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4-2197 FEDE.?~U WOJ..KS AG~NOY WOFK PROJECTS AD~UNISTRI\..T ION JAN 20 1 ----~ ~_RAF' For Release to }Tewspa:per s Weclnesday , Januar ~v 15 , 1941 WPA POL IC Y ANTI TH3 PART II' WILL PLAY IlJ ?ATION"AL DEFENSE The following l:.ddress was delivered by Hovard O. Hunte r , Ac t ing Commis sione r of the Ha r k Projects Adm i n i stration , from St at ion WOL, Washingt on , D. C. , ove r the Mutual Broadcast i ng Sys t em at 8 : 15 P. M. , EST , Tuesday , J anuary 14 , 1941 . I open this t alk toni ght by q-,10tin1:; a ~Jart of a cit at i on from the Pr es i dent of the Unit ed St:1tes i n awarding t:rn Distingu is hed Se rvic e Meda l p os t humous l;1,r t o Colo nel F. C. Earrington , and. I q_uote : 11 As Commissioner of Work Projects Colonel IIarri ngt on was charf;ed v:i th the i,L1nn i ng and ad.rninistra tion of tho g r eatest peac e-tine effort ev e r unde rt al-:en by an,v ]urel'l.u or Department of tho Go v ernment . 11 For the pas t five yer.rs the 1,~'PA haG been the nation ' s front line def e nse against m1e!11:plo;:,nnen t . Now it -becomes one of the mos t i:rrnortant forces i n t he second line trenchss of the nation 1 s d e f e nse of Democ r a cy . During the past five years 8- 1/2 million d i fferent pe r sons have at one ti:ne or anothe r \·•o r ked on WPA pr oject s . '=1ho work that these men and women have. done st2.nd.s n.s a monument to the wi sdom of l:n Administrnti on de v oted to t he n r oso rvation of Democrac~r 2-r.cl the vell acing of its cit::.zen s . I n eve r y v i llage , city , and c cunty i n Ame rica is evidence of the useful work d:)ne by WPA w0rke rs . One of the l c;:,_ st 1.md.erstood thi:r,t;s a b'.)ut tho WPA is the fr.c t tha t t hr oughout its existence of five and 8. h~.lf ?e,1 .rs approx i mo.tely one- fifth of all t.:~o w8rkers of the cou.ntry havo at o:cce timo or another worked on 1:iPA p rojects. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2197 - 2 ... Too many people have thought that WPA workers vere a g roup of perma:1ent lncompe t en ts , fr ozen on public r e lief r olls and unabJ.0 t ·J hold. tl:eir o¼n in the regu.l a r economy of th e co'J.nt r :r . '.:oo ma,1;v :;-ieo~Jle have had. the i m:::-,ression tha t the unerrn)lo;ved who h ,'.'1-ve been on the WPA have oeen unem::,lo~•ed because the;-;r we r e e ither unable or unwilling to 1•ror1c. I 1,r&nt to stres : :; tor.i.g.b.t the fact that workers on tl':.e WPA are net :pla.Ete,:: there f 0r 1.ifo ; the~r arA in no serise i ncompetent or uncm:?loyable , but, in fo,ct re-oresr.:;r:t a cross st.::ction of all the wo r kers i n tho ccuntr;v . Eight :-;,nd a l12lf million c.i f±' e r-:mt incLivi6.,1als , co:nprising one- fi:f'th of ali wo rk crs , cm2not c ountr~' . oc c::..as:ec1. as a [;l' O\i.~, isolatc,<.l fro::1 t:1e rest o:f t ho Worlrnrs have cofJc i!l and. cone out of the WPA with a hit,: h d.o c ree of t urnover th1·ou6·ho1:t these past fiv e :•t):1rs . lfow the y:ation is ·J.n:.tec, in withi!l our ow:.1 bore.er:: . 2, It is~ c.ar..cer :rro c r ~,rn fo r t otal nationa. l dcfGr,se aca ins'. ~, nc "'thi· eat frcn nations which have an entirely d ifferent p hilosophy of life from ours ; ~10 are ruthle2s in their attacks 1::.Don our ki::c1 rif life ; '.l.nd o,,r 6.e f ens P a c;:1 :1.:~st s,;..~h c:.rm[;ers r:1u.st be t c tal and .:::,d e::1_ua t e . assistance to 0L1er nations ,•:.to a r e in tho field. of b 'l. tt'!.e af~ainst the o,;y:on.;mts of Democracy . Al l of tbis n.