1937 May-August

The Great Depression as seen through the pages of the Daily Record (Morristown, NJ) 

May-August 1937

 

“The serious relief situation locally, with almost all of the money appropriated for 1937 already spent, was the subject of a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen last night and it was decided to co-ordinate the two positions of relief director and WPA work director, with Town Clerk Nelson S. Butera holding both jobs, in an effort to get more men working.  The costs of relief have failed to show any decrease, in fact are higher than a year ago, with more people getting aid.  Yet Frederick B. Richardson, now in the insurance business and formerly connected with the firm of Richardson and Boynton, which had a big stove works at Dover, told the Board that industry was going at top speed in Morris County and there were plenty of jobs.  He declared that here, as in New York, there were many people who were on relief but would not take jobs.  There were always a lot of men sitting around the park and these are probably on relief now.  While the Town has a number of WPA jobs lined up, only the extension of water mains in Cedar Knolls has been approved and this is to start Monday….The co-ordination of the two jobs is expected to aid in seeing that those on relief will be transferred to WPA work, Mr. Butera being in charge of the projects.  The Town has no relief director just now.  At the start of the year Robert J. Tracey was named as relief director as well as superintendent of parks but the County Welfare Board notified the Town that it had the right to appoint the relief director and did not approve the naming by the Town of Mr. Tracey….Last night Mr. Butera was named temporarily as relief director and at the meeting next Friday a resolution or ordinance appointing him to the job will be introduced.  It is expected that this appointment will meet the Welfare Board’s O.K.  While no definite decision was made it was indicated that the Town is not going to take back the handling of its own relief, as the Welfare Board said could be done if desired by the municipality and which Rockaway, Boonton and Parsippany-Troy Hills has [sic] already done.  The Town appreciates the co-operation of the County Board and the fact that the County is paying the investigators who are working on the local case list….[a discussion of relief expenditures follows]…. Mayor Clyde Potts declared that if some aid was not given, either from the State $10,000,000 fund or by getting men on WPA jobs, it would cost the Town $60,000 and this would mean a 40 point tax rate….Referring to the Cedar Knolls job and employing local men, Mayor Potts told of an experience in connection with the airport job, under ERA where the ERA insisted on a Chatham man to head the job.  Morristown refused and a Boonton man was offered as a “compromise.”  Morristown finally won out by threatening to stop the whole work and using police if necessary….Mr. Richardson said that some manufacturers in the county were running three shifts and others two and business was far better than a year ago.  Some of the plants were looking for men and ther [sic] were plenty of jobs.  He had called on seven plants in the county yesterday and everyone was working full shifts and paying good wages.  The greatest problem, he said, was the people who never worked but who were getting relief.   Mayor Potts likened some of these to ghouls who steal from the dead….”  (May 1, 1937, p. 1 & 9)

“BOONTON --  A 52-year-old widow’s gallant but futile struggle to stay off relief ended yesterday afternoon with eviction from a building in the heart of Boonton’s Main street business section.  Mrs. Mary A. Foley and her six children moved into a building owned by the Boonton National Bank last October.  Two daughters, one 25 and the other 21, were working in a local sweater factory at the time and in December, they were laid off.  Since then they’ve been working only few [sic] days part time.  In the battle against hunger, they stopped paying rent in January and a short time ago the bank obtained an order for possession from Judge James W. Phelan in Third District Court.  At $20 a month $80 was due.  Constable Isadore Less of Dover carried out the order yesterday, hired three men and before the bewildered children and dismayed mother the furniture was moved into the street.  Ill clad and ill nourished the children played around the assorted chairs and bed clothing while Relief Director Samuel Harris sought frantically for a home in which to house them.  Temporarily the family moved in with friends and Mr. Harris indicated that by today a place would be found for them.  Constable Less, whose disagreeable duty it was to dispossess the seven, found he had more than one headache in store for himself, because Police Chief William Lucas ordered the furniture removed from the street as an obstruction of a public thoroughfare.  In conjunction with Mr. Harris, Constanble [sic] Less and Chief Lucas, the household effects were finally placed in storage.”  (May 1, 1937, p.1)

“For four long years relief has been a major problem in this state….Four years ago, instead of facing relief as a great state should face it, by providing a comprehensive plan for financing it as long as necessary, the members of the legislature began turning to makeshifts, expediencies and borrowings.  They started in robbing Peter to discharge their obligation to Paul.  Makeshifts became a habit.  When Governor Hoffman began his administration he offerd [sic] a very reasonable, constructive means to create a relief financing plan. It was rejected by a majority of the legislature whose statesmanship rose no higher than petty makeshifts.  Senator Loizeaux made and offered a very constructive plan that would solve the problem of financing relief and at the same time help solve the problem of overburdened realty taxpayers.  Again the diversionists, expediency advocates rejected a statesmanlike effort to meet the relief situation….Shall relief become the sole responsibility of the municipalities?  Shall relief be financed by a group of motorists, by seizing the funds they contribute to maintain and repair roads?  Or shall New Jersey at last take hold of the problem man-fashion and create a comprehensive relief financing plan?....”   (editorial from the Elizabeth Journal, published in the Morristown Daily Record May 1, 1937, p.4)

“Morristown’s relief situation took on a decided rosier tint today with receipt of a check from the State for reimbursement of aid already given and the prospects of several new WPA jobs getting under way.  Town Clerk Nelson S. Butera was in receipt of a check from the State for $5,600 for reimbursement for January, February and part of March.  Additional funds for March and April are expected shortly.  The Town had expended practically all but $2,000 out of $23,000 relief fund to date and the money coming back from the State makes it possible to carry on relief for several more months before the financial situation again becomes critical….Engineer Charles Fetzer said this morning that the Cedar Knolls water extension was all ready to start and it will be in full swing in a couple of days.  This will put 12 men to work immediately and a number more in a short time.  The work will start at South Belair avenue and extend 1,000 feet up the hill at present while two other street extensions are listed.  The Town Clerk expects to go to Washington on Thursday relative to the securing of aid for the building of the roads around the new National Historical Park museum.  Some funds are available but Mr. Butera is seeking additional appropriations so that Washington place, Division street and Lafayette avenue can be constructed as proper approaches to the museum.  Relative to a letter which appeared in a Newark Sunday paper supposedly signed by a Morristown woman, who complained that only four local women were employed on the sewing room project, Mr. Butera said today that there were 29 women on this job and everyone was a resident of Morristown.  The only one not a resident when hired was the supervisor and she moved into Morristown….”  (May 4, 1937, p.1)

“Now, at a time when work should be at its highest with the arrival of good weather and many people of the impression that we are pretty well out of the depression, the general situation pertaining to relief is surprising to many.  It would seem that the relief rolls right now should be at their lowest ebb but instead they are apparently higher than ever….The Philadelphia Inquirer recently published a timely cartoon entitled, “Fancy Meeting You Here,” and showed industrial employment climbing to the top of the 1929 industrial peak only to meet unemployment relief at the same level.  In other words, employment is as good as it was in 1929, but relief is higher than at any time during the depression.  The New York Tribune, in a special article Saturday, showed that the idle carried by 35 states exceeded all of the men on WPA rolls so that the plan of creating jobs has taken care of less than half the idle.  The total on relief was put at 2,513,774 for the 35 states from which information was available.  This does not include old age relief, pensions, paupers, blind, dependent children and the like.  Earlier last week the monthly report of the County Welfare Board showed an increase in practically every department of aid given to the aged, blind, children and crippled….Why then the increase of those on relief?  Mr. Richardson probably hit the nail on the head when he said that many who never worked were now getting this aid.  There had always been some unemployed, even in the best of days and there were some who would never work except during war days when there was a “work or fight” rule.  Now this type, which always very conscientiously dodged anything that looked like work, but somehow managed to exist, are living on the fat of the land.  They are idle as they always were but are getting paid for it.  Relief looks like taxes.  It is something that is easy to start, but there is never any stopping.  Even when times get far better, big wages are being paid and workers are at a premium, there will be some seeking the aid of the municipality or state…. The only answer seems to be the reinvokement of that “work or fight” rule of 20 years ago.  As industry takes up the slack, let WPA continue for a time with much lower pay and make a man work or go to jail.  Of course, one has no fault to find with the feeding and caring for those unable to work because of old age or who are crippled, yet it is astounding how many of these need aid today.  “The poor we have always with us,” but how did they manage to exist a few years ago without hundreds of thousands being spent on them?”  (editorial, May 4, 1937, p.4)

