Show 0 0 national topics interpreted by william bruckart Nal lonal press preas building washington D C washington pi roosevelt knows and those close to him real ize that s 0 in ea laugh thing more than not enough a lauh b ls Is required to I 1 III ot off it rumor that Is one of the reasons why the president Is planning if and when congress adjourns to make an extended tour of this country he knows of rumors going about the land that his health Is not up to par and he Is taking this method meth od of disclosing to the american peo pie by action rather than word the answer that he Is physically fit whoever occupies the white house Is continually subjected to whispered rumors as well as open assertions of one kind or another some as in this instance reflect on the health of the chief executive e others as happened within the last quarter of a century reflected on the personal habits and practices of the president still others have related in times to personal for tunes and financial dealings of the man in the white house usually these whispering campaigns are of a derogatory character no one ever knows exactly how they start nor Is it ever possible for observers to put a finger on the rumors as they float by it Is a condition that seems to be bred by prominence of the individual about whom the rumor mingers mongers can operate because people are always interested in what a president of the united states Is doing in the current instance the campaign was largely un known to washington until summer resort residents began returning to the city they brought back all sorts of stories that were being cir in distant places concerning mr roosevelt s health the gossip for that Is what it appears to be spread like wild fire in washington and became of so much concern that it crept into one of the white house press conferences mr president one of the correspondents present asked are you in a little bad health the chief executive executives s answer was the laugh which has endeared him to many people he ile was just back from a short cruise aboard a yacht in chesapeake bay his ills face was sun tanned he ile leaned back in his chair and demanded to know what the correspondents thought about it I 1 think that the news dispatches from washington that night indi bated rather clearly what the correspondents spon dents thought about the s state tate of the I 1 residents health for surely none of these dispatches indicated any particular alarm 0 nevertheless the rumors contin aed to go on and a good many thou sand people aplet people see parent ly be for themselves lieveld eved that mr roosevelt h had a d broken under the strain of his new deal presidency so before the summer is over millions of ameri amerl cans probably will have an to see for themselves just as the correspondents saw at ti the ie press conference that the president still has his smile that his hair Is no more gray than when he took in 1933 1033 and that his countenance shows no earmarks of the strain which every president of the un unit I 1 t ed states finds an inherent of that job one trip upon which mr roose velt has set his heart Is a tour to the pacific coast and return it will provide an opportunity for several millions of americans to see him and a lesser number to hear him speak it will carry him through territory which contains probably about half halt of the nations tion it Is well recognized in washing ton that no amount of denials by in formed persons or any amount of second hand testimony Is sufficient to squelch malicious stories of the kind that have been circulated about the president the eye witness Is the only one who is prepared to dis tits credit such stories and unless pres ent plans are revised the eye wit nesses will be many this summer the president probably will make other trips during the late fall and early winter as well elins for these are still in the making and their length and number depends somewhat upon the date of congles adjournment the program fits well into the roosevelt methods in the 28 months of bis his tenure the president has done a considerable amount of travel lie he has made three cruises on the yacht owned by vincent astor two of which lasted more than two weeks each he ile traveled to the east coast of canada in june 1933 aboard the craft amberjack and returned two weeks later aboard a navy ship last year it will be remembered he visited haiti halt puerto rico the virgin islands colombia the pan ama canal clipperton island and hawaii on his return floan that cruise be he crossed the northwest making several speeches before reaching washington in 1933 and in 1934 he visited warm springs georgia the colony where victims of infantile paralysis are nursed back to health and with I 1 which the I 1 resident because of his own afflicts tl n has had much per bonal connection in from the 1934 visit to warm springs mr roosevelt sevelt stopped at muscle shoals norris dam and birmingham to for personal visits to p ints and things which interested him all of these trips have been in addition to peri pert odieal visits to his home at blyde park N Y and apparently all that he be needs to add to his mileage this summer Is a period of campara tive calmness in washington 41 it if superficial appearances count for anything the administration Is ae dually making to reduce moves designed to deficit reduce the fed eral treas deficit elt it Is yet too early to tell bitely what hat the plans are and administration spot esmen are strangely quiet about them but there are certain signs and portents which may be examined in the effort to determine which way the govern ment Is headed in respect of the gi gigantic antic expenditures for public worl s relief and general government costs 4 while congressional committees continue to examine tax questions 4 with a view to enactment of legislation leis le Is that will increase federal rev denue the president and his advisers have tal en steps to cut down the drain on the treasury the first and probably the most impo important of these moves Is the an no that on november I 1 I 1 federal aid to those people unable to work will cease definitely relief belief administrator hopkins announced after a conference with the dent that the relief policy will be changed on november 1 and that the various states counties and municipalities will be expected at af ter that date to look after that seg ment of the population known as the ables these are people who for one reason or another cannot earn their own living by work previously mr roosevelt had dl dt reeled his fiscal advisers to make a thorough study of relief require ments for the fiscal year beginning july 1 1936 while this Is almost 11 II months away the president told newspaper correspondents that he desired to know as early as possible what the burden of relief would be in the future ills 1118 announcement was interpreted as having a connee lection with budget requirements and prospective revenue under the propose proposed d new tax legislation earlier public works administrator ickes had made known that the program of public works ex tures tor for improvement of the mississippi calvy and its rivers had been abandoned it will be recalled that the national resources board hid recommended extensive im prove ments to be circled c out from public works funds in the hands ol 01 the public works administrator these involve vast sums now it Is made to appear that the and the administration have in mind some restraint on expenditures of that character and that hereafter gigantic allotments ot of a public works or improvement character char acte may be expected to be fewer in num her the result of this will be of course to hold in the treasury some of the total of the public appropriation induction reduction of the outgo for direct relief necessarily will be reflected in the remainder of the public works relief fund and it Is 1 reported that other plans are in the malting making which will have as their prospective 41 end a restoration to private employ 0 ment of greater numbers of idle workers than heretofore have been contemplated I 1 have reported to yon you previously how slowly the administration plans for spending works relief the plans drag bellef fund were progressing in connection with the hopkins announcement no on relief and the prest 4 dents dent s relief survey order it was disclosed that only approximately fifteen thousand persons have been given jobs since the money was wa made available this figure does not include the additional list of recruits for the civilian conservation corps whose numbers have grown from to it will be recalled that provision was made in the appropriation resolution for an increase In creise of the CLO from to thus tn in two months the CCO has had only about one third of the total in crease which was expected frank ly enlistments have been so disappointing that the responsible authorities have changed the age limit in order to permit the maxi mum of entries into that service those in a position to know and who bo will speak candidly about con dillons entertain some fear that the total ever will approach the COO to which enlistments are restricted restrict eI a western newspaper Newe paper union |