Evening star., 1942-02-17
La Guardia Pleads
For Benefit Fund for
Displaced Workers
Answers Governors
Opposition; Hope for
Possoee Of Plan Slim
b the Associated Press.

a $500, ,0O0,0 900 plan Of benefits to
displaced workers.
If 1t were 200 or 100000 workers,
they, could be absorbed, but the
number is so great that it creates a
national problem, not a State prob
lem," the Mayor told the House
Ways and Means Committee.
Administration leaders were re-
ported to have lost hope Of bringing
the legislation to a vote.
I'VE can't say to them, you've lost
your job; that's your lookout; 60
out and find job," Mayor La
Guardia counseled.
Some will find jobs, others will
have to be trained. and some will
have difficulty finding work"
Replies to Governors.
Then, replying to many State Gov
ernors who have insisted the prob
lens should be handled by the
States rather than the Federal Gov
eminent, the Mayor said:
"If this bill is not passed, the
States now appearing before you
will come right back asking for
Federal aid"
He said 1t is not a question of
States rights "but one of national
security"
President Roosevelt recommended
the legislation a month ago and
only yesterday told his congressional
leaders that favorable action was
imperative because the situation in
some areas was growing acute.
Speaker Rayburn and Democratic
Leader Mccormack of Massachu-
sets transmitted that information to
a group of Ways and Means COM
mitteemen, but were told that the
prospects were slim. An informal
poll showed a majority OF the COM
mittee members opposed to the leg
islation in its present form.
Strings to Proposal.
The Governors and representa-
tives Of State unemployment COM
pensation commissions have COM
planned to the committee that
strings attached to the proposal
would lead to Federal control Of
payments which States now make
to their own unemployed.
Gov. Harold E. Stassen of Mime
sofa headed a long list of witnesses
yesterday who contended that q
section which would permit the So
cial Security Board to deny States
administrative funds for their own
programs would amount to "feder-
alization"
Gov. Henry F. Schricker of Indi-
ana told the committee:
This Is no time to plunge this
country into q great argument over
the issue of liberalization (of State
programs. We consider this An in
vasion Of States rights and 50 we
take the position that we are not
opposed to anything you see f1t to
do to concentrate labor in one place
and preserve labor for war indus
tries, but we see no reason for tying
that into unemployment compensa-
ton programs"
Other Governors Testify.
Others who expressed opposition
were Cows. J. Melville Broughton of
North Carolina, Leverett Salton-
stall Of Massachusetts,, Robert o.
Blood of New Hampshire and Her
bert F. O'Conor Of Maryland.
The legislation before the COM
mittee would authorize a $500 O0o.-
600 appropriation to supplement
State unemployment compensation
benefits paid to workers temporarily
out of a job while factories are con-
.verted to wartime production. The
fund also would be used to train
such laborers for new wartime Jobs
and to transport them to new en-
ployment.
Labor Factions Back Plan.
Meanwhile support for enactment
Of the plan came from both labor
factions.
William Green, president of the
American Federation Of Labor, urg-
ing the federation's afiliates to wire
members of Congress In support of
the proposal, said that an estimated
2,000, 900 to 100000 American work.
ers will lose their jobs in the next
few months because Of conditions
forced by the war.
These men and women are badly
needed by America" he said. I'VE
cannot afford to let them sit around
idle and starving while industry
belatedly gets ready for war pro-
duction."
Fears for Worker Morale.
Support from a unit of the Con-
gress Of Industrial Organizations
came In the form of q letter from
Sidney r. Katz, secretary-treasurer
of, the Maryland and District Of
Columbia Industrial Union Council,
calling on member unions to urge
the plans passage.
while the forces which are fight
ing against this very desirable legis-
lation may be motivated merely by
simple greed, selfshness and parti-
san politics, it should be remembered
that If this legislation fails of enact
ment, actually hundreds of thou
sands Of important American de-
fense workers will be demoralized, !"
he said.
foreion Exchnnne