Evening Star Newspaper, November 22, 1929, Page 4

WAGNER OUTLINES EMPLOYMENT PLAN Proposed Bill on Works Described in Radio Forum Over WMAL. Long-range planning of public works, in which the Federal, State and mumc,’{ ipal governments would co-operate, so ¢ they mighc aid in stabilizing em- loyment conditions and provide work times of depression, was advocated by Senator Robert F. Wagner of New York in an address last night in the National Radio Forum arranged by The Star and sponsored by the Columbia Broadcast- | ing Co., over Station WMAL. “The brunt of the burden of stabiliz- ing business will always have to be borne by business itself,” said Senator ‘Wagner. ‘“Nevertheless, it is not quite generally recognized by those who have studied this question that the Govern- ment has a very useful and significant function to perform in the intensely humane undertaking to regularize the stream of business and employment.” Describes His Bill. Senator Wagner described the bill which he has introduced in the Senate to create a Federal Employment Stabili- zation Board which would “build up the information and accumulate the wisdom | necessary to make a success” of long- | nnfe construction planning. “It 18 necessary that the plans of the various Government projecis be drawn and approved long in advance so that ‘work may start at a moment’s notice,” said Senator Wagner, “and without the loss of months of valuable time during which a mild recession in employment might develop into a panic.” Senator Wagner took a very optimistic view of present business conditions. Recent disturbances in the stock mar- ket have not affected the prosperity of the country, he declared. The danger in the present situation, he warned, lies in the possibility of unemployment. Sober Consideration. “Every member of the business com- munity must soberly consider the pres- ent situation and undertake to dis- charge fully the responsibility which it impases upon him,” he said. . Senator Wagner expressed the hope that one of the results of President Hoover's conferences with business and labor leaders will be “a determination by the President to throw the force of his opinion” behind proposed legislation to provide a system of planning public works “so that they would form a re- serve against unemployment in times of depression.” The full text of Senator Wagner's address follows: Bespeaks Optimism. Ladies and gentlemen: To be an American is to be an optimist. We have vast agricultural resources. We are equipped with a huge industrial capacity in first rate condition. We number 40000000 men and women capably and willingly at work produc- ing the things we want. It is impos- sible to contemplate these national blessings and be pessimistic of the future. Recent disturbances in the stock market and the commodity markets have, of course, been extremely serious Public| { | | | | SENATOR ROBERT F. WAGNER. for the unfortunate persons who have lost their savings and capital. But after all, the prosperity of the country as a whole depends not so much upon the events of the past as upon the efforts of the future. In our supplies of raw material, in our factories and in our capacity to think and work are the true soil and seed of our prosperity. These have not changed by reason of recent market collapses. They are still capable of functioning in our behalf provided we exercise reasonable in- genuity and foresight in preventing the economic machinery of the country from running out of kilter. Confidence of People. The greatest single asset possessed at the present time by the American peo- ple is their faith and.confidence in themselves and _their hopeful outlook on the future. By that I do not mean that we shall walk the road to plenty by simply feeling brave and being thoughtless. Every member of the busi- ness community must soberly consider the present situation and undertake to discharge fully the responsibility which it imposes upon him. That is the way of courage. Prankiy, the danger to be met is the ever present possibility of unemployment. That must be avoided at all hazards and at all costs. Unemployment is dangerous because it affects not only the man out of a job, but every other working man and working woma: Unemployment is a spreading dise: An idle man is a r_customer, Poor customers make for accumulated stocks, cancelled orders, curtailed production and more unem- ployment. It is a vicious circle from within which it is difficult to escape. Once formed it has a tendency rapidly to grow and as it grows it engulfs ever- increasing numbers of wage earners. An employed worker on the other band. earning good compensation, rea- sonably certain of his job, has the very opposite effect. He is a good customer, His purchases ares the switches which turn on the current of production in a thousand industries. Duty of Employer. ‘The moral of the parallel which I have drawn is that it is \he duty of every employer of labor to continue to maintain the purchasing power of the of people. ds of years people have wondered and speculated why it was so difficult to keep industry steady. We know that it is not. When business starts to move upward it has a tendency to swing too far, to produce too much, to expand unnecessarily and to devrlog what is commonly called a boom, whicl