LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL The PRESIDENT, The White House. FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY, MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: I have the honor to transmit a report of the operations under funds appropriated to the Work Projects Administration by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Acts, fiscal years 1942 and 1943, pursuant to the provisions of section 26 of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1943. The report gives, with illustrative tables, a complete account of financial operations and a brief statement on employment provided, sponsors' contributions, and physical accomplishments. Respectfully yours, TABLE OF CONTENTS Employment on Work Projects Administration projects. - Work Projects Administration project accomplishments.. Sponsors' participation_-_. Table 1. Average number of persons employed on Work Projects Adminis- tration projects, by program, monthly, August 1935-June 1943... Table 2. Physical accomplishments and public participation on projects operated by the Work Projects Administration, continental United States, cumulative through June 30, 1943. - Table 3. Amount of Work Projects Administration and sponsors' funds ex- pended on projects operated by the Work Projects Administration, by fiscal year and by source of funds through June 30, 1943.. All acts summary of funds allocated, obligated, and expended, by operat- ing agency, through June 30, 1943. Status of funds available for fiscal year 1943, as of November 30, 1943. Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1943, status of funds appro- priated to the Work Projects Administration, by organization, as of No- Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1942, status of funds appro- priated to the Work Projects Administration, by organization, as of No- Statement of obligations incurred and expenditures made for the Work Projects Administration-operated projects, by classes of projects, under appropriations of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Acts, fiscal years 1942 and 1943, as of November 30, 1943.- Statement of obligations incurred and expenditures made under funds trans- ferred to other Federal agencies under provisions of section 6 of the Emer- gency Relief Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1942, by classes of projects, Page REPORT ON OPERATIONS AND EMPLOYMENT OF THE WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION EMPLOYMENT AND OPERATIONS In July 1935 the Work Projects Administration (then the Works Progress Administration) began the operation of a program of useful public projects to provide jobs for employable needy persons. On June 30, 1943, all activities of the Work Projects Administration ceased pursuant to the order issued by the President on December 4, 1942. Under that order operations in many States were terminated on February 1, 1943, and in the remaining States on varying dates between February 1 and the close of the fiscal year. Operations in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were continued by the Work Projects Administration through June 30, 1943, in order to alleviate distress caused by war conditions. By the provisions of the Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1943, approved July 12, 1943, funds for the liquidation of the Work Projects Administration during the fiscal year 1944 were appropriated to the Administrator of the Federal Works Agency, in the amount of $1,065,000, out of unobligated balances remaining under appropriations of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1943. Funds for the continuance of operations in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands during the fiscal year 1944, until November 30, 1943, were appropriated to the Administrator of the Federal Works Agency, in the amount of $7,000,000, by the provisions of the deficiency act above cited. Operations in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were terminated on November 30, 1943. The Work Projects Administration, in the 8 years it was in operation, gave employment to more than 8,500,000 different persons. Its program of work projects extended and improved public facilities and services in communities throughout the Nation. A large part of the work performed has been of great value in the Nation's war program. EMPLOYMENT ON WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION PROJECTS Work Projects Administration operations in the 1943 fiscal year were on a small scale. The Emergency Relief Administration Act for the fiscal year 1943 provided funds sufficient only for the employment of an average of 400,000 workers a month. The number of workers on Work Projects Administration projects was reduced from an average of 698,000 in June 1942 to about 525,000 in July. In December 1942, the average employment was 337,000. From this point, as projects were completed or discontinued in compliance with the President's order, the monthly average employment decreased rapidly. From an average of 289,000 project workers in January 1943, Work Projects Administration employment decreased to an average of 136,000 in March, and by June 1943 the average employment was 42,000. More than 40,000 of the Work Projects Administration workers on the rolls in June 1943 were employed on work projects in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This downward trend is evidenced in table No. 1 which states by month, from July 1935, the average employment on Work Projects Administration projects. Beginning early in 1940, an increasing share of the Work Projects Administration program was devoted to defense and war projects. The average number of persons employed on projects certified as important for military or naval purposes rose from 4 percent of total project employment in July 1940, to 21 percent in July 