Headlines & Deadlines

Early last week Works Progress Administrator Harry Hopkins was allotted $142,245,875 to hire 169,000 relief workers in New York City, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana and the District of Columbia. Same day, the House clipped President Roosevelt's so-called "death sentence" out of the Utilities Bill.

To newshawks who trooped into the White House two days later for the President's regular mid-week press conference, the progress of work relief was of small interest. What they and the nation wanted to know was what President Roosevelt was going to do about his House rebuff. That was precisely what President Roosevelt did not wish to discuss. Hence, like any Senator, he launched a one-man filibuster.

In high good humor he let the Press in on the news that citizens were criticizing the Works program for its snail's-pace start, for its prospect of amounting to no more than $4,000,000,000 worth of boondoggling and leaf-raking. Just to prove that it would not be boondoggling he was going to read a list of the projects approved day before yesterday. Let the newshawks stop him when they got tired. The President picked up a twelve-page sheaf of papers, commenced to read such items as the following:

Georgia: malaria control in Dublin; clearing woodland in Cairo; converting a depot into a common house in Wrens; opening, clearing and straightening the channel of Tanyard Stream in Barnesville; a fertilizer plant in Catoosa County; repairs on court house in Donalsonville; paving sidewalk in Tallapoosa; sanitation pit project of 400 units in Cairo; renovation of school in Blakely; bridge in Thomson; road improvement in Trenton. . . .

"Tired, Mr. President." moaned a newshawk. The President droned on:

Indiana: city water main extension in Decatur; demolition of school building in La Porte County; construction of artificial lake in St. Bernice; construction of city athletic field in Mishawaka; construction of various low log dams in Morgan County; ditch repairing in Miami County; city library book repairs in Terre Haute. . . .

"Still tired, Mr. President," groaned a newshawk. The President droned on:

Alabama: rebuilding storm sewers in Montgomery; malaria control in Mobile; cleaning the Cahaba River in Bibb County; steel bridge over Copeland Creek in Madison; double treatment asphalt street paving in Greenville; improving cemetery drives in Gadsden; a reform school in Mt. Meigs; a swimming pool in Columbiana. . . .

"Exhausted, Mr. President!" chorused the perspiring newshawks. The President droned on & on & on. Not until the 35-min. conference was almost over did he end his filibuster, neatly parry a utilities question with a line of verse.

Zero. When President Roosevelt finally got his $4,880,000,000 from Congress last April 8, he set July 1, amid a great splatter of headlines, as the date when all the nation's employables would have been shifted from local dole to Federal work. When that deadline came & went last week the new Works program stood as follows:

Projects approved: 474

Money allotted: $402,874,114

Workers employed: 0

When Administrator Hopkins publicly admitted two days later that "not a single man" had yet been put to work, some of his underlings tried to put a better face on the matter by announcing that "several hundred" were at work on four projects: two War Department jobs in the Ohio and Upper Mississippi Rivers; the tide-harnessing Dam at Passamaquoddy. Me.; a Department of Agriculture pest eradication program in New England. Investigation disclosed that: 1) the War Department jobs had been in progress since 1910 and 1930 respectively; 2) the Passamaquoddy project had been launched only that very day by Vice President Garner; 3) the pest eradication program had not begun at all.

Trapped by their own barrage of publicity. Works officials pushed the starting deadline ahead to July 15, talked hopefully of "hundreds" of projects to be under way by Aug. 1.

Two major problems were stalling the $4,000,000,000 Works machine. One was the difficulty of finding enough worthwhile jobs to employ the promised 3,500,000 persons at an average cost, including materials, of $1,143 Per worker. Other was the difficulty of settling jurisdictional bounds between Secretary Ickes & his PWA. Administrator Hopkins & his WPA. Last week Works chiefs did something about both problems.

Jobs. When the new Works program was adopted some 4,250,000 heads of families and single persons were on relief. About 750,000 of them were unemploy-ables--aged, sick, crippled. Care of these was to be shifted exclusively to states and municipalities. That left 3,500,000 healthy workers to be supplied with relief jobs. Some $1,250,000,000 of the Works fund was earmarked for rural resettlement, rural electrification, soil-erosion and flood control, CCC work and the like to take care of about 500,000 workers. Since Administrator Hopkins already had more than 2,000,000 persons employed on FERA works projects, a good share of the remaining task could be accomplished largely by bookkeeping.

Current FERA projects will be finished up or gradually transferred to the new setup. Last week Mr. Hopkins estimated that he could carry over about half of these projects, employing 1,000,000 workers. WPA differs from FERA in an all-round tightening of Federal control, plus wage and hour shifts. Though paid on a different basis, WPA's wages amount per month to about the same as FERA's. But WPA employes must work full-time for their pay, whereas FERA employes work only part-time. That means that one WPA employe may do the work of four or five FERA employes, vastly enlarging the problem of finding enough jobs to keep everybody busy. Last week Mr. Hopkins budged this obstacle by lowering his WPA working month from 180 to 140 hours. PWA has worked from the start on a 130-hr. month.

Jurisdiction. President Roosevelt's first draft of the Works machine showed three big wheels nicely geared with each other and with some 50 subsidiary wheels. The major wheels represented: 1) Frank Walker's Division of Applications which was to sift applications, pass worthy ones along to: 2) Harold Ickes' Works Allotments Boards which would allot money for approved projects, pass it along to: 3) Harry Hopkins' Works Progress Administration which would supervise actual work. The machine looked good on paper but when its wheels were set to spinning the friction was terrific. Messrs. Walker, Ickes and Hopkins solemnly protested that they were whirring together like clockwork, but their grating, grinding, creeping progress gave them away. Inspection disclosed two defects. Mr. Walker's wheel was not turning fast enough. One of Mr. Ickes' subsidiary wheels was jamming Mr. Hopkins' big one.

Mr. Ickes' troublemaking wheel was PWA. Instead of staying in its appointed place it was slipping up beside the Hopkins wheel, i. e. Mr. Ickes and Mr. Hopkins, each coveting the distinction of putting the larger number of men to work, were competing for projects. Mr. Hop- kins had the edge because WPA could pay 100% of a project's cost, whereas PWA could make a gift of only 45%, leaving states and municipalities to borrow or supply the rest.

Last week President Roosevelt stepped in to reorganize his machine. First off, he unmeshed WPA and PWA. Hereafter Mr. Hopkins was to get all projects costing up to $25,000, Mr. Ickes all those costing more. Furthermore applications, depending on their amounts, were to be made directly to PWA or WPA. Mr. Walker was left to perform one of his customary graceful fadeouts.

In practice the new division will work out as follows:

For Mr. Ickes: canals; for Mr. Hopkins: ditches. For Mr. Ickes: highways; for Mr. Hopkins: sidewalks. For Mr. Ickes: public buildings; for Mr. Hopkins: landscaping. For Mr. Ickes: water systems; for Mr. Hopkins: reservoirs. For Mr. Ickes: airport buildings; for Mr. Hopkins: airports. For Mr. Ickes: sewer systems; for Mr. Hopkins: gutters. For Mr. Ickes: big dams; for Mr. Hopkins: little dams.

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