Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-09-22
Only Half Approved Jobs
Can Be Financed, Hop
kinS Reveals.
ICKES SUMMONS P. w. A.
DIRECTORS TO CAPITAL
Farley to Check Final List Of
neutrality-suspicious. to
Many Forecast.
BY. NELSON NJ. SHEPARD.


yesterday as the administration, facing
the necessity of putting nearly 100000
persons to work each week for the
next 40 days, resOrted to two moves
to speed the tagging employment
drive.
First. Harry l. Hopkins, works
progress administrator, virtually de-
centralized the $4,000 work relief Or
ganization and placed the responsibility
for quick job on State administra-
tors. He CURLY informed each of
these that only one-half of finally
approved projects can be financed,
but gave them discretionary power as
to what projects to be started i'm
mediately.
In this connection, Hopkins explain
ed that w. P. A. had tried TO obtain
approval for twice as many projects
for each State as could be financed
with available money
At the same time it was announced
that Secretary Ickes, whose part in
the work-relief drive has been re-
duced to S2O000O0OO, had summoned
every p. w. A. State director to Wash
ington for a conference today, at
which final check on the list Of new
public works Improvements will be
made. He has completed selection of
scores of projects that will eat up the
allotted part of his share of the S4,-
000,000,000 fund and the scheduled
conference will provide further safe
guards against approval of projects
which have no chance of winning
President Roosevelt's o. K.
List Not Public Yet.
P. w. A will not make its list pub
lie, it was said, until President Roose-
Welt has stamped his official approval
on it-probably in a week or 10 days.
Thousands of communities, large
and small, will be disappointed as the
works program takes final form, both
by reason of the slashing of P. w. A.
funds and the expected scrapping Of
one-half the works progress improve
ments submitted by enthusiastic State
directors.
In giving his State administrators
wide latitude in conducting their pro-
grams, Hopkins said:
1T is obvious that you cannot pros
ecute every project approved. APP
proval merely constitutes authority
and does not mean you must start the
work on each project"
Wide Latitude Sought.
State administrators generally have
submitted projects in the belief the
/ long awaited official o. K. Of the
President was the guarantee the prof.
ect could be financed by the Govern
ment.
Hopkins notified them yesterday
the attempt to secure approval of
twice as many projects as can be
financed out of available funds had
been done deliberately 50 as to af-
ford a maximum of latitude in oper-
ating programs"
The District of Columbia has pend
ing before the Allotment Board and
President Roosevelt 100 projects cost
ing Sl0.328,000, according to the lat
est obtainable figures. These are
awaiting approval.
1t is apparent now that approx
mately half of these projects have no
immediate chance of being financed,
although the administration has left
a loophole Should funds be later
available, other projects can be put
into operation.
4,2O7 at Work Here.
Thus far Commissioner George E.
Allen, District works progress admin
istrator, has "a projects in operation
costing $3,000.008. To date he has
4,207 persons at work, including some
employed on departmental projects.
The total employment goal in the Dis
trict is l5847, it was said, based on
the operation of the entire program.
That this goal can be reached is
highly improbable if executive APP
proval does not mean orders to go
ahead
The burden of sitting the works
projects to be undertaken in thou
sands of communities has been placed
by Hopkins squarely on the shoulders
of his State administrators. His orders
were described at w. P. A. headquar-
tiers as emphatic"
To each State administrator the
chief wrote:
THE obligation and responsibility
thus placed upon you is tremendous.
Within the limits of human ability,
you must provide employment for all
eligible workers; you must complete
projects, or project units, once begun;
you must so plan your material pur- I
chaSes that no project need be de-
layed for lack of it. and yet you must
not accumulate SURPRISES of unneeded
materials"
Reservoir of Projects Denied.
Hopkins warned them t. keep in
reserve large reservoir of projects
which can be started or stopped as the
labor supply f1uctuateS without jeop-
ardizing the value of completed work.
Before any State administrator can
release the unused portion of an al
lotment for an abandoned or incom-
pleted project, he advised the Treas
ury State Accounts Of1Ces will require
them to certify that the United States
is not obligated to complete the project
or to make any expenditure therefor.
Thursday, Hopkins gave these State
administrators discretionary power to
reduce working hours on projects
whenever 1T seemed advisable. This
will work out in some cases, he ex-
planned then, to establish prevailing
wages.
The public works part in the en-
ployment drive. reduced to $200,000,-
900 by order of President Roosevelt,