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FEDERAL WORKS AG:El.WY
WORK PROJECTS .ADMilnS'1BATION
For release after 1 : 40 P . M.
Wednesctay , A:)ril 24 , 1 S40
l...113RAR'<
MRS . -FLOII.ENCE KERR ADDR"SSSES ADi':II:HS'I'E.ATiv'2 CONFEID.:::JCE AT RI CHI.IO~ID , VA .
The fo ll owing address is fer delivery by Mrs . Florance Ke rr , Assista:.1t ~o,Tu,1issio1rnr , Work Projects Admini stratioH , at a meeting of pu-olic officials 2,nd TT?A ad.rni nistrative staff me'.nbers , at the John Marshall Hotel ,
Ricl1-sond, Virginia , on Wednesdo.y , April 24 , 1 940 , at 1 : 40 p . m., 3}astcrn Standard
Time . The aci.dr t', ss will b e broad.cast ov e r statton WnTD .
I sup:0ose all of us have been t hin.king e,bout t he tragic s~orr.1 of
war t hat is r aging so mer cil esGly in Euro pe .
The news from eacl1 n ew bc:,, ttle-
fi el d arousns our emo tions of i ndi gna ti on and :p ity .
to day in a s,Joll of anxiety .
lines
8,Yld.
War ho l ds us fror::i 0}.',Y
And sometimes , between t:O.e n ewspaper hea d-
the radio , we f ind it hard to think of e.nything else but the rmr
abroaa.•
Ye t th er e are , as we well know , ,;o.ther things t o t hink about Our orm c ovntry 1 s
l'lther t h in6 s ri ght he r e a t home t hat we nms t think about .
unsolved. p robl ems are among those t :1ings th2.. t v,e c a c1.no t afford to f o r::; ot or
ne{;lect .
Ano_ tl1 e
f irst thing I want t o say aoout tl1csc unsolved oc on onic
pr oblems of ou:cs is t hat t he Eu.ropean war is not go ing t o solve th em for
us .
I t hink tho.t everyone here r eal izes that fully .
Yet we are n ov1 hoc.ring
again t~1e so,ne t o.J.k of "wnr p r osr,eri ty 11 t hr.i.t we henr.d last f3.ll · 11hen the
in Europe beg:>.n.
sa.id -
TTe are heo,ring -
I am sure you must a ll have heo..rd it
t h'.:'..t now t he war orders will p il e up , now business will boom , now
there wil l be no need for c:s to worry o,bout tho un emplo ~re d .
No resgonsible poli tic2..l lender , no r os ncnsible ind.ustric.list ,
no r i:~s _ioi1si blo news:pnpe r editor todo.y b e li ev e s t l1.'.1t the Eur0pe2..n wc..r will
solve our Ancr icnn un.employnent :proolem.
Yet thc,t so::ct of t;:i,E:: sriroo,cl.s
and is listened to , a nd is made by some the e;~cuse fo r tho n ogl0ct of
.
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I don t t t h i nk I need t o t ol l you t h c.,t Am erican vmr - pros:9ori ty
is a delusio n .
l ar go
[',,l1d
I t nink you r oal izo th.J.,t tho war in Europe h[:,s involvod
dof i ni to lossos for Amor icl"',n 'business , nn cl w~.11 in,)vi to:oly in-
vol vc L:r t :w r l ossec: ; and that it is cxt r or:wly quosti0n£1.bl c to whnt o::-:--t ent
CcJ."1~'
p ossibl e gains can mdrn up fen· t::10so lo sso s .
There was no r o::i.l rco.sor.. l ast f.::~11 for us to expect th o m.-.r in
E·u.ropo t o ·or ing to American bus i ness th e fabulous rirosperi ty t h.:~t wc,s frooly
3,nd wiclcly predic t ed .
The ro
\/.:1S
not t he slight c, st pos,s i bility tho,t w,7.,r
b11si ~1oss c ould p :::-o vi de any vory ext cnsi vo runount of v:ork for 0m· uncm~Jlo:rod .
Yet
,10
d.id have a 'bri ef 9sycholot:;i cr,,l ,,,ar- ooom i n Ame :· ic:1n business .
}."i:Jo nt
half a million of our lli'lcm) loyed di d r.;ct jobs in :91·iv::i,to irnlnstry , jobs
which f o r the moct pnrt h:',d no conne c tion wi t l: W<'-r orders .
now om:'.:)lr.>ymont could hc:,vc b een maintai:r.cd o,nc1_ incr,:;nsod .
I wish t11,:,t
But t oe.'.\'/ it ho.,s
'ITe.r has n o t a ool i s~Pd lmempl cy:".llent in En,;;12.r:d nor in Fr,1.nc c .
In
Englan,l th8 total amou.'1.t 0f 1mer,r9loyment w~.s act-c:..'. t lJ.y g re E>.t e!' t !;.ree ::10;.1t >.s
af t er t he Har start e d than it iVaS just b efo r e the wa::..· .
We ought t 0 :(m ow
that war is o. d.is r upt i ve fo r ce in any e c onomy .
I i1n:pe we are no t going to let ours elv es be f oo l e d by t :1.e :fn,lse
promises of war p rosper ity .
I ho:pe t 11.'.' t t he delusive ex:;.; o ctatj,ons af
huge gains to b e won by Am e rica fr om th e tragic su.ffering s of
not l e2.c1 uc t o n egl e c t our un cmp lr:iyment p robl em .
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I thi1.1k Jro·J_ a r c }J retty well acquaint ed in yo'.ir o.-m co:m:iu..'1i ti os
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.:, 1me;:rp1 oyc(,.:,1_
n eeu.y
wor:cc 1·s 2.nd. t :1eir f o..raili es , n...."ld you k n(ni ·,;r~at it Jo o s for yo-,.1r co:.ll:11.,nj.l;i os
i n hc,l~Jin3: to provide t hem with neoc1.cd pu::ilic ir::rpr ov emonb arid services .
wo2.knosse; s our p:i:-ogra1n mn.y h '..'.v o sh'.:lwn in your cormmni ti e~ .