“MILLINGTON – At a meeting of the Passaic Township Committee held last evening…it was decided that the Township will agree to pay $10 per month for each person employed on the WPA sewing project provided the State reimburses six of every ten….It is expected also that the quota of persons employed will reach 15 as originally planned.  According to a report submitted by Mrs. Elizabeth Eisel, local director of relief, cost of relief in April was $436.75 for 15 cases or 73 persons.  Of that sum $134 was for cash relief.  The total amount is considerably higher than a few months ago when expenditures were only about $150 per month….”  (May 5, 1937, p.1)

“….Judge Benjamin Scheinman of Los Angeles, Calif., started thinking aloud…the other day.  “We may be arresting the wrong people,” he mused.  “We may be making a mistake in arresting drunks and vags and not arresting those who provide the breeding ground for drunks and vags, and who certainly contribute to their delinquency.”….He mentioned the sweatshop employers who pay starvation wages; the politicians who decree that jobless single men on relief must get along and stave off the soul-racking monotony of idleness on $15 a month; the saloonkeepers who sell liquor to these men, until they are drunk and after they are drunk; the commercial employment agencies that make them pay to get jobs; the flophouse owners who herd men six or eight at a time in dirty ill-ventilated rooms….Dirt, idleness, hopelessness, friendlessness—put them to work on a man, and you need not be surprised if he winds up, frowsy and befuddled, in police court.  “There is another angle, too, for us to ponder over,” continued the judge.  “If you and I voted into office the fellows who later decided that a single man on relief should live on $15 a month, we too, might be subject to arrest.”….For if we live in the kind of society that drives a certain percentage of its misfits to drink and vagrancy, and if we ourselves consent to that society’s existence and do nothing to iron out its rough places—then we ourselves are the ultimate offenders….”  (editorial, May 5, 1937, p.4)

“DENVILLE – Relief during April totaled $449, the Township Committee…heard Relief Chairman Charles W. Rodgers Sr. report.  This figure was the highest monthly cost since the Township took over the unemployed a year ago, with the exception of March of this year, when the cost was $631….Costs may be cut during May, however.  Rodgers said that regular Township and Dutch Elm work will take many families off the rolls and give them employment not created for emergencies.  He asserted State relief authorities have reversed their stand on relief since last year.  Formerly, he said they insisted that relief standards be kept high, whereas now they are advising that costs be cut to the bone….”  (May 6, 1937, p.1)

“The efforts of the Board of Aldermen to reduce the high costs of relief by getting men to work on WPA projects was partially delayed this week by an order from one of the members of the Water Commission in refusing to allow transportation for labor to extend the Cedar Knolls water main, it was charged at last night’s meeting of the Aldermen….Mayor Clyde Potts asked for a report on the situation from Acting Water Superintendent Charles Fetzer and the latter said there were two men and a foreman working but that transportation was a problem.  He finally reluctantly admitted that Alex Slavin, the Democratic appointed member of the commission, had said not to use a truck for transportation.  Had there been transportation fixed, it is likely a dozen men would be working now, it was contended.  The Mayor said they certainly didn’t expect the men to walk four miles every day but this is what the two laborers have been doing, the foreman having arranged to get a lift.  Fetzer, further pressed, said Slavin told him that he, Fetzer, had made a mistake about going to Rockaway for tools and a mistake in marking the spot for the men to dig.  “How the____will men know where to dig of  [sic] they are not shown?” exclaimed Alderman Harold Watson…. “Here is a project to give 18 men employment but the sponsors have fallen down on the job,” declared Potts.  “All have got to cooperate on the job….Even the pipe is not advertised for.”  The advertising will take about ten days and it will take about two weeks to ship the pipe.  The town has only 500 feet on hand and nearly 5,000 feet are needed.  The hydrants are also not available.  The board directed the Town clerk to advertise immediately for bids, without waiting to consult the water commission, while a meeting with the commission is to be arranged for this afternoon or tomorrow morning to straighten out the transportation….”  (May 8, 1937, p.1)

“Early returns indicate that eight County municipalities want to have the County Welfare Board continue handling their relief, while four others want to sever connections with the board and run relief on their own….The various communities have been extremely slow in making their choice. Officially, Dover, and Roxbury and Jefferson townships are with the board.  Unofficially, Morristown, Morris Plains, Pequannock, Chester Borough, and Passaic Township have implied they wish the board to continue supervision….Places which will handle relief independently of the board are Boonton, Morris Township, Rockaway Borough and Mt. Lakes…..[relief directors in these towns are named]….”  (May 8, 1937, p.1)

“A WPA project to build a fireproof vault for Morristown’s municipal records has been approved and work will start shortly, Town Clerk Nelson Butera learned….Important documents now scattered throughout the Municipal Building in several different closets which are not fireproofed will be kept safely in the new vault….The project will cost the Town only $700 and will consist mainly of changing certain partitions on the top floor of the Municipal Building.  These partitions will be the vault walls.  A vault door already in the building will be moved to the top floor and used….The Federal government’s contribution to the work is approximately $2,700….”  (May 8, 1937, p.1)

“The salaries of all school employees will be returned to their original status before the cut went into effect in 1932, it was decided…at the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education.  This decision was reached to abide by a State ruling calling for this salary payment.  Teachers, janitors and others in the employ of the Board will come in for their return and it will go into effect beginning July 1.  The total return is slated as being nearly 7 ½ percent to most of the employees, although many have been given increases since 1932….Stuart Toms gave his report on the WPA project for regrading the athletic field and covering the brook running parallel to the field, and stated that the plans were now in the WPA officials hands in Washington.  As the drawings and architectural arrangements have been completed, he is now waiting for word from the officials to commence work….”  (May 12, 1937, p.1)

“The report of a woman client refusing a job offer because it meant “getting up too early” and the resulting warning by East Orange Relief officials that persons declining offers would be summarily dismissed, should not lead to hasty conclusions.  No doubt many persons on relief don’t want to work and are perfectly satisfied to exist on the weekly check from headquarters, but we feel sure that this group is by far in the minority.  It would be manifestly unfair to place the majority of persons on relief in this category.  Hasty consigning of all persons on relief to a barrel marked “no good for anything” would be both unjust as well as hindering rather than helping the situation.  Nine out of ten persons on relief poignantly feel their position.  It’s no disgrace to be without a job under present conditions.  Yet most persons, we believe, feel a dispiriting inferiority because of their position.  They want to get off releef [sic] as much as the taxpayer wants to see them off….an analysis of rolls indicates how many have jumped at any opportunity to work rather than stay on relief—but these cases we, of course, do not hear about.  The work done by the New Jersey Employment Service is proof of the fact that persons on relief are only too willing to take their jobs.  Hundreds have been placed and still more hundreds are on the lists waiting to be placed….”  (editorial from the Orange Courier, appearing in the Morristown Daily Record May 12, 1937, p.4)

The monthly report of the County Welfare Board for April appeared on May 12, 1937, p.6.  “Temporary relief costs were cut 11 percent for April over March.”  Other support was also detailed.

