The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-12-18
BY WILLIAM II. MGAUGHEY
Times STAFF Writer

times stan winter
Denizen of the jungle camp.
frequenter of the soup kitchen,
habitant of the flop house-what
does the future hold for the penni-
less vagrant who wanderS into In
dianapolis?
Are we to think of the homeless
men as human cattle" to be herded
through a blind mechanical system
Of mass help? Or is it better to
class him as a human being with
different needs and constructive
possibilities?
With typical American resource
fitness and showing a determined
will to win" many men of ability
have risen from the ranks of the
American hobo to find high places
IN business, art, theology and
literature.
In this year of 1888, no longer is
the personnel of the transient group
composed chiefly of the seasonal
laborer, the unfit man and the dis
appointed worker as theories CT
soclologiStS have long maintained.
But one theory still holds true
there are numerous men of ability
in the transient ranks. But for the
most part, the ability lies dormant
and unused.
Records kept in Indianapolis tell
the sorry tale. A cross section of
the caliber of the American tran
sient can be obtained at the Central
Registration Bureau at 222 East
Wabash street, which keeps a record
Of every homeless man applying for
relief in the city.
High Education Percentage
A surprisingly high educational
training is possessed by these men
that most of us are accustomed to
think of as shiftleSS, irresponsible
buns.
In a check of an average month
at the bureau October, 1889 it was
found that out of 2,186 men that
had applied for relief in that month.
30 per cent of them we're grade
SchooI graduates and Is per cent
were graduates of high school.
OF the number, 81 men were COL
lege graduates with a bachelor of
arts degree, while only So had re-
ceived no education at all.
About IS per cent of them had
held down jobs of responsibility and
positions Of Importance as late as
the fall of 1929 and the spring Of
1880.
Winter Outlook Promising
After being exposed to social
neglect for more than three years.
the outlook for the homeless man
Is more encouraging this winter
than any since 1929. Straws in the
wind indicate new deal for these
wandering men and boys.
In the last six weeks, the civil
works administration has been find
ing jobs and giving Saturday pay
checks to men who have long beenl
without both.
President Roosevelt's national re-
covery program and Secretary
Harold Ickes public works program
is estimated to have given over
! 100000 additional jobs to the I'M
employed man in the last six
months.
Indication of this is shown by
statistics at the Central Registra-
ton Bureau. The average registra-
ton of transients applying for re-
lief at the bureau has fallen from
an average Of seventy men a day
in October to forty-two new regis
trations daily at the present time.
C. C. C. to Continue
The civilian conservation camps
have taken many wandering boys
off the highway and from under the
brake rods of freight trains since
April. Now, President Roosevelt
and Lewis Douglas, budget director,
have decided to ask congress for
S120000,000 with which to continue
the reforestation army for third
six months period from April l.
JOBS for more than 1000 unem-
ployed "white collar" workers will
be provided within the next few
days in sixty cities. They will be
put to work on an inventory Of
real property authorized by CWA.
Many men in Indianapolis will be
freed from charity relief by this
measure.
This morning the state of Indiana
takes the first tangible step to-
ward providing transient relief.
Offices were opened at 9 South
Senate avenue to register the
homeless men.
Five State Eanns
AS part Of huge federal program
to provide relief for the homeless
man, Edward Di Bella, Indiana di-
rector Of transient relief, will estab-
lish five camps in Indiana, one of
which will be in Indianapolis, in an
effort to take the wandering home
less man off the highways and rail-
roads.
Social workers here will attempt
to find employent for many of the
transients in their own line of work.
Others will be taught new occupa-
tons so that they can fit in new
state and federal projects this
winter.
The federal government will ap-
propriate millions Of dollars every
month to the states for help in
handling the transient situation.
If this program is carried through.
this group Of four million homeless
men will serve history as a phe-
nomena Of long depression years and
will cease to be a wandering horde
OF disgruntled and disillusioned
men in search Of bread and shelter.