Ke Alakai o Hawaii, Volume IX, Number 28, 22 ʻOkakopa 1936 — "Fortune" Magazine Lauds Works Program; Hopkins Flays Critics [ARTICLE]

"Fortune" Magazine Lauds Works Program; Hopkins Flays Critics

A stirring defense of the Works Progress Administrallon and a concrete attack upon *its crit.ics was broadcast over a nationwide Cohrmbia ro.ctio lioo'k-up by Harry L. Hopkins, national administrator,' on the "Rooseve3t Progre&s" program under tne title, "Dollars and Sense." In view of the fact that approximately $9,000,000 in federal funds have heen granted to Hawaii since the ineepiion of the emergency relief program in May. 1931, with the completion or operation of hundreds of worthwhile improvements of permanent value throughout the islands, the addrcss should be of interest to residents of the Territory. " Hopkins said: I am Roing to talk tonight about tne Works Progress Administration snd not about polltics. But it ever a rnajor agency of government was used as a politicai ((«.i'oali WPA is being used as one now. and I beileve any fair-rnii ( << i wili grant me the f e with you some of things and some of the bad things and some of the preposterous things whieh are being said about it. Fortune Magazine, that blueblood of American pei*iodicals, conducts a n*ation-wide poil of puhlie opinion eve r y t hrce months on eurrent questions. In its Oetober issue, Fortune re\eals tbe findings of its survey on the question of relief antl the program of the Works Progress Administration. Fortune finds the American people overwhelmjngly opposed to direet relief, or the dole, anel in favor of johs rreated by the Government. But Fortune has oniy begun with that. !t a!so finds—aml I am sure this will astomsh a great many who read or hear it — tbat the Ameriean people definitelv belk>ve> on the whole, tbat. the WPA projeets in their own eiminui nities havc beeij effiēiently ruri ( aiui that the unemplo.v<-d oiv those projects have been pretty weli treated. How ean this be? The newspapers and magazine of many of the nation's greatest financial powers have been hammering away indefinitely on the inefficiency, politics and brutaiity in WPA Poliueal enemies of the program have kept up a barrage of fantastic eharges. Yet the first national survey based specially on WPA, anā conducte4 by a magazine whose chief aaaienee is the rlch and the powerful, finds the man in the street reasonably well satisfie'i with the work of the program. Survey Comforting I wili admit that the outcome of this survey was a great eomiort to me. I knew that the hun-ot:-projects whieh I have 'Sē4n persū'hffly . an)!. I knew the cahbre of the men who are aaminist«ring our program. I knew tliat the loeal offieials of the country who have originated and sponsored our work projects are overwhelmingly enthusiastic over what they are getting. We m our files thousands of letters from these loeal offīcials, of all political faiths, praising the work in their own localities. But I was not sure that, despite the flood of misrepresentation and ridicule, the average man had yet had time t,o judge his own loeal publie improvements and find them < good. | I suppose the anvll chorus. must have harmnered too harn , and done its job too well. The • knockers must have knocked toi> often, and with too litile support from the facts m the case. In this whole program, whieh embraces nearly one hundred thousand projects, the critics have specifically attaeked very; few — several hu>idred, or less j than one ha!f.of one per cent. tn most cases thesc have been long#ange attacks. by newspapers in New York or Chcago, or politi-

