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UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 135 
Our purpose is to study the constitutional aspects of legislation 
pending before Congress particularly and to urge in all cases a recur- 
rence and an adherence to the fundamentals of our American Con- 
stitution. 
We have no financial interest in any of these measures. We are 
the only so-called partiotic organization that I know of that actually 
sarries its patriotism to the point of making an effort to put across 
its views which are substantially the views of the founders of our 
(Yovernment. 
In regard to this particular measure, I listened with great interest—— 
Mr, Tucker. Which bill are you speaking of? 
Mr. CapwarLapeg. I listened with great interest to the arguments 
yesterday. I am referring to S. 3060. 
"Mr. Green, of the American Federation of Labor, admitted that this 
problem of unemployment is a world problem; that England, Germany, 
and other great nations have been wrestling with it for a number of 
years, that it has recently attacked our own land, and he suggested 
that we Americans should proceed to solve it by what he called an 
American method, by which presumably I suppose he meant passing 
these bills into legislation. 
There are several things that might be by different people consid- 
pred American methods of handling difficult problems. Possibly to 
some might appeal the suggestion that we ought to deal with this sub- 
ject by constitutional amendment, providing that after a certain date 
unemployment should be prohibited. We do not think, however, 
with due deference to some of our fellow citizens, that that would be 
an efficient method, whether American or otherwise. of dealing with 
this problem. 
We do not think, with due respect to the Senator from New York, 
to Mr. Green and to other proponents of this legislation, that the 
present is an efficient or indeed characteristically American method 
in the old-fashioned sense in which our organization claims to stand for 
Americanism. 
In the first place, let us consider the legislation itself and what it 
offers. Mr. Green was too intelligent to claim that this was a cure 
for the problem of unemployment, a problem that, as your committee 
well had opportunity to observe yesterday, completely baffles trained 
economists who disagreed radically before vou as to the proper 
method of approach. 
One of them suggested, as the majority of the advocates of this 
legislation seem to suggest, that employers of labor should be encour- 
aged to undertake to keep up part-time employment, at least of all 
their employees, and another suggested that results would be better 
in the long run practically by firing a considerable number of employees 
and paying full wages to the balance so as to guarantee them a job 
and the power of spending their money. 
Then there is the question which we are really not here to debate, 
as to the efficacy of this bill to provide for taking up the slack in bard 
times by spending more Government money on Government work, 
which may or may not afford a remedy to the situation. 
There is no constitutional objection to doing that. It may be 
wise and in some instances of course undoubtedly would be wise. 
Whether it can be carried out to a full, effective degree is of course 
a problem.