social advances in health, social security, working conditions, education, etc.

In contrast, Mr. Kotschnig highlighted the political, social, and economic conditions in the Soviet Union with special stress on the subservience of trade unions. "Labor is defenseless against the monopolistic employer-the omnipotent State. It is hedged in by punitive legislation. It is under constant pressure to increase output." He described the Soviet Union as "a great nation which, having cast off the yoke of inefficient and corrupt monarchy, has fallen victim to an even worse despotism"-where, "as Andrei Vishinsky, the authoritative interpreter of Soviet law, has put it so well: "The dictatorship of the proletariat is unlimited by any statutes whatsoever.''

Mr. Kotschnig drew these conclusions toward the close of his comments on the report:

The first is that the socio-economic problems of the world, although formidable, are not insoluble. Anyone reading the Report on the World Social Situation must be impressed and encouraged by the striking advances made in standards of living and the improvement of social organization achieved within a few generations in large parts of the world. There is hope for the poor and the oppressed, the sick and the illiterate everywhere. It has indeed become possible to think of "the welfare of the whole human race as a practical objective."

Second, these advances are the direct result of scientific discoveries and technological progress based on free inquiry and the application of social intelligence. They are attributes of evolving democratic societies which derive their dynamic qualities from a recognition of the dignity of the individual and his ability to think and act for himself.

Third, the claim of international communism to be able to meet the needs and the rising expectations of people, particularly in the under-developed countries, appears to be hollow. Their methods are at complete variance with the values and concepts which have made for progress elsewhere. To test the Communist claims, I have made an analysis of their society as it exists today. The result, I believe, has been to show that mere technology cannot solve human problems. Human values and human rights the rights of individuals-must be considered. In spite of the fact that the Soviet people have been driven to even greater production, their living standards continue to appear pitiably low. And, having contributed so little to the welfare of their own people, one wonders what they can contribute to the welfare of others.

Yes, we have organized for purposes of mutual aid. We have created a Technical Assistance Program which is perhaps the best means of making available, wherever it may be most needed, the end-products of a hundred 222775-52- -3

years of progress in technical knowledge and social organization.

Through the World Health Organization we are combating the great killers of mankind such as malaria, tuberculosis, and the endemic diseases that are the scourge of tropical countries, and we are laying the foundations for health services which will mean greater productivity and happier lives for untold millions of people. Through UNICEF, millions of children have been helped to survive and to grow into useful citizens of tomorrow.

Through the International Labor Organization we are assisting in the training of manpower and the improvement of wages and working conditions. We are aiding in the establishment of systems of social security and other guarantees to assure that those who need it most will have their proper share of any economic advance their countries can achieve.

And through the United Nations itself, in cooperation with the Specialized Agencies, we are helping in the development of community service and welfare centers as part of the drive for higher standards of living.

It is significant, however, that one group of countries refuses to have any share whatsoever in that heroic drive for a better world which is within our reach. These are the countries under Communist control . . . They have contributed neither funds nor supplies. They have offered nothing but obstruction and sterile criticism.

Since these are the countries in which freedom has died, we have in our very midst a striking confirmation of my thesis that freedom is not just a philosophical concept but a most powerful force for human advance.

In spite of the abstention and the obstructionism of the Communist countries within the United Nations, our efforts to advance the economic and social standards in the world by mutual effort are becoming increasingly effective. We feel certain that when another edition of

the "Report on the World Social Situation" appears a few years hence it will reflect these efforts.

United Nations Economic and Social Council,2 held in New York City in July 1952. In summarizing the economic situation from the point of view of probable developments after Governmental expenditures for defense have reached their peak, Mr. Lubin called attention to the smooth adjustment of the American economy to a peace

time basis after World War II and to both the difficulties and advantages of the current situation.

The question is asked, inside as well as outside the United States, whether we can make the adjustment to a reduced level of defense expenditures as smoothly as we made the adjustment to the reduction of war expenditures after World War II.

The first factor which may make the problem more difficult is that the backlog of deferred needs for both consumers' and producers' goods is likely to be much smaller than it was after World War II. During the war, production of a great variety of consumers' goods for civilian purposes was prohibited.

