Evening star., 1934-09-07
S|NCLA|R'S RELIEF
IDEAS CLASH WITH
DISTRICT METHODS
California Nominee Confers
With Allen on Co-opera-
tive System.
LOCAL OFFICIAL HOLDS
NEED is TEMPORARY
Says Capitalist Industries Must
Absorb Jobless, but Former
Socialist Is Doubtful.

NOAAP0AN0 JEobCAddJ
through their leading exponents,
Upton Sinclair and Commissioner
George E. Allen, and the underlying
concepts seemed in head-on conflict.
The tall, gray-haired Californian,
Democratic nominee for Governor of
his State by an enormous plurality,
favors vast extension of cooperative
enterprises. He wants to set up farm
colonies in the country and industrial
groups in the cities, drawing their
workers from the unemployed. Each
would be paid in scrip, to be used as a
means of trading.
This system would develop side by
side with the system of private enter
prise under the capitalistic system, in
which Sinclair takes little interest.
Let it alone, he said, and let it succeed
or fail as it will.
Allen looks at the co-operatives as a
temporary expedient. The real secret
is for the capitalist system to pull
itself together and get people to work
at real jobs, he feels. Meanwhile. the
co-operatives will help out a few of
the unemployed, and keep them going
until the private competitive capital
ist system revives the demand for
workers.
I'm no economist" said Allen, but
we have got to do something to get
unemployed people to work at real
Jobs-not jobs in self-help societies.
The way to do that, as see it, Is to
set them to work building cheap hous-
ing. This has the chance of being
self-iqudating and offers the least
competition with private enterprise,
which seems to take very little interest
IN building really cheap housing.
But look for the day when busi-
ness will recover and put our unem-
ployed back to work at real jobs in
competitive industry
'And l." said the Californian, "say
that the day will never come when
millions of the persons now unem-
ployed will ever be employed again.
We have to make a new world for
them. side by side with the private,
competitive capitalist society"
Incidentally, although there has
been much published comment to the
effect that Sinclair was coming to the
District to see self-help co-operativeS
at work, it developed that the Co
operatives now in existence flourish In
California more luxuriantly than in
any other State and that more than
half of the money allotted by the
Federal Emergency Relief -Administra-
tton to support them goes to Cali
fornia.
Unusual Conference.
The conference, which took place at
the District Building, was quite un-
usual. Sinclair came In with a copy
of yesterdays Evening Star under his
arm.
They have an editorial in this kid
ding me-" he complained.
WELL" said Allen, easily, "that isn't
the first time you have been kidded,
is 1t7"
mo, nor the last" said Sinclair.
Then Sinclair, Allen and Engineer
Commissioner Daniel I. Sultan got to
talking about Mississippi. 1t de-
veloped that Allen and Sultan were
natives, as was Mrs. Sinclair, whose
maiden name was Kimbrogh. of
Greenville, Delta town of 10000.
Owen woodruff, who will run all
the Districts self-help activities once
they get going, was anxious to take
Sinclair to see the sewing room set-up
at the Transient. Bureau. He ex-
planned that by making transients do
most Of the work Of supporting them
selves while here, costs had been cut
16 per cent.
Finally came the conference with
the reporters, and then the party left
for the Transient Bureau.
Confers With Ickes.
During the day yesterday Sinclair
put his relief plan before half a dozen
key men of the New Deal, and at the
end Of the tour said simply that he
had "had the finest time of my life"
Then he left for New York.
Afterward, Secretary Ickes called
interesting" the proposition the
novelist had put to him, and Chair
man Jesse H. Jones Of the Reconstruc-
ton Finance Corp. described as pos
sibly interesting, if true" the whole
"End-Poverty-in-C -California" scheme.
Besides Ickes and Jones, Sinclair
talked with Secretary Morgenthau,
John Fahey, chairman of the Home
Loan Bank Board; william I. Myers.
head of the Farm Credit Administra-
ton, and Jacob Baker, chairman of
the Surplus Relief Corp.
To Ickes, Sinclair suggested that
the Public Works Administration un-
dertake the $170. 1000. 900 Central VAL
ley water and power project of Cali
fornia with day labor recruited from
the States 1,250,000 unemployed.
Ordinarily we do not favor forcc
account work for projects financed b
public works." Ickes said at a late
press conference, but Sinclairs plaI
has distinguishing features.
might Work"
Certainly the central valley Of Cal
ifornia needs water badly, and II hi
plan would work anywhere, it NIGH
work out there. If those who sub
mitted the original application care
to modify it and bring it down within
our ability to finance it, we will give it
every consideration.
Sinclair explained he did not ask
Morgenthau or Jones for loans, but
predicted: ~,
IF elected, will be able TO get the
money to launch my program to
enable CALIFORNIA; unemployed to pro-
duce what they use"
Jones said he had enjoyed meeting
Sinclair. He added that the r. r. C.
might be able to make loans to assist
Sinclair's program under its author
ization to lend money to farm CO.
operatives. If a part of the plan could
be SO classified.
The California State government
would have to gain control Of an in
dustry which had been established
previous to last January I 10 qualify