THE 
Organization of Charities 
BEING A REPORT OF 
THE SIXTH SECTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 
OF CHARITIES, CORRECTIONS, AND PHILANTHROPY, 
CHICAGO, JUNE, 1893. 
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
DANIEL C . GILMAN, LL.D. 
President of the Charity Organization Society of Baltimore, Md. 
BALTIMORE 
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS. 
LONDON 
THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS, LIMITED 
428 Strand, W. C. 
'894 THE WORLD'S CONGRESS AUXILIARY OF THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 
The International Congress of Charities, Correction and 
Philanthropy. 
president : 
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 
FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT: SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT: 
FREDERICK H. WINES. ROBERT TREAT PAINE. 
GENERAL SECRETARY ! 
ALEXANDER JOHNSON. 
COMMITTEE OF ORGANIZATION : 
FREDERICK H. WINES, JOHN G. SHORTALL, Mrs. J. M. FLOWER, 
NATHANIEL S. ROSENAU, Secretary. 
SECTION VI. 
The Organization and Affiliation of Charities in Counties, 
States, Cities, Towns and Villages, and Pre- 
ventive Work Among the Poor. 
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS : 
Members Invited. 
Levi L. Barbour, Detroit, Mich. 
Charles J. Bonaparte, Baltimore. 
John G. Brooks, Brockton, Mass. 
Miss Anna L. Dawes, Washington. 
Robert W. De Forest, New York. 
Daniel C. Gilman, Baltimore. 
John M. Glenn, Baltimore. 
Charles C. Harrison, Philadelphia. 
J. W. Jenks, Ithaca, N. Y. 
J. Lloyd Jones, Chicago. 
Mrs. C. R. Lowell, New York. 
Richmond Mayo-Smith, New York. 
Mrs. Mary E. Mumford, Philadelphia. 
Robert Treat Paine, Boston. 
Francis G. Peabody, Cambridge. 
Mrs. W. B. Rice, New York. 
Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler, New York. 
Amos G. Warner, Washington. 
Alfred T. White, Brooklyn. 
Ansley Wilcox, Buffalo. , 
Copyright, 1894, by The Johns Hopkins Press. PAGE. 
Editorial Note v 
A Panorama of Charitable Work in Many Lands, by D. C. Gilman viii 
The Problem of Charity, by Rev. Francis G. Peabody xx 
Proceedings : 
First Session: The Demarcation of the Field of Voluntary Charitable 
Work 3 
Second Session: Friendly Visiting 15 
Third Session: The Relation of Public to Private Charity 31 
Fourth Session: Labor Colonies, Relief in Work 33 
Papers on Charity Organization in the United States: 
History of Charity Organization in the United States, by Charles D. 
Kellogg 43 
The State Charities Aid Association of the State of New York, by Miss 
Louisa Lee Schuyler 57 
The State Charities Aid Association of New Jersey, by Mrs. Emily E. 
Williamson 72 
Are Labor Colonies Needed in the United States? by Mrs. Charles R. 
Lowell 77 
Labor Tests and Relief in Work in the United States, by Alfred T. 
White 87 
Registration of Charitable Relief, by Miss Francis R. Morse 99 
Friendly Visiting, by Mrs. Roger Wolcott 108 
The Co-operation of Public with Private Charitable Agencies, by Alex- 
ander Johnson 114 
Public Subsidies to Private Charities, by Amos G. Warner 120 
Papers from Continental Europe on Public and Private Relief 
of the Poor : 
Charity in France and Belgium, by Herbert Valleroux 135 
Charitable Organizations and Charitable Work in Italy, by Egisto Rossi. 168 
The International Treatment of Charity Questions, by Baron Von Reitz- 
enstein 185 
The Elberfeld System of Poor Relief, by Dr. Theodore Miinsterberg.... 187 
The Elberfeld System of Poor Relief and its Practical Application, by 
Dr. Thoma. 200 
The Elberfeld System of Poor Relief, by L. F. Seyffardt 207 
Co-operation between Public and Private Poor Relief, by Dr. Victor 
Bbhmert 210 
The People's Club, Volkswohl ", of Dresden; its Evening Entertain- 
ments and Homes for the People, by Dr. Victor Bohmert 228 
The Organization of Charity in Russia, by Dr. H. Georgievsky 244 
FABLE OF CONTENTS. IV 
INTERNATIONAL congress of charities and correction 
Papers on Charity Organization in Great Britain : page. 
Introductory Note, by C. S. Loch 250 
The West of London : S. Marylebone, by Rev. B. H. Alford 253 
The East of London, by Rev. Dr. E. II. Bradby 258 
Shoreditch, by C. N. Nicholson 268 
St. Olave's, by C. P. Larner 278 
Charity Organization in Islington, by Miss L. Sharpe 283 
Co-operation of Charitable Agencies with the Poor Law. with Special 
Reference to St. George in the East, by T. Mackay 29c 
Manchester. Poor Law Relief and Charity Organization in an Industrial 
Town, by Alexander McDougall 304 
The Charities of Bristol, by Miss Elizabeth Sturge 312 
Rochdale. Industrial and General Characteristics, Poor Law Adminis- 
tration, and Charities, by R. A. Leach 319 
Appendix : Report of the Work Done by the Rochdale Charity 
Organization Society 1880-1891, by Alderman Heape 338 
Helping the Poor in Aberdeen, by George Milne 344 
1'he Problem of Poverty in an English Rural Union (Bradfield), by II. 
G. Willink 350 
Charity Organization in Relation to Voluntary Effort, by Rev. Brooke 
Lambert 365 
Friendly Visiting, by Miss F. C. Prideaux 369. 
English Poor Law, by Baldwyn Fleming 377 
School Savings Banks, by Charles Henry Wyatt 384 
Index 391 EDITORIAL NOTE. 
The Conference on Charity Organization, whose proceedings are 
reported in the following pages, was one of the series of international 
assemblies held in Chicago during the Columbian Exhibition of 1893. 
It was projected as the sixth section of the International Congress of 
Charities, Correction and Philanthropy, and accordingly the initiative 
was taken by the officers of that body, Hon. R. B. Hayes, the late ex- 
President of the United States, Rev. F. H. Wines, of Illinois, upon 
whom devolved the presidency of the Congress, and Mr. N. S. Rose- 
nau, who was in charge of the exhibit of Charities and Corrections 
during the progress of the world's fair. On their visit to Baltimore, in 
the early winter of 1892-3, while the National Prison Association was 
in session, this committee enlisted the cooperation of some of the mem- 
bers of the Charity Organization Society of Baltimore, and with them 
agreed to entrust the plans of the sixth section to a body of ladies and 
gentlemen, selected from many different cities. An active correspon- 
dence then began, and presently three committee meetings were held 
in New York, to give unity and directness to the various suggestions 
which had been made by those who were consulted. 
Several persons who were invited to become members of the com- 
mittee of arrangements were prevented, by distance or by other engage- 
ments, from active cooperation,-among them, Mr. Ansley Wilcox, of 
Buffalo, Rev. J. Lloyd Jones, of Chicago, Professor Jenks, of Cornell 
University, Miss Dawes, of Washington, and Rev. J. G. Brooks, of 
Brockton, Mass. 
The persons below named attended one or more of the meetings, 
held in New York, and so constituted the acting 
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 
Levi L. Barbour, Detroit, 
Charles J. Bonaparte, Baltimore, 
Robert W. De Forest, New York, 
Daniel C. Gilman, Baltimore, 
John M. Glenn, Baltimore, 
Charles C. Harrison, Philadelphia, 
Mrs. C. R. Lowell, New York, 
Mrs. Mary E. Mumford, Philadelphia, 
Robert Treat Paine, Boston, 
Francis G. Peabody, Cambridge, 
Mrs. W. B. Rice, New York, 
Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler, New York, 
Richmond Mayo-Smith, New York, 
Alfred T. White, Brooklyn, 
Amos G. Warner, Washington. VI 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The officers, chosen by the committee, were these. 
President: Daniel C. Gilman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore- 
Secretary: Richmond Mayo-Smith, Columbia College, New York. 
Treasurer: Charles C. Harrison, Philadelphia. 
Executive Committee: Messrs. A. T. White, of Brooklyn, R. W. De 
Forest, of New York, and F. G. Peabody, of Cambridge, with the Presi- 
dent and Secretary. 
Finance Committee: Messrs. R. T. Paine, C. C. Harrison, and C. J. 
Bonaparte, and Mrs. C. R. Lowell. 
The executive committee perfected the arrangements for the meeting 
in Chicago, and (with the exception of one member) were present dur- 
ing the deliberations. The finance committee collected an amount 
sufficient for the payment of the incidental expenses, and for the assur- 
ance of the publication of this volume. This pecuniary support came 
chiefly from active upholders of the principles of charity organization 
in Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. 
The special arrangements for the meeting, including a very large 
part of the foreign and domestic correspondence, devolved upon Pro- 
fessor Mayo-Smith, of Columbia College, New York. 
The Congress assembled in Chicago, June 12, 1893. The opening 
address was delivered by the Reverend Professor Peabody, of Harvard 
University, which, at the request of many persons who heard it and of 
many who heard of it, is reprinted in this volume. At the same meet- 
ing, a discourse commemorative of ex-President Hayes, who died in 
the preceding January, was delivered by Reverend F. H. Wines, since 
published in the report of the National Prison Congress. Another 
address of general interest was given by the Hon. Robert Treat Paine, 
of Boston, which has since been published in a separate volume. 
The section on Charity Organization held four sessions, over which 
Mr. Robert W. De Forest, President of the Charity Organization 
Society of New York, Mr. Jeffrey R. Brackett, and Mr. John M. 
Glenn, of Baltimore, presided. The debates which followed the read- 
ing of the papers are reported, not so perfectly as might be desired, 
in the following pages. Those who heard the communications and 
the comments upon them, were unanimous and hearty in their expres- 
sions of satisfaction and in their desire to impart, to those who could 
not be present, the impressions of this encouraging and stimulating 
conference. EDITORIAL NOTE. 
VII 
It is to be regretted that a valuable paper by Mr. Levi L. Barbour on 
"The Demarcation of the Field of Voluntary Charitable Work" is 
omitted. It was not forwarded by the reporter and has not since been 
found. 
The delay which has occurred in the publication of this volume is due 
to the necessity of sending to England the proofs of the very valuable 
papers contributed through the kind agency of Mr. C. S. Loch, Secre- 
tary of the Charity Organization Society of London. As the authors 
were widely separated, much time was consumed in receiving the return 
proof sheets. Special acknowledgments are due not only to Mr. Loch, 
but also to the Rev. John G. Brooks, who was actively interested in 
securing communications from continental writers. 
The care of seeing this volume through the press was assumed by 
Mr. John M. Glenn, one of the managers of the Charity Organization 
Society of Baltimore. The Index has been prepared by David I. 
Green, Ph. D., recently called to the oversight of the Charity Organi- 
zation Society in Hartford, Conn. 
Baltimore, January, 1894. A PANORAMA OF CHARITABLE WORK IN MANY LANDS: 
BEING A REVIEW OF THE PAPERS SUBMITTED TO THE INTERNATIONAL 
CONGRESS IN CHICAGO, JUNE, 1893. 
BY DANIEL C. GILMAN. 
In the volume to which this essay is an introduction the reader will 
find an expression of opinions upon the organization and adminis- 
tration of charities from many thoughtful students and observers in 
England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and in many states of 
the American union. Most if not all the writers are persons who 
have devoted years to the study of human sufferings and delinquencies, 
and to the agencies by which the strong endeavor to bear in part the 
burdens of the weak. Many of the contributors, if not all, are offi- 
cially concerned in the administration of public or private charities. 
Not a few of them are known far beyond the borders of their own 
country as authorities or experts in the treatment of pauperism and the 
prevention of misery, vice and crime. Their collective essays afford a 
sort of panorama of the charitable work of Christendom, at the close 
of the nineteenth century. The panorama, however, is not complete. 
Hospitals, dispensaries, and institutions for the relief of the aged, the 
protection of the young, and the restoration of the feeble do not come 
within the present survey. Nor are educational, reformatory, or peni- 
tentiary establishments discussed in this volume. But the methods now 
employed in Europe and America for the prevention of pauperism, the 
relief of poverty, and the orderly administration of beneficence, are 
here succinctly set forth with all the variety of expression that is sug- 
gested by spontaneous efforts, in different conditions, under various tra- 
ditions and laws, and described by men and women who are unacquainted 
with the views of their collaborators. In all this diversity a remarka- 
ble unity of principles will be soon discovered. Four principles are 
generally recognized as wise and correct, and in some places are indeed 
so familiar that they appear elementary. 
First, the nature and influence of charitable works and the compara- 
tive values of different modes of procedure, are as worthy of exact A PANORAMA OF CHARITABLE WORK IN MANY LANDS. 
IX 
study, as the facts and laws of political economy. If humanity is still 
far from having worked out "a science of charity," it has taken the 
first steps toward the establishment of a systematic and trustworthy 
system; it has undertaken to collect the facts and to make some gene- 
ralizations upon the information thus brought together. Organized 
charity proceeds upon the assumption of the unity of human nature, so 
that although, laws, religions, traditions and usages differ in different 
lands, like causes every where tend to produce the like effects. It 
examines the methods which have been employed for the relief of necessi- 
ties in the light of these consequent results. It records and compares 
the experience acquired in towns and villages and country places. It 
notes the rise and fall of individual characters, and the uplifting or the 
degradation of families and neighborhoods. It observes particularly 
the effects of good and bad financial laws and ordinances; good and 
bad sanitary regulations; good and bad religious and moral influences. 
As it makes these studies, charity organization is not at all alarmed if 
it is called in a sneering tone "scientific," for history is full of examples 
of the taunts that have been thrown upon the beginnings of a science. 
Nor is charity organization dismayed by being opposed as cold and 
unsympathetic. The medical and surgical arts are constant witnesses 
to the truth that severe remedies are sometimes the most efficacious, 
and that to b® truly helpful to a sufferer, the adviser must be intelli- 
gent, calm, firm, and self-controlled. As the analogy between the 
diseases of the human body and the failures of human society is appa- 
rent, so too are the analogies of treatment. There must be a science 
of pathology, which ascertains and describes the characteristic lesions, 
before empirical methods can be superseded and the true principles of 
hygienic and sanitary science be established. In social as in bodily 
ailments the art of healing must be based upon ascertained facts and 
on accumulated experience. 
Secondly. It is another principle of charity organization that there 
shall be no needless expenditure of force, no dissipation of energy. 
Four agencies, which are at work in almost every community-civil, 
ecclesiastical, associated and individual beneficence-must be brought 
into such harmonious relations, that there will be no overlapping or 
duplication of charitable support. The State has its legitimate prov- 
ince; so has religious sympathy and good will; so has associated or 
institutional activity; so has private generosity. The effort of charity 
organization is to protect each of these humane influences and likewise X 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
to prevent their rivalry and conflict. There are two dangers ever 
hovering over a charitable community,-that the expenses of adminis- 
tration will be disproportionate to the good accomplished; and that 
for the lack of adjustment and co-operation, the recipient of aid will be 
so amply supplied that he becomes permanently dependent or pauper- 
ized. It is only by careful comparison of the facts that the benevolent 
forces of any community can be wisely and economically administered. 
Co-operation in charity is of prime importance. 
Thirdly. Charity, to be really and permanently efficacious, must 
always (except in emergencies, like fire, accident, and sudden illness), 
be guided by personal acquaintance with the wants that are to be re- 
lieved. Indiscriminate almsgiving at the door or on the street; the free 
bestowal of food " no questions being asked;" spasmodic liberality one 
day and crisp parsimony the next; the avoidance of particular inquiries 
in respect to the conditions of those who seek assistance, may satisfy the 
conscience of a tender-hearted person, but his alms will probably 
aggravate in his beneficiaries the distresses that ought to be healed. 
No process is more favorable to the encouragement of improvidence, 
laziness and intemperance, than the heedless generosity which gives to 
all who ask without discrimination. Nevertheless, busy people, espe- 
cially in large towns, are often unable to make domiciliary visits. Here 
come in the associated charities. A central office with its auxiliaries, 
and especially with its staff of agents and visitors, will investigate for 
those who cannot make their own enquiries every apparent case of 
need. 
Fourthly. The best of all charities is not that which gives something 
for nothing; but that which gives something in return for industry, 
labor, economy, self-sacrifice and self-help. Work, for the strong and 
healthy, is better far than a dole. Useful labor, fairly requited, uplifts 
the needy man by perpetuating the consciousness that he does not 
belong to an impoverished class; bounties carelessly bestowed, without 
any return, tend to place the recipient in the ranks of the pauper. 
This principle does not prevent generous treatment of those who are 
dependent, good pay for their work, and special help in times of sick- 
ness and distress; nor kindness to those who are rearing and teaching 
young children, to those who are in sorrow, to those suddenly thrown 
out of work. The effort is always to be made to keep from sinking 
lower those who by misconduct or misfortune are on the verge of per- 
manent shiftlessness and distress. But the main stay of every family, A PANORAMA OF CHARITABLE WORK IN MANY LANDS. 
xi 
as of every individual, must be work, unless age or infirmity intervenes; 
and those who are charitably disposed do the greatest service to the 
needy by providing for them tasks of a useful character for which a 
moderate payment can be made. 
In short, Education, Registration, Co-operation, Visitation, and the 
Provision of Employment, are the five-fold agencies upon which the 
leaders in charities are united. 
From these general considerations let us proceed to notice the papers 
contained in this volume. First comes an admirable statement of the 
office of Charity set forth in an address delivered by the Rev. Francis G. 
Peabody of Harvard. This is followed by a report of the discussions 
elicited after hearing the essays read to the conference in Chicago. 
Many of the most intelligent workers in the charity organization 
societies of this country took part in these debates, and often in the 
familiar phrases of their off-hand expression, pithy statements and 
concrete illustrations were brought forth. They illuminated many 
sombre chapters of accumulated experience. Then come ninety pages 
on the work of charity organization in the United States, introduced 
by a very valuable compact history of the movement, by Mr. C. D. 
Kellogg, Secretary of the Charity Organization Society in New York. 
Twenty years ago there were no such associations in America. Now 
there are ninety-two in this country and Canada. No one is better 
qualified than Mr. Kellogg to make such a review. The communica- 
tion unabridged is to appear in the report of the Twentieth National 
Conference of Charities and Correction. 
The examples of associated charities are introduced by an historical 
paper on the State Charities Aid Association of New York by one of 
the original and chief supporters of that work, Miss Louisa Lee Schuy- 
ler. It is a remarkable exhibit, in most respects unique, of the possi- 
bility of enlisting friendly, voluntary agencies, in the visitation of pub- 
lic institutions without awakening the opposition, but rather with the 
welcome, of the governing authorities. This is only a part of the good 
work accomplished by the association. The acquaintance thus acquired 
in respect to the needs of the State enabled the managers to suggest 
and support many independent agencies of beneficence,-such as the 
training of nurses for hospital and for private service; the collection 
of books and papers for public institutions; the opening of temporary 
homes for needy children; the provision of immediate aid to the injured; XII 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the establishment of a municipal lodging house in New York; and the 
abolition of the poor-house system of caring for the insane. 
New Jersey is the only state which has endeavored to follow the 
example thus set by New York, and the story of the Charities Aid Asso- 
ciation of New Jersey is told by Mrs. Williamson. This society is only 
seven years old, but its value is demonstrated by the simple state- 
ment of what has been accomplished in that brief period. 
Indeed, as one reads the narrative of these two societies, so full of 
sensible, judicious and practical suggestions in respect to the possible 
co-operation of official authority and private philanthropy, it appears 
strange that the example has not been more widely followed. Doubt- 
less this clear summary of experiences will suggest to the citizens of 
other states the value of kindred organizations. The considera- 
tion, the tact, the devotion and the intelligence enlisted gratuitously 
in the public service are above praise. 
Mrs. Charles R. Lowell of New York next discusses the question 
whether labor colonies are needed in the United States, describing 
the experiment at Plainville, N. J., from 1874 to 1888, contrasting it 
with kindred European colonies. Her conclusion is that labor colonies 
are not needed in this country to provide an opportunity to work, but 
that they are needed for training, and that to be successful they must 
be under public control. 
The methods by which unskilled labor has been employed in various 
American cities are next described by Mr. Alfred T. White, President 
of the Bureau of Charities in Brooklyn, who presents in a few conclud- 
ing sentences the results of a great deal of experience and observation. 
The next paper is a discussion of "Registration," that is to say, of 
the practice so prevalent in charity organizations of keeping records of 
the relief furnished by the various co-operating agencies of any city. 
Those who are unfamiliar with this most important feature of modern 
charitable work in large towns, will here find the advantages of it ex- 
plained and the objections answered in a paper prepared by Miss F. R. 
Morse of Boston. 
Friendly Visiting is essential to the effective relief of the poor, and 
this work is probably better done in Boston than any where else in this 
country. The requisites of such service are set forth in a paper by Mrs. 
Roger Wolcott of Boston. She does not favor perfunctory or official 
visitations, like the Elberfeld system, nor even what is commonly known 
as the "district " plan, but she shows what good may be accomplished A PANORAMA OF CHARITABLE WORK IN MANY LANDS. 
XIII 
when an intelligent and kind-hearted person becomes the friend of one 
or two families and gains their confidence. 
The next two papers are supplementary to one another and relate to 
a fundamental question, which has not yet received its final solution, 
at least in this country. The doubtful point is the extent to which 
public contributions, that is allowances from the treasury of a city or 
a state, may be given to charities that are supported and controlled by 
private individuals. Mr. Alexander Johnson, of Indianapolis, points 
out the difficulties which may arise in the mind of an overseer of the 
poor, when he is asked to co-operate with a private charitable organi- 
zation, shows how these difficulties have been and may be overcome. 
Professor Warner (lately at the head of the public charities in Wash- 
ington), opposes, with a vigorous argument, the policy of granting sub- 
sidies to private charities. " As a transition policy for growing com- 
munities and for new and developing varieties of benevolent work, it 
may have its place ", but as a rule " all that can be said against sub- 
sidies in general can be said against this form of subsidies, and more, 
because here we have to deal with religious, medical and social secta- 
rianism." 
The second section of the volume before us is devoted to the papers 
which exhibit the practice of Continental States in the relief of the 
destitute. Mons. Valleroux, an advocate of Paris, presents an histori- 
cal survey of French charities as administered in three epochs,-before 
the Revolution, during the Revolution, and since the Revolution. In 
the first period he says that private beneficence did every thing; in the 
second, the government assumed full control, even to the extent of pro- 
hibiting private charities; in the new regime, charity is exercised both 
by the public authorities and by individuals. At the present time, he 
notes a growing tendency to put every thing into the hands of the gov- 
ernment, "and to replace the ancient form of charity, done by the 
faithful with their money and for the safety of their souls, by a charity 
done by the administration with the money of taxpayers and for elec- 
toral purposes." Mons. Valleroux adds a few pages upon Belgium, 
where the historical antecedents are akin to those of France. The 
present tendency of legislation is toward an alleviation of the burdens 
of the communes and the increase of those of the central government. 
Signor Rossi discusses the charitable organizations of Italy, giving a 
brief historical preface, and introducing elaborate statistical tables, 
most of which are based upon the government returns of 1880. One XIV 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
of the most interesting parts of this essay is the analysis of the Poor 
Law of 1890. If the benevolence of the middle ages was almsgiving, 
modern charity is "work and education", and "the new law of Italy 
is imbued with this spirit." 
A paper by Baron Von Reitzenstein of Freiburg, Baden, which was 
prepared for the first section of the Congress, is here presented in an 
abstract. This is far from doing justice to an extended and suggestive 
paper to which the student must be referred. It gives a comparative 
view of the methods of relief employed in different countries, and it 
praises the charity organization societies of England and America, 
while the Elberfeld system of Germany receives the highest place among 
existing methods, because it reserves to the township the administra- 
tion of relief, while it also makes the freest use of the unpaid services 
of responsible private citizens. 
This is a good introduction to the two papers which come next, on 
the Elberfeld system of poor relief, prepared by Dr. Theodore Munster- 
berg of Hamburg, and'by Dr. Thoma of Freiburg. "Organization," 
says Munsterberg, "is the magic word which alone can solve these difficult 
problems." Good results depend "upon the consideration and treat- 
ment of each individual case." This principle of "individualization" 
was brought to life, forty years ago in Elberfeld, and now stands in 
Germany "as the type of a good and appropriate system of poor 
relief." After giving some details in respect to the methods of this 
system, the author states that other large and small cities, Leipsic, 
Dresden, Konigsberg, Frankfort o. M., Cologne, etc., have adopted 
the Elberfeld plan, and he shows particularly the results attained in 
Hamburg, a city of 600,000 inhabitants, where some noteworthy modi- 
fications of the plan were adopted in 1893, with signs of great promise. 
Dr. Thoma, reminding the reader that an overseer or visitor of the 
poor, has at most but four cases to look after, describes the success of 
the Elberfeld system in Freiburg, Breisgau, where it was introduced 
in 1879. While he admits that there are here and there weak points 
which come to light only in practice, he is persuaded of the excellence 
of his plan and believes that "the splendid results achieved since 1853 
indicate that the system will hold its position in the future, not only in 
Freiburg, but in all Germany." 
To these two papers a noteworthy addition is made by Herr Seyffardt, 
who is the presiding officer of the charity administration in Crefeld. A PANORAMA OF CHARITABLE WORK IN MANY LANDS. 
XV 
In reply to an inquiry from our colleague, Rev. John Graham Brooks, 
as to whether it was often found necessary for the central board to over- 
rule the decisions of the local overseers or visitors, he admits that some 
such supervision is sometimes requisite, but he deprecates any action 
which would "weaken the very vital nerve of the Elberfeld system,- 
the moral responsibility of the overseer for the poor whom he has to 
take care of." 
Two important communications came from Dr. Victor Bohmert, 
chief of the Royal Statistical Bureau in Saxony. In the first, he pre- 
sents an argument for the organization of public poor relief and for the 
supervision of private charities, and he quotes as applicable to the large 
towns of Germany this remonstrance from the Board of Charities in 
Paris. It is instructive to notice that the evils so apparent in American 
cities are equally apparent under other forms of government and admin- 
istration. These are the words quoted from Paris: "The same per- 
sons are relieved twice and oftener; much money and labor is squan- 
dered; the capital is overwhelmed with the destitute from the provinces 
and abroad, who can neither be properly relieved nor sent back to 
their homes. ' ' Dr. Bohmert briefly indicates the attempts made in Prussia 
and Austria to secure co-operation among the public and private agencies 
for the relief of distress; and in greater detail he brings out the experi- 
ence of Dresden, the capital of Saxony, a city of 276,000 inhabitants. 
Here in 1880 the Elberfeld system was adopted. Four hundred official 
overseers were appointed, to each of whom not more than five cases 
were assigned. A society for the prevention of pauperism and mendi- 
cancy soon enrolled 4,000 members, and soon established a rent 
savings bank, workshops for residents and transients out of work, and 
an employment bureau. Finally the public authorities instituted a cen- 
tral bureau of information and called upon all the voluntary organiza- 
tions "to join in the officially prepared plans and enter into closer 
relations with one another, as well as with the public relief." The par- 
ticulars of this movement are very suggestive and instructive, but an 
American reader cannot fail to notice that similar action on the part 
of our municipalities, in the present unfortunate conditions of city 
government, would certainly be fruitless. At present we must strive 
for co-operation the forces of moral suasion and not of city ordi- 
nances. Dr. Bohmert firmly believes in the co-operation of public and 
private agencies, and commends the experience of Elberfeld and Cre- 
feld, "two model cities in the organization of poor relief." XVI 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The second paper of this able writer, describes the Volkswohl, or 
People's Club of Dresden, for the promotion of evening entertain- 
ments, lectures, concerts, refreshment rooms, homes for girls, homes 
for apprentices, and other agencies for the alleviation of the lot of 
those who are not impoverished, but are bread winners on small pay 
and without access to the comforts and recreations that are enjoyed by 
the more favored classes. This paper is an excellent concrete illustra- 
tion of the way in which the life of those who are humble and destitute, 
but not downcast or forlorn, may be enriched and elevated. 
A brief paper from Dr. Georgievsky of St. Petersburg gives a sum- 
mary of the charitable works of the Russian capital, and indicates the 
inception of a scheme for introducing a special bureau of information, 
like that which has been successful in Dresden. 
The third section of our volume is devoted to Great Britain. To the 
efficient co-operation of Mr. C. S. Loch, Secretary of the Charity 
Organization Society of London, the Chicago Congress is greatly 
indebted. By his kind mediation, papers have been brought together 
illustrating the opinions of men and women respecting charity organi- 
zation in the metropolis. The experience of Marylebone, a west end 
district, where begging abounded and benefactions overlapped until 
better methods were employed, may be contrasted with a plain and 
unembellished tale of Whitechapel. Shoreditch, St. Olave's, and Isling- 
ton also furnish memoirs. The London chapter concludes with a paper 
by Mr. T. Mackay on co-operation between the public and private 
charitable agencies. The aims of the society to secure reforms of the 
Poor Law are distinctly brought out. This section concludes with a 
similar series of papers from industrial centres,-Manchester, Roch- 
dale, Bristol, Aberdeen,-and from Bradfield, a- rural union, "where 
outdoor relief has almost reached the vanishing point, and where some 
of the principles of charity organization were formulated as far back 
as 1834, although there is no charity organization society." 
The writers of the British papers are these: Mr. C. S. Loch, Rev. B. 
H. Alford, Rev. Dr. Bradby, Mr. C. N. Nicholson, Mr. C. P. Larner, 
Miss L. Sharpe, Mr. T. Mackay, Mr. Alexander McDougall, Miss 
Elizabeth Sturge, Mr. R. A. Leach, Mr. George Milne, Mr. H. G. Wil- 
link, Rev. Brooke Lambert, Miss F. C. Prideaux, Mr. B. Fleming and 
Mr. C. H. Wyatt. 
To this review, which is intended to facilitate the perusal of a 
rather complex collection of papers, some conclusions may be added. A PANORAMA OF CHARITABLE WORK IN MANY LANDS. 
XVII 
These essays embody the most recent observations, experience and 
suggestions of some of the ablest promoters of associated and organ- 
ized charities in Great Britain, on the continent and in this country. 
They are written for the direct purpose of enlightening and helping 
the great hosts of benevolent persons who are so humane as to be 
devoted to the relief of the distressed and cast down, and who are at 
the same time so intelligent that they wish to work upon the best plans, 
with the greatest prospects of success. The careful study of these 
papers, with the critical and suggestive comments, may be commended 
to the members of charity organization boards throughout this country. 
The papers are undoubtedly technical, devoted to matters of fact. 
For this very reason they will well reward the careful reader. But it is 
hoped that another class of persons will be helped by this volume, the 
students of social economics and the writers of articles on pauperism and 
charities, and also the administrators of almshouses, workhouses and 
the other manifold establishments which deal with the unfortunate and 
neglected. 
In the bestowal of charity and in the prevention of misery, the world 
has reached a new epoch. It is clearly perceived that some measures 
afford only temporary gratification to the giver and the recipient, while 
others promote the permanent improvement of character. Kind senti- 
ments are not dulled by the study of facts. On the contrary, they 
are not most devoted to the poor who drop a quarter or a nickel in 
the hand of every beggar, but those who take pains to follow up each 
applicant, personally or through some vicarious friend, until the real 
needs of the applicant are discovered, and the measures of permanent re- 
lief are applied. "Not alms but a friend," "not doles but employ- 
ment," "not help for an instant, but permanent relief," "not degrad- 
ing but uplifting aid" are the watchwords of modern charity. Thus 
the needy are kept from becoming paupers, and those who are striving 
to do their best are helped upward and onward. Nobody doubts that 
material relief, food, fuel, clothing, must be given away, and in times 
of emergency, when hard times prevail, the bounty of the forehanded 
must be bestowed on those who are suffering. But one method will 
aggravate the disability; another method will remove it. Co-operation 
between all private and church associations, and where possible with the 
public authorities, leads at once to the careful registration of what is 
done and what remains to be done. Then comes personal investigation 
with sympathy and counsel for those who will accept it. Relief can XVIII 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
always be secured when necessity is apparent. Those whose degrada- 
tion and wickedness prevents their response to these elevating influences 
must pay the penalty of their habits and be placed in the almshouse or 
the infirmary or the prison. 
Social reforms go very slowly. It is much easier for men to walk in 
the ways to which they are wonted than to mark out and traverse better 
routes. But by persistence reforms are accomplished. Science, which 
is only another word for exact knowledge, always has the worst of it in 
its first struggle with ignorance and prejudice; but it always wins in the 
end. Science has only just taken up the problem of relief. It has not 
yet made a careful survey of the situation. The subtle but perva- 
sive influences of religion, legislation, administration, finance, custom, 
prejudice and tradition are factors, the significance of which is not fully 
understood, and will not be for generations to come. But meanwhile 
a good deal has been ascertained, and upon these ascertained facts very 
good working plans may even now be built. Human suffering can be 
greatly relieved, if it cannot be prevented or exterminated. 
The human race seems likely to replenish its fallen ranks with a cer- 
tain number of the incompetent, the inefficient, the weak-witted, the 
vicious. It will always be a problem how far such persons are to be 
dealt with by the severe methods of the law, or by the gentler agen- 
cies of kindness. But the denizens of the lower stratum are not nearly 
so numerous, nor so difficult to deal with, as those who have been fairly 
well off, but who now (it may be by their own faults,-it may be by the 
faults of others,-it may be by circumstances and conditions which, 
human analysis cannot reveal), have entered on the downward road, or 
are in danger of making that fearful descent. These we can reach. 
Organization, co-operation, and friendly visitation are the general 
agencies which in each particular case of need will bring out the abun- 
dant resources of a charitable community. THE PROBLEM OF CHARITY. 
XIX 
THE PROBLEM OF CHARITY. 
BY REV. FRANCIS G. PEABODY, PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS, HAR- 
VARD UNIVERSITY. 
The first and the most interesting thought with which one faces an 
assemblage like this, is the thought of the special quality and character 
of life which it represents. Other Congresses in this great series will 
gather here many of the world's most conspicuous names and most 
famous leaders, but the meeting which begins to-day does not depend 
on reputation or fame to fulfil its rich opportunity. It is not a Con- 
gress of those who are achieving great names for themselves or famous 
deeds for their country; it is the Congress of self-sacrifice, the meeting 
of those who are content to be unknown if only the world in which 
they live can be made better through their service. It stands for quiet 
self-forgetfulness and unassuming devotion. It is a Congress whose 
special motto might be that strange word of the Christian gospel: "He 
that would be the greatest among you shall be the servant of all." I 
see the delegates to such a Congress gathering here from all their dif- 
ferent works of self-effacing benevolence; I see you coming from your 
asylums and reformatories, from your charity offices with their pathetic 
clients, and from your beautiful visitations in many a sunless home ; 
and yet, as you meet, I see in your faces not the weary look of those 
who have borne with much hard duty, but the unaffected happiness 
which comes to men and women only through a life of generosity and 
service. I congratulate you on this great privilege of your chosen work. 
It is a great joy to feel sure, as you may, that in your vocation you are 
dealing with the central problems of this modern age. 
