| Show 0 Z national topics interpreted by willim william bruckart Nati rational press building washington D r C washington one swallow does not make a summer nor does docs one statement even though from a high official make a condition absolute nut one statement from a relief high chil under problem ts tile present new deal relief relict setup comes rather close to disclosing the transcendent importance of the nations relief problem in american economy at this time I 1 refer to the recent testimony by hillarry A hopkins works progress ad and professional reliever re llever before the house committee on ampro ue he told that group a few days ago that heads of faal iles or unattached persons were receiving a livelihood for themselves and their families from the federal government on an march first of this year if this be true and it can hardly be disproved there are nearly fifteen million persons dependent directly upon federal assistance and the condition appears even worse when it te so shown that about ten million others are receiving assistance from state county band city relief or charitable organizations in shorts short the hopkins testimony reveals that about twenty per cent of all of our people are living on relief money these figures are astounding they are wade the more amazing when one considers that condition exists even after the new dent deal has expended approximately twenty one billions in its three years of government management the bulk of the outgo being directly chargeable to what mr roosevelt has consistently maintained was an emergency I 1 have reported to you intermittently heretofore the various stages through which reliever Re llever hopkins has gone in his search for means to solve the relief problem I 1 have been among those observers here who have felt that even though mr hopkins lacks practical experience in commercial life and even though he be casts aside every consideration except those inherent in the minds of a man aiho ho has devoted his life professionally to relief work that he should be given time to solve the problem it seems to me however that he has had ample time to find the answer if he Is ever going to provide a solution neither lie he nor president roosevelt has given any indication yet vet that they know the answer or even have a clew to it IL the net result of their efforts efforts to date has been the expenditure of money in unprecedented amounts and the piling up of a debt the like of which this country never has known sir air hopkins has gone about hla his job smugly and with that apparent complacency pIa ency cIncy that characterizes the official who Is convinced that lie he alone Is equipped to do a particular job by his attitude he has created in congress a feeling that lie he thinks he Is a superior being and it if anything makes a congressman hot under the collar it is to see a member of the executive branch exhibit a pose that the congressmen gres are dumbbells some of them are of course but that Is not true of all and it Is fast doln doing mr air hopkins no good at all to show arrogance towards the men who go out and campaign directly for the votes of the people I 1 said that the relief problem was of transcendent importance in governmental affairs at this visionary time that is true be policy cause I 1 believe the conviction Is 13 grow ing that the whole new deal policy on relief relict Is impractical and visionary that it Is founded upon a wrong psychology ch that it Is creating in this nation the greatest mass of lers and the world owes me a living type or class of individuals that has ever existed anywhere and that in addition the men who are doing the jot job for the federal government lack act the ability to understand its whole significance ance As proof of tile the observations I 1 have just stated let me point out how the demands for vast expenditures of money and wholesale methods of relief for the destitute have subsided in congress time was when a half dozen so called Nel welfare fare ivor workers kers college professors or organization leaders could get a hearing bearing by the simple crook of a finger before a cong congressional committee such men as senator la follette FoI Iette of wisconsin and senator costigan of colorado and the late senator cutting of new 31 exico to mention only a few would weep salty tears in senate speeches they would call for ten billions tor for this and five billions tor for that and other billions for other things and shout that people were starving in the midst of plenty and they were starving in the midst of plenty but tile the shouting and the tumult raised by these political saviors did not provide a solution for the problem I 1 have a hunch bunch that the silence of such buch men as these through the last year can mean only that they now see they were oft off on the wrong foot they cannot help but realize that their theories were all wet because mr hopkins certainly has disproved the value of their plans another indication of how congress feels Is the movement to divide the and a half relief fund which president asked between mr air hopkins and public works administrator ickes the president demanded that congress give alve the whole fund to mr hopkins II it probably will work out that way eventually but the feeling against sir mr hopkins II cannot be denied it Is violent and only a small part of it has come to the surface the congressmen could not afford to see the flow of money cut off in an election year so they maneuvered to spank mr hopkins by seeking to give a portion of the money to sir mr ickes now it la Is currently rumored that sir air ickes alho never lias has liked mr hopkins has hag done some lobbying in the fine underground manner of which he be Is capable lie he sincerely believes that the use of funds in the construction of permanent things like buildings roads and bridges gives the government and taxpayers at least something tor for their money but be that as it way may the ground swell against mr flop kins la Is very powerful and it if mr hopkins possessed any understanding of the science of the times lie he would see it thus far lie he lias bas given no indication that he understands what it means 0 where will it au all end the answer to this relief problem Is not now nov near what s enough to hazard a the Ansu answer ier guess let us go back for a brief review when president roosevelt took hold of the relief problem early in his administration lie he advanced two theories they were to solve our problems and solve them quickly ile he urged the and the which with the AAA formed the first battalion of the alphabetical army the NIIA was designed to regiment business and indirectly force ire employment by the shortening of hours and the spread ot of work the was to provide a lot of construction jobs immediately rising giving work to those not absorbed in private commerce and industry and thus take lake up the slack until buying power of individuals had been restored by november 1933 it became quite evident to unbiased observers that and were falling short of the mark so out of the presidential hat came the congress promptly provided funds so the civil works administration and here is where professional fess ional reliever sir mr hopkins II came on the scene could hire unemployed who had bad not been absorbed by or had bad not been restored to jobs in commerce and industry by nita NIRA it was not long until was as much in disrepute as tile the original schemes for providing employment 1 I believe it was in even greater disrepute because ordinary citizens could see tile utter waste and the reckless expenditures of rooney money occurring under CAVA for its relief raking and stone gathering and other nonsensical job creating results went the way of any unsound proposition forward then came FERA it was a proposition of emergency relief washington writers were deluged with speeches speeches and statements that none should be allowed to starve the spigots of the treasury were opened wide and gushed forth in every section of the country federal money was distributed and distributors in washinton washington were none too careful of how they passed it out in parallel lines with FEKA the politicians formed to the right they saw the money and from precinct to pinnacle io of f politics they were on the job and they have been on the job ever sl ice ce last year the president became convinced that there was too much waste that FERA was too much building up a calen waste tele te of millions who were saying both publicly and privately that it was no use to work when the government would feed them and he ordered a quick change in course with tills this change in course came a locking of horns between hopkins and ickes mr air ickes was licked by the simple expedient of a new fed oral eral agency bounding forth ca me al hopkins own brain braid child while it stands for works progress administration tra tion a different name dame the initials to those who have studied it ali situation spell II feita and CIVA combined the alie president announced to the country that this business bubi riess ot of relief must end those who could not be employed must be taken care of by the states and local governments and those who were employable would be taken off relief relict but they must do work for tile the funds which the federal government passed pass ed out to them the result has been a considerable mess and there Is not a day goes by that congressional mall mail does not dot reveal cruel results absolute destitution and hardship and privation unparalleled in the united states where will it all end this business ot of relief Is still relief by whatever name the alphabetical agency in washington way may be known it can be only relief and there can br bp no doubt that it must be continued although president roosevelt had bad demonstrated his bis willingness to make shifts in his program it Is becoming more and more evident that a funda mental alteration of his whole scheme must be undertaken 0 wegern newspaper union lulon |
