Evening star., 1933-09-03
RELIEF LISTS SHOW
LARGE DECREASE
IN PENNSYLVANIA
Grants in Month Under S..
100000 First Time Since
Last Year.
BY WALTER d. ROOS.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
HARRISBURG, Pa, September p
The steady march from relief rolls t
pay rolls in Pennsylvania has advance
to the point where the State Relief
Board has reduced the grant for food
orders for a one-month period to less
than IS 100000 for the first time since
Federal relief funds supplemented State
appropriations last year.
The board this week allocated s4;-
1868, ,763 to counties for September food
relief That sum compares to more
than Sc, 700, 900, which was the monthly
average last Winter and Spring, when
fuel allowances also were granted. The
new ALLEGATIONS cover IS counties, two
others not requesting money Tor the
month.
The September grants to counties are
based on State reports showing the
number Of unemployed in July was
1,147,179, or 30.8 per cent of the nor
NAL working population. That fgure
indicates that 112,808 persons, or
per cent of those without jobs in June,
returned to work in July.
Relief Lists Shrink.
The July gain in employment W,
almost as large as the preceding THE
months combined Since the peak O.
1,379,351 unemployed In March, 232,17z
persons have returned to work. Since
June the number of families on relief
lists decreased 10.1 per cent.
As q direct result of the diminishing
number of unemployed, the conmis-
saries or community markets providing
food for relief recipients are being
abandoned in the cities Of the State.
At present they are operating in only
five counties. The commissaries were
central wholesale distributing ware
of the unemployed.
Two reasons have contributed to their
abandonment. One Is that the thinning
relief lists have reduced the economy
and efficiency of this means of distrib-
uting food. The other is that the Fed
eral relief regulations, requiring the re-
lief board employees to be paid minimum
wages of the N r. A. scale, would IL
crease the expense OF operating tt
community markets, which havs bee.
manned by persons on relief rolls "a:
by food vouchers. Food orders on loo
grocery stores will replace the oentrf
lied service Of supplies.
The reduction In relief grants
aid slightly in checking the slump
State treasury balances and may assuI'
p1Ot1oiOl1 Ava sA@0 sAAASAA4
ployed until November. when q bon
issue Of SIS, ,o00,o 600, most Of which j;
earmarked for relief, will be submitted
to voters for approval. Daily treasury
balances available for general purposes
have declined from $5c,oGo,o00 two
years ago to about one-tcntn 81 that
sum today Before the State Relief
Board made September ALLEGATIONS this
week, State Treasurer Charles A.
Waters warned that if the higher
grants were continued, revenues in
sight during the Fall months would be
insufficient to meet the needs until bond
money can be made available.
Milk Profits Pr~<.n
While dairy farmers Of the State this
week were threatening open rebellion
against terms of the Federal milk price
agreement for the Philadelphia milk
shed, the State launched an investiga-
ton of distributors profits "to discover
any fraudulent practices in the purchase
and sale Of milk" The producers con-
tend the dealers are obtaining excessive
profits under the new agreement and
that the spread" between what the
farmer receives and the consumer pays
is large enough to permit the dis
tributors to pay the higher rates 10
the farmer without increasing the price
to the consumer.