The fundamental law of the naturalist is said to be the survival of 
the fit; the much more fundamental law of the charity worker is the 
revival of the unfit; and this revival of the fitness to survive in the 
degraded and outcast, the unfortunate and defeated in the competition 
of life, is the new science for whose transforming power the world is 
waiting, and whose ministers it is your happy privilege to be. XX 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
Many of you, no doubt, are so immersed by the details and routine 
of your daily life that you hardly realize the nature of this extraordi- 
nary spiritual movement in which you have your part. If in these days, 
as of old, the Master of the spiritual life should come to you in your 
daily work and say : "I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I 
was naked, and ye clothed me; sick and in prison, and ye came unto 
me," you would, I doubt not, answer with the same surprise which 
others of the old time felt: "Master, when saw we Thee hungry and 
fed Thee, or sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?" No such great 
task as this is given to us to do. And yet, I think that He, who knew 
what was in man, if He could stand in the midst of such an assemblage 
as this with its devoted workers and generous administrators, would 
say, as He did of old, and with a deeper sympathy perhaps than He 
could feel in many a church that bears His name: "Inasmuch as you 
have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done 
it unto Me." 
To an audience thus composed I do not presume to come with any 
word of practical advice. 1 do not propose to offer counsel about 
charity to those who know her and serve her best. In all such ques- 
tions of past history, or present administration, or future programme, 
we are soon to listen to wise counsellors of many nations and tongues, 
and I do not anticipate the themes which are to be presented to us in 
these busy days. And yet, before we separate to these varied delibera- 
tions, it may be well to pause a moment in the region of more general 
thoughts, and to give one quiet look together over the whole range of 
the work which you have given your lives to do. Let us for a moment 
stand off from the details of the task, as the artist now and then stands 
off ftom the work over which he lovingly and laboriously bends, that 
he may the better see how each part is related to one harmonious whole. 
Or rather, let us go up-as officers of an army go up-out of the smoke 
and conflict of the battle they are fighting, to some remoter hill-top 
where the plan of the whole campaign lies less obscured beneath 
their feet; and then, perhaps, we may go down again and take our 
places in our own special battalion, and fight our own little battle 
against social wrong, with a renewed and a more patient hope. 
Standing thus together, then, at this point of general view, I wish to 
ask with you the most general question which our subject can possibly 
suggest: What is this phenomenon of charity, I enquire, in which each THE PROBLEM OF CHARITY. 
XXI 
of us has his special part? What is the nature of this field of service 
which we see stretching away about us on so many sides? How can 
we define the work with which modern charity undertakes to deal? 
What is the problem of charity? That is the elementary question 
which I ask you to consider. And the first and most general answer 
to this most general question is this,-that the problem of charity in 
the modern world is a vastly larger thing than either the name or the 
history of charity might lead one to expect. For many centuries charity 
has occupied a very limited and special field. Its sphere has been 
bounded by the practice of alms-giving for temporary relief. It has 
needed but two elements; on the one hand, the tender-heartedness of 
the giver; and, on the other, the mendicancy of the receiver. The 
prosperous have felt ill at ease while their neighbors suffered, and have 
mitigated the lot of the unfortunate by doles of money or material sup- 
port. That has been the work of charity. Let us recognize the beau- 
tiful impulse which such a work represents. It is an impulse which has 
its historical beginning with the birth of Christianity. Along with 
other mighty truths then entering into the world there came a new deal 
of human nature, a sense of value in each human soul for its own sake, 
however degraded or forsaken that soul might be. Out of the new faith 
in the Fatherhood of God flowed this other new faith in the brother- 
hood of men, and it made one of the great transitions in the evolution 
of the human race. The poor and rejected, the submerged of man- 
kind, were regarded in a wholly new' light when they were thus accepted 
as essential parts of the one body in Christ. The solidarity of the race 
became a practical belief. If one suffered, all suffered with him. The 
"Caritas" of the Christians gave a quality and color to human rela- 
tions which classic civilization never knew. Poverty was no longer a 
bar to brotherhood. It was rather an invitation to the new fraternity. 
Through the custom and worship of the early Christian Church there 
ran this golden thread of practical faith, that relief of a brother's want 
was the first test of a true Christian life. And yet, beautiful as this new 
sense of value was, it brought with it its own new danger. The new zeal 
for charity came to demand the poverty on which to spend itself. The 
new philanthropy created a new mendicancy. Poverty grew by what it 
fed on. Mendicancy came before long to be a profession, and unproduc- 
tive idleness to be one mark of a saint. The workers of the world had 
to support an increasing number of these sacred unemployed. There XXII 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
seemed to be little virtue in making one's honest living, but great vir- 
tue in giving alms to those who did not make their living. Thus Chris- 
tian charity threatened to become, for the rich, little more than the sen- 
timental atonement for prosperity; and for the poor a grave temptation 
to indolence, pauperism and fraud. How slowly any change was to 
come in this conception of charity is to be seen even now in many an 
Oriental nation, where alms-giving and mendicancy are still all that 
represent the work of charity, and where the notion of a Congress of 
scientific students to discuss the principles of charity would seem simply 
absurd. But in western Europe and the countries populated therefrom, 
partly through a better understanding of Christianity itself, and partly 
through the growth of the scientific spirit, a new range of opportunity 
has by degrees opened before the work of charity. The new forms of 
industrial life, the vastly greater social complexity, the increasing wealth, 
the manifold inventions and the democratic spirit of the last fifty years, 
have made for us a new social environment, with new'problems calling 
for new rules of conduct. Just as our methods of trade have been 
transformed by steam and telegraph so that the sailing-vessel to the 
Indies and the merchant's letter of advice are now like ancient history 
to us, so modern charity has by degrees left behind it the elementary 
relation of giving and receiving, and has become a part of the great 
complex unity of modern life. It is not that the earlier ideal has had 
to be out-grown, but that it has had to be intelligently directed. We 
inherit from the past of philanthropy this great spiritual force, which 
has proved itself a natural part of human life just as the force of steam 
or of electricity is a natural part of the physical world, and we are now 
called, not to the repression of this impulse to charity, but to the dis- 
cipline of it for the service of the world. The scientific mind fastens 
on this dynamic capacity of the love of man, just as it takes possession 
of the electric current and harnesses it to the machinery of modern life; 
and then this force of Christian feeling which in its undisciplined use 
threatened peril to society, for the first time discloses the many direc- 
tions in which it can be profitably applied, and the larger service it was 
designed to do. Just as the electric flash is applied to its scientific ser- 
vice of heat and light and motion, so the instinct of charity, instead of 
being an occasional sentiment lighting up here and there the selfish 
world as an electric flash lights up a midnight sky, becomes the foun- 
dation of a science and is practically utilized in ways of which the THE PROBLEM OF CHARITY. 
XXIII 
■earlier world did not dream. The old charity was simply the unre- 
flecting expression of the sheer emotion of pity; the new charity directs 
this emotion along definite economic lines. The old charity satisfied 
the feelings of the giver by alms; the new charity educates the receiver 
to do without alms. The old charity was temporary relief; the new 
charity is continuous education. The old charity had but one way of 
expression; the new charity has a thousand channels. Often the most 
charitable course is that which has the least so-called charity about it. 
It is better charity to find work than to relieve want, better charity to 
teach a trade than to encourage the trade of mendicancy, better charity 
to provide stimulus for thrift than to make thrift unnecessary. The 
old charity met the drunken beggar on the street and gave him the 
means for his further degradation; the new charity meets a drunken 
woman on the crowded thoroughfare-as did one fair girl in one of our 
great cities not long ago-puts an arm round the poor bewildered 
wretch, passes down the busy street hand locked in hand, puts the 
woman to bed, and then watches the patient from day to day until 
at last the demon of drink may be driven out by the expulsive power 
of a new affection, and the body and soul of a human being may be 
saved. 
Such is modern charity in its new summons to its larger work. And 
now I go on to ask once more for a definition of the conduct thus de- 
scribed. What is the problem of charity as it thus opens before us in 
this new breadth and scope? It is, I answer, a twofold problem-the 
same problem which meets any man who has at his command a special 
force with which to work, and a special work given fordhat force to do. 
Here, on the one hand, is this power of a great spiritual idea, and here, 
on the other hand, is the mighty mechanism of modern life with its 
awful contrasts, its pitiful competitions, its tragic incidents ; and to 
apply this ideal to this reality-that is the problem of charity. It is, in 
short, ethics applied to economics ; the sense of duty introduced as a 
•dynamic into the complex machinery of the modern world. And what 
does this problem demand of charity ? It demands two elements, each 
perfectly distinct and each absolutely essential. One element is the 
method of charity; the other is its motive. The method must be the 
method of business. It must not conflict with economic principles ; it 
must conform to them and reinforce them. The motive, on the other 
hand, must be that of ethics-the same sense of brotherhood which once XXIV 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
satisfied itself with almsgiving, precisely as active in its influence, but 
disciplined in its use. And here at once appear the two risks of modern 
charity-risks which are equally familiar and equally misleading. Char- 
ity may, on the one hand, be unbusiness-like, so that the motive lacks 
method; or charity may become wholly a matter of business, so that the 
method lacks motive. You may introduce the power carelessly, and then 
your machine will be shattered; or, you may trust to the machine to run 
itself, and then the machine will stop. Here, then, are the two cardi- 
nal principles of charity-its economic method and its supra-economic 
impulse. The one gives to charity its science, the other preserves to charity 
its sentiment. Science without sentiment is like an engine without steam; 
beautifully adjusted it may be in all its parts, but practically a lifeless 
structure. Sentiment without science is like steam which is unapplied to 
its proper work or unchecked in its expansion. The moment one con- 
siders the nature of any modern movement of charity, he sees these two 
opposite aspects of the case. Take, for instance, the work-now so 
widely and beneficently undertaken-of providing improved lodgings 
for the poor. The first test of such a scheme is, as you are well aware, 
the business test. To be wise charity, such an undertaking must, first of 
all, be good business; and thejdemonstration that security, privacy and 
cleanliness can be provided for the poor on strictly commercial terms 
and with business success, makes perhaps the most conspicuous triumph 
of scientific charity. But turn the same case round and the other side 
of the problem appears. What is it, after all, that makes such dwell- 
ings financial successes? It is that they express the thoughtfulness, con- 
siderateness and justice of those who built them. Put them in the hands 
of unscrupulous owners, and the very elements which induce good 
tenants to seek them-the safety, the privacy, the inducement to thrift- 
disappear, and with these disappears also the commercial advantage~ 
Thus the motive which distinguishes such lodgings from the surround- 
ing rookeries is, after all, what gives them their business. Philanthropy 
rightly directed has economic value. Wise charity is good business. 
Benevolence has a place in the modern industrial world. Or, observe 
again this same twofold character in your associated charities system : 
It has its mechanism, and that mechanism is disciplinary, negative, 
stern. But this machinery only performs its service that there may 
work through it the mission of the friendly visitor, bearing a moral 
motive to the poor. The two sides of this system are essential to each 1'HE PROBLEM OF CHARITY. 
XXV 
other. Take away the machinery, and the friendly visitor has 
no security from fraud ; take away the friendly visitor, and the 
system tempts one to look for fraud and little else. The business 
method runs the risk of hard-headedness, and the kindly friend the risk 
of soft-heartedness, and the twofold nature of wise charity is the essen- 
tial basis and strength of the whole scheme. In the book of the pro- 
phet Ezekiel there is a wonderful picture of the world of heaven. It 
was to him a vision of many and bewildering wheels. "The appearance 
of the wheels," says the prophet, "was like unto the color of a beryl, 
and their work was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel." But 
within these wheels, as the prophet saw them, there were living crea- 
tures, "and when the wheels went, the living creatures went, and 
when the living creatures had the spirit to go, the wheels were lifted up, 
for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels." It is a pic- 
ture of the visions which so many earnest workers have to-day of the 
future of philanthropy. Wheels there must be, and wheels in the mid- 
dle of wheels. But the wheels are set in motion by the spirit of life, and 
the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels. 
Such seems to be the problem of modern charity-a twofold problem, 
partly of economics, partly of ethics, its method of the head, its spirit 
of the heart. This problem, however, carries with it large consequences. 
From these two elements, thus defined, there issue a whole series of 
practical rules, to which wise charity must conform. Each principle involves 
several corollaries. There are some rules which are laid upon your 
charity by its demand for economic method, and there are some which 
flow directly from its moral motive, and together these corollaries make 
up the condition of all effective work. It is these working rules of wise 
charity which you, in your different sections, are now to discuss and 
reinforce in all their variety of application to the special theme which 
will engage you. But before we separate to these special tasks let us 
notice a few of the most elementary of such rules which thus proceed 
from the two principles I have laid down, first from the business method 
of charity and then from its ethical impulse. On the one hand there 
seem to be three most general demands laid on our charity by the prin- 
ciple of business method. And first among such I name knowledge- 
the comprehensive and scientific knowledge of the material with which 
one in charity has to deal. It seems to be rather an elementary truth 
to say that business method needs accurate and comprehensive knowl- xxvi 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
edge. A man, for instance, who deals in cotton must first of all know all 
about the visible supply, the probable crop and the movement of trade 
in his special business. The person who deals in charitable relief in 
any community ought first of all, we should suppose, to know the real 
extent, the exact nature and the world-wide movement of his subject. 
Yet as a matter of fact, I ask you, how much charity has behind it this 
kind of comprehensive knowledge? Who knows, for instance, in his 
own city with entire precision the total dimensions of destitution, the 
types to be dealt with, their relative size and special character, the 
occupations represented, the total number of the unemployed, the cost 
of living and the migration into the city and away from it? Yet it is 
precisely such knowledge which would give to charity work, as it gives 
to all other business, its grasp and decision, and would insure for it 
public confidence. Charity guaranteed by knowledge is like the explor- 
ing of a dangerous country with a chart of it in your hands. It changes 
a series of incidental and fragmentary observations into a systematic 
campaign. Fortunately for us all, we have before us a monumental 
example of this kind of charity coast survey work in the elaborate and 
costly research of Mr. Charles Booth, of which, says the London Spec- 
tator, "it is not too much to say that it has done more to help the solu- 
tion of the social problem than any man, or indeed any institution or agency 
of the time." To have the whole life of a great city laid down on a chart, 
with the nature of its population, its strata of social classes, and the 
various rocks, dangers and obstructions which hinder the movements of 
reform all plainly indicated-what help to navigation in such troubled 
waters can be greater than this? It is safe to say that among the many 
works of mercy which every city needs, there ought to be included this 
work which seems rather remote from mercy-the scientific survey of the 
field to which mercy is to be applied. Certainly here is a great oppor- 
tunity in any city for an individual or institution with the money, skill 
and inclination for scientific sociology. Sooner or later every large 
town must be dealt with in this way, and it is an encouragement to 
think that hardly any other such investigation will ever have to be so 
vast or so complicated as this which has led the way. 
I name next, as a second obvious demand of business method, the 
union of the forces applied to charity. Consolidation in business may 
have its perils, but it is essential to effectiveness in modern life. It is 
equally true in charity. Scattered and unrelated charities run two THE PROBLEM OF CHARITY. 
XXVII 
leaving many cases uncared for at all. The unworthy are tempted to 
risks,-the risk of duplicating many cases of relief, and the risk of 
deceive, and the worthy find themselves often beyond the technical pur- 
poses of these special institutions. A complete understanding among 
all who are concerned in charity is essential both to justice and to 
mercy. And this business aspect of charity has its importance for the 
givers as well as for the receivers. Scattered and disconnected organi- 
zations are enormously extravagant. There is more than one institution 
to-day in most of our large cities calling itself a charity, where at least 
half of the total income goes to support the person who collects the 
funds. The institution, that is to say, practically exists to give the col- 
lector a living, and the collector, pleading at your door for such a cause, 
weakens the plea which you ought to answer in another. Still further, 
this very multiplicity of demands makes many persons shrink altogether 
from their duty. They are never safe from these irregular appeals, their 
giving becomes unsystematic and spasmodic, and finally they begin to 
harden their heart toward the whole subject. It is interesting, there- 
fore, to inquire whether even without consolidation there cannot be 
some "pooling of issues" in such affairs, and some degree of unity at- 
tained. The most important experiment of this kind has been tried for 
some years past in the city of Liverpool, and I trust that in some one of 
your sections attention will be called to this Liverpool system of collec- 
tion. In the year 1873, as many of you, no doubt, are aware, the 
charity experts of that city noticed the accidental and unsystematic way 
in which relief was administered, and the subscription lists of 38 of the 
principal institutions and agencies were overhauled with the following 
surprising results. Out of a total number of persons in that city esti- 
mated at twenty thousand, who were believed to be able to contribute 
to charity, only 6,600 had subscribed to these 38 principal methods of 
help. The total number of subscriptions given under these 6,600 names 
was 19.000, or an average of three subscriptions by each giver. But, 
again, of the 6,600 names, more than 50 per cent, appeared but once, 
and 16 per cent, but twice. The bulk of the giving, that is to say, was 
done by about one-third of the givers. Indeed, out of the 19,000 sub- 
scriptions, more than 10,000 were made by about 1,000 persons. Half the 
habitual giving, in other words, to the charities of Liverpool was done 
by these 1,000 persons, the same names re-appearing on a great number 
of the lists. On the basis of these facts, a simple business method was XXVIII 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
proposed. The various charities were not united in administration, but 
they were induced to present their claims through one office and on one 
sheet. At the beginning of each year a list of charities, now amounting 
to ninety-eight, and guaranteed by a central committee as worthy of 
help, is distributed to some 15,000 citizens, and on this sheet each sub- 
scriber sets down and divides at his discretion his charity subscription 
for the year. From those who are well-disposed but unacquainted with 
any special form of charity, a general subscription is asked, to be dis- 
tributed at the discretion of the central committee. Such a plan is, at 
any rate, economical, for it dispenses with a large number of collectors; 
and it is trustworthy, for it eliminates unworthy institutions. But should 
we expect it to increase the total giving? Would most people give 
more by sitting down at the beginning of the year and counting the 
cost, or by careless yielding to repeated demands ? I think we might 
at first suppose that more could be got by repeated appeals and by good- 
natured, unsystematic giving. But such is not the teaching of the 
Liverpool scheme. The more business-like charity has been made, the 
more the public has been willing to invest in it. In 1877, the Liver- 
pool Society received for 18 charities; in 1892, it received 
for 98 charities. I commend this business system to any large 
city. The charities of Boston are at this moment practically supported 
by a small fraction of those who are able to help them, and who, under 
judicious method, would be willing to help. In the case of any one of 
our more general societies, half the list of annual subscribers, and among 
them the largest givers, could probably be named with tolerable cer- 
tainty without consulting the report. What we need is that broader 
constituency which, rightly approached, would be glad to do its share, 
but which demands a business method guaranteeing a reasonable invest- 
ment. 
I shall name but one other rule of good business method in charity, 
which follows directly from the knowledge of the facts involved and 
from the union of the forces engaged. It is, of course, the thorough- 
ness of system pursued. On this subject, as on many others, the Ger- 
mans, who are the system-makers of the world, have the great lesson to 
teach. The charity of a German town is a much more limited under- 
taking than with us, with much less pretentious institutions and much 
less extravagance; it is often perhaps too plodding, cautious and 
conservative in procedure, but it has at least the one distinguishing THE PROBLEM OF CHARITY. 
XXIX 
trait of thoroughness. I do not now enter into the discussion of the 
space-system of relief as usually employed in Germany, compared with the 
case-system, as customary with us. Indeed, I do not see why the ad- 
vantages of both may not be welcomed. In some German cities, the 
public municipal relief is by space, each visitor covering like a sentinel 
his own little beat; while the voluntary and private charity is by case, 
with the adaptation and friendly interest a case-system permits. But 
what, much more than its system, concerns one in the German plan is 
the enlistment of enough competent people to make either system effec- 
tive. Municipal charity with us scarcely pretends to use thorough and 
personal scrutiny, and even our associated charities system, with its 
adaptation of the Elberfeld model, has to depend on voluntary offers of 
assistance and is rarely equipped with an adequate supply of competent 
visitors. Germany, on the other hand, enlists each year by actual draft 
and selection an army of its most responsible citizens, and commits to 
them the oversight of the poor as a part of their good citizenship. A 
citizen of a German town serves his term in the friendly army of 
poor relief just as he serves his term in the army of national de- 
fense. This is what ensures a thorough business-like system. Conserva- 
tive, plodding, over-official, maybe German ways in charity, as in most 
other things; but they have at least the virtue of thoroughness. There 
is complete centralization of direction, and complete individualization 
of relief. I do not wish to be understood as desiring to see such a plan 
of compulsory charity service accepted as yet in our very large cities. 
Where cities are already grossly misgoverned and over-governed, I do 
not propose to favor an extension of the power of appointment. But 
there are, on the other hand, scores of towns in this country, of mode- 
rate size and of reasonably good local government, where a thorough 
system of visitation might be successfully maintained. It should be 
made a part of one's citizenship to be ready for a summons to serve 
one's town. We have long accepted the principle in the case of jury- 
service. Why should not the prosperous be trained to this other and 
much more fundamental function of public duty? It would be a bless- 
ing to many an empty-and to many an overcrowded life-to be thus 
called away from its own interest to this public and generous work; and 
it would be a fortunate town which, before its growth became unman- 
ageable, should educate its rich citizens to do something for the needy, 
and its needy citizens to do something for themselves. Such a town XXX 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
would be free from many of the abusesand burdens of insti tutional charity. 
It would be a good town for the thrifty poor to live in, and a town 
which the undeserving would avoid. It would be a town in which pros- 
perity brought with it responsibility for others, and poverty was sure of a 
chance of self-help. It would be a place in which Christian preachers 
could with better hearts select such texts as: "Bear ye one another's 
burdens," and "No man liveth to himself,"-a town over whose gates 
might be written: "The rich and poor meet together. The Lord is the 
Maker of them all." 
I have dwelt long enough on the rules of conduct in charity which 
issue from its first principle,-the method of business, and now I have 
but a few moments in which, finally, to indicate the chief rules of con- 
duct which issue from the other principle,-the principle of the moral 
motive. Here I turn from all these questions of method, and think of 
charity at its source, as an expression of the personal and moral life. 
The individual life finds itself incomplete until it passes over into union 
with the common life. That is the ethical statement of charity. 
Freedom finds its fulfillment in service. That is the motive of charity, 
and without such a motive charity becomes simply dead officialism and 
machinery. Misguided sentiment may pervert charity, but lack of 
sentiment kills charity. And into what rule of conduct does this fact 
open? Plainly into this,-that there is no charity which is not personal. 
You cannot be charitable by machinery. You cannot give in charity 
unless you give yourself. I do not mean that giving in money is never 
charity. Money may be the best expression you can offer of the self- 
sacrifice and sympathy which charity represents. But it is not charity 
because it is money; it is charity because it is money given with per- 
sonal thought and discretion and feeling. Money given on other terms 
is not charity. It is sometimes self-display; it is sometimes self-decep- 
tion, calling itself charity; it is sometimes a ransom for being let alone. 
Charity means that a person takes his own place by money or by work 
in the social organism of poverty; and no one else can take the place 
which belongs to you. It is a campaign in which you cannot buy a 
substitute. That is the first rule of conduct which this side of the 
problem dictates. The cal] of charity is a personal call. 
And now, given this personal relation of life with life, how does it 
affect the conduct of each person involved? It operates in what is really 
a most curious manner, bringing to the two lives concerned precisely THE PROBLEM OE CHARITY. 
XXXI 
opposite effects. Its first effect on the receiver of charity may be de- 
scribed as the education of wants, and its first effect on the giver of 
charity as the simplification of wants. The two are easy to distinguish. 
What, on the one hand, is the first thing which you can do for the poor, 
when you put away charity as a matter of money and think of it as a 
matter of personal relationship? The first thing you can do is to start a 
new ambition. The first obstruction to your help is the fearful absence 
of wants which is so often found among the poor-what Lasalle called 
the "verdammte Bedurfnisslosigkeit"-the cursed habit of not wanting 
anything. The saddest feature of many degraded lives is their content. 
They do not care to be clean; they do not miss fresh air; they do not 
crave good food; and the first gift which the charity visitor can bring 
them is the gift of a new want. This good angel sweeps the room, or 
washes the child's face, or cooks the dinner; and at the next visit the 
mother has done these things herself, and the first step toward self-help is 
taken. But now turn the same story round and consider the giver's 
life. To him or to her there comes the opposite and no less blessed 
gift,-the simplification of wants. In the presence of poverty and human 
need other ambitions drop away. Self-indulgence and social folly grow 
simply uninviting. Life is simplified of its complexity. One is de- 
livered from the absorbing problems which centre about one's self by 
this natural interest in others. The quality of mercy blesses those who 
give as well as those who take. Here are the two opposite gifts, a new 
ambition and a new simplicity, the multiplication of wants and the 
simplifying of them. I suppose that people must often wonder at the 
pleasure which others seem to find, or the peace of mind which they 
themselves discover in works of charity. Looked at as a practical un- 
dertaking, charity is often very dull and sometimes very disheartening. 
The poor are, as a rule, not very picturesque or very noble; they are 
often stupid and often unresponsive. Whence then comes the peculiar in- 
terest of such endeavor? Much of it comes, no doubt, from this simpli- 
fying of one's own wants, and much comes, on the other hand, from 
contributing to others a new ideal. It is a great joy to be delivered 
from one's self, to be freed both from idleness and from meagreness of 
life, to pass from the complexity of modern civilization to the simplicity 
of unambitious service. That is one source of great happiness. It is 
another great joy to find that you have the power to communicate a 
motive, that even so ineffective a life as you had supposed your own to XXXII 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
be can do a better thing for another life than any money-help can do for 
it,-the imparting of a new ambition, the miracle of calling another 
soul to life, the joy of helping another human being not to lie down in 
mendicancy, but to rise up into self-help. It is with such charity to- 
day as it was with Peter and John at the beautiful gate of the temple 
where the lame man lay-as the passage says-to receive an alms. And 
Peter fastened his eyes on him and he gave heed, "expecting to receive 
something." But Peter said, "Silver and gold have 1 none, but what 
I have that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise 
up and walk." PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
Sixth section 
OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 
OF 
CHARITIES, CORRECTION, AND PHILANTHROPY, 
Subject: 
CHARITY ORGANIZATION, PROCEEDINGS. 
international (Conyreso of (Charities, (Correction anfr 
Philanthropy. 
SIXTH SECTION. 
FIRST SESSION, June 12, 1893.-2 P. M. 
The sixth Section of this Congress assembled at 2 o'clock P. M. The 
chair was taken at the request of the Committee of Arrangements by 
Robert Weeks De Forest, Esq., of New York, President of the 
Charity Organization Society in that city. The Secretary was Professor 
R. Mayo-Smith, of Columbia College, New York. 
I'he Chairman, in calling the meeting to order, spoke as follows : 
This is purely a business meeting, and when I say business meeting I 
mean that we meet here, not simply for the purpose of talking, but in 
order, if possible, to get at some results. As most of you know, we 
unfortunately have not the pleasure of the presence of the presiding 
officer of this particular section, President Gilman of the Johns Hop- 
kins University. He is unable to be present here by reason of the 
closing exercises of his university, and it therefore devolves upon me 
to preside. 
In the first place, I would suggest that the Secretary read a letter 
which President Gilman, as Chairman of the Committee of Arrange- 
ments, has addressed to the members of the Congress. This is properly 
the first act in the proceedings of what I will call for short the Charity 
Organization Section of this Congress. 
The Secretary thereupon read a letter from President Gilman, dated 
Baltimore, Md., June 6, 1893, rehearsing the various steps that had 
been taken in making the arrangements for this section of the Congress, 
and in securing appropriate papers. 
The Chairman.-That is the keynote to the plans of this particular 
section of this Congress. We aim, as you see by this letter, not sim- 
ply to have a number of papers read here, amid all the distractions 
that must necessarily attend a meeting of this kind, and with all the 4 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
other papers that are being read on so many different topics at the 
same time in the other sections of this Congress. We aim to print a 
volume, or volumes, which shall contain whatever there may be of per- 
manent Value in the papers presented to us. This Congress, as perhaps 
it is wise to remind ourselves, is an international one, and the front 
seat naturally belongs to those of our foreign friends who are present. 
Now, unfortunately, our foreign friends are very few in this meeting,, 
and that is the reason why the majority of those who speak at our 
sessions will be Americans. But, on the other hand, it must not be 
supposed that because our foreign friends are not here in person they 
have not a deep interest in this Congress, and in this particular sec- 
tion of it. We have a large number of papers from different foreign 
countries, from gentlemen of the highest standing and reputation ; and 
those papers we propose to present in the printed volume. 
We have for this particular sectional meeting the following foreign 
papers ; a paper on Charity Organization in Germany, by Professor 
Victor Bbhmert, of Dresden ; on Compulsory Organization of Charities 
in Italy, by Dr. Egisto Rossi, of Rome ; on Scientific Charities in Ger- 
many, by Baron von Reitzenstein, of Freiburg ; on Relief of the Poor 
in Russia, by Professor H. Georgievsky, of St. Petersburg ; on Charity 
Organization in Relation to Voluntary Effort, by Rev. Brooke Lambeth, 
Vicar of Greenwich, England; and additional papers are promised. 
We have also a number of important communications from our own 
countrymen. 
The first subject of our meeting is "The Demarcation of the Field 
of Voluntary Charitable Work." It is a pretty broad subject, and is. 
intended to bring out a free discussion as to the proper scope of volun- 
tary and governmental effort in charities in general, and, it may be, of 
the proper scope of charity organization societies in particular. The 
first paper will be from Levi L. Barbour, Esq., of Detroit, Mich. 
The Chairman then introduced Mr. Barbour, who read his memoir 
on the subject above named. 
After the conclusion of this paper a discussion followed, introduced 
by the presiding officer, Mr. De Forest. 
The Chairman.-It is interesting to note that this first American 
paper brings out and lays down what may be called the fundamental 
principle of American charity, namely, that our charities should be 
supported by the people by voluntary contributions and not by the gov- 
ernment with public funds. That is an important and broad doctrine, 
and I do not suppose it can be discussed as applicable to mankind in 
general. I suppose it is a question that must be discussed in relation to a 
particular country. Not long since I had the pleasure of showing a friend 
around our New York institutions, and I took him to see a hospital. 
He said : "Is this private?" "Yes, this is private." He seemed to 
be somewhat surprised. Then we went to an orphan asylum. That CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
5 
was private too. And so pretty much all the charitable institutions of 
the city were found to be private. He was very much amazed. It was 
a situation of affairs for which he was not at all prepared, and so abso- 
lutely different from that of similar institutions in his own country, 
that he could hardly realize it. So I am glad to have one of the key- 
notes of this discussion struck at such an early stage. 
Now, the more this is a conversational meeting, the better. We have 
not, as I said, a definite program. We may read more papers, and we 
may read fewer papers. So far as the speeches are concerned, I pro- 
pose, with your approval, to strictly enforce the ten-minute rule, and 
to reserve the right on the part of the Congress to make that ten 
minutes five. 
If Dr. Warner will favor us, we shall be glad to hear from him on 
this particular topic. 
Professor A. G. Warner, lately of Washington, D. C., and now of 
the Leland Stanford, Jr. University in California, was then introduced to 
the Congress by the chairman. Professor Warner said : 
I agree with the suggestion of the chairman that no particular prin- 
ciples can be laid down for the guidance of all countries in the matter 
under discussion. The experiment of substituting church relief for 
public relief at Glasgow showed what could be done under the man- 
agement of a man like Thomas Chalmers. When the attempt was 
made to substitute public relief for church relief at Elberfeld, it was 
shown that that was the very system for a city in Germany at that par- 
ticular time, the system of public relief there working much better than 
that organized and administered by the churches. In fact, the church 
relief system had broken down when the Elberfeld system was intro- 
duced and developed to its present condition. In Italy, also, private 
charities have recently been secularized. The great endowments for 
the care of the poor in Italy have been so badly administered that they 
have been secularized by the Italian government, and from private ad- 
ministration they have changed to public administration. 
We find, looking at the matter historically, that, as a rule, churches 
and private associations have been the experimenters. It has been 
through the church or through private enterprise that new ideas in 
charity have been developed, and the community has been educated 
up to a position where it insists upon having large work steadily done. 
In the work of Bourbonnais on the charities of France he shows that 
almost all of them originated under church influence, and were, for a 
long time, administered by church officials, and then he exclaims 
against the present system where the bureaus administer even a very 
large share of the endowments left by private persons. He thinks that 
the transfer to the state of the function formerly discharged by the 
church is a usurpation, and that the power of administration should be 
restored to the church. These charities were instituted especially by the 6 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
church, or by private associations under church influence. And yet it 
may be that the author is not right in saying-after it had been shown 
that a large block of charitable work must be done, and after the methods 
of doing it have been reduced to a routine-that it should then be left 
to private associations or enterprises. 
Look at this country. What used to be considered the education of 
the deaf and dumb, the education of the blind, and farther back, per- 
haps, the care of the insane also-all these were first done by private 
enterprise. 
It was through the influence of these private enterprises that the com- 
munity was educated up to the point where it insisted upon having 
these blocks of charity done; but that point being reached, a steadier 
income, a firmer administrative grasp, and a more general and syste- 
matic arrangement of the work were necessarily called for. Hence the 
control passed from the hands of the private inventors of the new char- 
ties to the hands of the State. At the present time, where the hospitals 
become very large, where the orphan asylums become very large, (as 
they have in the places of which mention has been made), it has been 
found that while the management remains in private hands, the money 
frequently comes from the public coffers, and the constant tendency is 
to transfer the work to the public management. For instance, the ad- 
ministration of outdoor relief in European countries is found to be well 
done by the local communities under a system by which a large number 
of unpaid officers are brought into the work. In this country it is 
found that we cannot administer outdoor relief in such a manner with- 
out the degradation of the poor and the corruption of local politics. It 
is a question, then, of administrative or governmental skill on one side, 
and on the other of the possibility of collecting from individuals the 
money necessary to support large charities, when they have developed 
to such an extent that it requires a large and constant revenue to main- 
tain them. The function of private enterprise in charitable work will, 
as it seems to me, remain this: if the state is large and opulent, it can 
do something after you say it must and show it how; but it is not inven- 
tive, it is not progressive, and it is to private enterprise that we must 
look for the doing of new work. The public and private officers of 
charitable institutions react upon one another through mutual supervi- 
sion. In America public officials very seldom supervise private chari- 
ties, and yet I think it is a plan we shall have to come to, (as the Euro- 
pean countries have), when the incomes are very large. The possibili- 
ties of abuse are so great, that public officials will have to supervise pri- 
vate work, and then, returning that compliment, private enterprises 
like the state charitable organizations of the country can return the 
debt by supervising the public institutions and seeing that they are 
wisely administered. 
The Chairman.-We should all like to hear a few words from Pro- 
fessor Henderson of the University of Chicago. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
7 
Professor Charles R. Henderson was then introduced to the Con- 
gress, and he said: 
1 should like to emphasize (though it would be impossible to give 
added emphasis to it) the forcible presentation of a thought contained 
in a sermon delivered yesterday by Dr. Gladden. The whole problem 
of charity organization is to bring together the person who can help 
and the person who needs help. Mr. Rosenau, in a paper read at the 
University, at one of the dinners of our Associated Science Clubs, gave 
a chart in which he represented all those who needed help, all those 
who come before the charitable organizations, and then finally those 
who were not remanded to permanent institutional help, but were 
brought into individual contact with some benevolent person. I should 
like to see this chart printed and published because of its suggestiveness. 
