De Schweinitz Calls United States Worst Place in World For Unemployed--Assistance Is Reduced To Handout Principle

"The United States is the best place in the world for the man who has a Job, and the worst place in the civilized world for the man who does not have a job," said Karl de Schweinitz, who was for two years secretary of the Philadelphia Committee for Unemployment Relief and is now a member of the Philadelphia County Relief Board, in an interview yesterday.

"There is no security here for the family that is in trouble because of unemployment; while abroad, no matter how serious the distress is, people know that at least they will have a roof over their heads and something to eat. In the United States, we have all of the bad features of the dole and none of the good features. We are depriving the destitute unemployed of the opportunity of managing their own affairs by giving them relief in the form of food orders and other specific grants. This takes from people the privilege of making decisions about the management of their home economy and reduces assistance to the handout principle.

"In city after city, we are teaching people to evade their responsibilities by tacitly assuming that they will avoid paying rout. There are very few cities in which to any considerable extent money for rout is given to those in need. There are unemployed families who for three years have occupied one house or a succession of houses without paying a dollar of rent.

"Whatever the difficulties abroad may be, relief does not sink to so low a scale. If we are going to preserve the self respect and sense of credit obligation of the unemployed in the United States, we must start now to prepare for the future by introducing unemployment insurance and supplementing it when necessary by regular financial assistance. The sooner the various states adopt unemployment insurance, the better."