Evening star., 1932-10-09
CHALLENGE
HURLED BY GARNER
Hoover DeS MoineS Speech
Contrasted With Demo-
cratic Efforts.
By the Associated Press.


The question: When is pork not
'pork'?" was asked yesterday by Speak
er John N Garner in statement re-
plying to President Hoovers charges
against the rejected Democratic public
building program.
When it is served by Mr. Hoover
or his administration" was the answer
the Democratic vice presidential candi-
date advanced to his own query,
Garner referred to the public build
ing allotments recently announced by
President Hoover, Secretary Mills and
Postmaster General Brown.
Il am constrained to repeat-end
directly as a challenge to Mr.. Hoover's
criticisms in his Des Moines speech
and radio address of Friday night, "
Garner said, that pork may be
pork but, to the presidential mind, it
is, seemingly, never pork when served
by Mr.. Hoover or his administration,
especially when it is prepared by Re-
publican chefs. x
"A comparison of the programs of
the Democratic Congress and that Of
the Hoover administration reveals vir-
tually identical aims, but with the
Democrats favoring a much more COM
prehenSive undertaking designed to re-
lieve a greater number now idle"
Chronology Is Offered.
The text of Mr.. Gamers statement
follows:
In view of President Hoover's re-
cent utterances, a pertinent question
arises, to wit
When is pork not pork?
THE answer is:
when it is served by Mr.. Hoover
or his administration
The relevancy of this question and
the answer can readily be 'graSped By
the man or woman who follows this
chronology:
Il. During the last session of Con-
gress, when the country was sorely dis
tressed, as now, an effort Was MADE
by the Democrats in the House to pro-
vide an extensive public building pro-
gram. The essence of this was the
construction of post offices in many
towns and cities to give work, directly
or indirectly, to many of the millions
of penniless and unemployed.
"Mr. Hoover denounced this project
as pork and through the efforts of
his administration it was defeated.
Yet only few months prior the PreSl-
dent had advocated public works as a
means of taking up slack in employ
ment as he also did in his 1928 CAM
paign.
80. As a substitute the Democrats in
Congress were obliged to force through,
over presidential opposition, an alterna-
tive proposal giving to the Secretary OF
the Treasury autocratlc power to de-
termine the extent to which money
should be spent for public works ana
to the Hoover administration the prlVl-
lege of designating where these proJecIs
should be located.
This was supposed to be 'porkless'
program, the conception of patriotic
Republican statesmen, not practical
minded Democrats in Congress, who, as
the President said in a radio speech
Friday night, were trying to break down
every safeguard and throw the coun-
try back from the foundations OF 15C
years of careful upbuilding.
Public Demand for Action.
"3. With no disposition on the part
of the Hoover administration to hurry
its public works program SO that jobs
might be available before Winter. there
grew an insistent pubic demand for
action which, quite reluctantly it would
seem. was responded to by the Secretary
of the Treasury in September. He has
given out lists Of the post offices to be
built in different parts of the country.
the purpose being to provide much
needed employment.
q. A comparison of the programs of
nd Mt
the Hoover administration reveals vir-
tually identical aims, but with the
Democrats favorjng a much more COM
prehensive undertaking designed to re-
lieve a greater number now idle.
Incidentally, the Democratic Con-
gress arranged for payment of interest
and amortization charges for its entire
public works program through tax OF
one quarter of 4 cent on gasoline, while
the Republicans will blandly take money
out of the Treasury to pay for theirs.
IS. In the face of this record, Presi-
dent Hoover. at Des MoineS and in his
radio speech Friday night, again re-
ferred to the Democratic bill es pork,
conveniently ignoring the fact that he
has, in actual practice, adopted in a
tabloid form the very program which
he denounces.
when the Democratic unemploy-
ment relief measure was considered
in congressional committees, be-
ginning on May 81 last. Federal archi-
tects were quoted as saying that if the
bill was expedited by the Republican
Senate and signed by the President by
June Is. there would be 1000 Federal
buildings ON the way toward construc-
tion and completion not later than
September Is.
During that congressional hearing
the spokesman Of the American Fedora
ton of Labor said that the federation
statistics then showed 100000 I'M
employed
when questioned, he explained: AS
suming each unemployed person has