If this principle of individual helpfulness were carried out it would 
modify, though it would not necessarily abolish, in this country offi- 
cial outdoor relief. Anyone can see that the present system is as far as 
possible from that enunciated by Dr. Gladden yesterday. Let any of 
you go to the offices of the county or township trustees and notice that 
long, mournful row of paupers coming for relief, and you will see that, 
though they are very near the embrace, they are really as distant as 
the sky. Never touched, spoken to, or befriended by word or look, 
but in the coldest possible official way thrust apart from those who 
would be glad to do all they could, and who could easily be led to do 
them good. But this is not only true of official outdoor relief. It is 
also true of our church charities, which are almost as much open to this 
objection as the official outdoor relief. 
Churches, on the whole, are doing very little in the way of giving 
money in this country. Most of the relief of the pauper class comes 
through the officials. Of course many localities may be named as ex- 
ceptions, but I think this is the general rule. 
We have waited fifteen years for a promised book by Herbert Spen- 
cer, and now that it has arrived it is simply "a small mouse" indeed. 
Perhaps I have not comprehended him; but if I understand him in his 
book on Positive Benevolence, it is about the most negative thing I ever 
read. He says the only thing that we are obliged to do by the law or 
by duty, is to help some one who may come across our path and be in 
need. The people, for instance, in the West End of London are the 
people who are able to help the poor. The people in the East End are 
those who most need assistance. The people of the West End could 
say: "I never meet these people and it is no part of my duty to go 
and find them." So there are a great many people who would be ne- 
glected. But it is undoubtedly true that under the system of absolute 
individual help a great many people would give indiscriminately. 
The desire to do good, to help the unfortunate, to assist the hungry, 
is a real social force, something that can be counted on, and people are 8 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
going to give-if not wisely, they are going to give nevertheless-for 
the hunger of the world is too deep to be assuaged by anyone. There 
remain one or two methods in the immediate future. One iS the Elber- 
feld method and the other the association of charities. I understand 
that the latter method is before us this afternoon. The Elberfeld 
method may at some time be applicable to our conditions. It certainly 
is not in the immediate present; but I think the societies already organ- 
ized according to this method are showing that it is possible to pass the 
bounds which now limit us. Now in Chicago, Buffalo, Detroit-in 
nearly all the large cities, in fact-how many people are aided? A 
great many friendly visits are made, it is true, some more successful 
than others. But we shall never reach the ideal until we have given to 
one person as many of the poor as he can befriend in the best sense of 
the word-following up the work carefully, watching month after 
month, and year after year, until out of hopelessness and wretchedness 
have come prosperity and happiness. It is a long, weary road. We 
must remember that for centuries these people have been going down 
and the weight of centuries of heredity is upon their shoulders. We 
cannot befriend them by simply flinging a gift to them in passing. We 
must do the best we can, until, perhaps, a wider outlook may open in 
the years to come and the government be induced to use its instrumen- 
talities to assist in the work. 
The Chairman.-Following in the line of Dr. Warner's address we 
are interested in noting historically the development of methods in 
charitable work. In the medieval period nearly all charities were 
church charities. But a change has taken place in almost all European 
countries, where now almost all charities have become state charities. 
Even in England a large part of the charitable relief is given through the 
government, by taxation. Now we Americans ought to stand in the fore- 
front of what may be called the modern tendency. It is interesting to 
note that in our own country, at the present time, the strongest charities, 
those that have (if I may use the words) the greatest life, are those 
which are not connected with the government or with the church. I 
do not mean that those who take part in our charities are not religious 
people or church members. On the contrary, most of them are mem- 
bers of the various churches; and I do not think it is arrogating too 
much to ourselves to say that the most active, aggressive persons in the 
charitable societies at the present time are members of the churches. 
But the movement is, nevertheless, strictly undenominational. 
The gentleman who will next address you on this subject is Dr. J. W. 
Walk, of Philadelphia. 
Dr. J. W. Walk, Secretary of the Society for Organizing Charity 
of Philadelphia, was then introduced to the congress by the chairman. 
Dr. Walk said: CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
9 
As an old member of the Conference, with which I have been con- 
nected for eleven years, I desire to ask your indulgence if I should trans- 
gress for a minute or two the length of time allotted me, for this reason. 
It will be of no value if I give you propositions without the arguments 
by which they are supported; but I fear I cannot do that in the brief 
time at my disposal. It is of the very first importance that we should 
have clear ideas of the matter in hand before we begin to work. Much 
of our work is worthless, because we go off with the idea in a hurry, 
without due consideration. 
Now, there is a classification, to which I wish to call attention at the 
start, of the whole field of effort for the dependent portion of the popu- 
lation. It is being adopted by many different societies. By this classifi- 
cation the dependent poor are divided into delinquents, defectives, and 
destitutes. Now, what is the demarcation between charity and official 
care? What is the demarcation between charity and the control of 
these three classes? 
First, as to the criminal, the vicious, and the insubordinate. Ifgovern- 
ment means anything, it means protection from crime. As John Stuart 
Mill said : "Civil government exists, to resist force and to prevent 
fraud." Governments were first instituted to resist encroachment from 
the outside. When they are not in danger from this source, they must 
resist encroachment from enemies on the inside. So it seems to me 
that the government should take care of its criminals and insubordi- 
nates, the latter being delinquent children. I do not think any one, by- 
private means, should attempt to set up a house of correction, and I 
doubt very much the expediency of giving police powers to private 
societies, like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. It 
would be better for the government to do that work as it supervises 
murder and theft. It is a risky thing to give police powers to private 
societies. There is one possible exception-that is with regard to 
delinquent children. The children's aid societies of Philadelphia 
and other cities, are trying now to educate delinquent children, who 
were formerly placed in reformatory schools, and they endeavor to 
improve and save them by family influence. It is an experiment. 
I wish it well. But there are a great many difficulties in dealing with 
bad boys and girls in families; there is danger of theirdoing more harm 
than good. There is one function, it seems to me, that private charity 
has in regard to these penal, reformatory institutions-that is the 
function of voluntary inspection, as pursued by the State Charities Aid 
Associations in New York and elsewhere. 
Now, as to the next class,-the defectives, including the blind, the 
deaf-mutes, the feeble-minded, the epileptics and the inebriates. As 
far as the care of the blind, deaf-mutes, and feeble-minded goes, during 
the period of training in childhood and youth, I think that should be 
taken out of the field of charity and placed among the educational 
endeavors of the country. My thought is that the government should 10 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
give to every child a fair public school education. Ordinarily it gives 
it in the public schools; but if the child be blind, a deaf-mute, or feeble- 
minded, and is not suited for instruction in the public schools, then in- 
struction ought to be given in schools suited for the purpose. When we 
come to the adults, many of them become self-supporting, and, after 
proper training, are no longer charges on the state. Then, as regards 
those who are not self-supporting. The question is whether the care of 
them should be private or by the state. When we come to the insane, 
again, I believe we should have them cared for by the state or the 
county-by the government in some form, because, after all, the insane 
are put inside the institutions more for the good of the community than 
for their own sake. We must not forget this even though no charge of 
crime attaches to them. The same general principles apply to inebriates 
and epileptics. 
I come last to the destitutes, including the aged poor, the infant poor, 
the sick poor and the wounded poor. 
Here is a great field for organized charity, for church, individual and 
society work. I believe this is the field to which we should ultimately 
confine ourselves, and from which we should ultimately exclude the 
government and the state, for two reasons. First there is the ethical 
• reason, that it is not, under any proper theory of government, for the 
best interests of the people to have the state take care of these classes. 
Mere destitution has no claim on the government. There is no reason 
why money should be taken out of your pocket to give to me, simply 
because I am destitute. I believe that is a field for Christian sympathy, 
but not for government aid. If the charitable effort of the country 
were concentrated upon this class of dependents, we could soon care 
for them all, and it is in caring for this class that state aid is real relief 
work. The state can properly care for the criminals, the vicious, the 
insubordinate, and the defective, but when the state begins to care *for 
destitutes, trouble begins. 
There is one class of the sick whom the state should provide for-not 
for their sake, but for ours. Those are the sick with contagious diseases. 
In case of cholera, for instance, the state may take them, not for their 
own sakes, but for the safety of the community. 
Outdoor relief, where given by the state, is wrong in principle and 
pernicious in practice. It should be abolished. 
I would like to supplement the facts given by Mr. Smith of Buffalo, 
last night, to the extent of saying that a comparison in Buffalo of twelve 
years with outdoor relief, with twelve years without outdoor relief, 
showed a saving of $700,000, and, wonderful to relate, a saving also of 
$400,000 in indoor relief. So there was a saving in twelve years of 
over a million dollars. And to-day, in the institution of which I have 
charge, we have fewer paupers than we had fifteen years ago-almost 
entirely due to the abolition of outdoor relief. But I hope for some- 
thing more. I hope the day will come when private and associated CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
11 
charities, separate from governmental support, will take up the indoor 
relief question. If we would center our efforts on this one subject, I 
believe the time would soon arrive when we could substitute for mad- 
houses, hospitals, and asylums, institutions supported and maintained 
by churches, by private societies, and by individuals. 
The Chairman next introduced to the congress Miss ZilphaD. Smith, 
General Secretary of the Associated Charities of Boston, who said : 
I should like to say a few words on the subject of churches and chari- 
ties. It is more sad than stupid to hear people connected with 
churches say they should start a certain charity because others have done 
so. There is an institution in Boston in whose prospectus appears the 
statement that it was started because the denomination under whose name 
it operated had not previously undertaken any large benevolent work. 
Of course such a charity is rotten at heart. Fortunately, all church 
charities are not of that character. The church that is made up of both 
rich and poor finds its way easy. "But most of the churches to which we 
belong, I fancy, are of another class. They are made up of people who 
are able and willing to take care of themselves. If they want to help 
others, they must go outside their church connection to do it. 
Mr. A. W. Clark of Omaha, was introduced to the congress, and 
spoke as follows : 
I wish to say a word in regard to omitting in our work the criminal 
classes. This is the first time I have heard such a clear statement of 
that view, and my own experience is that this would be a great mistake. 
My experience in the Rescue Home has led me to believe that a large 
number of these brothers can be rescued, and that the officials are not 
working in the direction of saving them. During the winter 
Dr. Walk.-I do not want to be understood as stating that the func- 
tion of punishing criminals is a state function. I did not mean that a 
man, after he gets out of prison, should receive state assistance, but 
that the function of correcting his crime, putting him in prison and 
training him, is a function of the state. After he gets out of prison we 
ought to help him. 
Mr. Clark.-Well, perhaps I misunderstood. One night I asked 
two of our detectives to examine those that we had as lodgers. One 
hundred and seventy or more were there that night, and we had fifteen 
known to be criminals. One of them had been for eight years in the 
Michigan State prison. We have succeeded in rescuing a large number 
of those people during the winter. zX short time ago a man was locked 
up. The police were after him. I said: "You let me have him for 
forty-eight hours and if I can't control him during that time you can 
take him." The police consented. The man was saved from going to 
the city jail, and now is in a good position in our city. 
On the point of children, I do not believe it is an experiment. In 
Omaha and other places it has been shown that many of these boys can 12 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
be saved by our means, by placing them in homes, instead of leaving 
them to the state. 
Professor E. W. Bemis of Vanderbilt University, (Tenn.) was asked 
to speak, and, being introduced, spoke as follows : 
In this particular department of work I have made no discoveries, and 
there is little I can say. I would rather your time should be taken up 
by those who have made original studies. I have great interest in this 
work. I think the state is doing a great deal in preventive measures; 
but when it comes to the actual appearance of the evil in adult life, I 
have no doubt that private charity must do it through organized effort. 
Mr. A. O. Crozier of Grand Rapids, Mich., was next introduced, 
and said : 
I presume I belong to one of the youngest charity organizations in 
the United States-an organization effected only a few weeks ago at 
Grand Rapids, Mich. I have not been with you a great while, but I find 
that my old-fashioned notions are very fast disappearing; and I fear, if I 
sit here much longer, I won't have any of them to take back. 
We used to have in Grand Rapids (where, by the way, we spend 
$35,000 to $40,000 a year for outdoor relief in a city of less than 
100,000 inhabitants,) a splendid idea, that to give money in charity was 
the end of it. For years we had a thanksgiving demonstration of the 
charity people, and we used to advertise in the papers that we would 
practice charity upon all applicants on that day. Of late years we 
have been very much surprised at the number of applicants. We sup- 
posed there were very many people there who needed relief, and at our 
last Thanksgiving demonstration of charity the line was half a mile long. 
I am a member of the Gates Committee of the new society. They have 
been holding meetings in our offices, and they have been going through 
the books. They investigated our work, and on the Gates Committee 
we are cutting off nearly 50 per cent., and we are fortunate in having a 
Poor Director who listens to our advice. We elect a Poor Director and 
put him under bonds for the conduct of his office. Then the board of 
aidermen turn around and appoint a Poor Committee, and that com- 
mittee takes from the Poor Director almost all his duties, especially that 
of purchasing supplies. The chairman of the committee told me the 
other day that a member of the committee came to him and said he had 
a friend who was running a grocery store, and he had been at him a 
good deal to get some orders from the city. He said : "If you haven't 
any objection, just give me a little order." The chairman said he had 
no objection, and supposed he was going to give him an $8 or $10 order. 
Under that license that member bought $300 or $400 worth of groceries 
that cannot be used inside of four years. Then he at once turned around 
and O-K'd the bill, and that binds the city, for any member of the poor 
committee can 0-K a bill. Now, if this new work is carried out the 
way you gentlemen propose, I fear it is going to take away from us a CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
13 
great deal of the strength and interest of the various charities in that 
city. But we are very green and we have much to learn, and we are 
glad to be dropped into a furnace of this kind, where we can be warmed 
up and dried out so soon. 
Miss Richmond, General Secretary of the Charity Organization Soci- 
ety of Baltimore, was introduced and spoke as follows : 
The question of the demarcation of private and public charity is 
after all a question of expediency, and I cannot formulate any one 
great moral principle that is involved in the division of the work. If it 
is simply a question of expediency, do not let us get into the habit of feel- 
ing that private and public charities are in any sense opposed to each 
other. I think that is a possible tendency, and a very fatal one. It has 
occurred to me that one function of a charity organization society may 
well be to create an intelligent public interest in public charities. No 
public charity can be a success without that. Public officials are just 
like other people. Unless they have some one interested in what they 
are doing, their interest flags. There is no way of getting at what 
public charities are for and what they do, and do not do, so promptly as 
to take an intelligent citizen and interest him in the welfare of some par- 
ticular family, and then let him touch our public charities from the rela- 
tion of our public charities to that family. Take an intelligent man 
and give him a family, where there are two or three small boys. He 
cares for the public schools then as he never cared before. He cares for 
every public institution that affects the lives and welfare of those boys. 
That is a form of education which seems to me most practical and 
efficient, and one that the charity organization societies still have to 
develop. We are doing it, but not to the extent we should. Another 
question arises : Aren't we getting ourselves into the same difficulty 
that the clergymen are in? They say, "All your charities are spring- 
ing up and you are taking away our workers; we are losing in concen- 
tration." You can't blame them. They want to keep their people 
about them and make their churches powerful. It is natural; but until a 
man rises above that, he is not the useful citizen and Christian that he 
should be. A charity organization society is only doing the right thing 
when it puts its members into right relations with every other charity in 
the community, public and private. 
The Chairman.-We will hear from the president of the first charity 
organization society in the country, Mr. T. Guilford Smith of Buffalo. 
Mr. T. Guilford Smith of Buffalo, N. Y., was then introduced, and 
said: 
It is very cheering, indeed, to see so much interest in the abolition 
of outdoor relief. I said the same thing last night, and some gentle- 
men came to me afterwards and asked me if I meant public or private 
outdoor relief. Of course I meant public outdoor relief. I have in 14 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
my pocket a valuable paper, which will be read, 1 believe, at one of 
our public sessions, from the clerk of the Whitechapel Board of Guar- 
dians in East London. We know what Whitechapel is. We know it 
is one of the worst parts of the East End, and we know what the gulf 
is between the East and West end of London. This paper shows how 
outdoor relief ought to be curtailed, how it can be, and why the results 
are so gratifying when it is curtailed. In the city of Buffalo we are 
hoping that the millenium may arrive, when we shall have no outdoor 
relief. Mr. Kellogg, in his report in 1873, endeavored first to have 
the municipal government insist that all outdoor relief, and every other 
relief by the city, should be subject to investigation. The mayor at 
that time said he did not know about soap, candles, groceries and shoes, 
but he would be quite willing that coffins should not be given out with- 
out investigation. That was the first ordinance, and coffins became by 
law subject to inspection and all that. We did find one or two cases 
where people applied for coffins, who did not have any corpse, but 
wanted to speculate in coffins. That led to the passage of an ordinance 
under which all outdoor relief is now subject to police investigation. 
As we think two men are always better than one, the Charity Organi- 
zation Society of Buffalo had an ordinance passed, according to which 
the mayor sends to us every morning a copy of all the applications 
for outdoor relief. We send our agents to supplement the work of 
the city agents and the result is that sometimes there is a difference 
of judgment as to whether the relief is wise or unwise. We keep a 
carefully tabulated statement every day as to how much money the 
city has in its hands; and we take pleasure in showing the authorities 
how much, in our opinion, has gone wrong. In due time we hope by 
this method to get outdoor relief absolutely abolished. But it is a 
long, hard row, and whether we shall be able to accomplish it or not, I 
do not know. I think the whole charity organization movement cannot 
do better than to keep on preaching that doctrine until the desired 
object is attained. 
A Delegate.-I wish to call attention to the immense amount of pub- 
lic charity in this country which seems utterly ignored by the charity 
organizations. It is practical charity to a large degree. I refer to our 
national pensions. I know they are often given in order to get grocery 
bills paid. Merchants will secure a pension for a man in order to 
secure payment of the debts due them. Many such instances have 
come to my attention: and I wonder if any attempt has been made to 
scientifically investigate the matter. It is going to be an important 
matter in the future. 
< Mr. Ansley Wilcox of the Charity Organization Society of Buffalo, 
N. Y., was next introduced to the congress, and said : 
On behalf of Section 1, of this congress, I feel personally repaid, and 
I am sure all those who have been drawn here this afternoon have been CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
15 
repaid for the loss of our own sectional meeting, or the postponement 
of it, by the opportunity afforded to listen to the thorough and brilliant 
discussion on this subject which has taken place here. It has been 
opened up well. The discussion this afternoon has prepared the way 
for the papers which will be read this evening, and papers which will be 
presented in Section 1 tomorrow morning. This evening papers will 
be presented on the question of the proper boundaries of public and 
private relief, and upon the subject of poor relief in large cities, and 
questions of that kind, which are directly in line with the discussion 
this afternoon. Tomorrow morning we shall have a paper, which has 
come to us only to-day, by Baron von Reitzenstein, of Germany, and 
which I know will prove of great interest. I ask that this meeting 
adjourn to tomorrow morning in order that the members may have an 
opportunity to listen to this paper of Baron von Reitzenstein. 
The Section then adjourned. 
SECOND SESSION, June 13, 1893.-2 P. M. 
Jeffrey R. Brackett, Esq., of Baltimore, in the Chair. 
The Chairman.-I have been asked to tell you that of the four 
papers put down upon the program, two by your leave, will simply be 
read by title, namely, the paper on the Elberfeld system, by Dr. 
Thoma, Burgomaster of Freiburg', and the paper on friendly visiting, 
by Dr. Mijnsterberg, of Hamburg. We have left a paper on friendly 
visiting by Mrs. Roger Wolcott, of Boston, and another paper on the 
same subject by Miss Prideaux, of London. We all agree in this, that 
conference meetings are much more interesting when but few papers 
are read and we have the opportunity of hearing short, terse speeches 
from a number of practical people. Therefore, by your leave, we shall 
read one paper and part of another, and then we shall have several 
brief addresses by various ladies and gentlemen. The meeting will 
begin with a paper on friendly visiting by Mrs. Roger Wolcott, of 
Boston, to be read by Miss Frances Smith, of Boston. 
Miss Smith then read that paper. At its conclusion the Chairman 
said: 
Dr. Ayres, Secretary of the Charity Organization of Cincinnati, has 
very kindly consented to read Miss Prideaux's paper and to call our 
attention especially to those points which apply to work in American 
cities. 
Dr. Ayres then read the paper prepared by Miss Prideaux of London 
on friendly visiting. 
Dr. Ayres.-I had the pleasure recently of reading a very full ac- 
count in the English papers of the Charity Organization Conference 16 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
held in London on the 20th of May last, in which all the charitable 
organizations of Great Britain were represented, and they had a three 
days' conference, holding morning and evening sessions, and visiting 
institutions in the afternoons. The papers were upon investigation 
and registration and the work of charity organization committees. 
One gentleman from one of the district committees of London described 
at great length the details of registration. I imagine that their regis- 
tration is done with more system and with greater care than in many 
American cities. Another described in great detail the principles of 
investigation. I remember this point, that they should inquire of 
the neighbors and of the parish priests, and in the retail stores, and 
of the relatives of the family in other cities, as well as at home, 
and so on, all as a part of the regular investigation to be gone 
through in every case. I suppose that some of our societies in this 
country take this much care, but others do not. At any rate, in Lon- 
don this part of their work is very carefully done. But when I came 
to the friendly visiting, I was rather surprised to see that the idea did 
not seem to take; at least, the ideas which I thought were strong, from 
an American point of view, were not marked in the newspaper with the 
word "applause," as were so many others. The only time that I saw 
"applause" at the end of a remark relating to friendly visits was after a 
remark that investigators and other members of the committee should 
visit the poor in their homes for the sake of getting the chief informa- 
tion from the family rather than from neighbors, retail storekeepers or 
anybody else. 
I feel that the missionary work in London has been very well carried 
out, but the spirit of friendly visiting, as we have it in this country, is 
not so prevalent as appears to be illustrated in this paper by Miss Pri- 
deaux. 
That leads me to one other remark. There is in friendly visiting a 
vast power. It arouses, as somebody else has said, a great longing on 
the part of all who engage in it to do something for their poorer neigh- 
bors. My remark is, that if the charity organizations do not undertake 
this service, there will be a thousand other agencies that will take it 
up, for it is a force that cannot be neglected. In London we see that 
the Charity Organization Society did not take up friendly visiting and 
we find that other societies are taking it up. It cannot be neglected, 
and so, if the Charity Organization Society in any city in this country 
do not take up this great earnest work then other people will. It is 
true that in some places such friendly visiting through charity organi- 
zation societies has met a certain antagonism from churches which 
have not understood the movement. The good people of the churches 
do not enlist as visitors because their pastors do not teach them to do 
so, and the pastors do not teach them so because the theological semi- 
naries have not so instructed them. And if we can take the opinions 
of two leading professors in two leading schools of Chicago, who have CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
17 
co-operated in this Congress, then we may be sure that to the semina- 
ries we must look for influences which will eventually lead the church 
members into this work. 
The Chairman.-I think that you will all agree with me that we 
cannot spend our time better than in listening to short, practical talks 
by practical people. We must all agree on the desirability of friendly 
visiting. I don't think there can be any question about that. If I 
may make a suggestion, what we most need is to be helped by being 
told how far the charity organization societies of this country are liv- 
ing up to their motto, "Not alms, but a friend." I do not think we 
should be pessimistic as to this branch of charity organization, but I do 
feel (if you will allow me to express my own opinion, derived from a 
short experience on that side of our work) that it is not as plain sailing 
as on the other side, the side of official work. The "not alms" part is 
much easier to fulfill than the "friend" part. Now let us have some 
practical definite suggestions as to how we can get visitors and how we 
can keep them and how we can make them do their best work. 
You must allow me just one moment more, for I want to speak of the 
great responsibility which an organization assumes, when, in print, be- 
fore the public, it says, "Turn over to us the cases that deserve relief." 
We heard last night, in a remarkably eloquent and profound dis- 
course, from Mr. Robert Treat Paine, that he did not see how some 
cities got on without friendly visitors, and I know we shall all be de- 
lighted if Mr. Paine, one of the original advocates of charity organiza- 
tion in this country, will tell us something of the work in Boston, how 
they have gotten large numbers of good visitors there and the methods 
which they use. 
Mr. Robert Treat Paine.-I wish I could answer the question. 
It is a perpetual struggle. We have about 800 visitors in Boston and 
they are passing out of the ranks all the time and there is a steady 
occasion to fill up the gaps. Just how it is done you must ask Miss 
Smith. It is always easy to turn over to somebody else the reply to 
hard questions. If I may say just one word, our friendly visiting 
began and the work was promoted chiefly by two ladies who started 
the preliminary organization of "co-operative visitors" with a degree 
of fine enthusiasm that was really wonderful. It was made social, it 
was delightful, instantly the thing grew, and growing spread, and in 
spreading has prospered. We must bear in mind that you must get 
visitors in different parts of the city and I do not see how you can 
enforce upon them rigid and cast-iron rules. We have not had many 
rules in Boston, but the idea has been to allow each conference to grow 
up in its own natural healthy way. Some of the conferences have 
meetings in the evening at the house of a member where its friends 
meet on a certain evening. The executive committees meet there and 
the visitors come and talk over their cases. .They soon have very 
friendly relations with each other and it is very easy then for a lady to 18 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
bring in one friend this month, and another friend the next month, and 
so the conference will grow and spread. Conferences rise and fall like 
the tides. Sometimes there will be an emigration of some of the ladies 
to Europe and then there is a desperate struggle to fill up the ranks. 
It is a perpetual effort, and I am going to say with just a little bit of 
candor that it is not perfectly sure that any particular ward or small 
city will be able to keep up the energy of friendly visiting which it 
may start with. It is absolutely sure that it ought to be kept up. 
If the energies fail in one direction or at one time, they must be 
replaced and re-invigorated by new blood and by new energy and by 
new methods, as soon as possible. 
I have sometimes said that this friendly visiting is a vast evolution, 
and that just a little bit before the millenium comes we shall have 
something better ; that is, if we can have the whole community edu- 
cated up to these ideas of friendly visitors, so that when they know of 
any family that is in need, the first person that learns of the distress 
will go there in a patient, thorough, persistent and devoted way, there 
will not be so much need of an organization. Yet that is something 
coming-in the millenium, and it is a long way off. 
One of the questions that comes up with us is, how far church organi- 
zations should work with or should supplant friendly visitors in the 
different wards. Now, in my own church in Boston, Trinity Church, the 
largest Episcopalian church in the city, there was an organization of 
friendly visitors which grew up there, and it drew a great deal of the 
visitors' life blood right out of my own conference (Ward 12) and trans- 
planted it to the church organization, because the ladies preferred to work 
with the church rather than with the conference. And yet the church work 
was done miserably. I did not go to the church meeting, but my wife did 
and a number of other persons. But they did not happen to have any 
brothers who put into that work energy enough to give the work thor- 
oughness and scientific foundations. So it was a failure, and the result 
is that the church visiting society has vanished and the conference is 
left. We shall get those same ladies into the conference before long. 
Thus I am trying to convey the impression that there is not a uniform, 
cast-iron method, but a plan must be adapted to the circumstances of 
each ward and city and must be made thorough. Ladies (almost nine- 
tenths of the visitors are ladies) must bring in their friends, one after 
another, and get them to see that the friendly visiting of the poor is a 
consecrated work, and besides, that there must be a great deal of 
friendly pleasure put into it. Some of the pleasantest relations of 
social life in Boston cluster around these little- groups of friendly vis- 
itors in the different wards. This gives them a great power. I do not 
see why such relations should not always be relied upon. 
Mrs. Glen Wood of Chicago.-I would like to ask whether your 
friendly visitors are gathered from among the young people, the un- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
19 
married ladies and gentlemen, and I would like also to ask if they are 
all ladies, or ladies and gentlemen who do this visiting. 
Mr. Paine.-There are men, but not one in ten. The men are very 
busy. Sometimes you may get a good visitor for a year or two and 
then he drops out ; but with ladies there is not so much danger of this. 
Young ladies come in and, of course, families are selected where a young 
and inexperienced lady can do just the right sort of work. We have a 
great many young ladies and a great many, of course, of middle age. 
Mrs. M. A. Hopkins.-We have what we call a Rector's aid society 
in our church. He gives us certain names and a certain district to 
visit, and we report every week to him, and the society has been very 
successful indeed in a social and friendly way. We report everything 
we do to him because we meet together and are sent out from the 
church. 
The Chairman.-Mr. Paine has told us something that makes us 
men ashamed of ourselves and feel that we should take a back seat 
in this conference ; so I think it would be well to hear from one of the 
ladies in Boston where so many friendly visitors are engaged. Will 
Miss Birtwell of Boston tell us something ot the work there and of 
her ideas about it? 
Miss Birtwell, of the Associated Charities, Boston.-I will only 
speak of a few details. Life is made up of little things and the success 
of the work in our district always depends more or less upon practical 
common sense brought to bear upon what might be called compara- 
tively petty details. 
One of the most difficult things, I think, that the salaried agent has 
to contend with is the introduction of these young ladies, these inex- 
perienced visitors, to the work. She is placed in a position of the 
teacher who has a new pupil every week and cannot give individual at- 
tention to that pupil, so as to bring her up to the standard of the rest 
of the class. That is really necessary ; and here is a place in which 
the Executive Committee and the experienced visitors can be of very 
great value. It is my custom, when I have a new visitor, to give her 
as much time and attention the first week or two as I possibly can. 
Then I am likely to invite her to one of the meetings of the Executive 
Committee and I introduce her to all the members of the committee 
and I watch very carefully to see which member of the committee 
she takes a particular fancy to, or which member takes a particular 
fancy to her, and then I place her under the wing of that particular 
person. When an emergency arises in the family that is assigned to her 
to visit, I perhaps ask this member of the executive committee to call 
upon her and talk it over with her, instead of my writing a business 
letter about it; and in that way the pleasant social relations to which 
Mr. Paine has referred' are formed and the relation of the new visitor to 
the conference is strengthened, her interest and enthusiasm are aroused, 
and she will do much better work. The members of the executive com- INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
20 
mittee can also give her a great deal of insight into the work such as the 
agent has not possibly the time to give. An inexperienced visitor needs 
that'very much. When we assign a family to an experienced visitor we do 
not have to give her any instructions about it. We simply say, take this 
family and study it and see what the trouble is and what you can do 
about it. But that general instruction is not enough for an inexperienced 
visitor. She wants to know what she must do and she wants a very 
definite object ; and then she is apt to lose sight of everything else. 
Perhaps there is a child to be gotten into the eye and ear infirmary, 
and after she has gotten the child in, she is very apt to come back 
and say, "Now I have done that, and I have not anything else to 
go for, and when I go, the woman wonders what I have come for." 
She has lost sight of the chief end and she needs to be warned against 
this mistake. She may go with the definite object of getting the child 
into the infirmary, but at the same time she must not lose sight of the 
fact that while she is doing that, her main object also is to establish a 
friendship with that woman, so that after the definite object is accom- 
plished her visits may be continued in a perfectly natural manner and 
be looked forward to with more pleasure than when there was a definite 
object in them. 
A good deal is said about the exchange of sympathy and experience, 
but I do not think we make enough of that after all. We talk about it 
a great deal, and yet we do not make it definite enough. Now, we want 
to exchange experiences, to enlarge the horizon of these poor people by 
sharing our pleasures with them, but I think it goes deeper when we 
share our sorrows with them. We are very willing to tell them about 
our joys, but our sorrows are sacred,-not any more sacred, however, 
than theirs. I remember calling on a woman once whom I had not seen 
for three years. She looked up as I came in, and she said, "How do 
you do ? How is the little orphan niece?" I had entirely forgotten 
that I had ever told her of any sorrow in my own life, and yet that was 
the thing she remembered the moment she caught sight of my face. 
I remember one of my visitors whom I thought a little too busi- 
ness-like, as she was a very energetic woman. I managed once, when 
she was present, to suggest this idea of telling th.e people more of our 
own lives, and she evidently took it to heart. The next time she went 
to visit a certain woman, she told her of her contemplated trip to Europe 
and her plans for enjoyment for the summer. The woman looked 
at her rather bitterly, and said, "Oh, yes, it is very fine for you to 
go to Europe and have a good time," and the visitor said to me after- 
wards that that plan did not work. But this summer the lady is in 
Europe, and I called on the woman and she said to me, "Yes, Mrs. So- 
and-So was telling me one day of her life as a young girl, and she said 
that she could not always go to parties with the rest of the girls, because 
she did not have such pretty dresses as they did, and she always had to CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
21 
wear the same dress. She told me that, because she wanted me to know 
she felt for me in my sorrow." 
I think it will go deeper if we share our sorrows than if we share 
merely our joys. 
Another point in connection with our visitors is their lack of patience. 
Somebody has said that the virtue most to be admired is patience. 
This is especially so with young people and in their visiting they get 
discouraged because they are so impatient of results. They expect to 
make half a dozen visits on a poor family inside of a month and see them 
helped. Now, which one of us ever had our lives strongly influenced by 
a friendship of a month's standing? We are apt to say that these people 
are very easily influenced. Well, many times they are, and it is very 
touching to see their responsiveness, and it often shows the poverty of 
friendship in their lives when we see how very readily they respond to 
slight acts of friendship. But after all a real deep friendship is a thing 
of slow growth, and these young visitors must learn that they must work 
long and patiently for results. 
I once heard a sermon which made an impression on my mind that 
has remained with me for many years. One of its main ideas was to 
get your influence before you use it. Many people seem to think that 
if they can visit a poor family, by virtue of their superior education and 
culture they must immediately have a very strong influence. They do 
not get it that way. They must get it just as our friends get an influ- 
ence over us, by long, patient contact, and by the slow, natural growth 
of friendship. 
There is another point which I should like to refer to. Sometimes 
the visitors and their families do not get on particularly well. The visitor 
does not get very much interested in her family, and, what is more im- 
portant, the family does not get interested in her. Now, I might just 
as well take two persons in this room and say, "Now I want you to be 
intimate and confidential friends at once," as to expect that a success- 
ful friendship is going to be established simply because a well-to-do per- 
son is sent to a poor person. It does not follow necessarily. The law 
of congeniality holds in these relations as in the ordinary relations of 
life, and if the visitor and the family do not prove congenial, it seems 
to me a mistake to force it, and to insist upon the visitor continuing 
her relations with that family. We will not give up too easily, but it 
is wiser to make the change and try again. Of course, those who assign 
the visitors to the families must have rare insight into human nature and 
human character in order to assign cases successfully; but everybody 
will make mistakes, and those mistakes can easily be removed byrecog- 
nizing the fact of human nature. It seems to me wise not to be too 
persistent. American women have the reputation of adaptability in 
all the relations of life. There is no qualification more necessary for 
successful work in the line of charity. 22 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The Chairman.-Mr. Paine, I am sure, astounded many of us by I 
telling us that there were so many friendly visitors in Boston. Now, we 
know that many other cities are not so fortunate. New York, for 
instance, although an enormous city, has, compared to Boston, few . 
friendly visitors. Of course, we must bear in mind the peculiar geo- ■ 
graphical position of New York city. There are gentlemen present ] 
who can tell us more of the work in that city. 
I should like to ask, what do we mean by friendly visitors ? The 
phrases that we use are like a great many tables of statistics that we 
read. We can read the figures, but we do not know all that is behind 
the figures. One hundred good visitors, who can be relied on to do | 
prompt and effective work, are infinitely better than three hundred 
visitors on whom we cannot rely, but who are simply enrolled on the 
lists of those who occasionally work with us. I do not mean to imply 
that the eight hundred in Boston are not every one just as good visitors 
as Mrs. Roger Wolcott, but I know that in Baltimore, my own city, 
there is a great difference in visitors. 
