Evening star., 1938-04-17

i The fever was accommodating in
the national blood. With each
setback OF business and the stock market,
the pressure became greater. At last the
slulce is being opened to another stream
OF pump-prlming, price, -priming, poll
printing billions. Just how much it will
all add up to even the President has not
yet told U.S.
The chief purpose is to get the growing
masses OF unemployed back to work.
1t isn't enough that the UNEMPLOYED
should receive relief. They should have
Jobs in private employment The Govern
ment should do what it can to promote
business revival, if for no other reason be-
cause depression looks bad to the voters.
But how to remedy the slump? Some
insist that confidence will revive business,
If the New Deal relents on reform. The
recent recovery, they say, was only pump
pr1med recovery. not the real thing, and
when the priming stopped business COL
lapsed. Let pump-priming be henceforth
rejected, this group urges
To this advice the pump primers dis
sented. They agreed that a cessation of
priming was followed by collapse. For
that very reason they wanted to start all
over again. And they are supported by
those who would spend heavily for relief,
regardless of the state of business.
How Dry Is the Well?
Just how dry the business we'll has be-
come since all this started in 1929 nobody
seems to know. incidentally, no political
party in power wants to face its electorate
with a brand-new depression to explain
away Even if the we'll is indeed part dry
and priming is futile, the pump-primng
may at least create the impression of a
flowing well during the period of fall
voter-wooing. Experienced politicians won't
neglect so elementary precaution. While
We should not infer that politics was the
main reason fer the Presidents pump
printing announcement Thursday it was
certainly one of the reasons
The first big item in the Presidents S
recommendations is relief Compared to
1t the s250O00, 900 additional relief appro-
priatlon recently passed by Congress was
just driblet, and will be all spent before
July. Beginning next July the budget
originally called for about Sll0O 900, 900
to be spent for relief in the IL months of
1938-39. But the administration would
now increase this to sl25O 600 900 merely
for the seven-month period, July-January.
At this rate. for the full year 1938-3e. W.
P. A. relief will absorb about S2140 OOO. .0OO
(The c. I. o. is campaig igning to make the
total s3,500000,000D This s2l4O 600. 900
would be to care for the approximately
100000 persons now on relief
Secondly, the depression is to be at
tackled through public works projects.
The President recommends Federal grants
and interest-free loans to State and local
governments to total as much as 81 400
100000. Such loans it is believed might
be made repavable in so annual INSTALL
ments OF 2 per cent cash, although many
persons think there is little chance of
their full repayment If we are justified
IN regarding the 2 per cent as interest
payments, instead of as repayments of
principal, the s1,4OO,O0O 900 will really
amount to huge grant. Visiting mayors
carrying bouquets of forget-me-nots are
wearing shortcuts across the White House
lawn, it is said, to investigate this pro-
posal.
Needy Business Cared For.
The already approved Glass amendment
to the r. F. c. act permits that broad
shouldered agency to lend ST 500, 900 900 to
nao6v hJIsinacSoe ,,,;n h.
on the r. F. c. to get money out, If only
some local banker or other lender can be
found to contribute. say 20 per cent of
the loan to insure his keeping an eye on
the r. F, c. investment. Almost all previ-
Gus limitations as to security, amount of
individual loans and the like have been
removed by the Glass amendment. The
theory apparently is that the Government
should lend in cases where no one else will
lend-that it should step in where angels
fear to tread" But Jesse Jones of R. F. c.
is something of an angel, and $500 900 900
is regarded as top figure for any such
new loans in 1938-39.
Then there is to be $50,0000O0 more
than the $226,000.000 previously budgeted
for c. C.. c. camps: perhaps $500 900 ,O00
as recommended by the I. c. c., for railway
equipment loans; sl75,o0O,0Oo (ncluding
e100O00,00O of loans) for the Farm Sc
curity Administration; s75 100000 for the
National Youth Administration, 500 0OO.-
900 more for highways, $37,000,00 extra
for flood control, etc.
Now add up the above recommended
authorizations for l938-39:
Relief, full IL months, COM
mencing July 1--$ 50 ,140, ,000, 900
Grants and loans" for pub
lie works --------------- 1,4oo, 600, 900
New r. F. c. loans to busi-
ness (authorized maximum 1,5O0, 900 900
rederal-aid highways - 10000, 900
G. c. C. addition to budget $4,000 900
Flood control and Federal
buildings ---------------- $4,000 900
Railway equipment loans Il.
c. c. recommendation 100000 900
Farm Security Admintstra-
ton excluding $l00000,000
loans) ------------- $4,000, 900
National Youth Adminstra-
ton $4,000, 900
Total for relief and pump
priming --------------$ St, ,7o2, 900 900
These billions probably will not all be