Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 October 1936 — Page 6

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“ CLEVELAND, Oct. 13.— The full text of Gov. Alfred ‘M. Landon’s speech here last night follows: Tonight I want. to talk about the most urgent human problem. that * faces the American people at this hour. The problem of the millions of men and women of this country—

our fellow citizens—who are out of jobs and the many more millions Who are on relief. ~ I am going to discuss.our governt's responsibility for the protecn of these men and women on re- ~ Hef until they can again find emo Bloyment at real jobs, paying the t of good wages. And at the very ~ putset let me repeat a pledge I have made from Kansas to Maine. If I am elected chief executive of this * eountry, the Federal budget is going to be balanced, but it is not going to be balanced at the expense of our needy unemployed. They are entitled to ample relief for their needs, and I shall see that they get it -

In approaching this human probjem of relief, the first amazing fact that we encounter is this. Nobody in America tonight knows exactly * how many of our fellow citizens are out of work, nobody knows how ‘many are on relief. Even the government at Washington. does not know. This is inexcusable.

NEGLECT CHARGED

This Administration has found time to make tourist guide books, It has found money to classify fossils. It has spent seven and one-half billion dollars of the taxpayers’ money in the name of relief. But it has found neither time nor money to inform itself of the extent and nature of the relief problem. In a matter that directly involves onesixth of our people, this is, to say the least, tragic neglect. The American Federation of Lapor says there are over 11,000,000 unemployed. - There appear to be about 20,000,000 on relief. This is no situation to be dismissed with talk of rising stock market prices in New York; it can not be turned aside by boasting of corporation profits. This is a situation that must be faced openly and with courage. : We are a generous people. We have gladly provided for our fel‘Jow citizens, who, through no fault of their own, have been deprived of livelihood. We shall continue to be liberal.

But liberality is not enough. We have duties that go beyond mere dollars. - We have the duty of administering relief so wisely, so sympathetically, that human values will not be destroyed. And we have the duty of doing everything within our power to assist real recovery. That means to get real jobs for the unemployed. In both these duties the present Administration has a record of miserable failure, : _Money intended for the relief of ‘human suffering is being diverted to the building up of a shameless political maghine. ‘Nb professions of warm humanity-can hide this " fact. Our hearts go out to those milJions of our own people who through no fault of their own have been the victims of this debfuching - of relief funds for political pur-

_ poses.

DEPRIVED OF HOPE

But even that is not the worst that has happened under this Administration. They may call it reform, they may call it national planning, but the ugly fact is the members of this Administration have condemned one-sixth of our people to live in a separate economic world of their own. Isolated from the main stream “of owr-na-

~ tional life, they have been cata-

logued, registered, regimented and controlled: by a Federal bureaucracy which promises them no future. All that they can hope for is the bare necessities of life. In this separate . world they are deprived of the hope and opportunity that is their birth3 ht >

- Surely it is our imperative duty to help these millions of men and . women to free themselves from de- © pendence on government. We must Ip them win back their indepen- . dence.- © Our people want to stand on * Sheir own feet. I do not agree or a moment with those who say ‘that a large group of our fellow eitizens prefer relief to honest work. Every. self-respecting Amerjcan wants a recovery that will bring real jobs at real pay. We all know that this is the only final solution to the relief problem. After three years it must be obvious to every one that waste and exfravagance do not make jobs. ~ Cracking-down on _ business, arousing class hatreds do not restore employment. Recovery and ~ re-employment will never come while t business is forced to tip-toe ugh a series of breathing spells. The way to recovery is for the vernment to stop trying to run lives of 130,000,000 people. If government will do this, if it _ give American initiative =a ghance, 11 million men and women

will not long be looking vainly for

PROBLEM TEMPORARY

We refuse to believe those members of this Administration who say this nation has passed its last frontier of opportunity — those prophets of despair who claim that never again will there be work in this country for everybody. This