Now, I know we should all be glad to hear something on friendly 
visiting work, on the numbers of friendly visitors and why we cannot get 
hold of them, in the largest city of the country, where the problems, (as 
Mr. Paine said last night) are most pressing and are going to be most 
pressing, if this work is going to do what we claim that it shall do. We 
shall all be delighted to hear from Mr. De Forest, president of the 
Charity Organization Society of New York. 
Mr. De Forest.-I think my Boston friends know that New York 
does not like to be interrogated on this subject. Now, I confess that 
I have listened to this paper of Mrs. Wolcott's, this portrayal of the 
ideal friendly visitor, with very much the same feelings as when I have 
read descriptions of the marvellous architecture of the World's Fair. 
If I had not come here and seen for myself this wonderful symmetry, 
this harmony of form and color, which produces the grand architec- 
tural effect, I certainly could not have believed it possible; so if I had 
simply read Mrs. Wolcott's paper, and had not attended these con- 
ferences and seen this row of Boston women sitting with pencil in 
hand, taking down everything that was said, and if I did not know 
something about the actual situation in Boston, I should say that this 
ideal could not be realized. 
I do not know how it is in smaller cities, but I do know how it is in 
New York. To speak with perfect frankness, we have extreme difficulty, 
I will not say in getting this ideal friendly visitor, because I have never 
seen the ideal friendly visitor realized in New York, but in getting 
fairly good friendly visitors. Now, I say that frankly, because some of' 
our brethren in other large cities may be unduly discouraged by this 
story of Boston success. It should not be put down entirely to lack 
of effort, because I know there have been conscientious efforts made to 
secure a much larger number of friendly visitors than we have. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
23 
We have different conditions in New York city, from those in Boston 
and I take it that different conditions exist almost everywhere. 
We have tremendous preoccupation. 
Then we do not have separate homes for the poor. We have a tene- 
ment house system. And I speak of it for this reason, because many 
young women whom we should naturally secure as friendly visitors and 
who would probably be secured, if they lived in other places, could not 
be asked to go by themselves into New York tenements. 
After all the question before us is a practical one, and I believe in 
giving a practical bent to this talk. We all want to know what to do. 
We are all agreed as to the beneficence and as to the desirability of 
friendly visiting. We are all agreed that this ideal of Mrs. Wolcott's 
should be lived up to as far as possible. Yet some of us feel that we 
must put up with what we can get, instead of insisting upon that ideal. 
The great question is, how to get the friendly visitors and that ques- 
tion, so far as my own knowledge of charity organization work in this 
country is concerned, has been more nearly solved in Boston than any- 
where else. 
Now, if you are asking me for my opinion as to why it is difficult to 
find friendly visitors, 1 wish you would bear in mind first the ques- 
tion of environment. I do not think there ought to be any excuse in 
a village or in a small town (and when I say a small town, 1 do not 
know but that I should include a pretty large town), I do not think 
there ought to be any difficulty in such a place, with organization and 
energy, in getting an excellent corps of friendly visitors. There is 
usually such an absence of pre-occupation in smaller places that good 
people have time to attend to this kind of work. Yet Boston is a 
large city. It has been successful in obtaining friendly visitors and 
the Boston lesson, to most of us, is that success in friendly visiting 
is a question of management, a question of organization. If the rest 
of us were able to place in control of our societies-I was going to say 
such men, I think 1 would prefer to say such women-as the Boston 
society is composed of, we should hear very much less complaint about 
the difficulty of getting friendly visitors. 
Now, in connection with New York, if you will pardon me for mak- 
ing a suggestion, there are two representatives here, a gentleman 
and a lady who stand at the head of one of the largest societies in 
New York. The gentleman is Mr. John Paton and the lady is Mrs. 
Fullerton. The society to which I allude is *'the New York Association 
for Improving the Condition of the Poor." It stands to the Charity 
Organization Society of New York as the older relief societies do to 
the younger charity organization societies in other cities. If you 
want any further information as to New York you will be rewarded by 
applying to them. 
Mrs. R. H. Hayes of Galveston, Texas.-I do not hear anybody 
speak for my portion of the country. I do not think we are repre- INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
24 
seated here at all. You have got no further south than Philadelphia, 
and I came from Galveston, Texas. I belong to four or five organiza- 
tions and when we joined them we expected to make friendly visits. 
The question never comes up about friendly visits. We expect them. 
That is a part of our duty, and in that way we have raised women and 
children from poverty and degradation. I only want to say these few 
words, because you seem to keep it all up north to yourselves, and I 
want to let you know some work is done down south of Mason and 
Dixon's line,-although I was born in Illinois and was raised in 
Springfield. 
The Chairman.-I know you would all like to hear a few words about 
the work in New York from Mr. Paton, President of the great Society 
for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor of that city. 
Mr. Paton, President of the Association for Improving the Condi- 
tion of the Poor, New York.-It is only an hour since I arrived 
direct from London, where I had a sort of roving commission from 
my society to investigate the work of relief in the slums, and I have 
spent considerable time in that interesting study. I, therefore, was 
quite unable to prepare a paper for this congress, but I hurried here 
direct from the steamer in order to have at least the satisfaction of 
being present. 
One speaker, whose remarks interested me very much, referred to 
the Charity Organization Society of London. In the course of my 
work last winter I saw a great deal of that most excellent society and of 
its exceedingly able secretary, Mr. Loch, who is well known, at least by 
name, to many here. If Mr. Loch were, present, I do not think- he 
would contradict me when I say that, in the matter of friendly visiting 
and in the investigation of needy cases and in the detail work, his 
society does not begin to compare with what is done by the splendid 
organization presided over by our friend Mr. R. W. De Forest,-the 
Charity Organization Society of New York. The London society does 
its work in a different way, and it does not do nearly so much in the 
way of friendly visiting. 
'1 he work of friendly visiting is one of the deepest interest to the 
society of which I have been president for a good many years, the New 
York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. We have 
been at this work for nearly fifty years, and before long we shall cele- 
brate our jubilee. We endeavor to cover a pretty large field, the city 
of New York from the Battery to the Harlem River, probably as large a 
field as is covered by any society in the United States, and we investi- 
gate and give relief, of course, without distinction of creed, of color or 
race. When I became connected with this society in 1880 we enjoyed 
the services of about 350 friendly visitors. Well, some of them were 
doing admirable work, but about that time the New York Charity 
Organization Society began to throw light upon the subject of giving CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
relief to the poor, and I unhesitatingly say that we owe to that society 
the new, and I think improved method, in which we carryout our work. 
Gradually, with many a vote of thanks and many a kindly expression, 
we have dropped from our list all our 350 visitors. Some of them, as I 
have said, were doing splendid work, but there was a most awful waste 
of charity. We were spending thirty or forty thousand dollars a year, 
and this amount was given away, in the days when New York was not 
so large as it is now, with a free and lavish and very generous hand, 
We were, I do think, helping to build up a gigantic system of pauper- 
ism. We were pauperizing the recipients by thg indiscriminate and 
thoughtless and at the same time, kindly and generous way in which 
our relief was given. Our friends of the Charity Organization Society 
taught us an admirable lesson and we have never ceased to study their 
methods and to work, as Mr. De Forest will tell you, in the greatest 
harmony and co-operation with them. We gradually got rid of our 350 
visitors and we now do our work more thoroughly and more efficiently 
with a small corps of trained visitors of our own, most of them educated 
and brought up in our own office, our salaried officers. We believe in 
skilled, trained visiting. I believe there is no more kindly visiting in 
the city of New York than that of our visitors. We know them inti- 
mately, every one of them. We studied their characters before we 
gave them these important appointments. They are women of kindly 
sympathy, but they are skilled and trained in the work. We have 
divided the city of New York into districts. I wish Mrs. Fullerton was 
present here, and she could tell you better about the work. Each one 
of these women has charge of a great section of the city, at least as 
far as the cases reported to us. Every morning at nine o'clock they 
meet in the superintendent's office, and there is no more interesting 
place in New York to study the methods and modes of charitable work- 
ing than in our office between nine and ten, when you may hear the 
reports and see the work which is done. The visitors then give in their 
reports of the cases which they have seen upon the previous day, the 
new cases are handed over to them and at ten o'clock they go out upon 
their rounds, all over that vast city, returning next morning with the 
reports of the new cases and to receive again the fresh ones. We pro- 
fess, whenever it is desired, to give within twenty-four hours a written 
report on any case that is sent to us by any clergyman, by any society, 
by any subscriber, in fact, by any friend. We also go a step further. We 
undertake the charge of the family or of the individual, and I do not 
think that you will find that we let them go until they are set upon their 
feet or no longer require relief. 
The Chairman.-Now we have heard from large cities and we have 
also heard that it is probably easier to develop the work of friendly 
visiting in smaller cities. I know you will all like to hear some words 
from a smaller city, and I am going to ask Miss Starr, of Burlington, 
25 26 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
to tell us of her work, and of the success in Burlington of the friendly 
visitors. 
Miss M. E. Starr, Secretary of the Charity Organization Society, 
Burlington, Iowa.-Our society is only a year and a half old, and I do 
not think with its youth and limited field and its inexperience that it 
will be of any value here. But Mr. Brackett has asked me whether or 
not we have been able to secure a sufficient number of visitors who would 
visit their families often enough and earnestly enough. While believing 
heartily in friendly visiting and hoping that it will one day accomplish 
what it aims to do, I must answer that thus far we have not been success- 
ful. I attribute the failure to two reasons. One is that the visitors have 
too many families to care for. ' We have had during the last year about 
130 families and about 70 visitors, but the number of working visitors 
is so small that many have had five families to visit and some more. 
With an average number of demands upon a visitor outside of her 
friendly visiting I do not think that she can care for more than 
two families in a way that will tend to raise them above the need of 
relief. 
d'hen another difficulty has been a lack of definite information on 
the part of many visitors as to what was expected of them; this is 
partly due to a failure to attend the meetings. How to remedy that I 
do not know, and I wish some one could tell me. It may be also partly 
due to a lack of sufficient communication between the visitors them- 
selves. 
Mr. George D. Holt, Secretary of Associated Charities, Minneapo- 
lis.-I think the matter of friendly visiting, considering the limited time 
in which we have engaged in it, is very far advanced. Our city has a 
population of 171,000 and we have slums and everything of that kind, 
with individual cases that are probably just as depressing and as hard 
to reach as in any city, but of course not so numerous. The thought 
has occurred to me, as this discussion has gone on as to the great city of 
New York, why it would not be a good idea to adopt the plan we have 
in our city in reference to the liquor traffic, called the "Police Limits," 
where no liquor is allowed to be sold. Why could not this friendly 
visiting be introduced into some section of New York and made a com- 
plete success there and then spread out? I think that is the reason why 
we have succeeded so well. We did not district the city all off and 
establish a conference in every one of the districts, but we simply started 
with one and were very careful in selecting the workers to start with, and 
now it has spread into four conferences covering the entire city and the 
money to meet all expenses was in sight before we attempted it. I 
think that if the matter is started in this way it will be successful, 
and I speak of this for those who are just starting in the city work. 
Raising money has not been difficult in Minneapolis. The gentleman 
from New York spoke about the pre-occupied condition of the citizens. 
I think you will find that eminently true of the citizens of the north- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
27 
west. They are pre-occupied, and that is one of the hardest things to 
overcome. 
Dr. J. W. Walk, of Philadelphia.-There have been, during the dis- 
cussions of the congress, several references to Philadelphia which I 
would like to explain, if possible. Mr. Paine, I think, referred to the 
fact that Philadelphia had once had a large number of visitors, but had 
not kept up the number, and the chairman of the Charity Organization 
committee of the National Conference in making his report said that 
Philadelphia did not report its visitors. Well, I want to make a very 
frank admission. I will tell you exactly what is the matter. 
When Philadelphia began the charity organization work, as you know, 
it began with a great many district organizations, which were relieving 
agencies, and which are yet relief agencies. The visitors at the very 
start in many of the organizations became almoners of relief. The 
visitors gave relief and even where they did not give it they made 
recommendations to the superintendent, which soon came to have the 
force of commands, so that a visitor in going to a family was recog- 
nized as some one who could give an order for food or clothing or for 
the payment of rent or for other things. 
Now, I think every one in this room will agree, and I think the 
gentleman who is president of the New York Society for Improving 
the Condition of the Poor, and Mr. De Forest, President of the 
Charity Organization Society of New York, will agree with all the 
others that when relief is to be given at all, it should be given by an 
expert, specially qualified to judge the conditions which require relief, 
and to discriminate among the people who are to have it, so that he 
does not give the treatment for consumption to the man who has rheu- 
matism. 
Now then, what is our position in Philadelphia? After the first few 
years we had hundreds of visitors, who were acting as almoners of relief, 
either directly or otherwise. That was the condition when Mr. Kel- 
logg, who at that time held an official position in Philadelphia, went to 
New York. We found that that condition could not continue and grad- 
ually our visitors fell off. I have made no report this year, because I 
want to tell the exact truth, and it was very hard to tell the truth about 
that condition of things; I mean, hard to express it in a way that would 
not be misunderstood. We have more than 500 names of visitors on 
the list, but I did not report them, because I am afraid a great many of 
them are simply names. 
I hope that a time will come, when Philadelphia will have-(because 
we are not "pre-occupied" there; we have plenty of time to eat and 
sleep in Philadelphia; we get along nearly as well as the people that 
work 25 hours a day)-now, I hope the time will come when we 
shall have a body of about 1200 visitors there, who are friendly 
visitors exclusively, carrying sympathy, counsel and encouragement 
to the poor. Their influence is not at all belittled and injured by 28 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the idea of alms, but you can see that, having started wrong, it will 
take us a good while to get right. That is the condition in Philadel- 
phia, but I ought to say, in justice to the work, that we have a great 
many visitors who are still working and some excellent ones, or we 
could not carry on our work at all. 
The Chairman.-I am sure that the remarks of our friend from Phila- 
delphia and of Mr. Paton only prove to us all the more that the 
friendly visitor is a failure when allowed to dispense alms. 
Miss Frances Smith of Boston.-I should like to say a few words as 
to some of the questions which have been brought up this afternoon. 
As to the difficulties of securing visitors for certain parts of New York 
city, I wish to say that Ward 7 is a part of Boston in which not a sin- 
gle visitor lives. We have to draw all our visitors from other parts of 
the city, and I want to tell you that some of our visitors come just as 
far as they would have to go if they were living in New York. Some 
of our best visitors come from Meriden and Lexington, some of them 
from twenty miles away. Now, it is no use to dwell upon the difficul- 
ties of the situation. My people always say, and that is my own idea, 
"if we- ought to do a thing, we can do it, and we will find a way to 
do it." 
Now, as to getting the young people, I think they said that there 
are young people in New York whom they might get, if it were not for 
these dreadful tenement houses. Well, we nave a similar difficulty in 
Boston. Almost all the people in the district where I am at present 
live in tenement houses, and it raises a difficult question. They have 
brought up the question of having young people, and discussed it, and 
they have always said that their youth is not the trouble. It simply 
depends upon the character. If they are people of fine and noble 
character, they go down and visit in these tenement houses without 
any hesitation. And I am proud to say that we have a great many 
young lady visitors in our ward and not one has ever met with the 
slightest sign of disrespect. There are just as many good people in 
Ward 7 as on Back Bay, and if anyone attempts to show disrespect to a 
lady there, the poor people are just as ready to come to her assistance 
as any gentleman on Beacon street. . 
Another difficulty is that their people at home do not want them 
to visit and that is the chief trouble. There are a great many of 
these young ladies who would come gladly but for their fathers and 
mothers, and, I am sorry to say, husbands sometimes. Well, how shall 
we get around that ? We have got to bring young people up. The 
way one lady found was this. We bring them in and let them see 
what we are doing and we get them interested in the details, and grad- 
ually they feel some confidence in themselves. The most important 
thing to do is to let a young lady copy on your cards or records the 
reports of the visitors, the result, perhaps, of the investigations of the 
visitors. They learn from that how to do the work and they do not CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
29 
get so much an idea of the red tape as they might if you gave them 
other parts of the work to do. Well, now, you can gradually get one 
of these young ladies from office work into visiting. They become 
interested in their work, and they go home and get their families 
interested and then there is no further difficulty. 
I suppose New York has some colleges. We get young men and young 
ladies from colleges to come and help us in our work. It is not quite so 
satisfactory as other visiting in some ways, as they remain only one or 
two or three years, when they move and the family loses them, but 
still we have had very good success. It is extremely interesting to find 
that these college-bred young people pop up in other cities at the head 
of other charitable societies and come back to us and read us papers on 
what they have seen in England and other countries, and bring back to 
us the benefits of their own experience. 
Well, then, about the churches and the liking of people to visit in 
the churches. Now, I take it that the duty of a charity organization 
society is to do its work so well that people will find, unless the 
church does exceedingly good work, that they would much better come 
back and work with the charity organization society. I have often 
had people who left us for the church societies come back and say "We 
would rather work here, because the work is done well, and we like to 
do good work." 
There is one other point. Do not go too fast in your work. Make 
the first thing in your charity organization work the finding and train- 
ing of visitors. Remember always that you must have a visitor for each 
family. I do not think it is half as important that we should go out 
into the other work, important as it is, until we have first been able to 
get visitors for all the families. 
Another way in which we have been very successful is for each visitor 
to get another visitor. Now, you must not say to them in the abstract, 
"I want you to get another visitor," but you must tell them about a 
certain family and ask them if they cannot get a visitor for that family. 
In other words personal interest is important. 
Next let me speak of a way in which we have been most successful in 
getting visitors, because I do not know that any other conference has 
tried it. We used to write up the whole history of the family. But who- 
ever got acquainted with a person by hearing the family history first? 
Who ever got acquainted with people by being told all their faults, the 
one thing we used to dwell upon? We used to give all the bad things 
about families. Now, we must act in a natural way in charity organi- 
zations as well as elsewhere. Now all we put on the list is a very 
brief statement. I will suppose a case: "Family of Mary and John 
Sullivan; live at 149 Front street; they have three children, two boys 
of ten and twelve years and a girl of seventeen. A friendly visitor 
is very much needed; can introduce herself by saying that she comes 
from Mrs. Simons." I am supposing that Mrs. Simons referred this INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
30 
family to us. But suppose we heard of it in an indirect way. Sup- 
pose that the girl of seventeen is out of work. Then we might write, 
"You can introduce yourself by saying that you have heard that Mary 
is out of work." "A visitor can aid very much by helping Mary and 
advising her how to get work." "The visitor will find herself very 
useful to the family as time goes on from month to month." Add 
something like that. You must not let her think that there is only 
one thing to do. Now, that is all put on paper, and that is all 
that is given. What is the advantage of it? It is that the friendly 
visitor goes to that family and forms her own ideas of it. She feels the 
same interest in them that I felt in the very first family that 1 visited. 
They were horrible people, but I did not know it at the time. I did 
not know anything about them, but I went in to see them and I never 
have taken more interest in any family. If I had known what they 
were, I do not believe I should have cared so much for them. Remem- 
ber this, that, as a rule, all the people in the family are not bad. As a 
rule, it is only one or two of them, and the good that you do to a fam- 
ily is usually by bringing out their good points and by cultivating 
them. It is, therefore, very bad to introduce a family to a visitor by 
telling bad things about them. In this way we have no difficulty what- 
ever in getting visitors in Ward 7 for the very worst families. Of 
course if a person asks not to be sent to a certain kind of family we re- 
spect his wishes, but otherwise we send him as I have stated, and let 
him find out what the family is. 
It is very important to encourage a visitor. If you see one who is 
disheartened, you must find something to keep him at work. Visitors 
are often discouraged because they do not see immediate results. They 
may be doing a very good work, but the poor people, as a rule, do not 
know how to express themselves; they do not say to the visitor what 
they feel. Hence an inexperienced visitor will be discouraged. It is, 
therefore, a good plan, whenever you hear any good thing that a poor 
person has said about the visitor, to repeat it. 
Mr. Paine.-I have been asked whether we have any poor people 
among our visitors. It is a very interesting contrast that, whereas 
among the Associated Charities we have almost none, yet among the 
St. Vincent de Paul visitors of the Roman Catholic Church the visitors 
are almost wholly of that class, and they do beautiful, faithful and de- 
voted friendly work. I have had occasion to see more or less of this in 
Boston, and it is a surprise and delight to me to see how thoroughly 
and devotedly the poor, plain working people, who are Roman Catho- 
lics, will give their evenings to friendly visiting after they have been 
working hard for their own support during the day. 
Dr. Ayres.-In Cincinnati we have found that the plain visitors 
sometimes do the most excellent work, and we have been able to bring 
them into conferences with people of higher social culture with admira- 
ble effect. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
31 
Mrs. Hayes of Texas.-I want to say that you have all been on the 
top of the ladder, but we have commenced at the lower round. Our 
city is small and it is a very simple thing to have friendly visitors in a 
small city. In all our organizations, as I have said before, it is dis- 
tinctly understood when we join that friendly visiting is a part of our 
duties. Our president, or whoever is at the head of the organization, 
appoints a committee, and that committee (that is, in several societies 
that I belong to) appoints the friendly visitors, taking them from those 
who are the most capable, having most of the requisite qualifications. 
Mr. De Forest.-I spoke about the question of getting friendly 
visitors, and said that in my judgment success depended on the man- 
agement. I do not want any better illustration of the truth of that con- 
clusion than what was said by Miss Frances Smith. She showed, in an 
admirable manner, what good management is. Perhaps it is not our 
fault if we cannot obtain equally good management. We deal with 
men as we find them and take what management we can get. There is 
another conclusion, which may occur to the minds of some members of 
the conference, namely, that the trouble in cities other than Boston is 
possibly this, that the Smith family is not large enough. 
The section then adjourned. 
THIRD SESSION.-Tuesday Evening, June 13TH, 1893. 
Robert W. De Forest, Esq., of New York in the Chair. 
The Chairman.-As you see from the programmes the special topic 
to-night is the Relation of Public to Private Charity, and the first 
paper will be that of Miss Louisa L. Schuyler, of New York, entitled 
"Voluntary Unofficial Supervision of Public Charitable Institutions in 
Co-operation with Official Boards." 
This is a description of the work which has been accomplished by the 
State Charities Aid Association of New York, and having had an oppor- 
tunity to read it, I will say that it is very interesting. It is ahistory of 
what a single society has done, yet it has a broad interest. It is an 
object lesson, showing what can be accomplished by a comparatively 
small body of earnest men and women. I take great pleasure in intro- 
ducing to you Miss Schuyler. 
Miss Schuyler, of New York.-The subject of my paper is Volun- 
tary Unofficial Supervision of Public Charitable Institutions in Co-oper- 
ation with Official Boards. I am obliged to add that owing to a weak 
voice I am not able to read it. I will therefore ask Mr. Wilcox to do so. 
Mr. Ansley Wilcox then read the paper. At its conclusion, the fol- 
lowing remarks were made : 32 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The Chairman.-We have with us Mr. Oscar Craig, President of the 
Board of State Charities of New York, the official organization of the 
state. I will ask him to speak a few words if he will. 
Mr. Craig.-The paper which you have heard needs no commenda- 
tion; the statements commend themselves; they are simply statements 
of facts. I shall confine my remarks to one topic introduced by this 
paper-the appointment of visitors with authority to go into the institu- 
tions of the state. The State Board of Charities has the power by 
statute to appoint visitors in every county of the state to go to the elee- 
mosynary and correctional institutions of the state, which are not 
controlled by the state government. That includes 500 corporations. 
The State Charities Aid Association has the power to apply to the Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court for the appointment of visitors to all the 
charitable institutions of the state, except private corporations. During 
my experience of fourteen years as a member of the State Board of 
Charities and of several years as its president, I have learned that visit- 
ing, in the several counties of the state, can be better accomplished 
under the supervision of a voluntary organization, the "State Charities 
Aid Association," than by the official body, the "State Board of Chari- 
ties;" therefore for several years I recommended that the visitors ap- 
pointed by our board should be, by voluntary consent, transferred from 
our board to the voluntary association. That has been accomplished 
in most of the districts of the state; and in my own district (for which 
I am primarily responsible) it has been accomplished in every county 
except one. An official body is limited by its official dignity. It can- 
not go to the public press and proclaim abuses and evils as a voluntary 
organization can. The State Board of Charities, an official body with 
power to examine under oath and report to the state legislature, might 
be compromised by the opinions expressed in the public press, before 
such examination had taken place; but there is no such limitation to a vol- 
untary organization. This paper is, indeed, an object lesson for other 
states; every state which has such an official body as a State Board of 
Charities, should interest itself in securing also a voluntary association 
like the State Charities Aid Association of New York. 
The Chairman.-I ask General Brinkerhoff, Chairman of the State 
Board of Charities of Ohio, to step to the platform and speak a few 
minutes. 
General Brinkerhoff of Ohio.-I have been familiar for many 
years with the splendid work done by the State Charities Aid Asso- 
ciation of New York, and perhaps for New York it is the best form; 
but in Ohio (and perhaps in other states without a dominant city 
like New York) I think we have a better method of reaching the 
same end. This is the Ohio system. A law requires the Court of 
Common Pleas in each county to appoint a Board of County Visitors, 
consisting of six persons, three men and three women, and not more 
than three of each party, and they are required to visit all the places CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
33 
of charities and correction in the county where they belong. They 
have the power to visit them at least four times during the year; in fact 
they make many more visits. They report to the Court of Common 
Pleas once a year, and they send the report also to the Board of State 
Charities. The courts also require that whenever any child is 
to be proceeded against, in order that it may be sent to a reformatory, 
notice shall be given to the Board of County Visitors, who shall ap- 
point a guardian ad litem for the child. 
We have held two annual conferences on the subject of charities and 
correction, and have gathered audiences as large as this and some- 
times larger. The annual reports of these conferences are published, 
and are weighty and useful. I could talk to you by the hour of what 
has been accomplished by these boards of county visitors; they are 
appointed for two years, and two members go out each year. The 
judges take the greatest interest in these matters. We have eighty- 
eight counties in the state, and you «may imagine the result. 
The Chairman.-The next paper is by Mrs. Benjamin Williams of 
New Jersey, on the State Charities Aid Association of New Jersey. 
This was followed by a paper by Mr. Alexander Johnson, of In- 
diana, on the Co-operation of Public with Private Charitable Agencies. 
FOURTH SESSION.-June 14TH, 1893, 2.15 P. M. 
John M. Glenn, Esq., of Baltimore, in the Chair. 
The Chairman.-The first paper is by Mrs. Charles R. Lowell of 
New York, entitled "Are Labor Colonies needed in the United States," 
which will be read by Miss Richmond of Baltimore. 
At its conclusion, the following remarks were made: 
The Chairman.-I ask Dr. Warner to give his views of this paper 
and to tell us also something of his work in Washington in connection 
with the municipal lodging house of that city. 
Dr. Warner, lately of Washington and now of California.-Those 
who remember Mrs. Lowell's paper at the St. Louis conference will ob- 
serve that to-day she has presented almost exactly the same view of 
the pauper treatment of the male vagrant that she then presented of 
the treatment of vagrant men and women. The central thought which 
she has given us is expressed in the phrase "sterilization of the unfit," 
the idea being to prevent by segregation their increase in the com- 
munity; while their lives will be attended to with great kindness, their 
stock shall end with their death. As to the character of the unem- 
ployed in this country, as she states it, those who have worked with 
free labor bureaus, or have sought in other ways to find employment for 
the unemployed, will agree with her estimate of the character of the 34 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
unemployed in this country. At least they will agree that it is very 
nearly correct. When a gentleman of Brooklyn was asked if he found 
it difficult to find work for the faithful and efficient he said "yes, for 
the faithful; yes, for the efficient; but for the faithful and efficient, no." 
That is a conclusion similar to what is set forth in Mrs. Lowell's paper. 
Those who have simply thought about the matter and have seen but a 
few of the unemployed at their back doors, and have perhaps had but 
a very brief acquaintance with them, may feel that there is some injus- 
tice where faithful and efficient men cannot find work. We must not 
jump at the conclusion that they are efficient. The industrial condi- 
tions that existed years ago may have thrown the faithful men out of 
work, and idleness may have become a habit; so if you come to deal 
with them, you will find that they are not faithful. At the same time 
we cannot say that it is the fault of the individuals, but the result of 
their environment, and that they are out of harmony with their en- 
vironment. And we can but feel that their inefficiency must be recog- 
nized. 
It seems to me that Mrs. Lowell ignores one function of the labor 
colony. She says in this country we do not have faithful and efficient 
men who are out of work; and second, the unfaithful men will not 
stay in the colony; and third, the function of the labor colony as it 
exists in Germany is that of oppression to the community. There are 
places where men will be given hard work for little pay, and that should 
be the rule of action of these colonies. The great army of tramps of 
this country (and I have seen a new genus on the Pacific Coast) should 
be put at reformative work and long sentences. People have been 
harping on this ever since Howard wrote about it a hundred years ago. 
This needs to be taken hold of in a practical way by those who appreci- 
ate the condition of the criminals. The jails are thoroughly, essen- 
tially and entirely bad in most counties of the United States. The 
longer sentence and reformatory work should be introduced. That will 
do more to discourage tramping and vagrancy than anything else. As 
to the city work in Washington I do not care to speak about that; what 
is to be said of it, will be found in the Charities Review. It is better 
to keep the subjects separate. 
Mr. L. L. Barbour.-In Michigan we have a colony without the labor 
attachment, and we have poor-houses without any labor attachment. In 
February or March between three and four hundred inmates were in 
our poor-house who had been there most of the winter. The physician 
and an officer of the State Board went out to investigate the poor-house. 
It was suggested that they ascertain how many inmates of the institu- 
tion were able bodied. After a thorough investigation made, both 
men concluded that at least one hundred of the four hundred inmates 
were perfectly capable and able to earn their own living. It was found 
that in a large quantity of cord-wood in the yard adjacent to the poor- 
house, some 150 cords had been cut, but not sawn up. The keeper of CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
35 
the poor-house was asked if the men did not have any work; and 
replied, "They wouldn't do any work." It was suggested that he tell 
them after breakfast the next morning to go out and saw a given 
quantity of that wood before they could have any dinner. The next 
day he informed the two visitors that eighty-seven took to the road im- 
mediately after breakfast. If some provision of that kind could be pre- 
scribed for this class of laborers, (of whom we find so many in our poor- 
houses during the winter throughout the country,) it would undoubtedly 
relieve us of this class. 
Miss Ames.-I met an American who had traveled in thirty-two 
states for eight months as a tramp; he said he did it "to make a study 
of sociology." This gentleman said he estimated that there were about 
50,000 professional tramps in the United States. I asked him how he 
lived during this period; he said "I lived just as well as you do; I never 
lived better in my life." At one time in Milwaukee he tried to see how 
many dinners he could get; he got four dinners and then he stopped. 
He said they gave what they call "Hand-outs," and they gave out what 
they call "Sit-downs." He said as long as they did that, these tramps 
continued to be tramps. He had never found a single tramp who could 
not read or write, and he had found three college graduates. He said 
he was thrown in jail for sleeping on a freight car. He said that with 
exceptions, the jails are just as bad as possible. I think he spoke of 
Pennsylvania as a perfect paradise for tramps. I learned a great many 
valuable points from him on this subject. 
I have visited the labor colony in North Berlin; there it was not com- 
pulsory with the inmates to stay, yet they were not allowed to come and 
go as they pleased; if they wanted to look for work, they were allowed 
to do so. Many of the inmates there were well educated, and one was 
a man of rank: some had been brought down by duink or had fallen 
through some other means. They were there working for very small 
wages; among other things at brush-making. I tasted the soup allowed 
them and it was excellent. This was one of twenty-two labor com- 
munities which have been started with varying success in Germany. 
Dr. Ayres.-I would like to ask how the deficiency was made up if 
the colonies were not self-supporting? 
The Speaker.-I think a part came from private funds and a part 
from the state. 
Dr. Ayres.-Under whose control was the colony? Of a society or of 
the state? 
The Speaker.-I cannot answer definitely. 
Dr. Ayres.-Most of us who have had experience in dealing with 
homeless men and homeless women try to find work for these people; 
we do find work for them, and they work while the spasm of goodness 
lasts. I suppose most of you have noticed that they do have these 
spasms of goodness and that during that time they are very good indeed. 
If we have a place where men can come for a few days and get their 36 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
living by hard work, and then pass on to the next city, that may be bad 
for the men and for the city. Let me give one or two illustrations. I 
knew some young fellows who were in the Cleveland wood-yards where 
they have to work hard, and I have seen them saw wood before they 
could get a night's lodging. Some of them would stay in the wood-yard 
five days, and when they had stood it as long as they could and found 
it was getting to be real work, they came to Cincinnati; but when it got 
to be cold weather they went back to Cleveland where they could get 
food and lodging by hard work. You heard Mr. Johnson say that when 
he first established the wood-yard in Chicago he found a man from the 
country who came to Chicago and spent the winter at hard labor, be- 
cause he said he would have to work hard on the farm and he thought it 
was preferable to spend the winter in Chicago, even if he did work hard. 
It is hard to say where the evil begins and where the good commences. 
I feel as if we had made more progress in dealing with fallen women 
than we have with fallen men. 
The Chairman.-I ask Miss Rogers, one of the Overseers of the Poor 
of Boston, to tell us of their work in Boston. 
Miss A. P. Rogers.-We have in Boston a free lodging house for men, 
a temporary home; and they work in the wood-yard which is attached to 
the home. They are obliged to cut and saw and split wrood in a certain 
quantity for a night's lodging. We had last year 32,000 lodgers. This 
includes duplication, for a good many men come over and over again. 
Much care is taken in finding work for these men, and .therefore a good 
many of them come many times in the winter. The rule of the home is 
that the men should not stay there over three days, but a few, old men 
and incompetent, are allowed to stay longer. We also have a temporary 
home for women where women can come, generally towards night, and 
receive lodging of.the most simple kind, and the plainest of food, and 
for that they do the work of the house,-a certain amount of cleaning 
and washing for the home. They also bake all the bread of the two 
institutions. They may stay in the home a week or sometimes longer, 
if the matron has a good reason for keeping them. They come there to 
find work and at times we find work for them, but they generally find 
work for themselves. The women have not been very successfully sup- 
plied with work until lately; now there is a more strict rule, and we are 
endeavoring to find out the character of the women who come. Until 
last year we have never known definitely how many have come. Last 
year we knew that 1,283 different women came to the home and 744 
children. The statistics will show that out of the 1,283 women, 587 
came the first time that year, and that 802 came only once during 
the whole year; 223 of the women who came, had been in the Home 
•con and off" since 1882, so that the labor test had not kept them from 
being constant habitues at the home. 
A Delegate.-How long do you allow the women to stay? CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
37 
The Speaker.-Not more than seven days without some good reason; 
there are many women who are incompetent and the matron, who knows 
them well, often allows them to stay longer. 
A Delegate.-I wish to ask what per cent, of the cost, is paid by the 
allowance for the wood-yard? 
The Speaker.-The wood account is kept by itself; the wood-yard 
simply pays its running expenses. 
A Delegate.-It does not pay all the running expenses, does it? 
The Speaker.-No. 
The Chairman.-We have the good fortune to have with us the Rev. 
