Evening star., 1934-09-23
The Local Relief Problem.

The Local Relief Problem.
1t is natural, if unfortunate, for
emotion to play large part in dis
cussions of local relief pohcy-local
relief policy being the application in
the District of national relief policy.
Hunger and suffering make their
strongest appeal to the best emotions.
Yet, if there is any problem that
should be dealt with realistically 1t is
the problem of local relief and its
increasing strain on local revenues.
Nothing is to be gained, on the one
hand, by attacks on the policy as
representing blind extravaganza, or
defense of the policy as being above
criticism merely because the money
is being spent on unfortunate human
beings.
What should concern the local
taxpayer is not the emergency ex-
penditures Of today or the money
that was spent yesterday; not that
there may be occasional cases of fraud
or Misrepresentation by relief bene-
fciaries or mismanagement by the
overburdened relief authorities. The
really alarming aspect Of the situation
Is the fact that the relief policy in
no sense provides cure of conditions
which make relief necessary, and that
the larger the palliative doses of
relief, the larger the next dose must
be and the more complex becomes
the problem of ever diminishing them.
Up to this time, apparently, there
has been no serious thought OF
diminishing them.
In the fiscal year 1888 the District
supplemented its own local expend-
itures of s1,254,7ss on relief with a
$140,76 grant from the Federal Gov
ernment. The local expenditures, at
the same time, included a 100000
grant from the Community Chest and
s4,798 from the Red Cross.
In the fiscal year 1884 local appro-
priations for relief increased to
s1.377,756. while Federal funds
jumped to s3,4o6.542. including the
money for the transient bureau.
In the first three months Of the
current fiscal year local and Federal
relief expenditures in the District are
nearly twice what they were for the
entire fiscal year 1888. The Federal
Government has spent s1,809,57l (in-
cluding funds for transient bureau)
and the local government has spent
$499 999-approximately q fourth Of
its $4,000, 900 appropriation for the
year.
Last November there were 1902
eases" on local relief rolls-most Of
the cases representing families. The
C. w. A., under way in December,
reduced the relief rolls to 8,l90, as
the c. w. A. took about half its re-
cruits from the local relief rolls. But
when the c. w. A. had run its course,
relief rolls were swelled, in April, to
22,726, remaining approximately at
that figure in May. 1t is a reason
able conclusion that the c. w. A. eX-
pertinent brought to the relief rolls
many persons who otherwise would
not have been there today. The re-
lief rolls today number 22,759 cases
actually receiving relief. The incom-
plete figures for September show no
decrease, and Winter is at hand.
Local relief expenditures for the
current fiscal year, from Federal and
local funds. may reach $4,000. 900.
The local estimate for next year is
higher, and the Public Welfare item
in the preliminary estimates for 1886
exceeds, for the first time, the pub
lie school item. hitherto the largest
single item.
In the meantime the spending au-
thorities are devising additional meth
ods of increasing relief expenditures,
such as the nebulous housing propo-
sition, about which nothing has been
explained, and the surplus milk-buy-
ing program, which seems to have as
its objective farm relief as well as an
adequate supply of milk for the FAM
lilies on relief. Practically all of the
relief proposals are cloaked as emer-
gency undertakings and there Is the
danger, of course, that they will suf-
fer the usual penalties in waste and
ineficiency that characterize emer-
gency expedients. II the District is
really to undertake emergency ex-
periments more thought than is being
given now should be devoted to how
they will be paid for-not immedi-
ately, but when the inevitable bills
are rendered. For emergency" un-
dertakings have way of becoming
permanent new functions of govern
ment, the wisdom of which is highly
debatable.