A RELIEF SURVEY BY THE SAGE FOUNDATION
This emphasis on rehabilitation is the message of a report[1] which, by a coincidence, was on the press for the Russell Sage Foundation when news of tornado and flood came from the middle West. It is the first comprehensive review of emergent relief work following great disasters. It is based on the San Francisco experience and put forth as a "book of ready reference for use on occasions of special emergency."
[1] San Francisco Relief Survey. By Charles J. O'Connor. Francis H. McLean and others. Survey Associates, Inc., for the Russell Sage Foundation. To be published April 18, the seventh anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake. Price postpaid $3.50. Orders for delivery on publication day may be sent to The Survey.
The volume presents a study of the organization and methods of relief following the San Francisco earthquake and fire, made for the Foundation by a group of people who held responsible positions in connection with the relief work. It is to appear on April 18, the seventh anniversary of the disaster.
For the assistance of those in the middle West upon whom heavy responsibilities came so suddenly, the Sage Foundation sent out post haste advance copies of the first two sections of the report as a practical handbook to charity organizations in and near the stricken regions.
The Relief Survey is divided into six parts: Organization and Emergency Period; Rehabilitation: Business Rehabilitation; Housing Rehabilitation; After Care; The Aged and Infirm. Some of the prime points emphasized for the "Organization and Emergency Period" are the following:
1. The recognition of the American National Red Cross, with its permanent organization, its governmental status, and its direct accountability to Congress for all expenditures, as the proper national agency through which relief funds for great disasters should be collected and administered; thus securing unity of effort, certainty of policy, and a center about which all local relief agencies may rally.
2. The importance of postponing the appointment of sub-committees until a strong central committee has been able to determine general policies and methods of procedure. The hasty organization of sub-committees at San Francisco resulted in much unnecessary overlapping effort and some friction when committees got in each other's way. The relief forces were not united until a whole week after the disaster, and after unfortunate difficulty and bitterness.
3. The desirability of contributions, especially those in kind, being sent without restrictions, as only the local organization is able to measure relative needs at different periods of the work. At San Francisco much pitifully needless restrictions imposed by those who sent funds or supplies from distant states. The delays in securing authority for the wise use of these contributions were well-nigh intolerable. The only safe course lies in placing implicit trust in an efficient and recognized director of relief such as the Red Cross is in a position to furnish.
4. The value of utilizing for emergency administration a body so highly organized and so efficient as the United States Army, to take charge of camps, and to bring to points of distribution the supplies required for those in need of food and clothing.
5. The wisdom of reducing the bread line and the camp population as quickly as possible after the disaster so that the relief resources may be conserved to meet the primary need of rehabilitation. The care used in emergency expenditures means much in husbanding resources so that permanent rehabilitation may be efficient and thorough.
6. The need of establishing a central bureau of information to serve from the beginning of the relief work as a clearing house, to prevent confusion and waste through duplication of effort.
7. The necessity of utilizing the centers of emergency distribution for the later rehabilitation work of district communities and corps of visitors.
8. The necessity of incorporation for any relief organization that has to deal with so large a disaster.
9. The possibility of a strict audit of all relief in cash sent to a relief organization. The impossibility of an equally strict accounting for relief in kind, because of the many leaks and the difficulties attendant upon hurried distribution. Care in this direction is assured if the Red Cross is fully utilized.
Nothing can take the place, the editors of the Relief Survey testify, of the spirit and devotion of the local committees. At San Francisco the citizens showed splendid self-reliance and faith in the future, which enabled them to rebound from fortune's sudden blow, and show what sustained and co-operative effort can achieve. But the most important factor, especially for permanent rehabilitation, in so great and complex a relief problem is a trained staff. This the American Red Cross, through the co-operation of charity organization societies throughout the country, is constantly prepared to bring together on short notice. Mr. Bicknell represented the Red Cross at San Francisco after Mr. Devine's departure, and was thus unusually well equipped to plan the methods which the Red Cross has devised for emergency use.