The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1936-03-05
THE GREAT
GAME OF
POLITICS
Copyright by the Baltimore Sun and
reprinted in The Republican by
special permission.
By FRANK R. KENT,

pages facts calculated to deepen the
impression that the WPA has gotten
out of hand and the whole work relief
business is in mess. Realization of
this situation seems to have permeated
the inner Administration circle and
there is hint that soon super public
relations counsel, which is the class
name for press agent, will make his
appearance. His job will be to popu-
larize the work relief scheme, not
among the people who get it but with
the people who pay for it. He needs
to be super man indeed.
##*
The fact is no agency of the New
Deal needs protective publicity quite
as badly as the WPA. For nearly a
year it has gone ahead with its gi-
gantic expenditures and hastily thrown
together organization, manned mostly
through recommendations from Demo-
cratic Senator's and State bosses. Criti-
cisms have been met by the truculent
Mr.. Hopkins with denunciation and de-
fiance. His attitude has been that those
who express themselves as not in ac-
cord do not know what they are talk
ing about. His chief assistant, Mr..
Aubrey Williams, goes about the
country sobbing over the alleged fact
that the poor grow poorer, the rich
richer, insisting that if you are not for
the New Deal and the youth movement
you are damned.
In spite of this, an accumulated pub
lie sentiment against WPA seems to
have banked up. Here, on the verge of
request for an additional two billion
to continue the life of this, the most
costly experiment any Government
ever undertook, there is real danger
the resentment may Offset political ad-
vantages supposed to accrue from the
army of officeholders, the reciprocal
gratitude of voters on relief rolls and
the potency of the money itself.
The people as whole are willing
that whatever amount is necessary
shall be spent to keep the distressed
from staving. What they resent is
waste and politics in the expenditure.
These were the two things they were
promised last year by the President
would not be tolerated-particularly
politics. Today the politics and the
waste are too obvious to deny. In
every state they are under the eyes
of the people. There is a growing
restiveness about conditions. In State
after State the charges of politics are
openly made Community after COM
munity furnishes incidents of inexcus
able waste.
Take the charges now made by
young Senator Holt, of West Virginia,
who alleges that the State WPA reeks
with politics, that it's organization is
a political machine, being used in a
most reprehensible manner. If these
came from Republican or some anti
New Deal Democrat it would be easy
to toss them aside as from creatures
of "intrenched greed" who, concerned
with property rights rather than hu-
man rights, want little children to
starve. But they come now, not only
from Democratic Senator, but SUI
per-Liberal, pro-Roosevelt, New Deal
Senator. Throwing aside all muf1ers,
gags and shackles, Mr.. Holt, engaged
in a fight with his colleague, Senator
Neeley, is painting a picture of poll
tics in the West Virginia WPA fully as
black as that painted by Mr.. Clifford
Pinchot in Pennsylvania.
To many, the waste and inefficiency,
the huge salary roll, the multiplicity OF
employees, the duplication of effort, the
unreasonable regulations and the con-
fusion that reigns in the organization
are almost as shocking as the politics.
Evidences of these things are in every
community. For long time little COM
ment was made. People did not want
to be branded as opposed to feeding
the hungry. Within the last few
IuOULLS, LOWCNC4S AAC"SPdP$Ao 40 ~'~~J
section have been revealing what seem
to them outrageous conditions. and
people generally have become con-
scious that the forecasts made year
ago that the money would be wasted,
the weight of the relief problem in
creased and politics saturate the ma
chine have been more or less fulfilled.
If this feeling becomes sufficiently
general, it might easily be that the
WPA with it's four billions supposed
by some to insure the Roosevelt re-
election, would insure his defeat. Re-
life is one thing; but relief heavily
mixed with waste and politics is diff
ferent. It isn't easy to meet the sort
of details of waste and politics pre-
scented, for instance, by such papers
at the Charleston Mail of West Vir-
GINA, and the Arizona Daily Star of
Tucson. The new publicity director is
too smart to try. His job is to prevent,
L. Foa1;nnr nf 1socpnf-