Evening star., 1936-03-16
OFFICIALS CONFER
ON NEEDY PLIGHT
Aid May Be Limited to Un-
empIoyabIeS as Funds
Are Cut.
BULLETIN.

A delegation of 10 unemployed
heads of families appeared at the
District Building today just as a
conference of the Public Welfare
Board was convening to consider
ways and means of providing funds
to meet the relief needs to the end
of the present fiscal year. They
we're kept outside the Office OF
Commissioner Allen while the
conference inside was getting
under way. The group insisted
adequate funds be provided to care
of relief families.
District relief officials were to meet
today to decide whether they should
order a horizontal cut in relief dis
bursements or furnish aid only to the
unemployables among the 10000 per-
sons receiving financial help.
This emergency meeting was called
following the disclosure that Acting
Budget Director Bell had slashed the
requested supplemental relief appro-
priation from s608. 600 to s250,000.
Since the requested s608,000 would
have provided relief only to July /
and did not allow for any new cases
officials viewed the reported cut with
grave concern.
Frankly" said Judge Michael M
Doyle, acting chairman o. the Boarc
of Public Welfare, I'VE ion't know
what we are going to do. Unless Con-
eress takes some action many of the
80 900 people now on relief will have
to 90 without the necessities OF life
during the next three months"
Families Notified.
Welfare checks mailed Saturday to
the 5000 families and unattached in
dividuals on the rolls were accompa-
MED by the following notice:
This is the last relief we will be
able to send you until additional funds
are available. The District Commits
sioners have requested that the Con-
gress of the United States make an
emergency appropriation to carry re-
lief until July /. Until such an ap-
preparation is made, no more relief
can be supplied"
officials had figured on S608,00 as
an absolute minimum to provide for
the needy, and if this is to be cut to
$3.50, 900, it was pointed out. the only
solution is to drop thousands from the
rolls or effect a horizontal cut.
The meeting today, which is to be
attended by Welfare Board officials
and Commissioner George E. Allen,
probably will result in a combination
of a horizontal cut and the dropping
of many from the rolls. In some quar-
tiers it has been suggested that aid be
withdrawn from all but unemploy-
ables.
Position Explained.
In discussing the announcement
that no further relief checks would
be sent out until additional funds are
available, Judge Doyle said:
This action Is necessary because
relief funds will be practically ex-
hausted on April l, and if no further
appropriation Is made the balance
will be barely sufficient to carry the
necessary accounting and similar
services, office rent and so forth
which will be necessary to keep the
Public Assistance Division operating
on an emergency basis until the new
appropriations become available July l
Through the next two weeks-that
is, through March 31-when all rehe1
will have to stop unless an emergency
appropriation is made by Congress
emergency relief will only be given tc
cases which were actively in the care
of the Public Assistance Division or
March a."