Evening star., 1936-03-14
HORIZONTAL SLASH
|OF HALF POSSIBLE
TO ALL RECIPIENTS
10000 Affected by Budget
Bureau Cut of 1858, 900
From Request Total.
EMERGENCY MEETING
CALLED FOR MONDAY
Drastic Disbursement Reductions
May Be Found Necessary With
Only $1,500,000 for Year. /

Drastic Slashes in District relief
disbursements loomed today after it
was reported the Budget Bureau had
slashed requested supplemental ap.
preparation for relief for the remainder
| of this fiscal year from S608,000 to
$250,000.
Welfare officials we're confronted
with the alternative of dropping many
cases from the rolls or making
horizontal cut, perhaps of so per
cent, in disbursements to all those
now on relief.
The development precipitated the
greatest crisis in the administration
of relief here since its inception as
a Government program and an emer-
gency conference between members Of
the Board Of Public Welfare and
Commissioner George E. Allen, for
merly District relief administrator.
was called for Monday.
At that time they are to decide
what their permanent policy shall be.
Barring a reversal of the Budget Bu-
reau rule by Congress, they must de-
eide whether to arbitrarily cut off
the rolls "a large number now de-
pendent on the District for relief or
to order desperate slash In disburse-
ments now being made to individual
cases.
9,102 on Cash Relief.
There are now e,102 cases re-
PaiuinT och inf
fact the Works Progress Administra-
ton has provided jobs for some $4,000
heads of families. There are more
than 10000 individuals now dependent
upon the District for relief, since the
Federal Government last November
ended the Federal dole, in spite Of
the w. P. A. program.
Deep concern over what will hap
pen to the relief program is held by
relief officials concerned by the ac-
ton of the Budget Bureau and the
House in granting only $1,50o,000 for
relief during the next fiscal year.
Oficials say that unless this amount
Is increased the impending drastic
slaShes in relief disbursements muse
be continued throughout the next
year.
In their petition to the Budget Bu-
reau the Commissioners explained
they had available on March l only
S489,000. February relief commit
ments amounted to $3.50 900. 1t was es-
timated expenditures during March
would equal or exceed those of Feb
ruary, so that on April no more than
$4,000 would be left.
Employees Would Go.
That balance, District officials
warned. would force them to cut from
relief rolls all except unemployables,
abandoning all direct relief cash pay
ments to others, unless the requested
supplemental appropriation was pro-
vided.
There are now 4,16S unemployables
on the relief rolls. The Welfare Board
to date has received applications for
old-age pension from l,100 of these.
-Four hundred more are expected. If
approval is granted for all, welfare
officials calculate, there will remain
some 5000 unemployab bles, subject to
relief from the District.
Elwood Street, welfare director, es-
Inmates the proposed s1,500,0o0 net
relief appropriation for next year, as
approved by the House. may provide
for between 500 and 1000 in addi-
tion to the unemployables left on
the rolls.
That more of the relief burden will
be passed on to the District taxpayers
soon was indicated by the recent or
der Of the Federal w. P. A. re-
quiring that the $500 persons now on
District assignments be reduced by
June 80 to 5000.
District officials hope they may be
able to transfer these 1,600 to Federal
w. P. A. assignments in the District,
but the order indicates to District
officials there can be no enlargement
of the District w. P. A. program,
which has taken from the District rolls
thousands who were on relief before
establishment of the Federal works
system.