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FEDERAL WORKS AGEl\TCY
WORK ?RCJECTS Arn,;r:'.'TIS'I'RATION
For Relec:..se to F·:.nvsparers
Sunday , .A.ug1J.st 2i:i , l~l•D .
HU1;'TER AlTNOl'J.'JC:SS WPA EMPLOYiv!E}:T SCHEDULES 'I'HROUG-H OCTO:BEP.. , FOLLOWilW
ORIGINA.TJ ESTIMATJ<jS
Howard O. Eunter , Acting ;fPA Commissioner, today announced
that WPA will em:.,loy a rnaxirl'J.sun of 1 , 800 , 000 persons in October , as
originally planned in estimates submitted to Congress last April.
In
fixing this lirr1it on em:,olo;yment l11.wtas , Mr . Hunter is:med the following
stateme~1 t :
"Wendell L . Willkie, Republice.n cand.i clate for President, has
been badly misled in repeating t he perfecGly stu-.,id anc1- inaccurate
statement :
Tho re is a l :::eady defin ite j:iroof thaJt the
Roosevelt administration is p lanning
e.gain to pack the WPA rolls , especially
in those States which are politically
doubtful .
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The assertion tha.t there is i:; roof of such intention is atsurd .
This matter need not f,.us t~er be in the realm of rumor or ·,:-rediction .
The
exact facts are that WPA am1:.,loyment in the 'United States for Se·) tember
will be held to an average of 1 , 700, 000 and cluring October, t ~1e month
immediately p:teceding the Novem1:Jer 5 elec:tion, rnaxinum WPA er:.plo;yment
will be 1 , 800 , 000 persons .
This is neither rumor or prediction .
It is
the official WP.A maxirrn.1Y.t employment quota , in ezac t line with the clearcut testimony given by WPA Corimissioner F . C. Harrington in estimates
:presented to Coagress last Ap!'il.
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" It ;:;hoci.J.d. be r:.oted that WPA er.rpJ.oyment ctur5.ng these months ,
Septembe r and Octobe r, wi ll be tho l ovre::.1 t in the h i story of WPA with
t he excention of 1937 .
" It should be further n0ted tha t fr om the end of Fe-::iruary
until LTul y , WPA roll s showed. a redu cti on of 712 , 876 :perso:1S .
T;1is
red.uction has been m.1.de in this specific election yee,r of 194-0 .
"Far from pad.cling the rolls in
a."rJ.
ele ction year , 1.vPA n ow has
m'.) re t han one mi llion person s on its '.vai ting list --:persons
1,-::10
have
b8en certified. by local co1:1mu.ni ties as in need and. cli 6 iblc bt,_t are
" As to norllU;.l
season.::,,l increa se s in WPA rolls , ah;a~rs ex-
pe ctec1. in the fall a'16.. winter , t boro is the ad.d it ione.l factor of tho
groat need croat od in southorn states which have OX3)C ri oncod. di s astrous
stor,ns and floocls .
100 , 000 natiorn}.l
It is safe to predict that
a la:..'ce ":)a1·t of tho
increase in October in WPA ;:, m;-:loymont \·: ill bo ~)laced
in tho South , wl':ich anyone should bJs i t::.t o t o label a :pol itical move .
11 W'cth
more than one million ~orsons e lig ible to t:io ·:?A who
do not h£'.ve jo"bs , I \•!01.:.lci liko to know Mr . i': i1lkic 1 s ans,·rnrs to those
quest i ons :
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3.
II WnA
v, .I; ·
If so , ho,·' ;,1any should ·,vc fir e ?
Specifical l y , in whe.. t :places sho-1J.d they "be fir ,::ii ?
. TI'1U""S
·" ' ,
om:;:i 1 oym-Jn t max:i.,
1"ror," Ju].y_ +vhro·t1~h
lllOnth
, ,.L 'oy
mon;-'
,::. •
_
• v.J
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October , arc exact l y in accorl with th e t oR tirnon? 3;1bmi tt cd to Cong r es s
last April .
11 Jt is c:xpo ctod that. if t:1oro is a continu::-,nco of tho l argo
nun:bor of oli ~i blo ncrsons a ..,rai tir.g 11.s s :{_:,':..1.rncnt to tho WP.A , further
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seasonal increa<1es will "be made in November, De o ;) mber and January , wl':,ich
is also in line with Colonel Harrington ' s testimony .
Such increases
will depend on actual conc.itions of need and t h e (:1evelo~)ment of ~J rivate
employment in those months .
H'.)wever , all such anticipat ed inc;_•eases
will obviously be ma.de a f ter the e lection on lJovemb L, r 5.
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