The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-15
Relief Bureau
'SnOOp' Squad
Is Increased
HOdsOn Plays Up Old
Snow ShOveIling Hoax
As Relief Measure

Fourteen thousand families were
cut of the city relief lists last
month, Welfare Commissioner VIII
liam Hodson announced Tuesday
night, as a direct result of the pau
perization standards recently insti-
tuted on a more intensive scale than
heretofore. Hodson, who spoke at
luncheon at the City Club, stated
that while slightly less than $4,000
had been added to the relief lists
during October, the dropping Of a
like number brought about an al
most complete balance, the first
time this has been effected during
any month in the recent period.
Whether this means that we
have reached the peak Of the relief
load still remains to be SEEN" he
said. Il am inclined to believe that
this is due not so much to an i'm
provement in business conditions as
to the cumulative effect of our in
cressing the staff of the home relief
investigators, our training of this
staff to conduct more thorough-go-
ing Investigations, and the CO.
operation of employers, banks and
insurance companies"
Stats Increased
The Increasing of the staff of the
relief bureau" to which Hodson re-
fers, can only mean the assigning of
500 special investigators to snoop
into every possible resource of the
jobless. On the basis of these in
vestigations, the Daily Worker
charged last month, 500 jobless fam
lilies were being dropped daily. Hold
sons statement fully bears this out.
In addition to this, drastic curtail-
ment has been effected by slashing
individual budgets to the extent of
any income, however, small it may
be, from the relief checks. Even
the few pennies picked up by selling
newspapers on the streets hav been
cut of the checks.
Cooperation with banks, employ
ers and insurance companies" by
which Hodson boosted of making
other cuts, is the intensive drive to
ferret out all resources" Thus, all
insurance policies are absolutely
taboo, and the cumulative amounts
obtained by surrender of these pol
icies have been applied to the relief
checks. Relief workers are not per-
mitted to save any of their me1gre
earnings under new home relief bu-
reau rules.
aCase Loads" Grow
Meanwhile, an ever increasing
number of case loads" have Leen
placed on the already worked
investigators. In some instances
they have been definitely told to
close at least one case a day.
Hodson emphasized three ere
forms" in the relief set-up. Notable
in these reforms" was his call for
increased work relief, which rs he
understands the term in his drive
to slash relief costs, is a definite
forced labor drive for jobs at mere
subsistence wages. Home relief, he
added, should be given only as a
measure Of last resort. How would
you ladies and gentlemen feel" he
asked the assemblage at the lunch
con, "if you had been idle for four
years and we're forced to get only
subsistence from the government"
we are substituting a relief eco
nomy for our normal industrial
economy" he said. I'VE must real
ize that the depression is not tenn
porary, nor an emergency. We
must face, for at least a decade,
the fact that many will not be en-
ployed again"
Hodson referred to the drive to
place the unemployed now on the
relief lists at snow-shovelling jobs
this Winter. He also made passing
mention to the reluctance of the
jobless to accept these temporary
jobs due to inability of getting back
on the relief lists. While he did
not clearly outline in what manner
this transfer" is being undertaken,
he promised a statement on the
matter soon.