I sh2.ll
you to co o:~Jo r a tc Y.'ith us in mcking our p rogram "be tt or , f o r :i.t is
r.>..::;:C::
0;:1ly
thr'.:lug~1 t:i c coo}cration of public- s p i ri t ,J d. citizen:.; in c ·,c r y c ommur.i ty
t l:l'..t t l10 \TJ?A c o,n a.ch iovo fully ;;;a tisf::, ctory r osu.l t s .
But first I -.;c..nt tn
discuss t ho ~ono r o.l problem of u.""1.omploym<J!1t .
Or r 2.t her , I s i1.ould. like to d.iscuss tho l [',,r ge:r 0c or..or,1ic 2:1 robl o:r:1
of nh ich uncmriloymcnt is o.. 110,rt .
An.a. I ·.-r.r,nt t Q discuss this lo..1·gor
prorhlction ;:,,n r1. d.ist ri·o,1t i on of goor'\.s , and it inovit 2.::il~r ~wis ,"' s in cvo::y
country t h: ,t 1. .. :::..s ~ono t(') 0-:r..y l cngt~s in moci12.r.izi ns its ind~1s tr;'/ •
From the ti:no th: .t nncl~L'.WrJ first b C.\ ?/.'.Il t o kc~:0 t he r ,l ::,ce of
0
prorniso ,-r::,s thc,t th(-:! nucossi ti c s m1d t ~e c omfo rts o f lif,:: Ymuld bo brou ·; ~1t
t r..:co jobs e:.nc.y f r om rrork ,, rs ::i.nd L •o,v o t ho n ·.ri ti10ut o.ny mr:~nR cf liv o1 i hood .
been cont i nu.ousl y c oming true for th o ln,st !1uno.:c ed y1;:,.rs
limit oa. ext ent .
'.'lorlrnrs hD,vo b,)on thro ...-m o-..1 t of uo r .'r:: b;{ nncidnory ; m .d
mo.cl1i:i.0r s hc.s mculc tho n oc css i ties n.nd. co ,::forts of l i :o mo r o o~'.si 1 .y c,v.::.'.lc..blc
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to larger and larger numbers of people .
In the long run , ov er any con-
siderable per iod of time , we find. t:w.t the promise of much inm~J socr.1s to
cMcel out th3 threat .
That i s , ..hen good3 are c heap and more poo 2)le cnn
buy them , more people co.n e;et jC'bs producing those goods .
So far , I believe , this is th o classico..1 aoctrino of conscrv[~
tivo po litical economists .
Moreover , they tell us that t h is no t only
I don I t . t l1ink
has ho.,ppcneo. in the past but will hi:1.ppcn in tho future .
I think that this economic p r ocess l1.:\s
it is s o automntic as all that .
r o.:1.c:10d a po L1t where we have to help it nlC'ng ,.and guide it with o,11 the
human wisdom we have .
p r oduction of
This economic p rocess involves two things goods ::ma_ a.istribution of r,oods .
7la now have rn:.chincry so improv ed o..nd
so cffici ont tho,t th o e;l c,ri ous :::iromise of the mc~chine mi 6ht 1.',Ctu.:,ll~r
come true
Yli thin
tho n -::ixt few y cnrs -- tho IJr omiso of
tnc necessities and comforts of lif o for c ve:::"'.fbody .
[ill
abundo..ncc o f
Our p roa.uctive
arro.n::;omcnts arc almost idoo.l in their p e rf ection t o dD.y .
But what abo-:.it our economic ;:i.rra.ngemcnts for the, distri'bl:tio n
of the goods t ha t we p roduce?
VTe se em to be
That is n diffo r ont story.
far loss efficient in _<~ otting t hese 6 ooc1 s into th o h::md.s c f tho consu:,1 ers .
Ai1d I don 1 t m0n.n 'by t h is t o criticize our storokoc:9ors .
So f .:',r ,:..s t nc
physical o,nd t,, chnicc.l nppo..rn.tus of distribution go o s , our nho l o s~rstm,1
of s:10:9s , d.ispln,y , nd.vortising , so.l es mo..nshi :9 o.nd doJ. i v ory effici ent enough .
n o a:co
No, th o trouble is with tho consumors of the: r1..::,, ti o11 .
The fact is thLtt nbout tv,o- thirds of tl1 c fo.r1ili ·'J S in tt1e:. Uni t .:.: d Str,.. t c o
donlt 'buy enough goods t o use up th o products of our f :, rms or k c,e-o our
fnctorios busy .
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They don t bu;r eno ugh goods for n r on,so n thc1, t is ,w ll kao,711 to a,11
of us
bocnuso th ey ha.vc n I t enough mon ey .
Somo of them h.:tvon f t oYwugh
mono~: bo c c;uso thoy go t low vmges , and somo of them bec :::ms o t hey h.:wen l t .:tny
j obs o.t o,11 .
Theo r e ticclly , according t o th o class ic pr inci pl e s of c cono □ ics ,
t :iis is in) ossibl c .
In t ho p rime rs o f ocono!:lics , wl:ich b egi n vrit h four
n on on o.. closort i s l o,nd , i t n ev e r happ ens ..
Supply Ci.nd demand , :;::, rices C'..nd
wr,gos , int e r es t r ::i.tos ::nd p r of i ts , a r c .::-,ln:::ws in porfoc t bale.nee ii1 the
cco:10;.1i c lif e of t hose four
r.1011
011 thi.,t d onort islana_ .
