Evening star., 1933-09-23
MAYORS ARE TOLD
TO KEEP UP RELIEF.
Hopkins Admonishes City
{ Executives Not to Allow
Funds to Slump.
Nv the Associated Press.

0y tne ASSOCltISO EicSo.
CHICAGO, September 23.-The
United States conference Of mayors was
told today by an administration
spokesman that standards Of unem-
ployment relief in many sections Of the
country are inadequate.
Harry L. Hopkins, Federal admins
traitor of emergency relief, admonished
the mayors Of 80 leading cities attend
ing the conference not to allow local
relief expenditures to slump In the be-
lief that the Federal Government
would bear the burden.
THE cost of giving relief to the
hungry unemployed this year Is far
beyond the $500 900 900 appropriated by
Congress" Hopkins said.
Many States, he said, have done
good job of providing relief, but Others
have done nothing
Cured Pork Allocated.
Hopkins said the Federal Relief Ad-
ministration already has allocated 1Oo,-
900 900 pounds Of cured pork to the
States and that shipments would be
started next week. The meat came
from millions of hogs recently pur--
chased by the Agricultural Adjustment
Administration in an effort to reduce
farm surpluseS.
He also pointed out that the Fed
eral funds would be available Tor alolnS
the transient unemployed.
The Federal administrator said there
had been heartening reductions in the
number of persons requiring relleI-
placing the present number at $500 ,0O0
families.
Public works continued to be the
dominant subject of discussion by the
mayors, several Of them declaring LOUD
dissatisfaction with delays in allocatlng
the $4,000 900, 900 fund. Among the
objections was that Of Mayor John r.
Dore of Seattle. who declared pro-
crastination in allocating public works
had brought the N R. A. to stand
still in the Pacific Northwest.
Send Views to Roosevelt.
A committee of the mayors spent
most Of the night drawing up reso-
luton for presentation to President
Roosevelt on ways of allocating the
$4,000 900, 900 public works fund. The
President yesterday promised them
speedy action if their requests were sent
to Washington with the proposed prof.
ects passed upon favorably by their
State advisory boards.
Another resolution was expected to
deal with proposed Federal statutes to
permit cities to go through bankruptcies
in order to settle Gripping municipal
debts. The question has been debated
on the convention floor, with one side
maintaining such laws would batter
down the value of 1000. 900 600 in out
standing bonds, and the other declaring
bankruptcy the only way out for many
cities.
Stories of both the rosy and dark
sides of financing municipal govern
ments were told by mayors OF two OF
the Nations largest cities.
The pleasant chapter of the story was
presented my Mayor Angelo j. Rossi
of San Francisco.
I'VE are strictly on cash basis, he
said. eve are not permitted to have
any annual deficit We must pay as We
90, and we are doing it,
Detroit Faces Bankruptcy.
Besides that he said the city had
built up a surplus of S1.200000 while
wiping out deficit of $2,250,0Q0 and
reducing the tax rate considerably.
In Detroit, on the Otner mana, Act-
ing Mayor John w. Smith said "the
prosperity chickens have come home to
roost." as he described the plight Of the
Michigan metropolis.
To-day, in the stark realism of the
times" he said. Detroit is no different
from the unwilling, unhappy, disil-
lusioned petitioner i'll the bankruptcy
courts"
If the city had adopted the "pay-as-
you-go" method, he said everything
would be looking up today regardless of
numerous public improvements he
termed unnecessary. He said he favored
bankruptcy and the paying off of De-
troit's public debt at about SO cents on
the dollar.
The facts are plain and indusput-
able" he said, namely. that Detroit's
real estate cannot longer continue to
bear the load