INDEPENDENCE VERSUS DEPENDENCE 139 



up. Above all they should not be fed upon promises 

 of blissful security in the distant future after our 

 reformers have finished tinkering with the industrial 

 system and remolding all our institutions nearest to 

 their heart's desire. 



When a family cannot support itself, and secure 

 the food, clothing, and shelter it needs by getting 

 employment in a factory, or an office, or a store, the 

 only sensible thing for it to do is to support itself by 

 producing these things for itself on its own home- 

 stead. If the unemployed are to be made secure at least 

 as to the needs of life, nothing short of this is ade- 

 quate. They surely cannot be made secure by shifting 

 their dependence for their livelihood from the business 

 cycle to the political cycle, neither of which is capable 

 of coping with the inherent insecurity of industrial 

 production. 



Let us not fool ourselves about what the future 

 holds in store for us. There are at present no grounds 

 whatever for expecting any return to normal business 

 very soon. No responsible student of business condi- 

 tions expects any complete solution of the problem 

 of unemployment during the coming year. Eventually 

 another period of expansion may come, but as in the 

 depression of 1873, it may take ten years to get back 

 to full employment again. 



These facts are so generally recognized that every- 

 where plans are being made for the continuation of 

 direct relief programs. In New York City, where the 