The r e c,,ro no
dop1· es sions , no bn.nkru-o tci c s , no unonpl oynen'c cris o s on t h:~,t dose1·t islo..nd .
Ther o c..ro l10 ~mrs , no d.icto..tors:ii -ps , et.nd I boli ovo I .:u:1 c orr e ct . in s::.s;f ing
no i 11coue to.xos on t h~,t dese rt island .
However , o..s no nll lcnon , tl1inc; s
o.ro a_ifforont in th o a ctual ,mrld. , so l ot u s turn o .:-.ck to it •
I should like t o turn ktck t o tho sta.t o of n ff!),irs which exist ed
in tl10 1.1ia_cno o..nd l a t t or part of th o b,s t docnd,J , tho go l den Tuonti cs ,
t hc.t lJo riod. of gli tt or i ng Prosp erity in wh i ch ,-,o d.c~i"cod t o t ho sou..TJ.cl of
flut os f r o~1 Wo,11 Street ri ght o v er t he edge of t ho p r e cip ic e i nto tho
ab3°ss of th o dop r cs si0n , fr om wh ich uo ho.vo lw.d so l ong and p1:,i nful o, tine
cJ.i ub i ns out .
1
Bc.ck in th e go l den Tyroi1t i o s wo didn t ha.v e qu i te suc:1 \"JODdo r so offici ant th:.,t
ful r.1;:,_c~1L1or-y n s no noH h::w e , but uhnt uo hc.d
Y/Cl.S
could iwo d.uco nore of everything tho..n ou.r
po1)1.ll a tion could buy .
O\D
\iO
I don I t
t1oc:.11 ti1;·,t ·.:e c ould p roduc e noro food tho,n t ho A::1o ri co..n poopl o ce>ul<.l co. t , or
rJoro clo t:10s tho..n thoy could rroo..r , · o r no r o houses t!10..:1 t ho;)' coulc1. l i vo i n no , but f c.r· nore th:.i.11 thoy h ~,d tho ,.10noy in thei r j eo.i1s t o po.y for .
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So what did we do?
During the war we had got into t he habit
of lendi ng various Euro pean countri es money with wh ich to buy our yi r oducts
from us , a.>i.d aft er the war we extend ed our list of creditors and l ent or
i nvested money more wide l y in various ways in Euroyie .
Some of it came
back t o us in payment for our American wheat and corn , our beef n;.1d _po rk,
our cott on and steel and othe r thing s of which we had more than \"le could
sell to people here at home .
arrangement -
It did not, at th e time , se em a cra zy
until th e whole fantastic structu r e tottered and colla~sed
l a t e in 1929 .
Lo oki ng back , I think v;e can all agree t hat we were l eaving
uns olved
,o. fund.Dl!lental probl em -
the probl em of how to distribute our
surplus e s of American go od.a to tho milli ons of Americans \7ho would have
b ee n glad. to have th orn .
I rocall tha t , amo ng othe r t h in6 s , Ame ri cc.n
money helped to pay for the e r ectio n of grc.:tt o.r e.:i.s of model dncll ings
f or wori::crs in va ri ous G0 rmnn citi e s .
I n.m no t sorry thn.t Ger;:10.n ,;or 1::ers
1
had t ho se mode l d,;cll ings to live i n ; but I elm sorry tho.t we di d.n t
t hi 1llr of some wny to put our money int o simila r housing p roj ects right
her e D-t home , for the benefit of American wo rke rs .
I am not 0 sorry t lw.t
ne helped to feed wd clothe peopl e in Europe ; but I r egr et t hat \,c
1
didn t t r y seri ously t o find sowc ~ay to get our American food into
more Arn cricc.n stomachs , .:md our Americ an cotto n go o ds on to CTore Ar.10ric,::m
bo.cks 11
Ever since th e mira culous sch cr.1os of t h e go lden TrJont i e s so
disoally c o llo.p sed , ne ho.vo been f orc ed to fo.co th e probl em -
horr to
got t ho p r oducts of Ame ric an agricultur e nnd industry nore fully i nto
t he hc.nds • of .Ame ricc..n conswne rs .
I a.~ not go ing to d iscuss tho difficult i e s
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Anyone living in an agr icultural state
of changing our price system .
knoHs that low :...pr icec pai d to thG farm er for h i s :products may not , and
oft en do not , mean low pr i ces to the ultimate consume r.
American
fa1•;.10:.:s , who make up 25 per cont of our population , receive only 11 pe rcent of our ;,ational income .
And this in itself suggests that th o ? robl om
needs to bo attad::cd at the othor end -
by finding ·ways and moans of
increasing tho income of th[',,t gren.t sog:non t of our population which c1oes
not buy enough goods of any kind .
More than fom: million famili es , or 14 per cont of all Ame rican
famili es , have an ave rage incorae of onlj' $312 a y ear .
Thon there arc
more than eight million othe r fa.::1ilies , 27 . 5 p e r cent of all American fami li e s , whose D,v orage income for tho whole yoD.r is $758 .
And then the re are
neo..rl:-r seven mi l l ion L:unili os , 23 per cont of all Anorican famili e s , whose
income s avorago $1 224 a yoo.r , or B.bout $100 a. month .
These figu::tes are
based on a detai led study of incomes in tho Unit e d States during 1935 ruid
1936, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistic::, and tho Bureau of Home
Econmaicn , in c oll abo r o.tion with th o National Resources Corwitt ec .
Addi ng t ogether t ho se t hr ee groups wo find that n earl~,,- t·.vo ....
t hi rds of all American famili es had income s of loss tho,n $1500 a yer-,r ,
t ho o.v or ~,go being only $826 a year -- or $69 a L'lonth for tho whole fa.nily .
