Next, Mr. Hoover, going back a little on his statement
that legislation was useless, pointed out the magnitude of the special measures to create work. There had never before been such a large Federal programme for water- ways, harbours, flood-control, public buildings, roads, and " airway improvement." All this was in addition to the loans to merchants and shipbuilders, the improve- ment of the Navy and the extension of military aviation. The expenditure of the Government on constructive work for the fiscal year would exceed E104,000,000, He then asked Congress to consent to a further expendi- ture of between £20,000,000 and £80,000,000. Tho reading of the Message did little to dissipate the gloom. The explanation that the United States has been caught in a world catastrophe is no more consoling to Americans than the corresponding explanation is con-
soling here.
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