Evening star., 1932-12-22
Emergency Relief.

The Subcommittee on Deficiencies OF
the House Appropriations Committee
under Chairman Byrns has given the
citizens of the District and the officials
of the municipality sympathetic hear
ing on the proposed appropriation OF
s1,25O,0o0 for emergency relief. The
money Is to come from LEGAL revenues
and is intended to last through the cal
endar year 1898. The need for the
money is pressing, and it is sincerely to
be hoped that the House committee can
start the appropriation bill through
Congress before the Christmas recess.
Chairman Byrns has indicated that.
as his committee is dealing only with
deficiencies and as the amount sought
for relief covers more than deficiency
to be encountered in this current fiscal
wear. the amount to be recommended py
his subcommittee may be cut below the
sl.25O,000 asked.
IF this is done 1t should be with the
distinct understanding that the appro-
priation about to be made will be, IN
fact, deficiency appropriation and that
it contempl,tes nothing beyond the END
of the fiscal year in June. With such
an understanding in mind. the problem
of relief after the end of this fiscal year
will be taken up by the House sub
committee charged with appropriations
for the District through the regular
District appropriation bill for the fiscal
year 1884.
The absolute minimum necessary lol
relief for the calendar year 1888 has
been placed at sl,250,o0O As a matter
of fact, many Of those who testified be-
fore Chairman Byrns' subcommittee
showed that this amount, although rec
cmmended by the Commissioners. Is too
little, The Board of Public Welfare's
Special Committee in charge OF emer-
eeacy relief started out last July in the
administration of its first s350,oo0 to
maintain al average scale OF relief Tor
families amounting to s4.70 week.
Some families received more, some OF
them lcss, depending on the circum-
stances. But an average of s4.70 rep
resents starvation wages to begin with
The increasing number OF applications
from destitute families forced the cut
ting down Of this ccale CT relief to an
average CT $3.50 per family. and that is
the amount of relief now being admin
istered. The relief is in the form of
money for food-nothing else. The
committee administering this fund has
not been able to pay rent or furnish
fuel. The relief represents disgrace
fully low standard of living. The only
justification for cutting the scale of re-
lief Is the obvious fact that there was
no alternative
The s1,25O, GOO recommended by the
Commissioners, the Budget Bureau and
the President. is not enough, as that
amount will mean a further scaling
down of relief from the present stand
ard of $3.50 to approximately $3.50.
That will be the standard determined
by spreading a certain amount OF
money to cover the partial needs of a
certain number Of families. Any varia-
tion in the number of dependent fam
ilies-now about 6,0o0-will of course
affect the average. Unfortunately, the
variation in the number has been up
ward, and the trend promises 50 to con-
tinue for the present.
The deficiency appropriation should
be made as soon as possible. It should
be followed by regular appropriation,
based on the actual reed that is every
where SO apparent. The million and a
quarter asked is to be construed as the
bare minimum. If the figure is changed,
the revision should be upward.