Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-02-08

the commissioner of public walfare
as the chief executive officer. Under
the original bill, as introduced bv
Senator l.. L. Gravely, of Rocky
Mount, new division of public as
slstance would have been created.
with director of public assistance
at its head, who would have admin
lstered the old age pensions and chill
dren's aid law and left the present
functions of the welfare department
under Mrs. w. T. Bost, the present
commissioner of public welfare, with
the exception of mothers aid, which
would have been transferred to the
new division. This provision was re-
garded as an attempt to divorce the
administration of old age pensions
and children's aid from Mrs. Bost and
her department, composed of 80 per
cent women, and put it in charge of
a division of which the head would
be a man. Under the committee bill.
Mrs. Bost as commissioner of public
welfare, will be the principal admin
istrative official in handling both the
cid age pensions and aid to depen-
dent children. Mrs. Bost, however,
will be subject to the direction of the
State Board of Charities and Public
Welfare, as at present, since this
board will continue to elect the COM
missioner of public welfare, as in the
past. 1t is generally agreed that Mrs.
Bost will be continued in this position.
Governor Would Appoint.
A supplementary bill, however, like
wise introduced by Senator Gravely,
was also reported favorably by the
committee, making some changes in
the State Board of Charities and Pub
lie welfare principally in providing
that the chairman of this board shall
hereafter .He selected by the governor
instead of being elected by the mem
bers of the board. The reason for this
is that the chairman of the board
is also a member of the board of ap-
peals and adjustments, set up in the
old age pensions bill, which board
must meet at least once a month, or
oftener So it was considered advis-
able to make the chairman of the
board a direct appointee of the gov
ernor, since he will in many respects
have general supervision over the en-
tire administration of the law, al
though the commissioner of public
welfare will be the immediate admin
istrator. 1t is generally understood
that this chairman will be man, in
Difference to those who maintain that
the administration of the old age pen
sicns and children's aid, involving the
expenditure of some $4,000,000 year,
is too itig job to turn over to
group of women, no matter how able
they may be.
Varied Selection Methods.
Another important change in the
bill is in the method of selecting the
county boards of public welfare. At
the present time, the county boards
are selected entirely by the commits
sioner of public welfare. The commit
tee bill provides that one member
shall be selected by the State Board
of Charities and P:"5lic Welfare
(about the same thing as Ky the COM
missioner of public welfare,) one
member by the board of county COM
nissioners and the third member Sc
lected by these two other members. If
the two members are not able to
agree upon a third member, this mem
Der, will then be selected by the resi-
dent superior court judge in the dis
trict in which the county is located.
The eligibility Of applicants for pen
sions or aid to, dependent children
will be determined by the county
board of welfare, but the board of
county commissioners will have the
right to examine any and all awards
Il; RI TrOfQCf
any such awards to the State board
of appeals. Under the original bill,
the board of county commissioners
was required to pass on and approve
ali applicants for pensions, as well as
the amounts.