E. J. Dupuy of the Maison Hospitaliere, Paris, France. We shall be 
glad if he will kindly tell us about this work. 
Mr. Dupuy of Paris.-We have in Paris what we call a hospital 
house; you might almost call it a home. Two Englishmen came to 
Paris and lost their papers and money. The police did not know what 
to do with them; so they were sent to a pastor, who thought he would 
start a house for such men. He put one in as superintendent and the 
other as chief clerk and opened a small house. We have a like system 
in other cities in France. Men are taken in and the first day are set 
to chopping wood. Usually there are about 50 per cent, of these men 
that will take lunch the first day and will quit the next morning, because 
they do not want to work. Of the other half there are many who re- 
main longer. Some prefer to go away after two or three days, and it 
is very rare to keep them in our house more than a week. We keep a 
few of them a fortnight, and some of them have remained there a month; 
two of them have actually been in the house two years. They are em- 
ployed as a foreman and as a collector of bills. Almost all have had 
some difficulty with justice and have a prison record; some have been 
forgers and burglars, but some are good men who have been led astray 
by drink and bad habits. This house has just been enlarged through 
the liberality of some friends and can accommodate from fifty to a hun- 
dred men. Very many have been attracted to the large cities by the 
wood-yards. In 1878, 1879 and 1880, when a number of people were 
frozen to death in the streets because they had no home, the private 
charities opened "asylums;" applicants were obliged to give their name 
and the state whence they came, and they could have free lodging for 
three days. Immediately the number of tramps and beggars increased in 
Paris. Since then they have opened wood-yards and the number still 
increases. In the case of women it is quite different; we would not 
keep a tramp twenty-four hours, but with a woman it is quite different, 
especially in France, where they have the law against them. When 
we can keep her we do so, and give her moral strength and courage 
and help her along, and then she is sent out into the country. We 
have laundries for the women. The Sisters of St. Charles are work- 
ing with us, the police take great pleasure in helping us, and even 
the state gives us money. In Marseilles they give them a certain 38 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
amount and tell them to go and lodge in town. This is simply giving 
an income to vagrants and sometimes to the most disreputable men. 
I think no money ought to be allowed to these people, because when 
they have no more money they will try to find work. Whereas, if they 
are given fifteen or twenty cents, they know where to get rooms for 
four cents, and they have sixteen cents to enjoy themselves with. But 
what are we going to do with these men? In November and Decem- 
ber of last winter I saw more than 300 men pass through these houses. 
Of these 300 men I am sure that about 250 had been in jail, on an aver- 
age, from six to twelve months. The wood-yards are very good now, 
but I think they will be later on a source of evil. 
Mr. Paton.-I am free to confess, after a winter's study of the chari- 
ties of London, that in America we are very far behind the English in the 
matter of labor tests, but in some respects I think we excel. Our charity 
organizations and societies, particularly in New York (the ones with 
which I am most acquainted), are far superior to anything they have in 
England; but I am free to say that we come far short of London and 
other parts of Europe in the matter of labor tests. Let me give you an 
instance. The New York Poor Association is very far from being 
wholly a relief society. The relief work is the smallest part of the 
operation. For example, we have the baths. We can give a thousand 
baths a day. I think in the hot weather we can come up to that. We 
are sending 25,000 people down to Coney Island to get a change of air 
and the seabreeze; we are opening convalescent homes for sick children; 
but we are doing very little in the matter of labor tests, and that is one 
reason why I went to Europe and spent a good part of last winter in the 
slums of London, although I did not attempt to go through Loch's hand- 
book of charities, for there are 1,100 charities in London described in that 
work. In this matter of labor tests I should unhesitatingly place at the 
head of the list the large army of high church ritualists. We have our 
wood-yards in New York, and I am thankful to Mr. Kellogg for his 
wood-yard, but I hope he will have something a thousand times better 
in the labor homes. They are carrying on twenty different kinds of 
industries. Every man, as far as possible, is put to the kind of work 
for which he is most fit. In one of these homes I saw three men-one 
a broken down lawyer, one a minister, and the third a valet. They 
carried on twenty or thirty different kinds of work in this labor home, 
and every man there has to work, and work hard, just as if he were 
earning daily wages. He is kept five or six months until they make a 
man of him. Of course he can go out at any moment if he so chooses. 
In London there were admirable "rescue homes,." of which one at least 
is limited to sixteen girls, in order that every girl may be a study to the 
matron. I think there are fifteen or sixteen of those schools in London. 
Next to the two institutions I have spoken of comes Booth's social 
wing of the Salvation Army; I visited it; there are every night in 
London about 500 men and women under their roofs; they gather them CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
39 
into the shelter; each man is supposed to pay two pence; they get a 
leather mattress to sleep on and two good meals, and there is a rousing 
meeting going on in the adjoining room, to which they are invited but 
not compelled to go. They have their "elevators," and here comes in 
the most successful part of the social army; the elevator is a place where 
they take a man from the gutter and put him upon his feet and try to 
make him a useful member of society. There is a constant invitation to 
go into the "elevator." 
A successful industry is what they call "cabinet-making;" they make 
all the furniture, bookcases, etc., needed by the Salvation Army, be- 
sides a vast deal for sale. I have not the statistics with me. 
Mr. Wilcox of Buffalo.-If this subject is still open for discussion, I 
would like to say what occurred to me in listening to the very interest- 
ing remarks of Mr. Paton. I suppose the idea which is embodied in 
the phrase labor test is a twofold idea, starting with the proposition 
that there are certain classes of men in the community who belong 
to the general class of tramps and beggars, who claim that they 
cannot get work to do. Such a person must be furnished with work 
which he can do, and with a compensation for it which will save him 
from immediate starvation; but if you give him a fair compensation 
for the work he does, it ceases to be "a test." Now, of course, the 
circumstances which Mr. Paton has described do not apply to the class 
that is underpaid. In Buffalo we have never succeeded in establishing 
a labor test. We tried the wood-yard, but that work is exceedingly 
simple; anybody can do it; in fact so far as I know there are only 
three kinds of work that have ever been suggested as "a test," sawing 
wood, breaking stone and cleaning streets. If there is any other 
kind of work that is more simple, I do not know what it is. We 
successfully established a wood-yard about twelve years ago. We 
raised the necessary sum of money and started with an overseer, and we 
said that we would furnish a man with a day's work at a rate which 
would save him from starvation. That worked well for a short time, 
but we soon found that we had a large stock of wood left on our hands; 
we were entirely unable to sell our wood. The use of natural gas, 
which has met the demand for kindling wood, is now so common, that 
we find it impossible to run a wood-yard on a large scale. We still 
have what we call our wood-yard, and we have arrangements with 
local dealers by which they will employ a limited number of men, and 
we keep it up on a very limited scale, but we have been swamped and 
have a great deal of wood which we cannot sell at all. 
The meeting then adjourned. PAPERS 
ON THE 
WORK AND PROBLEMS 
OF 
CHARITY ORGANIZATION 
IN THE 
UNITED STATES. HISTORY OF CHARITY ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED 
STATES. 
1872-1893- 
BY CHARLES D. KELLOGG, SECRETARY OF THE CHARITY ORGANIZATION 
SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.* 
Under more than a score of names there may be enumerated ninety- 
two associations in the United States and the Dominion of Canada as 
in existence in 1893, which profess loyalty to the principles character- 
istic of the movement known as the Organization of Charity. Of the 
whole number sixty-five have made returns, with widely varying pre- 
cision and completeness, to the "Committee on the History of Charity 
Organization" of this Conference, and upon these returns this report is 
based. 
History. 
Conditions Twenty Years Ago.-Twenty years ago, in the sense of an 
agency for bringing charitable and municipal relief organizations into 
concert of action, there were no Charity Organization Societies in 
America. There were, in many cities, voluntary general relief societies 
professedly ready to undertake any sort of humane task within their 
ability. In some instances they laid claim to most approved maxims 
of work, but as they were invariably distributors of material aid this 
function submerged all others, £nd they sank into the sea of common 
almsgiving, appealing to their patrons for support on the ground that 
the money given to them would enable them to enlarge the number of 
their beneficiaries or increase the amount of their gifts, and attracting 
the needy to their doors with the hope of loaves and fishes. In many 
quarters there was no lack of judicious reasoning, or of admission that 
♦This is an abstract of a paper prepared by Mr. Kellogg as chairman of the committee 
on charity organization of the twentieth National Conference of Charities and Correction- 
The paper is published in full in the report of that conference. 44 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the moral nature and the social lot of the poor were large factors in the 
problem of pauperism; but the efforts to extirpate it were feeble and 
incidental, not dominant. On every side the current of public senti- 
ment was that every penny spent in administration was so much ab- 
stracted from the poor, and that the best management was that which 
entailed the least cost in getting bread and soup to the hungry, and 
shelter, fuel, and clothing to the cold. 
Relief Twenty Years Ago.-The practice of legal or public out-door 
relief differed greatly in different communities. But from every quarter 
testimony arises that the system was without adequate safeguards of 
investigation, tests of destitution, means of hindering duplication of 
relief from several sources simultaneously, or of making the relief 
adequate to the necessity. Private almsgiving was profuse and chaotic, 
while still behind the demands made upon it; and was dispersed in 
tantalizing doles, miserably inadequate for effectual succor where the 
need was genuine, and dealt out broadcast among the clamorous and 
impudent. Twenty years ago those in the United States who thought 
that the function of relief would be lifted above temporary material aid 
were few in number and but just beginning to be heard. Indeed, it 
is the industrial depression following the commercial crisis of 1873, 
throwing multitudes out of work and making a heavy draft upon the 
benevolent, which seems to afford the starting point for the examination 
and reformation of the prevailing methods of charity. 
Beginnings.-In 1872 the nearest approximation to charity organi- 
zation to be found in the United States was the Chardon Street Build- 
ing in Boston, erected in 1869 by joint contributions from the city 
and personal subscribers, in pursuance of a plan first promulgated by 
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop in 1857. Under its roof are the offices of 
the official boards, and the principal voluntary relief societies of the 
city; and the existence of this building facilitated the subsequent syste- 
matic development of registration andco-operation in that city. 
Charity organization had independent and almost simultaneous 
initiation in Buffalo, New Haven, Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and 
two or three other cities, an account of which is given in the full re- 
port submitted to this Conference, but which the brevity of time allowed 
to this committee forbids us to read. 
This movement found an expression of its unity in the National Con- 
ference of Charities and Correction, which is itself an outgrowth of 
the American Social Science Association. It is first mentioned in the CHARILY ORGANIZATION. 
45 
proceeding of the Chicago Conference of 1879, where Mr. Seth Low 
presented a description of the work in Brooklyn, and a committee was 
formed to report upon charity organization. Two years later, at 
Boston, nineteen societies reported to the Conference, and the com- 
mittee grew to a section, which published a separate report of its own 
proceedings. 
Suppression of Out-Door Relief.-Simultaneously with the begin- 
ning of charity organization, and promoted by the same men, there 
was a repression, in important cities, of official out-door relief. Returns 
from four cities for that time, show that the amount saved to tax- 
payers in 1880, was $396,403. This event attracted wide attention 
in watchful official circles and was the beginning of a wiser administra- 
tion of the charitable funds raised by taxation in many communities. 
Ten Years of Growth.-In 1882, there were twenty-two charity 
organization societies known to exist in the United States, and ten 
others which had adopted some of the leading features of this move- 
ment, and were enrolled as correspondents with the former societies. 
They embraced cities and towns having a population of 6,331,700, or 
twelve per cent, of the total of the United States, and among them were 
the chief centres of influence in the country. Of these societies ten 
were in or had just completed the first year of their operations, admin- 
istering in incorporated populations of 2,363,138. From this point 
it is practicable to make tables and comparisons which exhibit the 
growth of the charity organization movement in the United States. 
At the close of the year 1892, there were ninety-two charity orga- 
nization and affiliated societies, an increase of two hundred and 
seventy-eight per cent, in ten years ; and they were located in cities 
and towns comprising a population estimated at 11,080,766. In 
nearly every instance the motive leading to these organizations is 
declared to have been discontent with the prodigality and efficiency of 
public relief, and the chaotic state of private charity. 
Two Types.-Classified by their relation to almsgiving, twenty-five 
report that they do not give material relief from their own funds; 
twenty that they do relieve ; nine, that they do so only in emergent 
cases, and of these two say they do so in order to avoid official out- 
relief. In 1881, there were but twelve non-relieving and seven reliev- 
ing societies reporting. 
Lapsed Societies.-It is known to this committee that thirteen charity 
•organization societies have been formed and dissolved. A few are 46 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
practically in suspension. Various causes may be assigned for the 
creation of this delinquent and lapsed list. For the most part the 
nascent society yielded to the opposition of the friends of the old 
system, or was planted on a community not prepared to compre- 
hend and maintain it. Probably the lack of trained and capable 
superintendents, and of suitable friendly visitors prepared to bear 
the restraints of charity organization, is the chief cause of mis- 
carriage. 
On Reports from Societies.-The last ten years of the history of 
charity organization, the amplified report will exhibit in tabulated 
statistics appended thereto, merely calling attention to their salient 
points and results. For its preparation a circular letter was prepared 
and sent to every society known to your committee. It is to be 
regretted that many of the returns were very imperfect. From the 
material furnished the following exhibit is made: 
Changes of Method.-Relief Adopted:-In a movement so recent 
there has been small room to judge of the effects of various methods 
and to devise new plans of work. There are three distinct phases of 
development to be detected in the growth of their work: (i) the 
adoption of material relief; (2) the abolition or reduction of such 
relief; and (3) the expansion of friendly visiting and provident enter- 
prises. Four societies report a change from organizing and co-opera- 
tive work by adding thereto the distribution of some form of alms. 
From statements made to us the inference is that alms relief has been 
for the most part taken up in a very restricted way, and but few 
charity organization societies, which did not begin with it, have since 
adopted it. 
Relief Withheld.-On the other hand, several of our societies have 
distinctly receded from the work of material relief, to seek it by co- 
operation with other benevolent agencies. Notable is the history of 
Cincinnati and Detroit, where their several independent district asso- 
ciations were abolished, and a board of trustees were put in complete 
charge of the administration. From the important city of Philadel- 
phia, where the society began with its sovereignty lodged in Ward asso- 
ciations, the report comes that the central board has gained in influ- 
ence and authority over the ward administration and is now enforcing 
the charity organization theory more vigorously than was possible at 
first. In Pueblo and San Francisco direct relief has receded, and been 
replaced with better systems of investigation and co-operation with CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
47 
other charitable agencies. Syracuse has restricted its material relief 
to the merest tiding over of emergent cases until some judgment can 
be reached on the better disposition of an applicant for aid, and this 
society enrolls itself as a non-relieving association. 
Finance.-In extenuation of the enormous percentages of contribut- 
ing support, it must be remembered that this review embraces only 
fourteen organizations in 1882, several of which were in their first year, 
and compares them with fifty-four societies reporting ten years later. 
In the last ten years the number of societies trebled; individual con- 
tributors quadrupled; contributing churches and societies increased 
more than three hundred and seven per cent. The income of forty- 
eight societies increased three-fold in 1892 over that of seventeen in 
1882, and reached an aggregate of $263,421. Fourteen societies 
report the beginning of invested funds, and together hold property and 
securities valued at $409,038. 
Real Estate.-Endowments began in Buffalo in 1880, when through 
the generosity of a single individual the Fitch Creche was established, 
at a cost of about $40,000. To this gift Mr. Benjamin Fitch added 
much other property, conveying it by deed of trust to the society for 
the purpose of encouraging provident schemes. The Fitch Institute, 
completed in 1883, not only affords offices for the accommodation of 
the society, but within it are comprised an accident hospital and a 
training-school for nursery maids and domestic servants. Very noble 
is the admirable and imposing United Charities Building of New York, 
erected by Mr. John S. Kennedy, and dedicated March 6th, 1893. It 
was deeded to four of the principal charity societies of the city, who 
manage it through a board of trustees chosen by them. Each has an 
equal share in the use and income of the structure, and one of these is 
the Charity Organization Society. As it cost over $600,000, the equity 
of this society is valued at $150,000. The Charities Building in Char- 
don street, Boston, was already in existence when the Associated Chari- 
ties of that city were organized, and here that society has always had its 
headquarters free of rent. The Bridgeport society owns a building 
valued at $11,000; that of Cleveland, one valued at $23,000, and New 
Haven has a fund of $30,000 dedicated to a like purpose. These edi- 
fices are centres of conference, co-operation and exchanges of informa- 
tion, and virtually add an estimated value of about $220,000 to the 
invested resources of charity organization in the United States, making 
a total of $630,000. 48 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
Internal Organization.-Fifty-two societies report placing in the field 
of administration and personal service of the necessitous in 1892 an 
army of 5,476 men and women. This number is below the actual fact, 
since seventeen of the societies make no return of their administrative 
officers, and eight, none of their friendly visitors; while Philadelphia 
fails to enumerate the officers and visitors of its eighteen large district 
societies, with which several hundred visitors are connected. The total 
number is doubtless over 6,000. In administrative work 763 men, an 
increase of 157 per cent, in ten years, and 511 women, an increase of 
220 per cent., were engaged in 1892; of paid officials the same year 
there were seventy-seven men (increase 220 per cent.) and 135 women 
.(increase 250 per cent.) in the service; while of friendly visitors 456 
men (increase 1,400 per cent.) and 3,534 women (increase 165 per 
cent.) toiled in the homes or over the ill fortunes of applicants for aid. 
As 74,704 cases came under the notice of the societies, this would give 
an average of 17.6 cases to each visitor, a number altogether too large 
for effective work. Fifteen societies control one hundred subordinate 
district conferences or associations, and twenty-nine avail themselves of 
conferences among officers and visitors to consider methods in the dis- 
position to be made of cases. The conferences range from weekly 
through monthly and quarterly sessions. A notable example of kin- 
dred work lasted through the first eight years of the Philadelphia soci- 
ety. There once a month an assembly of the whole society was held 
and numerously attended, at which papers were read and practical dis- 
cussions maintained on the problems of charity; and the effect of them 
was incalculable in educating the workers, and even the community, in 
a sense of responsibility for their poor brothers and sisters. 
Lines of Work Developed-Repression-Public Out-door Relief.-It 
would be gratifying, if the statistics were to be had, to show what char- 
ity organization has done directly in lightening the tax-payer's burden; 
but this is a matter of minor significance compared with the more 
humane remedial aims of the movement. Only eight societies have 
supplied definite figures, and the results are a present annual reduction 
in municipal out-door relief in Brooklyn, Buffalo, Burlington, la., 
Hartford, Conn., Indianapolis, New Haven, Conn., Omaha, Philadel- 
phia, Syracuse and Taunton, Mass., of $409,480. There has been no 
out-door public relief in New York during the past twenty years. 
Besides this sum, in Cincinnati and Minneapolis municipal out-door 
relief has diminished one-half, notwithstanding the increase of popula- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
49 
tion. Albany and Portland, Ore., note its decrease. In Detroit its 
distribution has been turned over to a special commission appointed by 
the Mayor, and presumably removed from partisan political control. 
In Newark, N. J., it has been restricted to bread and coal tickets during 
the three winter months, but is continued to widows and the aged the 
year round. 
Street Begging.-From fifteen important cities information comes 
that street begging has been perceptibly diminished. In five of these 
cities it is pronounced suppressed, which means, at least, that mendi- 
cants no longer flaunt their rags and deformities before the eyes of the 
citizens, or wail their dolorous cant in the public ear. New York 
employs two special officers to deal with this class of cases. An ana- 
lyzed record is kept of the cases, and in 1892, 63.4 per cent, were found 
to be inmates of cheap lodging houses and police stations; 20.7 to have 
homes, and 2.9 not to be traced to any abode. Of these, 21 per cent, 
were maimed, sick or aged, and 79 per cent, able-bodied. To give to 
these maimed and aged on the streets was unmixed cruelty, as it kept 
them from the more humane provision of the almshouse. These are the 
only records within reach that permit a study and classification of the 
street-beggar genus, and probably the ratios here given will hold good 
for the whole class throughout the country. In many cities the sup- 
pression of street begging is hindered by the vicious custom of the civic 
authorities to issue licenses to thinly disguised beggars to play musical 
instruments and to peddle small wares in the streets, as, e. g., Boston, 
Buffalo and New York. 
Vagrants.-In the repression of vagrancy three resources have been 
employed-the police, for the incorrigible and dissolute; labor tests, 
as a means of discriminating those who have abandoned themselves to a 
predatory career from those who are willing to use the means afforded 
for reaching self-support; and lodgings, where wayfarers may abide 
temporarily while in search of employment. Some of the wayfarers' 
lodges employ labor tests, and the favorite form of such tests is the 
wood-yard. The oldest and most systematic of these combined lodges 
and tests is in Boston, where the city took up the work in 1879. It at 
once relieved the police station-houses of the casuals, and spared the 
unfortunates, who were desirous of self-maintenance, the humiliation 
and contamination of police stations. Here, too, the purification of 
persons and the clothing of the beneficiaries is scrupulously attended to, 
accompanied, by the strong reinforcement of that cleanliness which 50 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
restores one's self-respect. This system has also been carried to a wide 
extent in Philadelphia, where the Charity Organization Society per- 
forms at its own expense for the city the work of relieving the station 
houses and streets from the casuals. The work of the society in the 
rural district of Bryn Mawr is chiefly of this kind. It is reported to us 
that twenty-seven of our societies, in dealing with this vagabondage, 
lodged 71 per cent, and subjected 26 per cent, to labor tests. This 
distinction between lodging and labor tests does not, however, seem 
trustworthy; since, as a rule, both are practiced in combination. 
In addition, 117 cases of fraudulent schemes, especially those pre- 
tending to be organizations for charitable purposes, were detected and 
exposed, and in many cases broken up, in 1892; by far the greater part 
of this suppression having occurred in New York. 
Co-operation.-Co-operation is one of the most difficult attainments. 
It is a thing of slow growth, but each advance made and held is a distinct 
and decisive triumph of organization of ideas. Out of forty societies 
embraced in this branch of our inquiry, thirty-one claim a co-operation, 
more or less complete, with municipal agencies of relief. The ratio 
thereof is the high one of 97 per cent. The returns of thirty societies 
show that together they have established a practical co-operation with 
one-third of the charitable agencies and institutions in their cities. In 
thirty-four cities co-operation has been attained with 44 per cent, of 
the churches located in them. 
Registration.-It is a singular mark of the general and deep impres- 
sion upon the public mind concerning the imposture and worthlessness 
of applications for relief, that registration and investigation should be 
regarded as a sort of detective and repressive system. But their detective 
and repressive effect is only incidental to them under present social 
conditions. Their true purpose is far greater and grander; and were 
all imposture and dishonest design to cease, there would still be need' 
of these two processes. The information accumulated by them not 
only lays bare imposture but maintains the cause of the upright poor, 
and supplies their credentials of sympathy and help. It would not 
abolish overlapping, but adjust it, so that the alms from one source may 
complement the alms from another, and so concert them that they may 
be timely, appropriate and adequate. Above all, it is the key to co- 
operation. The records of the registration bureau enable the charity 
organizationist to say to all who toil for the relief of penury, "We have 
that information which is invaluable to you, if you would do your work CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
51 
wisely and efficiently. We cannot compel co-operation, but we can 
serve you, and by service become your auxiliary and friend." 
There are two sides to registration. Societies and individuals may 
make use of our archives for guidance in administering their own relief, 
and they may also enlarge our efforts by reporting the families and per- 
sons whom they aid. The first form of co-operation is by far the more 
common; it is much rarer for churches, societies and private almsgivers 
to report to us their own operations. Often this default is simply owing 
to the need of adopting unwonted methods, and to the labor required 
in a systematic exchange of information. Were our bureaus of registra- 
tion replenished and used as the charity organization theory requires, 
the active benevolences of society would fall into alignment and move 
as a disciplined army, animated with a common purpose to the conquest 
of the problems of penury, misery and degradation. 
Administrators of public official relief recognize that they are respon- 
sible to the public for the way in which they perform their work, and 
hence they are most willing to open their records to our societies. In 
eleven large cities it is claimed that the bureaus of registration are work- 
ing in unrestricted harmony and completeness with poor-law officials. 
Indianapolis and New Haven estimate that their records cover nine- 
tenths of the municipal relief cases; in Albany, Buffalo and Rochester 
the ratio ranges from one-quarter to three-quarters; and in three other 
cities this form of co-operation is returned as partial or considerable. 
Registration for voluntary societies would appear to be for fifty-nine per 
cent, of them in twelve cities. Fourteen societies have registered for 
churches, attaining to the service of from io to 80 percent, of the whole 
number in their communities, New York taking the lead. Such service 
for asylums and similar private institutions is naturally restricted. For 
eight societies, the registration service has extended from 5 to 75 per 
cent, of the whole number of such institutions, New Haven leading. 
In 1877 a plan was proposed in Buffalo of a central registration 
bureau for all the charity organization societies, which should confine 
itself to recording travelling and professional mendicants. It was a 
scheme for the suppression of the tramp nuisance, but proved to be 
premature. 
Social State.-Another important plan was devised at the same time 
for the classification of applicants for relief according to their family 
relations, ages and nationality. It went into fairly general operation in 
1889, when the blank forms were agreed upon and published by action 52 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
of this National Conference. It is based on the joint experience of the 
American societies and elicited the approval of the hirst International 
Conference of Charities, held in Paris. 
A word may be said here to enforce the value of keeping uniform 
records. Our societies are the only agencies in the United States 
through which authentic statistics can be gathered, not only covering a 
census of relief-seekers, but eliciting the results of various methods of 
dealing with them. This sort of information, if carefully collected 
and collated, will soon become a treasury of details to which the soci- 
ologist will confidently resort, and on which legislators, reformers and 
workers among the poor have already begun to base their course of 
conduct. 
Classified Disposition of Cases.- From the beginning charity organi- 
zation societies in the United States have followed a plan of recording 
the disposition made of applicants whose cases came under their charge, 
which conformed in a general way to that of the great parent society in 
London. There are 44 of them whose reports have been received, and 
these embrace the treatment given to the huge number of nearly 75,000 
cases. With the exception of a few cities, this number embraces only 
new and not recurrent applicants, and hence represents the fresh expan- 
sion of the work in the year 1892. Owing to the different method of 
keeping their records, and in making the returns compiled in the 
reports of the various societies, exact deductions cannot be made, and 
the same cases must appear in two or more classes. It is probably that 
a tide of over 100,000 families and individuals flowed through the con- 
duits of the charity organization societies. If they are grouped in large 
generalizations it may be affirmed, as approximately true, that three- 
tenths of this vast array of alms-seekers really need material succor, and 
an equal number do not need it at all. Of the charge of one-tenth, our 
societies have been wholly relieved by placing them in other care. For 
nearly one-fifth co-operation of other societies and of individuals and 
municipal officers has been obtained; and for one-fifth relief by employ- 
ment was found adequate.' It is probable that these ratios fairly repre- 
sent the experience thus far of those engaged in charity organization 
work. 
Provident Schemes.-Graduation from dependence to self-mainte- 
nance is an expression familiar to all engaged in this work throughout 
the United States. It describes the aim of this reform, and the degree 
of achievement in it is a supreme test of our principles. If there is to CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
53 
be no elevation of our wards into self-support, then charity organiza- 
tion societies only add to the alms-doling, the consequences of which 
have been so pernicious to society. In cities where charity organiza- 
tion societies have been planted and acquired their characteristic influ- 
ence, there has been a very conspicuous contemporaneous growth in 
the number and variety of provident societies. And our societies claim 
that this is not a mere chance, but the direct result of their teachings, 
and generally the result of the personal labors of their own members. 
Saving Funds.-These are of four sorts-simple provident societies, 
taking small deposits at the counter; stamp banks, where deposit 
stamps are sold at stations in different parts of the city; banks to 
receive small deposits gathered by visitors who call at houses for them, 
as in Newport, R. I., and Castleton, S. I.-an ingenious system, which 
■combines with great effectiveness the work of the friendly visitor with 
the encouragement of savings; and fuel-funds, by means of which the 
deposits of the summer secure deliveries of wood and coal in the win- 
ter at cost price. Eighteen such provident fund organizations were 
known to exist in 1892 under the auspices of our societies, gathering in 
the savings of 33,826 depositors. 
Special Lines of Development.-Attitude toward Relief.-As each 
■community has its distinctive characteristics, so each charity organiza- 
tion society inevitably adjusts itself to them, and diversities of practice 
and development spring up. These variations are desirable as enlarging 
the number of experiments tried, and as throwing side lights upon special 
problems. In one particular there is a growing unison of judgment. 
In the returns of the sixty societies contributing to this report, there 
is no advocacy or defense of relief-giving from their treasuries. On the 
contrary those societies which practice it either deprecate it or excuse 
it. All this testimony is a distinct indication of the advance of our 
principles, and of an intelligent perception of the function of charity 
organization. The matter is of prime importance, for upon this rock 
of almsgiving many a society has been wrecked. 
Emergencies.-A peculiar and severe test of charity organization 
societies has come in the demands made by special emergencies. The 
Chicago Relief and Aid Society reached a position of commanding 
influence and was led into the adoption of many charity organization 
principles by acting as the distributor of large funds contributed for the 
aid of sufferers by the great fire of 1871. Boston was moved to the 
steps which resulted in her Associated Charities by the suffering conse- 54 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
quent upon the great fire of 1872, and on the commercial crisis which 
began in 1873 and brooded over the land for two or three years. The 
Malden, Mass., society was formed to alleviate the distress caused by a 
great fire in 1875. At the time of the terrible Johnstown flood, the 
District of Columbia committee to gather aid for the sufferers, sent the 
secretary of the Associated Charities of Washington thither as their 
agent. In 1889 a disastrous fire swept over an area of twenty-five 
acres in Lynn, rendering 175 families homeless, and putting seven 
thousand persons out of employment. The information accumulated 
by the Associated Charities, covering many families, was instantly 
available; the skill of its visitors, agents and managers came into 
immediate requisition ; a delegation of experienced visitors came from 
the society in Boston, and during the six days in which a more general 
relief committee was taking form and acquiring funds and stores, the 
Associated Charities was giving order and shaping methods which alle- 
viated immediate distress and facilitated subsequent operations. The 
tornado of Louisville in May, 1890, by which seventy-six lives were 
lost and two hundred persons were injured, created great suffering. 
The Board of Trade Relief Committee expended $156,000 in allevi- 
ating it, and employed the visitors and agents of the Charity Organiza- 
tion Society as its investigators and almoners. In the Park Place 
disaster in New York in May, 1891, when sixty-three persons were 
killed or injured, those in charge of the Mayor's Relief Fund invoked 
the aid of the Charity Organization Society, and within a week the 
particulars of each case were collected and recommendations made 
which were followed in the distribution of the fund contributed for 
the sufferers. By the same means the $7,000 collected by the New 
York Herald for the same disaster was disbursed. This capacity to act 
in emergencies cannot seem strange to those who consider the advan- 
tages of a pre-existing registration bureau, of a large staff of trained 
agents and visitors familiar with the aspect of want, and of a co-opera- 
tive scheme which embraces the whole field of benevolent work among 
the destitute. 
Legislation-Not the least of the labors undertaken in this movement 
aie the efforts to amend legislation. In Massachusetts, the separation 
of the pauper from the criminal class in public institutions has been 
accomplished; there and in New York strenuous and sometimes suc- 
cessful efforts have proceeded from our societies to restrict the sale of 
alcoholic liquors; the poor relief laws have been amended: in the same CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
55 
states the statutes have defined tenement-houses so as to bring a larger 
number under official inspection; new requirements have been imposed 
by sanitary laws, and in Boston an alliance has been made with the 
Technological Institute to secure reports on the violation of sanitary 
principles. In New York a law, unfortunately not yet in operation, 
has been obtained requiring the city to open municipal lodging houses 
to relieve the station houses of wayfarers and secure their cleanliness; 
immigration has been made a subject of careful investigation, and 
recommendations prepared for submission to Congress. In several 
societies there is a department of legal advice, in which professional 
service is rendered gratuitously to prevent injustice or secure the poor 
in their rights. 
Education.-Seminaries or departments for the investigation of socio- 
logical questions have been established at Harvard, Yale, Johns Hop- 
kins, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt, Leland Stanford, Chicago and 
many other Universities, at the State Universities of Ohio, Michigan 
and Nebraska, at Amherst and Bryn Mawr Colleges; and in connection 
with some of these institutions occasional or serial papers are published 
from time to time. Representatives of our societies have been called 
upon to lecture on these themes in several colleges and theological 
seminaries, especially in the prominent ones in or within easy reach of 
the leading cities, and also before audiences assembled in churches. 
Necrology. 
Some few of the many whose memory and example remain as bene- 
dictions to their associates, must have a tribute here to meet the demands 
of our hearts. 
Hodge.-With happy sagacity the Philadelphia Society called Dr. H. 
Lenox Hodge to be its first president. Of honored lineage, of high 
professional eminence, of winning sweetness of disposition, he uttered 
judgments so wise and conciliatory that the divergent opinions of his 
associates melted into unison before them. His great influence was a 
tower of strength to the nascent society, and his name entrenched it in 
public confidence. He embodied that "sweetness and light" which 
Matthew Arnold thought to give the soul its noblest excellence. 
He died in the strength of his manhood, and while president of the 
society. 
McCulloch.-In Indianapolis the Rev. Oscar C. McCulloch was a 
magician of philanthropy. His was a scholar's diligence and enthusiasm 56 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
in the study of the alleviation of human misery. No man was more 
dexterous in detecting the dictates of true charity and following them 
through the complexities and discords of social benevolence; for in his 
heart was the divine instinct which "beareth all things, believeth all 
things, hopeth all things." The Charity Organization Society of 
Indianapolis, founded under his leadership, is his monument, and to 
future generations may it long transmit his honored fame. 
Preston.-Vicar-General Preston was an earnest 2nd useful friend 
of the society in New York, and an efficient intermediary in all 
negotiations with the authorities and agencies of the Roman Catholic 
Church. 
Brooks.-By the death of Phillips Brooks the Associated Charities of 
Boston lost one of its most loved and inspiring friends. He was on the 
first committee appointed to report a plan of organization and co-ope- 
ration, and on the provisional council until the society was organized. 
That society records that "his eloquence and his great influence have 
been repeatedly exerted in the society's behalf. His ability and still 
more his personal character were such that whatever he touched gained 
from him beauty and dignity. His eloquent words at the various public 
meetings of the society set forth the scope of its work and the spirit 
that should pervade it. in a way that exalted and ennobled it for all 
who heard him." 
Buzelle.-Of George B. Buzelle of Brooklyn it was declared, as his 
body was laid to rest, "he was one of God's noblemen." He had 
caught the spirit of his Master's words "Whosoever shall be great among 
you shall be your minister; whosoever of you shall be chiefest shall be 
servant of all." He was not an hireling; he was not an official; he 
was a man and a brother. No one could have known Mr. Buzelle with- 
out being impressed with his faithfulness. Nothing could stand between 
him and his duty. The chairman of this committee, as his nearest 
neighbor in like responsibility, and all who have known him in these 
conferences, and especially in the painstaking and eminently successful 
labors of this chairmanship a year ago, will testify that these words 
cover no exaggerations. 
It would be a grateful task to linger over these tributes to the memo- 
ries of departed colleagues who live still in our esteem, but time forbids. 
