Evening star., 1941-10-02
n. Y. A. Spokesman
Denies Discouraqinq
Army EnIistments
Accounting Office Charge
Brings Reminder Of
Cooperative Action


pf General Accounting Office inves-
Igators that the National Youth
Administration had sought to dis
courage the enlistment of project
workers in the Army, a spokesman
for Aubrey Williams, N. Y. A. ad-
ministrator, said today that two
years ago we sent out instructions
to all our people asking them to
make lists of all N. Y. A. youths
available to Army officers because
we had been asked to cooperate
with the Army"
The General Accounting Office
report, made public yesterday, was
broadly critical of the N. Y. A. 1t
was Immediately branded as a
smear" by Administrator Williams,
who said a detailed reply to the
charges would be made to the
proper authorities"
The Army angle was injected into
the report with the comment that
"the restriction on the enlistment
procedure of the Army. to some ex-
tent, must have been a contributing
factor toward the necessity of the
Selective Service Act. which was
passed in order to obtain sufficient
enlisted personnel for the armed
forces of the United States"
Protest Recalled.
In discussing this point today, Mr.
Williams spokesman recalled that
the N. Y. A. instructions about fur
nishing lists of project workers to
the Army had provoked a protest
from the Jobs Commission of the
American Youth Congress, and that
on February 8, 1910, a statement
was issued by the administrator dis
closing a letter sent to the Jobs
Commission and to the New York
City Council of the congress in
which he said:
Il find it very difficult to agree
with your position in this as think
every citizen in the Nation has a
right to information with respect to
enlistment in its armed forces, and
I see no good reason why the project
workers of the N. Y. A. should not
have this information along with all
the other young people of the coun-
try. In addition to their right to
have this information, there is the
additional factor of occupa tional op-
portunitieS available within the
Army that they have right to know
about.
Il can see no possible harm to
any young person in the country
receiving this information, for he is
still free agent under our demo-
cratic form of government to choose
what career he will follow, and there
Is not the slightest coercion either
explicit or implicit in our furnishing
such lists to the Army"
Said to Have Gone Far AfieId.
The General Accounting Office
report alleged numerous irregulari-
ties and questionable transactions.
by the N. Y. A. and charged that Ad-
ministrator Williams had misin-
formed House Appropriations Sub
committee in March, 1910, regarding
the expense of maintaining employ
ment agencies to find jobs for youth
in private industry.
In his reply Mr.. Williams said:
''This is obviously another smear
story given out by the investigative
branch of the General Accounting
Office with intent to discredit an
other administrative agency. This !
Is shown clearly by the fact that |
they went far afield into matters
which were none of their business. |
These matters, by their own state
ment, indicate that they had to do !
with legislative policy and admins |
trative procedure, but in no way t
involved any improper expenditure
of funds.
In matters having to do with the
accounting of funds and their proper
expenditure, such as the nickel and
dime telephone calls where irregu-
larities are charged, full inquiry will .
be made about all such items and
proper action taken if any is called
for. With regard to the charge that
I misrepresented the facts concern
ing the junior employment services
to the Congress, and insisted on |
continuing this service to youth, the
facts are, as the proceedings of the
Congress will show, Immediately fol- |
lowing direction from the Congress
that these services which had been |
developed by the N. Y. A. were to be
provided for in the Employment
Service budget, they were discon-