Mr . Milo Perkins , President of the
Surplus Corru::iodi tics Corpora,-
tion, spoo.king at Dos Moin•.:)s , Iowa , a. few nonths ago , gave in addition to
t hose figures on ostir.m tc of how nuch is si)ont for food by people in tho
d:!.fforont incorae groups •
Ho es tiL,~'.ted tho.t p oo:9lc rri th an avoro.go fo,;;1ily
incor.10 of $1224 a yeo,r sp end o.bout $2 . 1 8 per porso::i. pe r week for fooc:L ,
or t on cont s :9cr r,ieo.1 .
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Ten cents pe r pe r son pe r meal docs no t sound to no like
vory luxurious living .
But Bilo Perkins tci,kes it as a prci,ctico..blo
gonl , o,nd considers what would happen if every A□ o ric o.n f [U;lily now
spendi ng loss was able to s pend t en cents per pe rs on pe r uoo..l for
food .
One r esult , of c our se , would b e t ho,t 22 nillion fa1:1ili cs nould
hc:rn a.bout
tmcc
as ouch food a s they now go t .
They rm uld be spond-
i nG n eo.rly 2 billion doll o..rs n ;yen,r Dore for food them they non spe:1d .
Our who l e no,tional fo od bill nould be increL'..sod 14 percent .
F2,rnors
\7ould r e c o i ve directly n eo..rly a, . billion dollar s a yer1r t lmt they do
not ge t o..t p resent .
I Dight go on fron food to cloth ing , and f r or..1 clothi ng to
housine; , nnd fron housing t o other thing s , 2.nd show that whn.t A:.-noric a.n
agriculture nnd industry n eed is si nply nore cust onc rs , nore peo pl e
nb l o to bny their shar e of t he p r oducts of Ariloricc1.n fo..rns and factories .
I night shor1 thnt t o supply th ese a lr oo.,dy existing noods ,;;oul d crco,to
oore o,nd nore enpl oynont .
is t ho
\10,y
I night so.y -
o.nd I do soy -- t hat t h i s
I
But I don t nish to
to solv e our unenp l oynent prob l en .
seor.1 t o l eo.p ligh tly over the question of hor: thc :,o r.i illi ons of loni ncone f Lv.:i lies ar o t o b e □Rde paying cnstor.1ers of Ar:10rican _inclustry .
I su-ppos o t hat no.ny goo d- heo..rted peo pl e nould say ,
11 Yos
,
t ho..t is o.11 no doubt dosiro.blo , a.nd in t ho co ur se of ti uo it ::10.y
o.ctu.;).ll~r h o..ppei1 , but th e r e i s no t h i ng we can do about it non .
11
I
shoul:d lH::o to porsun.de you thc~t it is no t on l y dc siro.bl o but nocossnry;
t ho.. t it is s one t h ing not t o be relegated t o
0..::1
i ndef i n i to future , but
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you c a~ d o D.b out 1~
s oao t 1a1ng
.i.
First of nll I wan t to speo.k of cort['..in. innodio.tc ::100.:::: -. .1. r os
thn t c~·. n be t aken i n r egard t o tho l o·,ros t i n cor.w ,gr oup s t ho se \7ho
D.TO
une;·.1:9l oyod o r ho..lf e r.;:9l oyod..
includ.L1g
Thos e i r.mo dL. . to r.1 0.'..',suros
['..r o, I t h i nk, of t ho g r cc:.to s t i P9o rt ance , ·out I do not ,m.nt y ou t o
think t h ,,.,t they r cprosoc1 t i:\Y idon. of t ~10 ultiDc.L t o so l u ti on of tho
YT~1olc p r obl on .
Here , t hen , i s o. g rou:'.) of f n,":ilios whose incones c..r c not
sufficic:.1t t o buy enough f o od .
probl cn
And. hero -
as n pa.rt of the sD.nc
a.r e l n r t:e f ood surplus es of v.:-.rious kina.s t :12.t ,'.:.ro <ie:0 rcss-
i ng tho n,:,,rl:::ct .
I n J.933 the Fodcro.l go vorn.r:iont bcc;m1 t o buy 1:1) o.nd
cl.istri buto foocl o.nd o the r surpluses , t ~1r ow)1 wl.,:i.t is non called t ho
Snrplus Conuo di t i c s Corpor o..t i on .
A g r o:-.t inp rovoneat }1,':'..s rccc:i tly
boon n:i.d.o in th o n o t ho d of d.istributin.; the se su r plus c o::in od i ti c s .
rr~1ich hc.s boon s o success ful in t~10 ci ti c s i~1 wh ich it h'.1s boon tri ed
01.1.t thc~t it Hill be "'m ch no ro widel y c::::t o:.-1dcd, if Corigr oss provi de s
t ho no c os sar y- fumls .
The r e c.r o sovc r <'-1 t h i ng,s c.b out tho fo o d p l an t l1c,t I t~1i :1l:
r eli ef rrho 6 ot t ho food. sta r:ps liko it , boc ,J.u r: o it fits into th ,::d r
ordino.r~r sl1opp i n 6 hab its -
they go t o
n,
~r ocor~r store c1.nci. o::crci so
t l,o i:c fr oo choic e o.nong a v,'. '. il~i,bl c sur1Jlus f oo d.s , to..~.r.: L1g outI; c r o r o:?;gs ,
O.!)pl c s o r ornnt;os , c,'.lbbngos or t one.t oe s ,
::i,ro uo:1t to do .
[',S
nc lf- :ro spoctLig nflOJ.Ypc rs
Th o groce r s like it , boc ~.uso it i :::.crJn.s os t he ir tr:i.J.o
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no t _onl y th e ir bluo- sto-:.ry trndo , ·ou t c..ppnro:,tly t:t.ei r r cgulnr tr:-,c.c ,
pcrhnps bo ccmsc of th e o.c'l.v 0rtisi ne; th oy gi vo t o current s11rp l us foo C:~ s .
