Evening star., 1935-08-29
CHANGE IN RANKS
OF IDLE SLIGHT.
Roosevelt Promises Like
Those of Hoover on
: Prosperity.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Time was when the Hoover admin
istratlon used to issue statements
saying prosperity Is just around the
corner"
Now the Roosevelt administration
has taken to doing the same thing in
another way with respect to finding
jobs for the unemployed. An incident
that occurred within the last week is
q, case in point. 1t happened last
Saturday night when the radio broad
casting companies thought Congress
was about to adjourn and when they
hooked in their wires to the Capitol
and put on some comments by Con-
gressmen and by attending cabinet
officers, too.
Secretary of the Interior Harold
Ickes, who also had charge Of the
$4,000, 100000 public works program
appropriated in 1888, which was to
prime the pump" was on hand and
the radio announcer interviewed him
about the unemployment problem.
+"How about the 100000 unem-
ployed?" he was asked.
..Oh, they'll be back to work by
November" was the reply.
why, that's good news, isn't it?"
exclaimed the radio man.
"Yes, very good news" agreed Mr..
1ckes.
If Mr.. Ickes is right, then it really
is the biggest piece of news that could
have come out of Washington this
month. And yet hardly any news
inence. Is it possible that these
promises of the Roosevelt adminiStra-
ton about getting the unemployed
back to work are being treated just as
were the Hoover administrators
prophecies of prosperity?
ila Unemployed About Same.
Looking back over what the Roose-
welt regime has promised since March
4, 1898, and examining also the latest
figures from the National Industrial
Conference Board, we find that, not
withstanding the expenditure OF bill
lions and the largest deficits in the
history of the Republic, with the ex-
ception of World War time, the num-
Der of unemployed in September, 1888,
was 100000, and yet in May, 1885,
the unemployed still totaled 9,71l, 900.
Here are some of the predictions made
by the President and his colleagues:
June Is, 1933-President Roosevelt
said: "Our studies show that we
should be able to hire many men at
once and to step up to about a mil
lion new jobs by october l, and a
much greater number later"
June %, 1933-Harry Hopkins, Fed
eral relief administrator, gave the
opinion that 100000 unemployed
would be back at work next Spring as
a result of the national industrial re-
covery and public works bills.
July 26, 1933-Gen. johnson told
the radio audience he estimated that
between 5000, 900 and 100000 work.
ers would be re-employed by Labor
day.
August II, 1933-PoStmaster Gen.
eral Farley, chairman of the Demo-
cratic National Committee, said: Be
fore Labor day, 120,000,000 people
who a short time ago were in the
slough of despair will have pulled the
United States out of this terrible de-
preston"
- Immediate Work Promised.
August 26, 1933-Speaking for the
President, Gen. johnson in the fol-
lowing announcement said: 1.-THE
Presidents unemployment program
may be described briefly as a plan
to add from 100000 to 100000
persons to the Nations pay rolls i'm
mediately."
November 8, 1933-The President
authorized the following at the White
House: -Four million men now out
of employment will be put to work
under a plan announced today by
the President. Two million OF these
will become self-sustaining employees
on Federal, State and local public
projects on November 16 and will be
taken completely off relief rolls. An
additional 100000 will be put back
to work as soon thereafter as pos
sible. This plan will be administered
by the. newly created Civil Works
Administration. BY this one stroke,
at least two-thirds of the families in
the country now receiving relief will
besplaced on a self-sustaining basis"
September 30, 1884 - President
Roosevelt in radio talk to the Amer
lean people said: "I stand or fall by
my refusal to accept as a necessary
condition of our future a permanent
army of the unemployed"
November 10, 1934-Donald Rich
berg, chief co-ordinator for the Presi-
dent, said: I'VE must bring about the
e-employment of four or five million
workers in the near future, either
through great expansion of private
enterprise or through further Govern
Inent activities"
Huge Direct Relief.
January 4, 1935-The President in
his annual message to the Congress of
the United States said: More than
$4,000, 100000 has also been expended
In direct relief to the destitute . .
But the stark fact before us is that
great numbers still remain unemployed
The Federal Government must
and shall quit this business of relief
80 1t is a duty dictated by every in
telligent consideration of national
policy to ask you to make it possible
for the United States to give employ
ment to all of these 3,500,00o en-
playable people now on relief, pending
their absorption in rising tide Of
private employment"
April %, 1935-In radio talk to
the American people, the President
said: I'VE are losing no time getting
the Governments vast work-relief pro-
gram under way and we have every
reason to believe that it should be in
fun swing by Autumn"
June II, 1935-In a speech to the
State Works Progress Administrators,
Mr. Roosevelt said: "I think we can
get across TO the country the very
simple proposition that we have
mandate from Congress to put $780,