Evening star., 1946-01-12
Broad Social Survey,
To Cover I Major D. {.
Fields, Is Launched

Washington's social survey will
cost about $50, 900 ana Will enlist the
services Of more than 1000 citizens,
DR.. Ernest Grifith, president of the
Council of Social Agencies, an
today In officially launching
the project.
Three of the more pressing prob
lens the survey will investigate, it,
was disclosed, are race relations, the
of public welfare in
the District and labor management
problems here.
Clarence M. Pierce, director of the
survey, and a staff OF seven welfare
experts were introduced to an As
sisting Executive Committee of citi-
zens at a luncheon yesterday in the
K street YWCA. The comprehen-
sive study Of social conditions and
community facilities will be financed
by Community Chest endowments,
not by contributions to Chest CAM
paigns, DR.. Griffith said.
The council, which is sponsoring
the survey, has invited Alexandria
and the counties of Montgomery,
Arlington and Fairfax to join the
District and Prince Georges County
in the survey. Fairfax County has
declined, however, and the others
are still considering. the council
president disclosed. The Chest en-
downment covers only the District
and Prince Georges County. The
rest would have to pay their own
way. ....-
7 Major Fields Of Study.
Reporting that group tensions will
be one of seven major fields studied,
Mr.. Pierce declared that racial ami
mosities are rising in Washington
and said "the danger is to Negro
and white alike. The burden of
solving the problem must be shared
by BOTH"
Six other divisions are being set
up to study family and child well
fare, recreation, vocational adjust
ment, correction, adult education,
organization and structure of social
work. The handicapped, aging and
war veterans will be of concern to
several sections in the survey, Mr..
Pierce noted.
The director recognized three
criticisms of the survey as planned: ::
1t is too vague, too big and involves
too many people.
ITO the person applying for relief,
there is nothing vague about whether
he gets $50 or $40 a month on which
to support his family" the director
answered. There was nothing vague
about the transit strike in Wash
ington."
Broad Study Defended.
AS to the charge that the project
is too big, Mr.. Pierce said that if a
community is studied, it must be
studied as whole. He added that
the 1000 citizens who will work
with the technical staff approximate
the number necessary to obtain a
cross section of all elements in the
Capitals population.
Surveys done entirely by tech
nical staff have a tendency to
repose on library shelves, where they
are excellent reference work for
subsequent surveys" he observed.
Official recommendations of the
survey will be those of it's seven
citizen committees. each working
on different problem with it's own
technical staff, Mr.. Pierce empha-
sized. These will report to an Execu-
tive Committee headed by Albert
w. Atwood, author. Rufus Poole,
attorney, was elected vice chair
man yesterday. John Corson, re-
search director for the Washington
Post, was appointed chairman of a
Steering Committee. ar'-
DR.. Griffith said the council hopes
to present the results of the survey
to the public by next September
Headquarters will be in the Gage
School, Second and U streets NV
A survey of health and hospitaliza-
ton, already under way by a separate
committee, will bring the total cost
of a survey of community facilities
to more than $4,000, Dr.. Griffith