The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-01-20


  waterworks projects alone - pro- jects totallng eight hundred mil- lion dollars-were "being held up because of the poor market for bonds"
 Yet loans authorized for self llquidating projects by the R. r. c. total, at the time of writing, less than $150, 100000. Obviously there Is something wrong. The R. F. c. itself has been taken to task for what Is on tho face of 1t @ decided ly poor showing. Some think It's formula of filing an application re- suits in far too much red tape -- there are forty-iive separate re- quirements, remember, calling for engineering, financial, and legal data; for afildavlts, plans, speclfica- tons, estimates, maps, balance sheets, memoranda; for supple mentary reports by architects, ap- praisers, and experts all along the line.
 others, pointing out that the determination of interest rates has been left to the boards discretion, hold that the personnel has been inclined to drive too hard 0 bar gain.
 "A great disappointment" I was told by Robert F. Wagner when asked him his reaction to the way Title II was, being administered. And, as the individual primarily responsible for framing the bill in question, the democratic senator from New York Is peculiarly qual- filed to speak. "The self-liquidating loan feature of the net was creat- ed," Senator Wagner went on, mot to make money for the govern ment but to givo men jobs--and do 1t in q hurry. Yet some of those fellows are acting like q bunch of bankers whose main concern Is the interest rate involved"
 It Is only fair to suggest that the matter of interest may have touched him in Q tender spot, for that is the chief point at issue in negotiations for construction of q second Hudson Vehicular tunnel between New York City and New Jersey. However that may be, Sem ator Wagner took occasion to elaborate his views on the senate floor in December.
 "Those of us," he charged. "who conceived of tho relief and con- struction measure as 0 great un- dertakjng to assist In business re- vivai through the provision Of em- ployment have seen our expecta- tons frustrated by q mechanical interpretation and bureaucratic application of the law"
 Scif-IAquidating Loans
 Over q dinner table soon after ward, in company with Senator Ln Toilette, he conferred with Harvey c. Couch, tho K. r. c. director whose special province is self-ll- quidatlng loans. The upshot was c Christmas Eve announcement that in future a successful applicant would be at liberty, any timo with in two years from the date of the loan, 10 rehnance the deal through private channels. or to sell It's col- lateral, if either procedure would mean q money saving. The cor- poration, however, iS to have c guarantee of q 4 1-2 per cen min mum return on It's money.
 So much for the critics. The crux of the difficulty, 1 think, lies in circumstances over which the Reconstruction Finance Corpora ton has no control. Ever slnce tho law became effective there have been two outstanding obstacles to Spoedier action and to operation on a larger scale; and both obstacles are inherent in tho conditions which congress laid down.
 First, tho provisions that all pro- Jocts must be BGlf-llquidatlnB and that all loans and contracts shall be fully and adequately" secured call for thoroughgolng and time consuming Investigation. There arc at present pending about two hum dred and fifty applications. which. having passed the preliminary hurdles. have official docket mum bera. Their merits are now being weighed by the Engineers Advis- ory Board of iiVe distinguished ex- perts, whose job 1t is to pass final Judgment on tho engineering aS- poets of all contemplated under taklngs. The money needed to car " out these plans IS q billion dol- lars. roughly.
 That figure, by tho way, does not take into account the funds soli- cited for more nebulous schemes. the number and ag6roBate import- ance of which are anybody'S guess. From all sections of tho country informal inquiries and requests have come to tho R. Y. c. offices in Washington; fin effect, the tenor of them Is, We want to take ad- vantage of your offer to finance our projected golf course. Please send the money by registered mall"
 Second, the Act authorizes the R. Y. C. to mako loans to, or con- tracts with. Q wide range of public agencies, "to aid in financing pro- jects authorized under Federal, State or Municipal laws"--which is all very well as far as 1t goes. The catch Is that there are. inevitably, two parties to the deal. Now . given set of officials may come for ward with carefully mapped-out plans for the very sort of project contem plated by tho Wagner Act. To launch 1t would give employ