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FEDER.AL WORKS AGENCY
WORK PROJBCTS ADUINIS TRATION
For Release on D~livery
Thursd..::,.y , Llar_ch 21 , 1940 .
COLONEL I::.A.RRIHGTO}J SPEAKS AT DEDICA'I•IOlJ 0} .AHEORY- AUDITORIUM IN
NORTH C.A.ROLINA
1
Speaking at the dedication of the armory~auditoriu.m in
Lumberton , North Carolina , Thu.rsda;y , March 21 , 1940, ( about noon,
EST) Colone l F . C. Harrin6 to~1 , Commissio!l.er of Work Projects , said:
I run glad to be here with you to day to holu dedicate this
new a.rnor;y nncl auditorium.
consider.: ,,olc interest .
It is a p,:oject I have followed with
You d.o not h:wc to bo an e~1gincer to sec th.:,.t
this pro,joct hns been himc1l0d efficiently and intelli gently .
"ilo
OTTO
much crcfli t to Mr:.yor Johncon nnd. the city officials who sponsore d
and coopcro.tcd on this project ; to lfr . Prcv[l,tt , our engineer in cho..rgo
of i'iPA construction in Robcso!). Cou.."l.ty ; i.ir. . 3ur!l.oy, tho :proj e ct
suporint ondent ·who w::i.s directly in cho,rgo of this job ; the WPA
workers uho actually built this armory ; and Mr . UcGinnis , tho very
effici ent o.nd hardworkinf: St.:,.tc Ad.rnin:i.st::.·ntor under whos o gu.id.n,nco
and c:1t~msio.sti c inter est so much vnl.uc1.ble uork has bo on done in tho
Sta.to of Horth Carolina.
This is one of the nes t cxo.mplos of tho successf~l cooporo..tio11 tho.t has gono on bd·;mon t:10 VrPA n.nd tho :public officinls
and other ci tizcns of hundreds of co::ir.:uni tics in the St ,'.'.te of North
Cn.rolinc...
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i.b,yor Johnson , I wnnt to s ay to you thnt the town of
Lumberton :nc,y wel l serve o,s an exo..mple of enlightened o.nd pu.bliespiri teu cooperntion in ge tting impo rtruit work done .
This new build-
ing - - uhich , I underst o.nd , Lumberton is willing to let J3e,ttery B use
if Co.1Jt::'..in TTi shart p ro mises to t o.ke good c o,re of it
t.his new builc1.L,.e;
is one of seve r ,'.11 hundred. new armories constructed D.nd i mproved. in
the Unite :1 Stntes by means of just the kind of e nli ghtenec1. coopern.t ioi1
the people of Lumberton h;:.,.,ve shown .
To be ex nct , there c.re 222 new
armories tho,t hnve been built through community cooperation with t he
WPA since the program stQrted in 19~55 ; 31 o.ddi tions to existing
armories h:,--,v e been constructed during th e so.me per iod. ; o.nd 344 armori es
have boon r oco ~s tructod or imp roved.
In this Stnt o , 23 new nrmor i os
havo boon compl e t ed Md 2 arc ncnring c omple tion .
Tho building we nr o d.odicding t od.'.t.y cost $104 , 000 , of nhich
tho Fodorc-.1 Gove r nment paid some $66,000 , and th o City of Lumberton tho
remainder, or QJ)p roximat oly $38 , 000 .
I think we co.n all c~gr eo thn t
this money hns boon well spent .
Tboso figur e s I cite d. nro definite o.nd I like to mention
thorn for :.'.. very dofini t o r onson .
of t ho. t k ind
Whe n you ho,vo o. lo.rgo body of fo.cts
v,hcthor you nr o spec-king cf o,r mo ri os , or of hos p it2.ls ,
or of sc:hool buildings _ _:, you hn.vo the b8st possibl e n.nsnor to tho.t
segment of our citizenry Pho ov en toclay pers i sts in info r mi ng us tho.t
WPA norlco rs clo nothing but loan u pon thei r shovel s .
It is only a.
l ego:nc1. of course and I nm g l ~~d to see· it passing into the mists of history .
