Evening star., 1933-12-01
|SM|THP. WA. STAND
||SLAD TO 4GRUDGE"
Ickes Says His Dislike Is
Result of disappointed
Ambition"

To Alfred e. Smith, the Public Works
Administration is q failure" to Harold
L. Ickes, Smith Is "nourishing q grudse
as the result Of disappointed ambitions. !"
| They said SO last night, according to
| the Associated Press. the former New
York Governor In an editorial in the
New Outlook and the P. W. A. chief and
Interior Secretary in an answering
| statement.
Harry Hopkins, civil works admins
traitor, whose office also was attacked
by Smith. who referred to the civil
works projects as grapefruit" said:
IT putting 100000 men to work
puts me In the grapefruit business. I'm
Il learned the word 'boloney' from Mr..
Smith.
Sour grapefruit juice would now be
more appropriate"
"CraEy, Top Heavy Structure"
| Smith, 1928 Democratic presidential
candidate, held that the new S400, ,000,-
900 Civil Works Administration Is being
created to do the job-providing scheduled
for p. w. A., a crazy, top-heavy struc-
ture choked with bureaucracy and red
tape"
without a complete reorganization Of
the Public Works Administration" he
continued, there will be no more public
works under way on February Is to
absorb the civil works than there are
today to absorb the relief works. The
civil works program will certainly afford
an alibi for the incompetents in the
Public Works Administration"
"All say in reply to Mr. Smiths
statement" said Secretary Ickes, "is
that it is impossible to satisfy any man
who is nourishing a grudge as the re-
suit of disappointed ambitions. Mr.
Smith is permitting his resentment
against the administration to run away
with his Judgment. He Is making an
other mistake. He Is apparently under
the illusion that the coming of sar-
castle phrases and the hurting Of
epithets will be misunderstood by sober
minded citizens for sound reasoning
based upon a careful study Of the facts,
The Public Works Administration
spite Of Mr.. Smith and 1t will survive
this latest outburst. The Civil Works
Administration vas a logical develop
ment of the public works program. Its
construction denoted real statesman
ship. 1t was designed to and, In fact
Is, taking up slack in employment
that In the nature Of things the Public
Works Administration could not hope
to reach. The people understand
thoroughly what Is the matter with Mr.
Smith. Even those who love him and
have delighted to follow him in the past
feel too deep pity for him to want to
engage in any personal controversy"
Half way between q lemon and an
orange is a grapefruit" Smith declared;
half way between a public work and
relief work is civil work Up to now
the Federal establishments only recent
ly scheduled for consolidation have been
increased to include an A A. A., a F. C.
A., a P. w. A.. F. E. R. A.. an N. R.
A., c. c. c., a T. v. A.. H. o. L. c., a
r. F. C.--and now We have G. w. A.
"Anagrams With Alphabet"
TT looks as though one Of the absent
minded professors had played ana
grams with the alphabet soup. The
soup got cold while he was uncon-
sciously inventing new game for the
Nation. a game which beats the cross
word puzzle-the game of identifying
new departments by their initials"
Smiths attack was made in an
editorial IN the same Outlook issue
which contained his demand for sound
money" and return to the gold
standard. made public last week.
To effect the civil works program, the
editorial said, Harry Hopkins has been
given new title and $40O, O,000, 900 of
Mr.. Ickes' money, and has been in
structed to take 100000 men from
relief work and put them on civil works
and to put 1000, 900 more men on new
civil works projects to be devised over
night.
mo one has as yet described lust
what q civil works project is, except
that 1t is some sort of minor construc-
ton or repair work which does not re-
quire the service Of q contractor, which
can be finished before February is,
when the money gives out, and which
does not involve a great deal of super
vision or material.
The more We string out the public
works program. the less men are en-
we are not to put enough priming in
the industrial pump to get it working
by itself.
Il have the greatest possible sym
pathy with increasing the wages of
present underpaid relief workers. II
enthusiastically indorse the idea of put
ting more men to work, I am tyr 4
InInnIIIIInlNnHInIuIIIIIl