1941, and to 35 percent in July 1942. Later in the 1943 fiscal year the percentage rose to 41 percent in April 1943, and in June represented 61 percent of total project employment. Work Projects Administration workers were employed on a wide variety of public projects most of which were initiated and sponsored by local communities. Work Projects Administration workers in the fiscal year 1943 were, as previously, employed in the largest numbers on projects for the construction or improvement of highways, roads, and streets. On December 15, 1942, 21 percent, or about 71,000 workers, were employed on such projects. All construction projects employed almost 58 percent of total Work Projects Administration employment in June 1942, and about 44 percent in December 1942. The decline in the relative importance of construction projects was due in large part to the shortage of both qualified workers and of critical materials. There was a corresponding increase in the percentage of Work Projects Administration workers employed on nonconstruction activities. On December 15, 1942, 56 percent of the total project workers were engaged in nonconstruction activities. Of these, 6 percent were employed on training projects, chiefly in preparation for employment in war industries. Service projects employed 49 percent of the workers employed on Work Projects Administration opera ed projects. Almost 43,000 persons, or 13 percent, were on war service projects giving clerical and technical assistance to agencies engaged in war work and recreational service to the armed forces and to workers in war industries. Nearly 122,000 workers, or 36 percent, of total project workers, were employed on health and welfare programs providing nursery schools, hot school lunches, housekeeping aide, clothing, and health services. WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS The Work Projects Administration, through the utilization of the labor of needy employable workers, extended the physical facilities and the public services of communities all over the country. It is not possible to make a complete summary of all the accomplishments resulting from Work Projects Administration projects, since many kinds of work performed were not subject to physical measurement. The following summary, and the data stated in table No. 2, indicates the extent and variety of Work Projects Administration project work. In the 8 years of the Work Projects Administration program, July 1, 1935, through June 30, 1943, more than 651,000 miles of highways, roads, and streets were constructed or improved. About 572,000 miles were rural roads, including farm-to-market roads, access roads to military reservations and war-production plants, and new roads in areas previously inaccessible to motor traffic. More than 67,000 miles of the total constructed or improved represented the construction and improvement of city streets, a part of which was done in order to care for the increased traffic load resulting from the Nation's war program. Nearly 12,000 miles included roads in parks, around buildings, and on military reservations. The work performed on highways and roads frequently required the improvement or construction of bridges and viaducts, culverts, guardrails and guardwalls, and gutters. In 8 years, Work Projects Administration workers built 78,000 bridges and viaducts and reconditioned 46,000 others. In addition, more than 1,179,000 culverts were constructed or reconditioned. About 163,000 miles of drainage ditches and pipes were installed or repaired. Sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and guardrails built or improved totaled more than 70,000 miles. More than 1,200 tunnels were constructed or improved. Public buildings constructed by Work Projects Administration workers for various purposes totaled nearly 40,000, and improvements were made to more than 85,000 existing buildings. Included in these were 6,000 new school buildings and 33,000 schools enlarged or reconditioned; more than 1,000 libraries constructed or improved; and about 15,000 auditoriums, gymnasiums, and other recreational buildings newly built or renovated. The construction or improvement of 2,500 hospital buildings provided hospital facilities to outlying areas, increased the capacity of existing hospitals, and improved and added to the facilities on military and naval reservations. Work Projects Administration workers constructed or reconditioned outdoor recreational facilities which included 3,200 stadiums and grandstands, 8,200 parks, 12,800 playgrounds, and 5,500 athletic fields. Swimming and wading pools; handball, horseshoe, and tennis courts; ice-skating areas, ski trails and jumps; bandshells and outdoor theaters, were also constructed and improved. Water and sewer systems were installed, expanded, or modernized in many areas through Work Projects Administration projects. Work Projects Administration workers installed 16,000 miles of new water mains and distribution lines, and reconditioned 3,700 miles of existing lines. About 450 water-treatment plants, and more than 3,800 storage tanks and reservoirs, were built or reconstructed. More than 1,500 sewage-treatment plants were built or reconstructed, and 27,600 miles of storm and sanitary sewers were constructed or improved. Work Projects Administration workers, in connection with their work on public utilities, installed and reconditioned more than 6,200 miles of telegraph and telephone lines, 4,600 miles of electric power lines, and more than 3,400 miles of line for police, fire alarm, and traffic signal systems. The construction and improvement to airport and airway facilities by Work Projects Administration workers was a major contribution to the transportation system, and was valuable in the Nation's defense and war programs. Work Projects Administration workers, in 8 H. Docs., 78-2, vol. 14– -11 |