Evening star., 1931-12-01
P|NCHOT DEMANDS
US. AID FOR RELIEF
Pennsylvania Governor
BIames Depression on Poii-
cieS of Government.

OOiu1nDlh League OI WoMCu VOIeIS dC u
dinner in the Raleigh Hotel, Gov.
Pinchot criticized those in high places"
who ''aave continuously insisted that q
national emergency be met with local
aid alone" and said that such a prin-
ciple was designed only to protect fur
ther the rich at the expense Of the
little fellow and was entirely made
quate..
Appearing on the same program with
Gov. Pinchot was Elwood Street, direc-
tor of the Washington Community
Chest, who Just recently concluded q
tour of duty as regional director for
the Presidents Organization on Un-
employment Relief in Michigan and
Ohio, and reported eAcouragingly on
conditions in those two States.
While dealing with local relief meas
ures, Mr.. Street emphasized that 1t was
not his intention to debate the reSpec-
tive merits of local as opposed to Fed
eral aid. but that he proposed only to
give his observations"
Employers Showing Concern.
The encouraging signs that Mr.. Street
said he saw were that relief is being
handled better; that employers are
showing more concern for the welfare
OF their forces; that the people them
selves are more willing to give, and that
responsible leaders in the so communi-
ties which he visited are actively en-
deavoring to improve conditions.
The demands this Winter are going
to be greater than last, he said, but
because Of the improved methods used
in extending aid, Street added that he
sees mo need for bread lines and soup
kitchens or helter-skelter relief"
Street also emphasized that he "had
not found single city where the people
nnndAd al
though, he added, the mayor Of Detroit
said that municipality would not be
able to care for its problem alone.
The principal problem, the speaker
felt, was in "reSourceless communities"
but there he thought the Red Cross
could function.
With regard to local conditions, Mr..
Street said that I'VE clearly face greater
needs here" but he was optimistic over
the prospects for the Community Chest
campaign.
Local Aid Problem.
At the outset Of his speech, Gov.
Pinchot told his audience that ''thoSe in
high places have continually insisted
that national emergency be met with
local aid alone. They have left 1t all
with the exception of a bit Of benevolent
advertising to the States and commu-
mites themselves. To requests and
plans for Federal aid, they have cried
dole, dole Why aid given by the Ma
ton should be dole, and precisely the
same aid given by State or city should
not be dole, have never been able
to understand"
Pinchot said that this cry Of dole had
served the purpose only Of restricting
relief to local sources and that these
had proved inadequate. Local relief, he
cot fnl1 H..
This, in turn, he added, reduces con-
sumption Of the people Of small means.
That program can start no factory
wheels" the speaker continued, "yet in
the absence of Congress, 1t is to that
program we have been committed"
Taking up the question Of depression,
Gov. Pinchot said that "the largest sin
gle cause" was overproduction.
Was overproduction and the dis
regard Of consuming power entirely ac-
cidental?" he continued.
Business Experts 'sNot Blind"
'I think not. To me 1t is incon-
ceivable that the great experts In busi-
ness and economics who have taken
over the banking, Industrial and polit-
ical control Of the county can have been
blind to what was going on.
"As early as 1921 the Federated
American Engineering Societies, with
administration Endorsement, reported
that many Of our large industries were
overdeveloped. Yet through
out the whole decade the Department
Of Commerce used every power of per-
suasion to bring industry to the highest
point Of mass production.
II the drive for super production
had been coupled with a drive for an
increased return to labor and consumers
the result might have been very diff
ferent II 1t had been combined with
an arrangement for providing men dis
charged because Of labor saving ma
chinery and mergers with a dismissal
wage 1t might have been helpful. It
was coupled with nothing Of the sort.
What it was coupled with was q
campaign on the part Of the Treasury
Department to reduce taxation on great
wealth to stimulate production" he
said.
The net result has been the speaker
said, that "by the steady drying up Of
the springs of purchasing power and
the over stimulation Of production,
there has been developed in this coun-
try the most astounding concentration
Of wealth in the hands Of q few men
that the world has ever known"
Here" he continued, "is the basic
evil which has brought on the depres-
sion and which we must guard against
in planning relief in the future"
Cause Of MIsf0rtunes.
'It is this almost unbelievable con-
centration Of wealth which has killed
the consuming power Of the average
millions, and has brought our mis-
fortunes upon U.S." he declared. 'It Is
this same increditable concentration
which Is the chief obstacle in our path
for the return Of prosperity, and it is
the Senegambian in the local relief
woodpile. For If we examine state
ments and actions Of the proponents
of local relief we find that they weave
together into a surprisingly harmonious
pattern.
THAT pattern does not spell relief
for the unemployed. What 1t spells is
persistent shielding Of concentrated
WEALTH."
Swinging into plans to meet the
Treasury deficit, he declared that the
way was being paved to lay the burden
on "the little fellows"
Burden Of Sales Tax.
Certain leaders, among them Sena.
tor Reed Republican, Of Pennsylvania),
advocate a sales tax" he said. "a sales
tax is simply another way Of putting
the burden on men and women with
small income"