Evening star. [volume], July 25, 1937, Page F-1, Image 45

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
FEATURES
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Part 4—8 Pages
WASHINGTON, Τ). C., SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 25, 1937.
PAGE F—1
NATION'S BILLIONS RUN GANTLET OF VIGILANT CHECKING I
By Lucy Salamanca.
HE newspaper-reading public
ures, some time bark, when
With a prodigal flourish Congress ex
panded our financial horizon by ap
propriations that ran into more fig
ures than most of us had ever seen
*11 on one line before. Such sums as
$3.3(10.000.000 or $4,880,000,000 were
* tossed off verbally with a nonchalance
that left the simpler among us blink
ing where we stood. But as soon as
the amounts had ceased to occasion
our wonder, there were those among .
Us who felt the good men and true
charged with expenditure of such in
credible amounts must have come up
against a poser. "Try spending four
billion dollars." not a few challenged
In their hearts, "and. what's more, try
keeping track of it!"
There were those who referred to
« said expenditure as though it rep
resented one vast, unbridled spending
•pree, with every one who thought he'd
like a little job done on the town
pump or in Aunt Hetty's garden at j
the Government's expense just dipping ;
blithely into the big barrel where all
the billions were, helping himself.
Time went on, and the billions
eeased to be mentioned in such awe
aome tones. We grew more or less
accustomed, as a nation, to speaking
in telephone numbers, though it may
well be most of us gave up visualizing
anything so without our numerical
scope. We let the people who had to
spend it worry about it, and the book
keeping didn't trouble any of us. That
* 1a, it didn't trouble us unless we hap
pened to find employment in that
branch of the United States Govern
ment that is responsible for the stu
pendous task of keeping track of every
penny of those Incredible sums—the
General Accounting Office, presided
over by the controller general of the
United States.
VlfHILE we may blithely have for
' * gotten the billions that made the
headlines when relief appropriations
were being made in Congress, the Gen
eral Accounting Office couldn't forget
them. In fact, they stayed by them so
faithfully and sedulously that today
they can tell you—with no attempt at
humor—that 35 cents was spent for a
trowel somewhere south of the Mason
Dixon line, or one pick-ax voucher was
turned down because they went and
used the pick-ax on the highway when,
"under the purposes of the act" it had
been approved by the President for use
In grading the school playground.
"If you think any one dipped Into
those billions without being first forti
fied with requisitions, applications,
Treasury warrants, presidential letters
approved specifications, check and
double-check Treasury-General Ac
counting Office approvals, disbursing
officers' requLsitioas, and permission
and authority of the controller general
I of the United States, you just don't
1 know anything about the way Uncle
Earn keeps books, that's all!
Wfe were, from tune to time, ac
quainted with the fact that th<
*
had just grown acrustomed to
six ciphers in relief fund fig
spending mas going on. Highways,
roads and streets, we read, were being
built; public buildings were going up
all over the land: public utilities were
coming into being; flood-control work
and conservation work were going
forward. Parks and recreational cen
ters and all manner of educational
projects were taking shape, and rural
rehabilitation. There was evidence
enough and to spare that, the length
and breadth of the country, the
United States was cleaning house,
tidying up her towns and cities, ma
terializing the long-harbored dreams
for civic betterment of countless com
munities.
All this was due, of course, directly
to the billions aforementioned. It
began to look as though citizens could
do as good a job at spending as Con
gress had done In appropriating.
Moreover, with all the face-lifting
that was going on, certain psychologi
cal betterment was noted. The spirit
of the people perked up, along with
the city hall in its new coat of paint,
and thousands of men and women
from coast to coast and Canada to the
Gulf were given an opportunity to
earn their daily bread without re
course to the dole.
"ΤΉΕ billions were getting into cir
culation. And as they circulated
they had to be accounted for. Here
was a bookkeeping assignment to try
the mightiest mathematician of them
all. The General Accounting Office
became one of the busiest spots in
Washington. And though they take
billions in their stride within the his
toric walls of the /)ld Pension Build
ing, that job of bookkeeping was so
stupendous that the manner in which
the billions are being spent and the
manner in which they are being ac
counted for becomes a story in itself,
as important and interesting as the
story of the incalculable good the
money has accomplished in restora
tion of morale and prosperity.
What, then, is the procedure, when
a community feels a desire to take ] "
a little dip into the relief barrel? ; ρ
Before we follow a request through 1 "
to its natural conclusion, let us re· ο
view .some of the facts that made a
this money available. j 1
There have been three major relief ν
bills in all. The first of these, known ί t
as the original recovery appropriation j
act of 1933, was for $3.300.000.000. | f
The second, known as the emergency c
relief appropriation act of 1935. was ^
for $4.880.000.000. And to continue c
the work launched by these funds the c
relief act of 1937 was passed, appro- f
priating an additional $1.500.000.000. A
Under these various acts the spe- t
cific purposes for which the funds | ,
should be spent were set forth so ,
that there could be no question of )
final disposition. Nor was there op- j (
portunity for personal interpretation.
