Evening star., 1935-07-07
EMPLOYERS BACK
A|D-CHEAT|NG WAR
Pay Rolls Are Being Checked
Against Relief Lists for
ChiSeIIerS.

Adopting rigorous tactics to put
an end to chiseling. District relief Of
ficials have established contact with
40 of the larger employers of labor
so that persons may be dropped
promptly from the emergency relief
rolls when they gain private work,
Miss Alice Hill. relief director, an
nounced yesterday.
A saving of S3,16 month is being
accomplished already by system of
checking names on employers pay
rolls against those on the relief roster,
Miss Hill reported yesterday to Ell
wood Street, welfare director. This
is less than per cent of relief dis
bursementS.
So far the new system of detecting
those not needing relief has resulted
in the dismissal of 158 from the re-
lief list and in nine other cases the
amount of relief was reduced be-
cause of income obtained from private
Jobs which the relief recipients had
not reported to District officials.
Refunds Called for.
Turning tables on the relief clients,
officials of the Public Assistance Di-
vision also have called on IL persons
on the relief list to refund relief pay
ments made to them which they had
improperly received" Miss Hill dis
closed.
Need for such a checking system
is expected by officials to disappear
when the new works program is in
full swing. since this is to give con-
tinuous work to all on the relief lists
capable of working, leaving only the
unemployables on relief. But that
program will not be in full swing until
Fall, according to present estimates,
and the checking on relief clients will
continue as long as needed. officials
say
Mr.. Street explained last night
there should be no reason for relief
clients to hesitate to take either full
or part time private jobs since they
can come back on relief when their
private jobs are worked out.
The pay roll lists were turned over
to the Public Assistance Division at
the solicitation of division officials,
Miss Hill said. When there is reason
to believe relief clients have failed to
report outside work immediate inveSti-
CATION is started.
If it is found that their earnings
are sufficient to make relief unneces-
sary, they are dropped from the relief
rolls" Miss Hill said. IF the work is
only part-time work and the cOmpen-
sation inadequate to cover a minimum
relief budget, the relief is at least re-
duced by the amount of the earnings
which the person is found to have.
These employees are to be highly
commended for their civic spirit in
making available information which
otherwise could not have been
secured
Among the firms which co-operated
were restaurants, department stores,
other retail stores, hotels, printing
establishments, towel services, bak-
cries, newspapers, laundries, motion
picture theaterS, automobile sales and
service agencies, drug stores, telegraph
companies, life insurance companies,
ice cream manufacturers, hospitals,
Federal and District government de-
partments (for per diem employees
and taxicab companies.
Sources Are Co-ordinated.
In addition to checking relief lists
against the pay roll lists of these en-
ployers, cooperation in securing in
formation regarding persons having
resources which "conceivably might
make relief unnecessary" has been
worked out by the Public Assistance
Division with the Veterans Admins
tration, credit associations, the Post
Office Department and the Police De-
partment, Miss Hill said.
Most of the people who ask for
and receive relief are honest and sim
cere," Miss Hill continued. LAS often
as not, We find that people who are
receiving relief contrary to the spirit
and intent of our relief legislation and
regulation, are doing so. not through
willful Misrepresentation, but through
ignorance or through an acute sense
of their own misfortune and very
great need"