Evening star., 1935-09-19
District AnxiousIy Awaits
Closing of Federal Shell
tiers Tomorrow Night.
OFFICIALS ADOPT PLAN
OF WATCHFUL WAITING
Increasing Number of Floaters
Coming Into City Must
Be Cared For.


Emergency Relief Administration to-
day was holding firm to its decision
to close the doors of Its transient
relief shelters to any applicants ar
irving after midnight tomorrow night
Until some time in November those
already enrolled in the shelters IN
question will be allowed to remain,
hut newcomers will be thrown en-
tirely on the mercy of local reliet
agencies.
Watchful Waiting Policy.
In the District a policy of watch
full waiting is being followed by relief
officials with more definite plans to
be determined after the closing order
takes effect and the actual neeo Is
seen. Commissioner George E. Allen,
now on vacation, is expected to take
a hand in shaping this policy when
he returns in a few days
AS an emergency measure, Elwooo
Street. director of public welfare, mas
announced that the Municipal Lodg-
ing House may be used to house new
transients in cases of distress. quar-
ters for about 40 are available there
far below the requirements if the
daily average OF about 2Oo new ar
rivals Is to continue.
For these men, many OF them
habitual knights of the road, the
coming Winter promises to be the
toughest since 1882.
Monthly Report Issued.
Along with this emergency step,
taken while police and relief ofhclals
look with apprehension to the ar
rival Of q large number Of uncared-
for foaters in the city, Director street
today released his monthly report 10
the Board of Public Welfare, in which
he voiced apprehension over the re-
lief situation in view of the slowness
Of development of the works progress
program here.
In his report, Street made the fol-
lowing comment:
Due TO the inadequacy of the Fed
eral grant for August for care OF en-
ployables and the slowness of Fed
eral authorities in approving works
projects, the public assistance division
wound up August with deficit Of
SIS 900. This was covered by an ad-
vance Of this amount from the Dis
tTics Of Columbia relief funds for
September The grant of s256,000 by
the ?. z R A for the first half of
September was not sufficient to cover
that deficiency and meet other ex-
penses.
These are difficult and perplexing
times as we try to handle the prob
lem of relief for over $4,000 cases
while transferring people as rapidly
as possible to the slowly-moving works
progress program. Over 4,500 fami-
lies include no employable persons.
They represent continuing load.
Supplementary Relief Problem.
an addition to this is the problem
OF supplementary relief to people trans
ferred to the works program, for whom
the security wage is not sufficient to
cover large family budgets. The
r. z. r. A. has notified us that their
funds are not to be used for supple
mentation and asked us not to use our
local funds. This presents very
dificult human problem which must
still be solved"
Action as to the general relief
problem is being deferred until the
return of Commissioner Allen, relief
and work relief administrator. For
the last half of this month, the
r. E. r. A. has granted 5000, 900, but
officials say it will be close shave if
the District can get by with this unless
the pending District works projects
can be started in much larger number.
AS to the transient relief problem.
Streets monthly statement said:
I'VE are facing difficulties because
Relief Administrator Hopkins has
given public notice that the transient
program is to be demobilized by No
vember / in the expectation that all
transients can be transferred either
to the G. c. c. camps or to works
projects. 1t is to be feared that not
all transients out of our daily average
Of over 5000 cases will fit into this
program. We have been ordered to
take no new cases after September 20.
THE Transient Advisory Committee
held long meeting August 81, work.
ing out proposals looking toward the
reduction of the transient program,
which were approved by Commissioner
Allen and which have been turned
over to the F. E. r. A. for its ap-
proval."
Driven to virginia.
Effects of the contemplated closing
OF the transient shelters here already
have been noticeable In nearby Vir-
ginia. Mrs. Mae E. Jacobs, superin-
tendent Of relief in Arlington County,
said several unemployed and needy
meE from other parts of the country
have applied during the past day or
n for relief. Most Of these, she said,
were men who would have been taken
into the transient stations in Wash
1ngton.
With no provisions available in Ar
Gngton County, Mrs. Jacobs said the
men were jailed as vagrants. At the
same time she issued advice to resi-
dents Of the county not to extend re-
lief to these travellers.
Federal officials estimate that only
2 per cent of the Nations so-called
transient group are In the "unemploy-
able" class. These 'unemployables"
will be studied by case workers, Of
ficials said. and either returned to
their homes-where local govern
msnts must care for them-or placed
in veterans homes or similar institu-
tions.
Transient relief has cost the Gov
ernment approximately $70,000,000
since it was inaugurated in 1888.