“NETCONG – Relief costs and charges that men receiving relief were privately employed caused considerable discussion at the regular meeting of the Borough Council last night.  The April costs were put at $1,181.97.  Councilman A. A. King reported one relief client had been working for him for a month and another case was mentioned where the relief receiver was allegedly employed regularly and was transporting others to work with him.  Mayor Michael Gallo said he had been unable to hire any local labor and councilmen said that men who had been offered work failed to report….The report showed a reduction of 21 families on the relief list which listed 262 persons representing 36 families getting help in April.  Those who refuse to accept work will be dropped.  “It’s about time we dissolve relier [sic] operations in Netcong,” declared Councilman Huyler….”  (May 13, 1937, p.17)

“While a number of applications have been received by the Town, asking for space in the community gardens, it is not likely that the gardens will be conducted by the Town this year because of the expense involved.  In recent years, with depression heavy, the gardens were run for the benefit of the unemployed.  The cost of ploughing and seeding runs to about $140 and the town has no appropriation available.  If there is enough interest, the Town may ask Mrs. Robert D. Foote, who gave the use of the land, for the use of the site for the benefit of those who want to plant gardens.”  (May 14, 1937, p.7)

“A large Colonial rug, woven in colors as various as the rainbow, is being made by the WPA sewing project employees on Vail place and upon completion will be forwarded to the WPA officials as a product of the women’s work division.  Other projects are being completed, including the making of clothes and other woven articles, but the rag rug is being placed on exhibition due to its intense beauty.”  (May 17, 1937, p.1)

“BUTLER – An attempt by WPA workers employed on the Butler reservoir project in Kinnelon to arbitrate what they termed unfair salary slashes resulted in the suspension of 20 of the spokesmen when they approached Frank Kiel, area supervisor, yesterday.  The action is expected to be the forerunner of North Jersey’s first WPA strike of any proportion.  The organization of the men took place yesterday during noon hour and they appointed a committee to endeavor to arbitrate under the WPA code provision to request local WPA officials to act on their demands for better working conditions.  Upon being approached by the spokesmen Kiel suspended them for the remainder of the day and later he announced that they were suspended for the balance of the week.  Upon learning of this about 200 workers, in sympathy with the movement, stopped work for a time but evidently in fear of losing their jobs they returned to work.  Wage rates for Morris County where the Kinnelon project is situated are 45 cents per hour while in Passaic County the wage rate is 50 cents per hour.  Ninety-five percent of the men employed on the project are from Passaic County with a total of 121 hours per month allotted them.  The reduction in salary amounts to $12 per month, giving the men $48.50 as to $60.50 formerly.  The laborers protested and notified WPA officials.  Two alternatives were asked, one that they be paid the prevailing wage for Passaic County or that married men with large families be transferred to Passaic County projects.   WPA officials agreed to this demand, it is said, but when two married men were transferred yesterday from North Haledon to the Kinnelon job and no action was taken on the workers’ request, the men decided to organize.  The men stayed at the project until quitting time.  A conference is to be held today between WPA officials and the workers committee at Paterson.  Rumors of a strike have been rife for some time although they were denied by officials in charge.  However, yesterday’s action is expected to result in the first serious WPA labor dispute in this area.”  (May 19, 1937, p.1)

“….Town Clerk Nelson s. Butera, in his supplemental report on relief, suggested that everything should be done to encourage light manufacturing here to take up the slack of unemployment, which he figured at about 200 in the best of times. He proposed that a lay committee be appointed to negotiate for the Town….Off the record it was pointed out that other towns were getting manufacturing plants and Morristown  had had first chance on a big new industry just started in Summit….”  (May 22, 1937, p.1)

Sign of the times:  “A five day week for municipal employees and the possibility of civil service looms….Alderman Harrie Hogan said the five-day week was becoming common….Alderman John Camisa said the tax and water departments would have to be open Saturdays and Hogan said there could be a stagger plan so the employees could get two Saturdays off a month….Abe Gurevitz said they might also consider retirement payments as general workers have social security and police and firemen pensions….Town Clerk Nelson Butera said his office has been giving the employees one Saturday out of four in the Summer…He suggested 9 to 5 as proper hours….”  (May 22, 1937, p.1)

“WASHINGTON, (AP) – The Supreme Court held constitutional today the unemployment insurance provision of the Social Security Act….The unemployment insurance provision taxed employers of more than eight persons to assist in caring for the future jobless and to provide a cushion against economic depression.  To induce states to adopt programs of their own and carry out the purpose of the Federal act, the legislation provided that amount to the State….”  (May 24, 1937, p.1)

“DOVER – The Mayor and Board of Aldermen in session here last night voted to continue the WPA sewing room which has been operated here for the past two years.  The vote came after the board had been advised by the WPA authorities that unless the town paid $10 a month for each woman in the room the room would have to be shut down due to lack of government funds.  Mayor John Roach Jr. pointed out that every woman employed in the room was on relief and if they did not have this job they would gain [sic] be thrown back on the town.  He also stated that as soon as the new State setup is passed by the Legislature the town will receive $6 a month for each employee.  “Therefore,” stated the Mayor, “we will have but $4 per month to pay to each emloyee [sic].”….”  (May 25, 1937, p.6)

“BOONTON – The Community Relief Bureau, a supplementary relief agency financed by private contributions, will embark on a campaign starting tomorrow to make up an unanticipated shortage of $500.  A letter will be sent tomorrow over the signature of Philip H. Wootton, president of the bureau, to regular contributors asking aid in obtaining these additional funds.  A fund of $3,000 last year was fully subscribed.  This amount was lower than previous years but it was found that the need was underestimated.  The bureau in a statement issued yesterday outlined the work it has been doing.  Asserting that the town was allowing only the “subsistence relief” within the scope of its funds, other kinds of relief aids to the needy have been requisite.  These involve cutting of wood through paid relief workers, and other fuel, hospital and medical care, supplying of milk and food and clothing where technicalities prevented aid from another source.  The bureau is maintaining a free employment service, the report continued, furnishing a focal point for potential employers with odd or regular jobs for men and women.  The statement said the bureau was paying partial rental to maintain a local colored church.  It pointed out that the need for the bureau’s work has not lessened.  Layoffs of governmental relief agencies such as WPA, Dutch Elm disease eradication and other programs were indicated as reasons for this.  Work of the bureau is being done in cooperation with Relief Director Samuel Harris.  Much of the relief work done by the bureau is actually work relief on a similar basis as the WPA….”  (May 27, 1937, p.1)

“DENVILLE --  Nearly all of the boys in the CCC camp here last night lined up for inspection of John Nich, of Rockaway, who was beaten and robbed near Morris Plains last night, but Nich failed to identify any of the youths as his assailants.  A second lineup of 13 men who were out on “liberty” last night will be made tonight.  The auto stolen from Nich was found abandoned on a road near the Birchwood Cottage last Saturday.  It was carefully examined for fingerprints.  Nich, playing the role of Good Samaritan, was giving a ride to a couple of youths, who were clad in khaki shirts and trousers and so were thought by him to be CCC enrollees, when the two men turned on him, beat him up, threw him out of his car and made off with his auto and purse….” (June 2, 1937, p.1)

from the Daily Washington Letter by Rodney Dutcher, June 2, 1937, p.4:  “There seems to be no immediate prospect that the administration will officially promote consumer co-operatives, as some business men have feared….At least three groups within the government are promoting cooperative housing projects.  Government agencies with co-operative phases include:  Farm Credit Administration, which has banking facilities for farmer purchasing and marketing co-ops and fosters and helps organize credit unions.  Bureau of Labor Statistics, which collects co-op statistics, is now making a national survey of consumer co-op activities and houses the Consumers’ Project, which has worked out model states and federal co-operative laws.  Rural Electrification Administration, which helps organize co-operatives among farmers for purchase of electric power.  Resettlement Administration, which has organized consumer co-ops in Resettlement communities.  WPA, which still has a small self-help co-operative section and once started several producer-consumer co-ops of that type.  AAA Consumers Counsel’s office, which has issued a directory of co-operative information and services by the government and other coop information.  TVA, which is experimenting with the idea in the Tennessee Valley.”

