Evening star., 1949-02-24

an increasing number OF JobleSS "
ployment figure is reached contai
presently will have on its hands a
of the population who will have
basic necessities of life are con-
cerned.
Recently a call went out from
the District Board of Public We'll
fare to the local branch of the
United States Employment Serv-
ice. The sense of the conversation
was this: 1--WE can do nothing
for the people you have been
sending to us for unemployment
relief, and it will be futile to send
any more of them
Welfare Board officials explain
the reasons for this. They are
legally permitted Gin fact they
are legally responsible) to give
relief aid to employable persons
who are out of a job, but they
don't have nearly enough money
to do it.
With the funds allotted to them,
the board is able to give help to
the aged, the blind and dependent
children (for whom the Federal
Government foots some of the
bilD, and to unemployable resi-
dents whose relatives are unable
to support them. ......
Below Subsistence Level &.
Even the help that can begtyen
to these people is below
sistence level, according t0 bosrt
officials. The payments are based
on the cost of living inyl9466aps
an additional 7 per cent cut
benefits has beens necessary tt
make ends meet. s Wy s'1,s I 8
If they had to help employable
persons as we'll. another arbitrary
cut would have to be made; ano
that, the officials say. just isn't
feasible. So the board has made
an administrative regulation that
no employable unemployed are
eligible for public assistance. They
are not happy about it, but they
can find no alternative under
their present budgets.
How about the private relief
agencies? The proportionate role
the various relief agencies in
Washington play in the total pub
lie welfare picture can best be
illustrated, perhaps. by the money
they must spend.
So far as direct financial relief
is concerned, the budget for the
agencies in the Washington Com
munity Chest Association that
offer such relief was $91,108 for
the first eight months of 1948.
In the same period, the Board of
Public Welfare was spending
about 100000 each month for the
same thing.
Negligible Financial Aid.
These private agencies provide
only temporary emergency aid to
a few people and more or less per-
manent aid to an even smaller
group. The fact that their part
in the relief program is described
as negligible by Government Off
cials is nothing against them. Di-
rect financial aid is not their re-
sponsibility.
IF there is anything that has
been established in the last 80
years." says Arthur Kruse, direc-
tor of the United Community
Services, "it is that the family of
an unemployed man is entitled to
public assistance.
$50 far as the private agencies
are concerned, their function
should be to supplement the work
of the public relief agencies by
working to prevent people from
becoming public responsibilities
1t is unfortunate that some of
the private agencies have had to
enter the field of direct financial
relief to stop up the gaps in the
public machinery.
There is no provision whatever,
either out of their funds or i'll
the purpose for which the funds
were raised for the private agen-
cies to carry the basic response
bility for unemployed people
To be sure, large number
of Washington workers can get
relief under the Unemployment
Compensation Act. More than
100000 persons are covered by the
act in the District. If they lose
their jobs and have made more
than $3.50 in the year before, they
may qualify for benefits.
S400 Limit in Year.
The maximum benefit, how
ever, for a man who has earned
$3.50 in the last year is $6 a
week. The maximum compenSa-
ton in any case is $40 a week,
with limit of $40O for the bene-
fit year.
Excluded from benefits are all
Federal and District government
(more than one-half the
labor force, employees of all edu-
cational, charitable, scientific and
religious institutions, and all do
mestic workers in private homes.
Also ineligible would be veterans