Many durable goods

were worn out, new demands went unsatisfied, and inventories were depleted. In contrast, restrictions in the current defense period have been less extensive and have been in effect for a shorter time. Consequently the backlog of deferred demand will be substantially smaller.

The second factor in this same connection is that, even though the total dollar volume of liquid assets in the hands of consumers and of business is higher now than it was at the end of the war, the purchasing power of these assets, due to price increases, will not be as great as it was at that time. Moreover, the gold and dollar reserves of some of the major trading nations are substantially lower now than they were then and their purchasing power is smaller.

Third, our employment problem will be of a different nature. At the end of World War II, many people who had patriotically entered the labor force had no desire to remain after the fighting ceased. In contrast, when defense spending declines, it is probable that most of those no longer needed in defense activities will want other work.

Among the favorable considerations, the most striking difference between the [post] World War II situation and the one that we expect to face after defense expenditures reach their peak is that the reduction in defense expenditures will be only a fraction of the cut that was made after World War II. . . . The decline in expenditures will be at most one-fifth as big as the World War II cut.

The relative importance of these cuts, in terms of their effect upon the national income, becomes evident when we note their relationship to the gross national product. The

2 The members of the United States delegation to this session of the Economic and Social Council were as follows: Representative, Isador Lubin; alternate representative, Walter M. Kotschnig; advisers, Robert E. Asher, Kathleen Bell, Kathryn G. Heath, Frances Kernohan, Joseph C. McCaskill, Forrest D. Murden, Walter Salant, Robert B. Schwenger, Allen M. Seivers, William J. Stibravy, Virginia C. Westfall, Aryness Joy Wickens, William H. Wynne; ad hoc advisers, Herbert Block, Joseph D. Coppock, Eleanor Dennison, James F. Green.

$119 billion curtailment of spending [after World War II] was related to a full employment gross national product of about $275 billion in 1951 prices. The probable cut of from $15 to $25 billion should be related to a current prospective full employment gross national product of about $350 billion.

After World War II, the size of the armed forces was reduced by 10 million during a 2-year period. The total strength of our armed forces at the peak of the present defense program will be only 3.7 million. This obviously makes impossible any reduction as drastic as that which occurred at the end of the war. We regret that the international political situation does not at this moment appear to permit any significant reduction in the size of our armed forces. We trust, however, that the proposals now being considered in the Disarmament Commission will soon make possible a radical reduction in this burden.

The coming adjustment problem should be much smaller than the one we handled successfully after World War II. Moreover, there are other factors in this situation which lead us to believe that we are in a much better position to deal with adjustment problems than we have been in the past.

Economic and Social Considerations

Fundamental changes have been taking place in the structure of our economy, changes that we think have permanently moved up our level of demand to new heights. Among the most important of these modifications has been a radical change in what our consumers regard as a normal standard of living. Amenities like electricity in rural areas a rarity 20 years ago-are now widely available and regarded as essential. We have added approximately 20 million new consumers to our economy. There is an increased demand for new construction as a result of the dispersion of dwellings and business from the centers of our great cities to the suburbs. Of particular importance is the fact that income in the United States is more evenly distributed. We have a much stronger organization of labor with the result that the position of workers in our society is more secure and their purchasing power more stable. These structural changes will in themselves assure a level of effective demand sufficient to maintain high levels of production of consumers' goods.

In addition . . . there are many urgent public needs which stem from some of these same structural changes. As a result of the growth in population and the geographical shift in population, the need for certain public projects has been increasing. Construction of this type has been curtailed by defense restrictions and will have to be resumed at the first opportunity.

Moreover, the restrictions made necessary by the defense program have also prevented the satisfaction of normal private demand in some areas of the economy. Expenditures for these purposes can be expected to increase when restrictions are removed. While such expenditures are not likely to be as great as after World War II, they will not be negligible.

Weight must also be given to the effect of the successful operation of our economy in the past 6 years upon the psychology of the American private investors. The manner in which our economy has operated has been progressively altering their outlook. More and more, they are focusing their attention on the requirements of an economy operating at expanding levels and are discarding the concept of a limited market.

The coverage of our social security program has been extended and the benefits have been increased. Our tax structure provides a better cushion against recessionary forces. Agricultural incomes are protected against sudden and severe declines through a system of farm price supports. Bank deposit insurance has been increased to $10,000 for every covered depositor. Through Federal guarantees of mortgages, we have better safeguarded the savings which more than half of the American families have invested in the homes they live in.

