The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-01-18
TWobits Sheriff.
Works the WPAers
Cincinnati City Manager Is
Answered On His
Relief Policy

Columbus, y. (OLNS).-An article
by c. o. Sheriff., city manager of Gin
cinnati, written for the Harvard Busi-
ness Review and reprinted in Ohio
daily newspapers to show chow one
Ohio city solves its relief problem
has been answered by Earl Minder-
man, special assistant of the w. P. A.
in Ohio.
Col. Sheriff. in his article says:
EVERY employable relief applicant is
required to work at 25 cents per hour,
8 hours day to earn the net amount
of relief given to his family. This
rate appears low as compared with the
WPA rate in this community, but we
find no difficulty in securing the full
cooperation of the relief recipients, in
giving willing service to demonstrate
their worthiness by work"
Further, he comments: at will be
apparent that should the Federal Gov
ernment turn back the administration
of relief to the local communities it
would be possible to cut the total cost
of relief to approximately one-third
of the cost per case paid by the United
States on WPA. This would allow
the execution Of worthy, useful pro-
jects by each community in lieu Of the
present WPA and with tremendous
decrease in tax burden"
Mr.. Minderman's Reply
"City Manager Sheriff. does not
tell his readers that the only saving
he makes is taken from the hides of
the workers by paying them 25 cents
per hour instead of the WPA rates
which, in Cincinnati, range from $52
for unskilled work to $94.90 for tech
nical and professional work.
"He does not tell his readers that
wherever he is going to deviate from
his present maintenance program and
undertake work comparable to WPA
projects such as streets, buildings
sewers, swimming pools, etc, he will
have to buy materials and buy or rent
equipment and tools and hire qualified
engineers and construction supern-
tendents, keep records and, in short
incur the same expense as WPA in
ours.
"He does not tell his readers that
the Cincinnati WPA projects which
he implies in his article are not
worthy and useful" include miles OF
high grade streets, flood escape roads
and sewers, Is swimming pools, beau
tiful Sharon Woods, the Lunken Air
port development and the City Work
house Hospital to mention few. How
could they help but be "worthy and
useful" when these Cincinnati WPA
projects as everywhere, are selected
initiated and sponsored by the local
community?
"What are the worthy and useful
projects which Col. Sheriff. would like
to see communities execute in lieu of
the present WPA?
"The preponderance of this is main
tenance work, such as cleaning the
grounds at the workhouse, cement
walk repaired around workhouse park
city stables at Liberty and Line
Streets dismantled and material trans
ported to workhouse, approximately
| OO,UOU DccI DOScS DIokeIl, DuIuicu anu
distributed to needy families for use
as frewood, Potters field cleaned, re-
sodded and beautifed and entrance
road rebuilt; burials in Potters field
and the American cemetery are by
men from this project; porters fur
nished for various police stations and
nightwatchmen for street construction
jobs; cutting weeds, underbrush and
dead trees from vacant lots and from
along sidewalks throughout the city.
"WPA rules prohibit it from doing
maintenance work so that it will not
displace regular employees and thereby
defeat its own purpose. Under Col
Sherrll's plan, the workers are as
signed to an institution which provides
its own supervision.
Bearing these facts in mind, can
anyone calculate how Col. Sheriff. ar
rives at his conclusion that the "cost
of relief can be cut to approximately
one-third of the cost per case paid by
the United States on WPA?
"Are we willing to save the money
now spent on materials and equipment
at the cost of having their unemploy-
ed men breaking up beer boxes instead
of working on worthwhile public work
projects?
"A job instead of handout is sound
public policy"