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It is be c or:ii ng increas i ngly harcl for anyone to saJ, that YTPA wor ke:ts a :;_· e
charit zr Ci:,ses , or a burden oy,_ their communiti es , when they produce u e aJtl1
No one ,;;ho drive s very far u po n any hi gh\/ay in this cou:1ty
of t l1is ~:ind .
can s ,,y it , lmless he r efus es to look at t:he road 2.b.e,':'..d , th e -public
buH c'i.ings beside it , or th e imp rove ment s of various ldnds which have
be e n nD,cle to hundreds of public facilities .
It is p l eas,:i.nt to be able to bear wi tno ss to tho conpl e tio:.1
of
2,
nel l - conc o i vccl a n cl we ll- rounded proj e ct fo r a com1n· oh cmsivo civic
c e nter .
I u...>idorstund , Gove r no r , tha t this is y our s ixth armory
dedica tion.
co mnn.1ni t~, ,
I noted vii th g r ea t satisfaction that t ho nerchants of t ~1 is
o.na.
mar.y ins ti tut ions of the commani ty anrl tho Sta t e , ar c
That i s n.s it shoul d b e , and
we ll 1·01J1·esented. in t h i s c oleb:rntion .
I off e r a final word of con(;ro..tuJ.1;,tion for this evi de nc e of good oldfn. shi onocl Ar.iorican community s:pirit .
As lon,g ns rro can count on t hc:. t
kind of s u irit ~o n e e d ha ve no fe a rs for our nQ t ion 1 s futur e .
This buil di ng rd ll havo
n. ci v ic center .
R
cloubl o us e fulness as an n.r':1017 o,ncl
Pe.:.ice ful comr111L"'lity D..Ctivities , no hope , will a lrn,,,-:,s
have their :pl c.co here .
If U10 cl.·1.y over cor,1cs , however , \7l1en t his
buil a.i nc; ho,s to be u sed as ono of n. g r oo.,t numb or of tr8.ining c on tors
throu c;l,ont th o country , rre shD..11 be prop::1,rod .
Ge neral Ifo tts , ns I &o
not no c c1 to L1forr.1 onybody uho h 0.,s b oon close to tho dcvcloprncnt of
t his ,.,ro ~o ct , hns folloY:od t h o ·bu il cling of tl'10s o structnros throughou t
the St.::ct o v ith more th0,n ord i n['..r y C.':'..r o .
And so nll of us l1o r c todn.,',' -- ci tizcns of your comnruni t :/ ,
wo r ~ors ,ilioco s~ill wont i n to tho co nst r uctio n of this buil ding , v isitors
nho h,:,,vo come to -boar rri tncss to ,:,, job \7cl l done -
2.11 of us cnn t c.ko
p ri de L1 t:10 cledic 0-tion of one mo r e unit in ;-,, n:-1,tionnJ. construc ti on
o,m mttdo up of mr>..ny thous.::.nd~ r~:fn a~~ r c to
p roc:r o..:·!l• It isDi41,it~
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ach i ever:ient s -
schoo ls , hospitals , bridges , hic,;lw,ays - - as wel l as t:10
int'.'1-nGi b l e thing s which are difficult to measure because they can onl ~r be
expressed in human terms .
This community and every c ommun ity in th e State
and. in the N.s-,tion is bec oming a better t cl eane r, mo ::.·e healthft1.l p l ace to
live in because of the work of the peopl e who only a few years
2.. c;o
felt t riat
t hey rre re 1..mwanted, and of no use to t heir conrnuni ti e s o r t her.1Se l vos .
I n creating usefuJ. work instec1d of allowing large nw:1be1· s of our
citi zens to remain idle we have been taking par t i n a great experi,,1ent
whicl1 is d.o:.1ocratic in the best sense :
t hat is , in J r oviding tlrn 6 roate st
good f o 1· t he g r eat es t nrnnoer of peop l e , and J r ovi ding it thro1..1.[;i:1 coo :,;i c r atio n
and gooc1. rrill .
Without t hat spirit of c oo:peration all our h i gh- som1cling
ideals nould be nothing but empty wo rds .
And wi t 1.1out agr eer.10nt u 1:io n a ·olan
thc::,. t works , a ll th e good will in the world would b e wo.s ted .
