The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-02-15
Majority of
Needy Wish
to Earn Way
Attitude Of Alabama
Widow Typiies Dislike
for Charity.
BY DOROTHY DUNBAR
BROMLEY
lines special writer

THE story OF the destitute widow
IL down Alabama way. who re-
fused 70 90 on the relief rolls.
pleases me. Mrs. Irene Davis has
proved that the unluckv Door are
not all "malingerers" and tdlers. as
have heard so many Wel-fed
fortunate persons claim I wonder
how many Of these SNUG persons
would do what this woman did. Her
husband died some time ago. Ieav-
ing her debts and three children.
The relief workers in the town Of
Greenville. Ala, were ready to put
her on the rolls. But she shook her
head.
She asked only for a chance to
earn her living on a small farm
eight miles out 80 town. with a
house badly in need Cf repair. Her
Oldest boy. H. did the blowing with
a mule borrowed from a neighbor.
But Mrs. Davis DID rot even accept
this favor. She went over TO the
neigh0Or's and hOed on his field
every day that she used the mule
HOn0red by State
All that Mr.. Davis accepted from
the relief authorities was an ad-
vance for fertilizer. groceries and
clothing Nature was kind. she
was industrious. and now she has
been able to repay out Of her crop
money the sum she had borrowed
from the government. She even
had something left over.
4 didn't do anything much" Mrs
Davis said modestly. But the State
authorities thought she had and
81 they gave her a silver cup the
other night.
The comfortable level Of persons
wouldn't claim that the TN
employed don't want 10 work. if
they were 20 visit the state Employ
ment Bureau The great majority
OF the unemployed both the white
collar class and the manual workers
are desperately eager for Work.
You can see II IN their faces.
In the DAYS when the Gibson
Committee was funCtiOuing. before
the government had stepped in. men
applicants would spend the whole
night standing IN the street so that
they might be first in line in the
morning.
Women without Jobs had pSy-
Geological as well as economic diff
fiCultieS. After months Of unempiOv-
ment. their morale was completely
shot. Many who had held good posi-
tons in the past were humbly CRATE
full for any sort of Job that would
pay for the necessities Of life.
Few Desire Charity
Plenty of platitudes have been
written about the dignity of work.
Yet there is a profound truth in the
aphoriSm. The self respecting per
son wants TO pull his own weight in
the boat He doesn't want 10 live
on charity either public or private.
This applies 10 women as well as TO
men. except for the women Of the
leisure class. These latter don't
know what it means to pull their
own weight. and this is the fault Of
their fathers and husbands who
have made parasites Of them
I find much more TO admire in
the farm women and the women Of
the working class. They have grit.
You remember the story of the
Cuban woman. Mrs. Diaz. who
sprang to the oars of the Mohawk
lifebOat on that icy night2 The
men in the boat. all except one
sailor. we're wOrsted. but Mrs. Diaz
manned the oars. even though her
flesh frOze 10 them. What else
could dO2" she said simply after
wards in much the same tone mat
Mrs. Davis had used when congrar =
ulated.
Mrs. Davis story shows how RICH,
the President and Relief Admin
strator Hopkins are in demanding
that the unemployed be given work
and not a straight dole II shows.
too. that the subsistence farm plan
may be the immediate answer for
a good many families.