“Imperfect as our statistics on unemployment are, they are at least complete enough to show why there is such a wide discrepancy between the increase in employment since the pit of the depression and the continuing large number of unemployed.  Figures compiled by the Alexander Hamilton Institute show that in March the number of employed persons in the United States rose to 41,698,000—highest for the recovery movement, with the exception of last December, and a gain of 8,433,000 since the depression low in March, 1933.  At the same time, there are still— according to this same authority—9,621,000 unemployed persons in the United States, a reduction of only some 7,000,000 from March of 1933.  For as men go back to work the population continues to increase.  The supply of workers is larger now than it was when the depression began.  To end unemployment, we must actually reach a higher level of employment than we ever have known before, even in our best years.”  (editorial, June 2, 1937, p.4)

“The encouragement of spending in non-productive lines is one way that would help bring an end to the depression because money expended in that manner would work around for the benefit of industry.  The big Morris and Essex Kennel Club show at Madison on Saturday may be cited as an example.  If there were never any dog shows the wheels of progress would not be stopped and everyone would probably go on living but it is events like this that results in large circulation of money and are therefore extremely beneficial….This section of Morris County and the Somerset Hills have many well to do people and its good quota of millionaires.  When these people are enjoying good incomes they maintain large estates with servants, chauffeurs, gardeners, laborers, grooms, kennelmen and others.  This creates a large employment and the money they spend as wages is in turn circulated for food, clothes, autos and other necessities and luxuries.  So with the big Morris and Essex Dog Show.  It gave 500 or more men and boys in this vicinity employment for a day with pretty good wages, it meant that the caterers hired dozens of extra men to aid them, the organization that directs such shows had a large staff at work for weeks in preparing, the tent people had their day, restaurants, hotels and rooming houses for miles around did a boom business for two days and something around 20,000 people came to the show.  Many of the exhibitors were from California, Ontario, Texas or Florida.  That meant a trail of money all along their route for railroad fares, gasoline, lodging, meals.  The money spent in connection with this show runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars and its benefits were felt really from coast to coast.  Therefore the holding of similar events should be encouraged from the financial viewpoint, if from no other, for the effects are far reaching.”  (editorial, June 2, 1937, p.4)

“Because of the WPA and the pick-up in private employment, Town Clerk Nelson Butera believes Morristown will be well able to handle its relief load the remainder of the year.  At the meeting of the Board of Aldermen last night, he pointed with clear satisfaction to the fact that 37 persons were hired by private industry during May.  This pick-up is the greatest in recent years, and it reflects general business improvement.  The cost of relief during May was only $3,276, the lowest monthly figure this year….Since the first of the year, the total expense has been $23,041, according to a general summary prepared for the board by Butera, acting as relief director.  The actual case load on June 1 had dropped to 353 persons.  Although funds from the State Financial Assistance Commission may be completely drained by November 1, Butera believes he can finish the year out without further help from the State.  To do this, however, Butera warned it will be necessary that the Relief Department distribute its funds “with greater care” during the coming months.  “We will be as fair as possible,” Butera said, “but will be very strict because of necessity to save as much money as possible.  We cannot be as lenient as we have been.”  The director asserted that “during the Summer months special efforts can be made by all persons in difficulty to earn as much as possible in order to help us.  Relief clients are called on to make a definite effort to secure work, and the department will not tolerate any refusal on the part of the clients for the jobs that are offered.  If they do not accept jobs we provide for them, they will be dropped from the relief rolls at once.”  He explained that to accept a job is not to endanger one’s chance to get back on relief when the job ends.”  (June 5, 1937, p.1)

“Nothing definite is known about the plans of the WPA after July 1, Town WPA Co-ordinator Nelson Butera said this morning.  “Not even the State officials know what’s going on in Washington,” Butera explained, “so how can I tell you anything?  The whole WPA may be ended on July 1, or it may be drastically curtailed, or just slightly curtailed—your guess is as good as mine.”  Butera said it is likely the Washington administration may cut down the WPA by simply requiring municipalities to put up a greater share of the cost of each project.  Ever since the first of the year, there have been definite statements and vague rumors that something would happen to the WPA on the first day of July.  One Morristown project is definitely threatened— the sewing room work at 6 Vail place, employing 27 women.  The WPA has asked the Town to put up $10 per worker per month for materials on the project, and Butera regards this amount as too high—says the Town could buy clothes cheaper than having them made on this project.  The co-ordinator will ask the WPA to accept $6 per worker per month for materials, on which basis, he believes, clothes can be made cheaper than they can be purchased.  If this compromise figure is not approved, Butera will recommend to the mayor and Board of Aldermen that the project be abandoned.  Butera is going to WPA offices in New Brunswick either Monday or Tuesday to attempt to figure out the future of local projects.  Two jobs are at old Speedwell Lake one for curb and sidewalk repair, one for the day nursery, also at 6 Vail place, one for indexing Town records, and one for creating a vault for their safe keeping.”  (June 5, 1937, p.6)

“TRENTON – Deposits of $14,135,372.84 in the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund of the Federal Government were reported today by James G. Robinson, Executive Director of the New Jersey Unemployment Compensation Commission….The Social Security Act provides all States must deposit all the monies collected by them under Unemployment Compensation Laws with the United States Secretary of the Treasury, who has established an “Unemployment Trust Fund.”  This Fund is invested in approved securities and a proportionate part of its earnings are credited to the account of each State.  From the New Jersey Fund, including its earnings, benefits will be paid to New Jersey workers who become unemployed and who are now unemployed and who are eligible under the provisions of the State Law.  Payments of benefits will begin January 1, 1939….New Jersey employers this week will receive a request to cooperate with the Unemployment Compensation Commission in the use of Federal Social Security account numbers for employees….”  (June 7, 1937, p.1)

“An abrupt change in the cost per case of emergency relief is reported by Miss Edith F. McCully, director of the Morris County Welfare Board…for the month of May.  Despite the fact that the number of cases was 20 percent higher in May of 1936 than in this May, the cost of relief this May was 40 percent higher than it was in May a year ago.  This means, in simple terms, that the cost per case has jumped to about 117 percent of what it was a year ago.  Food prices have advanced fully 15 percent in the year, and municipal directors, once having given out only money for food, are now financing many extras, including rent, fuel, doctors’ services, and hospitalization.  Although no comparable figures are available, it may be true that the cost per case under the municipal directors is now just as high or higher than it was under the old ERA.  However, while the cost per case has gone up, the number of cases on relief declined sharply from April to May of this year—the decline was roughly 45 percent from one month to the other, according to reports Miss McCully has received from 14 municipalities in Morris County.  This drop in the case load is attributable almost entirely to seasonal employment and to “the increase in quotas on Federal WPA projects.”  Extra work on the part of employees in the Old Age Assistance Department of the welfare board is cited by Miss McCully in her report.  “Workers and executives in this department,” she writes, “have been working overtime to catch up with the work that has been lagging since three WPA workers were discontinued last November.  By writing up records at home in the evenings and Sundays, they have rolled up a total of 159 hours overtime.”….”  (June 9, 1937, p.1 & 13)

“Congressman Charles A. Eaton’s attacks on the most innocuous forms of social and economic advance are like the rising and retiring of the sun—they come with such monotonous regularity that few persons either cheer or boo him any more….you can awaken tomorrow and the next day and the next in the assurance that Congressman Eaton will somewhere, somehow lash out at those who would keep his dear United States from going into reverse gear.  The Fifth District representative may be under the impression that, in fighting the New Deal, he is part of an informed minority that is reining in that same New Deal from running away with itself.  But that’s not the case at all.  Congressman Eaton’s remarks on the New Deal have been such a sweeping, blanket indictment of it that they lose value for any seeker after the truth.  If his attacks distinguished between the good and the evil in the Roosevelt administration—and certainly there must be some good in it, as well as a lot of evil—they would be worth paying attention to.  The New Deal must most certainly be braked by an informed minority, but Congressman Eaton will be no part of it until he loses his ultra-conservatism.  Or is he too much part of a dying era to change his ways?”  (editorial, June 9, 1937, p.4)

“There is room for much difference of opinion—room enough to park a couple of Zeppelins— about the wisdom or otherwise of the pending administration bill to set minimum-wage and maximum-hour standards in American industry….Before Congress can decide on this bill, it must go into the whole question of what our fabled American standard of living looks like to the wage-earner in the lower brackets…In 1929, according to the Bookings [sic] Institution, nearly 6,000,000 American families—better than one family in every five—had incomes below $1,000 a year.  Some 12,000,000 American families had incomes below $1,500 a year.  A Washington correspondent recently took these figures to Dr. Isador Lubin, U.S. commissioner of labor statistics, and asked him just what incomes of that size mean….The average family in that income group, said Dr. Lubin, spends about a third of its income on food.  That means around $8 a week for a family of four.  If that sum has to be shaded very much, the family cannot afford enough green vegetables, fresh fruit and milk.  That same family will be able to spend about $4 a month, per person, for clothing….Then there is housing.  The family will spend about $20 a month on rent—a flat, half a double house, or a four or five-room frame house.  Fuel, light, etc. will take $15 a month.  In many cases there will be no running water.  Steam heat will be a rarity.  ….These expenditures eat up most of the income.  For the under-$1,000-a-year family they eat up all of it, and then some.  The luckier family, up near the $1,500 mark, will have a little money left—for medical care, house furnishings, recreation, education and savings….”  (editorial, June 9, 1937, p.4)

