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Editorial
February 26, 1934
The Times News
Hendersonville, Henderson County, North Carolina
What is this article about?
Bruce Catton's editorial supports a public works program as a productive solution to the Great Depression, contrasting it with the temporary Civil Works Administration ending in May 1934, which will displace 3.6 million workers. It argues public works build lasting infrastructure and employ idle resources without contradictions.
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REMOVING THE CRUTCH BEFORE THE CURE
(BY BRUCE CATTON)
Within the next ten weeks approximately 3,600,000 American wage-earners will lose their jobs. The Civil Works Administration is going ahead with its plan to discontinue operations by May 1 by which time, it is hoped, reviving industry will offer places for the men who are turned loose.
About all the innocent bystander can say about this move is, "I hope it works."
If it doesn't, the wrench is apt to be a severe one.
And the plain fact that this enormously expensive CWA program can't go on forever isn't much comfort.
The whole business leads one to wonder if the much-talked-of public works program may not, after all, have to be the crutch that we will lean on until we get past the depression period.
Putting men to work by the public works route costs a lot of money. But it at least gives us something definite in return—solid and lasting things, like buildings, roads, canals, airports and the like—to make the expenditure productive. And it does not contradict itself, as do so many of the emergency measures.
It does not seek to overcome a shortage of goods by calling on people to produce less and less of everything. It does not seek to invent a lot of nearly useless jobs.
It does not raise grave questions about the modification of our traditional system of industry and capital. It simply is a scheme whereby a lot of badly needed work can be done, a lot of jobless men can be put to work, and a lot of idle capital can be put in motion.
After all, when you stop to think about it, there is enough work waiting to be done in this country to keep us all busy for generations to come. We talk of our idle men and our idle money—and all the while there are miserable slums to be replaced with decent homes, uncounted miles of roadway to be built, rivers to be harnessed and controlled, canals to be dug, power plants to be erected, public buildings to be put up . . . you could make out an almost endless list.
We live in an enormous country which is blessed with every natural resource, we have an industrious and capable army of citizens eager to work, and the job of supplying ourselves with an abundance of the necessities and luxuries of life hardly has begun.
A public works program is a start in the right direction. If cutting off the CWA helps us to realize that fact, it will be worth all the trouble it may cause.
(BY BRUCE CATTON)
Within the next ten weeks approximately 3,600,000 American wage-earners will lose their jobs. The Civil Works Administration is going ahead with its plan to discontinue operations by May 1 by which time, it is hoped, reviving industry will offer places for the men who are turned loose.
About all the innocent bystander can say about this move is, "I hope it works."
If it doesn't, the wrench is apt to be a severe one.
And the plain fact that this enormously expensive CWA program can't go on forever isn't much comfort.
The whole business leads one to wonder if the much-talked-of public works program may not, after all, have to be the crutch that we will lean on until we get past the depression period.
Putting men to work by the public works route costs a lot of money. But it at least gives us something definite in return—solid and lasting things, like buildings, roads, canals, airports and the like—to make the expenditure productive. And it does not contradict itself, as do so many of the emergency measures.
It does not seek to overcome a shortage of goods by calling on people to produce less and less of everything. It does not seek to invent a lot of nearly useless jobs.
It does not raise grave questions about the modification of our traditional system of industry and capital. It simply is a scheme whereby a lot of badly needed work can be done, a lot of jobless men can be put to work, and a lot of idle capital can be put in motion.
After all, when you stop to think about it, there is enough work waiting to be done in this country to keep us all busy for generations to come. We talk of our idle men and our idle money—and all the while there are miserable slums to be replaced with decent homes, uncounted miles of roadway to be built, rivers to be harnessed and controlled, canals to be dug, power plants to be erected, public buildings to be put up . . . you could make out an almost endless list.
We live in an enormous country which is blessed with every natural resource, we have an industrious and capable army of citizens eager to work, and the job of supplying ourselves with an abundance of the necessities and luxuries of life hardly has begun.
A public works program is a start in the right direction. If cutting off the CWA helps us to realize that fact, it will be worth all the trouble it may cause.
What sub-type of article is it?
Economic Policy
Infrastructure
What keywords are associated?
Public Works
Depression Relief
Unemployment
Cwa
Infrastructure
Economic Recovery
What entities or persons were involved?
Civil Works Administration
Bruce Catton
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Support For Public Works Program During Depression
Stance / Tone
Advocacy For Sustainable Public Works Over Temporary Relief
Key Figures
Civil Works Administration
Bruce Catton
Key Arguments
Cwa Will End By May 1, Displacing 3,600,000 Workers
Hopes Reviving Industry Absorbs Them, But Risks Severe Wrench If Not
Public Works Provide Solid Returns Like Buildings And Roads
Unlike Emergency Measures That Reduce Production Or Create Useless Jobs
Public Works Mobilize Idle Men And Capital Without Altering Industry System
Abundant Work Exists: Slums, Roads, Rivers, Canals, Power Plants
America Has Resources And Eager Workers; Public Works Is Right Direction
Ending Cwa May Highlight Need For Public Works