This Day in History: 1935-07-29

Francis Fitzgerald, the Secretary of the local Chapter of Relief Recipients, the CWA, replied angrily to accusations leveled at the new Relief system at the Township Board meeting. Members of the Committee said that the new system had expanded the numbers receiving relief, had not required them to work, and had doubled the number of recipients. Fitzgerald, in a letter to the Ramsey Journal, maintained that no one on relief would not rather have a job, that the reason why there were only 22 on the dole the previous winter was that many had been turned away by the Poormaster with the admonition to go out and get a job. Those on the dole had received only a food ticket for $1.04 a week to keep body and soul together. All the members of the CWA wanted was an honest job, he said. The only alternative to the dole was for a man to steal enough to live on. There is enough which needs to be done around the Township to keep Relief recipients working at least part time until they can find a real job. Every member wanted a job, not a food ticket, he concluded. (Bristow)