Evening star., 1934-05-22
Hopkins Has no Misgiumgs ~
In Spending 81 100000, 900
Relief Director Hopes to
Be on Job Here An.
other Winter.
admits Mistakes, but Is
Satisfied With Coz
ernment's Integrity.

Looking back today over a year as
director of Federal emergency relief,
| Harry L. Hopkins, who has spent ST.
500,000,000 in the greatest human re-
lief drive ever undertaken by any
government, would have no misgivings
about doing it all over again.
Unless l get my head chopped off, u
, he said facetiously, IN be here on
the job for another Winter
I've warded off some brick bats and
I've made a whole lot of mistakes,
said this man who has provided work
and food for nearly 100000 persons
and their dependents. And 1 guess
! III make more mistakes before its all
over
One year of daily work with the
Government has convinced Hopkins
| that the Government can administer
huge funds with the same technical
skill and economy as private industry
Private business has no monopoly of
efficiency, he believes.
Is Not Cynical.
Instead of feeling cynical about
| Government. l feel Just the opposite
| after one year of it, Hopkins said
And the politicians aren't bad lot
at all. This talk about the politicians
always interfering with your work is
| a lot of nonsense"
Hopkins ought to know what he is
! talking about. for he has had as much
experience with so-called political
interference in administering relief, as
any one man in the Government
| service.
An Iowa born social service worker,
| HOPKINS came to Washington from
New York, quitting SlO,00O-a-year
| lob as chief of New York's relief to
| follow President Roosevelt to Wash
! ington at S8.500 a year. Relief work
is his life's Job. and he wouldn't be
happy in any other field. When Mrs.
! Alice Roosevelt Longworth described
him as a relief fanatic" in recent
magazine article, Hopkins laughed
heartily. He is not thin skinned.
A man can't spend 81 500 900 600 for
all sections of the country without en-
countering political obstacles on all
sides, but Hopkins has made a study
of politicians during his year in
| Washington, just as he has made
study of the country's tremendous re-
lief needs. He has had clashes with
mayors, Senators and Governors. The
President told him that politics and
politicians must be kept out OF relief
! work, and in several instances Hop
kinS took the handling Of relief funds
| out of the hands of troublesome State
directors.
But he has a good word for the
politician. He admitted that some
views about them have changed for
the better, and he realizes. too. that
a man who has to be elected to his
job has some things he must strive to
do that regular appointive officer
can ignore.
Il have found out another thing
! he said, that we can have integrity
in the administrative service, under
! our democratic form of Government.
Believes in c. W. A.
Hopkins believes the Civil Works
Administration, which at one time
was the Governments mainstay in its
emergency drive to provide work for
the unemployed, was "a grand thing.
The Civil Works was started as a
hurry-up method of taking 1000, 900
persons off the direct relief rolls and
providing jobs for a like number of
persons who had never received work
He ended the agency couple of