FDR - Jean Edward Smith [201]
Stung by labor’s opposition, FDR made it clear he was not backing down. That evening he invited all members of the House and Senate Labor Committees to the White House to discuss the measure and to emphasize the need for speed. Flattered by the president’s solicitation, the legislators agreed to expedite the bill’s passage by holding joint hearings of the two committees—an extraordinary procedure reserved for emergency situations. After two days of hearings dominated by administration spokesmen, the CCC bill was reported favorably. Two days later it was passed in the Senate by voice vote without a roll call. The House acted on March 30, again by voice vote, and Roosevelt signed the act on March 31.
In retrospect it seems incredible, but in less than a month, and aside from rescuing the banking system, FDR had taken on and defeated three of the most powerful special interests in the nation: veterans (with the economy bill), temperance (with the beer bill), and organized labor (with the CCC).
Neither FDR nor the union leadership could afford a permanent estrangement, and the fence-mending began immediately. To head the Civilian Conservation Corps, Roosevelt selected Robert Fechner, a vice president of the AFL who had worked with FDR and Howe on labor matters during World War I. A rough-at-the-edges trade unionist with remarkable administrative skills, Fechner proved to be an inspired choice and headed the CCC throughout its existence. And William Green was not neglected. When FDR made his first inspection tour of CCC camps in Shenandoah National Park in August 1933, he invited Green to accompany him. Green was thrilled with the invitation and later wrote Roosevelt that he “could not help but view the whole project in a most sympathetic way.”54 From that point on the CCC aroused no serious opposition from organized labor.
The CCC did more than reclaim natural resources. It literally gave 3 million young men a new lease on life. The money they sent home supported many times their numbers, and the funds spent on constructing and running the camps were a constant source of revenue for the communities in which they were located. Ultimately almost 2,500 camps were established, most west of the Mississippi. The Army provided the organizing talent, and its contribution was enthusiastic and effective.* Many officers associated with the CCC (such as Colonel George C. Marshall, who organized nineteen camps in Georgia and Florida) developed strong ties to the Roosevelt administration and, while not overtly political (most officers in the regular Army never voted), came to understand and sympathize with the aims of the New Deal.55
Roosevelt’s two other pump-priming initiatives, emergency relief and public works, sailed through Congress as well. On March 30 the Senate approved (55–17) FDR’s request for $500 million for grants-in-aid to assist the states in their relief efforts. Three weeks later the House concurred, 326–42.56 The act established a Federal Emergency Relief Agency to administer the grants, and Roosevelt immediately named Harry Hopkins, who had led relief efforts in New York, to head it. Speed was important, and Hopkins knew it. Before nightfall on his first day in office he had cabled funds to the governors of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas.57 At the end of its first year, FERA had assisted 17 million people and disbursed $1.5 billion.† All of this with a staff of 121 persons and a monthly payroll of $22,000.58 As Roosevelt knew from working with Hopkins in New York, money would flow swiftly to where it was needed, and overhead would be kept to a minimum.
Passing the public works bill required more time. Assigned