<>,tion ' s r esourc ,,1s v:l:icl1 arc needf'ii , :nust a nd will be pu t ir1to this first li::.e of tef,mso ; snd the -b,1ilo ir.r, of ship s , tho tnd,1 ing ar.cd housing of the c ilitary forces , the deve lop~ on t of aircraft , a ~d the making of :nuni tions will be of first ~:, riori ty . Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2197 - 3 - There ar e a t t he same time ma ny things to be done wi t h i n our own bor der s to s tr engthen t h i s fi rst l ine of defense . Many of these things c an be done by men and womon who are s t ill uJ1em:p lo yed in t he regul ar channels of privat e industry. Many of these things contribut e directly to the needs of armed forces as we l l as to t 1:.e speod with whicl-i. i mp l ements of defense can be furnished to the se forc es . Spec ifi c ally I am talking of tho continued dev e lopment of airports , bases , e. nd l anding fields which a re i mpor t ant to t ho military as well as civ i l forces af t ho country . I am talk i ng of t ho building and i mprov ement of many roads and h i ghways within military and nava l re ser v a tions and from t hese r eservations to t ho main strategic high\vay::; of t ho nati on . A groat amount of work still n eeds to b o dono i n t ho prov::. s io n of sAnitary faci l iti es such as drai nage a nd inse ct contro l , and se1::er lines and. wat or works around our centers of milit ary and indus trial activity, and t h oro arc other ac tivi tics w~1.ich have 1:leen proclaimed as essential to nati onal d3fense by tho President , such as continued i mprovement of health facilities and r ecreational and educa tiona l activities wh ich aro s o i mj)ort.'.',n t i n t he mnintonancc of more,lo and woll b eing at home . All of t :0.os e activitiels hr'.VC boon done i n tho :pas t by t h o WPA and t hey will continue to b e clone on an oven ::1oro intonsi-ro scale . For the pas t five ~rears :i v ery l ar e:e p roportion of WPA ac tivi t Jr he.,s be en devoted to p ro jec ts wl-.ich arc sr,ocif ically i m;:iortant to t ho dofonso of the nation . A few illustr2.tions out of the hugo number of suc h p roj ec ts al- r eady- done will indic,:i,te t he t ypo of wor k I am talking aboc1t . A W?A projec t has converted waste l::md.s near Tam~)a, Flori d.rt , into 1•hcDill Field, the Army 1 s Southons t er n lur B~so , and one of t ho finest , w~ich is now a l mos t re D.dy for uso by lo ng r o.nge bomonrd.nent squndr o!lS c11pn.blo of c overi ng t ho entire Ca r i bbean area. ~~ftle~%ya l so from t:io virgin wild.ernoarfgirrfu'f'fl-or1ihe groat air base NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-21?7 - 4 - of McC~ :- ~·d Fie·ld in the State of Washingt on . A great expansion program at Lowry Field, near Denver , has been car r ied on bJr the WP.A, ancl tnis , as you :.Cnow, is t ,ie f. ~te of the J\rmy Air Corps Technical School v~1ere 2,000 student airmen are in training . The \'TPA is working on a network of ten important airports in the State of Ma.ine . During this period of five years the WPA has already constructed and improv ed 12 , 000 milit~ry and. no.val buildings , 500 airports and landing fields , and. 800 miles of roads , including bridges emu. culverts , at military r~servo.tionso Over 20 , 000 WPA workers n dc1,y are working on direct defense projects in Puerto Rico , including huge naval and □ilitary air bases and an ess e nt i a l mili ta.ry highway across the Island. Today 430 , 000 WPA workers are working on n:1tionnl defense :projects . This number is expected to incr ense to between nix ancl seven hundred thousG.nd These highlights do not begin to covor ll<1.tionn.). dofens -3 wo rk alr0ndy done b;r the WP.A nor does it include nn~r of the re 6 J_la·· ¼TA ::,rojects outside of defenso projects , such as building s c}1ool houses, l:os:pi -l;r~ls, sowers , water plants , roads , bri -i ges , playgrounds , and 101 t :,T,os of :proj3cts done oy rose 2,rch and white collar workers and by professional workers in the fields of education ani recreation ,. So that t te nation , with a p ri me motive in the las t five years of furnishing usefu.l public em:plo;;nnent for unemployed :persoEs nnd tho build.ing of needed com..m1.ni ty ir:iprovoments , has at tho s::i.rne time r e c::iived an enormous advantage in the actual ir.cr 0ase in military defense facilities . Over 80% of all air-oort developments in the last five years has been done by WPA projects . ~ Digitized by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Original from ' NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2197 - 5 - These developrients are here . Tl1ey arc now :1vailaole . Work done by the WPA as I have described on military nnd naval reservations has given the .A.:rmy and Navy a head- on start , [tr!d t :1.,:ise facili tion woulcl n0t l1r1.v'3 boen at t~oir disposal without sono such program as WPA. I would like to q_uot'3 frol!l a stntemont of Gonor.'.11 George I✓hrshall , Chief of Staff of the Unito,i States .Arrny, who has this t o s~iJr a.bout the national defense work of Jvhe W?A: 11 L1 t l1.e ;;roat tctsk of preparing for nntional defense , the Work Projects Aciministr,1tion , t b.o.t is t ho WPA, has proved its elf to 'be an inv::,.luaolo aid.. Alro::i.dy in tha fiold , it hns been c.,,rr ying out work for tho Army a..YJ.c3_ Navy for tho last five ~'0£-l.rs , and its services in this cliroction have bee::1 r a:p idl;y OJ\."J:)and.ed. ••• Tbe pro1:r9t aid c ontricluto d 03• t ~1..e WFA has given an i mpo tus to t:1.0 ;,1.n.tional d.efGnso progr~m , of r,1uch i::1portance at this :particular timo . 11 Thr ou ch t l-,o GXJ.)rosed. i nteD.t of CongTossion•1.l l ogislat i on tho WP.A this year will give first })riori ty to tj'J_)OS of projects wh ich tho .Axmy and Navy toll us are of defer.so im:portn.nco . F::;r i nstar:ce at :pre,sent there arc two types of projects in the con,, true tio:'l. field 1::hich are rocei ving i !:Lrned.iate priority: na,'Uely, developm(,nt cf airports from e, list of fields d,3;,i:::;nated. o:r t he .Army , out of mili tri.r;)i a:n-1 1nv11l r2serv:1tio!1s • have oeon autho1·izect on such pro .iects . Ex(:'r.2ptionc from certain rcg'J.lations Pri.:n:i t ios a-..·o also being ci ven to int e rnal defe r.1.so :projects which haye ooe:1 , <,sig~1.ated oy tho Fresidont and. the 1fo.tional Dcfcmse Comrr,ission as i:n:po1·t['..nt fo r t .h e clovelopi:-1ent of health , recreation , and the e ,l ucr>.tirm"'l Jlro gra.m-: • '.i:o :mn...r1y tb.is ln.tter t ;,,,--pe of :pro,iect Tn,'.1,Y not seem of immoc:Liate i mpor - ta.nee in a serLms rlefonsc G!:lor ga:1c;;,-, tut I want to quote ;from a statcn:ont of Digitized by thG Pres i J.cNORfflWEl$i'.frn:f'J:ia~tV8Rt8i~s : Original from 11 Total def~~TfrtW~'SaE:lil~NIM&fili l1?6apons . 