I n n uo rd , th e fo ocl-st nr.1p syston fits i:1 sc~tisfactorily ui th n.11 our
r egu].2-r nnd accus t one d ;::w t ~1.o ds o f distribution -
nnd it doc s t h e j ob
of ge tting the surpl us foods off th o r.1 .'.'..rkot a:rid. into t he co;131i;:,or I s
h.:.:.nds .
Porho,p s I had. better explain this fo -::>cl.- s to.nr plc:n
in
det c;i l
To pe rs ons r ocei vL1g public _
f or those rrho nay no t lmow ab o1.'.t it .
a.ss ista:1ce th e F e d or o.l covor nrn:,nt sells oran5 e- co l ored fo od- sto.;-.rps ,
o, doll~r 1s , mrt h f o r a clo llar , good for o.ny fo od
0-t o.ny g r ocery st o To ;
c..nd ,·ri th e,".'-ch do llC',r I s \70rth of orang8 stanps th,; Federal g ov c r:1r.10:·, t
gives , fr ee , fift y cents no rth -:> f blue st:,,r.11)s , g oo d. o,t anJ g r o cery
store but only for f oods f omd t o bo
Secre tary of Ag ricu l turc ,
11 i
n surp lus II o.t t ho tii:10 by th o
Tho F ocle r .::-,1 gov oriment rodeons b oth
l-::ind.s o f st2nps v1hcn p r csm1tcd. b;r the g r oce r .
So f o.r n.s th 0 sur:pl us
foods go , th e F ederal gov or nD1.:mt ho.s fina!lced tho cust on c r 1 s tr::'.,d.e ,
. .-,hole fooa. exp cmcl i tu.r e s b;y 50 p r3rc o1c. t •
o,:;.,_a_ t :1.c r eby i ncr00.sed. "'• 1.J.S
That , then , is one ,my t o go t th e p r oducts o f i ndust r y i nto
the h c:.11cl.s of t he needy custoner
L1 t ho interests of cve r y:iody ,
f o r th e pu'bl ic to fino..nc o his b,_;_y L1g ,
It sco::1S
f or::1 only to such extr rn:,e c ases : -
0
n c t hod. sui to.bl e in E1.-:-t
nnd y e t it closcdy r o s e,.1b l:; s t ho
r.1othods alrGo.d.y usecl by :p:r ivo.to i nd.ur,try , y,'.·;iclc c,,ft c n 6 o ts ri cl o f its
sur.:_Jlus :p roducts 'by sell i :i.g uc t ...-m t ir ,::: s for o. d.ollctr no :- o tho..:i t~10
p ric e of ono, o r t n o tub e s of t o oth- pas t o f0r o r:J J ~- c e nt r.101-· c t ho.c1
t ho :p rice of one .
It is a octhod no t fr,1· rono vc cl f r on t he: o r clL:cc,r;y·
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b.'.',sene;_1t bnrgn,in sale .
· ,
In
- othe r words , 1· t 1· s r en11 y orrl ya spec10,_
applicat i on of a me tho d o.lre.J.cly wi d.e l y p r .'.1.ct iced by private inclustry
o, mothocl of g iving things rn7o.y free '.-rhile s till keep i ng u p the rogulo,r
price .
A visitor fro m Lbrs mieht think: t his o.rrC1-l1gemen t ver~r odd ,
o,ncl o.sk nhy ne don 1 t simply l0\7e r t ho p ri ce ;:i,nd be d.ono with it .
I think
tho best offhci.nd onswor nould bo tho.tour pr ic es a r e a pn,rt of a v or y
co nrnlico.tocl nrrangement , rrh ich ne hesitate to t o,mpcr u i th .
If pressed
furtho1· , I should 0xpl o.i n thr:t rro r eal ly lmvo o. two- p ric e system i n
the mode rn world -- a regulo.r pr ic e for tho highor..:.incomo gr oups , o..ncl
nnot:1or only h n.lf-a cknonlodgo d. price for tho lorrer..:.income gr oups .
fino..lly , if my visitor from Uo..rs still W,'.:1-ntod to knorr nhy ,
And
I shoulcl
S[';y
t his : Tho truth is t hat most of our indust ri es ho,ve adjusted their
price l eve ls t o one of t ho hi ghe r - inc ome g r ou ps .
Only ci. foTT sogi~ents
of industry ho.ve seriously undertaken to distribute their pr oducts
to t~ie lorrer - incomo grou ps .
Henry Ford i s o. fo,r,,ilio..r oxo,mpl o of o..n
industrio..lis t who proved that a hitherto high-priced nrticl o - - o, luxury
o.rticle , .'.',s the automobil e nns su pposed to bo -- coulc. be sold to ovory
f o..r ~_1 or i n tho Unit ed St o.t es nt n price t hat he could pay , through l"il::',ss
p r od.ucti on .
And housing , on tho other hand , mit:h t be ment i oned o,s o..
goocl ey..n.,-;ipl o of o. fi el d of p roducti on thnt still vm.i ts for its Henry Ford.
Houses aro still r og.'.1.rded as luxury a rticles, ond t hey a r o built only
for people in the upper- i n c ome l evels .
Peo1)l c i!l tho l owo r-i ncor.10 grou:,s
must live , as millions of thorn do , cro~dod into ~nt iqu~tcd , i nadeq~~~to
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- 12 and unsafe housing .
We do not, I thin!: lac~c the technical knoTTledce
nor the modern methods r::.eeded in the construction of housing for these
millions .
But there are other difficulties that deter private c apital
from entering this field .
It has lleen entered to some extent by
mu1icipalities with t:1e aid. of Federal loans and grants .
Given such
assistance , it is p ossible to build g0od houses that will rent for what
the :raill ions in the lower- income groups can riay .
