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The Tide of Employment

REPORTER:

HERBERT HOOVER:
FRANCES PERKINS:

PAUL CALDWELL WILSON:

LOU HENRY HOOVER:

ANNIE:

FRED:
(OTHER CAMPERS)

SCENE ONE: White House

Setting is at the White House. There are fancy chairs and couches around. At first the Reporter stands at front, alone, but then goes to join Hoover, front center.

REPORTER: The great crash of Wall Street was barely eight months ago, and President Hoover so far has done nothing about the unemployment situation. Groups of people are collecting in places they’ve come to call “Hoovervilles,” such as Anacostia, here in Washington DC. Meanwhile I’ve come to the White House to talk to Mr. Hoover about what exactly he plans.

Reporter sits with Hoover and puts microphone in front of him as appropriate.

REPORTER: Mr. Hoover, what can you tell us about the employment situation, and what you’re doing about it?

HERBERT: The tide of employment has changed in the right direction! People will be employed soon, I’m sure! It’s all a matter of confidence. When the employers become more confident about our future, they will hire more people.

REPORTER: How can you assure us of that?

HERBERT: I base my analysis on the US Employment Service. Look, I am just the President. I do not employ people, the businesses employ them. The businesses have to have confidence, before they take someone on, but I assure you, they have every reason to be confident. The US Employment Service assures us, the tide of employment is going in the right direction!

SCENE TWO: Perkins’ residence

Similar to Scene One; it’s a private, well-to-do residence. There is a kitchen table. Francis sits at the kitchen table, writing in her diary.

FRANCES: (reading aloud to audience)

Dear Diary, These are the worst of times. Our president does not see the pain that people are in. There are no jobs, and nobody is doing anything about it. I fear the jobless will feel there’s something wrong with them personally. A great despair will enter their hearts. Young people will read the stories of our times and say, “Why doesn’t Papa work?” He says it’s a matter of confidence. If people are not confident, whose fault is that? If nobody wants to be the first to start hiring people, whose fault is that?

(PAUL enters)

PAUL: What are you doing, darling?
FRANCES: Writing in my diary.

PAUL: You look quite agitated.

FRANCES: I am. Hoover has just made a speech. He said he felt that the (mocking his voice, making it obvious she doesn’t agree) “tide of employment has changed in the right direction!”

PAUL: It doesn’t look like it has, based on the lines at the employment center!

FRANCES: That’s exactly my point! He based his information on the US Employment Service. But the US Employment Service is notoriously inaccurate! The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is more current, and more accurate, says that people are being laid off. People are losing their jobs. His Secretary of Labor says we’re “well on the way to recovery.” But I can see that we’re not!

PAUL: You know, we could be in for a long depression.

FRANCES: Yes, and you know what? This isn’t a problem that solves itself.

PAUL: And you know, the problem with that buzzard is, it could be that government involvement is the only way to get the country back on track. You know, printing money, employing people, setting up some kind of safety net. You can’t just sit around and watch people starve!

FRANCES: Yes, but that’s what he’ll do! You watch!

(they exit.)

SCENE THREE: White House

(LOU HENRY and HERBERT enter. LOU HENRY is bringing HERBERT a cup of tea).

LOU HENRY: So, you said the tide of employment has changed in the right direction?

HERBERT: Yes, dear, I said that. I said it because it has!

LOU HENRY: And what did you base that idea on?

HERBERT: On statistics from the US Employment Service. Do you have a problem with that?

LOU HENRY: I just don’t quite believe them, is all. I think maybe you’re seeing what you want to see, instead of seeing what’s out there.

HERBERT: It’s all confidence, dear. These businesses will hire people, if they think things are turning up. We have to keep our heads up, look at the good side! We have to keep looking forward!

LOU HENRY: But that doesn’t mean looking at the wrong statistics!

HERBERT: Statistics are statistics; numbers don’t lie! I’ve been using the same statistics all my life, and they never really failed me. I realize, maybe I’m looking at the good statistics, not the bad ones. But if these guys say the tide is turning, I’ll take it! I’ll not question it, and then go out there and tell everyone to starve!

LOU HENRY: I see your point. But in the end, they may starve anyway.

HERBERT: So what am I supposed to do about it?

LOU HENRY: I don’t know, Herbert. But you are the President. You can think of something, can’t you? People are starving! They’re making tent camps, like that one in Anacostia. They are cursing you under their breath!

HERBERT: Listen, Lou Henry. As you know, I was an orphan. I was hungry once. It’s not that I don’t know what it’s like to be hungry; I do. I just don’t feel like it’s the President’s job to make sure everyone gets fed. These businesses will start hiring, I know they will. They just need the confidence to get going. They need to feel like everyone else is doing it, and like it will turn out ok.

