Evening star., 1933-07-16
BAY STATE
PLANS FOR BIG
PUBLIC Works
s75,OOO,O00 Viii Be
Spent or, Building
u Project.
Special Dispatch TO MULLINS,
DnSrrHnAn l.,


and its municipalities IA,
spend s75,0Oo,00O on public acnuSetts
-struction projects under the "
works section of the national recove1
act Legislation authorizing the Com
monwealth and its cities and towns to
spend this huge amount In the current
endeavor to speed up the wheels of in
dustry toward complete recovery Is ex-
pected to be passed this week by the
Legislature
OF this sum, $22 900 900 will be spent
by the Commonwealth itself and ap-
proximately $53,O0O,O00 by the munich
palities. The State and the munich
palities already are considering broad
program of public works calling for the
construction Of new highways and the
erection of new buildings as a means OF
providing jobs for the unemployed.
The money to be expended by the
Commonwealth, exclusive of the 80 per
cent contribution to be made by the
Federal Government, will be obtained
through Federal loans which will be
amortized by revenues anticipated from
the taxes to be levied on hard liquor
after the repeal of prohibition.
Federal Loans.
The legislation reported to the Legis-
poses to repay its Federal borrowings
only in the event that the other States
taking advantage of the national recov-
cry act also agree to repay their loans.
Massachusetts Is one of the few States
in the Union which did not apply to
the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
for financial assistance OF any descr1p-
ton. Gov. Ely took the position that
the State could borrow from banks at
lower rates of interest than those which
were offered by the Reconstruction FL
nance Corporation. He recently indi-
Gated he would institute proceedings 10
force States which have borrowed Fed.
eral funds to repay them as a means OF
preventing Massachusetts, from assum-
ing an inequitable share of Federal
taxation.
The refusal of a substantial group
of members of the House Of Repre-
sentatives to join with Gov. Ely and
the members of the State Senate in a
move to suspend the Massachusetts
labor law, which prohibits the employ
ment of women in the textile mills
after pm, has resulted in blocking
the efforts of the cotton manufacturers
to operate on parity with their rivals
in the Southern States.
Textile Mills.
Although the textile mills are operat-
ing almost to capacity, a State law,
applicable only to them, prohibits them
from employing women and minors
after pm. This law applies to no
other industry in the Commonwealth.
In an endeavor to permit the textile
operators to take full advantage of the
working code being established under
the industrial recovery act, Gov. Ely
sent a special message to the Legisla-
ture asking for this suspension during
the period in which the national re-
covery act will be operative.
The Executive Committee Of the State
Federation of Labor indorsed the Gov
ernor's proposal, but group OF legis-
lators friendly to organized labor have
steadfastly opposed the suspension on
the ground that they worked too hard
in other years to obtain this protective
measure to stand idly by now and per
nit even a temporary suspension. They
have taken the position that jobs IN
the textile mills should be given to
man operators instead of women as a
means of providing incomes for the
heads of families.