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Hartford, Conn. Dear Mr. Hopkins: Business is more optimistic in Providence than anywhere else I've been. In the last few weeks not only have their textile plants been active, but the moderate-priced jewelry industry, too, Providence's second largest. In neither case is this a normal seasonal upturn, and business men are pretty bucked up over it. The Community Chest drive, to the surprise of everyone, appeared to be going to exceed its quota this year. About 16,800 cases are on relief in Rhode Island out of a population of about 687,000. Providence, with a population of about 253,000, has about 7,000 cases. In neither the State nor the city is this much higher than last summer, when the load failed to drop as might have been expected. No great increase in caseload appears to be in sight yet for this winter. As about 90 per cent of all unemployment relief in Providence (and generally through the State) is in the form of work relief, I had expected to find there in greatest degree the benefits in morale to be hoped for in a work program. Such, however, does not seem to be the case, and I found only a couple of people who felt as the thing worked out it was any better than a dole (except in regard to worthwhile projects put through, at an extra cost that is problematical). Considering the quality of the supervision and the planning--both apparently of the best--the morale on the job is disappointing. There are exceptions on some jobs, of course. But the inclusion of such a large percentage on work relief means the inclusion of large numbers of the lame and the halt, as well as malingerers, and the fact that direct relief is such a small part of the show means that in practice there is no alternative to putting a man out on a job if his family needs relief. The men--many of them--apparently feel that they will have to be kept on whether they work or not, and they are right." I think almost all plan to give a day's work for a day's pay when they start," an engineer told me. "But soon the agitators get after them, tell them it's no use killing themselves, etc. And then, too, a lot of them are mill hands, jewelry workers, and so forth, and not fit." On storm sewer jobs, which comprise a large part of the projects and are among the best prosecuted, he estimates that the work costs just twice what it would in the competitive market. To keep up the morale as well as possible they have segregated the worst of the "lame and lazy" into gangs on a couple of cut-and-fill projects where work morale would probably be bad anyway, and here they just stand around for the most part and make practically no pretense of working. Unfortunately one of these projects, on an old reservoir site, is right out where everyone in town sees it, so that the average citizen of Providence probably has an even worse idea of the work morale than is justified. Relief people estimated that they might reach maximum efficiency if they could fire a quarter of those working and care for them in some other way (That would give 65 per cent on work relief, 35 per cent on direct relief). This can't well be done even in egregious individual cases now because apparently no policy has yet been worked out toward rents in direct relief cases, and if someone with a large family is fired the social worker puts him back for the sake of the family. Relief people feel that under such an arrangement no higher wages would be necessary to make the majority want to work for cash instead of being cared for by food orders. The primary budgets are quite low--$6.75 for a man, wife and child--but in practice are not as inadequate as would appear from that, because of the policy of supplementing with special items beyond that when needed instead of lumping the special items in the budget. Work relief wages, for instance, were about $200,000 last month and direct relief (most of it in supplementation of these wages) $113,000. For efficient administration of this large amount of supplementary relief, it would be thought that a low case load per social worker would be necessary. The actual load is about 150 and the worker cannot as a matter of routine get to all her cases once a month, I was told. Private agencies feel the budgets are inadequate and relief people think they are all right. I have no notion where the truth lies. Dr. Pinkney of the Tuberculosis Society says that, while 10 years ago there were 30 deaths from TB among children under 14 years, that has continued to drop steadily through the depression until so far this year there have been only three. He feels that the factors involved have been enforced rest (no money for movies, etc.) and better diets through education, the fact that people can't afford candy, etc. He notes a great gain in weight among people who pass through this examinations, and feels that the relief given is adequate. He expects to see the TB rate go up once more as soon as "good times come and people start running around again." All those talked to emphasized in their criticisms that they thought the set-up a good one, the administration efficient, and pointed out that even in the late campaign there had been no charges to amount to anything. Because of this and because of the obvious efficiency with which the projects have been worked up--there seems to be no dearth of them, as complained of elsewhere, though most seem to be of a public works character--I thought the criticisms particularly interesting. Certainly it would seem true from my superficial survey that the work morale is not as good here as in some places in Mass. where the set-up is much more difficult to administer and where the supervision may not be anywhere near as good. In fact, to make an impossible comparison, the morale on the job in Providence is only a share better, I'd think, than the worst