LOU HENRY: By the way, you know that place down near here, called Anacostia? The one people are beginning to call “Hooverville?” Anyway it’s where the poor people are. I was thinking, I could at least take some of our extra food down there. We have so much, we have extra.

HERBERT: No, I won’t have it. We are the first family; we must show confidence that it will all get better. We can’t go mixing in with people down there.

SCENE FOUR: Campfire

SETTING is HOOVERVILLE, ANACOSTIA. Tired, dirty, poorly dressed people are around a fire. There can be as many as you like, or just two. The first is ANNIE, and the second is FRED, but there can be many singers. The tune is from We’d like to thank you Herbert Hoover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqvYNoiPDKw. But it can be chanted, or sung without the tune.

[ANNIE]
Today we're living in a shanty
Today we're scrounging for a meal

[FRED]
Today I'm stealing coal for fires
Who knew I could steal?

[ANNIE]
I used to winter in the tropics

[FRED]
I spent my summers at the shore

[ANNIE]
I used to throw away the paper—

[ALL]

we don’t anymore!

[ALL]
We'd like to thank you: Herber Hoover
For really showing us the way
We'd like to thank you, Herbert Hoover
You made us what we are today

Prosperity was 'round the corner
The cozy cottage built for two
In this blue heaven
That you
Gave us
Yes! We're turning blue!

They offered us Al Smith and Hoover
We paid attention and we chose
Not only did we pay attention
We paid through the nose.

In ev'ry pot he said "a chicken"
But Herbert Hoover he forgot
Not only don't we have the chicken
We ain't got the pot!
Hey Herbie

[WOMEN]
You left behind a grateful nation

[ALL]
So, Herb, our hats are off to you
We're up to here with admiration

[ANNIE]
Come down and have a little stew

[ALL]
Come down and share some Christmas dinner
Be sure to bring the missus too
We got no turkey for our stuffing

Why don’t we stuff you

We'd like to thank you, Herbert Hoover (Thank you Herbie)
For really showing us the way
You dirty rat, you Bureaucrat, you
Made us what we are today
Come and get it, Herb!

(they exit)

SCENE FIVE: Perkins’ house

(enter FRANCES and PAUL. FRANCES is serving tea.)

FRANCES: Well, Hoover is turning out to be one of the most unpopular presidents, ever!

PAUL: Yes, the main problem is that so many people are starving, eh?

FRANCES: The unemployment rate has reached 25%. It’s like nobody is working except the mailman and the public school teachers.

PAUL: But he’s raised taxes on everyone. What does he think, that the common people can take much more of this?

FRANCES: Well, as you know, he believes in balancing the budget. And he passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff, so that dried up international trade!

PAUL: Yes, you make tariffs, they make tariffs, pretty soon there’s less trade, no jobs, more of the same. He thought he was protecting jobs, but it didn’t work out that way. And the worst thing is that he’s supporting Prohibition! He called it an “experiment,” like he would take it away if it didn’t work. Well, it didn’t work. But we’re still stuck with it.

FRANCES: Yes, does he think people shouldn’t be able to drink away their woes?

PAUL: Well, it’s really more a practical matter. I can see the damage that alcohol does, but is it really possible to make it illegal, and keep it that way? People like this Al Capone, they’re just smuggling it in, making the big money, and that makes the people even more angry I would think.

FRANCES: Not to mention, need a drink once in a while.

PAUL: That reminds me (producing a wine bottle): Would you like a sip? It’s tough times. We need to get through it. (He pours) Listen, Frances. Cheers! (they raise glasses together and clink them). You are the new Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor. My point is, you are prominent. You are in the public eye. When you say that Hoover is using bogus statistics to make his point, people listen. It’s important what’s going on here. People are starving. Hoover is ignoring it, and pretending everything is going to be ok. What if it’s not ok? Somebody has to do something!

FRANCES: I’m doing the best I can, Paul! It is not easy, watching these people starve!

(they leave)

SCENE SIX: White House

(HERBERT and LOU HENRY come and occupy the same table).

LOU HENRY: Your heart looks heavy, Herbert. It looks like it’s weighing on you.

HERBERT: It is. I am well aware that people are starving, and that they blame me.

LOU HENRY: Let me remind you of something, Herbert. You have led an exemplary life. You helped rebuild Europe after World War One. You fed millions of Europeans with the American Relief Administration. That was no small thing. You have showed the world how one person can make a difference.

HERBERT: But here, I just don’t see what I can do. I started the Hoover Dam; I made projects that employed people. I know how to get things done, make plans, get the money, get projects rolling. But I can’t just make business start hiring! I can’t just go out and feed people, and put them on the dole! That’s not how it works! These businesses have to take the initiative here! It’s just not government’s job!

LOU HENRY: Perhaps you shouldn’t have raised taxes?

