Evening star., 1934-01-24
Bear by the Tail.

Inc nulldDalOO over graft III the
c. w. A., while it contains the sort
of stuff that hits the highest head
lines. is of less Importance than the
countrys reaction to statements in
Washington that the C. w. A. is not
permanent. OF course, the c. w. A.
was not intended to be permanent. Its
establishment represented the sort OF
magic handwriting that is possible with
half billion dollars. But once the
spell has been cast the resulting SEN
sation is so lovely that thought Of wax
ing up to realities is generally repug-
nant.
AS for the graft, it is an obviously
safe prediction that those who have d.
rected the c. w. A. experiment from
Washington will come through all in
quiries unscathed. There will doubt
less be prosecutions for petty graft on
the part of local politicians. But even
the cases of graft Will be in the minor
ity. 1t is understood that most Of the
rested on the charge that a mans poll
tics, and not his economic status, in
some localities, determined his eligibility
for C. w. A. employment. One of the
inimical stories going the rounds is
that in one State, where the c. w. A.
administration was under a Republican
board, Jobs were not conditioned on
whether a man was starving but on
now he voted in the last election. Al
lowing for the usual exaggeration, that
condition is probably based on some
fact and is not confined to any one
State or locality, the only difference
being whether favoritism extended to
Democrats or Republicans.
That such conditions would be true
is not surprising. The haste with
which the c. w. A. was launched. the
determination In washington to put so
many million men to work before such
a date, the apparent inexhaustibility of
the funds at hand, the impossibility Of
judging the wisdom or the necessity of
undertaking C. w. A. projects-these
things have contributed to blunders
that will receive their due emphasis
when some of the dust has settled.
For while the c. w. A. has been a
boon to the man out Of work, it re-
quires no stretch Of the imagination to
comprehend the bonanza it offered to
local politicians, besieged by patronage
hungry constituents. To have SIS ,000-
900 week thrown out from Washing
ton and descend like mama from the
skies on towns and cities that had been
on a starvation diet for years because
Of lack of funds was temptation enough
to try the soul of a Galahad, not to
mention the average alderman.
No wonder the kilograms and the let
ters and the long petitions are descend
ing like driving tempest on Mr.. Harry
Hopkins, now the process Of whiting
down C. w. A. funds is inevitably begun.
But these are as nothing when COM
pared with the later deluge expected
when the money really gives out. 1t has
not given out yet. There is enough to
last to the middle of February, with in
dications that more millions will be
supplied to carry the program through
the middle of May. But what then?
The administration, Of course, is hope
full that the expected pickup in busi-
ness will lessen relief demands. But it
would be tremendous pickup, in
deed, that came as a substitute for the
G. W. A. Beyond that pick up, the ad-
ministration has decided on no c. w. A.
substitute.
While the C. w. A. experiment has
been novel and interesting, the business
Of dropping it is going to be even
more so.