Evening star., 1936-10-16

dark regarding the apportlonment OF
expenditures, despite demands that
the figures be published. I'd Relief
money has been used for social ex-
periments. 8) The Federal Govern
ment has sabotaged the attempt Of
the Pennsylvania State Senate to in
vestigate. 90 The cost Of relief is
growing and doubled per case between
1888 and 1895. QO Not enough goes
to relief clients, too much to the
favored few"
The Governors proposals for reform
are as follows: D Find out the facts.
90 Return relief to the States, with
the States deciding what work-relief
projects, II any, shall be used. go
Federal grants in aid to the States,
providing they contribute fair pro-
portion of the funds and qualify
by complying with certain reasonable
condition" "a All relief officials
held to strict accountability. 90 All
who are engaged. to be selected on
the basis of merit and fitness. (0
More aid to those seeking jobs in
private employment. CD Special
training for those long unemployed
or ill-fitted for employment. o. Fed
eral public works undertaken on merit
and not confused with relief. II am
opposed to relief labor at relief wages
for the construction of such works"
Politics Would Survive.
When the Governor promises to free
relief from partisan politics and return
its administration to the States, with
grants in aid providing that the local
administrations conform to certain
reasonable conditions. one wonders
precisely how he is going to accom-
plish this aim. There Is no reason to
believe that the mere decentraliza-
ton Of relief will take 1t out of par
tisan politics. On the contrary, the
worst abuses of relief have come from
local politicians They are Harry
Hopkins perennial headache.
Certain Democratic administrations
have abused relief. (And possibly
some Republican, Hopkins has full
minated but the Democratic ma
chime will not let him embroil its
henchmen in scandals. So things are
hushed up. But simply passing the
administration back TO the States will
do nothing to mitigate this sort oi
thing.
Grants In aid on condition that
local administrations conform to GER
tain reasonable qualifications is the
way the present system Of relief il
administered. The point at issue Is
what are reasonable conditions" And
these are not stated by the Governor
No Specific Proposal.
II Gov. Iandon had said: "I shall
require as a prerequisite to grants in
aid, that the State administrations
shall be bipartisan. and include repre-
sentatives of all political parties" that
would be one practical way Of taking
relief out of partisan politics. But
he made no specific proposals.
Relief money has been used to make
social experiments, in production
for-use, for instance. Also, there was
originally a strong desire on the part
of some members of the relief admin
istration to use its funds to raise the
wage level in certain States. 1t is q
very Questionable thing for relief
administration to do, desirable as the
objective is. Whether unemploy-
ment relief needs are temporary ol
permanent nobody knows. But they
are certainly recurrent. As for item
6. doubt whether any administra-
ton would open its files in the middle
Of . heated campaign to people whose
interests are frankly partisan.
The accusation that the present re-
lief administration does not ever
know the extent Of its own problem
Is justified. A scientific approach Il
the relief problem would first of al
find out much more exactly what the
problem is.
:' Many are Social Cases.
At present Federal relief is 'ex'
tended to all whose incomes are below
level agreed upon as subsistence.
Some of these people are formel
workers, the victims of economic
catastrophe. Some Of them are Ill
or below the normal intelligence level
or congenial alcoholics, or other
wise socially maladjusted. Some o
them are of the criminal group. II
other words they are social cases, whit
are permanently present in all com
munities. Still others are norma
people who are too old or too younl
to work. And still others are vic
Tins of local economic plights-citi
zens of standard communities set
tied around exhausted mines, or nv
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