Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1935-01-11

SPOTLIGHT
ON THE
World Crisis
BY DONALD GLEASON
RoosEvELr's MESSAGE
Profit Motive and the Right
to Work
County Relief Coming
Stun Clearance impossible
'Neighborly' War Preparation
Fascism and the CCC
By DONALD GLEASON
PRESIDENT RoosEvELTs

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELTS
annual message to congress gives
vague political promises intend
ed for the masses, Far more de-
finite will be his budget message
which at this time is not made
public. This budget will show
what measure OF action he in
tends in order to keep his prom
ises.
In spite of its vagueness the
Presidents speech does show
some important trends. Once
again it is made clear that Pres
ident Roosevelt is a defender Of
the capitalist system. He says,
NO wise man has any intention
of destroying what is known as
the profit motive. Because by
the profit motive we mean the
right by work to earn a decent
livelihood for ourselves and our
families" To define the profit
motive by calling it the desire to
earn decent livelihood by work
is simply a Juggling with words.
If this be the profit motive,
then it is not Ony defensible but
inescapable. The USSR and its
citizens are by the Presidents
words building a new society on
the profit motive since they are
earning a decent livelihood by
work. The workers should carry
banners calling for the profit
motive 1.-THE right to work to
earn a decent LIVELIHOOD to see
il they get the presidential bless
ing or blackjacks and tear gas.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT part
of the message deals with the
changes proposed in administer
ing relief. Those unable to work
(1,500,000) are to be thrown on
local agencies, most of them al
ready bankrupt, for what relief
they will get. The remainder
1880, 000), an estimate much be-
low all other unemployment fig,
ures, are to be put to work on
public projects. The budget will
tell what this is to be, but pres.
ent tendencies show very clearly
what it will be like.
The pay for relief work must
be less than wages for private
employment and more than the
relief dole. There are places in the
South where men work for 10
cents an hour. Government relief
work there, is now and will be
paid at that rate. The National
Conference Board reported that
for August 1894, the. average pay
for work relief was S2S.43, and for
direct relief SILL. In Kentucky
the average was Sl0.S2 for work
relief. This is what those out OF
work can expect in the forthcom-
ing plan.
The work, the President an
nounces, must not compete with
private enterprises, and must be
self paying. He suggests rural
housing, reforestatiOn, road
building and the elimination OF
grade crossings. None of these
projects will succeed in practice.
TAKE THE PROPOSAL to
clear the slums as an example.
Is the government to do this for
the benefit of the owners of the
land? Such action would be an
immense subsidy to the wealthy
landowners with what amounts
to forced cheap labor. Is the
government going to buy the
land? If it pays the price asked,
again it will be an immense grab
for the realtors. If the slums are
cleared with cheap labor and
new buildings are erected it will
either compete with private
housing or it will simply force
/ those who live in the present
slums to push into other districts
and make them slums. Under
capitalism it is impossible to re-
move the slum districts because
they are the result of unemploy-
ment and starvation wages. Thus
the whole project is at best but
a stop gap.