decimated thru unemployment. The reports of the Interstate Commerce Committee show that in August 1,973,505 workers were on the pay rolls of all railroads. In November only 1,899,545. That means a reduc- tion by 73,760 or nearly 5 per cent. But at the same time a big part of the railroad workers were forced to do part time work. In the middle of November there were 81,246 fewer workers on full-time jobs than in the middle of August..That means a reduction of almost 5 per cent. The unemployment increased still further in December. A single rail- road, the Pennsylvanta, discharged not less than 26,185 workers in December. The condition of the workers in the textile industry is frightful. The director of the municipal employment bureau of Boston estimated the num- ber of unemployed workers in Bos- ton in January at not less than 60,020. : The “Lawrence Labor” shows that masses of workers are getting paid only for a five-day, a four-day or even a two-day week. Unemployment In Chicago. Unemployment in Chicago under the influence of the Illinois situation shows a very serious character. Even a capitalist paper, the Chicago Eve- ning Post, wrote on January 19, 1924: “The problem of unemployment is with us again. The apologetic gentle- men who suggest that they are in need of a meal ‘an’ most starving’ are approaching the prosperous in appearance along est Madison street.” Carl Haessler wrote in the Feder- ated Press of early December, 1923: “Jobs are hard to get in Chicago. Trade union secretaries say so. The chief statistician of the Illinois De- partment of Labor says so. And a study of the classified ‘ads under the headings of Wanted Male and Want- ed Female Help, proves it. Altho (Continued on page 8.) eee ot paren tata