“If some public relief agencies have been too lax, too generous in recent years, the Morris County Welfare Board has not been among them.  The board’s director, Miss Edith F. McCully, wrote in her recent May report that a woman was dropped from relief finance through the bureau of general welfare because she failed to move to living quarters priced more reasonably.  Neither has Morristown’s Town Clerk, Nelson Butera, been among the too soft-hearted.  He warned just a couple of days ago that persons who refused jobs offered them by private industry would be dropped from the public relief rolls forthwith.  There is nothing cruel or unfeeling in either Miss McCully’s or Mr. Butera’s policies in this respect.  They have sympathy for persons who are forced to join the relief rolls, but they will tolerate no laziness or luxury.  Such is needed to cut relief expenses so national, State, County, and local budgets may be balanced.”  (editorial, June 10, 1937, p.14)

“Novelists and essayists have had a good deal to say about the “lost generation” in recent years.  Bernard M. Baruch, in a commencement address at…The Citadel…offered some extremely sensible remarks on the subject.  “There is an element of tragic sadness,” he said, “in the hundreds of thousands sifted through the terrible sieve of the depression and now left helpless on the barren strands of the WPA.  Now, when real recovery has come after several years of their enforced idleness, most of them remain unemployed because the procession has passed them by, and for one reason or another they have become unfit to take their place in our economic revival.  “These are the derelicts—the economic casualties—of one of the greatest catastrophes that ever blasted this country.”  Shall we have the intelligence and goodwill, do you suppose, to apply ourselves to the job of getting these casualties rehabilitated?”  (editorial, June 10, 1937, p.14)

“Twenty-one municipalities in Morris have decided to let the County Welfare Board continue supervising their emergency relief problems.  Ten others have taken the option of handling relief entirely on their own.  The remaining seven communities have not yet been heard from with respect to their future policy….”  (June 16, 1937, p.1)

“Attacking State Relief Director Mudd’s policy of jobs for all employables, John Spain, Jr., chairman of the Workers’ Alliance of New Jersey, brands the idea as being contrary to law and as opening “a paradise of sweatshops, chiseling farmers and unfair competition.”  One wonders about the extent to which Mr. Spain has familiarized himself with the New Jersey statutes governing poor relief.  Under the terms of the law, relatives are supposed to contribute toward the welfare of destitute members of their families, and there is a well founded suspicion that this obligation is being deliberately evaded in thousands of instances.  An executive in one New Jersey community recently unearthed several flagrant evasions of this type.  People with employed and adequately compensated relatives were accepting public assistance when they could and should have been supported without resort to relief.  Mr. Spain is right insofar as he calls for strict adherence to the laws governing relief allotments.  But this would not preclude official insistence that jobless citizens shall accept such employment opportunities as are presented or that family responsibilities shall not be foisted upon the shoulders of the taxpayer.  Public aid for unemployables who have no family connections capable of providing life’s necessities is thoroughly warranted, in good times, as well as in bad.  However, the moment has arrived for a thorough combing of the relief list with a view to elimination of those persons who have no proper claim upon the receipt of emergency gratuities furnished at the people’s expense.”  (editorial from the Trenton Times, published in the Morristown Daily Record June 17, 1937, p.14)

“HIGHSTOWN [sic] – Women’s garments produced at Jersey Homesteads, created near here by the Federal Resettlement Administration, will be shipped for sale into Morris County and other parts of the State.  At a meeting here Monday, Mrs. Frank Fobert of Morristown was named to a provisional committee including representatives of the country’s largest cooperatives, and this committee will sell the clothing through its co-operative retail outlets.  Quantities of coats, suits, and hats will be offered for sale in the early Fall at the store of the New Jersey Consumers’ Co-operative at 17 Passaic avenue in Chatham….Homesteads wearing apparel will go into other sections of the country as well.  In the provisional committee with Mrs. Fobert are representatives of co-operative retail stores in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and States in the midwest, notably Wisconsin.  The link between the Hightstown garment factory and the far-flung retail outlets is a tie between producer and seller, both operating on a co-operative basis.  It is this connection that makes the co-op powerful in competition with private industry.”   (June 17, 1937, p.15)

“BUTLER – Labor difficulties at the Kikeout Reservoir project in Kinnelon for the Borough of Butler appeared ended when William J. Burke, district WPA director for Passaic, Bergen and Sussex counties, told the 300 Paterson residents employed on the project that he had effected an increase in their wage scale.  Several times strikes threatened to stop work on the project and for a time work was halted for several days.  Despite the fact that workers were Passaic County residents they were paid the prevailing wage rate of Morris County where the project is located.  The Morris County scale is about 20 percent lower than the Passaic County scale….The Passaic County scale which men on the project now receive is $60.50 per month while Morris County’s scale is $48.15….”  (June 18, 1937, p.1)

“The Towns of Morris County have handed the County Welfare Board an orchid that the staff of the board may well sport from its collective buttonhole.  Through last Fall and Winter, discontent with the board’s supervision of emergency relief was apparent on the governing boards of several municipalities.  Town fathers here and there exploded, blowing off their dissatisfaction with the fact that the board was enforcing decent standards of relief, so that living conditions might not become too poor….Up through last week, 21 municipalities had voted to stay with the board, ten had voted to strike out on their own initiative.  Thus, by a count of better than two to one, the County has given the Welfare Board an uncoerced vote of confidence.”  (editorial, June 24, 1937, p.4)

“TRENTON (AP) – State Relief Director Arthur Mudd estimated today that 70 percent of the 1937 fund to aid the unemployed would be exhausted in the first half of the year.  Coupling his monthly report on costs with an estimate for June, Mudd presented figures which will probably be the most recent available when the legislature reconvenes Monday night primarily to receive a report on relief expenses.  The probable total for the first six months, Mudd said, was $8,372,515.  The Legislature’s estimate for the entire year was $12,667,680--$9,667,660 in State funds and a $3,000,000 municipal share.  Costs for the first five months were $6,816,773.  Mudd said he based his estimate of $1,155,742 for June on commitments already made by local governments.  The number of persons on relief last month was lower than a year ago, but the total cost was 14.8 percent higher because the average case received $22.71 this year compared with 18.65 in May, 1936….Both the case load and the average cost in May were lower than in April of this year.  Mudd said it was “the usual decrease affected in the Spring due to seasonal employment.”  The total cost for May was $1,203,823.  The case load was 53,004 (160,775 persons), compared with 59,767 cases (182,090 persons) in April.  Mudd said relief rolls were reduced in all counties and in “practically all” municipalities….”  (June 25, 1937, p.1)

“A forest fire raged in a Morris County valley 200 years ago, and Indians who visited the scene shortly afterwards dubbed the place “the cleared land.”  That’s how Pequannock Valley got its name, according to Fred Eppelsheimer, a member of the New Jersey WPA Writers’ Project.  Writing on New Jersey place names in the July issue of “Highlights,” the project’s monthly publication, Eppelsheimer tells what’s in the names of four Morris County towns.  Succasunna, according to him, is the Lenapese for “sunken black stone” and should recall to all and sundry that the Indians once mined iron out of the Morris County hills.  Summer swimming in the County’s largest lake was quite the thing…a couple of centures [sic] ago, and that’s how it got its name “Hopatcong,” or “honey waters in many caves.”  When they wanted to stock up on weapons, the Indians hiked through the woods to Whippany, where there was a good supply of willow wood, which is good for making arrows.  The place name means:  “the place of the arrow wood,”….The current issue of “Highlight” [sic] is the seventh to be published by the New Jersey project since January, and may be obtained from the WPA headquarters at 1060 Broad street, Newark.”  (June 25, 1937, p.1)

“Although unemployment remains one of the principal factors in America’s industrial equation, nevertheless it is continuing to decline.  Statisticians of the National Industrial Conference board report that half a million people went back to work in April, and that the total re-employed since the first of January is 1,400,000 persons.  As an indicator of steady improvement in business, this is extremely encouraging.  The fly in the ointment, of course, is the fact that unemployment is still high in spite of the improvement.  The conference board estimates that at the end of April the unemployed still numbered 6,981,000—and this despite the fact that nearly half a million more people are estimated to be at work in manufacturing activities than at the height of the 1929 boom.  “Taking up the slack” is a tough process when the slack keeps increasing as you take it up.”  (editorial, June 26, 1937, p.4)

