The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-06-10
NEWYORK>>
Metropolis OF
HUNGER
BY Home Relief Bureau investigator
ARTICLE "

BY Home Relief Bureau Investigator
ARTICLE "
Are thu Home Relief Bureaus mo-
tiyated Ks a humanitarian desire to
provide food and shelter for the job
less or are they merely an instru-
ment to bulldozs them into starving
without protest2
study Of the methods employed
by the bureaus in distributing their
misery favors is the most adequate
answer to this question
Red Tape
Yop, let Us say. have been jobless
months. You owe the land
CtOf he grocer, the butcher, the gas
lectric companies. You are at
end of your rope. You go to the
.ome Relief Bureau in your dis
trict. After waiting in line for an
hour or more you are granted an
interview. A receptionist asks you
bewi'6erinn strinQ of questions about
your familv history, YOUR occupa-
ton. vou~ finances. Have you any
insurance? How much have YOU Dor
rowed cn it? Do vcu own any real
estate? Have yol any bank accounts?
After -ou have weathered this pre-
hnlns-v ordeal, you are given
fou--r7~e QUESTIONABLE to take
here. This blink repeats all of the
ouest' ors which TIE recsptionist has
asked YOU ard a lot more.
Afte~ you have returned the blank
you cen settle down to a good long
vat+ anywhere from one to eight
veoi-s.
Tr''e0 the investigator gets around
to vou he puts you through the same
ouz, - much greater detail, for the
third time.
Dc,ve Into Personal Life
You must prove, first of ell, that
you've lived in New York City for
tEo ye-"s. You must give the en-
p'o-ms7t history Of every member
CT yOc- far'.ly VINO has ever been
able to work, You must answer in
great detail the question: How did
YOU ge5 along before coming to the
Eon7e Relief 3ureau?" If, in a mo-
ment Of weakness, you admit that
YOU once had a bank account which
has lclg since been used up, you
must show the pass book to prove
that the account has been cancelled.
Brutal questioning, however, is not
the only method employed by the
relief bureaus in their effort to
frigl1ten starving workers away from
their doors. The personnel, recep-
tionists, and Investigators particu-
larly. have been picked to fit closely
into the scheme Of hatred and sus-
picion en- which the Home Relief
Bureaus are built.
investigators who are themselves
unable to support their families on
the $40 a week which they earn and
VINO daily see the misery of large
masses Of workers far below them in
the economic scale have been trained
to disbelieve their own eyes. Super
v,sors and administrators, do their
best to convince their underlings that
all workers. and particularly the I'M
employed are cringing frauds who
will stop at nothing short of forg-
cry to obtain a food ticket.
Hard Boiled Supervisors
In a Home Relief Bureau in the
Bronx last year woman tainted
while waiting for an interview. She
had Just returned from a hospital
and was in no fit state for the hard
-I,s~ 1F 81 pnlIcf P1I-
reau. When alarmed employees rushed
TO her assistance, the supervisor of
the bureau shrugged her shoulders
and said: Its a stunt. know these
people They'll do anything to arouse
sympathy"
In the same bureau, a woman who
was obviously in bad mental health
threatened to commit suicide because
her request for rent met with re-
fusal. She started up the stairway to
the roof of the building. A clerk in
the bureau ran into the supervisor S
office for help. Don't be alarmed
said that worthy. People like that
haven't got CUTS enough to kill them
selves even though they know it's a
QOOO luGd. LIE G4CLh uAlcAdCNy PAN-
vented the woman from carrying out
her threat.
Spy System
Add to this picture the uniformed
policemen and civilian guards who
swarm through the bureau offices;
the system of check-up on apph-
cants by letters to their former en-
ployers; the system Of exchanging
information on the family histories
with other charity organizations
through the Social Service Exchange
and you have working idea of what
happens to you when you give your
name and address to man at q
relief bureau desk.
Officials Fear Councils
Relief bureau officials fear the IN
employed Councils because they are
we'll aware of the Councils policy of
opposing organized red tape and es-
pionage with organized mass de-