In many cas e s , peop l e find no thing wro ng with th o Vf?A ~:i ro:::;r2.1:1
in t :, o ir own c ommunity , yet f eel pe rf e ctly c e rtain t ha t it is ba d.ly run in
o t ho r ) 1 2.c os far enough away s o that th e det::i.il s a:ce c onv eni cn'G\f obscur e .
That , as we all o,gr 0e , is human no..turo .
M2..ny criti cs o f our
pror,;1·[1.n find it objec ti ona ble in the abs tract even though actual •J r oof t lmt
it wor::s i s ri ght before t hem.
of in tto same manne r --
D.S
The un ompl oy--.u1en t -::i1·oblcm is of ten t:1ou:;;ht
somoti:.ing so abstract , so far a way , t~1.::.t
HO
c-;.o
not r cl c:,;i;e it t o actual c onditi ons ri gl1t in our own c ommuniti es , for w:1ich
we h~v e a ~e rsonal r e s ~o nsibility .
C1."\.n.not
oo
Ye t nati on n l unom2 lcyment difficulties
me t in ge n e ral unl e ss t l1ey are met in thiG county c,na. i n cv or 3r ono
of tho 3 , 000 c ount i o s o f the nation , b;y c oo1Jc ra.ti on 8J.10ng the ci tiz o~1S rm r ldng
wit}:1 tho
.:i.. ,~; encios
they have thorns elv os croe\tcd .
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It is true tha t unemployment is a nQtional p roblem .
But the
Nation is ,1ot a shadow·y- abstraction far away fr om us; it is righ t here;
it is tl1ousands of communities like this wi tl. fundam entally the sar;1e problems
as you:i.· s, ':) robl ems which in the last analysis will be s olved by c oo:,;ie::.~at ion.
Society to C:ay , more than at any time in the histor~, of mankind, is a complex
org&7.ism that depends upon the ha rmonious functioning of all its ele1:1ents
for its very life .
So we must think of the -') robl ems of the Gov~rnucnt a."ld
of the :i:fation as matters that depend unon whc.t we ourselves do f or their
solution .
Here in Robeson County you have furnished a good cxzw:r,l e of
what -can be done with a work progran in creati ng tangible wealth for yourselves anc.. your children .
Mr . McGinnis I s repo rt was issued a few da:rs n.co
for t ho cur.mlo,tivo accomplishments in th e State since the progr.:'l:1 started
in 1935.
liis report for this county is also a vail ~b l c .
Tho ropo~t of our
no. tionc.l i:tchievcments , f or the same four a nd one-half year period, h ..~,s b ee n
s ent to the uress a s a repo rt to the nati on .
All citiz ens interested in the
futu1·e of th e rrork p ro gram should know about t !lose re:!Jorts and the extent
ana_ sie;nifico.nce of th e work accom::;lishod .
Non.rly b.o.lf a million ,:.il c s o f
ro.::i.ds , h i ghwn.y s and street s have been reconst ruct ed and im"Drovod over tho
Nation .
Ove r 55,000 bridges and viaduc ts huve boon built.
We h.::wo con-
structco. ov e r 23 , 000 public buildings , of wl-1icl1 4 , 000 wore sc:1ools .
A gr ol'.t
so..nito..ti on p;.~ogram ha s b ee n carri 8d on wi ti1 the construction of over 15, 000
miles of sev10rs , over 500 sewa ge tr eat ment :plants , and mo.ny other :9ublic
utili tics i7hich are now in the service of co:nmuni t i on t~1ro·Jghout t!1e n.:1tion.
In coopc rci.tion with t he Unit ed Stat e s Public Hoalth Service we h::1.vo d.rainod
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ne o..rly 3 million n.cros of swrunpl.::md n.nd t:10 Surgeon Gcncrn.l hc..s stc.too. tl12.,t
thos e o.nd other TTPA o.cti vi ti JS hc..vo o.dvo..nccd our n a tior:n.l cor.trol o f .::.lo,lo.ria.
by 20 yc1:',rs .