“Whenever the administration has made a cut in its list of WPA relief clients, a mighty howl has gone up from families and individuals who believed they were getting a raw deal.  In some cases, this protest was justified.  In others, where the WPA jobs had been turned into lifetime careers, no sympathy was called for.  New York’s Works Progress administrator, Lieut. Col. B. B. Somervell, has drawn plans for replacing WPA “career” workers with jobless men and women more eager to equip themselves for a return to private employment.  As a start, Colonel Somervell has ordered a thorough analysis of “the life on work relief” of those receiving federal aid.  Properly handled, this is fair procedure to those WPA workers who honestly want to make their way independent of the government.  And though tardy, it might do much to overcome the fear that work relief is creating a national class of unambitious drones.”  (editorial, June 30, 1937, p.4)

“NEWARK – WPA Administrator William H. J. Ely said today that New Jersey’s seven WPA districts will be consolidated into five, effective July 16, and that approximately 5,000 project workers and 500 district and State Headquarters administrative workers will have been dropped from the payroll by that date.  District 1 will retain Bergen, Passaic and Sussex Counties, and will acquire Morris and Warren Counties from the present District 4…..”  (July 3, 1937, p.12)

“New York – Aquatic lifesaving schools designed to create a corps of qualified lifeguards from the membership of the Civilian Conservation corps, with two such trained enrollees to be allotted to each CCC company, will be in operation throughout the United States this summer under supervision of army officers who themselves will have received expert coaching in lifesaving at national aquatic schools of the American Red Cross….two enrolled members of the CCC will be selected from each company….”  (July 14, 1937, p.6)

“TRENTON – W. Warren Barbour, chairman of the Unemployment Compensation Commission, today announced that the New Jersey Commission has on deposit $17,460,372.84 in the Federal Government Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund….The employment service of the New Jersey Department of Labor and the New Jersey National Re-employment Service, formerly supervised by State Labor Commissioner…Toohey, has been transferred to the Unemployment Compensation Commission….no increase in appropriations for the employment service will be received until July 1, 1938, six months prior to the beginning of benefit payments under the Unemployment Compensation Law of New Jersey.  No funds will be received form the Federal Social Security Board for employment service assistance until that time.”  (July 14, 1934, p.9)

“WASHINGTON, D. C. – Bids will be opened the latter part of this, or early next week on construction of a paving entrance road and service court at the library-museum of the Morristown National Historical Park….It is expected that eventually a WPA project for the construction of the roads around the block, in which the museum and headquarters is circulated [?], will be approved….The project has been submitted to WPA Headquarters at New Brunswick and is now awaiting approval there….”  (July 15, 1937, p. 2)

“With the exception of children, welfare cases declined during June the monthly report of the County Welfare Board indicates.  The largest decrease was in the temporary relief case load where additional employment held [sic] reduce the totals.  Eighteen municipalities reported to the County Board, a case load of 317 cases costing $6,473.49.  This represented to [sic] decrease of 13.4 percent in case load and 28.2 percent in cost from the previous month.  Out of 43 municipal relief cases receiving relief in June from the county board, 13 were discontinued, six securing private employment, three being transferred to WPA, one to the township roads and two were discontinued because of refusal to work and another because of refusal to apply for State Board of Children’s Guardian assistance when eligible.  In the old age assistance bureau there were 11 new grants and 36 were discontinued, leaving a total of 913 on June 30….The cases with the State Board of Children’s Guardians showed an increase of 20 individual children and seven families, leaving 565 children of 230 families under care at the end of the month….”  (July 16, 1937, p.8)

“NEWARK – The WPA in New Jersey is today operating under “a more economical and efficient set-up,” which, according to William H. J. Ely, State Administrator, has made it possible to dispense with the seven district offices formerly maintained, and to establish in their place an equal number of branch offices.  Former district directors are now functioning as branch managers….Approximately 500 administrative and administrative supervisory employees have been taken from the payroll under the new plan….”  (July 17, 1937, p.3)

“DENVILLE – One of the biggest parties ever planned at CCC Camp P-65, Denville, will be held on Thursday night at the Recreation Hall.  The first part of the evening will be devoted to a vaudeville show from the Newark office of the Federal Theater Project.  After the show is over, a local orchestra will play for dancing until midnight.  This affair is to serve as a welcome party to more than 50 new members of Co. 1256.  Not only does Co. 1256 intend to show the new rookies the type of affair for which Co. 1256 is well known, but it also wants to make the men who have been transferred to this company from the disbanded companies of West Milford and Newfoundland feel that they are now in a CCC company that does things in a real fashion…. While the June dance of Co. 1256 was an invitation affair, this dance, like all other dances before the June affair, will open to all the young ladies of Denville and the neighboring communities…. (July 17, 1937, p.9)

“WHIPPANY – Franklin Nagle, 55, ended his life by hanging in the cellar of his home on Washington avenue on Saturday.  His wife found him about 15 minutes after she had noticed him missing….Nagle had been in poor health for some time….He was also despondent because of lack of work, not having been employed at his occupation of steamfitter regularly since 1928.  Nagle was born in Ireland on August 5, 1881, but had lived long in this country and had served with the First New Jersey Volunteers in the Spanish-American War….”  (July 19, 1937, p.1)

“ATLANTIC CITY, (AP) – Denial of the right of married women to work is “a direct violation of a fundamental tenet of the merit principle,” declared Miss Charl Ormond Williams, president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, which opened its biennial convention today.  Miss Williams made the statement in a strong protest to Mrs. Ellen S. Woodward, Works Progress Administration Assistant, against an appeal by the Massachusetts Women’s political club that married women be discharged first in any WPA personnel reduction.  “We have long believed that denial of the right of married women to work is an oblique attack upon the rights of all women,” Miss Williams said.  The federation, representing 65,000 business and professional women, 70 per cent of them unmarried, was “unalterately [sic] opposed to the “discriminatory” action of the Massachusetts Club, she stated.  She reiterated the federation’s stand for selection of public personnel “solely on the basis of merit.”…. (July 19, 1937, p.3)

 “Two local lawyers started work on one of the most needed of the “white collar” WPA projects of the Town yesterday, the classification of town ordinance.  The lawyers who began the work at the Municipal Building were Frederick B. Cobbett and E. Marco Stirone.  The job is one which Town [Clerk] Nelson S. Butera has long advocated.  There are hundreds of ordinances on the books, dating back to the incorporation of the Town and it has been a great many years since these were compiled into one book.  There are some which have been forgotten entirely and so are not enforced and a number of others are so old that the exact provisions are not clear.  Some of these are undoubtedly obsolete, due to changing conditions.  It will be the purpose of the project to first locate all the ordinances and classify them by divisions, such as fire, police, streets, lights, etc.  Then they will be studied, obsolete sections eliminated and revised and it is proposed to present the ordinances by sections to the Aldermen to act upon to bring up to date.  When this work is concluded the revised statutes will be published in book form and copies be available for town officials and others.   Two other lawyers have been assigned under the WPA project, Charles Blumenthal and Jacob Kasdin, and they will start work later on another project….”  (July 21, 1937, p.1)

“DENVILLE – Final arrangements have been made by Captain Charles H. Cormack and Educational Adviser Andrew Rougvie to have photographers from the famous and popular “Life,” newest sensation of the magazine world, present at the big party that Company 1256, CCC  Denville is putting on tomorrow at the recreation hall at the camp on Savage road.  An invitation sent to “Life’s” New York office to have pictures of a CCC dance taken for the “Life Goes to a Party” section was readily accepted by the editorial chiefs there.  Company 1256 will be the first CCC Camp to break into the pages of “Life” in a big way, and every attempt will be made to show the “Life” photographers—and through them, the general public—how excellent an affair a CCC Company can run.  The opening gun of the evening will be the Federal Theatre Revue from Newark and will be presented on the stage in the recreation hall at 7 o’clock.  This show includes singers, dancers, musicians, specialty acts, and a separate negro revue.  Popular and highly-praised at all other camps, institutions, and other places where it has played, it is being eagerly awaited by the Company 1256 enrollees.  This show carries its own orchestra and a full professional layout of costumes and props.  It is expected that the revue will end about 9 o’clock.  Immediately after the show is over, the floor will be cleared and dancing will start.  Music is being furnished by the Hillview Tavern Orchestra, one of whose members is Steve Fanis, popular Company 1256 enrollee.  During the evening “Life’s” photographers will be on the watch for life-worthy shots.  Refreshments are to be served…in the mess hall during the evening.  Indications have already been received that there will be a good attendance of girls from Denville, Dover, Rockaway, Boonton, and the Lakes.  Guests at last Summer’s dances remember the good times they had and are planning on attending again.  It is hoped that even more girls than usual will be present, since there are a large number of new men in camp, who have enrolled within the last two weeks….”  (July 21, 1937, p.8 & 9)