A stated sum was to be spent for ' |
"highways, roads, streets and grade
crossing elimination"; another stated ι
sum was to be spent for "rural re- ι
habilitation and relief in stricken :
agricultural areas, and water conser- j ;
vation, transmountain water diversion |
and Irrigation and reclamation." A '
definite amount was apportioned for
rural electrification, and there wei*
[ various allocations for, respectively,
— I
lousing," ' assistance for educational, ·
rofessional and clerical persons,"
Civilian Conservation Corps." and so
α down the lone list of protects that,
[ter the W. Ρ A was launched In
335, became the active relief and
ork-relief program of the adminis
•ation.
Today the General Accounting Of·
ce reports with pride that every cent
f the money has been administered
,1 a manner that fulfills both re
uirements of the act—that is, "in
rder to provide relief, work-relief,
nd to increase employment by pro
iding for useful projects." Moreover,
here ha.s been the closest scrutiny of
very expenditure, and, despite pains·
aking investigations, speedy dis
mrsement, in order to meet the
mergency nature of the situation.
^ΛΡ THE funds available, some re
main unobligated, although proj
ets approved in the last two or three
nonths will no doubt allocate the
noney remaining under the earlier
lets. The second relief act was to
■emain alive until July 1 of this year,
jut the new appropriation of this
■ear for $1.500.000.000 really consu
ltes an extension of the act of 1935;
md will assure the projects being
continued until June 30, 1939. the date
ixed by Congress. By that time it isj
.ikely that the great bulk of the fundsl
will have been spent, although the!
President earlier expressed thp wish'
than $500.000.000 might be held in
reserve to meet employment condi
tions as recovery got more firmly
jnder way.
To administer these vast sums of
money it has been necessary for the
General Accounting Office to expand
its force and operate on funds pro
vided in the bill for expenses incur
red or necessitated by "administra
tion" of the acts themselves. ' The
normal force of the General Account
ing Office was expanded by 2.000 ad
ditional employes. In 1932 Congres»
had reduced all Government appro
priations from 10 to 20 per cent.
Therefore the force at the General
Accounting Office at the beginning of
1933 consisted of 1,893 people.
The staff grew as the program got
under way. until it reached a peats
of 5,500 members, about 3,000 of whom
were employed from emergency relief
allocations. About half the expenses
of this branch are now paid from al
locations.
The heaviest pert of the work has
been during the last 12 months, for
in this period most projects have
been approved. The General Ac
counting Office informs me that last
Summer and Pall were very busy
periods especially, with a great many
projects under way.
It is interesting to remember that
even when all the routine of applica
tion and approval has been gone
through with there yet remains to
the General Accftunting Office the
great task of bookkeeping in connec
tion with every single expenditure.
In other words, as the work progresses
and checks are drawn against the
allocation this necessitates » ccm«
<Continued on Third Page.)
The layout above shores some of the American industries that
were given new lease of life by the expenditure of the billions of
dollars in relief funds. Not only ivere the wheels of industry set
turning but men were set to work again in shops and laboratories,
contributing to the general recovery.
WOMEN DISCOVER HOW TO MAKE SWEET CHARITY SWEETER:
— A
Listen, Girls: Group Money-Raising in the Current
Style Is Not Only Painless but Is Right
Good Fun. I
By Stanley Moreau.
ROUP money-raisins used to
is more fun than a Sunday school
picnic. There is relief from the
monotony of housework. There are
free bus rides into the country and,
most appreciated of all, there is food
without red ants. The wonder of it is
that everybody isn't raising money
this new and delightful way.
A group of 50 women recently wished
to raise $132. They did it in one
month, using four evenings, four half
days and one dinner session at β
o'clock. Now they wish they had a
need to raise more money, because they
know of more ways to do it than ever
before.
Mrs. Dolittle said: "Before we
moved to the city we belonged to a
small community church and we were
forever having to raise money for it.
If· the outside of it didn't need paint,
the roof of the carriage shed would
need reshingling.
"We would hold a bake sale. Fifty
women would each bake a cake. I
suppose the cakes cost 50 cents apiece
to make. We would take them to the
hall and sell the cakes to ourselves at
a dollar each. That would put 150 in
the treasury at a coet to us of $75.
be an arduous, thankless
task, but now it has become
a joyous round of revelry. It
rhe extra $25 was the cost of satisfy
ing human nature."
Mrs. Dolittle is now one of a group
of 50 womerTin Washington who have
the same old problem but solve it in a
different way.
They discovered a bread company
which makes a standing offer to any
organization of 30 people or more. It
is all in fun—or advertising, if you
must be technical about it. The com
pany will pay the secretary of the
group 25 cents per person, for every
member present, on an expedition
through the bakery, simply to see how
bread is made. Fifty housewives
stacked their dishes one morning and
sallied forth en masse. Those who used
their cars would have had to go shop
ping for groceries anyway, so there was
no extra charge for transportation.
'T'HEY spent about an hour and a
half in learning just how each
loaf was made to look so like another,
and how it was sliced. They sam
pled new kinds of breadstuffs and
cakes. There were rumors at home
to the effect that even coffee was
served with the coffee cake. A week
later a check arrived for the organi
sation in the amount of $12.50. That
was only the beginning.
