FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEF ADMINISTRATION

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration was created by the Federal Emergency Relief Act of 1933 (Public, No. 15, 73d Cong.), passed by Congress and approved by the President May 12, 1933. The act appropriated $500,000,000 to help the States pay relief costs. The President, on May 22, 1933, appointed Harry L. Hopkins as the Administrator of Federal Emergency Relief, with authority to make grants to States and establish methods of administration.

An additional congressional appropriation was approved February 15, 1934 (Public, No. 93, 73d Cong.). This appropriation was for $950,000,000, a part of which was used to continue the Civil Works program until its end, and for other purposes. The balance will be used for relief purposes. An additional $25,000,000 from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works will be used to purchase marginal land.

Additional funds to carry on the purposes of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration were appropriated under the Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1934 (title II, Public, No. 412, 73d Cong.), approved by the President June 19, 1934.

The same act also authorizes the President to allocate $525,000,000 to various Federal agencies for relief of drought-stricken agricultural areas. The amount that the Federal Emergency Relief Administration will receive rests in the discretion of the President; the funds will be allocated to the various agencies by the President as the need for funds develops.

The purpose of making Federal funds available was "to provide for cooperation by the Federal Government with the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia in relieving the hardships and suffering caused by unemployment, and for other purposes."

Other provisions of the Federal Emergency Act stipulated that the grants to the extent of half of the original appropriation of $500,000,000 be made on a matching basis of one Federal dollar to three of public moneys from all sources spent within the State. The matching requirement of the act ended October 1, 1933, but the Administrator has continued to apply the principle of supplementing and not supplanting the expenditures of States and their political subdivisions. To accomplish this he has sought agreements with the States as to the proportion of expenditure to be borne by Federal funds.

The Administrator also establishes policies, rules, and regulations under which the Federal money must be spent by the States. The money is applied for by the Governors, who administer such funds

through the State relief administrations. It is allotted by the State administrations to the local subdivisions. The Federal Relief Administrator has several assistant administrators in charge of various phases of administration. He also has a Work Projects Division, a Statistical and Research Division, a Rural Rehabilitation Division, a Women's Division, a Correspondence Division, and a Press Information and Publicity Division. Field representatives, each assigned to a group of States, represent the Administrator in contacts with the State relief administrations. They are assisted by associate field representatives, regional engineers, and field examiners and accountants.

In November 1933 there were approximately 2,000,000 persons receiving relief who were able and willing to work. It was apparent they were capable of earning their own livelihood. President Roosevelt established the Federal Civil Works Administration to provide jobs for 4,000,000 unemployed men and women. The first to get the jobs were the 2,000,000 persons receiving relief who could and would work if given the chance. This reduced the number of persons receiving unemployment relief, but did not eliminate the continued need of others for assistance.

The Civil Works program was gradually demobilized in the spring of 1934, demobilization being completed March 31. On April 1 the persons in urban communities in need of relief who were able and willing to work were transferred to projects conducted by newly created work divisions of the State and local relief administrations. The amount of work provided is based on the need of the individual and his family, as in giving direct relief for which no work is done. Direct relief will be continued for those unable to work and for those whose budgetary deficiency is too small to warrant their being placed on a work-division pay roll.

In rural areas, relief is aimed at rehabilitation of farm families by assisting them to become self-supporting. Work projects are provided as a means of affording work in exchange, either for advances of food or other consumable items or for domestic livestock, poultry, tools, etc., furnished for self-sustenance purposes. The rural work projects will also provide opportunity for some cash income for those whose needs cannot be met in kind.

The relief of drought-stricken farm families is accomplished chiefly by providing work projects on which the heads of the families may earn relief in the form of wages with which to supply their own needs. The projects include food canning, dam and reservoir building, well digging, and other water-development and control work, as well as other permanent measures designed to alleviate drought conditions.

The relief per family is gaged to include feed for livestock on which the families depend for livelihood.