These were among many others we would name, by priority of labors or 
by eminence of influence, of so wide note that they could not be passed 
by in silence. Others have wrought with no less consecration of heart CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
57 
no less generosity of thought and hand. Gratitude for the inspiration 
of their example, for the quickening touch of their noble personality, 
follows them beyond the tomb. We love to think of these souls, so 
radiant here with pure charity, having done their humane work to the 
least of these His brethren, as having entered into the joy of their 
Lord. 
THE STATE CHARITIES AID ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE 
OF NEW YORK. 
1872-1893- 
VOLUNTARY, UNOFFICIAL SUPERVISION OF PUBLIC CHARI- 
TABLE INSTITUTIONS IN CO-OPERATION WITH OFFICIAL BOARDS, 
AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE WORK OF THE STATE CHARITIES AID 
ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK. 
BY MISS LOUISA LEE SCHUYLER, MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION 
The State Charities Aid Association of New York was organized in 
May, 1872, with the object of bringing about reforms in the poor- 
houses, almshouses and state charitable institutions of the State of New 
York, through the active interest of an organized body of volunteer 
visitors, acting in co-operation with, and as an aid to the local admin- 
istration of these institutions, and the official state boards of super- 
vision. 
Upon nomination of the State Charities Aid Association, through its 
board of managers, justices of the Supreme Court are authorized to 
grant to the visitors of the association orders to enable them to visit, 
inspect and examine, in behalf of the association, any of the public 
charitable institutions owned by the state, and the county, town and 
city poorhouses and almshouses within the State of New York; such 
visitors to be residents of the counties from which these institutions 
receive their inmates. The association reports annually, on or before 
the 1 st of December, to the State Board of Charities and to the State 
Commission in Lunacy, upon matters relating to the institutions subject 
respectively to the inspection and control of these two official bodies. 
The full text of the law is given as an appendix to this paper. 58 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECIION. 
The association entered upon its work in 1872, not in any spirit of 
criticism of officials, but with the wish to assist them towards the re- 
forms they themselves desired, by the creation of a strong local public 
sentiment in favor of these reforms; knowing also that for much that 
was at fault the system, and not the men who administered it, was re- 
sponsible. The association was, however, equally determined to ex- 
pose abuses and corruption wherever found. What measure of 
co-operation, what degree of public support has attended this concep- 
tion of the attitude towards others sought to be maintained by the 
association, the following pages will show. It may, however, be men- 
tioned here that an experience of twenty-one years has taught us that 
wherever our visitors have been welcomed by the local authorities, there 
earnest and honest men have been found in charge, with nothing to 
conceal and everything to gain from outside interest and support; 
whereas, where the visitors are not welcomed, it has become almost a 
sure sign that in these institutions are practices and management which 
will not bear the search-light of independent, fearless vision. 
That the people have the right to visit and inspect the public insti- 
tutions of charity owned and supported by themselves is a cardinal point 
of our faith; and the association in its membership has sought to make 
the lines so broad that it may fairly claim to represent the people. In 
its ranks are found men and women, young and old, rich and poor, 
the farmer, the merchant, the medical and legal professions, all political 
parties, the Protestant, the Catholic, the Hebrew. And this claim of 
the association, that it represents the people in its volunteer work, has 
again and again been recognized by the legislature of the State of 
New York; first of all by providing for the visitors of the association, 
as already mentioned, a right of entrance into all the public charitable 
institutions in the state; and secondly, by the enactment, sooner or 
later, of every measure of reform, requiring legislative action, which 
the managers of the association have applied for. It is thoroughly 
understood that the association, composed entirely of volunteer work- 
ers, desires no administrative powers for itself, fearing to divide or im- 
pair the responsibility of the local authorities for the good management 
of their respective institutions. The association desires only to see, 
and to speak of what it sees. This is power enough, in a country where 
the press is free and where public opinion is all-powerful. 
The frame-work of organization upon which the association rests 
is very simple. It is governed by a board of managers of fifteen mem- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
59 
bers, men and women, elected annually from those members of the 
association who reside in the city of New York, known as members of 
the Central Association, and numbering to-day 220. The officers of 
the County Visiting Committees vote also for managers at the annual 
meeting. The board of managers, by act of incorporation, has full 
power to direct and control the affairs and funds of the association, 
and is responsible for its good government. 
The officers of the association, president, vice-president, treasurer, 
secretary and librarian, are, except the secretary, elected annually by 
the incoming board from its own members; and the president and sec- 
retary of the association are also chairman and secretary of the 
board. The secretary is the chief executive officer of the association, 
and is appointed and removed by the board of managers. The 
librarian, in addition to the duties appertaining usually to this office, 
collects for the library, by donation, books and pamphlets upon sub- 
jects connected with the work of the association. These books are 
available to all members, and are also loaned to other students who 
may apply for them. 
There are four standing committees of the Central Association: 
upon Children; upon Adult Able-bodied Paupers; upon Hospitals; 
and a Finance Committee. 
The duties of three of these standing committees are defined in the 
by-laws of the association, as follows: 
'■''Committee on Children.-It is the duty of the Committee on Children to keep 
itself informed of the number, condition and disposition of the pauper children 
of the state; and to urge the adoption of such measures in the care and training 
of these children as may tend effectually to destroy hereditary pauperism, and as 
speedily as possible restore them to the family-life of the community. 
"Committee on Adult Able-bodied Paupers.-It is the duty of the Committee on 
Adult Able-bodied Paupers to keep itself informed of the number of able-bodied 
pauper men and women in the almshouses of the state, and the character and value 
of the labor performed by them, and the Committee shall advocate reformatory 
treatment for all persons of this class. The Committee shall endeavor to have the 
laws for the arrest and commitment of vagrants enforced, shall advocate meas- 
ures obliging all adult able-bodied paupers to work, and promote all efforts which 
tend to abolish beggary and vagrancy; and it shall endeavor to bring about the 
abolition or reformation of the system of official out-door relief. 
"Committee on Hospitals.-It is the duty of the Committee on Hospitals: 1st. 
To keep itself informed of the number and condition of the sick, insane, epilep- 
tic, blind, deaf and dumb, idiot and aged paupers in the New York institutions 
of public charities, and to urge the adoption of such measures as are best adapted 
to restore their health, alleviate their sufferings, and secure their humane care. 
2d. To collect and impart information in regard to the most approved plans for 
the construction, ventilation and disinfection of hospitals and asylums, and for 
their administration; and to prepare plans for the organization of their kitchen, 60 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
linen, laundry, nursing and supply departments. to keep itself informed of 
the organization and management of the dispensary and ambulance seivice, and 
to suggest and advocate any modification thereof that may seem desirable. 
The Finance Committee collects, through voluntary contributions, the small 
amount of money needed annually: for rent of headquarter office in New \ ork 
city, and for clerical assistance; for printing, postage and office expenses; for the 
salaries and traveling expenses of the secretary and assistant secretary. Less 
than $10,000 is needed for these purposes. No money is received from public 
sources; nor will this be accepted, as we wish to be independent of all outside 
influences. 
County Visiting Committees. 
It is the special duty of the secretary, in person and by correspond- 
ence, to organize County Visiting Committees throughout the state, 
who receive their appointment from the board of managers and who work 
under its direction and control. Composed of both men and women, 
these committees number to-day forty-eight, comprising 750 members. 
It is the duty of the visiting committees to visit the poorhouses and 
almshouses of their respective counties, reporting monthly to the 
board of managers, through the secretary at the headquarter office in 
New York city. Such portions of these reports as may have reference 
to children are referred to the Standing Committee on Children of the 
Central Association; those which relate to vagrants to the Standing 
Committee on Adult Able-bodied Paupers; those having reference to 
the sick, the insane, epileptics, idiots, the blind, deaf and dumb, and 
the aged to the Standing Committee on Hospitals. The members of 
these three standing committees are experts and students of the sub- 
jects referred to them. It is their duty to inform themselves of the best 
form of care which each class of dependents should receive, to gather 
this information from every country in the world, from every other 
state of our Union whose enlightened methods are superior to our own, 
to originate ways and means to meet the difficulties referred to them, 
and then to place this information at the disposal of the visitors in such 
form as to be of practical use to them. Sometimes the questions asked, 
being the same from many quarters, are answered by the publication of 
handbooks, for Visitors to the Poorhouse, Visitors to Hospitals, Vis- 
itors to the Insane, by treatises upon nursing, training-schools for 
nurses, hospital laundries, upon legal subjects, etc. Sometimes a 
simple method for ventilating a hospital ward is asked for; and again, 
plans for altering an old poorhouse or building a new one, or for the 
erection of a new hospital. Thirty-four such publications (the authors 
of all but one being members of the association), besides leaflets and CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
61 
circulars innumerable, have been issued to meet the demands of our 
visitors and others for special information. 
It will thus be seen how the student members and the active visiting 
members of the association act and react upon each other. The 
former help the latter by their expert knowledge; the latter prevent 
the former from becoming mere theorists by applying to their theories 
the test of practical application. 
The remedies to be applied are most of them local in character, in- 
tended to improve the condition of those inmates of poorhouses and 
almshouses who legitimately belong there; and the accomplishment 
of these reforms depends upon the influence of the visiting committees 
in their own counties, with their own boards of supervisors, with their 
own city commissioners of charities, or superintendents of the poor. 
For other classes of inmates the heroic treatment of removal to other 
institutions and other surroundings is necessary. This often calls for 
legislative action; and such action, when determined upon, is always 
undertaken and controlled by the board of managers. A thorough 
study is given the subject, extending at times over one or more years, 
the best legal talent is sought, and the bill, when drafted, is placed in 
the handsofa special committee to secure its enactment; while members 
of the association in all parts of the state are called upon to interest 
their representatives in the legislature in its behalf. 
The remedies, it will thus be seen, are of a two-fold nature; some of 
them general, requiring the intervention of the legislature, others 
local, to be sought at home. 
Results. 
What has this system accomplished through these twenty-one years, 
since the association began its work in 1872 ? 
Much that will never be known; the many acts of kindness to indi- 
viduals, the rescue of little children from pauperizing influences, the 
assistance given convalescents when leaving hospital, the happiness 
brought into many a maimed and broken life-all this, going on quietly 
day after day, can never be recorded; nor the sympathy and support 
given by our visitors to the overworked wives of poorhouse keepers, 
to the keepers themselves. These are not small things. They lie deep 
in the very foundations of our work. From the desire to alleviate suf- 
fering, to help the helpless, to fight for the oppressed, have sprung all 
the reforms of the State Charities Aid Association, dignified sometimes 62 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
by high-sounding names, but all going back to the simple recognition 
of brotherly love to the individual man, or woman, or child we have 
known and cared for in the poorhouse. 
The following are named as direct results of the work of the State 
Charities Aid Association. And, in stating them, we wish it borne in 
mind that what has been accomplished is equally due to the co-operation 
of the local authorities. In addition to this, and where this has not 
been attainable, the co-operation of the State Board of Charities and 
the State Commission in Lunacy have been invaluable. At times the 
association as been obliged to carry its reforms single-handed, but 
these instances are fortunately rare. 
1. A higher standard of care has been introduced into every poor- 
house and almshouse in the state. This means better nursing, special 
diet for the sick, improved hospital accommodation, separation of the 
sexes, suitable food, proper clothing, and many little comforts for the 
aged and infirm. It is impossible to enumerate the small and the great 
benefits conferred upon the inmates of these institutions through the 
presence of a few humane and intelligent visitors, commanding the 
confidence and respeet of their own communities and sure of a power- 
ful backing from headquarters. 
2. Training-School for Nurses, 1873.-This school, attached to 
Bellevue Hospital, one of the largest pauper general hospitals of the city 
of New York, was established by our New York County Visiting Com- 
mittee, who raised the necessary $20,000 with which to begin it, opened 
the training school on the first day of May, 1873, and to whom is due 
its efficient management and great success. At first governed by a 
special committee, the school increased so rapidly in importance that it 
was soon incorporated as a separate society, merely reporting annually 
to the parent association in recognition of its origin. 
The whole number of patients nursed by this school, from 1879 to 
1893, is 50,059. 
Its graduates number 424; of these, 45 are now holding positions in 
hospitals, 19 as superintendents of training schools, 10 as matrons, and 
16 as head nurses. 
In New York city they have been employed in the New York, Mt. 
Sinai, Charity and Post-Graduate Hospitals, and in the Hospital for Rup- 
tured and Crippled; at Chicago, in the Cook County Hospital, St. 
Luke's, and the Presbyterian; in the City Hospital of Boston, the Johns 
Hopkins at Baltimore, the Brooklyn City Hospital, and the Protestant CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
63 
Episcopal Church Hospital at Philadelphia. One graduate is in Louis- 
ville, one in Indianapolis, one in St. Louis, one in Savannah; one in 
England, one in Italy, two in Canada, and two in China. The number 
of private cases nursed by the graduates may be inferred from the fact 
that there were 1,336 calls for private nurses made during the past year 
through the registry kept by the Bellevue school. 
The school has therefore not only accomplished its primary object of 
obtaining good nursing for the patients of Bellevue hospital, but has 
opened a new profession to women; has supplied private families with 
well-trained, competent nurses, and has furnished district nurses for the 
sick-poor in their homes. 
The above is one illustration of a local remedy sought for and applied 
at home by a county visiting committee; but destined, as a pioneer 
school established on a basis unknown at that time in this country, to 
become so far-reaching in its effects that almost every state in the Union 
has been benefited thereby. 
3. Hospital Book and Newspaper Society, 1874.-Boxes for the recep- 
tion of fresh daily newspapers are placed, by this society, at the railway 
stations, the ferry slips, the exchanges, etc., in New York city, whence ' 
the papers are collected every day and taken to the hospitals, to be im- 
mediately distributed through the wards. In 1892 these daily papers 
numbered 158,417. Books and pamphlets are received at the office of 
the society, and are sent every week to hospitals, asylums, poor-houses, 
prisons, life-saving stations, light-houses, etc., often forming the nucleus 
of a small library. During the year 1892 the society distributed 7,716 
books, 15,944 magazines, and 54,020 illustrated and weekly papers. 
The Hospital Book and Newspaper Society, at first a committee of the 
association, is now a branch, with independent membership and 
treasury. 
4. Farming Out the Poor Abolished, 1875--one *-he counties 
of the State of New York there yet remained, when the visiting com- 
mittee of that county was organized, a remnant of the barbarous system 
of farming out the care of the poor to the lowest bidder. The abuses 
connected with this practice can well be imagined. through the exer- 
tions of our visiting committee, this system was speedily and com- 
pletely abolished. 
5. Temporary Homes for Children, -In 1875 theNew\ork 
State Board of Charities secured the enactment of a law, known as "the 
Children's Law," which made obligatory the removal of all children 64 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION 
over two years of age from the poorhouses and almshouses of the state. 
In this great reform the board had the full sympathy of the members of 
the association throughout the state, who have also been active in pro- 
moting the enforcement of the law. To provide a suitable place (the 
poorhouse being very properly forbidden) where temporary lodging for 
children could be had, pending their removal to homes in families, 
the visiting committees of Ulster, Westchester and Queens counties 
established three Temporary Homes for Children, in 1877, 1880 and 
1885. 
6. Tramp Act, 1880.-In several counties it was found to be the 
direct pecuniary interest of the Overseers of the Poor to encourage 
vagrancy, as they received from the county treasury fifty cents per 
capita, often more, for each night's lodging given a tramp. It required 
three years to obtain the necessary remedial legislation; but since the 
enactment of this deterrent measure, the State of New York has been 
less attractive to tramps. (Laws of New York, 1880, Chap. 176.) 
7. First Aid to the Injured, 1882.-The serious condition in which 
accident cases were received at the hospitals in New York city, owing 
to ignorance of what should be done before a physician could be sum- 
moned, induced the organization, by the Hospital Committee of the 
association, of a Society for Instruction in First Aid to the Injured, 
modeled upon the English societies of like nature. This society, since 
its formation, (at first as a committee of the association,) has given 264 
courses of lectures, of which 62 were to pay-classes and 202 to free- 
classes, to the police, railroad employees, working girls' clubs, and 
to members of the Young Men's Christian Association and Young Men's 
Institute, making a total of 6,595 persons thus instructed, of which 
number 3,545 received diplomas qualifying them to render first aid to 
the injured. During the eleven years of the existence of the society, it 
has received over one thousand testimonials from members of the police 
force and others, attesting the value of the instructions received. 
8. Trained Nurses for the Insane, 1885.-Acting in co-operation 
with the Bellevue Training-School for Nurses and the City Commission- 
ers of Charities of Kings County, the Association secured for six gradu- 
ates of that school a special course of training at the Kings County 
Insane Asylum. Later, one of these nurses was the first principal of 
a training-school for nurses for the insane, established at the Hudson 
River State Hospital. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
65 
9. Municipal Lodging Houses, 1886.-The association obtained the 
passage of an act for the establishment, by the New York city authori- 
ties, of one or more municipal lodging houses, with the object of 
diminishing the number of tramps and vagrants at present sheltered 
without charge by the city in the police station-houses, and of provid- 
ing decent lodging for respectable persons in temporary distress; labor 
to be exacted in return for shelter. 
The act, being permissive and not mandatory, has never been put in 
operation. An amendment will doubtless be applied for by the Com- 
mittee on Adult Able-bodied Paupers, to remedy this defect. 
10. State Care for the Insane Act of 1890.-State Care Appropria- 
tion Act of 1891.-For over fifty years it has been the policy of the 
State of New York to provide hospital treatment and care for its 
dependent insane. State asylums were first established for acute 
cases of insanity, to be succeeded later by state asylums for the recep- 
tion of chronic cases from the poorhouses. Seven large state hospitals 
have thus been erected and equipped, for the purpose of giving the 
insane skilled medical treatment and suitable care. It was owing to 
an infringement, in recent years, of this humane policy, a backward 
step of the legislature, through which county after county was authorized 
to retain its milder cases of insanity, until one-third of all the counties 
of the state had been exempted from the general law, that brought about 
the necessity, in 1888, of applying for legislation which should restore 
to the state its old-time policy, and at one stroke completely abolish 
the poorhouse system of caring for the insane. 
It is not necessary to speak here of the condition of the insane in the 
poorhouse asylums. Nearly all the reports, official and unofficial, of the 
years 1887-91, unite in condemning it. The remedy proposed by the 
association was the division of the state into insane asylum districts, one 
for each of the seven state hospitals; the insane from the poorhouses to 
be sent to the hospitals of their respective districts. To accommodate 
them comparatively small, inexpensive buildings were to be erected on 
the grounds of the existing state hospitals, to contain each not more 
than 150 nor less than 10 patients; the cost of building, including equip- 
ment, (heating, lighting, ventilation, fixtures and furniture,) not to 
exceed $550per capita. It was made obligatory upon the State Com- 
mission in Lunacy to cause the removal of all patients from the poor- 
houses as soon as state accommodations for them could be provided, and 
the poorhouses were forbidden to receive further cases of insanity. New 66 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
York, Kings and Monroe counties were to be excluded from the pro- 
visions of the bill, simply because they had asylum grounds and build- 
ings of sufficient magnitude to be transferred to the state, and reorgan- 
ized as state hospitals, whenever these counties might wish to come 
under the provisions of the proposed measure. 
In 1888, when the association, single-handed, and in the face of a 
most formidable opposition, entered upon this great reform, there were 
over 2,000 insane persons scattered through the poorhouse asylums of 
the state. That first year, as a matter of course, our bill was lost, 
public opinion not having yet been sufficiently educated to sustain it; 
the second year the bill was again lost, but, owing to increased popular 
support, and the strong advocacy of the president and other members of 
the State Board of Charities, it was passed by the senate and made great 
progress in the assembly; the third year the measure received the unani- 
mous and powerful support of the newly-created State Commission in 
Lunacy, and became a law, after a prolonged and bitter contest. It is 
known to-day in the State of New York as the State Care Act of 1890. 
(Laws of New York, 1890, Chap. 126.) 
The following year, upon figures furnished by the State Commission 
in Lunacy, and again acting in concert with the State Commission and 
the State Board, the association introduced its State Care Appropriation 
bill, asking for a grant of $454,850 for buildingsand equipment. More 
than this was not needed, owing to the near completion of the St. Law- 
rence State Hospital. Again there was opposition, but, by this time, 
owing to the support given the reform movement by the entire press, 
the people had become fully aware of the condition of the insane in the 
poorhouses, and would no longer tolerate delay. Every dollar we 
needed was granted, by unanimous vote of the senate, by a large ma- 
jority vote in the assembly. This ended the contest-the long four 
years' battle had been fought and won! (Laws of New York, 1891, 
Chapter 91.) 
Further than this, the State Care Act declared that when accommo- 
dations had been provided by the state for the insane from all the poor- 
houses, the state should bear the cost of their entire maintenance. Last 
winter, tne necessary conditions having been fulfilled, Governor Flower 
recommended, in his annual message, that an appropriation for this 
purpose of $1,300,000 be made, to be raised by special tax of one-third 
of a mill. 1 his appropriation was granted by unanimous vote of the 
legislature of 1893. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
67 
To-day the insane from the poorhouses of fifty-two counties are 
under state care, leaving but three counties whence they await removal. 
The Monroe County Asylum has become the Rochester State Hospital; 
and it is hoped that New York and Kings counties will before long join 
in bringing the entire state under one uniform system. By the first of 
October next, we are assured by the State Commission in Lunacy, the 
insane will all have been removed from every poorhouse in the state of 
New York. 
Time does not allow us to dwell upon other important features of 
the State Care Act. But enough has been said to show how a general 
reform, pronounced by experienced men impossible of accomplish- 
ment, owing to the organized opposition of the county officials of 
one-third of the entire state, was finally carried by the determined 
efforts of a volunteer association, sustained by the press and the peo- 
ple, and heartily supported by the State Commission in Lunacy, and 
commissioners of the State Board of Charities. No better illustration 
could be given of the value of official and volunteer co-operation. 
In the twenty minutes allotted to this paper it is not possible further 
to chronicle the work accomplished by the association, nor to speak of 
that now under way or yet to be undertaken. In the near future we 
look to the establishment of a state colony for epileptics, to the finding 
of family homes for dependent children, and the supervision of the 
children in those homes. 
Promotion of the Work, of Charity Organization. 
One large and important department connected with the earlier work 
of the association has not been mentioned, and must be briefly spoken 
of. Before the days of charity organization societies in this country, 
our visitors were constantly aware of the need of preventive work. They 
found inmates of poorhouses who might have been saved from becoming 
paupers, had a helping hand been extended them at some crisis in their 
lives. It was to meet this need that a standing committee, "on the 
elevation of the poor in their homes," was added to our original plan 
of work. To this committee is due the organization of district visiting 
among the poor in several of the smaller cities of our state; the initia- 
tion, in 1879, of the tenement house reform movement in New York 
city; an act restricting the imprisonment of witnesses in 1883; and 
the formation, in 1884-85, of the first Working Girls' Clubs in the city 
of New York. Perhaps, most important of all, an extension of the 68 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
knowledge of the work of the Charity Organization Society of London, 
with its principles of self-help and self-support, as also the beautiful 
work among the poor of Miss Octavia Hill. Miss Hill s papers, scat- 
tered through many English magazines, were, with the consent of the 
author, collected and published by the association in 1875, under the 
title of "Homes of the London Poor," this being their first appearance 
in book form. 
For eleven years, from 1875 to 1886, this committee did most im- 
portant service, and then, in accordance with our principles of not 
duplicating work, disbanded to pass over to the charity organization 
societies of the State of New York, whose existence it had done so much 
to promote, the unfinished business of the committee now properly be- 
longing to those societies. 
Touching lightly upon this, we revert to the original purpose of this 
paper, which, prepared for the International Congress of Charities, Cor- 
rection and Philanthropy of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the 
World's Columbian Exposition, aims to illustrate the measure of suc- 
cess which attends all philanthropic work, when official and volunteer 
bodies join forces and co-operate in behalf of reform. 
Co-operation between Voluntary and Official Bodies. 
The only effective co-operation between volunteer and official bodies 
is that of mutual good will, and the more independent each is of the 
other, in organization and in manner of work, the closer will be the 
co-operation in behalf of a common object, where the right spirit pre- 
vails. 
Many years ago, as far back as 1873, when the science of organiza- 
tion for philanthropic purposes was less well understood than at present, 
the association hoped that closer co-operation with our State Board of 
Charities could be obtained by giving to that board, to whom we 
already reported annually, the legal right to appoint visitors, it being 
understood that the visitors appointed should be nominated by the 
association. The visitors were to make duplicate reports to both 
bodies. This clumsy contrivance was actually thought well of by us at the 
time, and the legislation we asked for to put it into operation was 
granted. Certainly it required no prophet to see that visitors, working 
under two masters, both, it is true, desiring the same reforms, but with 
inherently different methods of work, must sooner or later receive con- 
flicting instructions. The plan did not work well. The present ar- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
69 
rangement by which, since 1881, our visitors have received their ap- 
pointment from justices of the Supreme Court, has worked satisfactorily 
in every respect. The association reports annually to the State Board 
of Charities; both support each other's measures of reform, while neither 
is responsible for the other's action, and a closer co-operation now 
exists between these two bodies than ever before. 
As an illustration of the cordial relations which exist to-day between 
our volunteer association and, I may say without exaggeration, the 
state officers and official boards of the entire state, I will instance a bit 
of legislation granted the association by the legislature which has just 
closed its session. 
Up to the present time, while our visitors had a legal right of entrance 
into the town and county poorhouses and city almshouses, they had 
no legal right to visit the charitable institutions owned by the state. 
We had always wished to visit the state institutions, but when the insane 
were removed from the poorhouses, we especially desired to follow their 
welfare into the state hospitals; not in any critical spirit, but as their 
friends, as friends also of the state medical superintendents, with whom 
we had worked so harmoniously in behalf of state care legislation for 
the insane. We desired, therefore, an amendment to our right-of- 
entrance law of 1881, to enable us to visit the state institutions. 
Let me state briefly the support this proposed amendment received. 
It had the recommendation to the legislature of the Statutory Revision 
Commission, in whose revision of the law the amendment was included; 
the approval of the State Commission in Lunacy; of the president of 
the State Board of Charities; and last, but certainly not least, one of the 
oldest and most respected of our state medical superintendents himself 
wrote to the legislature, warmly advocating a measure which was to 
give us the right to inspect his own state hospital. No voice was raised 
in opposition; the bill was passed by the unanimous vote of both houses 
of the legislature, and received the approval of the Governor on the 
6th of May last. 
One more instance of the degree of co-operation secured by the asso- 
ciation. In the interest of the welfare of the insane we had been 
obliged to antagonize the superintendents of the poor of one-third of 
the counties of the state-four years of weary strife, ended only two 
years ago. To-day we are invited by these same men to attend their 
annual convention, and our secretary goes from this Congress to meet 70 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
with them; they are now among the most earnest supporters of state 
care for the insane; and this spring we joined hands in behalf of legis- 
lation to establish a state colony for the epileptics now in the poor- 
houses, working together for this purpose. 
No law will make co-operation possible: "for the letter killeth, but 
the spirit giveth life." 
The association at present commands the respect and confidence of 
the people, the support of the entire press, and of the leaders of both 
political parties. Its strength lies in its integrity of purpose, its careful 
study of all reform movements before entering upon them, its industry, 
its freedom from all outside influences and its absolute fearlessness. 
As I am to be followed by a paper from our sister society, the State 
Charities Aid Association of New Jersey, organized in 1886, whose 
successful career in these few years deserves to be recorded at this time 
and in this place, I will say no more. But I cannot close without a 
strong plea in behalf of the establishment of State Charities Aid Associ- 
ations in every state of our Union. No one knows better than your- 
selves how much they are needed. My object, in this paper, has been 
to place before the experienced minds and sober judgment of those who 
hear it, an evidence of the enormous power for good which can be ob- 
tained through the co-operation of our State Boards of Charities, our 
State Commissions in Lunacy with volunteer associations like the one 
described. We need organized bodies of visitors for every one of our 
public charitable institutions everywhere, "whose visits, inspections and 
examinations," in the words of our charter, "are hereby declared to 
be for a public purpose, and to be made with a view to public benefit." 
APPENDIX. 
An act in relation to the State Charities Aid Association. Approved bv the 
Governor, May 6, 1893. State of New York, Laws of 1893, Chap. 635. 
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as- 
follows: 
Section 1. Any justice of the supreme court, on written application of the State 
Charities Aid Association, through its president or other officer, designated by its 
board of managers, may grant to such persons, as may be named in said appli- 
cation, orders to enable such persons, or any of them, as visitors of such associ- 
ation, to visit, inspect and examine, in behalf of said association, any of the 
public charitable institutions owned by the state, and the county, town and 
city poorhouses and almshouses within the state. The persons so appointed to- 
visit, inspect and examine said institution or institutions shall reside in the county CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
71 
or counties from which said institution or institutions receive their inmates, and 
such appointment shall be made by the justice of the supreme court of the judicial 
district in which said visitors reside. Each order shall specify the institution to 
be visited, inspected and examined, and the name of each person by whom such 
visitation, inspection and examination shall be made, and shall be in force for one 
year from the date on which it shall have been granted, unless sooner revoked. 
§ 2. All persons in charge of any such institution shall admit each person named 
in any such order into every part of such institution, and render such person 
every possible facility to enable him to make in a thorough manner such visit, in- 
spection and examination, which are hereby declared to be for a public purpose, 
and to be made with a view to public benefit. Obedience to the orders herein 
authorized shall be enforced in the same manner as obedience is enforced to an 
order or mandate made by a court of record. 
§ 3. The State Charities Aid Association shall make annual reports of the 
results of its visits and inspections, made under this act, to the State Board of 
Charities upon matters relating to the institutions subject to the visitation of said 
Board; and to the State Commission in Lunacy upon matters relating to the insti- 
tutions subject to inspection or control by said Commission. Said reports shall 
be made on or before the first day of December for each preceding fiscal year. 
§ 4. Chapter three hundred and twenty-three of the laws of eighteen hundred 
and eighty-one is hereby repealed. 
§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
72 
STATE CHARITIES AID ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY. 
BY MRS. EMILY E. WILLIAMSON, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY. 
This association was organized in Morristown in the year 1881, and 
from that time until the year 1886 work was done in that county alone 
in a quiet unostentatious manner. 
The greatest achievement of the county society was the organization 
of the Morris County Children's Home, a noble charity which has 
deservedly prospered. To it the children in the almshouse, three years 
old and over, were at once removed, and to this home the freeholders 
continue to send all pauper children, paying for each child one dollar 
and a half per week. It was determined by this county society to 
enlarge the field of operation to cover the entire state, and to this end 
a notice of incorporation was issued by the county society signed by 
the officers, Henry W. Miller, president; George H. Danforth, vice- 
president; Julia K. Colles, secretary. It was stated in this notice that 
the general object of the society "is to promote the improvement of the 
mental, moral and physical condition of the inmates of all charitable 
and penal institutions in the state of New Jersey, and in particular of 
all state institutions, county poorhouses and city almshouses, prisons, 
jails, penitentiaries and reformatories, lunatic asylums, orphan asylums, 
and of all places where, for charitable, penal or reformatory purposes, 
any individual is supported at the public charge, and to induce the 
adoption by the community at large of such measures in the organiza- 
tion and administration of both public and private charity as may de- 
velop the self-respect and increase the power of self-support of the 
poorer classes in society." 
Thereafter the following bill was introduced into the senate by Hon- 
James C. Youngblood, March 2 2d, 1886, and was signed by Governor 
Abbett, April 16th: 
An act to confer upon the State Charities Aid Association of New 
Jersey, an association incorporated under the provisions of the act enti- 
tled "An act to incorporate benevolent and charitable associations, 
approved April ninth, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five," 
the power to visit, inspect and examine the county and town poorhouses, CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
73 
jails, asylums and other public reformatory and penal institutions of this 
state. 
1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 
of New fersey, That any justice of the supreme court of this state is 
hereby authorized to grant, on a written application to him of a 
majority of the board of managers of the State Charities Aid Associa- 
tion of New Jersey * * * to sucp person or persons as may be 
named in such application, an order enabling such person or persons 
to visit, inspect and examine, in behalf of such association, any 
of the county, town, township, or city poorhouses, prisons, jails, 
penitentiaries, reformatories, and lunatic or orphan asylums, located 
within any of the counties in which said justice may be appointed 
to hold the circuit court thereof; and every such order shall specify 
the institutions to be visited, inspected and examined, and the names 
of the person or persons by whom the visitation, inspection and 
examination are to be made, and shall be in force for one year from the 
date on which it shall have been granted, unless sooner revoked. 
2. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of any and all per- 
sons in charge of each and every poorhouse, prison, jail or other insti- 
tution embraced in the order specified in the first section of this act, to 
admit any or all of the persons named in the said order of the justice of 
the supreme court into every part of such institution, and to render the 
said person or persons so named in said order every facility within their 
power to enable them to make, in a thorough manner, their visit, inspec- 
tion and examination, which are hereby declared to be for a public pur- 
pose, and to be made with a view to public benefit; obedience to the 
order herein authorized shall be enforced in the same manner and with 
like effect as obedience is enforced to any other order or mandate made 
by such justice. 
3. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said associa- 
tion to make an annual report to the legislature of this state. 
4. And be it enacted, That this act shall be deemed a public act 
and shall take effect immediately. 
Approved April 16th, 1886. 
After the passage of the bill creating the state association the work 
went vigorously on, and to-day ten of the most important counties of 
the state are included in the organization. As will be gathered from 
the reading of the bill, the association has under its jurisdiction the 
penal institutions of the state, making its duties far more complex than 
those of the New York organization. The association from the first 
has numbered among its members prominent men and women, who 
have given their influence to all proposed reforms, working not only in 74 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the interest of the pauper and criminal classes, but also with a desire to 
protect the taxpayers. 
Public opinion has been aroused on many important questions, and it 
is found that the association is recognized everywhere as a power for 
good. The state prison has from the first been opened to the associa- 
tion. A great deal has been done for the prisoners, principally from an 
educational standpoint, religious and secular. The parole bill now in 
operation in our state was drawn at the suggestion of this association. 
The board have in many ways, by petitions, &c., urged the building 
of an intermediary prison on the plan suggested by the commission 
appointed by the Governor two years ago, of which Charlton T. Lewis, 
LL. D., was chairman. 
Governor Wertz, in his first annual message, January, 1893, urges 
the legislature to appropriate money for the intermediary prison; an 
appropriation will undoubtedly be made by the next legislature for this 
purpose. At the meeting of the association held in Trenton, May 14th, 
of the present year, the following extract was read from a letter written 
by warden Patterson to the secretary: 
"To the subject of providing for discharged convicts, I have given a 
great deal of thought, and it seems to me that no more laudable thing 
could be done in our state than that of providing some way to amelio- 
rate the condition of those who have been unfortunate enough to be 
placed under our control. Other states are making suitable provisions 
for this class, and all of the states are considering the subject." 
A committee was immediately appointed to consider and report upon 
the best plan for taking care of discharged and paroled prisoners. This 
committee will complete its work and report to the Governor in Decem- 
ber next. 
An act was drawn by the law committee of the association, which 
became a law in 1888, providing for the separate confinement of youths 
under sixteen years of age from older criminals, in the jails, workhouses 
and penitentiaries. Clause 3 of the same act provides for the separate 
detention of youths in the station-houses and lockups. 
