"no 
(1.5 
nt, 
and 
five 
by 
ant. 
ent 
ing 
ike 
run 
agh 
the 
ing 
ind 
re- 
ler, 
ght 
vere 
ind 
108th 
old 
ing 
arn 
vth- 
in 
nail 
wnt; 
ing 
cult 
eof 
‘ten 
pin 
& of 
ade 
. as 
tu- 
ich 
for 
aas 
ers 
ies, 
lor 
rege 
He 
nay 
nav 
elp 
OCIf- 
UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 55 
MEMORANDUM OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LaBor 1x SUPPORT OF SENATE 
Bry 3060 To EstaBLisE 4 NaTioNAL EMPLOYMENT SysTEM, ETC. 
The above-mentioned bill, now under consideration by this committee, has 
two aspects, one sociological and the other legal or constitutional. 
. The two principal attacks upon the bill have been made by Senator Bingham 
In a public address on June 7, 1930, a summary of which address is to be found 
In The United States Daily of Washington, D. C., June 9, 1930; and the other 
is a brief filed by the National Association of Manufacturers with the Senate Com- 
mittee on Commerce. 
Senator Bingham attacks the bill on four principal grounds namely: 
First. Because it seeks to seduce or bribe the States to surrender a vital power 
of self government, ete. 
Second. Because it proceeds to coerce the State into acceptance of assistance 
from the United States and dominant Federal control. 
Third. That the policy of the bill is in contradiction of the recommendations 
of the President's conference of unemployment of 1921. 
Fourth. That the bill is in contradiction of the recommendations of the repre- 
sentative conference on unemployment and undertakes to compel rather than to 
persuade the cooperation of the States. 
Further Senator Bingham is quoted as saying: 
_.““We are continually trespassing upon the rights of the States, and are central- 
‘zing the authority that belongs to them, in agencies of the National Government.’’ 
In its brief above referred to, the National Association of Manufacturers 
attacks the bill on some of the grounds stated by Senator Bingham but principally 
pon the ground that the bill is unconstitutional. 
The statements of opposition voiced by Senator Bingham and others against 
the necessity of a centraiized employment system, so far as the sociological phase 
of the bill is concerned and so far as relates to the necessity and demand for the 
Snactment of the bill, appear to be fully answered by the testimony of Senator 
Wagner and others who appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce on 
March 18 and April 1, 1930, together with the statistics contained in the digest 
filed by Senator Wagner in connection with his testimony before the Senate 
‘ommittee; and in the public address of Senator Wagner, printed in the Con- 
sressional Record of May 27, 1930; as well as in the memorandum of Senator 
Wagner in opposition to the above mentioned brief of the National Manufac- 
surers’ Association. 
It, therefore, remains only to discuss the constitutional questions raised by 
ind the cases cited in the brief of the National Manufacturers’ Association, and 
bo supplement the authorities cited in the last mentioned memorandum of 
Se Wagner, who cites, in support of the constitutionality of the bill, the 
following: 
McGehee v. Mathis (4 Wall. 143-153); Federal Aid Legislation by Professor 
Charles K. Burdick (8 Cornell Law Quarterly); and Spending Power of Congress, 
dy Prof. Edward 8. Corwin (36 Harvard Law Review, 548). } 
In considering the bill, “To provide for the establishment of an ational employ- 
ment system and for cooperation with the States in the promotion of such 
system, and for other purposes,” it is important to ascertain: } 
First. Whether the employment situation is a question of national importance. 
Second. Whether the employment situation, if found to be of national impor- 
bance, is such as to justify and warrant legislation by Congress to establish an 
agency having for its purpose the bringing about of stabilized employment and 
to aid workers in obtaining employment. . LL 
Third. Whether or not such legislation is constitutional. . 
That the employment situation is a matter of national importance is clear when 
we consider the situation now existing in England and the Continental countries, 
the vast numbers of the unemployed in those countries, the lengths to which 
England has been compelled to go in an endeavor to provide for the existing 
conditions, and the vast amount of money she has been compelled to appropriate 
and expend in an endeavor to ameliorate the circumstances of the unemployed. 
It is not necessary to cite any facts to stress the importance of this question to 
the United States and the States, and the necessity and demand for remedial 
legislation, other than those set out in the testimony before the Senate committee, 
and the public address and memorandum of Senator Wagner, above referred to. 
It must be admitted that the employment situation is one of national impor- 
tance. Conditions of today have materially changed from those of years ago, 
and the employee can no longer limit himself to any one city, county or State in 
seeking work for his livelihood, but must, if he is to secure employment, look.