1914-10-20dh

“Controller Copper was up with the birds this morning and personally saw to the starting of 25 men on the Beckett drive, 25 at the quarry, and completed arrangements  for 100 to go on road work, and 25 more on the Beckett drive .”

Hamilton Herald.   October 20, 1914.

It took some time to get the funds approved and accessible but finally, on October 20, 1914, the City of Hamilton was able to provide work for a portion, albeit a small portion of the number of unemployed men in the city.

The plan was a stop gap, at best, but at least, some families would have some money coming in.

The city partnered with the United Relief Association to identify those who should be hired :

“The men are from the ranks of the 1800 unemployed who have registered at the United Relief Association headquarters on South Macnab street, and they will be given three days’ work with pay, then laid off to make room for others, and given another three days’ work when their turn comes round again.”¹

¹ “Got Them Started : Controller Cooper Put Many Men to Work Today”

Hamilton Herald.   October 20, 1914.

The jobs which the men were given included making streets in the city in better shape for traffic, breaking escarpment stone into gravel at the City Quarry at the head of the Jolley Cut, and put to work on the Beckett drive, a former toll road leading up the mountain from Queen street south, the road had been purchased by the city earlier in the year and needed considerable work done on it to make it usable after years of neglect.

The men put to work that day were just the first of wave of employees to be hired by the city over the coming months:

“It is expected that over 1000 men will be kept employed by the city until after Christmas, which will provide for 200 on half time.”¹

The following day, the Hamilton Herald reported that additional work would be provided by the City of Hamilton, but the men would not be paid by the city, but would receive orders for food, coal, etc. from the United Relief Association, as well as being given clothing and other necessities.

These men would be put to work on the westward extension of Charlton avenue, as well as on the grading project on Ferguson avenue. Also, the superintendent of city parks agreed to supervise a number of men, under a similar arrangement with the United Relief Association. These men would be trimming trees, cutting down dead trees and some living trees as required. The wood would be chopped and distributed among the needy via the United Relief Association.

The efforts of the United Relief Association in helping the needy in Hamilton had become well-known outside of the city, and that had caused some difficulty:

“Professional mendicants and men who are deemed worthy of support in their own communities are flocking to Hamilton. The United Relief Association has discovered this and has decided on a drastic policy. It is that no man who cannot absolutely prove that he is a bona-fide resident of Hamilton, and has been for some time, will be assisted to the extent of a single copper.”²

² “Tramps Coming : But Only Residents Will Get Relief from the Committee”

Hamilton Herald. October 21, 1914.

The Herald absolutely endorsed the policy, noting that the fund-raising effort of the United Relief Association had fallen well short of its $100,000 target. What funds were available had to last as long as possible, hopefully through the winter months:

“So much has been said of Hamilton’s organization for relief that tramps and others from out of town are flocking here by freight trains and by the roads.

“The policy adopted is to drive these men back to where they came from with the knowledge that Hamilton is not an easy mark”²