These two facts explain the comparatively low percentages for these two forms of rehabilitation. The 15.2 per cent of principal grants given for general relief indicates roughly the amount of relief work that had to be done by the Rehabilitation Committee in connection with rehabilitation.
[Table 42] shows that under the title “Housing,” relief in sums of $500 or more was granted to a larger number of persons than under any other classification. The 450 families reached by these larger grants are 26 per cent of those aided to rebuild. With but 31 exceptions they received no aid other than housing. Business rehabilitation stands next, but the families reached under the second classification are scarcely more than 3 per cent of the number in the business group. Twenty-two of the large grants for general relief were made by Sub-committee IV.[144]
[144] See [p. 125]. Sub-Committee IV, Occupations for Women and Confidential Cases, was a special committee created to pass upon a few special cases which it was thought ought to be kept entirely secret, even to members of the committee. There is a great difference of opinion as to whether such a committee was at all necessary and whether its formation was not undemocratic and unjust.
TABLE 42.—AMOUNTS GIVEN TO APPLICANTS RECEIVING $500 OR MORE, BY NATURE OF PRINCIPAL GRANT[145]
| Nature of principal grant | Number of cases | Amount granted | Average amount per applicant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | 450 | $289,989.90 | $644.42 |
| Business rehabilitation | 162 | 86,250.34 | 532.41 |
| General relief | 35 | 19,579.90 | 559.42 |
| Total | 647 | $395,820.14 | $611.78 |
[145] In determining the amount received by each applicant, both principal and subsidiary grants have been considered.
In 576 instances the sum given was for a single purpose; in the business group, in 71 instances for two or more purposes. For example, in 28 instances the money was for business only; in 40 for business and for household furniture, for the expenses of an illness, or for some other subsidiary purpose. In the housing group, in 131, the money was for building only; in but 31 instances was it for household aid or general relief.
The highest grant for housing was $1,230.40, the highest for business, $1,100, but the latter included a tuition fee for a member of the family. The largest grant for general relief was $1,045, which included the expenses of a long illness.
In addition to the cases presented in the table there were two for household aid which came to $500 and $600 respectively as a result of duplication, in the one case through the United Irish Societies, and in the other, through the confidential committee.
To complete the picture, we present the grants and refusals passed on by sub-committees and by the Rehabilitation Committee during the fourth rehabilitation period from November 4, 1906, to April 9, 1907. The object of this presentation is to show the proportion of applications passed on without the intervention of a sub-committee.