The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-11-16

Gifts of Moneywitnessed such an
upheaval of cOndi-
lions and plans as has occurred in the
last few weeks. Part of the changes
result naturally enough from develop
ment of plans for submission of new
national policies to congress which will
convene again in about six weeks. The
other part comes from sudden de-
termination by the administration to
revise its recovery methods.
Possibly the most significant Of the
forthcoming changes In recovery plans
is the determination to try, at least, to
Pet away from direct relief. Instead
of plain gifts of money, the admins
tration is now seeking to find addition
al means for creating work so that in
dividuals needing help may obtain
their relief in the form of jobs for
which the government will pay.
Officials still are loath to discuss ex-
act figures, but they are, nevertheless,
going steadily forward with plans for
converting the vast federal relief ma
chinery into an extensive program that
will embrace such things as slum clear
ance, low cost housing and rural re-
Mobilization.
Mr.. Roosevelt will wait until the last
moment before he fixes in his own
mind how many hundreds of millions
of dollars will be needed to carry out
these projects. The total cost obvi-
ously will depend somewhat upon how
quickly the dole can be abandoned. It
may run into billions Of dollars be-
cause, according to some authorities,
removal from the dole is going to be
opposed by certain types of persons.
And, 1t seems, they can hardly be
blamed because once the government
altered its traditional policy and made
direct gifts of money it created a new
psychology and the people who bene-
fitted thereby quite naturally will be
unwilling to have the source of the
gifts closed for this easy manner of
living.
One Of the plans under consideration
as part of the whole program is pro-
vision for employment by direct fed
eral subsidy for housing. Under this
plan, the government would advance
part Of the cost for individual homes
of low price construction. Estimates
said to be in the hands Of the Presi-
dent indicate that an expenditure of
81 800 100000 in this manner would
release more than three times that
amount in private capital and give
work to an estimated four million per-
sons.
In keeping with the theory that the
number on relief rolls will descend in
direct proportion to the revival of pri-
vate construction, advocates of this
plan contend that the cost would be
less than outright relief. They say
that with the government advancing
part of the funds needed, private lend
ing agencies would feel more secure
and would offer aid in the form Of the
remainder of the loans necessary. In
other words, the government would
be sharing the risk and this, it is ar
gued, will mean that both the govern
ment and the private lending agency
will feel that each eventually will be
repaid. ..
1t has long been recognized that re-
covery cannot be accomplished with
out a tremendous in
Need Private crease in construc-
Construction ton. Private con-
struction, however,
will not go forward in a period of un-
certainty now no more than it has in
other years and the experts have de-
cided that the government must take
the lead in this direction. They have
advised the President there can be no
real upturn in private building opera
tons unless start Is made by the
government. Whether this is the right
theory, of course, none can foretell.
1t may turn out to be that the govern
ment is pouring additional funds down
just another rat-hole as it has on
numerous other occasions in the course
of recovery experiments. My CONVEX
sations with men both in public and
private life, men who are qualified to
judge, lead me to believe that there
will be considerable construction re-
sulting from this program. The con-
illusions which have been expressed
to me, 1t must be said frankly, do not
indicate that there will be any such
total Of new construction development
under the new administration program
as the enthusiastic opponents of the
program now contend.
There are numerous reasons for
these conclusions as they have been
explained to me. One of these reasons,
and perhaps the most important is
that no one is going to build a house
unless he feels that he can continue to
pay for it. With depression conditions
prevailing and with hundreds Of thou
sands of potential home owners now
without reserves or resources of any
kind the market for homes naturally
Is limited. That is to say there are
hundreds of thousands of families who
would like to have homes but who
have no way of acquiring them.
1t has been the hope of certain Of
the administration officials that a plan
for creating work through public ex-
penditures for improvements will make
a great many individuals feel more
secure and willing to invest whatever
savings they have left In home owner
ship. But l have heard the thought
voiced many times on the other hand
that depression conditions have made
most people fear debt more than they
ever have before. This would make 1t
seem that the government has a prob
lem In psychology to overcome, and
none of the plans thus far advanced