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Show Needed Regulation forW. P. A. By ERIK McKINLEY ERIKSSON i Professor of History, University of Southern Culiiornin The legislation reducing the W.P.A. appropriation by $150,000,000 is of great importance because it marks the first time in six years that Congress Con-gress has dared ! to defy the jetT& President in the ' "'?J matter of relief. vtf Furthermore It F . is the first legis- fe -v1 .-Hk lalion which at- t-J j tempts to regu- - . y j late in any way 1 Federal expen- ditures for re-f re-f t J 'ief' Ever slnce .j '-'wf UieNewDeai Ji ! began in 1933, i C,r I "rubber stamp" 'l i Congresses i SX have obediently Ua-, IVV heeded the President's demands de-mands for enormous amounts to be expended as the Executive and his advisers saw lit. The W. P. A. itself, it might be well to recall, owes its existence solely to the President. Congress, the constitutional lawmaking lawmak-ing agency, which is supposed to determine de-termine the nation's policies, has never directly approved the W. P. A. and its multitude of activities such as the theatre, art, writers' and education edu-cation projects. Unquestionably, the action of Congress Con-gress in cutting the W. P. A. appropriation appro-priation reflects the sentiments of the great majority of the American people. peo-ple. Nobody wishes to see anyone starve or suffer undue hardship. As long as relief has to be given, the majority apparently favor work relief re-lief even though it is more expensive than the dole. But the taxpayers have a right to exppct value received for their money. Why should a W. P. A. project cost two or three times as much as it would if carried out by a private contractor with employees receiving regular wages? A growing number of people are convinced that it is because W. P. A. worker are too much afflicted with the notion that the world owes them a living and that there is no need for them to give efficient arid honest service. The purpose pur-pose of work relief is, as the W. P. A. propagandists say, to preserve the morale and skills (if any) of tha workers. But how can morale be preserved pre-served by the loafing tactics which are so typical of W. P. A. projects? Congress has made a beginning toward to-ward improvement of the W. P. A. in several ways. By prohibiting relief re-lief payments to persons who refuse to accept private employment at the prevailing wages of the community, one important source of complaint may be eliminated. Every locality has Us quota of persons who have refused to accept employment on farms, in households or in trades because be-cause they preferred to remain on W. P. A. Such a condition should never have been permitted. By curbing curb-ing the political activities of the W. P. A. the national legislature has begun the elimination of one of the worst evils in the organization. Preceding Pre-ceding the 193(i and liMB elections, the political activities of the W. P. A. were notorious. Congress has also made a start In promoting economy but the fight is not over. No sooner had the President Presi-dent signed the appropriation act than he again demanded in a special message, that an additional $150,000,-000 $150,000,-000 be immediately appropriated for the W. P. A. The lawmakers, however, how-ever, should be supported in their stand. Let the administration first faithfully administer the amount appropriated ap-propriated before demanding mure money. Why not wait to see if there will be anv emergency before voting another $150,000,000? |