The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-05
Reduce Reef Clients
To New 5iarvation
Standards
By HOWARD BoLDT


Guardia and dropping new thou
sands from Home Relief.
Under the new slash, all workers
on the relief jobs are to be in
vestigated" with the intended pur-
pose of firing all those who fall into
the following categories: ID all
single workers without dependents;
~ all who have managed to save
money while working; 90 all with
any incomes so that in the future
all supplementary relief" might be
eliminated; "a all workers with in
surance policies and resources.
To do this, new work is being
heaped upon the already over-bur-
dened Investigators of the Home
Relief Bureau. Each investigator is
assigned a quota Gin addition to
regular duties Of investigating
three work cases a day. Pending
cases. that is, cases in which the
application blank has been returned
and the client is awaiting the in
vestigator, are to be put aside and
precedence given to work cases.
This means three things;
THAT workers will have to
wait even longer than previously
for inves LEGATION before getting
relief.
2-Workers who are dropped
from work relief are not to be
transferred to Home Relief, but
will have to make new applica-
tion and submit to reinvestigatiOn
with all the attendant delay. At
the same time, precedence will be
given to work cases, causing still
further delay for relief clients)
3-Rents will not be paid. The
investigators are to be speeded-up.
I'm until now they have been re-
uuired to make 4 to 6 investiga-
tions each week. Now they must
make three a day. The Finance
DEPARTMENT messengers who de-
liver the checks will come every
two weeks with the food, gas,
light check. Under this system OF
paving gas and light, further
reduction will be made in the gas
and light sums. No provision has
been made to deliver rent vouchers
which fall due during the interval
of the four weeks that the client
is not visited.
Funds for relief, LaGuardia de-
clares. will be entirely depleted by
Aug. /. Each week finds new thou
sands either denied relief altogether
or work relief and Home Rehel
lists slashed. Gradual cuts are
eliminating all supplementary re-
lief" to working heads of large fam
lilies. While firing at least $4,000
single workers from work relief, the
LaGuardia administration is start
ing a drive to reduce all relief
workers to the starvation budgets
of the Home Relief Bureau.
Seyen-Cent Fare Coming
The outcome of Jne present con-
ferences of LaGuardia on relief viii
vitality affect the unemployed, the
investigators of the Home Relief
Bureau, the relief workers and The
whole working population OF the
city. For the unemployed new re-
lief cuts are being made and pre-
pared. For the relief workers new
mass firing and wage cuts; for the
Home Relief workers greater speed
I'D while they are forced to do tne
dirty work of the relief adminlstra-
ton: for the working population
new taxation and 7-cent fare tt
saddle on them the burden OF car
ing for the iohless.
LaGuardia, the watch dog of Wal
Street. continues the monthly pay
ments of $25 100000 to the banker
while slashing relief. The city bud
get for 1885 makes no provision
whatsoever for unemployment re
lief. Clearly it becomes increasingl,
evident that new taxation is beinI
prepared for the working people IL
the form of a 7-cent fare and
lob tax on every pay envelope. New
taxation on the commoneSt article
of consumption is in the offing-
but no taxes on realty holdings, OF
the super-profits of the corpora
lions and industries working within
the city limits, no taxes on tn
high incomes and inheritances, M
levies on the tremendous profits o
the public utilities.
The old system of bond issues TO
the financing of relief by which thu
bankers reap great profits has sud
denly become Objectionable to tn,
bankers and the metropolitan pres
is used to whip up sentiment TO
the pay as you go" program.
The Unemployment Councils, tn
Relief Workers League and tn,
other organizations affiliated to tn,
United Conference on Work, Relic
and Unemployment demand:
az No firing on work relief,
and no dropping of Homo Relief
clients; az for increased cash re-
lief and the. payment of rents;
t3I minimum wages of at least
$50 a week on work relief plus
additional relief for large fami-
lies; AZ against the speed-up of
Home Relief Bureau employees;
t5) no taxation of workers to pay
relief expenditures, no increased
subway fares, and for the abro-
cation Of the Bankers Agreement
and the payment on the debt SER
vice; and (6) for the enactment
of the Workers Unemployment
Insurance Bill.