Unemployment in the United States

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1828236179

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-226169

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Unemployment in the United States

Place of publication:: Washington

Publisher:: United States, Government Printing Office

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: II, 193 Seiten

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Closing statement of hon. Robert F. Wagner, United States Senator from the States of Yew York

Collection:: Economics Books

i164 UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES Now, what am I proposing here? We saw the spectacle yesterday here, of members of the Congress of the greatest country in the world. the richest country in the world, the creditor nation of the world, asking ‘‘ What unemployment have we in this country; how much is it?” We are absolutely ignorant upon that subject. This great Nation has not any statistics of the amount of unemployed and the character and the nature of the unemployment. Let me say, it is the only industrial country in the whole world which does not collect accurate statistics upon this very vital subject. We have been unduly endowed by Providence with natural resources and wealth; vet it has been here suggested that under normal conditions we may have 2,000,000 men out of employment. That suggestion is heartless. Who would say, who has any interest in humanity, that 2,000,000 men in the richest country in the world, starving and hungry, is a normal condition and that it can not be solved in a reasonable way. I have great confidence in the Congress of the United States; 1 have great faith in the American people that when they are actually confronted with a problem and know the problem they will solve it. The first bill that I proposed for the collection of accurate statistics is to know and understand the problem. We talk here about techno- logical unemployment. That accounts for a great portion of these 3,000,000 unemployed, chronically unemployed. It is responsible, to a large extent, for the inability of men over 40 to find work in the large industries of our country. That is an army which is growing, growing, growing, and will be a menace to our very security unless we solve this problem, and every thoughtful statesman realizes that he ought to be prepared to attack it. We must have this accurate collection of statistics. No problem can be dealt with scientifically until the facts are known. We are collecting statistics and we know the facts of almost every other economic factor in this country. except the subject of unemployment. It has even been suggested—it is difficult to give credence to such suggestions—that one of the reasons that heretofore we have not collected statistics on unemployment is that it is the most acecu- rate picture of the actual economical condition of the country that we can have and no administraticn, it has been said, is quite willing to have the actual picture known, so that pretense at least may utter that prosperity exists when, as a matter of fact, we may he submerged 1n a very serious economic depression. The technological subject is, I think, the important branch in this unemployment situation to study. Where are these men who are losing their places; why are they losing their places; what can be done to readjust them and keep them more nearly up to the standard of living to which they have been accustomed? Why should these men, may I ask you, gentlemen, be sacrificed upon the altar of progress, because, after some years’ pursuit of a particular trade they have, over night, been deprived of their craft and thrown into the gutter, hungry, the family disrupted, and eventually child labor— whatever I say has been the result of whatever investigation has been made and shown to be the fact—family disrupted, character lowered, discontent with Government. Bound to come! And this opposition to-day affected me to this extent: There was not & throbbing of the heart in one of them for the plight, the tragedy, of the man without employment and a family to support. I know

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