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UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 45 
Here I am in the dark; I am intensely interested in these people you 
are interested in: Now what is your fundamental solution of it? 
Mr. GreEN. There are many things we can do. As I have stated, 
we can regularize employment in private industry; we can better 
plan in our public works; we can spend the public funds in building 
roads, erecting buildings, and so on, in a more judicious and system- 
atic way. When they are all employed in private industry, we can 
simply withhold the expenditure of the public money; when a period 
of depression comes on, we can release it and loose it and take up a 
large part of the slack of unemployment. Then, in addition to that, 
we can reduce the hours of labor, readjust the working week, and all 
of that, so as.to make it possible for all to have some work while we 
are going through these periods of industrial depression. - 
Mr. Jonas. Now you are beginning to say something about the 
final solution. 
Mr. Green. 1 assumed that was a step you expected to take, 
That is what the leaders are trying to do. We have been preaching 
for years a reduction of the work week; if we have not enough work 
to give all a 5-day work week, let us have a 4-day work week; if we 
can not employ on an 8-hour day, let us have a 7-hour day. But it 
means regularization of that matter through private industry. 
Mr. Jonas. In other words, we can not find jobs if there are no 
jobs; we can not find jobs for those unemployed unless there are 
actually enough jobs to go around. 
Mr. Green. That seems to be self-evident. 
Mr. LaGuarpia. But we can spread the jobs, when there are only 
a few working 10 or 12 hours a day, by reducing the number of hours, 
and we partially adjusted the garment situation in New York by 
working 40 hours a week. 
Mr. Jonas. But this legislation does not provide any new jobs. 
Mr. LaGuarpia. Oh, no. 
Mr. Green. The whole economic question must be dealt with 
outside of legislation. We can not cure all of the economic ills by 
legislation; we must deal with them through the application of eco- 
nomic remedies, and part of the solution of this economic situation is 
through the application of economic remedies. 
Mr. SumnERs. You just have one bill here dealing with one subject 
to-day. 
Mr, Green. With one subject, one phase of it. 
Mr. SumnNERs. And the big proposition of distributing the benefit 
of improved machinery has to be tackled at another time? 
Mr. Green. That is another phase of the problem that must be 
dealt with. » 
Mr. Sparks. In this plan for bettering the conditions of the laboring 
men throughout the United States, do you not think it would be 
advisable to place restrictive totals on the immigrants, on the number 
of immigrants from some of the countries of our Western Hemisphere, 
and especially that of Mexico? . 
Mr. Green. Decidedly so; because the American Federation of 
Labor has taken a very strong position in favor of the legislation now 
pending before Congress that has for its purpose the application of 
the quota provision of the immigration law to the South American 
Republics and particularly Mexico. We feel we should not add to 
the already aggravated unemployment situation by bringing in men 
and women to work, when there is no work for those who are already