The Relief Fund - Distributions The Director of the American Red Cross relief work, John J. O'Connor, appoints an Advisory Committee. This committee is approved by the Executive Committee.
Tabulation in book form of all families including the scale figure and the grant recommended by the American Red Cross is presented to each member of the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee holds sessions over the course of several days, and with the books before them, approves or disapproves the amounts recommended by the American Red Cross. In many instances, the Advisory Committee votes for larger or smaller gifts than those recommended by the American Red Cross. Only those sums voted on by the Advisory Committee are paid. The Advisory Committee also decides whether payments should be made in full to the beneficiary or whether trust funds should be created.
The recommendations of the Advisory Committee are reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee, in special conference with the Mayor's Committee.
Families to receive payments are divided into two groups: those to whom complete payment could be paid in lump sums; and those for whom it would be better to protect the gifts.
The first group consists of families where young children were lost and whose parents could properly administer the gifts. Also included in this first group were families where the gift is very small. The second group consists of widows who were unable to speak English or who lacked capable advisors, and families in which there are records of drinking or other delinquencies.
In the cases of children left parentless, the funds are placed under protection of the Probate Court.
On Saturday, September 18, 1915, which is fifty-five days after the disaster, final payments are made to 540 families totalling $170,000. Although awards have been made it is deemed advisable to interview the members of the families and their advisors.
During the next week, interviews are held with the families at the rate of 72 appointments per day. Lawyers, physicians, neighbors and relatives are encouraged to come with the families to whom it is not deemed wise to pay over the money in lump sums. Amicable decisions are reached as to the best methods for protecting the funds. In some cases it is deemed advisable to make payments on mortgages; in some, the decision is reached to pay money when the interviews are finished. It is found that there are 69 families with awards of about $110,000 whom it is deemed vital to protect by creating trust funds.
The form of trust funds differs materially from those created for other disasters. Instead of placing the fund with a trust company to be invested in securities and the income only to be paid over to beneficiaries, individual trusts are created with banks selected by the families. The form of trust fund which would bring only a small income to a widow until her children arrived at legal age when the principal would be paid is deemed inadvisable as the widows needed larger incomes when the children were small than when grown.
As a rule banks convenient to the homes of the beneficiaries are selected. The amount of money to be paid monthly by the bank is decided by the American Red Cross in conference with the family. In every instance the sum was sufficient to permit the family to maintain a proper standard of living. At the same time the monthly sum was not so much as to deplete the fund before a sufficient number of children are reared to an age where their earnings will replace the monthly payment when the fund is exhausted.
Source: Final Report, Eastland Disaster Relief Committee, Chicago Chapter, American Red Cross, 1918.
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