ABSTRACT
In the New York of the 1930s the economy was crushed and salaries for those who still had them were at rock bottom. Fifteen million Americans were unem ployed. The federal government, facing tremendous difficulties, issued a policy of relief works. Roosevelt s ideology was that earning a living is a basic human dignity, preferable to handing out money and letting people sit idle. The first Relief Act was passed on 31 March 1933, and six weeks later a Federal Emer gency Relief Administration was established. The emphasis at this stage was on supplying work immediately, so in November 1933 Congress established the Civil Works Administration, which created 4.2 million jobs in the space of just nine weeks. The jobs included laying sewer pipes and building and improving roads, playgrounds, schools and so on. By 1935 the government had put more stress on social and human values, with priority on fitting jobs to the skills and trades of the workers.