And it shoulcl be
possible for private capital to enter tha t field successfully ancl
profitably if it would adjust itself to small er returns over a lon:::~er
:period of time .
At this point , aband.on i ng my imag inary discussion with tl10
visitor f rom Mar s , I should like to continue it with you.
I saicl a i:!hilo
ago , as you may recalJ.. , that our industry was :magnificently eq_uip:ped for
the pr oc1-uction of goods , but that our economic systen was very ill- ad.o,ptod
to the clis tr ibution of goods .
Our machinery of production is moclc rn 2.nct
u:p--.to- cl.ate; our system of distribution on the ,-,h ole harks back to em·li c r
a_nys nhcn it was a q_uestion of distri buttng tho p roduct to a com:po.ro.ti voly
sr,1c.,ll group .
And no,r l ot us consider vrhat happens v-,hen industry
modernizes its machinery but retains its traditional small scope o::
distribution .
Prices r emain high , and surpluses have to bo bootlegGod
to tl1 0 lower-i ncome groups to keep them from dru,:;gi'.1 g the m:.1 r!:ct .
Fti_ll
use cc.nnot be made of tho c2-paci ty for production , ancl inst ead of uoro
c:-i1~)loymcnt there is less .
Tho Ill,'.:',chino alrmys cloos di splaco hUJJlc.:.::.1 l t'..bor ,
o.nd it provides now jobs only nhon it is used so ::-,s to produce for o.
lar~cr :-:1,__-i,r~~ot .
Without i:io.ss distribution of the produc t, modern Ill..,_chi.no ry
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creates unemp l oyment .
And tha t is just what it has been doing i n r ecent
years , wherever it has been intr oduced without a co rr esponding effort
to dis tribute the :produc t to a larger mark e t .
'.i.'he figur es I have a lready g iven you
showing 1 9 million
Ameri co..n fam i1i es with i ncomes averaging only $69 a nonth for t he r,l1.ole
f 2D ily -- thei::.e are t he vast domestic market that a few indnstrio s co.n
r each b;y 1,r ese nt me thods of di s tri but i on .
And these families i nclucle
. .
miJ.lions of wo rker s who a r e unemplo yed for that ve r y r eo.son -- b ocac1so
so fmr i nclus tri es have as ye t begun t o try to use t:1.cir full prod1.1.ctivo
capa cities f or d istri but ion to this ma.rket .
It is be cause we ho.ve r o;,.chcd ::m o.dv;_ :.nccd sto. 6 e of clovelo:_ir:-iont
i n our co.:riaci t y for p ro duci ng goocls , without !1.aving ns yet clovclop :::r,. ;:in~'
corr ospondingl y e xt ensive met~1.ods of mass- di st ribution of goods , t h::.:.t ,-:e
suffer from mass unemployment .
We have go t ours e l vcs i n n jan b:~ going so f ns t vii th mns s p r od.uction and so slowlJ with mass- d i s tri buti on .
We need to hur1·y \ .21
1
with mo.ss distributi on .
S omo of the prob l ems of mn,ss- distri1mtion o.,re t e chnica l -t hey o.rc engineering problems ; and I nm not sug6 cst i ng thnt we 01.rrsclvcs
co,n ,c.;ive industry any aid in t hat di r ection .
But obviously the goo.ring of indus try to :procluction ::'.,ncl
distribution fo r the J.on- incomc groups wi ll r equir e o,djustmcnts of
prices , of vmgos , n,..r1d of inter e st rat es on i nvested. capital .
I thi n!;:
wo c2.:1. lle of servic e to inclustry i n th is coIL'"loction by r onlizin::; the
nocos si t y for rnnking such ad.jus t mcnts -- and ospec io,lly by not boc')1~L1.c
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- 14 alarr.:ecl at
every step in this neces s ary- process .
We have all li ved.
i n the p re..:.depres si on rrorld, _ a n(l we h2.ve become accu.s tomed to it s ri8.;ys .
1
But I think it is our c.ut;y a s i r,t elli ge'1 t citizens t o reA1ize two tilings
If tl1ey
fir s t , t hat the old ways of do i ng t h ings nere not adequate .
It was t l1e
hacl bee n ade q_u3,te , there rroul d 1:ave be er no dei)ression .
ino,deq_uc1c;:7 of th e 0lcl vm;'s Df doing th i 2'. gs -- which in fact t o a lo.rc;e
ext e:::i t cor. sisted of shut-::ing our eyes a ;·; d l e tting thj_ngs s lid,:,
lam'le cl us in _t ~1 e depre ss ion .
that
Sc, 1 thi ~; rm shouhl not l ook bo,cl::
patl1etic~lly to the dear de,'.:.ci days as i : they Yrn:re a. Lo s t Pnracdsc .
I think rre should 1.•ecogc1 iz e t ha t they He re in truth r.iorc of a Fool 1s
Pa r adis e f or the ~hole At1e rica n peopl e .
Ancl I t hink
should not l o t
\7 0
any sent i mental He i :ntroh for thos e p r e... doprcssion nay s b e trn,y us i nt o
rt can ' t b e done ,
trying to bring ba ck tho pn.s t .
it i f rrc go t t~osc old timos back -- for
\7 8
2~'1d.
u c ,-,oul o.n 1 t li ke
shouJ.d. knon that u e f c-,ccd
t ~10 sc~,,'c old slide over the srunc old p r c c i pic 0 int o t h e sar.i o old
dc:pr ossion .
I think
TTC
orlC; it t o ourselves to live i :1 tho p r es ent .
TTo
nho .:,.re hero hnvc the vo r y good. f c rtu.i1 e not t o b <J subject t n such
t c rri bl c trials as t hose c 1dur c d , f or oxn:!lp l o ~ by such dispossossocl
ano. CT i grc,,:.1t fn.r::ili cs as t ::1.o s o dc scri hod i n Stcinbcc;: 1 s
\frnt:1 . 11
170 aro o.11 to s o:10 oxt on t in
2-
II
Gr np os of
p ri v ilogcd g r oup .
