RELIEF: Biggers’ Census

For eight years the U. S. Government has been struggling to solve the problem of unemployment but not until last summer did Congress act to find out how many-people in the U. S. are unemployed. Columnist Hugh Johnson suggested a compulsory registration along the lines of the World War draft. Massachusetts’ young Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. proposed a $20,000,000 door-to-door census. In the rush of legislation at its session’s end, Congress passed a bill which called for an unemployment census, appropriated $5,000,000 and left the kind of job to be done up to the New Deal. Last month, Franklin Delano Roosevelt picked the man for the job. He was 49-year-old “Liberal Republican” President John D. Biggers, of Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Co., whose “enlightened labor policies” brought him to Presidential notice. Last week, Mr. Biggers’ plans for his census were complete.

This November, mail carriers will distribute to all the 31,000,000 homes in the U. S. cards containing 14 questions to be answered by anyone partly or wholly unemployed. In addition to name, age, sex, race, the answers to the questions should indicate when the recipient worked last, what at, how much work he did in the previous week and year, whom he supports, whether anyone else in his family is unemployed. Franklin Roosevelt is to give a “fireside” broadcast urging all unemployed to fill out cards. The Post Office Department — whose James Aloysius Farley may by that time have resigned to head Fierce-Arrow Motor Car Co.—will return the cards to Washington, to be sorted by census bureau clerks. Mr. Biggers’ only paid aids will be a staff of six clerks in his Department of Commerce office. Last date for mailing back cards will be Nov. 20. Preliminary results will be ready Dec. 1, will be checked by door-to-door counts in sample-cities to establish the average percentage of error. Complete tabulation should be available on or before March 1, when many workers unemployed in November may be getting spring jobs.