doctrine of = despair has been preached time and time before. Always it has been given the lie by the inventiveness, the energy and the self-reliance of the American people. There is still work to be done in this country—plenty of work—far more k than planners in Washington realize, or can ever provide. Common sense tells us that complete re-employment can not take place overnight. Our sense of duty tells us that until there are jobs for all we must provide relief. Unlike the Administration, however, I view relief as a temporary problem. The first step toward solving it is attention upon the needs of the unemployed. Everybody knows there is too much politics in relief. This has become a national scandal. The evidence of this playing of politics has been supported by documented and sworn testimony, published in every part of the land. It is a disgrace to the Administration. It is more than that. It is a humiliation to the American people. I am dedicated to the proposition that henceforth no American citizen shall ever again be put in the position where he has to sell vote for bread. Now I am®™going to discuss the flagrant mismanagement of relief by this Administration. It has diverted hundreds of millions of dollars intended for relief to non-re-lief purposes. It has used relief as an experimental playground for every foolish fad and pet theory that came along. The whole program has lacked any sound, practical, clear-headed planning. What a record for an Administration that wants to arrange the details of the entire economic life of our people. After nearly four years this Administration should have definite ideas on how to meet the relief problem. But it must be obvious to every one that it has none. Look at its record. :

program was started. The FERA was to help the states take care of actual need. The Public Works Administration and the NRA were to provide work for millions. But by the time autumn came around, it was discovered that these plans had failed.

CWA IS RECALLED

. 4

And so- another alphabetical agency was set up, the CWA. It ran for just four months. 5 For the next 10 months the Administration went back to the old FERA. Then in January, 1935, the’ President told Congress: Federal government must and shall quit this business of relief. Ri

people be further sapped by the giving of cash, of market baskets, of a few hours of weekly work, cutting grass, raking leaves or picking up papers in the public parks.” He,

| introduced, and for the next few

‘ In the spring of 1933 an elaborate

“The |

not willing thatthe vitality of our [mi

therefore,: asked Congress for a blank check of $4,000,000 to start a

new socalled program of work relief. So in May, 1935, the WPA was

months we had both FERA and WPA. And so it has gone, men and women have been shifted from home relief to work relief and back to home relief again. The plain fact of the matter is they still don’t know where they stand. All they know is they are in the grip of their political exploiters. In this piling of program upon program thexe has been no progress whatsoever. Men are still looking in vain for an effective plan of relief. Instead of getting that, there has been more red tape and more politics. This probably explains why the Administration has deliberately kept the country in the dark. It has consistently refused to make available clear and adequate figures on the use of relief funds. Even our Federal and state legislative bodies can. not get. their questions answered satisfactorily.

Last spring, the Pennsylvania state senate appointed a committee to investigate relief. At once, the non-political director of the WPA instructed employes not to answer questions. Next, the Department. of Justice furnished lawyers to all-the witnesses to help them carry out that order. Finally, an assistant at-torney-general appeared in person and obtained an injunction against the committee to prevent a highly proper investigation. This is an incredible thing in free America.

CLAIMS SECRECY

What figures have been made public are strangely contradictory. For example, in May, 1933, the average cost of each relief case was $15.15 a month. Twenty months later the cost had doubled. It was $30.45 per month. But why the cost doubled, they don’t tell us. ]

We are told that in 1935, the cost per case for relief in Nevada was $866.00 a year. While in the nearby state of Idaho it was only $454.00. Why? They won't tell us. We are told that under the FERA the cost of administration—the overhead—in South Carolina was 18 per cent. But in Vermont it was only 5% per cent. Why? They won't tell us. ferns It is time we demanded an answer. ! On January 3, 1934, the President told Congress: “If we maintain the course I have outlined, we can confidently look forward to greater employment and a diminution of relief expenses,” We did maintain the course he outlined, but did we get any reduction of relief expenses? We did not. At present the Administration is spending in the name of relief at an annual rate of a billion and ‘a half ‘more than in 1934. And yet, less than two weeks ago in Pittsburgh the President told us that we have had a more rapid recovery than even he had anticipated. And the ‘band played “Happy Days Are Here Again.” No one objects to the money spent if it goes to those actually in need. dog@@ndemn the mismanagewhich keeps the unemployed at subsistence wages while providing good salaries for the favored few. It is not a question of how much the unemployed are getting; it is a

ca will not surrender before the challenge of this task.