4-2197 - 6 - It means people of health and stamina , co nsc ious of their Demccratic righ ts and resp onsibilit i es . 11 Now I w.:1nt t o sa;y a few words nbout the q_uo:,tion of employment and unemploymer.t, because I realize full wo11 that many, with the vory best of i n te::iti ons and t he best of good will , are ccnfusod about this . Many have road . odi t orial s e_11d stories and predicti ons which leiJ,a. thorn to believe that there is no neod fo r £1.r organiz::i.tion like t h e W?A at this timo. Well , I will say first of all that no ono is hap-pier than the WPA workers to know th.3,t employment i n industry is p icl::i n 6 up so rapidly . 1:/PA workers have always boon and sti11 nro a ~cXious and t-:ill ing to r;et a j ob in the regular channe ls of i ndust ry • . Thousands of WPA workers are leavi:.1g t he WPA every nonth to tako such jobs . I nd.ustrinJ. enp l oyrnont has boon picking up at a steady rate . tion in tho United St1.t os is at the hichost level in its history . above 1929 . Produc- It is well Enplo~TJ11e::lt in t he produc ti on inc.us trios, hcnvever , is just about oq_,.1al or only slightly above the :previous po:::tk of 19.39 . I n the menn ti me a net increase of sor.-ie 6,000 , 000 now workers hns be en added t o t he l::i.bor force ia the last ton years . Therefore there is still a considerable i ncr ease ahead of us in private or.rploynont before t he en tire ablo-b'Jdiod labor force will be talcen up . ConservA.tive predict i ons indicato that cluring tho calendar year 1941 an additi onnl 2 , 000,000 percons will receive gdnful 01:11)loyr.ient in private industry. Thoreforo , th•J best ostir.1.'.'1.tes that .<i.ro av.'.'1.iln.ble indicate that at tho end of t his year there y1robF1.blJr will still be five and a half or six r:1illion uner1ploy-od persons throughout tte nn.tic-n . Thi s nu.::ibor of unemployed will not be as ev enly distributed t:hrour,hout the country ns it has been in the past . Private or.-iplo ynen t p icks u:) i n loc r,,li ties in al::iost direct r elation to tho expansion of industries engaged in production . In ~any such conr.runities the Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2197 number of unemployed will be substantially reduced, and in a few perhaps unemployment will be entirely eliminated . In many other comrmrni ties there has been J.i ttle or no effect on employment from the defense program to date . Of national defense contracts so far authorized about BO% have been authorizations in c,roas rcpreGenting only about 20% of the WEA employment . This distribution will undoubtedly spread and be more even as ti me goos on , 'but in the meantime there arc many areas of tho country where the need for WPA assistance is almost as great as ever. Perr.aps the simples t way to put t hi s business of need for a w'?A progr.~r.. is to sny that the need exists as long as t here nrc unoMplo;yccl persons able t o work on useful projects • In other v.ro rds , t he ¼'?A :progre"m is dos i gtrnd for tho unemployed and not for the employed., vague and mysterious . Thos e ~.- Jn:2 loyod are not something The;,,, arc e.ctual mon and womnn , with nnmes and addresses , who have not yet be en n.ble to got a job . I would like to quote again from a ir.ossago of t ho President in this connection: 11 Thc defense program will lend to further r eer:r,_)lo;s;rmont and nlso to a furtl1er increase in t he labor force , aad. to a sh.ift f:.