Evening star., 1939-07-09
W. P. A.
Continued From First Page.)

in testimony before congressional
committees. He added that st
seems to me anything that is done
about changing it should come from
the man in the White House"
Representative Woodrum, Demo-
crat, of Virginia, acting chairman
of the House Appropriations Sub
committee investigating the w. P.
A, said that group would take no
action with regard to the strikes.
That's Col. Harrington's prob
lem" Mr.. Woodrum said, land he
seems to be doing very good job. )"
The committee has dispatched in
vestigators into five States, how
ever, to resume the study of the
relief setup, and officials said the
investigators would relay any in
formation they obtained concern
ing the strikes.
Grand Jury Action.
In threatening grand jury action
for interference with w. P. A. op-
erations in New York. District At
torney Cahill quoted the section of
the law under which it becomes a
felony when ANY person knowingly,
by means of any fraud, force. threat,
intimidation or boycott, or discrim-
ination on account of race, religion.
political Affiliations or membership
in labor organization, deprives any
person of any of the benefits to
which he may be entitled-or at
tempts to do so, or assists in so
doing"
Col. Somervell had intimated his
belief that the law might apply to
picketing, to refusal of dealers to
deliver materials to w. P. A. projects
and to sympathy acts by non-W. P.
A. men.
Bernard Tassler, press representa-
tive of the A. F. of l.. in New York,
contended the w. P. A. would be 80
per cent shut down by tomorrow
morning and scoffed at threats of
arrest and of denial of relief"
Col. Somervell insisted in an inter-
view that he had no notion of caus-
ing w. P. A. workers arrest.
They can quit with my blessing"
he said.
Other Walkouts Due.
Meanwhile, throughout the Nation
most projects were closed for the
week end, but there were reports of
some small additional walkouts.
Chactor - -
president of the Workers Alliance,
composed largely of unskilled labor
ers. ordered all his members to leave
their w. P. A. jobs and said the
Workers Alliance whole e-heartedly
supports the A. F. of L. strike"
The Building and Construction
Trades Council of Nassau and Suf-
folk Counties, Long Island, voted
Friday to call out all w. P. A. skilled
workers in the two counties.
In Vermilien County, ILL.,, 225
workers joined the walkout and in
Vermillion County, Ind, virtually all
w. P. A. road projects were shut
down after. foremen said, strikers
urged men to quit their jobs.
The San Francisco Labor Council
pledged support to all groups seek
ing restoration of the old wage scale,
and in Sacramento 1000 voted for
complete work stoppage.
Other Strikes.
The W. P. A. Office in Chicago re-
ported 2,512 of 5000 skilled workers
had quit in the past two days in
protest. In Minneapolis, w. P. A.
workers were ready for "a fight to
the finish," with the support of the
Building Trades Council
Two hundred workers, absent from
their jobs in Fort Dodge, Iowa, since
were to return to work
tomorrow.
Twenty-Five workers walked out
on grasshopper baitmixing project
at Williston, N Oak. Newark IN. j.
State w. P. A. headquarters reported
2,119 workers out on nearly 100
projects.
The acting State administrator at
Jackson, Miss. noting the continued
strike of $500 w. P. A. workers in
Harrison County, said they may
solve our problem of reducing our
rolls The Mississippi Office has
been ordered to cut the rolls from
38 900 to So, 100.
In Custer County, Mont, 358 w.
P A. workers voted a walkout and
in Sheridan County, Mont, 154 voted
to quit work in protest. Colorado
Springs (Colo) workers rejected
motion to strike.
No workers were reported out in
Maine, Connecticut, Maryland, Ten
nessee, Vermont, Kentucky and
Louisiana.