Evening star., 1934-02-11
BY WILLIAM HARD.

7 CALCULATE that in this whole
controversy regarding public Fed
eral expenditures on the relief Of
4 unemployment there are only two
men in Washington who can be
right.
And they can't be simultaneously
right. If one Of them Is right, the
other is dead wrong. In other words,
there Is only one man in Washington
who in this matter is right.
And who is he? I herewith intro
duce the two contenders.
In the far corner, ladies and gentle
men, leaning up pretty well battered
against the ropes, you see the Hon.
Lewis w. Douglas, director Of the
Budget, whom unintimidated cowboys
from his home State of Arizona still
dauntlessly address as Lew" Lew"
says, in general effect, that public
works for the unemployed are pure
bilge and bunk
In the opposite corner, fellow men,
bers Of our great national club for
ending the depression, you observe in
an elated and leaping attitude the
Hon. Clyde Kelly, a member of the
Federal House of Representatives from
the Braddock steel district of Penn
sylvania, and Republican. but
thoughtful man who additionally al
most always picks up also the Demo-
cratic and all other nominations in
his district. Everybody calls him
Clyde" simply because there is no way
of shortening Clyde" And Clyde
says that there should be enough pub
lie works In this country to employ
absolutely all of the unemployed. Yes,
sir. Every last one of them.
Right to Work" Bill.
See his bill-copies furnished on
request-H r. 1897 This is a unique
bill in American Federal legislative
history 1t is our first "right-to-
work" bill. 1t is our first bill resting
on the idea that everybody in the
United States shall always be at work,
either in private employ or in public
employ. 1t is our first bill for the
universal continuous utilization of the
whole total of our laboring resources
And don't think that It's just a fad
bill. Mr.. Kelly has been in Washing
ton long time. He is a reputable,
responsible legislator. His bills al
most always get somewhere. And now
he has gone and committed himself
to the universal employment PROPOSE
ton. He will somehow make it hum
Watch
And now the two contestants are
shaking hands. They are shaking
hands warmly. Yes. On one vital
preliminary point they are in COM
plete cordial agreement
They agree that if the Federal Gov
eminent is going to employ any of the
unemployed on public works it will
ultimately find itself employing all of
them. They agree that you cannot
employ Citizen A on public works and
then refuse to employ Citizen B on
public works They agree. in other
words, that you either spend nothing
on public works for unemployment re-
lief purposes or else you spend billions
and billions.
Nothing" cries Lew" Billions
and billions. and no hesitation or pro-
crastination!" cries Clyde" And the
battle Is on, with Franklin Delano
Roosevelt occupying the most promi-
nent and interested ring seat.
Mr.. Roosevelt at first seemed to be
betting on Lew" He ran for the
presidency on-among other things
horror of deficits" He shied away,
at that time. repeatedly from all vast
general public works programs. He
was less for public works than Mr..
Hoover had been. He was for keeping
public works down to an irreducible
social minimum.
His idea then about the UNEMPLOYED
was that they should be sustained BY
direct relief" That's a polite
phrase for what is impolitely called
''the dole" It's a basket of groceries.
It's a bundle of clothes. Or, as in
Britain, it's a small cash payment,
very small. just enough for sub
sistence"
Now there's no doubt in the world
that direct relief" is the cheapest
method of sustaining the unemployed.
That's why the British are devoted
to 1t. That's why the British. in the
International Monetary and Economic
Conference at London last Summer,
energetically repudiated the Ameri-
can suggestion that all countries
should embark upon great exploratory
voyages of public works The only
really drastic speech made by any
Britisher during the conference was
by Mr.. Walter Runciman. president
of the British Board of Trade, de-
nouncing what he regarded as the
illimitable extravaganza of the pub
lie works method of relieving unem-
ployment.
But why did the American dele
cation in London suggest public
works? Why did it not suggest Mr..
Roosevelt's original idea of only
direct relief" Because. by that
time, Mr.. Roosevelt, as President, had
shifted his eye bit from Mr.. Doug
las corner and was gazing at the
middle of the ring. where he thought
he could see a sort Of controlled"
quantity of public works-and soon
thereafter of civil works'-as a kind
of compromise between the ruthless
and logical Douglas and the ruthless
and logical Kelly.
Tentative Spenders.
The middle of the ringers, who