Evening star., 1952-02-23
by Hermsn 7. Sehsden
slaE stsff EeEEeSBeHdsHt

CHICAGO, FEB, as,=6penihg
the relief rolls to public scrutiny
caused something less than q sea=
satien In Illinois.
II the welfare examinations
own figures are correct, only lga
people examined the lists the first
three lnghths-little more than
III persons for each Of the lDa
counties.
Considering Illinois population
OF B,Tla,lTB, that figure becomes
infnitssiiaal TO the point OF abb
sufdity.
Both sides OF the efie-tins red.
hot controversy use the figures In
post iil6fteifi. Say the adv6eates
Of wides6peh f6llsI I'VE told YOU
there wouldn't be any uflheees=
safy humiliation OF clients" Say
the 6pp6hehtsi ut shows the pf6s
gram has no real f0llsttifhfilihg
value"
Cheek Kept ON Reasons,
IL hasfit been diffieuit 10 learn
what this handful OF names
hunters was ub 10, Unlike the
Indiana Welfare Department,
which has a similar 6pehsbeek
preHpaIflJ Illinois has Kept q eares
Illl cheek on reasons feF scanning
the fellsI
illlnoIS Public Aid Commission
efielals have instructed county
not 10 ask feP Peasehs,
feP theV belleye this 70 be lms
ppgpeP under tho law,
However, they found In meRt
eases that RalfseanReiaHs eltiSans
volunteered their motives qhsse
WeFt carefully compiled monthly
for study by commission experts
and feE release TO on interested
press,
OF the l6a inquiries over O g.
month stretch, l9T were In Cook
County tchieage) where about
one-half OF the States 400, 200
Fellek eleHts FehlQe,
Only 30 Requests In Month,
Last month, when there were
only 30 Statewide requests TO see
the rolls, there were no inquiries
ut all In 90 of the counties,
Inquiries fell of sharply In
Chicago after the first month
when 90 dropped In to see the
rolls, Only "a asked TO see the
rolls In both December and jan
uary.
A breakdown Of the November
list Of callers IL revealing. Seven
teen said they were relatives Of
clients. 10 were friends. 10 neigh
bors, Q rerorters, 2 attorneys. 2
landlords, ! q physician, another
unidentified and 9 miscellaneous.
Six were recipients, three Of
whom said they resented having
their names listed publicly.
Reasons Volunteered.
Among the reasons volunteered
for inspecting the rolls were these |:
Eighteen, TO determine the
amount OF assistance being given;
IL wished 10 know II certain per-
sons were getting help: four be.
lleved certain clients 70 be lnell.
alble for relief! seven wanted ad.
dresses two were Just eufiousi
one wished 10 settle an estateI
another was arranging q funeral,
one wanted 10 know the source OF
asslstaheei tive were reliefers who
wanted 10 see their own hamesI
slx were reporters ard Din save no
reason,
Newspaper reporters showed On
interest oil over the State, and
some dropped In from other States
where similar pen.Feeord rolls
ore planned,
Teek Copy OF Wh0le List.
Although no names have been
published from the rolls, O res
porter for the Du 0uein Evening
Call In dewnstate Perry County
copied the entire list, apparently
as q test Of his right 70 do 30,
The Credit Bureau Of Pontiac
requested a copy OF the rolls and
was turned down with the expla.
nation that the rolls were open
70 Inspection,
one county treasurer said he
wished TO check the names against
o. list 0f persons who had not paid
taxes, explaining that In the ~.
tlire those on public assistance
would not be assessed this tax.
IN Cook County the records ore