Evening star., 1939-02-07

properly tlmed program OF PUBIC
works is the ability to move quickly,
to take fast, positive action. When
1 reported to President Roosevelt at
the end of the year that P. w. A.
had successfully met the first two of
the three deadlines established by
the Congress, l was able to give him
some evidence of the swift pace at
which P. w. A. had moved I told
him, for instance, that P. w. A. had
released for heavy construction, an
average of more than $l1 900 900
worth of work daily. During the
first four months following the pas
sage of the 1888 act, P. w. A. ap-
proved projects at the rate of 1000
per month.
Experiments Result in System.
/ cite these facts to impress upon
you that experience has taught us
how public works program can be
speeded up; how it can be made a
flexible instrument capable of con-
troll in the public interest We have
come through our period of trial
and error, and have learned to
manage and direct a program to
accomplish a predetermined result.
We no longer have to experiment;
we have learned how to operate this
instrument Of recovery when we
have the instrument. But we should
not have to stop to forge it again
when new need arises.
1t seems to me that the Nation
should now consider whether it
wants to rely on sporadic efforts, as
in the past, or whether it should
profit by experience and establish
the kind of machine that will
always be ready for action. l have
urged this on former occasions and
l urge it now. A permanent public
works organization would not mean
the setting up of another great
bureaucracy. A small permanent
organization, in the nature of
general staff, with authority to ac-
cept and examine applications for
useful projects is all that would be
necessary. Such staff could main
tain a reservoir of desirable public
works to be launched when Congress
SAID the word The result would be
that when downward economic
trend threatened, the Federal Gov
ernment could take quick, effective
measures to halt the downward
curve and bend it upward before
economic harm were done.
How much more worth while this
would be than to lapse into the
inertia of the past, when we have
let the doom of economic disaster 90
rolling swiftly downhill and strike
the bottom with crash before do
Ing anything about it. How much
more intelligent it would be to take
considered action in advance and
thus be prepared to head off dis
aster before it has had a chance to
gather unpredictable momentum.
Our experience with the P. w. A.
program of 1888 shows that the
ounce of prevention actually can be
applied, provided that preparation
Is made in advance and that an
organization, schooled and disci-
pinned IN its work, is at hand ready
for the job. This Nation is alert
10 the need OF military preparedness,
But experience has proved that we
also need economic preparedness.
Not Partisan Proposal.
Such a proposal is no partisan
attempt to continue the policies of
one particular administration.
Former President Hoover, while he
SHE'D away from actually putting a
program into effect, repeatedly ad-
vocated the establishment of
public works agency within the Fed
eral Government. 1t was his idea
that such an agency could co-ordi-
nate and draw together the con-
struction work of the various Fed
eral departments and utilize such
work to alleviate unemployment.
However, Mr.. Hoover apparently
lacked faith in his works, because
when others brought out legislation
to put the public works theory into
action, he began to find reasons why
such a program could not be carried
out. In a statement he issued in
1882. in opposition to the public
works program advocated by Speak
er Garner, Mr.. Hoover asserted that
the erection of public buildings
would produce only limited
amount of employment and that he
was informed not 20 per cent of it
could be brought to construction
within a year." Yet within the last
six months of 1888 P. w. A. brought
more than $500, 100000 worth of
work to construction.
We owe it to our people to protect
them as much as possible from the
strains and stresses of an economic
system which throughout our history
periodically has hurtled off the
track. A program of timed or
balanced" public works with small
but competent staff in charge, would
act like a gyroscope to keep our
economy on more level line. Look
ing back over the years, we can see
that our growth has been a sort of
"off again, on again, home again,
Finnigan" sort of economic progress.
Isn't it about time for us to con-
slider establishing a mechanism to
prevent economic wrecks instead of
being content to gather up the pieces
afterward?
Committee Urges Setup.
That such conviction is begin
ming to be borne in upon the Ameri-
can people was shown by the recent
report of the special committee ap-
pointed by the Senate to investigate
unemployment and relief, headed by
Senator Byrnes. This committee,
after long and careful study, recon-
mended that relief and public works
programs should be handled on a
permanent basis and follow definite
policies instead of by temporary
authorizations hastily designed to
meet some immediate situation.
With regard to public works, the
report made several interesting rec