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