In the same week they went as a
group to a gas company demonstra
tion, held at night In the company's
oral office. They sat comfortably in
■hairs while they watched an "expert"
>ook a complete meal, including cake,
ill at the same time. There was no
idvertising talk, but there was a dis
mssion about baking problems. If the
members of the organi7,atton started
to yearn for a new range, it cost them
nothing to yearn. The check, this
time, at the almost standard price of
25 cents each, again amounted to
$12.50.
The joke to this trip was that
when another group was short of
members. Group 2 borrowed from
Group 1, so that some yearners had
the pleasure of yearning twice. The
company doe^p't care. The meal was
cooked to within 10 minutes of its
proper time. Names were written on
forms (which painlessly asked if the
lady was using old-fashioned gas ap
pliances) and were then shaken in a
hat. The hat belonged to a salesman
who was hovering near, but he didn't
speak unless çpoken to.
To the first lady whose name was
pulled from the hat went the nearly
cooked meal. To the second lady went
the cake.
Out or fairness, Mrs. Dolittle tele
phoned the electric company about
the privilege of group sight-seeing.
The company was not to be outdone
and responded gallantly to the tune of
another check for $12.50. These sal
lies had become a wonderful new
game to the ladies and not a girl was
missing from her place that night. It
was for dear old alma ego and for
the charitable purpose, too.
The procedure was much the same
as at the gas company, and the girls
[ were able to compare the two different
ι ways of cooking.
r
^NOTHER night Mrs. Dolittle had
all the girls gather in her home
for a surprise party. The surprise
was a man, a vacuum sweeper man,
who gave a demonstration. Mrs. Do
little was very much embarrassed at
the amount of dirt he was able to take
from her rug. even though she had
used % vacuum sweeper on it that
very day. The joke turned on the 1
demonstrator a little later in the eve- !
ning, however. He started to show
how he could clean the wall paper
with his gadget. He tried every place I
he could think off, but not a speck of
dirt could he gather. He blushed even
more than she had done, and she
broke down and confessed. The wall
paper was brand-new, so new it wasn't
even dry and it couldn't have any
dirt on it. At 50 cents per person in
this case the check was for $25.
A week later the traveling sorority
visited an' ice cream plant in the aft
ernoon. After they had seen just how
ice cream was made, they sat down to
eat plate after plate of the delicacy,
with cookies and cakes on the side.
That meant another check for the
fund in the usual amount.
In the third week the ever busy Mrs.
Dolittle gathered her crowd together
with the warning that they must bring
sandwiîhes with them. They were
going for a bus ride into the country.
In fact, two buses would be supplied
free of charge. A dairy distributor
wanted the ladies to see from just
what kind of farms their fresh milk
was coming. They left at 9 o'clock
in the morning. At the end of their
Journey into Virginia they alighted
at the door of a modern dairy bam.
Λ11 You Have To Do Is Watch Demonstrations of This
and That (No Obligations), and the
Checks Come Home.
It was a grand day and just right to
give them that carefree feeling. Some
of the girls had never seen a cow
milked before and they Joked about
placing a bottle before the cow when
they asked for 1 quart of grade "A."
The dairy furnished all the milk they
could drink while they munched their
sandwiches. . A check from the dairy
followed them home. Since all 50
members were present, It meant an
other $12.50 for them. It was about
2:30 in the afternoon when buses
pulled up at the starting point.
"p^ATING OUT" pleased the girls so
much that Mrs. Dolittle con
tacted a hotel. The agreement here
was a little different than the others.
There was a limit to the number of
guests the hotel could accommodate
in their dining room and also a speci
fied hour.
In order to go the limit, which was
63, 13 protesting husbands were
dragged along to a very fine dinner
served at 6 o'clock -in the evening. It
was a seven-course meal and it cost
only 50 cents per plate. The ladies
paid gladly, because they knew that
all charges over the number of 24
would be returned to the group. The
girls ate their way into an earning
power of $19.50 that· night. The check
was duly paid by the hotel.
Why the ladles «ver went to the all
electric farm one afternoon is still a
mystery, unless they went Just for the
free bus ride. It was a fine ride and
they did see how flies can be elec
trocuted when they come to rest on
an electriflcd screen door. That was
on a Saturday afternoon and the
check for the fund was as usual.
By this time the habit was so strong
in them that they turned out quite
willingly to visit a funeral parlor one
evening. They found that a funeral
parlor is a beautiful place; They
learned what a crematory was and
why some people preferred to think
of using one. Check, as usual.
If you will look back, you will see
that they had already earned the
money the group needed and there
was no justification for further trips.
They had $132 in the fund. The cam
paign was a success.
But there is still Mrs. Dolittle, who
will rot let matters rest there. She
says there is one trip they must all
make sooner or later and there is no
reason why they cannot all go to the
same place. She has found a company
which sells lots in a cemetery. For
each good prospect which the com
pany is later able to sell, the sum of
$10 will be paid to the group treas
ury. Mrs. Dolittle argues that since
each member Is a prospect for a ceme
tery lot, there Is no reason why the
treasury should not benefit by »500.
r