Evening star., 1938-04-30
$124,0)O,0DDF FUND
FOR ) AIR BASES
|SASKED BY MAY
House Military Committee
Head Requests Sum
From Relief Total.
PART OF MONEY URGED
FOR IMPROVING POSTS
Move Growing to End Practice
OF Issuing Blank Checks
to President.
By the Asse ciated Press.

oy tfe Asse clated Press.
Chairman May of the House Mill
tary Committee said today he had
asked House Appropriation Sub
committee to set aside S124,000oOO
OF President Roosevelt's proposed new
public works fund for construction
OF five major Army air bases and i'm
provement Of existing Army posts.
One OF the new air bases would
be located in Alaska, Representative
May said, and the others would be
established-at strategic points in the
United States proper.
Mr.. May made his request while
a movement developed within the
subcommittee to appropriate funds
directly to agencies rather than to the
President. That would end a system
under which relief money has been
handed over to Mr.. Roosevelt, who in
turn has reallocated it to the Works
Progress Administration and other
Government bodies.
The air bases which Mr.. May wishes
financed with works money were
authorized in 1885 in the Wilcox Act,
which stipulated one should be estab-
lished In the Atlantic Northeast, one
in the Atlantic Southeast and Carib-
bean area for defense of the Panama
Canal one in the Southeastern States
proper and another in the Rocky
Mountain area. A sixth base for the
Pacific Northwest already has been
started near Tacoma, Wash.
$1,000, 900 for Alaska.
Mr.. May said he hoped to get the
committee to earmark $1,000, 900 for
the Alaska base and in addition
authorize the Army to incur indebted.
ness on that project up to s45o.ooo.
The bulk Of the sl24.o00, 900, Mr..
May said. would be devoted to about
1S0 housing projects at Army posts
scattered all over the country.
Il asked the committee to clean
up the slums in the War Department
before starting on the rest of the
country" he said.
Some critics of the method of giving
the President a lump sum for re.
ALLEGATION have contended that Con.
gress thereby abrogated its control
over spending and gave the Chief
Executive blank checks"
One influential subcommittee mem-
Der said it was almost certain the om-
nibus spending lending bill now under
consideration would include a re-
striction under which funds for
w. P. A. would go straight to w. P. A.,
money for farm rehabilitation direct
ly to the Farm Security Administra-
tion and "on down the line"
Checking on Boards.
Questioned about that possibility,
Representative Woodrum, Democrat.
of Virginia, who is in charge of the
legislation, asserted:
We are putting just as much re-
striction on administrative authority
as possible in a program where We
have to delegate certain amount"
The subcommittee has been check
ing. on Federal committees and boards
which have been obtaining some or
all of their money from relief appro-
priations More restrictions are being
considered for them, Mr.. Woodrum
said.
I'VE are going to prevent their ex-
panding beyond what we think they
ought to-" he said I'VE are going to
keep as much detailed control in Con-
gress as possible"
He added it would be "humanly
impossible" for Congress to approve
each public works project. and even
if it could the result would be pork
barrel and log-rolling" operations
which would let the most influential
members obtain the most projects.