1913-12-03bs

“W. D. Wilson, a man who has given a great deal of his time to the work being carried on by the United Relief association, claims that there is no ground for the complaint made by the east end police regarding the system used by the association.”

Hamilton Spectator.   December 03, 1914.

There was no question that a substantial number of people living in Hamilton in December 1914 were living in dire poverty and needed help.

The United Relief Association had been organized to co-ordinate efforts to provide needy individuals and families. Where once there had been church groups, benevolent societies and the municipal government providing relief, it was felt that duplication, and inefficiencies, were making the limited resources for poverty reduction not going far enough.

The United Relief Association was not a government agency with paid staff, but rather a group of volunteers who were trying to distribute resources efficiently. Procedures had been put in place to make sure that those applying for assistance were actually in need of help, and were not malingerers or those trying to get help for more than one source.

Hamilton policemen, particularly those working out of the Sherman Avenue station, located just north of Barton street, saw with their own eyes where the need for relief assistance was most urgently needed. Policeman pounding their beats were well aware of where families were in extreme distress.

The police felt that a simple call from them identifying families or individuals in extreme need would be sufficient for assistance to be provided immediately.

In response to the public criticism of the United Relief Association by the police, Mr. Wilson said:

“ ‘If we took orders from every person who felt like telephoning us, we would be flooded with demands which we know nothing of. We are only too glad to have people tell about cases, but until we have thoroughly investigated them, we will not attempt to offer any relief.

“ ‘ We always make the investigation within 24 hours after a case is brought to our notice, and oftentimes we are asked to help people who are already on our list and who are being looked after by the association.

“ ‘One of the policemen in the east end called me up and told of a case of a family in need, and I asked him if the name of the family was registered. He informed me that it was not, and I simply told him to have either the man or his wife come, and it would be attended to.

“ ‘The police, no doubt, know the circumstances of those people as well as anybody, but the trouble is that unless some arrangement is made whereby the police can work under our system, there is bound to be overlapping.

“ ‘A public association is bound to come in for knocks, but until the police in the east end come around and see what we are doing, and what our system is, I do not think they should say that our methods are antiquated.’ ”¹

¹ “Invites Police to See System : W. D. Wilson Thinks Criticism Not Called For.”

Hamilton Spectator.   December 3, 1914.

          The policemen associated with the Sherman Avenue station, nor members of the business and residential community in that section of the city, were not going to be deterred by the response of W. D. Wilson.

A grass roots campaign to provide relief for those in need in Hamilton’s east end was initiated :

“The measures which the police, attached to the east end division to relieve some of the distress and want in Hamilton east end, are meeting with general approval from the residents of that section, and the response to their demands for assistance is of a very hearty nature.”¹

¹ “Relief is Not as Prompt As It Should Be : According to Police of the East End Division.”

Hamilton Spectator.   December 4, 1914.

The police set up a donation box in the lobby of the Sherman Avenue station, while businesses in the vicinity made efforts of their own to collect for the poor in the district:

“An instance  of this is given in the offer made by the manager of The Playhouse, the new Sherman avenue moving picture theater, who has informed the police that a special matinee will be put on Wednesday afternoon.”¹

All proceeds for the matinee would be donated to relief assistance. The manager of the Royal Theater on Barton street east matched this with an offer to donate all proceeds from a Friday afternoon matinee.

Employees of the Frost Wire Fence Company were encouraged to place donations in a box set up at the factory gate Other businesses and individuals in the area near the police station stated their intentions to fund-raise or collect donations of food, clothing or other items to donate to those in need.

A police constable stationed at the Sherman Avenue station was interviewed by a Spectator reporter who was seeking a reaction to the comments of the United Relief Association’s W. D. Wilson:

“ ‘We can realize just how they resent any adverse comment. That does not alter the fact, however, that we have active proof that their system is inadequate. In the past month, several of the officers attached to our division have come across more than one case where the city relief committee has failed to meet the situation as it should be met.

“ ‘ No doubt, several of the volunteer workers at relief headquarters are doing their best. We are willing to grant that. We would like to know, however, just how many of these workers have ever visited some of the families who have registered at headquarters.

“ ‘We have. We know just what is being done and just what has been done, and I now more than one relief worker at present attached to the city relief committee who has stated that the system has been bad.

“ ‘If Mr. Wilson or any other relief worker does not believe our statements, he has only to visit the east end police station and we will take him around to see some of the families, and will also take him around to more than one east end relief worker who can bear out our claim that the city relief system is inadequate.

“ ‘We have no desire to quarrel with the city relief committee, but we have a first-hand knowledge of conditions in the east end, and we know the city should never tolerate such conditions. For that reason, we are prepared to see the matter through to an issue, and, at the same time, realizing the failure of the city relief committee to handle things as it intended, we are doing our best in a small way to ease things to some extent.

“ ‘If the relief committee is eager for specific cases, is eager for proof, we are only too willing to come across.

“ ‘ Mr. Wilson states that all cases must be registered and must be investigated. We grant that and say that it is only proper that they should be.

“ ‘However, we have come across many cases where the need for relief was urgent, where the relief worker was wanted on the spot, not days after. Of what good is relief if it comes some days after the cases have been attended to by others ? It’s not relief unless it is received when the need is most urgent.

“” ‘I just want to say that the need at the present time is beyond all belief, that the city relief committee is not equal to the occasion and, if this is so at present, what will it be one month from now?’ ”¹

The interview concluded with the reporter being told of a case which a member of the east end police division had encountered the night before:

“He found two Italian families living next door to each other, who had but one half-loaf of bread between them and starvation. They were absolutely destitute and some of them were almost naked, so badly were they in need of clothes.

“The officers all chipped in enough money to secure food to last them until today.”¹