We l:"k.'.'.Y h2,vo
onclurcd. rn.isf ortunc , bu t n o ho..vo bcc;1 spo.r ccl the l as t extr m;iiti os of
rnisfortt:1..ne .
We h nv o no t "bec!1 subso r god helplessly by th o bi tt c:t ,
black flood. of humnn Bi so r;r .
And bocmJ.So wo nro so f 1wturn.ct o , rrc r'-ro
unclor o.n obli gn ti on -- tho obli Gat i on to fro o ourso]v u::: from polit~_c::,.l
po.ssions nnd p r e judices , .'.lnd try f n irly and honostJ.y t o undersk,nd ,1h2.t
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is •~; o i ng on , and h ol p and. n ot hinde r tho nff or tc that arc be ing made to
cou o uith our grea t e c onoMi c p robl cns .
I w:lsh I could say tha t c.i,11 tho eclu.cated people of Anorica , all
tl':.o non ano.. wor,:n ··,ho he,v c hact supe rior atva:1t?.6 es , -·.-Lo hav e time to think
: uish' I cou::;.d say that a J.l thos e
2,rc
cl o~ng til c: ir fuJ.l duty .
I wis:i I
couJ.cl. say of c:.11 the old,~:;.· p uoplc of t! at gr ou p , who hav r: in the ~ast been
0
J.oaclcrs i l'l eve ry c:;:'fo:-t towa ro. civ: c ·1) ett c r nc nt
I nish I could say
that all of thet1 ,vurc still ;r ofu"'lg in nincJ. , :.sol e to fc•,ce new c onditions
,vi -ch Zairncss a nd zrisd.on , anf,. ncr c continuing to lead tho efforts for
civic 2.nd national welfare that ar e .,;0L1:·: '1n toc'.ay .
Iut I c.:: n. so,y
ovor Ar,1 orica, both young F.mrl o:1.d. , ar :-; u ::i in:_: t :1oir r.·. incb en tho ~,o r roblons
and. c:.i· e contributing i:lagrd. fic ontly t o t110 "br.o ::ia. socfr.l non- po,:.· t isan
c oo:rioration tha t is nec es sary to success i n thos e e ffo r ts •
•
I thin..1.c that t h o :.:os t s p ecif ic t e st of our ability to t c.,~;:c
o.,
cl ca.r- si :::: ;hted and hel pful :9ar t i n the e ffort t hat is now go ing on to
solve our e cononic pro"ble:: s , i s our a ttit ude toward ·uncr.1:riloyncnt .::.ncl.
1
Tie hnvc failed to undc r stnnd the real nature of tho pro"bl en
t h o i7PA.
if ,-,c rc go..rd it sinply ,-:-,s o. qu e stion of v;hothc r we c11n so,ve o. li ttl o
r.10:ie~r by
II
return i ng re li ef to tho St2..t c s 11
--
·:rhich in eff e ct Dc,1.ns
aoolis:1int'.; th o WPA and putting our needy o..ol c- b ocdcd. uncDploycd. on , ,
loco.l do~.c .
The rc ,':'..l question i s hor: rre c2.n ,_nko our o c ononic systo;:i r:ork .
I t Yri ll not ,rnrk very well u ntil r;o r.10.n2.gc to b ring in tho whol e Aricric.J.n
poo~1lc c..s custoncrs of .AJ.1oric:.'..n ousj_ncss nncl consuners of tho p rod,J.cts
of i n dustry ruid .:i.gric1.:.ltu:c c~ .
If no h.:.v e too l:!DllY non- buying une nployo d
p c o11lc , our ocononi c sys t or:: bronl:s cl.own , ::1,s i t di d. in 1932 .
Our problc:1
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- lo Ultima telzr
i s to reintegrate the unemp loyed into our econo1;1ic sy s te m.
this will be done by pr iV8.te indus try , whe n it is gear ed to pro ct.1 co
and distribute goods fo r the whole vast Amer ica:-. !lk'lr:-Ce t .
But in tho
meant i r.:e the most ne edy of our unemployed can be provided with work
and wages by the Fed.eral gove rnme n t in cooperation with our co mr:TLmi t i c s .
\7PA far:iilies arc abl e to spend. half as much again for food ns fa1:1.ilics
on tho dole , thoui~h not as much a s worke r s cmploynd in :riri vatc in.:l. us 'cry
It is qui to tr~10 tl1at t he unompJ.oyod :c.eecl from us , ar1.d 11r.:.·v e:
a ri [:;ht to ask fro m us , hwnan mercy and. dcmocr2.t ic justice .
i s not tl1c e nd. of t he m:.cttc r .
Bt,_t th::-,·c
We ne e d to ho.vc the produc t s of our i'.::,r;,1s
o.nd f a ct o:: i oo consu__mod. , and tha t can:1ot b e done ·a i tl1out pr ovi dinr; rro:cL:
ruid ~nc;os to tho unemployed.
Q;ui t c aside fro111 all considoro.tion s of
hw,u:mi ty [1Ld justice , we: c annot affo:i:-d to l e t tl1c uncr.1ployed. ;:;o l11. ."1,c:;:c7 ,
1
houo oloss o.nd in r ags .
syston -
i7o need t o bring th orn bac1:: i nto our ccono1:1i~
we d.2.rc not s:mt t hem out .
The Work Proj e cts Ad.ministr2.tion i s t ho best met hod. wo l:o.,vc
fcnmd of bringing back tho ne edy unomJiloycd int o our e c onomic sy s t o::-i .
