Governor Lawrence W. Cramer has reported progress toward the relief of the economic stress in the Virgin Islands by pushing requests for funds from the United States Congress to cover municipal deficits. On June 27 he received the necessary authority from the Municipal Council of St. Thomas to file an application in Washington for loans and grants to aid in the construction of public works in that city. In June the Governor announced a large building program for the Islands, involving the expenditure of about $1,000,000.
The use of relief funds to effect economic reconstruction has been disappointing here, as in Puerto Rico, so that the proposed Insular Reconstruction Authority (See PUERTO RICO) is as much needed here as in that other Caribbean possession of the United States. Governor Cramer has expressed the opinion that one agency could be set up to serve both areas. Both are under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.
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