Public Works Expenditures To Exceed Billion and Half
Building Program for Unemployment Relief Detailed in White House Statement

An expenditure of more than $1,500,000,000 for public works of one kind and another throughout the country in aid of unemployment will have been made by the Federal Government from the beginning of the economic depression up to the end of the fiscal year ended July 1, 1932, according to a statement made public Sept. 20 by the White House.

The statement, which was based upon figures prepared for President Hoover by the President's Unemployment Relief Organization reveals, however, that the $1,500,000,000 does not include Federal expenditures during that period for relief of the drought-stricken areas of last year.

According to the statement, the Federal Government expects to expend a total of $373,593,000, chiefly for public works during the first half of the calendar year 1932. The largest of these expenditures will be for public buildings and sites, amounting to $126,980,000. The second largest expenditure will be for construction other than public buildings and construction work by the Army Engineer Corps, which will aggregate $95,737,000. Works under the Army Engineer Corps, will total $40,000,000 alone. Construction of public roads will call for an expenditure of $73,593,000.

The statement reveals further that during the calendar year 1930 the Federal Government expended a total of $452,301,000 for public buildings and sites, construction other than buildings and construction by the Army Engineer Corps, works under the direction of the Engineer Corps, repairs and maintenance, public roads and drought relief. In the calendar year 1931, however, expenditures for the same purposes was swelled to $787,587,000.

The statement in full text, follows:
The following table shows distribution of Federal construction, maintenance and drought relief expenditures for the calendar year 1930, 1931 and the estimated expenditures for the first half of 1932. It also shows the distribution of those expenditures by States. The expenditures on all these items for the calendar years are: 1930, $452,301,000; 1931, $787,587,000; first half 1932, $373,592,000.

The prospective expenditures for the first half of 1932 are divided into the following headings:
Public lands and buildings, $126,980,000; construction other than buildings, and construction work by Engineer Corps, $95,737,000; works under direction of Engineer Corps, $40,000,000; repairs and maintenance, $37,283,000; roads $75,593,000; total, $373,593,000.

This rate of expenditures for the first half of 1932 in aid of unemployment, if continued over the whole year would mean a continued rate of expenditure of $746,186,000 for the calendar year.

The total expenditure of the Federal Government in aid to unemployment since the depression began (omitting drought relief), will by the end of the present fiscal year aggregate over $1,550,000,000.