Evening star., 1953-04-19
Servicenlen's
Center Plagued
By Budget Ills
Loyoff Of Aides
Feared if SIS, 900
Fund Is Denied

Fund Is Denied
The District Veterans Service
Center copes with the problems
Of 300 veterans a day, but its own
financial h dac es have it
stumped.
The problem: The House Ap-
preparations Committee has ap-
proved $4,000 for its budget. If
the center doesn't get the $4,000
it requested, it will have to lay of
some of its remaining Is en-
ployes but all of them are owed
such large quantities of accumu-
lated leave that it would break
the center to pay them.
Even the paper to photostat
veterans papers-one of the key
services of the center-is run
ming short and there's no money
to buy more.
The financial tangle in which
the center now finds itself stems
back to last spring.
EcOnOmizing for Years.
For years, the center has been
economizing and turning money
back to the Treasury-between
$35, 900 and $4,000 in all. When
$340 was appropriated to paint
the center, for instance, the CEN
ter's director, Waldron E. Leon
ard, bought couple cans of
paint. and he and his employees
saved most of the $340 by paint
ing the place themselves over a
week end.
Financially, the center was
making ends meet until last
July.
Last spring, Mr.. Leonard was
hospitalized. He briefed his as
sistant, David Linden, to testify
before the House Appropriations
District subcommittee, but Mr..
Linden was told by District bud
get officials that his appearance
was unnecessary since no in
crease in appropriations was re-
quested.
To take care of the problem
of 300 veterans a day, the center
had requested $127,000. The
House cut the request to 100000.
Mr.. Leonard got permission to
leave the hospital to testify be-
fore the Senate Appropriations
District subcommittee. His de-
fense of the $127,OO0 was bull
warked by testimony from vet
erans' and civic organizations,
the District Commissioners and
several Senators. The Senate re-
stored the full amount.
But the 100000 figure was the
one that came out of conference.
Mr.. Leonard said he heard
about it on July Is and started
scattering notices among his %
employees. Three of his housing
experts went, two interyiewers,
the educational counselor and
the center's only messenger. But
the center had to give 30-day
notices and pay the accumulated
leave of the employees. The total
cost of this amounted to $4,000.
The center got back $1,000 by
not replacing one of the two re-
naming housing experts when
she quit, although the Commits
sioners have been insisting on a
replacement.
Deficiency Request.
The veterans organizations
met with the Citizens Advisory
Council which recommended a
deficiency request for the entire
$4,000 cut by the House. The
Commissioners approved it but
Mr.. Leonard said he was afraid
such a request might jeopardlZe
the $4,000 he had to have. So
only $4,000 was requested and
$4,000 approved.
The center and its director
have received "a national cita-
tionS from veterans organiza-
tions. Men in uniform are ad-
mitted free to theaters without
payment Of an amusement tax
because of bill Mr.. Leonard got
through Congress last year. i.
Nearly 1000 hospitalized SOL
diers and sailors viewed the in
augural parade from 14O0 Penn
sylvania avenue because Mr..
Leonard interceded for them
with the District Republican
Committee.
The center's letter to Korea
veterans returning to the Dis
trict was praised by the Secre-
tary of Defense and circulated
throughout the country. The
letter tells the new veterans
what services they can expect at
the center.
Among it's other services, the
center helped 2,700 veterans now
living in Washington get the
bonus due them from West Vir-
ginia.
The center's files are crammed
with letters from the war widows
whose crippled child got braces
when the center intervened, from
the job seeker referred by the
center to the Navy Department
where he got job, from the vet
eran whose home was saved be-
cause the center got the pay
ments on it adjusted. from the
youth who wrote, "The personnel
that work there do a wonderful
job of removing the chips that
exist on the shoulders of a num-
ber of us veterans"
From June, 1852, to January,
1858, the center succeeded in
getting claims settled for 375
veterans, representing an annual
and retroactive value of 1884,
440.33. In the same period, 498
claims were filed, 3,457 inter-
views were held in connection
with claims and 3.039 telephone
calls were answered by the claims
unit.
221,OOO Veterans Here.