Evening star., 1937-10-24

One OF the tolOers Of the
Harlem RiUer crossing OF the
Triborough Bridge, Ne1O YOrk'S
most impressive traffic i'm
proUement, connecting Man.
haitian, Queens and the
Bronr. The P. w. A. helped
with a loan and grant OF S44,-
200, 900. The toUerS, 210 feet
high, lift the largest deck OF
any htt-bridge in the ,1orld.
effect of taking P. w. A. out of the
category of a political crib and placing
it in the category of Government as
sistance available to any community
desiring it and able to meet its ex-
acting requirements. Four stringent
requirements were laid down. The
project, sought and furthered by the
community with Federal assistance.
had to show legality, that it was So
cially desirable, had to prove itself
financially sound and TO be feasible
from an engineering standpoint.
In the case of toll bridges. for in
stance. as the Triborough Bridge Of
New York, 1t had to be demonstrated
by those seeking the loan that the
bridge was useful, needed, and that
it could pay for itself out of the loan
over a certain period of years. In
the case of sewage plants, water
plants, municipal power plants, the
same dictum was laid down by Ad-
ministrator Ickes. In many instances
laws had to be passed by State Legis-
latures. to permit cities to avail them
selves of P. w. A. funds, to issue
bonds.
The consequent result of all this has
been a sound portfolio for P. w. A.
Loans granted to communities are
secured with gilt-edged bonds, bonds
that, in many instances. have already
been sold at handsome profit by the
Government.
An outstanding example of the
sound financing of p w. A. is that
of the Sanitary District Of Chicago.
P. w. A. agreed to lend the Sanitary
District of Chicago. at the height of
the depression, sal $4,000, and to
grant it S16.950.000. At the time OF
the negotiations bonds of the Sanitary
District were selling at about sc, when
and if they were sold. The banks OF
the great city had no faith in them,
or the investing public. P. w. A. paid
par and accrued interest for these
bonds. 1t was done on faith that
Chicago would pull out from under
the disaster that had overwhelmed it.
These bonds, begging in 1888. were
sold above par in 1885 by the Recon-
struction Finance Corporation, for a
profit of S4l9.380 to the Government
And they were bought by the very
same bankers and investing public
that SHE'D from them in 1888!
Health and Happiness.
The Intangible value behind this
loan, and others of like nature to
other great cities throughout the
Nation, is the health and happiness
of their great populations. And yet
another, the feeling that comes OF
civic pride and good business. the as
surance of faith in ones own city
and the freedom from coercion on the
part of banking syndicates as to ex-
orbitant rates of interest or cheap
ness of its financial integrity.
An angle of approach to P. w. A
that has not been traversed, perhaps
lies in the breakdown of the money
that was poured out by Congress in
its name. How much of the S4.567.-
5000 actually given to P. w. A
went into grants and loans to cities
and municipalities, into school dis
tricts. power plants, swimming pools
and the like?
Since 1888 P. W. A. has had made
available to it the above sum
$4,567 ,586, ,000 This includes P. w. Az
revolving fund, too. But only frac-
tional part of it went into the pro-
gram covered by this article. BY
statutory, executive and special allot-
ment there was taken away from this
sum $1,385. .486,178. Further, another
S1,557, 7,547,0 900 went into Federal prof.
ects. The Army, the Navy. agricui-
ture and other departments of the
Government received this money
Low-cost housing got sl31,356,000.
P. w. A., for its very own, got Out
of this gigantic sum 81, ,403,602 900
This sum-for non-Federal wOrk-was
stepped up to 1854 100000 by use oi
the revolving fund. And of this, mark
the amount, only 1882 2,879,829 was fol
grants, while 1901 ,250,884 was fol
loans. These loans are secured BY
bonds that will be resold and which
bear interest while being held at
per cent.
N0n-Federal Projects.
What P. W. A. has actually accom-
plished for the country lies in the
use of this sum, expended on non'
Federal projects. Where Fedora
projects are concerned, it is likely
that the moneys expended there woule
have come out of direct congressional
appropriations. if not advanced o.
allocated out of P. w. A.
The 1854 100000 has made pos
sible construction throughout the
Nation totaling $2,682,255, ,l60. Tht
sum, with its ramiflcations of en-
ployment and use Of materials neces'
sary to construction projects, repre-
sents the aid of P. w. A. to recovery
And this. in its intangible aspects
represents so much food in the mouth.
of workers, so many individuals di'
verted from relief rolls. so mucf