Evening star., 1935-11-18
LA GUARD|A HITS
|P. WA. RED TAPE" =;
COMMENDS |CKES
Declares Work-ReIief Pro-
gram Has Been Retarded
Four or Five Months.
MAKES CRITICISM BEFORE
CONFERENCE OF MAYORS
Asserts Idea Relief Can Be
Stopped on July l Is Unthink-
able and Impossible.

Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New
York criticized the Public Works Ad-
ministration today for red tape"
which, he said, set the work-relef
program back four or five months.
At the same time he asserted that
"any idea the Federal relief can stop
abruptly on July / or any other i'm
mediate date is unthinkaole and i'm
possible"
Commends Ickes.
Addressing the United States Con-
ference Of Mayors at the Mayfiower
Hotel he commended Secretary Ickes,
the P. w. A. administrator, as help
ful and co-ooperative.
But mo one man can do it alone"
he added.
IF they would only stop the type
writers, we could get the steam shovels
working" La Guardia contended.
Out Of the New Deal. he said. has
come species that we might call
the 'semi-colon boys"
They are simply a boil on the
neck Of this administration, he
added
Il think it is senseless to take the
plans and specifications of expert
enced city engineers and submit
them to younger, inexperienced men
holding Office jobs down here in
Washington"
He defended delays incident to be-
ginning works progress projects, con-
tending that in this case the Govern
ment was providing 100 per cent
grants Ind was justified in full ex-
animation Of the projects.
Faced by New Conditions.
Concerning the discontinuance Of
relief. he added:
Granted that there is an improve
ment IN business, even with complete
recovery We viii be confronted with a
new po-mal of conditions. With
technical displacement and the use
of labor-saving devices both in agri-
culture and in industry we must be
prepared to meet this new normal
We will still have several million en-
playable men and women unable to
find work.
And I tell you. gentlemen. that
you can't feed people on statistics or
ticker tape"
Cummings Is Speaker.
Declaring Nationwide cooperation
against crime is one of the most i'm
lr,tiae faoi1r
Attorney General Cummings addressed
luncheon meeting of the mayors.
Crime has ceased to be a local
problem" the Attorney General said,
but has spilled completely over State
lines to become a national emergency
Of the first consequence. The man
ner in which the criminal world has
taken advantag of ienadequate law
and law enforcement soon produced a
problem as we'll as a national dis
grace.
I'VE haven't finished with the crim-
inal problem, but We are going to,
and 1t will be done by application of
brains, science and cooperation"
Three speakers on public safety ad-
dressed the afternoon session of the
confernc, these being Lieut. Frank NJ
Kreml of Purdue University. Henry
H. Curran of New York City and p. J.
Steinkellner, fire chief of Milwaukee.
Mayor Hoan Optimistic.
Mayor La Guardia was preceded this
morning by Mayor Daniel w. Hoan OF
Milwaukee, president of the confer
ence. After reviewing the attitude of
the conference in favor of public works
programs, Mayor Hoan voiced the op-
timistic belief that cities eventually
will he able to care for their unemploy-
able relief needs If the Federal Govern
ment will provide work for those able
to do it. A reasonable time, however,
must be given the municipalities to re-
wise their financial plans, he said.
The conference delegates were well
coined to Washington by Commits
sioner Melvin c. Hazen in a brief ad-
dress IN which he made no mention Of
District relief problems.
Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley of New
Orleans presided over the session.