Evening star., 1930-12-02
SPUR TO BUILDING
URGED BY HOOVER VI
Increase in Public Works Ex-
peeted to Jog Private Busi- !
$50. ezatF
ness Into Action.
BIZ FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.
It was to a Congress pledged in ad-
vance to join with him in prompt emer-
gency relief for unemployment that
President Hoover today addressed q
message, recommending that Uncle
Sans expenditure on public works dur
ing the next IL months be increased to
a total of $65O,OO0, 900. The Presidents
proposals represent an advance of $780,
100000 over existing projects.
When the Federal Governments pro-
gram of waterway, harbor, flood control,
public, building. highway and aifway
Improvement Is FUZZY under way, as now
urged by Mr.. Hoover. 1t will constitute,
in his own words. 1.-The greatest in our
history" II is substantially supple
E1ented by Treasury loans to merchant
shipbuilders and expenditure on deVel-
opment Of the United States Navy.
Will Aid JobIess.
The administration does, not seek to
convey either to Congress or the conn
try that even this vast plan to set idle
hands to work in multitude of direc-
tions Is of itself capable Of abolishing
unemployment 1t will do a good bit
in the way of finding jobs for the $780,
900. more or less, unemployed persons
In the country But what President
Hoover hopes will be perhaps even
greater result of the enlarged Federal
construction scheme is the incentive it
should give to private enterprise to ex-
pand building operations on huge
scale.
It is estimated that the Nations
urgent requirements for new construc-
ton, of public or semi public charac-
ter, are in excess of $4,000. 600, 900.
Some three-quarters of the construction
represented by this immense figure are
in allegiance for various reasons. 1t Is
the fervent expectation of the White
House that when States, counties, cities
and towns, railroads. steamship lines
and other big Industrial corporations
see what the United States is doing they
will strain every effort on their part to
put their projected building programs
in hand with a minimum of delay This
Is the great. underlying purpose, apart
from the direct aid it will give to the
unemployment situation. of the admin
tstrations recommendation to Congress.
Hoover Is Optimistic.
The strongest note of criticism
heard on Capitol Hill about President
Hoover's message to the depression
Congress" is that it reveals him as
invincibly optimistic about the economic
situation. In the lobbies of both Senate
and House. comment is encountered to
the effect that he would have done bet
ter to paint. conditions IN the colcrs
which most members Of Congress be-
lieve they actually appear.
With rare exceptions, Senators and
Representatives have returned to Wash
ington for the short session with bleak
tales Of the way things look In their
respective sections of the region known
as back home" Their general con-
viction Is that the country Is by no
means out of the depression woods, or
even approaching the edge of the for
est. They seem to be a little fearful
that the immediate effect Of President
Hoover's confidence viii be another Of
the slumps which haEe logged the foot.
officials whenever they issue I''chser
up" statements. II
President 10 Get Credit.
Another note commonly registered at
the Capitol is that when times do i'm
prove-as nobody doubts that they will
Herbert Hoover Is going to come in
for the lions share of the credit, even
though the business world at large is
praises.
Autumn of 1881, perhaps a month or
two beyond that time, continues to be
fixed by most authorities as the earliest
date when the economic ship Of state
will be sailing along on something re-
senbling an even keel. II commodity
prices then are near normal levels. If
wheat and corn are selling around old
time figures, and tf-lnost important of
alEthe New York Stock Exchange big
board" is full Of qnotatiOns materially
higher than the present bear market,
# Is freely predicted, ,::seren by admins
tration opponents. that Hoover prestige
wfl be iplmeasurably stronger than 1t
Is today. -
Public Memory Short.
The American peoples memory, old
political hands point out is not very
long. If the country's pocket nerve"
is being massaged in the right direction
O year hence, it's their firm opinion
that the 1880 crouch will practically
have disappeared, and men who now
scoff at the President for his alleged
failure to maintain prosperity VIII be
throwing up their hats for him.
Mr.. Hoover faces his 90-day bout with
Congress in fairly serene spirit. Senate
and House meet while the welkin is still
ringing with acclaim OF the Chief Engi-
gineers initiative anent the World Court
and his. defiance of organized laborS
effort to dictate cabinet choices. The
President believes that the message ne
has just sent to Congress, non-spectac-
ular as It is, does disclose tersely that
the administration has left no stone
unturned to grapple with the gravest
economic crisis in our modern history.
Hoover's position, in nutshell, Is that
"who does the best his circumstance
allows, does well. acts nobly; angels
could do no more"
(Copyright. ls30D