To Have or Have Not

When vicious snows hit the northeastern U.S. last month, tiny Rhode Island was struck badly enough to be declared a disaster area. This meant that many of those who lost money were eligible for food stamps: $7.6 million worth. All told, 105,000 households--roughly one-third of the Rhode Island total--got authorization to use the stamps, and an estimated 90,000 actually did.

But now that the disaster has receded, quite a few of the hardy Rhode Islanders are having second thoughts about taking handouts from Uncle Sam. Some 250 people who received written authorization have either returned the document or refunded the value of the stamps they used. Says Thomas Marcello, an overseer of the program in Providence: "We had a return of over $13,000. and returns are still straggling in."

Reasons for the refunds varied. In Coventry, R.I., the welfare office received an authorization card with a letter saying simply that "someone else may need this more than we." Others who missed only a day or so of work felt that they had not suffered enough to deserve it. In some families quarrels broke out over whether to accept the charity. Among those who will not have to wrestle with their consciences, however, are employees of the town of Narragansett, about 90 of whom received the stamps. The Narragansett town council has since voted that the employees should return the largesse to the Federal Government.

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