Mr. Hopkins: |
You will remember that we sent out an order to put signs on all CWA projects. Well, a man in Mississippi who is building a great many privies, sent me a telegram saying: "Do you want signs put on the whole project or a CWA sign on each privy." I guess they will wind up by naming some of those after me.
The other night I went to a dinner in connection with the public works of art project. Bruce is running that and wants it continued in a grand manner, and he has been putting the heat on me. It comes under the Treasury, and Henry called me up and said I wish you would continue that on some scale or other. Bruce was at the dinner and Henry came in. Bruce said, "well, the Secretary of the Treasury called up about that, didn't he?" I said he certainly did not and that he did not have any interest in it. The next day Bruce called me up and said "for God's sake, why did you say that? Mr. Morgenthau says that either you are a liar or he is a liar." You know, people sometimes take things too seriously and—
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Query: |
On that public works of art, you said you told Bruce it would be continued in some form or other. How?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
We will continue it, but it will probably be cut down some, perhaps as low as a thousand persons. But we are going to continue it in some way. I do not know now just what the device will be.
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Query: |
Until May 1st?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
No, we will continue it for a while after May 1st.
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Query: |
It could be put back on work relief, could it not?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Yes. We will do it some way.
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Query: |
Are these elevators here CWA projects?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
If they were CWA, we would get some elevator service. The trouble is that this is Pat Hurley's building, I understand—well, I better not say anything about that.
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Query: |
On the public works of art, I understand that the million they were allotted will be gone before the end of the week. How much will you allot them now?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
We will allot on a decreasing scale and get them down to a thousand by May 1st.
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Query: |
How can you tell which are good and which are bad artists?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Fortunately, no one can tell that, so I don't have to worry about that.
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Query: |
What are the latest figures on the CWA workers who have been demobilized?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I would say that, up to today, the number has been five hundred and seventy plus one hundred and fifty, that is, a total of 720,000.
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Query: |
Are these public works of art men the only ones who are going to be carried after May 1st?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Now you are getting into the question of after May 1st. There should not be too much mystery about after May 1st, but until we get the thing down into writing, we should not go into it. But you can say that the people who are in need will be taken care of.
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Query: |
Are the various orchestras to be taken care of?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I should not be surprised.
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Query: |
Will those in need go on direct relief?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I do not want to talk about it until we get it in shape.
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Query: |
Were there four million employed when the demobilization started?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Oh, approximately that.
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Query: |
How many will be laid off next week?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Not as many as last week. We will decide that today.
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Query: |
Would it be a good guess to say about ten per cent of what is left. Would that be a good guess?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I will give you the figure this afternoon, broken down into States.
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Query: |
You said the other day that the first lay-offs would be outside of industrial cities, Now, in Detroit, six thousand were laid off—
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I think that if you will look into places like Detroit and Cleveland, you will find it is because they had been over their original quotas.
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Query: |
But six thousand were laid off in Detroit before, on that account.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Of course, they may have cut off people who had more than one person in a family on CWA. But as a general proposition we are not moving in the cities now. In isolated cases, you may find that they did.
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Query: |
They divided the State up between the 15,000 to be laid off and gave—
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I do not want to comment on that.
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Query: |
What about that Oklahoma situation?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
This morning we are appointing Carl Giles as relief administrator for Oklahoma, and relieving the governor of further responsibility on relief work in Oklahoma.
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Query: |
When will you send more money there?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
In the next day or two.
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Query: |
How much?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I do not know.
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Query: |
Did Giles put up to you the idea about camps for destitute girls, like the CCC? He says there are about 5,000 destitute girls there.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I do not know anything about that.
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Query: |
Was your mosquito control work done as a State or Federal project?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
That was a federal project, but they can continue it as a State project if they want to.
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Query: |
How many Federal projects have the States taken over?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Oh, they have taken over a number.
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Query: |
Has anyone taken over the Smithsonian excavations projects in Florida?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
We are exploring that subject.
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Query: |
There is a report that the FSRC will buy more wheat.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Yes, the FERA has been making surveys in the drought States, part of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, part of the Panhandle of Texas, a corner of Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, and we will make purchases in dollars today, appropriations to those States on the basis of need, to provide feed for stock for needy farmers. The total amount in dollars that will be granted today is $5,000,000 for this purpose. We are going to meet the needs of these farmers for stock feed and feed for their horses through this office, into the late Spring.
