Evening star., 1942-05-26
w. P. A. and the War

the fact that the President has
found 1t feasible to ask for an appro-
priation of only $282, ,767.o0 for the
Work Projects Administration for
the fiscal year 1943. While still a
large sum under present conditions,
it is nevertheless a substantial reduc-
ton from the $465, 100000 which he
tentatively estimated would be neces-
sary In his budget message Of last
January, and the resultant saving
will be welcomed by the hard-pressed
taxpayers of the country. Despite
this improvement In the w. P. A..
picture, however, it is highly disturb
ing to learn from Mr.. Roosevelt's
message that the end of work relief Is
not yet in sight.
The w. p A. was established as a
necessary but supposedly temporary
device to bridge over the depression
years. Certainly, at the time of its
inception, 1t. was not contemplated
that the provision of Federally
financed work relief for the en-
playable jobless was to find a perma-
nent or relatively permanent place
in our economy. Yet that seems to
be one inference which is to be drawn
from the Presidents message Of
yesterday.
Mr.. Roosevelt, after paying a
tribute to the accomplishments Of
the W. P. A., went on to say that
shortages of material and labor are
rapidly developing which will require
the recruitment of workers from
every available source, and possibly
"even organized migration" in some
instances. Despite this pressing and
obvious need for labor, however, the
President estimated that there are
still some 100000 unemployed in
the country. Many of these, he said,
will find jobs during the coming
year, but there will remain a Sub
stantial number" who will not be
hired by private employers because
of age, lack of skill or other handi-
caps.
The President made no estimate
of what this substantial number
might be, but he said that his re-
quested appropriation would permit
an average monthly employment Of
about 100000. These persons, in
order to qualify for work relief, must
be employable, which means that
they have to be capable of doing work
of some kind. And If they can work
on public projects, 1t seems strange
that they should be unable to find
jobs in private industry, assuming
that a diligent effort to that end is
made. During the coming fiscal year
the country will be faced with labor
shortage so critical that it is by no
means unlikely that the Government
may be obliged to compel men in
non-essential occupations to take
war jobs. Under those conditions it
is indeed surprising to learn that the
Government is planning to provide
work relief for monthly average of
100000 persons who are employable
but who are expected to be unable to
find jobs.
In his concluding paragraph the
President indicated that he expects
this paradox of large numbers of un-
employed in time of acute labor
shortage to continue beyond the
fiscal year 1943. To meet this situa-
tion, he indicated, Congress will be
asked to approve legislation to ex-
tend the protection of our social Sc
curity measures to provide alterna-
tive means of meeting the needs Of
those who would otherwise remain
on work relief. 1.-THE action to be
taken by the Congress in the near
future on such proposals." he added,
"will determine the extent to which
we can move toward the further re-
duction or the possible elimination of
the Work Projects Administration. ="
To say the least, this is not an en-
couraging outlook. In effect, the
President is saying that, even in a
period of unprecedented demand for
labor, there will continue to be a
substantial number of employable
persons who will have to be main
tained at public expense in one form
or another because of their inability
to secure private employment. This,
Of course, may be an accurate fore
cast, but Congress, before accepting
it, has every reason to insist upon a
convincing showing that it is impos-
sible to find Jobs in private industry
for the employable unemployed.
Aorooe - Pa&ronk