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4-2214 FEDERAL wo...-rucs AGENCY WORK PilOJZCTS .AJJMINISTRATIOH For Release t o Morning Papers Tuesdn.y, March 4! 194,1. RUHTER SAYS J OES , NOT P.ANPHLETS , MEET NATI ON 1 S 11EEDS The National Economy League , in its attack on WPA, is merely 11 trying to solve unemployment by a chart- with a line that goes off the page , 11 Howard o. Hunter, .Acting Conunissioner of Work Projects , said totay. Predictions by the League that WPA employment will conflict with the defense progi·a.111 1 s demands by early next year , Hunter declared, are baseless suppositions that cannot be reconciled with industrial and emplo;;'inent surveys . 11 We arc interested in giving :people jobs , not pamphlets , 11 Hunter said.. 11 Thc pamphlet of tl1e Economy League is such a tissue of misstatements and. prejudices that it is ,almost impossible to consider the charges serious l y . 11 Evory time the Economy League calls for action I know what that moans--another kick in tho pants for the unemployed . 11 Hr . Hunter challenged. tho League to : 1, Name one :place whore a WPA worker refuses to accept a private job~ 2. Name one place whore industry cannot get sand, gravel , c ement or other mat erials because of WPA order s . As t o the r at e of pay o~ WPA, 11 ~rr . Hunter assor t ed that, if any tnd.us t ry is payi ng l ess , somebody should inves t igat e that industry. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 4-2214 - 2 ... 11 ... W'ages of WiJA workers have been averaging $56.50 a r.ionth- equivalent to $678 a year . This is . far below the aver.:i;;e alllRl.al earnings in private industry. For example , the annual earnings an repor~ed in tho l3.te3t census of manufactures was $1, 152. The minimum paid. by WPA; for unskilled. workers in ar1:;as having the lowest living costs, is $31.~0 a month--equivalent to only $374 .40 a year . 11 Concerning pr Gd.ictions by the Economy League that WPA would interfere with the labor supply fer defense industry, Mr . Hunter called attention to the concentration of this work in a fow areas and · asserted that there was no indicated labor shortage an;y-where , except in a few highly skilled classifications rarely found on relief rolls . Threo-fou.rths of defense contracts are in 20 i ndustrial aroas_h.aving less th.an a fifth of the total W?A employment , he pointed out . 11 :Evon in Pittsburgh, the center of the steel industry~ 11 Mr . H-..mter said, 11 the office of the Stat e Employment Service had 46,380 re gis trants for jobs the first of this year . That was a decrease of only lt ?20 from ._Tn,111.1.ary, 1940, with the steel industry operating at practically full capacity and the output of steel ingots exceeding previous high levels. ~rpA rolls were lower by several thousand than b. the previous winter, but approximately 10,000 were on the WPA 11 wai ting list. 11 Replying to assertions tha t i'irpA has only a.· 11 slight" relat ion to the defense progTam, ~~ . Hunter said approximately half a million of its workers are now employed on projects of direct value to defense. He called attention to the fact that approximately 85 percent of all airport improvements in recent yea.rs have been built by WPA. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2214 11 Perhaps tb.e best authorities on the v-al ue of WPA to national defense are t he War a::i.d Navy Departments , 11 Mr . Hunter c oncluded.. 11 Lott er s from Honry L. Stims on, Secretary of War ; Lewis Conpton, _As sis t ant S0cr etary of the Navy, and General Georgo c . ifar shall, Chief of Staff • pay_ tr::.buto t o our work b aro a mattor of :public rocord. this lino and 11 0 - -oOo--- Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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