Evening star., 1933-04-07
|WH|TE COLLAR men
lin NEED Of RELIEF
|SUFFER FROM CUTS
Clerks, Minor Executives and
Professional Men Are
Hard Hit.
NEEDY BACHELORS
NEARING DESPERATION
Most Agencies Deny Them Aid.
Families Of Recent Arrival
Lack Help. .

Who are the real forgotten residents
Of the District of Columbia-the un-
fortunate men, women and children
upon whom the burden Of economy in
public relief falls heaviest?
In the opinion Of Walter s. Ufford,
general secretary Of the Associated
Charities, and veteran administrator
of family welfare relief, some Of the
hardest hit are:
The unemployed white collar man,
who has exhausted his last resource,
and finds he must ask for assistance
at q time when public and private
agencies are turning away new apph-
cants.
A large number Of these men-clerks
men-have held out to the last, selling
household effects, pawning clothing,
doubling up with other tenants to save
rent.
They apply for public help only as
last resort. Thus their ranks may grow,
even after employment begins to pick
up again.
Then there is the laborer, better ac-
customed than the white collar man to
seasonal employment, but reduced to
poverty because the wages Of his tempo
rary jobs were inadequate to tide him
over.
Single Man Denied Aid.
And the single man of both classes,
Mr. Uford said, is nearing desperation
therefore ineligible for aid from most
/ agencies.
While private agencies are doing the
! best they can for these newcomers, Mr..
Ufford pointed out, they have scarcely
enough money to 60 around to those
already on their rolls, and can take
only exceptional cases.
Another growing class Is represented
by families Of comparative recent resi-
dence in Washington, who could not
get aid from the District Emergency Re
lief because they came to the city after
July /, 1881. Only few Of these new
residents can be helped from private
sources.
Even before the District Emergency
Relief was forced to economic by re-
fusing all new applications, that agency
could hold out little for these classes.
many have been eligible as the head of
family, and quite willing to work,
often found the hardship Of swinging a
pick and shovel on made" jobs too
much for him.
Laborers, mostly colored, applied to
the District Emergency Relief In such
numbers that strict rules of selection
had to be employed and many could not
be put to work.
900 Families Lack Help.
nIo ~ nvvSfRvfsY-
mates, according to Leroy Halbert,
supervisor Of District Emergency Relief,
are the 900 families who registered
during the past few weeks, but who
cannot be aided because of the new
limitations.
Welfare workers Of the agency were
advised not to pay any initial visits to
these families "inasmuch as 1t Is i'm
possible to give them anything and 1t
Is unwise to precipitate an argument
that can only lead to nothing"
The law creating the District Emery
ency Relief Is generous enough to en-
brace these thousands Of disappointed
individuals, but a limited appropriation
made new rules Of eligibility necessary,
in order to make disbursements stretch
as far as possible.
In a recent statement, =. G. Graham,
president Of the Community Chest,
urged that the District Welfare Relief
be enabled to care for the needy cases
which are legally the charges Of this
agency in order to relieve the tremend-
Gus drain on private welfare groups.
It was only by curtailing expenditures,
however, that the District Welfare Re-
lief could make its appropriation last
for the remainder of the Federal fiscal
year, ending June 80.
While this agency, maintained by
tax funds, operated on a scale entirely
inadequate to the demand, officials of
the Community Chest pointed out that
1T is quite clear that private agencies
and private funds cannot bear the en-
tire burden of relief in time of eco
nomic disaster.
Urge Congress Aid.
"It Is quite clear also" members Of
the Chests Budget Committee agreed,
that so great proportion Of private
funds cannot be applied to relief pur-
poses as to cripple the rest Of the pro-
ed painfully over the years and serving
needs which In the minds Of many peo-
pie are just as important as those OF
direct relief to the destitute"
The statement declared that "the
depression Is creating many kinds Of
distress aside from those of direct un-
employment CT able-bodied men and
that the burden Of private philan-
thropy on the present ALLEGATION Of
responsibility Is growing beyond all
enduring
I'VE see no hope of private philan-
thropy being able to bear the burden
Of relief which Is coming as the result
Of economic circumstances"
In conclusion, members Of the Budg- |
ct Committee declared ut is our opin-
ion that additional appropriations |
must be made by the Congress as the |
City Council of Washington If the
needs of the destitute unemployed Of
the District of Columbia are 10 be |
met.
Congress has already accepted the |
principle of assuming this response |
bility. The principle must be ex-
the need is to be met"