Our workers l",o..vc n.id.ocl. in tho ,:::ro,"..t n:1tion;:1.l ca.·:r-;1.:1 i 5n of con-
sorv;-i,tion by the irrigo..tion of o. qu...:,rtor of a. million o.cros o.nd the 1· oc onditioning of the irril;::i.t i on systems of noa.rly 4 millior, ncros .
Lo..st October I hnc. tho yilco..su:rc of holpin~ to dodicc;tc our l c..rges t
sinclo rTPA project -- tho g r eo..t rww ~'. irport '--'t !Jon Yor!.a:: City , L[', Gu: ·.rdio.
Air-:-:iort .
At thn.t time I po int 6d out thc..t i;:uch of th o \lor:c accon)lishod t he re
W[,s not visible in the fini shed p rod.uct .
Ln. Gu..-:•,rdiD.. Air-;iort is :;.10·,, c.. b r oo.d
l evol C},_'})a.nse r:hich looks ~,s t hough it h r.ui boon form ed by nc,ti;.rc .
But the
acres ,l1ich represent tha t landing field we re li t orc,lly cetrri c d the r e ~md
sot dorm upon r:hat used to be nothing but mu.a. flc.ts o.nd wat er .
Hero in N0 rtn do,rolinn we c.rc pe,r ticul ~,rly ~ roud of th e c..ir:po rts
whicl1 hcwe boon built in Chc..rlotto , r.'ilmi!1gton , o..nd Friendship ,
c:.nc:.
t ::-10 c.ir-
por t non under construction o.t Winst on- Salem .
In the nc..tion as o.. whole
\10
have built n early 200 modern r,i1·::,o rts
of t l10 first class and reconditioned ov er 300 o the rs .
cxt:i.'or.10 for ;ny la.st sto.tistics ,
\70
Going t o th e oppos ite
b.o.ve built over a. qu.art or o f o.. ni lli on
foot o f tu:mels .
k1 inventory o f such largo o.chi ov omcnts woul d not have boon
possibl e ni thout tho mos t im".lortn.nt element in e v e r:{ sing le joo of coo:9orntio:i.1-
tho clement
Public hon.l th work c~idcd by i!PA l_:l rojocts rc:;irosonts one
excellent oxo..m:i;;le of such coo1::orn.tion
roprosonts anothe r .
D.Jno11g
:-:1(.'.IlY a[;oncio~, .
Educ ~·. tio:ic,l nork
Tho o.ir~)ort com:truction o f which I s:9okc is a. cooa.
e:r[',fn:)l o of tho way in nhich Federal agenci e s co op-::i rc:.to \7i th St.:,te C1.;1d loco..l
ones .
All our airport p roj ect s n.re passed_upon by the Civil Aor o nnutics
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Aut:1ori ty so thL~t '-'C sho..11 provide the most eff octi voly coord.L10.tca. s~rstcn
of air)Jorts and. airways for the :Nation .as a v1l1ole .
Cooperation of ar.other
soi·t t-:i:rns p lac e in the sharing of res ponsibiliti es among the stron:;er 2.nd tho
wea:.:er c or.1L11.1.,7.i ti e s of a given State , so that t hose w~1ich cannot afford to p ay
as ::mch tonanl the t otal cost ::3.re 21.idcd by those ,;;hi ch can afford to pay nore .
A f'L1.rth e r v ery nec(issa1~y- element , wl1ich should. never be forcotten ,
is t!1e inc'.i vi dual initiative of local citizens and local officials in v,orking
fo:::- c omr.mni ty i mprovorMJl1ts , fr oqu.on tly under discouraging hand.ic.:·,:ps , until
they finally see those i r:T9ro v c:nonts nadc .
Civic or6 a.n izat i ons , JJUblic spirited
gove:t:1ors and mayo:.:s , and many whose nam,':s nover ap:'!car in tho record thc::so ho..vo worked t o 6 othc r for tho gonoral good. .
al l
Our comniJ11i tics need, and
tho no,tion nee·ds , t ho energy arid imagination of such good citizens .
Some of our critics have saia_ that aid from tho goveri.1men t is
destroyi n{; local initiat ive .
I think you :mow th.::,t this is sim:i;ily not true .
