Evening star., 1934-10-28
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.

President Roosevelt is preparing to
New Deal hat. He expects to be able
to dazzle the coming Congress with a
dramatic effort that will turn the
minds of these legislators from their
, many plans for printing money.
The idea factory in Washington
seldom has been as busy as now. 1t
is grinding away on programs vast in
extent and daring in conception.
Those programs are the white rabbits
with which the White House hopes to
hold the attention Of the country and
of Congress until business can catch up.
The strategy calls for Congressman
to become so immersed in the New
Deal projects that they will have little
time or incentive to promote 30-hour
week or their own pet schemes for
printing money to be given to soldiers.
farmers and depcsitors in closed
banks.
Essentially, the idea is to get the
unemployed out of the bread lines by
next Summer. To do that. three
methods of approach are under study.
They are:
l. A headlong plunge into the feld
of home building and railroad grade
crossing elimination on vast scale
with the broad use of Federal credit.
2. A venture into social insurance
unemployment reserves and old-age
pensionS-aS a means OF separating
the employable from the unemployable
and thus narrowing down the relief
problem.
8. An extension OF the idea Of the
Tennessee Valley Authority to other
river valleys, such as the Missouri.
Arkansas and Columbia. as a means
of getting better use of natural re-
sources and OF occupying public atten-
ton.
There are many other plans and
ideas still under wraps, held in reserve.
One, by Mordecai Ezekiel, economic
adviser to the Secretary Of Agricul-
ture, would bring together idle fac
tories and idle men to turn out goods
for distribution TO the unemployed. q.
This, however, Is considered Iast
resort, because private industry Is
much opposed.
Another would seek to find new
ways for people with jobs to borrow
and spend money, as they are doing
now through the home repair program.
Still a third, under consideration, Is
the plan Of Albert L. Dean. former
General Motors Acceptance Corp. OIL
cial, now with the Federal Housing
Administration, for speading jobs ana
increasing purchasing power.
Drastic action is being forced upon
Congress and the President by the
following situation: In spite OF N. r.
A., P. w. A., A. A. A. and other New
Deal efforts, restitution in this coun-
try is increasing. Some New Deal
economists say that N. r. A. and Pub
! lie Works, as run during the past year.
actually have held back recovery.
| Whatever the reason, relief rolls are
going up. The cost of this relief next
year is being estimated at $2,0OO.-
| 600, 900.
Now the question is being asked:
Why not use that $4,000, 100000 to
finance huge program OF building
of all kinds, on basis that Will create
| Jobs and at the same time will be on
| a loan instead of a gift basisp The
great waste is coming through the
expense of keeping people in idleness.
Isn't there some economically SOUND
way to get them to work?
The search for an answer to those
questions has produced the plans now
taking shape. President Roosevelt
showed his line of thought IN his
"freside talk" September 30. AT that
time he said, in an observation that
attracted little attention:
Some people try to tell me that
we must make up our minds that Tor
the future we shall permanently have
millions of unemployed. just as other
countries have had them for over a
decade. What may be necessary for
those countries is not my Responsible
| ity to determine. But as for this
country, I stand or fall by my refusal
to accept as q necessary condition OF
our future q permanent army of
unemployed"
Then he mentioned those people
who are frightened by boldness and
cowed by the necessity Of making de-
ClolUllo. 0QIs xtOJoSNSAb BovS ekAS @AAa
preston that he was not one Of those
people. The report, inspired by sources
close to the White House, now is that
the President has about made up his
mind to stake his future on q vast
diversified building program.
n X y
The $3,3oo,ooo.0oo Public Works
spending plan Of the past is months
has been a dismal failure as a mass
producer of jobs. 1t even Is being
accused of deepening the depression
in the private building industry by
subsidizing high costs of construction.
The new ventures would avoid that
mistake. They would seek instead to
encourage private borrowing and
building on q bargain basis.
Studies made Of the construction
needs Of the country come to the
uniform conclusion that there Is q
vast field for home building, both IN
the rural districts ana In cities. One