necessarily collapses and business then descends far below its normal level and causes a slump. Industrial operation is restricted, profits disappear, bank- ruptcy takes its toll and unemployment is everywhere. This recurring situa- tion is one with which every business man is familiar and is generally called the business cycle. It has come upon us 15 times in the last 120 years. Until quite recently it was believed that this alternation of boom and slump, of feverish activity and depressing idle- ness was inevitable. Many still regard it as one of the immutable laws of nature. If that were true it necessarily meant that e portion of our people were regularly doomed to unemployment and poverty. I could never subscribe to such a faith. I am unwilling to believe that the same genius which has created the remarkable industrial development of the United States is incapable of g:;ve:xun( and eliminating its greatest ect. Deficiency and Waste. ‘Whether we look upon unemployment from the point of view of the idle man deprived of wages and the necessities which they buy, deprived of his courage «e s s Areyou s JudgeolFab:ics? Then you will truly preciate the values our made-to- measure department. Here you will find the cream of American and English woolens of the quality and character usually found only at the cost- ly custom shops. We call them The ARISTOCRATGROUP Your choice of these materials, tailored to your measure: 33350 .+ . a new kind of clothing shop .. OPENS TOMORROW.. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd No matter what price you have beed accustomed to pay for your cloth« ing, here in this new shop, one of a national chain, you will find garments that meet your most exacting demands at 32250 Please do not confuse these suits and overcoats with those ordinarily shown at this price. When you see the all-woolfabric,finish,fitand style of WAYNE garments you will real- ize that they upset every conception you have ever had of clothing values. OPENING SPEC Genuine Blue OVERCOAT $2 250 sn the Newest Models Ever satisfy or we will refund your money LAMBKIN Lined with Genuine Skinner’s Satin Made of Finest Lamb’s Wool. Will not stiffen from expo- sure to sleet, rain or snow. 1AL S garment is guaranteed to 725-14TH STREET, N. W. Thos. A. Dickie, Mgr. Pbone National 0346 COME TO THE OPENING Free Sonvenirs for Ladies and Gentlemen. Book of Free Pressing Coupons with every purchase. and morale, or whether we look upon it as one of the grossest forms of in- dustrial inefficiency and waste, the de- termination must be made that it can and will be eliminated. ‘Because we did not know how to pre- vent unemployment we chose to be- lieve that it could not be prevented. We were in a similar frame of mind about malaria until a great American showed that it could be eradicated. The same will one of these days be accomplished for unemployment, and then a - grateful people will- wonder that we permitted ourselves so long to suffer the privation, the destitution and the demoralization that enforced idleness brings in its wake. I have that trust in the capacity of our people to master its difficulties. to solve its problems, to overcome obstacles in the way of a better and fuller life that 4 have regularly maintained that if only our attention could be focused upon the problem a solution would sooner or later be forthcoming. It was such a motive that partly prompt- ed me to call for an investigation dur- ing the depression ol 1927. One of First Results. ' One of the results of that preliminary investigation was that the Senate direct- ed one of its committees study the question of unemployment ‘and to re. port its findings and its recommend: tions. The most encouraging revel tion of that committee was the uniform success which had attended whole- hearted efforts by wide-awake manu- facturers o solve their own individual problems of the regularization of worR. It has been accomplished in sueh wide- ly different fields as the manufacture of hats, the packing of tropical fruits, the canning of tomatoes, the manu- facture of shoes, soap and paper tags. In return for the effort to bring about continuous operation—and it requires constant application—the management has in each case reported a smaller turnover of labor, greater efficiency, lower overhead, greater dividends, happler executives, and more satisfled employes. ‘There are few proposals for improve- ment of business that have so much to commend them, which serve such a large social purpose, and yet which lie within the reach of every manufacturer in the United States. Responsibility Shirked. The discouraging fact brought out in the same investigation was that so far only a handful of executives had felt the urge to assume responsibility for -egularity of employment in their plants. We must come to recognize that each employer of labor is under a moral obligation and under a patriotic duty to provide continuity of employment to his workers. Wages must be paid as regularly and as cofitinuously as rent and interest. The same thought and ingenuity that are devoted to the earning of dividends must be applied to the provision of steady employment. Constancy of work should command F DULIN & MARTIN OR your very own . . . or as gifts. How festive on the holiday table, how magnifi- the