It has been found difficult to make the various boards of freeholders 
conform to the provisions of this act, owing to the fact that alterations 
in the jails, costing money, were required. But by degrees, under strong 
pressure, the requirements of the law will be fulfilled. 
The distribution of magazines and proper books in the jails seems in 
itself a little matter. But in every case, and they are many, where it has CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
75 
been faithfully carried out, the result has been good. Wardens who have 
been at first opposed to the plan, acknowledge the good results. 
The establishment of religious services in many of the jails has been 
of great benefit to the prisoners. 
The station-houses in our large cities have been greatly improved 
through the influence of the association. 
The county asylums have been carefully inspected and many sugges- 
tions made by the association carried out. 
In the few almshouses of our state where insane persons are kept, 
they are well cared for, except in the matter of special medical attend- 
ance, which is, of course, of great and vital importance. 
In the city hospitals, many good results have come from suggestions 
made, such as the adding of new wings for alcoholic patients and better 
sanitary arrangements. 
In our state are forty-one almshouses of a public character. Twelve 
are county almshouses supported by a county tax. In twenty-nine 
townships are township poorhouses, a few of which are private. Great 
abuses have existed in many of them. The work of this association has 
nowhere shown better results. 
When the committee began their investigations, as a rule the alms- 
houses were found to be dirty, with no sanitary regulations or conveni- 
ences, and no such thing as separation of sexes. The list of those 
included in the above description is growing less each year, owing to 
the work of the association. The four almshouses that were from the 
first found to be in first class condition, with separation of the sexes, 
were the Newark and Paterson city almshouses and those of Cumber- 
land and Hudson counties. 
An act for the better regulation of the almshouses of this state was 
passed May 6th, 1889, and amended March 12th, 1890, at the special 
request of the association, calling for the complete separation of the 
sexes in all parts of the buildings and yards, an exception being made 
in favor of old married people living together as man and wife. It is 
found almost a herculean task to enforce the requirements of this law. 
It is being accomplished slowly, but it requires the greatest watchfulness 
on the part of the state and local committees and the general secre- 
tary. In the small almshousesit will be evaded, if possible. The treat- 
ment of women in our factories, shops and stores is another point that a 
special committee from the board is considering. The condition of the 
tenement houses and districts has also received special attention. 76 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The secretary is in receipt of letters from all parts of the state, call- 
ing attention to abuses and violations of the laws. This last is one of the 
most important questions now receiving the attention of our members. 
The laws as they stand are. many of them, all that is needed, but never 
having been enforced, they have become obsolete. The secretary is 
preparing for the use of the members of the association, a complete list 
of all laws regulating the care of paupers, the insane and criminals. 
Such a list will greatly aid the reformatory work already begun. It is 
best to begin by enforcing the laws, rather than to ask for further legis- 
lation. 
The great success of the association is largely due to the fact that it 
has from the first been wisely guided; sentimental criticism has at no 
time been allowed; facts with practical results have governed the board 
of managers, upon which are representatives from each county and 
town. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
77 
ARE LABOR COLONIES NEEDED IN THE UNITED STATES? 
BY MRS. CHARLES R. LOWELL, OF NEW YORK. 
'The term labor colony, as used in the following paper, means a farm 
managed by a charitable corporation or a municipality, and having for 
its object the training of the laborers, who work upon it, with a view to 
their being fitted eventually to earn a living elsewhere.* 
The Cedar Hill farm, of 200 acres, at Plainville, New Jersey, was 
established in 1874 by Mr. Joseph W. Drexel, of New York city, for 
the purpose of helping men from New York, and was maintained until 
1888. 
Rev. John Dooly, who was connected with the management, writes 
in regard to it: 
"We had no trouble to get men to go. They worked willingly ten 
hours each day, were obedient and gave good satisfaction to us and to 
those who took them. The average cost per day for the time the farm 
was running was about 20 cents per man. If we had kept an average 
of twenty men on the farm, the cost would not have been over 10 cents 
a day. * * The men received no pay and were taught the rudi- 
ments of farming, which accounts for the large number who went to 
farm work. 
"The farm could accommodate 20 men at one time, but the numbers 
were kept down to save expense, which was very unwise. 
"The expense of administration was for superintendent $480 per year; 
for hired woman for work $180; for postage and other incidentals, in 
all about $100; total about $760, and the subsistence of three persons, 
superintendent, wife and girl, or woman, $219; total $979. The cost of 
above was taken into account in estimating the expense per day. 
"Mr. Joseph W. Drexel bought and owned the farm and me't all the 
expense of the same. 
The men signed an agreement when they went there, to work for 
their board and such instruction as they should receive in farming. 
This was to guard against any claim for wages. Working clothes were 
provided for all, their own clothes were cleaned and mended and laid 
aside till they left the farm. A Sunday suit was also provided for them, 
*1 know of but one experiment of the kind having been made in the United 
States. 78 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
and all who wished went to church and sat with the superintendent's 
family in the family pews provided by Mr. Drexel. 
"An opportunity was presented and an offer made to Mr. Drexel for 
the purchase of the farm in 1886, by which he would have received all he 
had spent and at least 7 per cent, interest." 
The following statistics for five years are all that can now be fur- 
nished: 
Cedar Hill Farm, Plainville, Somerset Co., N. J. 
STATISTICS REGARDING MEN. 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
Number of different men 
... 38 
36 
33 
32 
44 
Total number of days 
■••1534 
1778 
2036 
1340 
1614 
Average number of days per man... 
...40% 
49% 
61 
41H 
361 j 
Men sent to situations on farms 
... 18 
20 
13 
12 
22 
Returned to trade or friends 
••• 5 
4 
1 
1 
Returned to New York 
9 
7 
13 
16 
16 
Men on farm December 31st 
6 
6 
5 
4 
5 
Total number of men per day 
.. 41 
4% 
5% 
4 
4 91 
Died 
1 
It must remain a question whether a constant population of twenty 
suitable men could have been found for the farm. 
All successful experiments even approaching the labor colony in 
character, hitherto attempted in this country, have contemplated the 
permanent settlement of the persons to be benefited upon the land they 
have helped to develop, and however philanthropic such enterprises 
have been in intention, they have, I believe, invariably been maraged 
upon business and not upon charitable principles, depending upon the 
character and enterprise of the settlers for success, building thus upon a 
sure foundation. 
The description or consideration of such enterprises does not come 
within the scope of the present paper, nor within that of the sixth sec- 
tion of the International Congress. 
The German labor colonies, of which twenty-two have been estab- 
lished during the past ten years, and the Hadleigh colony of the Salva- 
tion Army in England, belong to the type of enterprises! have in mind. 
These were established to benefit two classes of men: 
i. Those able and willing to work, but for whom there is no work; 
or in other words, those who, through bad social conditions, are unable CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
79 
to find any means of earning a living, the farms being intended to give 
to such men an opportunity not to be found elsewhere. 
2. Those who, by their own faults and weaknesses, have been driven 
from the natural channels of occupation, the farms being intended as 
places of refuge for such, where they will be trained and developed, so 
that they may become, eventually, self-supporting members of society, 
either in their own or some other country. 
The plan is a most alluring one. It seems to solve the problem which 
most distresses the modern conscience, "What can be done for the man 
who wants to work, but for whom there is no work?" For in approach- 
ing this problem it is always assumed that the majority of those to be 
provided for are of this class. The existence of the second class, of the 
men with faults and weaknesses which make them unable and unwilling 
to work, is practically ignored. There is an extreme haziness of mind 
in dealing with the whole subject of help to the "unemployed." It is 
so much easier to mould circumstances than character that the tempta- 
tion always presents itself to do the easy thing and trust that the diffi- 
cult thing will do itself. In this case the assumption is, that, when the 
opportunity is given to work and to learn, a large proportion of the men 
to be helped will be ready to profit by it. 
This I do not believe to be the fact, at least in the United States. 
I do not believe that labor colonies are needed in this country to 
provide an opportunity to work, and although I do believe that they 
are needed for purposes of training, I think that they must be under 
public control or they will fail in every sense of the word. 
My object in this paper is to sustain the above position by facts and 
by argument. 
However true it may be that in European countries, and even in 
England, there is a large class of able-bodied men who want to work, 
and know how to work, and yet cannot find any work to do, I do 
not believe that there is any such class of men in this country. That in 
New York or in any large city there are always certain individuals so 
situated, must, of course, be true; but the natural agencies are sufficient 
to dispose of them, and gradually each man finds the place that needs 
him and there is no necessity for the intrusion of any unnatural means 
of providing work for such men. 
There can be no Question that in New York, if anywhere in this 
country, must be found the greatest number of men out of work; and 
yet in New York it is not able-bodied, intelligent, competent men who 80 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
seek the aid of charitable societies to provide them with the means of 
earning a living. 
So far as I have been able to learn, it is the experience of such societies 
that the men who seek vainly for work are usually either unable or un- 
willing to earn a living by regular labor. 
To the question "To what do you ascribe the inability to find work 
of the men who apply to your society for help?" the following answers 
were given: 
From the superintendent of the United Hebrew Charities: "Unwill- 
ingness to accept positions offered and their love of large cities. We 
could place most all our proteges, especially unskilled, if they would 
leave the city." 
From the superintendent of the Christian Aid to Employment: "In- 
temperance and incompetence." 
From an ex-superintendent of the Bowery Branch of the Young Men's 
Christian Association: "Many are intemperate or inefficient, or do not 
have a trade perfectly, or are clerks. The majority of the unemployed 
have worked at light work." 
From the general agent of the Association for Improving the Condi- 
tion of the Poor: "Old age and sickness, laziness, incompetency, intem- 
perance." 
From the German Society of the City of New York: "Suspension of 
.work on buildings and all kinds of out-door labor. Strikes and closing 
of factories." 
From the superintendent of the Bowery Branch Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association: "Dissipation." 
From the officers and agents of the Charity Organization Society: 
1. "I think that, in general, the inability of men who apply to the 
C. O. S. to find work may be ascribed to general shiftlessness and in- 
disposition to work, and to lack of any training which would enable 
them to do anything well." 
2. "An indisposition to work regularly and to keep at it." 
3. "Physical ailments, intemperance and shiftlessness." 
4. "Intemperance, incapacity and shiftlessness." 
5. "They are generally lacking in energy and are not skilled in 
any branch of work. If Jews, 75 per cent, are suffering from some 
physical weakness; other nationalities usually are brought to the condi- 
tion in which we find them through drink. I believe that prenatal in- 
fluences have a great deal to do with their condition." 
6. "Lack of skill, incompetency (lack of ability to acquire skill), 
unreliability. During certain seasons the cessation of such work as the 
applicants are able to perform-mostly laboring work-and dullness of CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
81 
trade. The latter class usually have steady work during nine months 
of the year." 
7. "Intemperance and inefficiency." 
8. "Intemperance, shiftlessness and roving disposition." 
In regard to the average time during which an able-bodied, intelli- 
gent man, speaking English, would be out of work in New York City, I 
have received the following statement of opinion: 
From the superintendent of the United Hebrew Charities: "He should 
not be out of work over one week." 
From the superintendent of the Christian Aid to Employment: "If 
directed promptly to the proper channels, about forty-eight hours, 
unless he is hopelessly incompetent." 
From an ex-superintendent of the Bowery Branch of the Young Men's 
Christian Association: "Depends on his business. A laborer soon finds 
work. The trades are difficult to get work in. Unions and strikes limit 
the opportunities." 
From the general agent of the Association for Improving the Condi- 
tion of the Poor: "One month; but, if skilled, he would often have to 
resort to unskilled labor first." 
From the German Society of the city of New York: "Men who are 
able and willing to do all kinds of work, only a few weeks, except in 
the winter months." 
From the officersand agents of the Charity Organization Society: 
1. "I should think that the average time that such men would be 
out of work in this city would be, if skilled, ten to fourteen days; if 
unskilled, twenty to twenty-five days." 
2. "Perhaps a week or two. It depends largely upon the man 
himself, of course. Many such men would get work again immedi- 
ately; others might not get it in six months or a year." 
3. "Several weeks." 
4. "If the labor conditions are normal, one or two weeks." 
5. "Less than three months." 
6. "We can always find employment for such exceptions at once." 
Before proceeding, I wish to guard against the error of assuming that 
the above testimony from the charitable societies of New York proves 
more than it does. Fortunately, the able-bodied, honest and indus- 
trious man has a deep-rooted distrust and dislike for all means of help 
which savors of what is technically called "charity," and therefore the 
fact that the societies I have quoted receive requests for aid from such 
men very rarely, does not prove conclusively that there are none 
needing help, or who ought to be helped in their efforts to find employ- 
ment; but it does prove that such men cannot be reached by any enter- 
prise founded and maintained as a "charity," and consequently that no 82 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
labor colony of the kind considered in this paper could be of use to 
them. Labor bureaus, or exchanges, maintained by employers and 
workmen as a means of mutual convenience, or by labor unions, (in 
either case purely as a business matter) have been suggested as one 
means of dealing with the difficulties which undoubtedly do exist even 
for the able-bodied, intelligent and industrious man, who is temporarily 
out of work; but here I am trenching on matters foreign to the theme I 
have undertaken to discuss. 
It seems to me, however, that it is safe to assume that the above testi- 
mony proves that in New York there is no class of able-bodied, intelli- 
gent and industrious men seeking work who cannot find it, and that in- 
dividual men of the character and in the situation described, could not 
be helped by any "charitable" enterprise, and also that what is true of 
New York city is true of the rest of the United States. In other words, 
that, however bad the social conditions in the United States may be, 
they are not yet so bad that men, able and willing to work, cannot 
generally find employment through the usual channels; and conse- 
quently it must be acknowledged that there is, as yet, no necessity and 
no field for any artificial means of providing work for such men. 
This conclusion makes it unnecessary for me to consider Labor Colo- 
nies so far as they are intended to furnish an opportunity to work to men 
able and willing to earn their own living. Such men in the United 
States have the opportunity and use it, with how much unnecessary 
attendant hardship it is not our province to stop and consider. That a 
wiser system of taxation, that a more highly developed sense of justice 
among men who now control the opportunities to work, and among work- 
ing men themselves, would undoubtedly result in a very much better 
and happier condition for the industrious and able-bodied man, both 
while he seeks employment and after he has found it, can not be 
doubted; but those are questions of greater importance than any pre- 
sented to us to-day and are to be considered by students of social and 
political economy and not by students of charity and correction. 
Since, then, it appears that the bulk of the men in the United States 
who cannot find permanent employment, are in that position because 
of some fault in themselves, or in other words, because they cannot 
offer to the community any work which is worth paying living wages 
for, the problem to be solved by us is not that which so troubles the 
European and English philanthropist, but one much narrower and more 
simple. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
83 
That there are many men out of work in the United States is true. 
That they should have work is equally true. 
The problem before us is, how shall this be brought about, and in 
-order to reach the answer, it is necessary to take up the question of 
the reason why these men are out of work more in detail. 
The answers given above may be classed under four heads, the defi- 
ciencies named being physical, mental, moral or industrial. It appears 
that a man may be too weak, too foolish and ignorant, too lazy and 
vicious, or too incompetent, to secure permanent work. 
What then shall be done to meet the evils of his remaining out of 
work, which is a condition disastrous to himself and others? 
The physically weak must be relegated to the care of the hospital, the 
convalescent home or the poorhouse. We cannot consider his needs 
until he is cured, and then he will naturally fall into one of the other 
classes, unless he finds his own work normally, as a man should and as 
most men do. 
For the other men incapable of earning a living, for the ignorant, the 
lazy, the incompetent, it appears that there is but one remedy, educa- 
tion, training, development-they must be taught to work and be taught 
to want to work-their minds, their hands, their wills must be trained. 
But how? The natural answer would seem to be "In a labor colony." 
But should the proposed labor colony be under the management of 
a private charitable corporation, the two horns of the dilemma pre- 
sented would be the following: On the one hand the colonies might 
be managed upon principles which would make them agreeable places 
of residence to those for whose benefit they were established, in which 
case they would certainly flock to them. The object of the colony, 
however, would be the training of the inmate for future independent 
life and his final passing out of the colony into such a life, and he 
could gain no such training in any place where strenuous exertion was 
not required and- strict self-control inculcated-that is in any place 
where his comfort or pleasure were considered before his real good. 
But, on the other hand, were the colony managed so that his real good 
was sought, he, being unused to exertion, to order, to self-control, 
would find the process intended for his benefit so extremely unpleasant 
that he would leave, if at liberty to do so, and the labor colony 
would soon find itself without laborers. 
Either result would be a complete failure. 84 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
Can this dilemma be avoided? Can labor colonies of such a char- 
acter as will benefit the lazy, the vicious and the incompetent, and in 
which they will nevertheless stay, be maintained in the United States? 
Only by employing compulsion to retain the inmates, and this can be 
done only by putting the labor colonies under public control. 
In every state of this Union there already exists some system by 
which the local government deals with the lazy, the vicious and the in- 
competent, when, for whatever cause, it is thought worth while to deal 
with them at all, instead of leaving them to go to destruction without 
an added impetus from official cruelty and folly. 
The jails and the poorhouses all over the United States (with some 
exceptions in New England) seem to be carefully prepared to do as 
much harm as human ingenuity could devise to the unhappy beings 
who are condemned to enter them. They have not even a deterrent 
influence upon the bulk of their inmates-they present all the features 
which attract and degrade them, and none which would repel and 
might elevate them. 
As a rule, the persons sentenced to jail or poorhouse as a punish- 
ment are weak in body, mind and character. What they desire is 
food, warmth, shelter and companionship, provided all these can be 
gained without exertion on their own part. Their muscles are flabby 
and unused to exercise, their minds are low and empty, their charac- 
ters wanting, so far as appears, in all moral attributes. What they 
need is training, careful and prolonged; years would scarcely suffice to 
develop them physically, mentally and morally into human beings 
capable of self-respect, self-support and self-development. What is the 
practice in almost every state in the Union? Such beings as I have 
described are shut up in jail or poorhouse for a term of from ten days 
to six months, in complete idleness, in bad air, in dirt, and among 
companions of the same nature as themselves, and this is repeated some- 
times several times in one year. The wonder is that the ensuing deg- 
radation is not more rapid and more marked even than it is. 
What system should be adopted in place of this hideous travesty of 
justice and common sense ? 
In every township or county a large farm should be bought, on 
which all men, who by begging or vagrancy confess themselves to be 
unable to provide a fitting livelihood for themselves, should be trained 
with care, for months or even for years, should it appear necessary. 
The object of the institution should be the education of the inmates in CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
85 
every direction. The advantages of farm labor over other kinds of 
work are many. It is healthier, it does not interfere with the work of 
men outside, men trained in farm work can get employment away 
from cities, a farm supports in part, at least, those engaged upon it. In 
a large part of the United States indoor occupation must also be pro- 
vided for the inmates during a portion of the year when outside work 
is not possible,'and this should be provided with the object of the fur- 
ther development of the faculties of the inmates, one of the most 
important being the faculty of persistent application. Mr. R. L. Dug- 
dale in his "Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity" called 
"The Jukes," says (p. 59) "After disease, the most uniformly notice- 
able trait of the true criminal is that he lacks the element of continuity 
of effort. Steady, plodding work, which is the characteristic not only 
of honest and successful individuals, but also of all nations that have 
made a mark in history, is deficient in him, and needs to be organized 
as a constituent of his character." 
This applies equally or more strongly to the pauper or vagrant. 
Many men who will work for a day or two, or even a week or two, will 
not continue at any regular occupation. Their bodies and their wills 
are equally deficient and equally in need of training. 
That labor colonies are needed in the United States for the training 
of men unable and unwilling to work, and that in order to accomplish 
their object they must be under public control, I think I have proved. 
And I claim still further, that it is the duty of the community to substi- 
tute such colonies for the present cruel and wasteful jail and poorhouse 
method of dealing with the criminal and pauper vagrant. 
The fact that the common county jails of the United States are in 
but few respects any better than the jails found and reported upon by 
Howard in 1776 in England and elsewhere, and that they bear a strong 
resemblance to the prisons now existing in Russia, ought to inspire the 
people of the various states to renewed exertion to wipe out such a 
stain and disgrace. 
There is another kind of labor colony which is greatly needed in all 
communities. It is that described by General Booth of the Salvation 
Army as an "Asylum for Moral Lunatics" and no words can better 
paint the need or scope of such an institution than the following ex- 
tract from "Darkest England" with which I will close my paper: 
"It is a crime against the race to allow those who are so inveterately 
depraved the freedom to wander abroad, infect their fellows, prey upon 86 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
society, and to multiply their kind. Whatever else society may dor 
and suffer to be done, this thing it ought not to allow, any more than 
it should allow the free perambulation of a mad dog. But before we 
come to this I would have every possible means tried to effect their 
reclamation. Let Justice punish them, and Mercy put her arms around 
them; let them be appealed to by penalty and by reason, and by 
every influence, human and divine, that can possibly be brought to 
bear upon them. Then, if all alike failed, their ability to further curse 
their fellows and themselves should be stayed. 
"They will still remain objects worthy of infinite compassion. They 
should lead as human a life as is possible to those who have fallen 
under so terrible a judgment. They should have their own little cot- 
tages in their own little gardens, under the blue sky, and, if possible, 
amid the green fields. I would deny them none of the advantages, 
moral, mental and religious, which might minister to their diseased 
minds, and tend to restore them to a better state. Not until the breath 
leaves their bodies should we cease to labour and wrestle for their sal- 
vation. But when they have reached a certain point access to their 
fellow men should be forbidden. Between them and the wide world 
there should be reared an impassable barrier, which once passed should, 
be recrossed no more forever. Such a course must be wiser than allow- 
ing them to go in and out among their fellows, carrying with them the 
contagion of moral leprosy, and multiplying a progeny doomed before 
its birth to inherit the vices and diseased cravings of their unhappy 
parents." CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
87 
LABOR TESTS AND RELIEF IN WORK IN THE UNITED 
STATES. 
ALFRED T. WHITE, PRESIDENT OF BUREAU OF CHARITIES, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
The scope of this paper is limited to a consideration of the organized 
efforts, now presented in the larger cities of this country, for the tempo- 
rary employment of men and women out of work, where such employ- 
ment is at once relief and labor test. 
The sketch necessarily omits consideration of the individual work 
which is being done daily by the visitors of the charity organization 
societies and by others in finding employment for the poor in their care, 
although every such offer of work is a labor test in the mind of any 
observant helper. The field must be further narrowed by omitting con- 
sideration of the various institutions for special classes which give em- 
ployment to their inmates by various industries, because these homes 
are not open to the poor at large. Nor can employment at sewing, as 
afforded by many churches and by some societies in our large cities, be 
considered as other than thinly disguised relief with little or none of 
the labor test idea in it. 
The organized undertakings which remain within the province of this 
paper, seek (i) to provide immediate relief by employment for those 
able and willing to work, and (2) to prevent those who are able to 
work, but unwilling, from securing a livelihood by misrepresentations and 
beggary. In addition to these objects, many aim (3) to train those 
who lack work through incompetency into a fair ability to support them- 
selves. 
The provision of labor tests to relieve the country of able-bodied 
vagrants engaged the attention of our English ancestors three centuries 
ago, when the Elizabethan statute provided that every parish " should 
raise by a parochial tax. a convenient stock of flax, hemp, wool, thread, 
iron and other ware or stuff to set the poor to work." It is not a mat- 
ter of record, I believe, that any parish performed the duty thus laid 
upon it, but the spirit of the statute that such of the poor as could work, 
must work, brought forth in time the English work-house system. 88 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
1 have not searched to find the earliest application of the work test 
in this country; paupers were sometimes let out by the towns for service 
in early colonial days and in the annual election sermon before the 
legislature of Connecticut, in 1774, the preacher called the attention 
of the law-makers to ''the multiplying of vagrant beggars and idle per- 
sons, well able to support themselves and to benefit the public, if put to 
labor, which it appears they have no disposition for, if they can find a 
support without it," and inquired "might not the civil fathers act to 
good purpose by ordering such vagrants to be taken up and put to service 
for their maintenance." 
Passing immediately to the situation of to-day in this country, we 
find that consideration is being given everywhere in our larger cities, 
to the provision of temporary employment as relief, education and 
labor test combined. These schemes ordinarily take the form of wood- 
yards for men and of laundries for women; variations in the kind of 
employment offered for women are more common than in that given 
to men, and the work afforded women generally has the nature of a 
training-school, an advantage which the wood-yard for men does not 
possess. 
I give herewith a summary of the methods in use in the various cities 
of the United States which seem to me to fall within the limits of this 
paper. The cities are arranged in the order of population by the 
census of 1890. Those that do not appear in the list have either 
reported that no form of temporary employment exists or have failed 
to respond at all. The inquiry has been addressed in each instance to 
the secretary of the charity organization society of the place and but 
few have failed to respond. To some of the secretaries I am under 
special obligations. 
New York. 
The Charity Organization Society maintains a wood-yard, at which 
3,959 days' work was given during the last year reported. This labor 
utilized 521 cords of wood. The wood-yard paysits expenses and a 
little more. Additional lots have been secured by the society, on 
which they propose to erect a building to accommodate 200 men on 
the lines of the Wayfarers' Lodge in Boston. 
The state authorities some years since authorized the establishment 
of a municipal lodging house; but the city authorities have opposed its 
erection. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
89 
The Charity Organization Society also maintains a laundry "fully 
equipped and competent to do first class work; Its object to teach 
women all kinds of laundry work." 
New York city possesses, on Blackwell's Island, the only work- 
house in the state under the care of public officials. I mention it here 
briefly, although outside of the scheme of the paper, because of its 
value as an index to the size of the work which needs doing. From 
the report of the superintendent for the year 1890, the last printed, the 
following extracts are made: "There has been a steady falling off in 
the census, being in 1890 a decrease of 23 per cent, from 1887, 16 
per cent, from 1888 and n per cent, from 1889." The commitments 
during 1890 aggregated 22,340, of which 12,844 were men and 
9,496 women. These commitments, however, represented only about 
5,000 different men and about 1,500 different women, the men being 
committed not quite three times each in the average, and the women 
more than six times each. During the months from June to Novem- 
ber inclusive the commitments are about one-third less than during 
the other half of the year. The men employed are as laborers, firemen, 
bakers, stone-breakers, etc., and the women at washing, ironing and 
scrubbing, but the work required does not suffice to deter applications for 
recommitment. The herding together of so many vagrants, &c., seems 
very objectionable. 
Chicago. 
The Chicago Relief and Aid Society maintains a wood-yard "to 
help able-bodied men through employment and to furnish a labor test. 
This is done by giving to any man who applies for it a meal or lodging 
after he has earned it by honest work, sawing wood. In exceptional 
cases, men with families are given work for cash." During 1892, 
work was given to 1,011 different men, who sawed and split wood to a 
value of $12,317, as appears from the sales reported. 
There is also in Chicago, a laundry in connection with the "Home 
for Self-Supporting Women," where an average of 18 persons a day 
find employment, a large part of whom have become proficient enough 
to take permanent positions in families. 
Philadelphia. 
'Fhe Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charity, maintains two 
wood-yards in connection with wayfarers' lodges which "as a labor 
test have proved invaluable, and in which the inmates earn from two- 90 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
thirds to three-fourths of the cost of their maintenance, in spite of the fact 
that among their population are many disabled men and many women 
and children." During the 15 months covered by the last report, 865 
cords of wood were sawed and split, realizing when sold $9,984. 
The Pennsylvania state treasury makes an annual appropriation to the 
Society to assist in maintaining the lodges. 14,336 men, 924 women 
and 216 children received in the lodges 60,062 meals and 31,956 lodg- 
ings, an average to each inmate of two lodgings and four meals. 
"Truly they are wayfarers." 
The Brooklyn Bureau of Charities maintains two wood-yards, two 
laundries and training-schools, and two work-rooms for unskilled 
women without recommendations, a more extensive equipment than 
appears to be furnished anywhere else. The two wood-yards pay their 
labor in cash, instead of in tickets for meals or lodgings, and their doors 
are open to any man whether coming through the Society or applying 
on his own impulse. In the two yards 827 different men were employed 
in the last year reported, to whom 11,265 days' work was furnished. 
For the weaker men the superintendents endeavor to provide lighter 
work, such as splitting and bundling in place of sawing. One of the 
yards is kept open until ten o'clock at night, so that men applying any- 
where in the city for alms for a night's lodging, may be sent there to earn 
the cost. The aggregate sales were $12,920, of which just one-third was 
paid in wages to the men, and the balance for the material, rent, super- 
intendence and delivery. Although the average pay earned by the 
men, does not quite reach forty cents, which is earned usually in five 
hours, some earn much more. At this rate of pay the yard regulates 
itself automatically. It will happen for a few weeks every year, per- 
haps, that the men who apply can be given work only every second day; 
but a newcomer always has a place made for him. It will also happen 
a few weeks in every year that the sales exceed to a considerable extent 
the amount which men can be found ready to saw and split, and this 
has to be covered by carrying some stock of prepared wood. Both 
wood-yards are self-sustaining. 
The same society manages two laundry training-schools, with an 
excellent equipment of porcelain tubs, etc. One of these has been run- 
ning since 1885, the other is comparatively new. In the older laundry, 
8,266 days' work of nine hours each was performed by 191 different 
Brooklyn. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
91 
women, an average of 43 days to each. The number of women 
given work, varied from five up to forty-three daily. The cash received 
for laundry work was $8,152, of which $5,452 was paid to the women, 
and the balance for superintendence, materials, expenses of delivery, 
etc. This laundry is now nearly self-sustaining, and would be entirely 
so were it not also a training-school. The newer laundry accomplished 
about one-half the work of the older laundry in the year last reported. 
The first work-room "for unskilled women without recommendations" 
was opened in Brooklyn in 1886, and a second one a few years later. 
These experiments when initiated were unique, and merit the comment 
of observers that "The essentials of Mr. Booth's plan were already in 
successful operation in Brooklyn before they were announced in London." 
(Report of Overseer of the Poor-Providence, R. L, 1892.) The 
women who come into these rooms are below the grade of those that 
can be taught to sew or to do laundry work; to be sent from the work- 
room to the laundry is in nature of a promotion. 680 different women 
were given 4,429 days' work, an average to each of seven days' work. 
The women are mostly employed in making rag carpets and rugs. The 
more helpless ones are given the task of cutting and tearing the rags to 
pieces or assorting them by colors. These women are paid exclusively 
in meals and lodgings, while those who work in the laundry are paid 
in cash. A lodging house for women is owned and managed by the 
society in connection with the work rooms and laundry, where 4,300 
lodgings were furnished to women and children. 
The City Mission and Tract Society maintains a "Home of Indus- 
try," at which 6,656 lodgings were earned last year in manufacturing 
brooms. Those employed are mostly ex-convicts; but others are 
admitted. 
The Overseers of the Poor maintain a wayfarers' lodge and wood- 
yard, which were established together in 1879. This lodge receives 
all the men who formerly went to station houses for nights' lodgings. 
Before the lodge was established, the station houses averaged 60,000 
lodgers annually, reaching sometimes 600 per night. The annual 
number is now about 37,000, and the largest number recorded in any 
one night by last report 200. 91,329 meals were furnished, also earned 
by work in the wood-yard. Of the lodgers not quite one-half were 
Americans, about one-third were Irish and one-sixth of other countries, 
Boston. 92 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
mostly of British origin. The ordinary stint required of lodgers is to 
saw and split two feet of wood. Each man is obliged to take a bath ; his 
clothes are taken care of, are cleaned, if necessary, and a clean night- 
gown is given him. "It rarely takes more than two hours for him to 
perform the task which secures the lodging and breakfast. It is not to 
be wondered at that the same men apply again and again." Lodge 
and wood-yard together are nearly, but not quite self-supporting. 
(References : Reports of the Overseers, and papers at Conference of 
Charities, 1885.) 
The Overseers of the Poor also maintain a temporary home for women 
and children, to which any such in need of shelter have free admission 
on application and in which the cost of their care is largely repaid by 
the work which they do. Only one-fourth of the women are Americans. 
The Roxbury Charitable Society maintains a wood-yard, and gave 
work in its last reported year to 179 men, more than one-half of whom 
applied in February. Sales of wood $5,928. 
The Temporary Home for working women maintains a laundry and 
sewing room, and during 1892 admitted 281 women, furnishing 7,368 
lodgings and 23,661 meals, almost the whole of which was paid for in 
work. 
The Boston Industrial and Appleton Temporary Homes, maintains 
a wood-yard for able-bodied men out of work. 
The Co-operative Society of Visitors among the Poor, which now forms 
a part of the Associated Charities work, published in 1890 a tract on 
employment for poor women in which the matter of "charity sewing" 
is treated with unusual discrimination. 
Baltimore. 
The Charity Organization Society established in May, 1891, an 
electric sewing machine room, concerning which the manager reports 
'•The experiment has worked itself into an entirely different channel 
from the original plan, which was that the rooms were to be established 
for very delicate women, who were unable to use the foot-power machine. 
In most cases these women were fit only for hospitals; but in their stead 
came women who had no money, no friends, no work and often no 
machines. There have been only two women here with work of their 
own; we have had to furnish it for all the rest and teach them how to 
do it. As the greater part are no longer young, it takes several months 
before they can be made self-supporting. The younger women can find CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
93 
work in factories. Few lazy women come." The report further states 
that "the factories send the rooms as much work as can be handled" 
and that in six weeks women capable of learning to sew can learn to 
run a machine and make $4 to $5 a week. 
There is a Friendly Inn, with a wood-yard in connection, with a 
capacity of 125 beds, under independent management. The average 
number of lodgers annually for eight years has been 15,000, of whom 
nine-tenths pay for their lodgings and meals by sawing and splitting 
wood. Lunch is paid for by sawing and splitting four sticks, and a 
lodging by ten sticks. 
Cincinnati. 
A labor-yard for men has been recently established by the Associated 
Charities and, in connection therewith, lodgings, baths, dining room, 
etc. It is not yet self-supporting, but has come near it. There is also 
a work room for unskilled women on the Brooklyn plan. 
Buffalo. 
The Charity Organization Society maintains a provident wood-yard, 
open during the winter months. In January, February and March, 
1891, 70 men applied for work, of whom 44 came once only. Annual 
business about $2,000. 
Washington. 
A municipal lodging house and wood-yard has been recently estab- 
lished, which is to be supported by appropriations of Congress. Some 
account of it was given by Amos G. Warner in a recent number of the 
"Charities Review." 
The Associated Charities maintains a small wood-yard. 
Newark. 
The Female Charity Society has a laundry and training-school. 
Louisville. 
The Charity Organization Society maintains a wayfarers' lodge and 
wood-yard in connection. It takes one and one-half hours' labor at 
sawing and splitting wood to earn a meal or lodging. 8,981 lodgings 
and 25,237 meals were furnished to 1,234 inmates last year. The 
experiment seems to be self-sustaining. 
Omaha. 
The Associated Charities established a wood-yard last August and 
report that large numbers of men decline to work when the opportunity INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
94 
is offered. The county commissioners here send able-bodied applicants 
for relief to the yard, where their time is reckoned at 15 cents an hour, 
to be paid by the county in groceries and coal. 
Kansas City. 
The Provident Association maintains a wood-yard, in which during 
the last year 553 men were employed for 6,240 hours and earned $634. 
Providence. 
This city has maintained a municipal wood-yard for over fifteen years, 
thus antedating all others now existent, I believe. Its expenditures 
last year were $10,500, and receipts $8,384. There is no lodging 
house in connection with this municipal experiment and the men are 
paid in cash or in meals. It is recorded that 65 men applied 30 times 
each, which constituted about one-half the total employment given. 
