President[ Herbert Hoover
Date[ December 6, 1932
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
In accord with my constitutional duty, I transmit herewith to the Congress
information upon the state of the Union together with recommendation of
measures for its consideration.
Our country is at peace. Our national defense has been maintained at a high
state of effectiveness. All of the executive departments of the Government
have been conducted during the year with a high devotion to public
interest. There has been a far larger degree of freedom from industrial
conflict than hitherto known. Education and science have made further
advances. The public health is to-day at its highest known level. While we
have recently engaged in the aggressive contest of a national election, its
very tranquillity and the acceptance of its results furnish abundant proof
of the strength of our institutions.
In the face of widespread hardship our people have demonstrated daily a
magnificent sense of humanity, of individual and community responsibility
for the welfare of the less fortunate. They have grown in their conceptions
and organization for cooperative action for the common welfare.
In the provision against distress during this winter, the great private
agencies of the country have been mobilized again; the generosity of our
people has again come into evidence to a degree in which all America may
take great pride. Likewise the local authorities and the States are engaged
everywhere in supplemental measures of relief. The provisions made for
loans from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, to States that have
exhausted their own resources, guarantee that there should be no hunger or
suffering from cold in the country. The large majority of States are
showing a sturdy cooperation in the spirit of the Federal aid.
The Surgeon General, in charge of the Public Health Service, furnishes me
with the following information upon the state of public health:
MORTALITY RATE PER 1,000 OF POPULATION ON AN ANNUAL BASIS FROM
REPRESENTATIVE STATES - General - Infant
First 9 months of-- - -
1928 - 11.9 - 67.8
1929 - 12.0 - 65.8
1930 - 11.4 - 62.0
1931 - 11.2 - 60.0
1932 - 10.6 - 55.0
The sickness rates from data available show the same trends. These facts
indicate the fine endeavor of the agencies which have been mobilized for
care of those in distress.
ECONOMIC SITUATION
The unparalleled world-wide economic depression has continued through the
year. Due to the European collapse, the situation developed during last
fall and winter into a series of most acute crises. The unprecedented
emergency measures enacted and policies adopted undoubtedly saved the
country from economic disaster. After serving to defend the national
security, these measures began in July to show their weight and influence
toward improvement of conditions in many parts of the country. The
following tables of current business indicators show the general economic
movement during the past eleven months.
MONTHLY BUSINESS INDICES WITH SEASONAL VARIATIONS ELIMINATED
Year and Month - Industrial Production - Factory Employment - Freight-car
loadings - Department Store sales, value - Exports, value - Imports, value
- Building Contracts, all types - Industrial Electric power consumption
1931 - - - - - - - -
December - 74 - 69.4 - 69 - 81 - 46 - 48 - 38 - 89.1
1932 - - - - - - - -
January - 72 - 68.1 - 64 - 78 - 39 - 42 - 31 - 93.9
February - 69 - 67.8 - 62 - 78 - 45 - 41 - 27 - 98.8
March - 67 - 66.4 - 61 - 72 - 41 - 37 - 26 - 88.0
April - 63 - 64.3 - 59 - 80 - 38 - 36 - 27 - 82.2
May - 60 - 62.1 - 54 - 73 - 37 - 34 - 26 - 82.0
June - 59 - 60.0 - 52 - 71 - 34 - 36 - 27 - 78.1
July - 58 - 58.3 - 51 - 67 - 32 - 27 - 27 - 79.2
August - 60 - 58.8 - 51 - 66 - 31 - 29 - 30 - 73.5
September - 66 - 60.3 - 54 - 70 - 33 - 32 - 30 - 84.0
October - 66 - 61.1 - 57 - 70 - 33 - 32 - 29 - 84.4
The measures and policies which have procured this turn toward recovery
should be continued until the depression is passed, and then the emergency
agencies should be promptly liquidated. The expansion of credit facilities
by the Federal Reserve System and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
has been of incalculable value. The loans of the latter for reproductive
works, and to railways for the creation of employment; its support of the
credit structure through loans to banks, insurance companies, railways,
building and loan associations, and to agriculture has protected the
savings and insurance policies of millions of our citizens and has relieved
millions of borrowers from duress; they have enabled industry and business
to function and expand. The assistance given to Farm Loan Banks, the
establishment of the Home Loan Banks and Agricultural Credit
Associations--all in their various ramifications have placed large sums of
money at the disposal of the people in protection and aid. Beyond this, the
extensive organization of the country in voluntary action has produced
profound results.
The following table indicates direct expenditures of the Federal Government
in aid to unemployment, agriculture, and financial relief over the past
four years. The sums applied to financial relief multiply themselves many
fold, being in considerable measure the initial capital supplied to the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Farm Loan Banks, etc., which will be
recovered to the Treasury.
- Public works (1) - Agricultural relief and financial loans
Fiscal year ending June 30 - -
1930 - $410,420,000 - $156,100,000
1931 - 574,870,000 - 196,700,000
1932 - 655,880,000 - 772,700,000
1933 - 717,260,000 - 52,000,000 -
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