Evening star., 1933-04-16
Leadership in q Crisis.

and incumbent.
Leadership in . Crisis.
The local relief situation is drifting
from bad to worse. Vigorous leadership
is necessary to end this drifting and to
chart a course Of definite action that
may be pursued in avoidance of the OBJ
viously dangerous condition now threat
ened.
The District Commissioners are the
only ones who possess the necessary
authority and who occupy . position In
relation to the exclusively controlling
Congress which enables them to take
this leadership.
They should act Immediately, first, to
establish q policy Of co-ordinating the
activities Of public and private relief
agencies as already requested by the
Community Chest and Council Of Social
Agencies; secondly, to obtain additional
public funds or decide upon . method
of obtaining funds within the near fu-
ture to supply needed money for pub
lie relief work.
Private relief agencies are having
their backs broken by the mandatory
assumption Of responsibilities for which
they are not equipped, physically or
financially. Public relief Is merely
treading water to keep from sinking out
of sight altogether beneath the flood
Of demands for relief and has failed and
Is failing altogether In its fundamental
task Of taking over the burden Of unem-
ployment relief from the private
agencies.
There have been appropriations OF
District revenue ito care for distress
due to unemployment and to the emer-
sency." These appropriations have been
demonstrably insufficient. The private
agencies, dealing normally with social
problems which antedate the depression
by centuries and which are always with
us. have been forced to take over a
disproportionately large part Of the eco
nomic problem directly traceable to the
stagnation Of business and other &C
compartments Of this depression.
Because of that forced assumption
of a burden which is not properly their
own, the private relief agencies Of this
city are being progressively begged down
in a mire which renders them incapable
Of performing their normal functions
and from which they are unable to
extricate themselves, unless 1t be BY
the pitiless and cruel method Of arbi-
trary refusal to help an increasingly
large proportion Of those who look to
them for assistance.
As matters stand today. and II no
definite program is adopted for reliev-
ing them, their only alternative u TO
continue on until their funds are ex-
hausted. which win be about August /,
and then to close their doors and shut
up shop.
The appalling aspects Of such q
catastrophe require no elucidation.
The Commissioners should imme-
diately. with the advice of those closely
identified with the relief problem, out
line . program, as they have been
asked to do, to divide responsibility
between private and public welfare
agencies. On the strength Of what
such a division of responsibility shows,
the next step should be to secure the
money necessary to make . frontal at
tack on the relief problem and to pur-
sue it along lines mapped out in ad-
vance.
Sufficient private funds must be
available to continue the work Of pri-
vate relief and welfare agencies for
which they are equipped. These may
be forthcoming from the Community
Chest fund. If the budgets for the pri-
vate agencies are relieved Of the ex-
cessive load attributable to unemploy-
ment relief. At present these agencies
are being forced to spend, roughly,
twice - much as they were allotted
for the entire year.
Sufficient funds from public revenues
must be forthcoming to enable public
relief work to encompass the task
for which it has been estabished-"to
care for distress due to unemployment
and to the emergency" These should
be obtained by increasing the pro-
posed expenditures in the pending Dis
trict bill to the point where, together
with such funds as will be available
under the Wagner relief bill. they will
be sufficient.
The Commissioners are facing another
relief crisis directly affecting the well
being of this community. The situation
demands effective and courageous lead
ership on their part.