Automatic Age

T h e A u t o m a t ic A ge
(Continued from page 13)
series of predictions. Some were uttered
in radio talks, some were authentic state­
ments by the secretary of this, or the
head o f that department. One asserted
the complete restoration of normal con­
ditions in April, another placed the date in
September.
This is a great public question involving
the plans and prospects of the whole na­
tion.
More important, it involves the
question whether the public of the country
ought ever to be systematically led around
by the nose or not. It is, therefore, proper
to point out that the predictions, re­
assurances ,etc., have been almost 100 per
cent erroneous.
“ Normal conditions,”
whatever those are, have not come in
April or May, and they are not going to
arrive in September. The assertions about
business improvement here, and increased
employment there, have not been verified
in the remotest degree. The fair conclu­
sion is either that there was an intentional
effort to mislead the country, similar to
that permitted by an unwise physician who
assures the patient that there is nothing
the matter with him, although he is
suffering from a serious illness, or else
that those who were thus dogmatically
announcing their opinions had no informa­
tion on which to base them.
This matter is thus serious from the
immediate standpoint, but it is a good deal
more serious from the future point of view.
The country ought to put its foot squarely
down against the repetition of any such
methods as have been followed by our
political and business leaders in this case.
An important reason for so doing is the
enormous cost so involved in the plan that
has been followed. Last autumn, for ex­
ample, just after an aide of the President’s
had announced that the panic was a
“ stock gamblers” episode, and that busi­
ness was fundamentally sound, a good
many investors rushed into the market and
bought securities, only to find themselves
completely wiped out by a wave of secon­
dary selling and recession. Last spring,
after some of the hopeful surveys of the
committee in Washington, incautious busi­
ness men stocked up on raw materials, and
must now pay the penalty of great
depreciation o f inventory.
Before the panic, it was said by many
that a “ new economic era” had dawned in
the United States. Economic laws were
said to have been suspended. After the
ft
© International Arcade Museum
17
WEIGHT WATCHERS
— From Saturday Evening Post.
panic the new and scientific method of
dealing with its effects was announced,
and boasted of, in exti*avagant terms by
Cabinet officers. Both announcements have
turned out to be equally incorrect. This
fact should be carefully stored, away in
public memory.
;
— N. Y. Journal of Commerce.
U n e m p lo y m e n t
D a ta
C o m p ile d
Preliminary figures on unemployment in
many counties and cities in 14 States, with
a total population of 8,503,541, show that
in these communities there were 198,444,
or 2.3 per cent out of work, according to
a statement just issued by the Bureau of
the Census. Industrial sections of New
Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as well as
agricultural sections of other States are
listed, it was stated.
Newark, N. J., with a population of
439,728, was the largest city reported at
this time, it was shown, and in this city
there were 21,705 unemployed, while
Paterson, in the same State, had a popu­
lation of 138,267, and 3,286 jobless. Day­
ton, Akron and Columbus, Ohio, with
populations between 200,000 and 290,000,
reported respective number of unemployed
as 6,560, 8,983 and 7,130.
The unemployment figures announced by
the Secretaiy of Commerce June 26 are
not designed “ to give a true picture” of
the unemployment situation, according to
the New York State industrial commis­
sioner, Frances Perkins.
Only 40 per cent of the population works
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