Document 9
…in an attempt to stimulate the economy, [president franklin d.] roosevelt announced a
massive federal programme of ‘spending and lending’. under the emergency relief
appropriations act [of 1938] $3.75 billion was allocated by congress to public works and
industrial expansion. two industries, textiles and steel, took immediate advantage of this ‘pumppriming’
(as roosevelt called it), and saw a rise in production. the boot and shoe industry
followed, as did the building industry. by the end of the year [1938] the construction of
residential homes was breaking all recent records. even the much-troubled railway companies
were able to take advantage of the federal injection of cash, with the result that they were able
to abandon a 15 per cent wage cut already announced, that could only have added to hardship.…
source: martin gilbert, a history of the twentieth century: volume two: 1933–1951, harpercollins, london
according to martin gilbert, what was one effect of president franklin d. roosevelt’s policies on industry?