The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-02-03

QlVlQudlS living
in Indiana he said. Mr.. Manion
stressed the value of the demonstra-
ton projects now being carried out
in Indiana by the government, par
ticularly slum clearance, subsistence
homesteads, soil conservation, and
indirectly touched on the situation
in Brown County, which was the
subject of recent magazine articles.
You have heard it said that the
Federal government is invading the
domain of private enterprise. I
should like to pause for moment
and ask anybody present TO call my
attention to a single ACTIVITY OF the
Federal government in Indiana that
does invade the field of private in
dustry," he continued.
Protect Private Rights
"Any one can take the complete
directory of these agencies and 60
ing from the top to the bottom OF
the list demonstrate in extremely
short order, even to the most un-
friendly critic, that each of these
agencies is a protection for private
rights and private industry, which
certainly relieves the suspicion OF
any attempt to destroy private
rights and private industry.
Let me go further and say this,
that each of these agencies is do
ing something that SO out of 100
people will admit should be done,
and yet not one out of 100 people
can call attention to a single private
industry that is doing or is willing
to do this necessary thing.
"The Home Owners Loan Corp,
for instance, refinanced distressed
mortgages that no private reflnanc-
ing agency would touch. The Farm
Credit Administration deals in
credit for farms and farmers that
everybody admits is necessary ana
desirable for the proper pursuit OF
agriculture, but which no purely
private industry is willing to ad-
vance or engage in.
Private Loans Insured
1.-THE Federal Housing Admins
tration is doing it's best to induce
private credit and private finance to
60 into the field of modernizatlon
and home finance, and. it even
promises to insure the private loans
that are thus made, by the gen.
eral credit of the United States.
mo private industry is willing or
anxious to feed and work the
armies of its unemployed, but
everybody admits that the unem-
ployed must eat and should work.
The very instant that private in
dustry bids for the services of men
and women now working for the
Works Progress Administration
that same instant the WPA will re-
lease that worker to private indus
try where the Federal government
certainly hopes that he will speed
lily go and permanently remain"
Mr.. Manion said that the solution
of the nations industrial problem
including agriculture, lies in the
field of new activities, new products
and new demands by the popula-
ton.
Cites Slum Clearance
Discussing the demonstration
agencies" of the government, Mr..
Manion cited the slum clearance
project in Indianapolis as an ex-
ample in point He said:
1.-THE government is spending sew
eral million dollars in Indianapolis
now for the purpose of demonstrate
ing that a slum area that con-
tributes 10 times the average ju-
venile delinquency, and criminality
per unit of population can be re-
moved, first of ALL and secondly
have substituted for it low cost
sanitary and healthy apartment
buildings that can be profitably
rented at low figure.
There is not enough money in
the Federal Treasury to clear all
the slums of single state in the
Union, but, if reasonable number
of demonstrations such as the one
now in progress in Indianapolis can
be completed successfully, there is
no reason why presently idle cap
ital can not go into this field in
the future and thus open up new
avenues for private investment and
private employment with untold
advantages to the health, the mo-
rale and the order of the. commu-
nity"