•o!'l 1x,rt- tir:-;e to full- time or over- time emplOJJilCntt but even unJ.o r tto f-..111 cLcfonse program we cannot expect full absorption of tho l abo r fcrco bcc,1i-'- Se so;_;o people cannot be fitted into the picture . There will be so:ne locnlities with a l'.:1,bor shortage at tho same ti me tha t others have a labor surplus. There will be shortages of par t icular sldlls and apti tudos at tho sarno ti r:1e that others arc in surplus . 11 I think it is a..xior.:atic that evor~r idle worker r epres ents fdluro to produce goods or public as se ts which co'1ld i ncrense our nat i onal strength., I want to mn.ke plain my belief that total defense involves as :10nr as :possible total onploynent. A mnn hour unuse d is a r:ian hour lost forever. Thero is r. . o Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY '1-. 2197 8 - waste of any kind whi ch can s.o i mpair n.::,ti ona l s tr engt h a :i.d 1:1ora le a s t he wast e of i dleness . I quote a gain fr om t h e Pr es i dent : 11 The ability of t he Democr a c i es to empl oy t h eir r esources of man p ower and skill a ni p l ant has been C!"',a ll enged . We mee t t h is challenge by ma.xir",m.rn. utilbation of p lant and man 11ower and by maintaining governme nt s erv i ce s , s ocial se cu.ri t y , a:!'.ld. a id to t h ose suffer ing t hr ough no f ault of t he ir own . 11 This i rlle man powe:..· wh5.ch f or · t he 11as t fi v o yon.rs ha s b oon so cons tru ctivcl~r u s e d in dev 0l op i ng u s ef ul pu blic a s se t s of r sal v a l ue to c orrErruni ties ancl s t a t e s i s n ow go i ng t o be l ar ge l y u so d f or i ncr oasing u r gen t l y neod.ed fo,cili ti cs f or t he defens o of America ag.r,i ns t a ggr e ssor s . Nono of t he monoy a ppr op- ri a t e d to t ho WPA ancl nono of t ho man power omp l oyed b;l t he WPA shoul d. or will On t he contrary , if thoso i dlo p0 op lc wer e no t u s e d in t ho building bo was te d . of t hings ne eded by a l l of u s , Demo cra cy c ould. b o ac cuse d of t :ie mo st i ".loxcusabl E t ype of was t e . Demo cr a cy coul d b o o..c cusod. of a s king its own ci tizon s t o dof cnd a nation which i n t ur n was no t willi n,:; to give them an opportunity t o work and to b e a hoalt!1y, satisf i ed. pc.r t of th8 nat i on . Tho budge t submitted. t o Ccn~;:re ss f c, r t he balmice of t he current and t he next fi s c.'.11 yoa r ~at or i a l ly r cc.ucos t :10 .'J.py;r opriatio:1G t ci t ho WPA c.n d., consoqu en tly, t ho number of :poo:plo emp l oyed. on t ho WPA. Thi s r edu ct i on is based on t he be li ef t hat p rivate omi~l oyr:1cm t will continue t o i:1cr c::i.so a bov 0 t :10 pr esent r a te . The a}Jpr opr i n.t ion on t he 1)a Gi s of si.;.ch .:) s t i rnat ns , will provide f or e,})pr ox- i mat e l:r t h o same p er c ent a ge of t h e unor:::ployod t8 be er.1:p l cyod. by t :.10 ~'/PA a s in t h E JJa s t year n.l though tho t ot nl wi ll bo much l es s . For the prosont t :10 w?A :1as cor:ip l otol y j oi n ed f or c es with t Le r;.nt i on as a who l e and wi t h a ll of t h ose a e;encies i n go y er r.,;10:c.t a r~d private or.t or :pri s c wh ich ar e wo r k i ng so un i tedl y and offec:t:i..ve l y oa t ho deve l opmen t in .Amer i ca. :j f total dofens i: T:1e u..'!1.om:p l oyod. - t he WPA wcrker n - want to and i:1S i s t on being a vital and 1tta~~~i~~~ y~Rlt1\1fffonso a i1d t ot a \Birr=wrRl~r~~IVERSITY
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