FACTS DEMANDED

As I have said, the first thing is to get rid of waste, extravagance and politics in the administration of relief. We have a common sense, workable solution. It must be designed for those who want a job but can not get one; not for those who would not take a job at any. price. We must have a program that will take care of all who are genuinély in need; not one designed for political henchmen and wardheelers. The first step in building an intelligent system for handling relief is to find out the facts. That the Republican Party proposes to

Monsignor Keegan, head of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, recently said, “We believe the administration of the work program and of relief can, in the main, be carried out most effectively through local and state direction.” That is sound advice. The ublican Party as a major reform proposes to return the administration of relief to the states. It will then be possible for the communities themselves to determine just what form the relief should take. They will determine what, if any, work relief projects will be started or continued.

‘Local agencies are familiar with the real needs of their ‘citizens. A centralized agency in Washington never can be. Wise administration of relief depends upon human contact.’ Relief cases can not, and must not, be handled as so many marks on a bureaucratic chart. At the same time the Federal government must continue to give financial aid, through the states. We intend to establish a system of Federal grants-in-aid to the states. We shall ask that the states qualify by complying with certain reasonable conditions.

The first of these conditions is|

that a fair proportion of the total relief burden shall be contributed by the state and local governments. A direct financial responsibility is: the best guarantee we ,can have’ that the taxpayers’ money will not be squandered. The second is that all who are engaged in the administration of relief must. be selected on a basis of merit and fitness. To put men and women in charge of relief solely because they are politically deserving is contemptible,

PRIVATE JOBS GOAL

The third condition is that encouragement be given to those who are trying to become self-support-ing. This is of primary importance. Today there is little incentive for

a man on relief to take a private

job. He knows that if the job to be temporary, it I

‘If 1 am elected we will provide an efficient employment service. That means a service which will bridge the gap between the relief rolls and reviving industry willing to play its part in the movement for recovery. The Republican party proposes further that Federal public works shall be undertaken only on their merits and shall not be confused with the administration of relief. I am opposed to the use of relief labor, at relief wages, for the construction of Federal public works. This in broad outline is the Republican position on relief. So long as the need for relief exists, the necessary funds must be provided. And we must bear in mind not only the physical well being of our less fortunate neighbors, but their spirit, their courage and their faith as well. ; It is inconceivable that one-sixth of our fellow citizens should continue to be deprived of those opportunities for- growth and development,- which are the inalienable rights of free men in a free land.”

FOELLINGER RITES SET

By United Press FORT WAYNE, Ind, Oct. 13.—

Funeral services for Oscar G. Foel-

linger, 51, Indiana leader and Fort

Wayne News-Sentinel general man- |]

ager, will be held at 2:30 p. m. Thursday, relatives announced today. : \

Mr. Foellinger died from a heart |

ailment while on a Canadian hunting trip.

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Wilson Says Unusual Act May Have Scrambled Political Eggs.

‘BY LYLE C. WILSON United Press Staff Correspondent LINCOLN, Nebr. Oct. 13.—President Roosevelt may have scrambled the political eggs in this state. His week-end appearance here in behalf of his own and other Democratic candidates and to boost the re-election chances of Senator George W. Norris has spotlighted a state where corn belt party lines are badly broken.

Senator Norris, who used to be a Republican, is running as an independent. Opposing him are Terry Carpenter, Democrat, and Robert G. Simmons, Republican. Both were nominated for the Senate seat now held by Mr. Norris. It is unusual, perhaps unique, for a President to reject a state's primary choice and to look,. as Mr. Roosevelt has done, to an independent candidate to carry his colors

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paign for election as in the presidential contest in Nebraska. Good breaks can deliver this state’s seven electoral votes either to Mr. Roosevelt or to Gov. Landon. At the moment the White House horsemen stirrup-to-stirrup I was told by W. E. Christenson of the Omaha World-Herald that the President probably would carry his city by 15,000 votes, sufficient to deliver Nebraska in a close contest. Christenson’s paper, long Democratic, recently abandoned the New Deal and indorsed Gov. Landon. The consensus appears to be that Senator Norris and Mr. Carpenter will divide a sizeable November vote and that Robert Simmons, the Re-

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on either primary ballot. He chose, instead, to run this time 2s an ine dependent. And when Mr. Pnose= velt indorsed Mr. Noriis as the New Deal choice, he was speaking as the head of the Democratic Party which had a Democratis candidate in the field against Mr. Norris. : Mr. Carpenter, Western Nebraska merchant, won the Democratie nomination from a field of mora than half a dozen primary aspire ants. He campaigned as a New Dealer and an advocate of the Townsend Old-Age Pension Plan,

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