The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-06-21


 the President signed the bi Howard Gray, eficient assistant PWA administrator, had things set so he would sign his name 5000 times during the first 24 hours after the President signed, thereby allocating $500, 100000 of public works money in one tre- mendous flow of federal spending. By October, the balance of $900, ,000, 900 is to be allocated, and these projects must get under way by January 1st.
 Despite this advance prepara- tion, actual building operations cannot begin until 60 to 90 days after funds have been allocated to local communities. This is be- cause local officials must ad- vertise bids for two to four weeks, also need about 60 days for architects to prepare specifi- cations.
 On 8 big project it is almost im- possible to cut the architects time below this. PWA has encouraged advance preparation of plans be- fore passage of the bill, but local communities don't want to go to the expense of architects fees (frequently totaling several thou sand dollars) until they know how much money they are getting from the government.
 Net result is that the effect of public works spending will not be felt until around September, at which time there should be a tremendous psychological effect upon the country.
 Ickes' Marriage
 For 30 years Ebert K. Burlew has been climbing the civil ser vice ladder from lowly clerk to assistant secretary of the In- terior.
 This is one of the most notable climbs in government history, and like every other civil servant Bur- lew has sometimes wondered what it would be like to attend a Cabinet meeting, to sit with the highest of all government officials around the mahogany table in the Cabinet room, discuss the most important affairs of state.
 The other day he got his chance. While Secretary Ickes was honey incoming in Europe, Burlew be- came Acting Secretary of the Interior and attended his first Cabinet meeting. He entered, ready for the impressive ceremony.
 But chief business of the Cabinet that day was josh ing Burlew about Ickes' mar riage.
 Father vs. Son
 Anti-New Dealers have been missing a good bet lately in El- Iott Roosevelt.
 The Presidents second son and budding southewestern radio mag nate has been making a series of Sunday night broadcasts over Station KFJz in Fort Worth, Tex, in which he has been booting around his fathers pet policies as vigorously as any Liberty Leaguer.
 For some unexplained reason Elliotts blasts have escaped mo- tice except locally, but they are hot stuff. He has not only waded into his papa's theories but warmly defended one of his chief foes Henry Ford
 This is what son Elliott had to say about the wage-hour bill at the height of his fathers battle for it:
 This bill is of particular interest to Texans and all those who live south of the Mason Dixon line because we find an interesting recurrence of feel ing that existed in Congress be- for the Civil War, of bitter dis pute between the representative of the Southern States and the representatives of the Northern states. For years the south has been slowly gaining on the in- dustrial East ...
 "Now the representatives of the Northern states are try to overcome this natural advantage of the South through the pas sage of an artificial piece of legislation which will establish rigid wage and hour standard for certain classes of workers |. So the merry game of politics wends its way, with entrenched interests still forcing unfair legislation down the threats of the minority of the country, which happens to live in the South and Southwest ." Papa Spanks
 Contrast this with what Elliott's father said in Gainesville, Ga, when he spanked Southern op- ponents of his wage-hour measure. The President declared: 7
 Georgia and the lower south may just as we'll face facts.