If it should prove necessary, there are a variety of measures available to the Government to counteract recessionary tendencies. I shall only mention a few of these measures: the removal of any direct restrictions which may then exist on business investment and consumer and mortgage credit; the traditional easing of general credit and banking policy; the possibilities of freeing purchasing power by tax reductions are very great; [the acceleration of] public works construction. There is general agreement among the American people that we must expand our efforts to prevent national disasters such as we have recently suffered from floods in the Missouri Valley.

In summary, then, the weight of the evidence leads to the conclusion that the coming adjustment problem will be much smaller than the one we handled successfully after World War II. There is no denying there will be a problem. But there should be no reason for alarm about our ability to meet it. We have the tools for coping with any necessary readjustment when we have reached the peak of our defense expenditures.

The people of the United States are determined to maintain high levels of demand and to continue to trade their products on a large scale with the people of other peace-loving countries. They are determined to have an expanding economy, not only at home but also abroad. They know that only an expanding economy can provide reasonable over-all stability and individual economic security within a framework of genuine democracy and freedom.

That is why the development of underdeveloped countries will continue to be a cardinal point in our foreign policy. As President Truman said in his State of the Union message last January: "There is nothing of greater importance in all our foreign policy. There is nothing that shows more clearly what we stand for and what we want to achieve." "What we can do now", said the President on another recent occasion, "is sharply limited by the cost of maintaining defenses to prevent aggression and war. If that cost could be reduced-if the burden of armaments could be lessened, new energies and resources would be liberated for greatly enlarged programs of reconstruction and development."

Woolen and Worsted Textiles Earnings in April-May 1952

WOOLEN and worsted textile-mill production workers had average straight-time earnings of $1.45 an hour in April-May 1952, according to a survey made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.1 Although earnings of individual workers ranged from less than 75 cents to more than $2.10 an hour (a spread of $1.35), the middle 50 percent earned from $1.25 to $1.65 an hour. Average hourly earnings in woolen mills amounted to $1.41 and in worsted mills to $1.48 (table 1).

Earnings of individual workers in both woolen and worsted mills varied by more than $1.35 an hour. In mills producing woolen products, the middle 50 percent were concentrated within a 40-cent range ($1.20 to $1.60); in worsted mills, within a range of 35 cents ($1.30 to $1.65). About 14 percent of the industry's total employment earned less than $1.15 an hour and a similar proportion received $1.75 or more. Nearly twice as many woolen-mill workers (18 percent) as worstedmill workers (9.3 percent) averaged under $1.15 an hour; the ratios for $1.75 an hour or more were 13 and 16 percent, respectively.

Earnings in woolen and worsted textiles also varied by type of mill.2 Production workers in weaving mills averaged $1.60 an hour-25 and 15 cents more, respectively, than those in yarn mills and integrated mills (table 2). The difference, at least in part, is attributable to the greater proportion of skilled workers in weaving mills. Weaving mills accounted for only 1 of every 16 workers in the woolen and worsted industry, integrated mills for 3 of every 4 workers, and yarn mills for about 1 of every 6 workers.

Women comprised about two-fifths of the total work force in the woolen and worsted industry in

1 This survey included woolen and worsted textile mills employing 21 or more workers. Excluded were mills primarily engaged in the manufacture of pile fabrics, carpets, rugs, or carpet yarn. It was estimated that the total employment in the industry as defined above was approximately 111,000. Of these, approximately 100,000 were production workers and were almost equally divided between mills primarily producing woolen yarn or fabrics and those producing worsted yarn or fabrics.

The data exclude premium pay for overtime and late-shift work. More detailed information on wages and related practices is available on request. 2 Woolen and worsted mills are of three main types, namely, yarn, weaving, and integrated. Yarn mills spin raw wool into finished yarns for use in weaving and knitting fabrics; weaving mills produce cloth from yarn spun in yarn mills; and integrated mills perform both the spinning and the weaving operations in processing raw wool into cloth.

1 Excludes premium pay for overtime and night work.

* Includes data for other regions in addition to those shown separately.

April-May 1952. This proportion was approximately the same in weaving and integrated mills; in yarn mills, however, nearly three-fifths of the total production workers were women.

