From 1935: The Soup Gang

75 years ago, Middletown was in the middle of the Depression. President Roosevelt used an executive order to establish the Works Projects Administration (W.P.A.) on May 6, 1935. By November of that year, the WPA employed over 15,000 people in Connecticut in highway work, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation (and a few in the arts, see Ed’s article on the McCutcheon murals). Evidently, then as now, there were those who felt that the money was not being distributed fairly. The "Daley" referred to in the letter is probably Senator Matthew A. Daly, the State WPA administrator.

The following letter to the editor is from about 75 years ago, published in the Hartford Courant on September 19th, 1935.
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Method of Distributing Relief Is Criticized

To the Editor of The Courant:--
I have read the article in the Forum written by “Citizen”. I want to express my opinion of our FERA, WPA, and what have you. I honestly think that they are a lot of poppycock. I have had my name up for a job with the reemployment office here in Middletown for the past two years, and all I get is a card or a letter asking me if I am working. What a joke! Others need not even look for jobs. They are handed them on silver platters.

Prior to our last election we heard that the families of the unemployed would be taken care of and the royal family ousted. Instead of ousting the royalty, our newly elected councilmen just added to it.

Our good friend Mr. Daley says that there will be no politics in the WPA, but Democrats have received appointments to date, and we, the poor, are still waiting to be called in. How many were to be employed by WPA in the past month?

G men are hunting criminals out West. Why not employ a few to hunt in the records of people receiving money under false pretenses? Why not hunt down the grafters on our relief rolls? Why not hunt out the dishonest officials?

Why not liven up the investigating committee appointed to lighten the load of the taxpayer, and find out why so many are working on investigations and social service work, when one third of them could do all the work?

There is only one way for Mr. Roosevelt and his alphabetical soup gang to make voters believe in the alphabets, and that is to put it on a straight and honest basis and not use it to get votes. Put every person on the same basis, no matter what kind of a job it is, put the word in captital letters a the top of every letter sent out to unemployment offices, WPA, FERA, PWA, that for a man, woman or child to get work the first requirement will be need, second, a quick but thorough investigation, third, hands off all relief money by politicians.

ANOTHER CITIZEN
Middletown, Sept. 17, 1935.