Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-11-08
The New Deal
Civilian Army

Senate has resorted to the oldest political trick in
its bag by entering the crucial months OF "a
presidential campaign with THE BIGGEST FED
ERAL CIVILIAN PAY ROLL IN THE HIS
TORY OF THE NATION
Senator Byrd, as chairman of the joint con-
gressional economy committee, reports that the
new peak of 81 1854 civilian employees of federal
agencies was achieved in July.
The peak has since been surpassed, and will
continue to be surpassed each month until the No
vember election.
Significantly, the total employment reported
does NOT include more than quarter of million
employees of the war department stationed outside
the continental limits of the United States-the
apparent conclusion being accepted that these
employees are more concerned with war work than
with politics.
Ii the rest constitute the vast and swollen
"A army of government employees saddled upon
the country in the most critical time of military
stress and manpower shortage in its history.
"F this army of federal employees lOere lined
up four abreast in military formation" the Vlr-
gna senator observed, "the line Mould reach from
Washington, D. C., to New York City"
The New Deal administration has utilized this
device of inflated federal pay rolls IN EVERY
ELECTION YEAR since It's inception.
In the depression years before the war, the
work relief rolls were always padded for election
purposes.
The exploitation of unemployment and the
poverty of the people through federal employment
finally became such an open scandal that the out
ragged American people compelled Congress to pass
Federal Corrupt Practices bill. the purpose OF
which was to outlaw the perpetuatlon of political
power by government largess-a purpose never
attained.
SINCE the war, with most of the work relief
- agencies abandoned and none of them necessary
or justifiable the New Deal has been compelled to
create OTHER FIELDS OF VAST FEDERAL
EMPLOYMENT UPON WHICH 1T COULD
RELY IN ELECTION YEARS.
Senator Byrd dscloses how this was done.
In 1881, the last year before the New Deal,
there were only 10 government owned corpora
tons.
Now there are FORTY FOUR of them
They have borrowing power of 33 billion dol
lars.
They have loaned out six and one-half billion
dollars.
They have thousands of officials and employees
scattered throughout the world
Some of them have unlimited power to create
subsidiary corporations.
Senator Byrd buntly calls them corporations
which "seem to have been created with little
thought as to the advantages or disadvantages -.
They encroach upon and compete with business.
A DID to them too the fact that they are intended
"A to be AN INVINCIBLE POLITICAL
FORCE FOR THE WINNING OF ELECTIONS
and for the perpetuation of the New Deal in power,
and the present peak of federal civilian employ
ment is fully explained.
This is the colossal backlog of voting power
which the New Deal has built up IN THIS ELEC-
TON YEAR.
1t has been contrvedin spite of the induction
of more than IL million men and women into the
armed forces.
1t has been accomplished with callous indif-
ference 70 critical manpower shortages in vital
production industries, and especially in agricul-
ture
If exploitation of depression and poverty for
political purposes outraged the American people,
there SHOULD be at least equal public outrage
this continuing and greater EXPLOITATION OF
WAR FOR NEW DEAL POLITICAL PERPET-
UATION.
Brain Game