Evening star., 1933-09-09
Emergency and Other Relief.

It may be said that the broad task
facing the National Citizens Committee,
which opened its third annual confer
erce here yesterday after hearing an
inspiring address of welcome by the
President. is to teach the people OF the
Nation the difference between emer-
gency governmental relief for the dis
tressed CT this period and the sort OF
continuing and permanent relief which
is the responsibility of such organiza-
tions as the Community Chest.
This year the United States Govern
nlent. for the first time in its history,
IS spending hundreds OF millions OF dol
lars for the purpose of directly aiding.
b. specific. unconditional grants OF
money, the victims OF the economic de-
preston That money, as most people
understand, must come from taxes. And
the;e IS danger, which must be faced
frankly that the average and over
burdened taxpayer will argue that mas
much as the Government Is spending
money for relief and taking it out OF
the taxes he pays, his responsibility
rs contributor to the Community
Chest and to other such organizations
has. been removed. There are those, in
addition. who feel that relief Of desti-
tution anG distress is the Governments
responsibility and should not be shared
by anybody else.
But. as the President forcefully ex-
pressed it yesterday, the Federal un-
employment relief program is only one
fact. as great as this program is in
terms of dollars and cents, it is only
q small part of the picture. The Gov
ernment has gone into the business of
feeding hungry men and women. But
the Government has not, nor can it
be expected now, to go into even more
important business of taking over the
welfare program, which Harry L. Hop
kins Federal relief administrator, de-
scribed as administering to those
human needs which are over and above
the food and shelter necessities Of life"
These agencies. he emphasized, which
have been so painstakingiy developed
to I'll community needs, must be
maintained, and campaigns for funds
this Fall must succeed, for to them
will fall the difficult task OF healing
the wounds of this depression and the
problem Of readjusting disrupted fam
lily and child life to new conditions.
The Government" said the Presi-
dent. cannot get along without you
The Federal, State and local govern
ments can't. The whole period we
are going through will come back in
the end to individual responsibility, to
private organizations, through the years
to come y hope the time Is 60
ing TO come soon, when everybody who
normally wants a permanent Job Is
going to get it. And so like to think
Of Government relief of all kinds as
emergency relief"
The inadequacy of the emergency
relisf which is being given by the
States and cities, with the extraordi-
nary assistance of beneicent Fed
eral Government, is being emphasized
these days by the relief authorities.
Yet this emergency relief does not ex-
tend much beyond the elemental task
OF providing food and shelter. There
Is a tremendous and continuing task
faced by the private agencies which
care for the i'll and the aged the chill
dren and the broken families. Their
support depends upon the self-sacri-
hcing generosity of the members OF
the individual communities and not upon
the relief experiments by the Federal
Government. These latter may come
to an end when the depression is over
and prosperity returns. But the work
OF mending broken lives must and
Will go on always.