Statement on the Advisory Committee on Unemployment Statistics.

THE PRESIDENT said:

"I am today appointing a committee to advise the Government departments on methods for revision of the statistical services for the determination of unemployment and to establish the method of cooperation between Government departments and business. Congress at the last session added somewhat to the requirements of this service, the purpose of such information being not only a barometer of business but the necessary information as to measures which need to be taken by local agencies as well as the Government in any constructive relief of unemployment.

"The need for more systematic information has been generally endorsed by business and labor organizations for some years.

"The Committee will be made representative of the American Federation of Labor, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers' Association, Industrial Conference Board, the Railway Employees and other labor organizations, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Committee on Economic Changes, and other economic bodies.

"Mr. Stewart of the Department of Labor and Mr. Steuart, Director of the Census, and a representative of the Department of Agriculture will be ex officio members.

"The question is not as simple as it appears on the surface. The inclusion of a determination of the amount of unemployment in the Census taken April 1st gives us for the first time an accurate base on which to formulate plans and a knowledge of the whole problem which we have never hitherto possessed. But if we were to attempt such an absolutely accurate determination of employment once every 3 months it would require a house-to-house canvass of the entire Nation and would be practically the equivalent of the Census and might cost us $10 or $15 million per annum. On the other hand it has been long recognized that the present Department of Labor statistics are inadequate, the cost of which is about $150,000 per annum. In order to secure the information we need at reasonable cost we must find a new basis for recruiting it. Such a basis can only be formulated by the cooperation of industry, labor, and other agencies.

"To some who are anxious over the appointment of temporary committees and commissions for advisory fact-finding, coordinating, or negotiating purposes, I may suggest that they are not a new necessity in government. President Roosevelt created 107 of them, President Taft 63, President Wilson 160, President Harding 44, and President Coolidge 118. As we need the best brains of the country to assist in government and in the coordination of public efforts, I shall appoint others. The willingness of our people of specialized knowledge to give such voluntary service as this requires is one of the most gratifying qualities in citizenship."