HERBERT: You have to balance the budget! If the government just starts borrowing, borrowing, borrowing, where does that lead us? I can’t see it. We had to have the money to keep government going. I don’t know any way out!

LOU HENRY: You know, Herbert, I can’t help but think of our Quaker heritage. We both grew up Quaker, grew up in the same faith. Where are the principles of compassion, and helping the poor? We sit here, with this nice tablecloth, and our fine silver, (she waves her arms at the finery on the table; at this point there are at least a few dishes, and teacups), and out there people are starving. I’d like to help them, maybe take some food down to Anacostia, but you think that’s not becoming of the Presidency. Sometimes it seems to me that the only thing left of our Quakerism is our stubborn refusal to let people drink!

HERBERT: Actually I wouldn’t mind a little drink, at this point.

LOU HENRY: What, make it illegal for everyone, but indulge ourselves? I’ll not have it! I may have given up on all our other Quaker ideals, but I’ll not give up on doing yourself as you let others do.

HERBERT: By the way, I’ve received reports that you’ve arranged to take leftover foods from the White House, over to Anacostia at times on weekends. Is this true?

LOU HENRY: Yes it is, I arrange for it anyway. You see, I can’t bear to know that people are starving. It is one thing, that they say the President has no thought for the little man, but only trying to save the bloated plutocrat. They can say all the mean and hurtful things they want. But as for myself, if I waste food, while people are starving, I can’t bear that. I will go and help them if I can. It’s my kitchen; it’s my food, and I can have our people take it over there.

HERBERT: Just be careful, OK? I don’t really want you going over there yourself. Just have the kitchen help do it; they’ll know how to get it over there, and what to do. It’s not safe if you go. I can’t bear to see you in danger.

(they leave)

SCENE SEVEN: Reporter is at tv set

REPORTER: Good evening. Today the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor, Frances Perkins, criticized President Hoover, for using the wrong statistics when he said that the “tide of employment” had turned and that employers were beginning to hire more workers. She said that the US Employment Service had inaccurate statistics, and should not be trusted, and, in addition, correct statistics would show that things were not in fact getting better. (she exits)

(Scene returns to Hooverville, a campfire. Everyone is rubbing their hands to stay warm. They are dressed in rags and old clothing. Annie and Fred are among many, as many as can be mustered. Children are welcome at this point too.)

ANNIE: I hate Herbert Hoover so much! He sits up there in his elegance, his finery, and we, down here in Anacostia, we starve!

FRED: Yeah, back in Europe, he said, “Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!” But look at him now. He’s up there in that White House, with his silver and his china, and do you think he’d feed us? I don’t think so!

ANNIE: And you can’t even have a drink, or they’ll arrest you!

FRED: Oh you can bet those rich people have plenty to drink! They’re hiding behind their walls and gates, just drinking away, they are! It’s us who have to go to the poor house, or go to jail for picking up a sip here and there.

ANNIE: The hypocrisy of it, that’s what I hate! They have their jobs, their salaries, their houses. They can hide. We’re out here, in the cold. In the park. We make one move, the coppers will see us!

FRED: You think they’re happy up there? You think they’re drunk? ‘Cause I’ll tell you, I don’t know what they’re doing.

ANNIE: You know, I think about his wife sometimes. What would it be like to be married to a skinflint teetotaler like Hoover? A miserable, stubborn, greedy old fool! I think she must be miserable too!

FRED: Oh miserable, I don’t think so. He had millions before he was even president. He never hurt for money. Sure, he was an orphan once, but he made so many millions, he forgot all about what it was like to be hungry. He made the Hoover Dam, he did this, he did that. I don’t think they’re suffering. I think they’re made in the shade!

(LOU enters from left, stands in front, does not see campers, speaks directly to audience. She is carrying a box. )

LOU HENRY: When I was a kid, we lived out in the country. We made a fire in the stove to keep us warm. But you know, that’s the time I would feel hungry. I could work all day, and not feel it, if we were a little short of food, or if somebody ate all the biscuits. But at night, when it got cold, that’s when I’d feel it. So now, I have this box of food. Some of it needs to be eaten; it might go bad. But I don’t want to throw it out. And the kitchen help, they’re done for the night. They went home. It’s just me, and I’m going to take it down there.

(She takes a wide turn off to the side of the stage, then comes back, in front of the people in the campfire. She shows the audience the box again, before turning back and presenting it to them.)

LOU HENRY: Excuse me? (setting a box in front of them) These are various kinds of food that we won’t be eating. We thought we’d bring you something, you know, just to help tide you over.

FRED: (standing, removing his hat) Why thank you ma’am. Much obliged. God bless you!

(CURTAIN CALL)

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Monday, July 16, 2018

Tide of Employment

Tide of Employment

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