“DENVILLE – The Federal government was both host and entertainer in a lively party at CCC camp P65 here last night.  The hosts were the CCC boys, the entertainers a Federal Theatre project group from Newark and the guests 40 girls from the N.Y.A. camp in Parsippany….A photographer from Life magazine was present to take pictures for “Life Goes to a Party.”  Following the Theatre projects program…was dancing…The boys and their escorts did some fancy stepping and occasionally roared the refrain of the choruses….Robert “Rube” Keenan of Perth Amboy, assistant leader and star athlete of the camp was picked by Life was [sic] being a typical CCC boy and had his actions of the entire day photographed….”  (July 23, 1937, p.2)

“About two years ago, the United States government, through WPA, instituted a regime of relief projects designed to provide a living for white-collar workers interested in four branches of the arts—theater, music, painting and sculpture, and writing.  As the products of these workers began to filter out of the workshops and strike the public consciousness, they stirred up countless little storms of protest….Material accomplishments under the plan are easily discerned.  For instance, since its first performance in 1936, the Federal Theater has played to more than 25 million people.  One New York company in four months played to 275,000, and 150 resident companies in 27 states gave regular shows.  Music projects emphasize teaching by group methods, 1300 teachers meeting weekly with 200,000 students, ranging from 6 to 75 years old.  In addition to painting and modeling classes, the Federal Art project pioneered in the use of art for mental hygiene at hospitals.  This section also produced many murals, sculptures, prints, posters, and photographs.  Smallest in numbers employed, the Writers’ project has prepared 32 state guides, expected to reach 2,000,000 readers.  Writers also conducted federal archive and historical record surveys, salvaging saluable [sic] documents….While there is no doubt that the impact of cultural ideas in such volume upon great masses of people has had an effect, it cannot be concluded that a step has been taken toward a national esthetic upheaval….”  (editorial, July 26, 1937, p.4)

“Miss Edith F. McCully, director of the Morris County Welfare Board, submitted her monthly report to the Board of Freeholders today.  After routine figures Miss McCully points out that:  Twenty-two active municipal relief cases are being carried forward to August 1.  Relief was discontinued in ten municipal cases….There has been no let-up in the number of new cases.  Ninety-nine were referred in July….Sixty-one cases were presented to the case committee of which ten were new applications for permanent relief.  Seven grants were made totaling $98 and four applications were rejected.  Three grants were decreased and three grants were discontinued, the clients having been discharged to the care of relatives….Funds totaling $19 were pledged for repair of braces and convalescent care for three crippled children.  As of August 1, we have lost the two part-time NYA typists who were working in this office….On July 23, 25 white boys were enrolled in local CCC camps and two colored boys enrolled in South Jersey camps.  A new ruling requiring all boys to be discharged after two years of service or over 23 years of age has been put into effect.  This will in the next quarter eliminate many local boys now in camp, an estimate of approximately 120 out of 170 enrollees….”  (Aug. 11, 1937, p.9)

“NEWARK, (AP) – WPA employment in New Jersey has decreased 4,430 during the month since July 7, it was announced today.  The present payroll total of $59,216 in this state was reported the lowest since the administration got underway nearly two years ago.  The reductions were affected through project layoffs, a cut in federal appropriations and return to private industry.”  (Aug. 13, 1937, p.1)

“The second annual WPA District Swimming Meet will be held tomorrow at the Burnham Park Pool in Morristown….In all there will be 22 events, in which each county of the district namely, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset and Warren are allowed two entrants in each….The events will be broadcast ….”  (Aug. 14, 1937, p.8)

“The WPA projects are under way in Morristown at present, two new ones were submitted to regional headquarters today, others will be submitted before the end of the week while still more are in preparation.  All available men are now employed and the new projects insure them being kept busy until they can find their way into private industry….One new project now being drawn is for the continuation of the drain through the George Washington school property so as to afford better drainage for Franklin avenue, Jefferson avenue, Ford avenue and the Green Hill section.  Another proposal will be for the construction of 20 tennis courts here and the resurfacing of those on Lidgerwood Field.  If these latter gain approval it will mean that the men on the unemployed lists will be kept going as long as the federal funds are available.”  (Aug. 17, 1937, p.3)

“….The fact that almost every surveyor of the business scene today looks ahead to higher business levels in all the fall tempts even the pessimistic to be hopeful.  Here are some of the indications on which the observers agree pretty unanimously:  The income of farmers…is expected to approach 1929 levels, and in purchasing power it may even exceed 1929….Even a drop in cotton prices might not be an unmixed evil if U.S. prices came nearer the world level and thus enabled the United States to regain some of the world cotton trade….Steel operations continue to hold up at high levels….Automobile output itself holds up in a manner that has surprised many in the trade….Sales of six leading mail order houses will come close to a billion dollars this year…far greater than those of 1929….Farm mortgage debt is far lower than during the 1929 era, and pays a far lower rate of interest….All of which augurs well for the future, and gives hope that super-1929 production levels lie ahead that will make some dent in the unemployment problem.  For in making a big dent in that problem les [sic] the solution for all the others.”  (editorial, August 18, 1937, p.4)

“Work on the dam at Speedwell Lake is about 60 percent complete, and there seems to be little question that there will be sufficient funds under the WPA project to allow the finishing of this, the major part of the work of restoring the famous old lake….Several dams have been erected since the original barrier first halted the Whippany River to form Speedwell Lake, more than a half mile long and averaging 500 feet in breath [sic].  The last dam broke about 1915.  The new structure, 150 feet long, will harmonize with stone work still in existence at the dam….the dam rests on solid rock….Concrete was poured in three layers and reinforced with steel bars….In planning the dam, allowance was made for a maximum crest of four feet, but a check of high water marks shows that flood stage is not likely to exceed two feet….A drag-line will be employed on the lake bed to remove the accumulation of weeds and debris before the gates are closed and the water impounded, after which the bottom will be graded to provide a three-foot minimum depth at the shallow end….A driveway will be built around the South side of the lake, while extensive landscaping throughout the 50 acres surrounding will convert the site into a park…. When completed the lake will provide an excellent place for boating.  It was used for this years ago and older residents remember the steam boat which plied its waters….Federal funds for the project are $24,949.  The sponsor, Town of Morristown, has contributed $6,515.”  (Aug. 18, 1937, p.6)

“TRENTON (AP) – New Jersey, which reported one in every 28 persons on relief last June, had 73,777 residents receiving Works Progress Administration checks during the same month.  Two counties—Essex and Hudson—had more than one-third of the WPA employees….Expansive Sussex County had the lowest number, 200, while Hunterdon and Somerset were close behind with 257 and 269 WPA attaches….Other County totals of workers and payrolls were shown as… Morris, 1,224, $57,063….The commission reported 101,598 units of WPA produced articles valued at $52,002 were distributed during June….”  (Aug. 19, 1937, p.6)

“Morristown had a new WPA project for drainage approved yesterday and work on it is to be started very shortly….Included was $13,847 to improve Loantaka Brook here.  This is the brook running from the Foote’s Pond through property below Lidgerwood Field.  It is proposed to drop this about four feet so that it will drain Lidgerwood Field better.  It will also aid materially  in the drainage problem for Wetmore avenue and vicinity….It will make possible the development of a number of building lots in the section.  Town Clerk Nelson S. Butera said today that the work would be practically all labor, with very little supplies needed, and so there would be little expense to the Town….”  (Aug. 20, 1937, p.1)

