Evening star., 1933-10-22
Continued From First Page)

Hopkins is working under Government
orders He has lot OF money
$500 900 000-money which. according
to the Governments understanding i'll
voting it, was to be met by the COM
munities and States of the country
which had resources to draw on. II
the Federal Government gave so much
the town and State should match 1t II
possible. II that fine plan could be
carried out fully there would be in
charge of the public relief agencies of
this country, Federal and local. bill
lion dollars. But that plan has not
been and cannot be carried out. There
are spots on the map that are utterly
bankrupt. There are States In such
plights that they cannot match the
Governments money. And there are
other serious hindrances.
Warnings Were Sounded.
When last year Congress was hold
Ing hearings on this revolutionary step
of going into private relief there were
experienced and able people who
warned against it. Let the Federal
Government begin, they said, and you
will have plenty of solvent localities
and States saying. I'VE have stood up
for three years, now let Washington
take care of it." AS matter of fact
there is no doubt at all that the usual
local relief has been cut down by people
lying down on the job-tired out-sick
of it.
There was another warning. You
will have politicians spending this great
sum, and the politicians will say that
II they voted the money they at least
should select the people who spend 1t.
Mr.. Hopkins does not agree You
cannot fool with this relief business
on a political basis" he declares. The
politicians are anxious to turn the ad-
mlnStratlon OF this money over to
people who know nothing about it what
ever, eXclaims Mr.. Hopkins. Why
even bootlegger has somebody who
knows his business to cut his liquor"
So he Is mastering to help him in
this great task of administering relief
people trained to do the business He
Is calling upon the trained social work.
ers OF the country, men and women
!amlllar, from study and practice. with
the administration Of relief; men and
women who take their problem with a
large and sympathetic understanding of
human beings. and OF the conditions
which have brought them where thew
are, who treat them as individuals.
But nobody knows better than Mr.
hopkins and those who have been
handling the problems of public relief
now FAR short all their efforts fall of
anything like sufficient satisfaction of
human needs If you are trying to con-
vince yourself that the private agencies
you have always supported can be
dropped this year, that the Government
Will do the job, study the figures.
100000 Are Needy.
Fifteen million people to be fed and
sheltered this coming Winter. Three
and half million families, three quar-
ters of a million single men and women.
How iar would a billion dollars. If it
were available, 90 in year, Divide a
billion-and OF course it is not that
much-divide it by $500 900 families
How much for the year? Sz85.72-s23 81
month to feed and shelter a family
OF four. But remember there are three
fourths of a million bachelors and
spinsters to be C, lsidered
No. the money. even if we had the
full billion, would MT go around with
out extra help. There IS extra help
There is the incredible generosity Of the
poor to the poor. Millions have been
sheltered in the last two years by the
willingness of families to double up.
Then there comes in to help out what is
called invisible relief-the aid in money
food, lodging that friends and neighborS
give. The aid of the churches and
the lodges, the aid of the great corpo-
rationS to employees. the rent waived
by landlords the canceling of debts
all of these things will continue to come
in as long as there are needy in the
country.
But when all is done there is still
1iet 90 n<lp xr,l, ,tal,
only be satisfied through that vast pri-
vate machinery that has been built up
in this country in the last so years,
those agencies for looking after health,
providing hospitals, nurses. Summer
camps, tuberculosis sanitariumS, agen-
cies for caring for the orphan. the un-
derfed child. for looking after the boy
and girl. providing for leisure hours.
for recreation-the whole great range
of activities which this country has
come to believe are essential to the
we'll being of its citizenship and has SO
supported and encouraged that they
community life.
Now. as President Roosevelt sees the
present picture, these services are eS-
sential to his recovery program. and
last month when. at the call of that
devoted public servant. Newton d.
Baker. the leaders in the organization
fostering them met in washington to
consider their Fall and Winter cam
paign. it was he and Mrs Roosevelt who
first welcomed them.
Stirring Group Met.
They were a remarkable and a STIR
ring group, representing as they did the
social conscience of this Nation. its de-
termination to see that men and women
get not only the mere food by which
to live, but that they get that which
makes life worth living Health. inter-
est, good cheer.
Thirty-four different organizations
were represented in the gatherngMso
scarcely one of them more than oo
years old.
Some of us can remember when we
first heard of the Salvation Army.
heard Of a Boy Scout, a Camp Fire
Girl. The coming Of the trained nurse,
not only for homes and hospitals. but
country and city districts-a blessed
service, is within the memory OF great
bodies of the living. What would we
public health associations, our work
for the blind. the crippled the tube1 o
cular, for family and child welfare?
These have become essential elements
of American life. ,s .hot
A clever Frenchman has said tnat
the chief enemy of human kind Is tne
elf-interested man. One hears grea.
deal about him and how We are 10 ge,
rid of him. In this gathering you hao
his antithesis. the man who gives
himself to the interest OF all Struggling
for universal welfare. What he and his
fellows have done has in so years come
to he in effect an immense national
league accepted and supported by the
public. SO strong has it become that
here was the President recognizing II as
an essential element in his recovery pro-
gram.
Roosevelt in Midst.