The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-02-20
BY ARCH STEINEL

ana ana Lne SplgOCS, TWO OF
them, may be opened be-
tween March Is and April l
to aid industry in further
ing its pay roll and profit
gains and to slice the work
and direct relief rolls.
The first spigot to flow wages
into a states industry is to be the
Public Works Administration and
its expenditure of $15,000,000 on
school buildings, courthouses, hos
pitfalls. and waterworks systems.
Forest M. Logan, state PWA
director, estimates 1000 workers
will be needed at a peak load to
complete the projects if officials
at Washington, D. c., give the
go" sign.
The workers will receive the
prevailing wage with skilled work.
men hired at the union scale.
Ninety per cent of the workers
are to be taken from Works
Progress Administration rolls.
The second spigot to be opened
is the expenditure of $11 100000 by
the Indiana State Highway Com
mission in the construction of
roads and bridges. Highway de-
partment engineers estimate that
1000 more will be needed at peak
loads to complete the projects.
Thse workers also are to be taken
from WPA rolls.
TINE climb of PWA into the
Il construction picture, if Wash
ington does not change its mind,
and the Stete Highway Commits
sion's road-building may white
WPA workers in Indiana from
$4,000 to $1,000, relief observers
believe.
A slight business setback was
suffered by private industry in In
diana during January, but the set
back was seasonal and officials of
the Indiana Employment Service
forecast that industry is primed
for more employment this spring
than in the past two years.
Private industry, with seasonal
jobs, is further expected to de-
crease the direct and work relief
rolls and aid in mitigating want
in Indiana.
Wayne Coy, Indiana WPA adj
miniStrator, warns, however, that
since PWA money comes from the
same Federal fund as WPA that
WPA employment will be reduced
rs PWA, state road jobs, and pri-
vate industry take men from his
pay roll.
Reduction in direct relief during
the spring months due to seasonal
employment is a "sure thing"
township trustees say, with de-
creases estimated from 10 to Is
per cent of the caseload.
EXPERIENCE of state employ
IL ment officials is that industry
absorbs pay roll increases by TAX
ing on old employees released dur
ing slack times and younger men
and that a doubling of placements
in private industry by the state
employment bureau during 1885
over 1884 did not sponge up the
unemployed on direct relief rolls
or the~work relief man or woman.
Our company pay roll accounts
are higher and in our own bank
we have expanded. Our expansion
in the bank as we'll as other finan-
cial institutions has been due to
an increased need for the men
and women whom we kept on our
pay roll in depression times rather
than throw them on relief. We're
taking up that slack now as bust
ness improves and that is what
is happening in private industry
and the reason why, despite in
creased pay rolls the relief rolls
have not dwindled," said one In
dianapolis banker in discussing
industry's viewpoint.
Bankers can't be quoted, but
I believe relief is as necessary to-
day as three years ago and that
we can not expect TO take many
persons from relief rolls when we
consider that we cropped from
boom employment years to an all
time low in unemployment" he
added.
PLACEMENT records of the
Il state employment bureau show
that although 1886 persons re-
ceived jobs in private industry in
December. 1885, against 1886 in
government and WPA jobs that
the chances of the WPA worker
obtaining a job in industry is not
more than an estimated 1-to-10
shoot.
Skilled workers in varied lines
are needed more frequently than
the unskilled laborer and it is the
unskilled workmen who forms the
bulk of the $4,000 employees I'M
der WPA in Indiana.
General statements that the
labor mart is in dire need of
skilled workmen is denied by en-
ployment officials. The metal
trades class of workers are the
only skilled persons said to be in
demand today.
An example is cited by an Ar
senal Technical High School Of
fetal who points to one Indianap-
oils firm that has taken shop
trained youths for apprenticeship
in its plant in order to teach them
BENNY