primary place in the attention of ‘he mana ent. To do less is econom- ically unfair not only to the plant in particular, but to industry in general. Conditions are desirable when business is proceeding steadily and normally. Bursts of overactivity are regularly followed by spasms of underactivity. They serve the purpose of the specu- lator, but they do only harm to the farmer, the manufacturer and the wage earner. ood times or bad times are never the result of the conduct of any one individual. They are the direct consequence of the business behavior of millions of us. It follows that this problem will never be solved through any one scheme or project. It will be fully solved only when business actions of the great majority of us are co- ordinated so as to produce stability, Fundamental Requirement. ‘The fundamental requirement that conditions progress in that direction is precise information of production, consumption and the movement of commodities, of employment, part-time employment and unemployment. To my mind the Government could be of the greatest service if it'would help the business community study itself by pro- viding it with more accurate informa- tion and more complete information than any we have yet made available. In season and out of season I have been pleading for more and better economic information. Some progress has made. The objective makes every rt worth while, for we must try to p the ship of industry on an even keel and prevent the periodic rolling which pitches millions of work- ers into the angry waters of unemploy- ment. ‘The brunt of the burden of stabiliz- ing business will always have to be borne by business itself. Nevertheless, it is now quite generally ized by those who have studied this question that the government has & very useful and sig- nificant function to perform in the in- tensely humane uufleruktn: to regularize the stream of business and employment. In the bill which I introduced in the United States Senate during the de- pression of the Winteg of 1927, I stated the details of such a gram of Gov- ernment action throygh the long range planning of public works. Essence of Proposal. The essence of the proposal was that the Government should ar- range its construction of public works so as to provide employment dur- ing periods of depression. Although the public is generally familiar with the idea of utilizing Government construc- tion as a means of mitigating serious idleness, it is not as fully acquainted with the long-range plan which has received the universal approval of Amer. ican economists and has been recom mended for adoption by the Senate com. mittee investigating unemployment. It is estimated that the Federal Gov- ernment, the States and the municipali ties together spend every year cent throughout the year! Rock Crystal Rock Crystal in engraved and pol- ished Chelsea design. Shimmer- ing loveliness for the table at a very conservative cost. Per dozen: Goblets, Sherbets Finger - Bowls Plates Parking Service . JOIN THE The Belvidere—a finely engraved and polished set of Rock Crystal, with the new tall-cut stems. lets, Sherbets, Finger Bowls and Finger-Bowl Plates, per dozen each .$87.50 Footed Vase, 9 inches ..$22.50 High Footed Comport $15.00 Center Bowl, 14 inches $37.50 Footed Bowl, 10 inches $25.00 Bud Vase, 14 inches ...$15.00 Celery Tray .$16.50 Footed Vase, 8 inches. . . . .. $18.50 Salad Plates Doz., $115.00 Chop Platter, 14-inch. $28.50 Footed Comport, 6 inches. . . $10.00 Candlesticks, 12-inch, each ..$16.50 Street Floor DuLIiIN @ MARTIN Connecticut Ave. anad l” . Connecticus Avenue Entramce RED CROSS TODAY .. §22.50 Finger-Bowl $28.50 or Gob- billion and a half dollars in the con- struction of roads, bridges, tunnels, schools and other public projects, If we could budget this expenditure of one and a half billion dollars so that most of it could be used during those years or seasons when private industry was in- active we would be making a very sub- stantial contribution to the stabilization of employment. In order to do so we must be equipped in two essentials. First: It is necessary that™we have very precise information and statistics to enable us to make reasonable fore- casts whether during an approaching season private enterprise will be active or inactive. When the factories have already shut their doors and millions of unemployed tramp the streets in search of work it is already too late to apply any but emergency measures. The most desirable time for the government to act is before the decline has become serious, when the opportunity is still open to use preventive measures and restore public confidence. If the action of the Government is to he prompt it must be in constant jon of cur- rent information of business and em- ployment. That is fundamental. Always in Readiness. Secondly: It is necessary that the plans of the various clovegmem pro- Jects be drawn and approved long in advance so that work may starb at a moment’s notice and without the loss olf :fl:fln of v;llullble time during which recession in emplo; deyre’llop into a panic. e e question is frequently asked of me, How can the construction of public works be of use to any workers except those in the building trades? The an- swer is that only a small portion of the cost of a bullding is spent for