I found in Mass. (leaving out of consideration for the moment further damage to morale that comes in a politics-ridden community). The only possible reason for this would seem to be that the work program in Mass. is so much smaller that it is a privilege to be getting work relief instead of food tickets. The secretary of the local taxpayers organization said, "I don't see how work relief's improved the situation in the least, desirable as it is in theory. Too many of the workers feel they are getting a dole anyway." Part of the reason for this, perhaps, is the low budget base, which forces supplementation in such a large number of cases, thus breaking down the distinction between work relief and direct relief to large degree. There is no organization among the unemployed at all, though a year ago a thing called "The-Right-to-Live Club" ran like wildfire and gave the relief people no end of trouble. It broke up. Even though people generally seem to feel that work relief, in practice, is destroying morale as much as it is helping it, they voice no criticism of State or Federal help in relief, so far as I could find. Providence, like New York, had a privately financed emergency work drive in the early days, and here, as in New York, the fact that the eminently conservative people who headed it threw up their hands and asked the State to come in the end serves to make it pretty commonly accepted that such action was necessary. Mr. Cody's personal feeling is that a modified CWA would be the solution, with the people picked on the basis of need but thereafter paid for the job done without reference to budgets. He feels that the great majority of those on relief feel the Government owes them jobs without any corresponding sense of responsibility for the work they do on those jobs. Relief officials seem to feel that white collar people in Providence are not very hard hit, but others do not agree. Of those on work relief, about 4,500 are common labor, 1,000 women (sewing projects, etc.) 450 skilled and only 100 white collar. Somehow those who might be interested haven't bothered to think up white collar projects. Of the whole group, it is plain that few are having any special work skills preserved, as few are working at anything like their normal jobs, except among skilled labor. Thoughtful people generally complain that white collar people have to sacrifice their chances of rehabilitation to get on relief. On the other hand, Mr. Cody feels that Federal orders in this regard have been too liberal, forcing them onto the dangerous ground of setting up a class distinction. It has seemed to me that here, as elsewhere, a chief service of relief to the white collar people has been in the creation of non-relief jobs for them: engineering, clerical, etc., which they can accept with no loss of morale. Dr. Richard Allen, Deputy Superintendent of Schools, has made studies among his high school graduates, following them for five years after graduation. Of the classes a year out, half are in college, 20% unemployed, 20% employed full time, and 10% part time. Those who go to college he doesn't follow further, and as his work doesn't touch those who drop out of high school, he naturally misses the group that is probably worst off. His last study of graduates five years out of high school who never went to college (made in 1932, however) showed only 5% unemployed. Another survey is in course now. He says that half the girls from the ages of 16 to 18 are at work in their own homes or elsewhere, chiefly in domestic service, but that the boys of those ages are in very bad shape, with no jobs and nothing to do but get into trouble. He is on the Governor's Rehabilitation Commission and is trying to put over two ideas to meet this special problem and another to help in the general unemployment situation. If he fails to get the State to do it, with the first two, he is going to try to get the Federal Government to do it, setting up Providence as a demonstration center. "skimming" his idea with the young people is a "skimming, not a screening process," helping those who would most appreciate it and give promise of most usefulness to Society. He already has a small privately contributed fund from which he gives scholarships of $2.60 a week to keep kids in high school where they are well adjusted but lacking clothes, carfares, lunch money, etc. He wants the State to augment this fund. The amount involved, for Providence, is tiny. He also is going to try to get the State to take care of the most promising needy young people at least--say the top 2/3 of them--until they are 18, with camps in summer, opening boys' clubs to them daytimes in winter, classes, etc. For the general problem he is promoting a "Rehabilitation Authority" that can acquire land for relief projects (secretly and cheaply, where State or city would have to do it openly and expensively) and that can also promote other activities beyond the limits of actual relief, buying and selling, running a second-hand store on a self-supporting basis for furniture that has been repaired by unemployed who may or may not qualify for relief itself, trying to diversify its activities to give a chance for all types of skills and wrestle with the problem of helping people to rehabilitate themselves so they will be able, many of them, to get off relief if better times come, even though their old jobs may never return. How practical his scheme is, especially his notion of having it all run by educators ("The presidents of Brown and the other three nearby universities") I don't know, but it's the first instance I've found anywhere of anyone even trying to tackle the problem of what's to be done eventually to help people get off relief and keep off if the present unemployment crisis comes to an end.
Yours truly,(signed)
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