Summary
In January 1935 Howard Hunter, the able and vigorous field representative in Michigan, ran into trouble. Frank D. Fitzgerald, the newly elected Governor, proposed to abolish the State Relief Commission, transfer its powers to the Department of Public Welfare, wind up the county relief committees, and restore all relief responsibilities to county poor directors and township supervisors. Hunter told him that the FERA could not possibly agree to these changes. In an interview, Fitzgerald promised to make no move without notifying Hunter and admitted that he was less interested in changing the relief machinery than in replacing the people who were running it. He also denied any commitment to the old order and hinted that he might consider alternative modernization plans.
Hunter had no faith in conciliatory moves by a Governor who was, as he told Hopkins, “unbelievably reactionary,” opposed to the whole relief operation, and intent only on getting control of federal relief funds. Hunter took it upon himself to assure members of the State Relief Commission that the FERA would not allow their “really fine program” to be ruined by permitting relief “to be kicked back into the hands of the township supervisors and reactionary politicians.” He asked Hopkins to back his stand and “when it is necessary to state very emphatically, that in the event of attempts to transfer the Relief Administration to the political Welfare Department … we will grant our funds to a specifically appointed Federal agency in the State.”
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- Welfare, Democracy and the New Deal , pp. 250 - 277Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988