ting his immortal plirase! "All ls Harmony"? "Harmony — harmony — all is harmony," shout the Republicans! Centuries ago one William Shakespeare, whose works are now being introduced to many Americans by way of the movies, placed a never-to-be-forgotten phrase in the mouth of one of his characters» It was: "Methink*, he doth protest too mueh." And, "methinks the Repubīicans do protest too mueh" about this a!!eged harmony e that is suppo»ed to be the theme #o.ng of their c&nspalgn! The Republicans held a "Vict.ory Jubilee" last Saturdav night out in the Kalihi district-—although what they had to efclebrate, as pointed out before, is more than ean le undej stood. Because, while the Republicans elected tv>'u and county officials outright, the Democrats elected three! ' " Just Another Dagger In his usual oily, unctuous fashipn, as reported in the EepuMiean press, Mayor Wright introduced eaeh of the seven Republican supervisorial npminees with a fervent plea that he be given a complete board of seven Republicans so thathe ean, willy-nilly, go ahead with his cock-eyed $10,000,000 program over the next five years, a program whieh His Honor (?) had just conceived prior to the start of the primary e!ection campaign. Was His Honor (?) sincere in maktng all of those seven recommendlations? Not according to the grapevine information whieh trickles out from the headquarters of the Wright party, whieh used to bg known as the Repuhliean party! Speaker: Vitousek has a knife hidden in his left hand. Mayor Wright also ha» a knife hidden in his left hand, and it is aimed at the back of the two Republican members of the Board of Superyisors who had tfce inte3tmal fortitude to oppose the mayor in some of his wild-eyed policies during the past two years! Anyone who has fo!lowed the affair§ of the city and county for the past two years knows who thpse two mxfortunate victims of Mayor uabridled vtMgeaQce areī And still they prate, "Harmony — harmony — aU is harmony *' And still, we insist, "Methinks these Rejpublicans dp protest too mueh!" At this same "Victpry Jubilee, M Francis Ii £rown took it upon himself, unwitting!y, to deny the existence of still c another plot that is aimed at" H,armony — harmony —- all is harm6ny fr in the Republican ranks. He assured the beer-swigglxng Republieai party workers that he was strongly behma the senatorial eandidacies of George P- Oeniaon and Eugene H. Beebe, and "that again it was a case of "One for, al! and all for one " And again Monsieur Dumas did flijp-flQp in his grave ī Qu| On Limb Meanwhile the usually keen an4 astute B,eebe had gone away out on a ta find that the R<3,publican party iteelf was busily in sawing off that limb! In the prijpaary campaign, as haj Leeu brought out, Mr. Beebe's heart was bleeding &{id hi& ie&rs were overf!owing because of the plight of the poor lei-sellera, the poor newsboys, the poor bootblacks, and the poor people of any other class who have votes, heeauee & Democratic tax commissioner fouad h,imself compelled to esn£orce the gross ineome tax on all incomes pf aiie, under the terms of the l«.w! Mr. Beebe was sure that that was not the intent of the Republican legislature—no Repubiican legislature could ever have been that cruel aiid heartless when it eame to dealing with the and eommon people, Mr. Beebe was sure! And Mr. Beebe wept, and wept—and wept, all over the lot, landscape and what have youl NoUiim; Like Thst! Ttiat was not Republican legislature — no Repuhlican legislature couīd <*ver have been so. cruel? ?? ' . ' When the gross ineome was in the Senaic, where there was a healthy and active Democratic mluor ity, that healthy and Democratic mmortty had insisted up-' on a provision exemptmg all gross ineome of less than $100 monthly from payment of the tax When the gross ineome tu bill was in the houae, where the Democratic minority w&s not so strong noi healthy as it was in the Senate, the provision exejtnpting all gross ineome less ihan $100 xapathl> w*s eliminated. It was eliminated in the house! And who eontrolled the house with an iron hand? None other than Mr. Beebe?s boon eompanion in legislative activities intended to pluxider the governmental treasury and grind the necks of the poor and eommon man oii3y'further into the dirt! None other than Speaker Royal A. Vitousek, as it appears in the &ociet> co!uams! Vitousek Plays Villain If 3peaker Royal A. Vitousek had insisted upon the retention in that gross ineome tax bill of the provkion

exempting meomes up to |100 monthly, that section would have stayed in the bill—but Mr. Beebe wou!d not have had any argument now over whieh he ean spread his croeodile tears all over the landscape. But Speaker Royal A- Vitousek did not insist upon the retention of tiiat proviaion! Speaker Royal A. Vitousek iQfti»ted upon its elimination! And that why Mr. Beebe, Wl boon eompanion, is given the opportunity of crying I his eye» o«t ali over the lot because of the terrible plight of the poor lei-selier, newsboy, bootblack and whatever class he is appealing to for votes! i It was the same Speaker Royal A. Vitousek who in- ! sisted that "professional" men—including lawyers, should be taxed at rate of only one-half of one percent of their gross ineome, while all other business aiid endeavors m Hawaii should be taxed at the rate of one and one-quarter perceat of their gr.oss ineome! And what i» Speaker Royal A. Vitousek in private lif«? Why, don't you remember, Speaker Royal A- Viiouaek i» a iawyer-—a "profefMoaftr' maa—aii attomey who repre«enU ihe Big Five and all the other iarge iaterests ia the Territory f that seek to tear dowu the tax structure and all branches of goverxuuenl whieh they believe are hampering their plundering and pirating activiAnd what gro»s ineome tax doe» Speaker-i-awycr Royal A. Vitousek pay? VVhy, qd»erh«df of ooe per€eāt! And what do you and everybody elae In the Territory, who u not among the "Lord's Annointed" cla&s of "profeMional" man, pay? Why one and one-quarter percentl And the Republicans expect the people of Oahu to stand for such villainy, such self-uiterest, such utter disregard of the rights of the eommon lai^n —and re-elect Speaker Royal A. Vitousek, as it iu the societ> eolumiia, to the house # where he serve his selfbh māBters of Meiehani St., whcro h£ csn again £eather his owu nest, and w&ere he ean ujtterty di§rtyKsj;d

tlie w:eifare o£ the eommon people who ha\f the voles, but do iiat ap4)tiār quite aa fre(iueiitīj* iti the ,society eolXkmm a& aoc& Speaker Eoyul A, Vitousekl It is iourcd ihoir expecUUioni> are iu tor & sad setbwk! For Sptnaker Royal A. Vitousek &hould b« tlefe&Ud for re-eiectiou «nd H. Beebc &hou.ld daieated ia his aapiiaiionī because tho.se twa represeiit in iheu le«islative activities the Big Five and the other selfish interests in Hawaii v»hose uaiue* «ue U&ted on the rolls of clieats of the law firms of St#ualei, \'itou«ek & Pratt, aud of Suuth, Wild, Beebe & Cade«, and ean «fford Jto pay the he&\;> " retaia<w witb whieh tho*e iwo firms kk blessed. The intue->t \itssrs. Vitousek aud Beebe in the genoral weliaie ojt tlie avera&e eiluen or eominon man ia less thau uoUiia^ —vach liuī his owu to gir,ud! :^^i v j