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Query: |
Are you going to help them to move stock away from where there is no water? The railroads have granted lower rates.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I have not had that presented to me.
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Query: |
Well, the railroads have been announcing these lower rates right along, but on Saturday they issued an order covering Kansas and Oklahoma.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
That is not the acute problem with us, this question of moving cattle. Our problem is to feed them.
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Query: |
When will your new relief program be ready on the CWA?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I think the first of the week.
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Query: |
Are you conferring with the President today on it?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
No.
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Query: |
Do you mean your long time program?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Now, let us not qualify this thing. You are asking me to define it and I cannot do that now.
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Query: |
A couple of times before House committees you have indicated that any such plan should provide work in some way—
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Now, you have all read my testimony. You know how I feel about the matter.
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Query: |
This man McNulty, in California, said he had it straight that there would be a new program launched immediately.
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Query: |
Has a hint of the new plan gone out to the field?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
No, I would not say so, except that, informally, we have discussed it around the office here with our own people, and some of the State people.
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Query: |
What congressman did you talk to about it?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I do not recall ever having discussed it with any congressman.
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Query: |
Wouldn't you rather tell us than a congressman, anyhow?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Now, listen, Congress is in session here yet.
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Query: |
Would the new plan be financed with the $950,000,000?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Yes.
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Query: |
Would it take care of those who are being demobilized, all of them?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I would not say that.
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Query: |
How long with the new plan carry?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Pretty well into next winter.
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Query: |
What is your opinion of the Lundy workers unemployment insurance Bill?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I am much more interested in the Wagner-Lewis Bill.
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Query: |
Do reports from the field indicate any absorption of the dropped people?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Yes, we get reports of men going to work for private industry.
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Query: |
How many?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I cannot give you that.
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Query: |
Are there any serious kick-backs from the demobilization thus far?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
That depends on what you mean by serious.
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Query: |
Is the new air mail service one of the CWA projects?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
No.
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Query: |
You ought to be qualified as an expert witness, if you go up to Congress much more, Mr. Hopkins.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I certainly should.
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Query: |
Have the direct relief rolls increased with the lay-off?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
We will not have those figures until later. We will have January in a few days and that should be interesting. We will not know, though, for three or four weeks whether relief has jumped and then we will have to watch that carefully because it might have jumped anyhow. The weather might have caused it to jump to some extent. The question is, how many of those who have been demobilized have gone to relief, but it takes a little time to find that out.
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Query: |
How many people would the new program take care of?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I think that probably we must look forward to taking care of between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000 families who are in need.
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Query: |
How many people do you figure, on an average, to a family?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Four.
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Query: |
Do you mean they will be kept employed?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
No, that is not the meaning. I mean that it is my opinion that we will have between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000 families to take care of during the coming months.
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Query: |
On CWA and Relief?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000 families in need to take care of.
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Query: |
How many of those would be unemployable?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Perhaps twenty-five per cent, but that is only an estimate. It may be fifty per cent. It may be ten per cent. I cannot tell. This is a serious thing and you should not juggle figures around on it. The hopes and circumstances of millions of people are involved in the things we do and we must be careful. It is a very serious business, this using of numbers and percentages of people. You talk about them very easily, but you must remember that behind these numbers are real people, and I don't want to play around with numbers carelessly.
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Query: |
How many families were there at the start?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
There were 4,500,000 families last March.
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Query: |
Are you figuring on taking over Colorado?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
No.
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Query: |
We heard yesterday that there were some irregular practices as to the purchase of hogs in the middle West.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
I have not heard about that.
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Query: |
You suspended some of the hog buying there.
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Mr. Hopkins: |
Yes, because we thought we did not need any more. We may need some more later.
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Query: |
About the wheat buying. Will that be present or futures?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
We will purchase the grain at the market, the grain which is now in elevators, and distribute it to needy farmers.
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Query: |
Do you plan to make any exceptions in these drought areas as to demobilization?
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Mr. Hopkins: |
No, exactly the contrary may be the case, because we have there a particular need to meet and it may be that the CWA is not the best way to meet the need in the drought areas.
At this point, the conference adjourned.
Frank J. Hartnett
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