The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1939-08-04
MAYORS WARN OF
CERTAIN COLLAPSE
OF W. P. A. SETUP
Conference of Mayors Warns Con-
gress That Whole Federal Work
Program is Jeopardized.

New York City (ILNS). - "The
whole federal work program is jeop-
ardized as result of certain provi-
sions of the 1889 relief act,' the
United States Conference of Mayors
warned in report sent to every
member of Congress.
Wholesale dismissals and wide
spread suffering are inevitable if the
law remains unchanged, the mayors
declared
The report was signed by Mayors
La Guardia of New York, Burton of
Cleveland, Reading of Detroit, Tobin
of Boston, and Jackson of Baltimore.
"If the law stands as recently
enacted" said the report, problems
lie just ahead which will be so
serious that their full import is not
yet generally realized, even by Con-
gress.
"We do not want to witness col
lapse of the work program.
Collapse Predicted
"It is our duty to state that there
will be such collapse, unless the
issues here discussed are remedied by
Congress. We must inquire: What
good is it to appropriate funds for
work relief if the conditions around
the appropriation are such as to ac-
tually prevent providing work?"
With million persons already eli
gible for w. P. A. work but not given
| it, cities are in no position to increase
their relief burdens, the mayors
warned. Cities, they said, already
are carrying such a load that they
can stand no more.
Care of Idle Imperative Duty
"This," said the report, "is not an
attempt merely to dodge response
bility or to shift burden to the fed
eral government. 1t is a question of
taking care of the unemployed in the
only way they can be cared for-tak-
| ing care of them in a decently ade-
quate minimum way until such time
as the national economic system gets
back into gear and they can be re
absorbed in private jobs.
''The nation has no alternative but
to do this if the present economic
| system is to endure"
Commenting on the abolition after
September l of geographical differ
ences in security wages, except to the
extent that there may be justified by
actual differences in the cost of living,
| the mayors said there was no iustif-
cation for cutting subsistence wages
in some sections because wages in
other areas were too low. The low
wages should be brought up, they
contended, but not at the expense of
those a little higher"
| Other Bad Provisions
| "In addition to these provisions"
the members of Congress were told,
| 'the cumulative effect of other sec
/ CiOilo VI IiiC law III lIlclIlSclNcS WOulQ
be enough to seriously cripple the
program. The reduction of the ST
! per man month for material, particu-
larly in view of the fact that the in
crease in hours to 130 will mean use
of more materials; the restrictions
placed around sponsors credits; the
limit of $4,000 as the maximum build
| ing project; the fact that many COM
munities cannot legally make con-
| tributions for white collar projects,
which means they would be killed by
the impact of the 25 per cent clause;
the provision that sponsors must as
sumo the burden of providing skilled
workers whenever they cannot be
found on relief rolls all pyramid to
make the law virtually an admins
trative impossibility."