“WASHINGTON, D.C. – Latest census figures on manufacturing in Morristown and Morris County, published today by the census bureau, show a downtrend in both production and wages in Morristown, and an upturn in Morris County.  The figures are for the year 1935….All factories with annual production in excess of $5,000 are included.  For Morristown, the report shows 14 manufacturing establishments employing 197 workers, with $160,890 payroll and a $642,044 production….In 1929, Morristown had 24 manufacturing establishments, employing 277 workers, with $405,833 payroll and production of $1,845,675.  In the depression year of 1933…Morristown’s manufacturing establishments had dwindled to 18, only 151 workers were employed, payrolls were $150,600, and production for the year was $659,603.  Morris County…had 108 factories in 1935, as compared with 90 in 1933, and 130 in 1929.  Employment in the county’s manufacturing establishments in 1935 was 5,602, as compared to 4,191 in 1933, and 6,236 in 1929.  Wages of these workers, which dropped from $9,002,994 in 1929 to $4,046,096 in 1933, went up to $6,293,951 in 1935.  Manufactured products of the county were valued at $27,496,218 in 1935, as against only $16,115,723 in 1933, and $38,283,532 in 1929.”  (Aug. 20, 1937, p.1)

“It is good to see foreign trade increasing.  Not only is it profitable as an outlet for our manufactured goods, and thus translatable into terms of jobs, but it is generally true that normal trade relations throughout the world tend toward peace….Iron and steel exports were up 84 percent.  Farm machinery exports were up 59 and aircraft up 145 percent.  It is splendid to see foreign countries buying more of our excellent farm machinery.  But what in the world do you think they’re going to do with all that steel and all those airplanes?  War preparation is a good big share in the answer.  That takes a little of the joy out of expanding trade.  For trade based on war can bring the world no solid benefits in the end.”  (editorial, Aug. 20, 1937, p.4)

From the Daily Washington Letter, by Rodney Dutcher, August 21, 1937:  “….The New Deal program is again being…trimmed savagely….The mutilated wage-hour bill designed to end sweatshops, spread work, and increase the purchasing power of millions, has just died for this session.  Efforts to get crop control legislation, aimed at keeping farm prices up and eliminating huge surpluses, have also been “trimmed” for this session.  Four years ago, in the full tide of New Deal enthusiasm, the nation was starting out with NRA and AAA, respectively designed to accomplish those aims.  But both acts were killed by the Supreme Court….It would not be fair, of course, to overlook relief, Social Security, soil conservation, HOLC, FCA, bank deposit insurance, the Wagner Act, SEC, TVA, the Maritime Commission, and other definite accomplishments.  But it is interesting to notice on how many of his proposals Roosevelt is still waiting to get them into concrete, permanent form through legislation….”

“Federal authorities are puzzled over New Jersey’s experience of parallel increase in employment and relief costs, declaring that it is an abnormal variant from the national picture.  While New Jersey’s relief expenses in June of this year were up 11 per cent, over June of 1936, employment was at its highest level since September, 1929.  The employment picture in June, this year, was 10.6 per cent better than June, 1936.  The employment index, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor, based on the monthly average for 1928 as 100, was 116.7.  The figures for the nation, on the other hand, show 27 per cent. decrease in unemployment, almost matched by a 22 per cent. decrease in the number on relief.  The explanation advanced for this unusual situation in this state is that while it is true that there are fewer persons on relief in this State as compared with last year, the increased cost per case has resulted because of the increase in commodity prices, which has raised the cost of living.  Judging by these figures, New Jersey treats its relief clientes [sic] more generously than does the rest of the nation.”  (editorial from the Boonton Times, published in the Morristown Daily Record Aug. 21, 1937, p.4)

“It was a terrifically hot day before the heat wave was broken that newspaper reporters found a comparatively cool spot.  It was the Welfare House near the top of Shongum Hill….a tour of inspection of the buildings and grounds, made under the direction of Freeholder Calvin A. Lawrence, chairman of the Welfare House Committee….Under Miss Miller there is a staff of nine in all, including nurses, attendants, cooks, houseworkers, which has full charge of the 125 very old men and women, the majority of them quite helpless….The building is in immaculate shape….Every effort…has been directed towards making it a home, not an institution….Under Tom Murphy, two assistants with the aid of some of the inmates who are able to work have a farm that would be the pride of any farmer and a fine dairy herd which has won highest State honors for three years.  The result is that all the eggs, milk and vegetables needed for the Welfare House and Shongum Sanitarium are supplied at great savings to the county and there is some surplus which is used in the County Jail….the building is 40 years old….Particularly poor are the toilet facilities and the plumbing is nearly as old as the building and therefore far from modern  ….there still remains only one bathtub in each department and no amount of care and scrubbing can hide the fact….Changing conditions in the type of inmates sent to the hospital make it imperative that facilities more nearly resembling a hospital be provided….it is something which the Freeholders are studying with the County Welfare Board and the institution officials…..No longer does a man just walk in, hang up his hat, and say, “I’m here.”  Now he has to apply and be approved by the Welfare Board.  With its grants of old age pensions, the Welfare Board is able to see that many of the elderly persons can stay in their own homes or with relatives.  The result is that few people go to the poor house simply because they are old and poor, rather it is those who are without relatives, crippled and need constant attention and medical care.   People who might take an elderly person to board would not accept a crippled person for the small amount allowed….The result is that nearly 50 percent of the patients are permanently in bed and have to be waited on continually….Others, better physically, are blind….One old man, 75, has been in the institution 25 years.  He makes rope hammocks and some of these will be exhibited at the County Fair next month….An equally old colored woman has her favorite name for everyone….a few…are still active….One of the men has a fine touch on wood and is an expect [sic] carpenter.  Perhaps in another time where there wasn’t such a demand for “men under 40,” he might well be earning a nice living outside….he has made inlay tables that are a work of art.  The WPA has been of aid in several ways to the institution.  The sewing projects have resulted in a fine supply of linens and solved one problem while under another WPA project an instructor gives lessons in fancy work to the women three days a week.  These keeps [sic] them occupied and they have made many fancy articles, which are on display and for sale….Each patient gets plenty of milk at each meal….That a “county job” is far from a sinecure is indicated by the work in caring for 13 cows, several hundred chickens and cultivating and caring for over 100 acres of land being carried on by three men.  Occasionally there is a different job for them to do and they add another grave to the number located on the quiet hillside.  “There are two things that make our work possible,” said Miss Miller.  “One was the cooperation of the Board of Freeholders and particularly Mr. Lawrence and the other was the interest of many people of the county who have been frequent visitors to the institutions, have done many little things for the patients…and have provided a series of entertainments each Winter….Miss Miller said that the jail authorities had been of great aid… in doing all of the laundry each week, cutting expenses at the Welfare House….” (Aug. 23, 1937, p.12)

“The field artillery armory of the New Jersey National Guard may become a reality here after all as this morning a news dispatch from Washington to The Record announced that the WPA grant of $135,000 of federal funds had been approved by the President….The armory here was included in a bill passed by the Legislature last Winter through the efforts of Senator Elmer S. King and it was designed to give Morris County an armory to replace the old one on South street, which had to be torn down because of the bad shape in which it was.  The Freeholders took an option to buy a large tract of land on Western avenue, not far from the entrance to the National Historical Park at Jockey Hollow, the land being owned by Lloyd W. Smith, of Florham Park, the donor of over 1,000 acres for park purposes, and offered by him to the County for armory purposes at a reduced cost.  There were a number of objections from some of the property owners in Morris Township although a number of these did not own land in the vicinity and were not affected.  The proposal is for a field artillery battery or two here, with a number of horses, and it will mean employment for quite a number of men permanently, plus those who will receive training and pay as national guardsmen….”  (Aug. 25, 1937, p.1)

“TRENTON, (AP) – John Spain Jr., chairman of the Workers Alliance of New Jersey, said today “a high Federal official” had informed him that Works Progress Administration layoffs were “definitely stopped and every person getting a pink slip last Saturday would be re-instated.  Spain asserted that 6,000 persons would return to work in this state “as a direct result of the pink slip march of the Workers Alliance and negotiations with the President and WPA Administrator Hopkins….”  (Aug. 27, 1937, p.6)