The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-12-07
THE best way to grasp the ques-


THE best way to grasp the ques-
Il ton is to begin with a state
ment of fact made by relief ad-
miniStrator Harry L. Hopkins. No
one else is so we'll placed as he to
know the problems of relief
throughout the country. Now Mr..
Hopkins finds that people are going
back to work But he finds also
that only one in ten Of those who
are being re-employed have been
on relief rolls.
The other nine are men and Wonl-
en- Who though they have been I'M
employed, have had enough savings
or help from their families and
friends to survive the crisis without
asking for public relief. Any one
who will let his mind and his i'm
agination dwell upon this observa-
ton will understand the problem
of relief at this stage of the depres-
sion.
Why are nine out of ten who
have returned to work persons who
never received relief? Many of
them, Of course, are workers who
earned more and saved more be-
cause they we're more competent
and more thrifty. But that can not
conceivably account for all of them.
The real reason must be that,
having had resources to meet the
crisis, they have kept up their
health, their spirits and their ap-
pearanceS. 1t is no use to pretend
that an American who has to take
public relief is not wounded by it
and that he does not carry scars
from the experience which make it
harder for him to qualify for nor
NAL work.
Americans do not take public re-
lief till they absolutely must, and
by that time they are weakened by
hunger and discomfort and worry.
Their virtue, which is to resist &C
cepting the dole, is paid for with
their lifes blood.
Now all the money that the
government can provide will not
take care Of them. All that public
relief can do is to see that human
beings do not starve and freeze.
That is not enough. A family Of
the unemployed which has no
money can not be maintained
merely by paying the rent and the
grocery bill. It needs medical adj
vice.
It may need legal aid. 1t needs
distraction. It needs special assist
ance for its handicapped members.
1t needs, in short, powerful
friend who can and will treat it, not
as so many bodies to be kept alive,
but as a human family to be kept
intact. No government agency can
do that.
MTO officials can spend the public
~ money with the kind of dis
elimination which is necessary once
you get above the level of mere
subsistence.
There is a man, let us say, who
is not dying Of hunger, but is dying
Of despair. That is just as terri
BILE a thing to die Of. If he tray
eled 300 miles he might find a job
But he can not afford railroad
ticket, and while he is away, there
would be nobody to look after his
invalid wife. What can a gov
eminent office do Tor him? 1t just
can not deal with his peculiar but
desperate necessities.
That is where the private agencies
come in. They alone have the staff,
which, without fuss or humiliation
to him, or red tape, can help him
in the particular way ne must be
helped if he is to survive as a hui
man being.
Multiply the families-in New
York City alone there are about
3O,000-imagine the unique charac-
ter Of their needs over and above
subsistence. and it becomes per-
fectly clear why private agencies
alone can deal with those unique
needs. That is the essence of the
matter.
That is why the call to support
those agencies is imperative. Among
those who have any money to give,
only those who have not under
stood the situation will fail to give
Perhaps that is not quite right.
There will be some who could give,
who do understand, and yet refuse.
Let them feel comfortable if they
can.
PLAYWRIGHT 1921