Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-07

CONTINUED From First Pagel
sioner Ertz. at the offices Of the Depart
n1ent Of Public Welfare, so Lafayette
street.
All the applications must be investi-
gated thoroughly. The old folks will
be visited in their present surround
ings; their references will be looked UP
and all their history. It must be shown
that they have little or no means OF
support and none to whom they can
appeal or who might be compelled to
take care Of them by reason OF rela-
tionship
There are 40 investors, of whom IS
are In the field, the others being sta
toned at the branch offices of the de-
partment In the various boroughS. The
applications made out at the bureau Of
the association. % East Seventeenth
street are forwarded to the Department
Of Public Welfare for investigation.
All to Be Treated CourteOusIy.
Instructions were issued by Commits
sioner Taylor to both clerks and inves-
tigators to treat all applicants with the
utmost courtesy. Those who apply at
the department are graciously received
by one of the trained woman tnvestiga-
tors, who assigns them to the clerks,
out the required blanks.
How much the applicants will re-
ceive must be determined in the individ-
ual cases, after the Investigations are
complete The law requires a report
on every application within 30 days. but
1t is probable when the work is well I'M
der way that the average time for in
vestigation will be from week to 10
days. Applicants who may be rejected
he nIIA
made them have the right of appeal to
the State Department of Social Welfare
The amount assigned to applicants
will depend largely on their present
status and method of living. If, for in
stance, an aged man is found living on
Washington Heights, where with great
difnculty he manages to pay from So to
81 weekly for his room, the authorities
would make it possible for him to con-
tinue living there, II he prefers, and ar
range to give him something else for his
board.
State Allowances Vary.
How much?" is a question very
hard to answer at this time. In some
other States the maximum is $50 a
month, or 81 day; one State has S25
month and Montana a maximum of
$3.50 year. The amount of allowance
VIII depend a good deal on the locality
In which the applicant lives-whether
it be In the city or In the rural dis
tricts, where the cost of living is sup
posed to be much less.
II an applicant has a very small
income, or he is able to get something,
but not enough, to live on from his
k1nstolk, because they can afford no
more, the department makes up the
balance considered necessary for his
support. If he has SO to 81 a week
from other sources, the investigator
might recommend 1t be supplemented
by as much more.
One feature Of the replies made is
the moderate requests made by the
aged. They mention such sums as $40
to $50 month as being sufficient for
their needs. Where the husband and
wife are living together and are trying
to keep their household intact an al
lowance of $25 to $50 a month apiece
would be godsend in most cases.
State and City Share Cost.
Amounts paid to the beneficiaries, as
well as expenses of administration, are
shared equally between the State and
the county or city. The local authority
Is reimbursed every six months for the
snare which 1t has spent on behalf of
the State.
One of the objections made TO the
law is that it puts too much RESPONSE
bility upon local officers. This is a
home-rule feature, however, which ap-
pears in the aged poor security laws
OF most of the States. 1t is. after all,
only q detail OF bookkeeping, which
could be modified from time to time
The statute is somewhat elastic and
provides for readjustments of the al
lowances In individual cases.
Progress Of relief for the aged-as
distinguished from a pension system
has been backward in the United States.
The first law passed was that of Mon