Our critics have also sometimes charged that community e.nd Federal l1ol1J to
tho nood.3r u.ncm;Jloyed is ctest r oyins their indi viduo.l ini tiati vc .
It is said
by such 1.1ostilc critics thLct tho worke rs on "!l?A ,rojects don 1 t wwt to take
pri vato jobs .
Our inv ostigo.tors have l ooked into thousands of suc:1 o.llcgod
co.sos , 2.ncL in ,1oe.rly ovory instance they fina_ tho.t tho :.Jrivo.tc jobs referred
to b~r our critics do not exist .
~Wd wh::m the critics are n.skod. for tho names
of TT?A worl:ors refusing :,Jri ve.tc jobs ,
t:hoy- o.:to unc..bl0 to gi vc tho.t inforr.ntion .
I think you. wil l agree thc..t your VTPA ,rorkors hc,ro in Lurii'ocrton
nro 1·1 o t any d i11.eren
· '-"'
t f rom o t no
' r "Tor'~"'rs
, __ ,, •
'-•
T'n.---,-y ....,
"re r1ot a special
,°-roup
_
_.
0
Unom~Jloyod workors come into the WPA and go out acain c onstn.n"!;ly .
over is v ory large .
Tho turn-
Tho problem of unem:ployment is not a problor.1 of indi-
vid1.1C.,ls vk.o cc.nnot got :r,ir i vat e jobs •
It is n. prob l em of largo nu,.-:::bers ,
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vc.,r~,L1e, froo month t o month o,s to the inc1.i viduals who c ompose t irnm , c.nd.
hc.ving onl y t l:. is f,0,ct in comnon
t ~·11::\-t .:,t tho tili10 t hey [',r o out o f uor~: .,
This .:1:9:i;ilios o,t p r CJ s cnt t o som,.J 10 milli on Ame rican work e rs -
not o:;:o,ct l y
t i1c s'..'..7.10 10 ;,tillion now o..s lo.st fo.11 .
Thoro is much usof•.11 wor:c thc.'. t still r ,Jn1c .1.ns t o bo d.0~10 in c.11
0
our co,_, ,TLw.1i ti ,:-; s t ~'l r ou:;hout th o nc.tion
0
do .
TLis c.,r;:10 ::cy a nd. o..udi t '.n i um :'loro in Lumtc rt on is o.n oxmnpl c of it .
You
n::.:rn :,rovid. c d wor~ n.nd wage s for o.n t.vcr.:J.t:e of 78 norkors for c.. yo-:c,r on t hi s
bu ilcl.ing .
In tho so.mo w0.y , on o, vnri o ty of useful public ~ro j ccts , 2 , 300 , 000
p ~opl c o.:to i1ow emp l oyed i n all our American cowmmi ti c s .
The work tho;;- o.ro
doing is r.1::1.ldng this [', bettor, h oclt ]1i c :;,· , h::1p:Jior 2.;:1d more c orafort:::.blo .Ar,10ricu
f or us Qll to live in.
I should liko to :pob.t out , .:::.lso , th::i.t both t ho rnono~r cpont by
s:9onsors on mutorio.l s , o..nd tho wnge s pnid t o rTPA workers nro useful i n u2..int .:-.. i11ing our oco11omic syste:n nnd in cr cn.ttng p rivatG ompl oymc21t .
87% o f o.11 ~7PA ox-oonditur os -
YTPl~ \Vc..gcs
ar e s pent l ocal ly for th e necossi tL,s of life ,
n.::i.o. l ocnl. tr.::,do is evoryu~1o re grco.tl;/ h e l ped by t hee e YTPA ex-_p(.md.i turc s .
At~d no\"/ I wo.nt to clos e rJi th o.nothcr wo1·d .::-.bout the '.TPA uorl::::crs
of Lu;:foe:rto :1 wl1osc Ls.bor .::me. skill ,rnnt into th o c o!1st ructi on of t ~1is building .
In rctm·n for tho nn.gos :paid. to them , they
hn.ve given
us a c;ooa. job .,
T:1is
no~ urnory is u credit t o tho City , tho St ntc and to tho Nution , a~d in
docl..ic.::.ting it todc..y no o.lso affirm th2.. t it is o. cr cdi t to tho mon rrho built it .
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