It ho..s r e stored milli ons of v.rorkor~ t o }Jriv::..tc o!TI!)lo~rrnon.t , E1..nd s~2.:n
1
1
-
~S
o..t 2.11 t i r:Js r c£'.dy to r e turn others to p ri vr:.t e emp loymen t where v er o..,1d
whenever jobs exist for them.
It is not o. cure fo r unemplo yment ; 01.:i. t
it is n go od r emedy fo r the mos t socially devas t :\t i!lg r esults of
UJier.;ployment .
We shnll conti nue t o nee ,i a broad. sys t em of pufi l i•::: :ror~:
1
until n ri vo,te indus try h a s ge::i.rod it self better to meet t ho cou:ntry 1 s
needs .
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- 17 It is one of the s p ecial advantages of the VITA t ype of wor l,::
p ro c;ra.111 , as compared vri th regular pt: blic v:orks , tha t it p rovi des
employment for women .
who is the b r eadwinne r .
In a greg,t man3r needy families it i s a r;oman
There are at th i s time mo re than 300 , 000
wouen on the \IPA pe.yrolls .
hf.W C
So:ne are skill ed , some are unskill ed , some
hacl })Yofes s ione,l train ing , and some ha ve had no previous vrorl: ex-
pe rience except as h ousewi ves .
The Professional and Service Divisi on ,
which i s under my charge , includes pr oject s in p r ri,ctically every fie l d_ of
work ope:rt to women -- health , educat ion , r ec r eation l eade r ship , library
extens ion work , r esearch , l::1,bo !'a tory wo!'k , clerical work , a rt, !Ilusic ,
2,:.1 d co oldng .
Our two most \'lidespread IJ'..:'oj ec ts employing women a:::-o
~Qr sewing rooms and our housekeeping aide p r o j ec ts .
Anoth e r impor t 2.nt feature of our ViPA program is that as far
as p ossible we make use of workers nt th e ir accustomed occup2.tio,1s .
i7e do not , for example , r equir e mus i c i o.!,s to d i g d i tch e s
rrn sot t hcrn
to t oe.c!1ing music to undc r p ri vileged childre n or adults , or ,ro or 6 0,11. i zo
t hem into orchestras or other music.').l unit s o.n6. po.y them to p rovide
music to those communi ti cs which lack acle q_uato musical s e rvi ces .
T~1is ,
of c ours e , is done only w~1 Em our comrmmi ti cs o.sk fo r th e se projects anc1.
he l p lJc.,~· for them .
The f r-tct is th~t our coffilmmi tics do ask for nnd
hoJ.p su:n1jor t these and othe r culturC1.l p roj e cts .
Tho Ame rican pe op l e ,
it is e -.r i dcnt , \Vant cult11rc.!.l benefit s Ll.s 1vcl l o.,s materi al bencfl ts .
1
A.ncl in hol:i;iing to suppl;y these cultural bcno:f i ts , tho WPA i s mo..1 dnc; ,
I t h ink , a renl contribution to our P.mcricnn civilizQt i on .
Yet it is
pre cis e ly these culturo.l proj e ct s that s ome peopl e noul d li k o to D,bolish
in tho interest of e conomy .
It is pointed out . tho.t it would bo chco.T)O r
to put L'.Ilomp loycd musicinns to digging ditches .
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- 18 I confess that I cannot soe it that v;.J,y .
To me , at lAce.st ,
t !le question of a WPA j0b for an unorr,ployec'. and des ti k_te musicio..n ,
clerl;: , teacher , nurse or draft sm/'l.n is more than a q_ues ti on of figures
in the bud,r,ot of a fiscu.l year .
It is e. q_11esti n of what kind of
civilization r:e have , ·,,hat kind of civilization we ,mnt , who..t kind of
civilizD. tion we arc nillinG to strucglc for anc hand on to our cl:ildren .
If t >.i s is indeed a dying civilizat i on , i f vrc 1-. J.vo no hope for the
futu:;.·c , if it i s no t wortn while to make c.ny e:+ ~a rt , tllen nhat
But if ne b oli ov c in
doing in our WPA p r ojects has no significcmco .
o.r o work i ng togct.'1cr
the future , if we h:1.ve fa ith in democracy , if
in t l1c
en.use of o. bott8r A.mcric.~ , then
CO JmilO n
arc at once an net of f ~ ith o.r,d. .:::.
that
Yro
p1·0.. ctico..J.
H c1 D.. rc
01_1r
:1:-lumblest W?A projects
contribution to th e cc1uso
serv o .
The task of &;c' aring au!' economic syst ,)m to the country ? s
needs is one that will tc.1ce al l the undorsto.nd.L1[ , po.tJ.ence n.nd co1.,rago
tl~L'..t uo possess .
gonerc.t i on .
I t ni ll not bo tb.o t.'.1.sk of c, :rc o,r or two , but of r,_
But we co.11 make our cont ribution t c- i-:; nor, .
And TTe should
be,'='-:;_~ t~1is in mind , that tho gri'Il altcrno,tiYo to full onpl oymont in
tho constr1.:.ct ive works of P eace v,ill ul timo. tely be -- hero ns olso;1ho:ce
throug:1out the wo rl d -- full omploy,;icnt in the C,ost ructi ve '.7orks of
And th o costs of our constructive effo rts in th o -.rnrks of Poc..c o o..ro
S!l1[',1J. indeed in compnrison to tho infini to and -'-.ro.gic costs of TTo.r ,
n:1ich rro rril l have to boar if vrn fr-dl or falter in ou,~ nrosont efforts ,
as Europe before us hns faltered and fail od .
It is becnuso of this t;rim a l tornativo tho.t I n.sk you to
join ni th us to your utnost in mn..'!.dng the VlPA r:rogr,,m successful in
nnd mine .
your co ci:lun i ti cs and i::1. your Sto..te
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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