Hourly earnings of women in woolen and worsted mills were, on the average, 11 cents lower than those of men-$1.38 as compared with $1.49partly because women were generally engaged in the lesser-skilled jobs. Women averaged 10 cents an hour below men in integrated mills and in weaving mills, and 14 cents in yarn mills. Average earnings of women were $1.39 in integrated mills, $1.54 in weaving mills, and $1.30 in yarn mills (table 2).

Between April 1946, the date of the Bureau's last Nation-wide study of woolen and worsted textiles, and April-May 1952, average hourly earnings had advanced approximately 55 percent: from 94 cents to $1.45 for the industry as a whole; from 92 cents to $1.41 for woolen mills; and from 95 cents to $1.48 for worsted mills. The proportion of the industry's work force earning at least $1 an hour advanced from about 31 to 98 percent;

9, 177 13,644 4,005 3,415 1,441 1,060 $1.47 $1.19 $1.23 $1.25 $1.51 $1.54

Includes data for worsted yarn or fabric mills which were insufficient to permit separate presentation. 4 Less than 0.05 of 1 percent.

that of woolen-mill workers, from 30 to 96 percent; and that of worsted-mill workers, from 32 to 99 percent.

Woolen and worsted textile mills which had collective-bargaining agreements with labor unions employed slightly over half of the industry's production workers. On a regional basis, the proportion of workers covered by union contracts varied widely-from a fifth in the Southeast to all in the Pacific region. Half of the production workers in the woolen and worsted industry in the New England and Great Lakes regions were employed in mills having collective-bargaining agreements; in the Middle Atlantic States, three-fourths of the workers were in unionized mills.

Regional Variations

The woolen and worsted industry is located largely in New England, where about 63,000 of the production workers in the industry were em

3 See BLS Wage Structure Series 2, No. 40, Woolen and Worsted Textiles, 1946.

ployed in April-May 1952; approximately 18,000 were in the Middle Atlantic States, nearly 14,000 in the Southeast, and about 5,400 in the Great Lakes and Pacific regions. Hourly earnings of production workers averaged $1.51 on the Pacific Coast, $1.50 in New England, $1.47 in the Middle Atlantic States, $1.23 in the Great Lakes region, and $1.19 in the Southeast.

Earnings of less than $1.15 an hour were received by 3 percent of the workers in New England, 14 percent in the Middle Atlantic States, 56 percent in the Southeast, and 43 percent in the Great Lakes. On the other hand, hourly earnings averaged $1.75 or more for 17 percent of New England workers, 18 percent of those in the Middle Atlantic, and 1 and 4 percent, respectively, in the Southeast and Great Lakes regions. The middle 50 percent of the workers in New England earned from $1.30 to $1.70 an hour; in the Middle Atlantic States, from $1.25 to $1.65; in the Southeast, from $1.05 to $1.30; and in the Great Lakes region, from $1.05 to $1.40.

About 70 percent of the total employment on worsted products and over half of the workers in woolen mills were concentrated in New England. Worsted workers in this region earned, on the average, $1.53 an hour-5 cents more than woolen workers. In the Middle Atlantic States, however,

1

where nearly a fifth of the workers in worsted mills and a sixth of those in woolen mills were employed, earnings averaged $1.47 an hour for both.

Production employment in weaving mills was significant in only the two most important regions and represented 6 percent of the workers in New England and 14 percent in the Middle Atlantic States. In both regions, weaving mills primarily produced worsted fabrics. Hourly earnings in New England worsted-weaving mills averaged $1.64 and were 3 cents higher than in similar mills in the Middle Atlantic States.

Workers in integrated mills, which accounted for at least two-thirds of the industry employment in each region, earned, on the average, $1.51 an hour in New England; $1.52 in the Middle Atlantic States; $1.20 in the Southeast; $1.25 in the Great Lakes; and $1.54 on the Pacific Coast.

Earnings in yarn mills, which employed about a fifth of the production workers in both the New England and Middle Atlantic regions, were 23 cents an hour higher in New England ($1.43) than in the Middle Atlantic ($1.20).

4 For purposes of this study the regions include: New England-Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic-New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; SoutheastAlabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; Great Lakes-Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin; Pacific-California, Oregon, and Washington.