labor at the point of construction. The large balance is expended for wood, steel, brick, cement and other materials pro- duced by 23 different industries. The workers in all of these receive the direct benefit of such a building program. The indirect benefits are just as real and are enjoyed on a Nation-wide scale. A bricklayer in Chicago working on a Government project may use part of his pay envelope to purchase shoes for his wife and children and thereby he puts to work a shoe operative in Boston Stmilar illustrations may be multiplied a thousand times. What must not be overlooked 1is the psychological value of the inauguration of a Government pro- gram when private enterprise slackens, 1t brings confidence. It sets an example of activity. It acts as a guide to large private enterprises, such as railroads, telephones, gas and electric companies, in likewise planning their construction programs for the purpose of preventing business recession. Every such program, no matter how small, helps to stabilize business and to minimize unemploy: ment, t Seven-year Study. One mvuun:z‘:m has m:::‘ o; thorough study seven-year from 1919 to 1925 has come to the con- clusion that “if all of the public con- struction had been perfectly allocated during these seven years the wages paid thereon would have been sufficlent to compensate for the losses incurred by laborers in factory jobs.” That means that there would have been no depres- sion in 1921 and that literally millions of wage earners would have been spared untold losses and deprivations. This would have been accomplished without the spending of a single dollar for public < mstruction in addition to what had been expended. um,f-r-ngo plan- ning does not mean building for the sake of giving employment. It does not obligate the vernment to give every one a job. It does not involve the payment of a dole. The long-range plan is concerned primarily with the proper timi of construction so as to act as a balance wheel and stabilize the business cycle, ‘The limitations of the long-range plan should be understood as clearly as its advantages, otherwise there is bound to be disappointment and just criticism. ‘The construction of public ‘works can not solve every form of un- enmployment. A waiter at a summer resort expects his employment to term- inate on Labor day. No budgeting of a public bullding program can possibly prolong the Summer season. Such a problem has to be solved in other ways. One company has met it by operating both a candy factory and & Summer resort. During the Winter months it expands its factory operations to give employment to the hotel workers. A Separate Problem. ‘The point I wish to make is that pub- lic works cannot do away#with seasonal employment in specialized trades. Neither can it prevent the displacement of a man by a machine. A musician at a moving picture theater who loses his employment by reason of the in- stallation of a sound picture'device can- not expect relief through the control of the program of building public works. ‘That is a separate problem which is becoming exceedingly serious and calls for immediate consideration, but it is not:a problem which can be solved through the long-range plan. The only type of unemployment that can DBe mitigated through the long-range plan- ning of construction is that which arises out of the periodic ebb and flow in business and in industrial activity. ‘What need we to do to put a long- range plan into operation is: First—It is plain that we cannot do FOR RENT ” Two Bedrooms, Liv- ing Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Bath and Re- ception Room. Electric Refrigeration. THE ARGONNE 16th & Columbia Rd. MEN! Sor HER20G ... F Street atr Qth SOL HERZOG, Inc. iginators of the BUDGET-BUYING PLAN IN WASHINGTON Two new angles on the price question— SUPERIOR GARAGES IN ALL MATERIALS TIN ROOFS * PORCHES BUILT WE_BUILD. REBUIL EEpATR ANYIHING AND ' GIVE TERMS CONSTRCTION RVICE any sdvance on the basis of ‘hindsight. ‘e must be able to make reasonably certain ~ business forecasts. For that purpose it is necessary to se- cure mtuu:;a of business, or eonnru;; tion, of employment and unemployme: that are far more precise than those we_now ki Second_-The plans should be drawn, engineering problems surveys —made, solved for every Government &ru‘:ac long in advance, so that when the §e~ pression threatens work can begin at once. Permanent Agency Needed. ‘Third—At least in the Federal Gov- ernment there must be a permanent agency specially charged with the re- sponsibility of “stabilizing employment. Such an agency would in the course of time build up the information and accumulate the wisdom necessary to make a success of this undertaking. Fourth—No one branch of our Gov- ernment._ alone spends sufficlently to make itself felt as a stabilizer of em- ployment. It is, therefore, essential that the Federal, State and municipal Under Supervision U. 8. Treasury §This Bank has made over 38 ‘thousand. loans aggregating nearly < 9 millions of dollars to as- sist persons of character to accomplish some worthyiputpose. §1In connection with the loan the borrower agrees to make mo or semi-monthly deposits in" a savings account with which he may pay the loan; thus the borrower - forms habit of saving regu- here’s the second one 4