Evening star., 1936-10-16
On the Record
Solution to Future Relief Lies in Non.P Partisan Com
mission and Investigation.

ne ilTSt ana CLlTQ Glasses OuS1C 10
be taken care of by social insurances
without the means test. Those, how |
ever, do not yet exist. But the victims |
certainly belong to q different cate
CORY from the others. The w. P. A.
attempts to segregate them by attach
ing them to its program. Also the re-
lief administration tries to get class l,
the social cases, back upon the mu-
inequalities, which through poor laws
and private agencies, normally care
for them. But once on Federal relief
it is very hard to get them OF. The
last class has been the problem Of Mr..
Tugwell and it Is difficult to see how
they could be rehabilitated by local
action. But the whsle approach has
been haphazard.
Employment Service Fought.
The suggestion that relief for the
unemployed should be co-ordinated
with efficient public labor exchanges
Is excellent. Registering for work
with a public employment agency
ought to be definition Of unemploy-
ment and a condition of unemploy-
ment relief. In this way one could
find out how many people on relief
are employable and looking for jobs,
when they worked last and one could
keep the record month by month. But
If Gov. Landon is elected and tries to
do this he will run up against power
full trade union opposition, for the
lnI rI1 vat
labor surplus. That pressure explains
the present Government failure to
do this.
With Iandon's insistence that
Federal public works should be under
taken on their own merit and not done
by relief labor at relief wages, I am
in hearty agreement. So, for that mat
ter, is Secretary Ickes. But that-if
it is TO be a means of counteracting
unemployment in times Of depression
is not compatible with balancing the
budget at such times. Also. In order
to function, it would demand that
public works should be planned in
anticipation of crises, and planned by
board of public servants and engi-
neers as divorced from politics IS is
the War College. Then, when it be-
came apparent that unemployment
was beginning, these works. already
carefully planned, could be put into
immediate operation, absorbing labor
as it comes on the market and before
it is subjected to pauper's tests.
Requires Social Planning.
But that kind Of action requires
social planning. and the Republicans
shy at the word. One cannot devise
works of the kind when the crisis is
already upon us. That is the reason
why Mr.. Ickes was forced to yield to
Mr.. Hopkins and the boondogglers.
The reason why the cost of relief per
case doubled between 1888 and 1885
was that in May, 1885, the admins
tration shifted from home relief. which
was cash and groceries. to work relief.
which was wages and materials. 1t
costs about twice as much to put a
man TO work as 1t does to maintain him
in idleness. The community does, how
ever, set some return from his work,
and the work certainly contributes to
his morale, in spite Of the red tape
and investigation which surround 1t,
and the peculiar wage conditions
which set him in separate category
from the rest Of workers.
This point was well taken by the
Governor and is worth much thought.
he1 hof haf ka ~
the worker would get better returns
from work relief and would get them
in a better psychological atmosphere,
II the work, which for the most part
is Of the kind normally undertaken by
States, counties, municipalities and
towns-road building, flood control,
drainage projects, park extension, re-
pair and establishment of public
buildings-were administered by the
localities and voted by them in the
manner of normal times. 1t would
also be good for the local governments
to have the responsibility. and good
| for the average citizen, who can only
function personally in the smaller
civic unit.
Public Still Unsold.
The whole relief situation is a mess.
| The public not on relief is generally
hostile, without very definitely know
ing why. In spite Of the corps of press
agents attached to every branch relief
agency. the public Is certainly not
sold" And that fact in itself is a
criticism of the relief methods. For
it depends upon the public purse and
it must have public sympathy. But
We will get, I think, nowhere, by in
vestigations Of Democratic program
by Republican State Legislatures.
That simply sinks the whole program
deeper into partisan politics.
Our hope lies in a non-partisan ap-
proach at the outset. I urge the
League of Women Voters and the Fed
Grafton Of Women's Clubs, who have
done so much for the cause OF civil
service, to make an organized insist
ence that our next President, whoever
he may be, appoint national commls-
sion to make survey of the relief and
unemployment problem, analyze the
present means Of meeting it and bring
forward proposals for policy.
The commission would have to In
clude important members of all polit-
ical parties, representatives of the
trades unions and business, and the
most competent citizens who can be
drafted for the job. 1t ought to be