Indianapolis. 
Has a friendly inn and a wood-yard near by in the care of the Indi- 
anapolis Benevolent Society. 
Denver. 
The Charity Organization Society assists in maintaining a sewing 
room and laundry for the temporary employment of women, who are 
paid at 1214 cents per hour in orders on the grocer. 
The above enumeration includes all cities which had over 100,000 
population according to the census of 1890, and in which employment 
as a labor test is furnished, so far as I have been able to learn, being 
sixteen out of twenty-eight. 
Of the smaller cities, the following have come to my notice; but 
doubtless some others have escaped my observation and inquiry. As a 
rule less attention is given to such agencies in the smaller cities than in 
larger ones. 
New Haven. 
Here employment as relief and test had early and broad develop- 
ment. The Organized Charities Association maintains a wood-yard 
for all who are ready to work for meals and lodgings, limiting employ- 
ment to three days. They require one-twentieth of a cord of wood cut 
for each meal or lodging furnished. The yard also furnishes to recog- 
nized residents of the city employment for cash. The same society 
runs a laundry with an average of 65 weekly customers. The women 
do not stay long as the association places the competent ones outside. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
95 
The town furnishes employment on the roads and farm to able-bodied 
laborers who ask aid, and who are able to work for three days in every 
three weeks. Many men are said to wait their turn for this work, rather 
than accept regular employment elsewhere, as the town pays $1.50 per 
day. It would probably be better for the men if the town gave up this 
method and left these applicants to deal with the Organized Charities 
Association. 
Pawtucket, R. I. 
The Overseer of the Poor maintains a wood-yard at the city farm, in 
which also inmates of the asylum who are able to work are required to 
<lo something. To outsiders the overseer gives permits to work in the 
wood-yard. These people receive 50 cents per day and dinner, or 75 
cents and bring their dinner. They are paid in orders on some grocer. 
No single men or tramps are employed, and the same person is rarely 
employed for more than two weeks. The yard is self-sustaining, though 
its business is small. 
Cambridge, Mass. 
The Overseer of the Poor has a stone ledge in connection with the 
almshouse, where the able-bodied poor, whether inmates of the alms- 
house or not, are employed. They are little troubled by tramps at 
present and have given up some wood-yards which they formerly had. 
Wilmington, Delaware. 
The Associated Charities co-operate with a private wood-yard, instead 
of running one themselves. They find men less willing than women to 
take work when it is offered. 
Terre Haute, Indiana. 
The Society for Organizing Charity is about to open a wood-yard for 
men and a laundry for women. 
Hartford. 
The Open Hearth Society maintains a wood-yard in connection with 
its lodging house, in which men are given employment but not for more 
than five days. 
Newburgh. 
In 1891, the Associated Charities succeeded in bringing together the 
Overseers of the Poor and the Street Commissioners in such a way that 
able-bodied applicants for assistance were set to work on the roads. 96 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
86 clays of work were accomplished under direction of the street super- 
intendent, for which the almshouse commissioners paid in relief tickets 
at the rate of one dollar per day. Then unfortunately the difference 
between the two boards caused the abandonment of this interesting and 
seemingly successful experiment. 
Portland, Oregon. 
The City Board of Charities reports: "We have no surplus of 
women and find no difficulty in placing all who will do house-work. 
We have a considerable transient element of men, who drift along the 
coast from British Columbia to Southern California. Many of these 
are of a low order and never do voluntary work. At the time of our 
organization the city was overrun with the latter class, as well as by 
cripples, blind beggars, &c. Now we have none at all of the profes- 
sionals. I have never found one who had not sufficient means to travel, 
when it was found that the law against beggary was enforced. The 
tramps who apply for aid are offered an hour's work for a meal or lodg- 
ing, with the alternative of arrest and compulsory labor at the city 
park or wood pile. Any deserving man is given work at a wood-yard 
until permanent work can be secured. We have secured very full co- 
operation on the part of our people in this matter. We furnished work 
in 1889 to 258 persons, in 1890 to 396, in 1891 to 713, and in 1892 
to 418." 
As a work test for men, it will be seen that the wood-yard is in almost 
universal use; but this enterprise is managed quite differently in differ- 
ent cities. In its simplest form, the labor test is furnished by an 
arrangement made by the charity organization society of the place 
with the proprietor of any private wood-yard which handles kindling 
wood, so that employment may be given to any man sent with a card 
by the society. 
In the larger cities, the society has its own wood-yard, either without 
a lodging house, as in Chicago, Brooklyn, etc.; or in connection with 
a wayfarers' lodge, as in Philadelphia, etc., and as is proposed for 
New York. In a few cases, the lodge and wood-yard may be found in 
the hands of others than the charity organization societies. 
In Boston and Providence, the wood-yards are managed by the 
Overseers of the Poor, in the former city in connection with the way- 
farers' lodge and in the latter without such connection. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
97 
Payment for the work done may be made to the men in meals and 
lodgings, or in tickets entitling the holder to such accommodation else- 
where, or in cash. 
Municipal control of the lodge and wood-yard compels compliance 
with regulations which a private society finds it more difficult to enforce, 
as the city authorities can commit as a vagrant any refractory man. 
On the other hand, there is a manifest advantage in having the control 
of the wood-yard in the hands of a charity organization society, which 
will seek to promote the men from the wood-yard to some more useful 
and permanent employment. 
Among the provisions for temporary employment with labor test suit- 
able for women, the laundry holds the first place. The rooms for un- 
skilled and unrecommended women in Brooklyn, and the electric sew- 
ing machine rooms in Baltimore, open up interesting fields not pre- 
viously explored. 
The amount of work which is being done in any of these cities by 
these agencies for temporary employment is so small that even were it 
multiplied many times, it would scarcely affect the work people regu- 
larly employed in the same industry. This is because the manufacture 
of kindling wood is mostly conducted in factories with steam power, 
where a single machine will do more work than an average hand labor 
wood-yard, and the same is true, though to a less extent, of laundry 
work. As economic experiments, however, none of these agents could 
be justified, but as furnishing a labor test with the temporary employ- 
ment, they would be desirable even at serious cost in other directions. 
The rate of pay must necessarily be less than is to be had in other 
employment, or it could not be offered freely to all who may apply. 
As a matter of fact, the number of people in any large city who are 
willing to work for just enough to earn meals and lodgings is very 
large, and if these should be steadily employed, any temporary employ- 
ment agency might become clogged. It is not the business of a 
charity organization society to make people satisfied with this low order 
of living, but rather to stimulate them to self-support in home life. 
For this reason these employment agencies of whatever nature are 
most appropriately managed by, or in close co-operation with, the 
charity organization societies, which can and should do something more 
than use them to furnish employment or to expose frauds. 
Except as their opportunities for employment afford the chance for 
further advance, the value of the employment offered is at best con- INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
98 
fined to the money earned by the laborer, while it may be truthfully 
said that the offer of work at the moment when the applicant most 
sorely needs it may make a dollar worth more to the earner than $10. 
would be at some other time. The value of these undertakings in 
exposing those who are able to work but unwilling, is perhaps even 
greater than their value in affording relief to those who are willing to 
work. Yet this still misses the appreciation of the greatest value of 
all in these temporary employment agencies, and that is the oppor- 
tunity for any individual, who is willing to help another, to reach some 
one who needs a friend at a critical moment when the service will be 
most appreciated. 
A vast amount of time is wasted in life in finding the right place and 
the right time in which to grasp the man or woman who needs a help- 
ing hand. Both the time and the place are afforded to the visitors of 
the charity organization societies by these industrial undertakings. It 
is often a crisis in the life of the man or woman when the work place 
is entered for the first time, and the friend who stands by and watches 
at such a moment may control the future of the individual to an extent 
not easily attainable at any other. time or place. Thus these wood- 
yards, laundries, work-rooms, etc., with the friendly visitor's assistance, 
become the open doors to new lives of self-respect and self-support. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
99 
REGISTRATION OF CHARITABLE RELIEF. 
BY MISS FRANCES R. MORSE OF BOSTON. 
In speaking of registration I shall use the word in the somewhat 
arbitrary meaning which has become familiar to charity organization 
workers, as implying not only the recording of information on charita- 
ble matters, but also the constant exchange of such information between 
societies and individuals engaged in charitable work through a central 
office. 
In examining the short history of registration of charitable relief in 
this country we wish to learn: 
ist. What conditions led to a demand for it? 
2ndly. With the expectation of what good results it was established? 
3rdly. What objections have been urged against it? 
4thly. What are the present methods of registration? 
5thly. Whether the expectations of its projectors have been realized? 
To determine the first two points let us turn back to the registration 
of relief by committees independent of any one charitable society, 
begun in New York in 1873 and in Boston in 1876, and in New York 
suspended for years, in Boston for months, until the Charity Organiza- 
tion Society in the one case, and the Associated Charities in the other, 
came into existence and made registration a part of their regular work. 
I. Conditions precedent to registration. 
In New York the conditions which called for registration are thus 
described : 
"The wish of the public has been clearly expressed that adequate 
means of relief should be furnished in every worthy case of distress, 
it being understood that the law provided for the unworthy and crimi- 
nal classes. It is evident that with the present want of system great 
individual suffering can exist: in fact, a family might starve before 
it could be relieved ; and this arises from no want of public money or 
sympathy, but from want of information, from misdirected and ill- 
managed agencies of relief, or from the insufficiency of aid. It is 
evident that co-operation and organized division of labor among the 
societies would effect a great improvement in this respect." 
"Want of system" and "want of information," therefore, are the 
conditions which in New York led to registration. 100 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
This statement is quoted from the valuable Report of the Bureau of 
Charities of New York (1874), and the objects proposed in the report 
are so closely connected with the subject of registration that I quote 
them here. 
" Objects." 
"I. To obtain authoritative information regarding the objectsand 
resources of the various benevolent societies of the city. 
"II. To secure a system of registration of the persons receiving aid 
from the societies, and to arrange for such inter-communication of the 
officers as will prevent imposition. 
"III. To ascertain whether existing organizations are adequate to 
meet existing wants, and whether special and extraordinary provision 
is required during the winter, and to report the same to the public. 
" IV. To ascertain and report to the public the most simple methods 
of testing and verifying applications for aid, and of directing deserv- 
ing claimants to the agency adapted to their respective cases. 
"V. To ascertain and report to the public the state of the law 
regarding charitable societies, and also regarding street-begging and 
other forms of pauperism." 
The experiment of registration in New York was given up after a 
year's trial because the co-operation of the largest relief-giving associ- 
ation in the city could not be secured ; but Mr. H. E. Pellew, secretary 
of the committee which had organized the plan, says in his report, 
(October, 1874): 
" Notwithstanding obstacles which have seriously impeded the efforts 
of the Bureau, a real and valuable field of work has been devloped. 
Important information has been obtained, many statistics tabulated, 
and others partly prepared, and a comprehensive and suggestive system 
introduced for recording and comparing the incidence of pauperism 
and of relief. 
"After the successful trial which has now been made, it is impossible 
to doubt that some similar organization for the regulation of charity 
will be permanently established in the city." 
Mr. Pellew's predictions were verified in 1882, when the Charity 
Organization Society was created, and made registration a part of its 
work from the outset. 
The experiment abandoned in New York in 1874 was taken up in 
Boston in 1876 and successfully worked till 1878, when it was suspended 
for nine months until the Provisional Committee, subsequently the first 
Executive Committee of the Associated Charities made it an integral 
part of their work. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
101 
I 
The conditions of Boston were somewhat different from those of New 
York ; with a smaller population, and fewer nationalities to deal with, 
it was rather that some over-lapping of relief was seen, and a great 
deal more foreseen, than that the condition at the time was one of dis- 
astrous and disabling confusion. 
A circular issued in 1876 says: " When we consider that at least 
twenty-five charitable societies, as well as numerous church benevolent 
societies, are now engaged in this city in distributing money and aid of 
various kinds, but that many of them are without exact knowledge of 
the specific objects, or the actual work of the rest, no further proof is 
needed to show that the very relief they aim to afford cannot be satis- 
factorily given, for they must more or less overlap one another, and 
waste of time, strength and money be the necessary result." 
Thus, want of system and want of inter-communication between 
public and private agencies and individuals engaged in charitable work 
in the same field, were the conditions precedent to the establishment of 
registration in Boston as well as in New York. 
Both cities gave public outdoor relief. 
II. What good results were expected to follow registration. 
We find that the New York committee say that it would be easy to 
make the office of the Bureau "the clearing-house of charities in New 
York." 
More specifically, they believed that registration would afford posi- 
tive information, would prevent the overlapping of relief, would detect 
imposture, would lead to improvement in methods of relief by showing 
where present methods failed of their ends, and through the street- 
directory would soon show, almost as on a map, the incidence of desti- 
tution and of relief. 
In Boston the first published circular says : "This system of regis- 
tration is in no way to supplant any existing society, nor to criticize 
its action ; it is only to increase the power of each by adding to its 
means of information, and securing more unity of action." 
A later circular says: "We believe that greater familiarity with 
each other's work would tend to diminish imposture and street-begging, 
which all are desirous to prevent, and thus greatly benefit the deserving 
poor." After describing the proposed methods of registration, the 
same circular goes on to say : 
"It has been objected that such information would lessen the sense 
of responsibility of each society, and cut off assistance from many 
needing it. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
102 
"We urge that as the amount of help given in each case will be stated, 
it ought on the contrary to lead only to such communication between 
the persons interested as would make the relief more intelligent and 
efficient. 
"There will undoubtedly be persons whose names it would be unwise 
and unnecessary to record; we trust that such will not be sent to us. 
"No material aid will be given at this office, and no censorship 
assumed; its records will be open only to those to whom it will be of 
service in their work." 
The first good result expected from registration, then, was a wiser, 
more efficient, and helpful administration of relief, both public and 
private. 
The detection of imposture, important though that result might be, 
fell into the second place, and is not even mentioned in the first Bos- 
ton circular. 
The third result counted on was the localization of destitution and of 
relief. 
III. What objections have been urged against registration ? 
The objections most strongly urged against registration when it was 
taking shape in Boston were three: 
That it was expensive-unnecessary-unjust. 
Let us examine these objections one by one. 
1. That it is expensive. 
This is true in a sense, as much clerical work is necessary: but that 
it is a wise expenditure has never been questioned by the successive 
boards of directors who have carried on the New York and Boston 
societies. On the contrary, they again and again, in their annual 
reports, speak of the money-saving power of registration, and money 
thus saved is money set free to be applied to better advantage than 
would be possible without its help. 
In the report for 1891 of the Boston Associated Charities it is said, 
"Under the methods of co-operative charity, money from public and 
private sources which, under the old methods, would be worse than 
thrown away, amounting in the aggregate to large sums, is annually 
saved to the community." 
2. That it is unnecessary. 
This objection is now seldom made. The co-operating societies use 
registration, more rather than less, as time goes on and their work 
increases. As it undeniably adds to the daily clerical work, it is clear 
that these societies believe that in the end it is labor-saving. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
103 
3. That it is unjust. 
It has been said that it is unjust to a family in misfortune to record 
their history, and thus make it public. 
This objection wholly loses force through the fact that the histories 
recorded in the registration office are never made public, and can only 
be seen by those who can show that their interest is justifiable. But it 
is also said that there is injustice in giving, even to a person interested 
in a family, all the sad details of their previous history ; that it is 
better that these should be gradually learned later, rather than a dis- 
couraging story should be heard beforehand. As well might we say 
that we unjustly prejudice a physician if we give him the previous record 
of a patient. 
If something of the character and conditions of a family are known 
beforehand, there is less chance of sudden and utter discouragement on 
our part on learning that we have been deceived or mistaken. 
We have brought this discouragement on ourselves, if we accept 
without verifying it the statement of a person in forlorn circumstances, 
who is very probably of weak character and weak health, and who may 
be under a strong temptation to exaggerate and misrepresent. 
In such case there has been fault on both sides; there has been, 
perhaps, dishonesty on the one side, but we have gone half-way to meet 
it on the other, and are to blame for our want of imagination and 
intelligence. 
Too often, after such discouragement, we fall back just when it is 
most important to keep on, leaving the person whom we undertook to 
help just so much the worse for seeing how lightly we pick up and drop 
human interests. 
There is more serious injustice here than any that can be wrought by 
telling to a person already interested in a family the past events of their 
life. 
IV. Methods. 
The following extract from a circular of 1876 shows the method of 
work proposed by the Boston Committee; this was directly drawn from 
that of the New York Bureau of Charities of 1873. 
"The committee charged with its management should receive from 
all societies, having persons regularly dependent on their assistance, a 
list of such regular beneficiaries, and should be notified of all changes 
made in this list. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
104 
"The committee of management should, moreover, receive from 
societies giving occasional relief among the poor, monthly reports of 
the names and addresses of the persons helped by them, and of the 
amount of relief given in each case. 
"In return for this information, each society will be notified when any 
of its beneficiaries are found to receive assistance, whether in money, 
goods, or employment, from any other organization. 
"The method of registration to be adopted is like that of the card- 
catalogue of a library. 
"The name and address of each beneficiary are entered on a card, with 
a cypher representing the name of the relieving society; on the same 
card will be found the amount of relief given, and other statistics. 
"When the same name is received from two, or more societies, an entry 
to that effect is made on the card of the person so assisted, and all 
such relieving societies are notified. 1 
"In this way a compact catalogue is made, which of course can be 
indefinitely extended, and information as to the aid received by each 
person is procured." 
The only changes since that time have been those of growth and 
development. More of the personal history of a family now appears 
on the card, so that it becomes quite a full record of character as 
well as of relief and the immediate cause of relief; also, the actual 
exchange of information takes place with a rapidity which was not sup- 
posed possible by the originators of the plan, the reports being now 
received, recorded, and sent out within a few hours. 
Further than this, there have been only changes of detail. 
The method is still that of the card-catalogue, the cards being about 
five by six inches in size. A separate card is added for each new society 
or individual helping a family, and all the cards relating to one family 
(or person,) are clamped together. 
When a society or individual is ready to be responsible for the care 
of a family, undertaking to keep a friendly knowledge of them, and to 
find relief for them if relief be needed, there is a record made that they 
take charge to visit and relieve, and ask that no one else help without 
consulting them. 
With regard to the superintendence of registration work, Miss Z. D. 
Smith, General Secretary of the Boston Associated Charities, permits 
me to quote a passage from a paper on registration, written by her 
in January, 1892. 
"First, the work must be secret and confidential. The information 
must be entrusted to some one officer and the clerks necessary to accom- 
plish the work. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
105 
"Secondly, the work must be done promptly. There must be enough 
helpers to make sure that, no matter how many reports come, in the 
morning, they will be recorded and sent out within twenty-four hours. 
"Thirdly, the work must be done without prejudice. If the officer in 
charge does not believe in the way that the work of some agency is 
done, he must, nevertheless, report its action without saying so, exactly 
as he would report from some other source. 
" While reports must often be abridged, it is important to avoid 
generalization, and to be careful to give information from the record 
and not the opinion that the officer may have formed from them. 
"Fourthly, the methods must be as elastic as possible. There must be 
order to ensure promptness and simplicity in such a multitude of 
details, but if some society prefers that the reports should be sent on 
stiffer paper than usual to suit their methods of filing, we provide 
stiffer paper; if another wants the slips cut a little smaller, to fit 
their record-papers, we have them cut smaller. 
"As to the way in which reports are received, we take them in any 
shape in which we can get them. We supply books or blanks where 
they are wanted, but we like best to borrow the records of the societies, 
returning them as promptly as possible." 
V. Have the expectations of the projectors of registration been 
realized ? 
The permanence of registration as a part of the charity organization 
work of New York and Boston in a measure answers the question, but it 
may be answered more fully, point by point. 
Registration has enabled us to improve the character of charitable 
work in the following ways : 
A. It puts before a person interested in a family their previous his- 
tory, so far as it is known, so that help or counsel may not be given 
merely to relieve the distress of the moment, but may at least be framed 
with a view to preventing the recurrence of the distress. 
B. The knowledge that two societies are simultaneously trying to 
help a family frequently leads to the withdrawal of one society, while 
the other pledges itself that if the family need help they shall receive 
it. The number of families which each society is dealing with may be 
thereby lessened, and it may become easier to make the personal work 
for each family thorough, and the relief adequate. 
C. Imposture is swiftly detected. 
D. The street-registry makes the picture of social conditions clear 
before our eyes. It points out the places which are as it were, open 
sores,-houses, and groups of houses, where drink and poor-relief and 106 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
improvidence all dwell together,-where the rents are high to leave a 
margin for bad debts,-where the landlord is slow to make repairs, 
and where the drainage is bad. 
Thus we find registration justifying the belief of its projectors that 
it would afford positive information, would prevent the over-lapping of 
relief, would save waste of time and effort by enabling societies to 
narrow their field and thus make their work more thorough, would 
detect imposture, and would make it possible so to map out the city 
that one could see what neighbourhoods were most in need of improve- 
ment. 
All these results of registration were foreseen. 
One good result has followed it which, so far as I know, was unfore- 
seen. It spares many unnecessary questions. This gain is greater than 
may at first appear. Not only is some unnecessary pain saved, not only 
is there less temptation to exaggerate and misrepresent, but there is 
lessened, also, the tendency to think one's self pre-eminently interesting 
and important, which is so disabling to those who most need that their 
attention should be drawn out of themselves and concentrated on the 
effort to regain a lost footing in the world. 
This morbid state of mind is as easily recognized by any one familiar 
with pauperism as is the litigant's state of mind to the lawyer, or the 
hypochondriac's to the doctor, and we too often foster it by the question- 
ings of misplaced sympathy-as dangerous a narcotic as we can give. 
The registration of charitable societies may exist independent of the 
registration of individual charitable relief (with exchange of informa- 
tion,) as is the case in London where the Charity Organization Society 
publishes the Charities Register and Digest; but as it is sure to be 
carried on side by side with registration it is fair to count it as a coinci- 
dent advantage. 
This registration of charities (giving an account of their objects, 
method and scope) has a double value. 
It is not only a means of direct information, but it shows to each 
association what others are working in the same field, and, if it is 
widely enough read, it may discourage the formation of unnecessary 
- societies, and promote the combination of others. In London, during 
the last year, two associations occupying very nearly the same field, 
instead of longer crossing each other's paths have been joined into 
one. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
107 
Can we show sufficient reason why charity organization societies 
which have not yet made registration a part of their work should do 
so ? I believe we can. 
By the consent of those charity organization societies which now 
employ registration, and by the implied consent of their co-operating 
societies, it saves waste of effort and money. 
It checks imposture and the "speculative spirit," which is too often 
led on by our easy indifference and pre-occupation. 
It constructs for us a map of social conditions to which we should do 
well to take heed. We see that through certain houses, and sometimes 
through certain streets, moves a sad procession of people on the verge 
of pauperism, - drinking, thriftless, thoughtless, half-sick, which is 
more often the cause of the other conditions than is sometimes acknowl- 
edged. 
We watch on this map also the drift of immigration, by which our 
methods must be shaped. 
A generation which turns so eagerly to panaceas as does ours, needs 
registration as an element of order and organization. But, if thought- 
fully used, it is by no means only an element of order, but becomes a 
strong incentive to personal service on behalf of those of our fellow- 
citizens who, for one or another reason, are at a disadvantage. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
108 
FRIENDLY VISITING. 
BY MRS. ROGER WOLCOTT OF BOSTON. 
The principles which underlie friendly visiting are steadily gaining 
ground among the many societies dealing with the problems of poverty 
and vice. More and more it is seen that it is individual work, per- 
sonal love and thought which alone can help the weak and erring. In 
dealing with the subject of friendly visiting to-day, I am looking from 
the point of view of the Associated Charities, although the same quali- 
ties required for a visitor of this organization must necessarily belong 
to the visitors of other societies depending upon personal influence to 
help them in their work. In choosing a visitor for a new case of neces- 
sity, we try to provide the family with one, who by temperament and 
disposition is likely most easily to enter into helpful relations with 
them. 
It sometimes happens that certain visitors make excellent advisers for 
people of one race, when they cannot adapt themselves to those of 
another. Oftentimes we find visitors by presenting to the members of 
a conference short synopses of the circumstances, characteristics and 
needs of various families, and these are assigned to such friends of the 
members, as are deemed to possess the necessary qualifications or 
peculiar fitness for each case. Under favorable circumstances, the 
relation of the friendly visitor to the family thus adopted, becomes 
very close and intimate. 
What are the qualifications for a good visitor? And why is it that 
often we see a man or woman of high character and sincere purpose 
fail to enter into sympathetic relations with the poor they undertake to 
visit? A friend who had not thought herself successful in visiting once 
said to me, "I cannot enter into relations with the kind of persons 
dealt with by the Associated Charities, the chasm between us is too 
great." Another friend, also high-minded and conscientious, said that 
she could not feel at home with poor people and that they did not feel 
at ease with her. Of course under these circumstances, the very foun- 
dation of friendly visiting is lacking. There must be no chasm, there 
must be no sense of superiority, or condescension or difference. The CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
109 
heart must be full of love, the desire to help so ardent that all points 
of difference are eliminated from the consciousness, and what is com- 
mon to humanity alone is recognized. 
A visitor is generally introduced to a family during some great 
emergency, when it is his privilege to render important service, or to 
enter into such close and sympathetic relations with them, that he can 
be sure of a permanent vantage ground in their affection. And how 
responsive is their affection, how simply and naturally they accept the 
friendship offered, how touching is their trust, their gratitude and their 
patience. 
The visitor must not allow the sympathy and confidence to be all on 
one side; he must communicate of his own joys and sorrows; of his own 
experience and interests. Let the poor feel the human touch in him, 
and let them see that he accepts their sympathy and interest. If he is 
a parent, let him talk of his children, perhaps occasionally take them 
with him on his visits. If it seem practicable, let the poor visit him in 
his own home and let them know the members of his family as he 
knows theirs. The poor like to hear even of the social pleasures of 
those whom they have come to regard as their friends. A young lady, 
who was visitor to one of the most needy of our families, was on one 
occasion chagrined and somewhat disturbed to find that the father of 
the family had read in the papers of her presence at some ball, where 
the magnificence of her dress was set forth in glowing terms. She 
showed her dismay in her face, and the quick reply came, "Bless your 
soul, Miss, don't you mind, you might be as rich as mud and covered 
with diamonds from head to foot, and I shouldn't mind, you ain't the 
kind I mind." Does not this last sentence hint at the fact, that if the 
poor are sometimes envious of those more fortunate than themselves, it 
is because the latter have been first guilty of emphasizing the difference 
in their conditions in an ostentatious or arrogant spirit. The plea 
for a sympathetic relation of the friendly visitor to the poor he visits, 
may seem superfluous sentimentality, but it provides a practical work- 
ing plan; and without it the best principles and methods of the most 
enlightened thought cannot achieve the truest success. Add to this 
sympathy a never failing hope, which knows not discouragement, and a 
fertility of resource, which though often baffled, never despairs, and you 
have some of the most important characteristics of a good visitor. 
There is ample need of zeal, of wisdom, of self restraint in withholding 110 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
temporary aid, when the suffering can be radically helped only by the 
slow upbuilding of character. 
One of the first efforts of the friendly visitor must be to arouse the 
feeling of self-respect; the loss of which is so easy among the deaden- 
ing influences of a life passed amid squalid surroundings, and is so long 
a step into the gulf of pauperism. One of the first encouraging signs 
in the upward struggle towards reformation of a difficult case, was the 
remark of a woman to her visitor; "Since I have known you, I feel 
disgusted with the old life." 
With the re-awakened sense of self-respect, it is not impossible to 
arouse a proper pride and unwillingness to accept alms. Public alms 
seem almost more demoralizing than private giving; for, while in the 
second case, the recipients are at least aware that they are receiving 
charity, in the first, they seem to look upon the help given as almost 
an inherent right of citizenship. Once'make the case clear to their 
minds, and they will oftentimes refuse to accept public aid. Two 
families within my knowledge have saved enough money to repay the 
sums given them by the Overseers of the Poor, and have asked to have 
their names erased from the official records of that body. One 
encouraging sign of restored self-respect in a family, which had come 
to the Associated Charities as one of the city's free soup applicants 
occurred after some years of friendly visiting. Their regular visitor, 
being unable for a time to visit, employed a substitute to take her place. 
Some months later, on resuming the charge herself, she visited the 
family one day, and found them in much trouble; two of the wage- 
earners being out of work, owing to a dull season, and the head of the 
family being ill. The substitute had sent in a bag of flour; but 
although the family were in real need, they asked their regular visitor 
if she thought it would be wrong to send it back, "because they did not 
wish to be paupers." The friendly visitor, by tact and delicate sugges- 
tion, must instil a desire for cleanliness, so necessary to self-respect. 
Mr. William D. Howells, who during his recent residence in Boston gave 
much of his valuable time as a visitor for the Associated Charities, was 
amused one day to be told, on knocking at the door of a house where 
he had studiously endeavored to inspire a sense of cleanliness, that he 
could not come in, as the floor had just been washed, and he might soil 
it again. 
The visitor ought to be able to give practical advice as to the best 
and cheapest kinds of food, and the wholesome preparation of the same. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
111 
If a woman, the visitor ought to be able to give valuable hints for the 
making and mending of clothes and as to the proper materials there- 
for. The visitor's influence must be used to see that the children are 
being well trained in schoolsand in those clubs which furnish a stimulus to 
self-improvement. Through Mr. Charles W. Birtwell's scheme of Home 
Libraries, much may be done to make the home a centre of interest 
both to parents and children. I have recently read a report of the vis- 
itor of one of these home library clubs, which consists of thirteen 
boys from eleven to twelve years of age. In speaking of the most 
earnest of them, he says, "Their reading has been very wide and w'ell 
selected, and they retain remarkably well what they read. They have 
learned almost by heart Young's histories, Abbott's biographies, besides 
a vast amount of collateral matter. One of them has read the Iliad 
and the Odyssey in some translation. They are very familiar with 
Scott and Cooper, and have read much of Longfellow, Dickens, Burns, 
and Gray. These boys address to me profound questions; for instance, 
on one occasion, Albert asked, 'What is the greatest poem in the 
English language?' ' That is hard to tell,' I replied, 'but I should 
say Paradise Lost.' 'There, I told you so,' exclaimed Albert to Henry, 
who said he had thought it was Gray's Elegy." 
Provident and frugal habits are encouraged by the Stamp Saving 
Society, also by the Home Saving Society, whose agents call each week 
on a fixed day, in order to collect the penny savings, until the delighted 
contributor finds he has accumulated enough to enter upon the dignity 
of a separate bank account. To those who try to help the unfortunate, 
the problem of intemperance presents the greatest difficulties. Here, 
too, much may be accomplished by a faithful, loving spirit which 
hopeth all things. Very frequent visiting, and all the personal influ- 
ence and power one can bring to bear, are necessary for the task. 
Between the visits, in extreme cases where the will power is much 
vitiated, it is a good plan to ask the sufferer to report daily, by a pos- 
tal card, if all is well. By a victim of this habit, a promise of self- 
control from day to day, is more likely to be kept than a pledge which 
covers a longer period. When the habit is too strong to yield to these 
simple methods, we have taken advantage of the dypsomaniac law and 
have had our patients committed to the insane asylums. Now that 
the state of Massachusetts has built a separate institution for the treat- 
ment of these cases, better results are hoped for than were possible 
under the old system. In one instance, the superintendent of the I 12 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
insane asylum tried with considerable success the experiment of doub- 
ling the period of confinement on each recurring commitment. 
I have imperfectly indicated some of the qualifications for friendly 
visiting, and tried to present a few of the practical questions which 
confront the visitor. The wiser the visitor, the richer the gifts he can 
bring to his work, the greater will be his usefulness, provided always 
that with his experience and judgment he brings to the service a hope 
not easily discouraged, and a spirit of sympathy and love. Often the 
fresh zeal and interest of an inexperienced visitor accomplish better 
results than the efforts of a trained worker who has allowed himself 
to lose hope because of previous discouragements. 
Before leaving the subject of the relation existing between the 
visitor and the family committed to his charge, I wish to urge that even 
in the case of the family becoming self-supporting, the visitor must not 
altogether withdraw his watchful care. Friendship may not be thus 
lightly broken, and should an emergency arise in which there is oppor- 
tunity of a friendly word of warning or advice, the poor family should 
not have lost their touch with the friend they have learned to consult 
and trust. If all were wise, all worthy of becoming their brother's 
keeper, the conference would not be so essential a part of the organiza- 
tion of the Associated Charities as it now is. The questions which the 
visitors individually have found too hard for them, have been answered 
before by some fellow-worker who imparts the benefit of his experience, 
and who, in return, receives new suggestions to help him in his work. 
The visitors find relief and help in confiding their difficulties to a band 
of interested hearers who are all working in the same cause and who 
■can help by practical suggestions, as well as by sympathy. 
No consideration of the work of the visitors of the Associated Chari- 
ties would be complete without mention of the agent, a salaried 
official who keeps fixed hours at headquarters and who is the center of 
the group of visitors. She gives to one what she has received from 
another, and adds to it from her own experience and thought. She 
has a knowledge of new and important legislation bearing upon the 
work. She is in touch with other charitable societies of the city, and 
is often helped in suggesting new plans of work to be carried on by 
the conference. With the help of the conference and the agent, there- 
fore, the visitor can enter upon his work without the necessity of pre- 
vious training, other than that which has been afforded him by the cir- 
cumstances of his own life. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
113 
In accordance with the present standard for friendly visiting, it will 
be seen that fully to perform the necessary duties of the position, it is 
wiser, in most cases, to confine one's care to not more than two families. 
It is therefore necessary that there be many workers in the field. The 
number is slowly increasing, but we need many more. In my judg- 
ment, the district plan of visiting is unsatisfactory in comparison with 
the system described above. In the former the method of assignment 
is one of locality and not that of peculiar fitness of the visitor to the 
family in need of aid. Secondly, it has been noticed in the work of 
our ward branch of the Associated Charities, that it is not well for a 
visitor to have under his care families who are acquainted with each 
other; and it has been proved difficult, even with the greatest tact, to 
avoid awakening suspicion and jealousy, which interfere much with 
one's opportunities for usefulness. We now try to assign to a visitor 
families who are not likely to have intercourse with each other. There- 
fore, whatever the district plan may appear to gain in simplicity and 
precision of method, it loses in the lesser degree of personality, and 
the greater friction involved in its operation. The element of personal 
and friendly interest, which lies at the very foundation of genuine and 
efficient aid of the poor, cannot be attained by statutory enactment or 
by town vote. I do not believe that the poor would enter into the 
same relations of intimacy and confidence with visitors so appointed; 
and the result seems inevitable that they would be regarded as officials 
performing an obligatory duty. I believe therefore, that there is a 
radical defect in the theory of the Elberfeld system of enforced muni- 
cipal visiting of the poor, and I fear that in this country, under its pre- 
sent political conditions, the practice would be worse than the theory. 
I feel that every visitor of the Associated Charities may do much in 
arousing interest among his friends in this most important work; and 
I would urge upon the members of conferences that they should use their 
influence to extend the work so far as it lies in their power. Much can 
be done by arousing and educating public sentiment, and I hope the 
time may not be far distant, when all those who are rich in this world's 
opportunities and see that their brethren have need, shall lend of their 
time and strength to help those unfortunate ones, so heavily conditioned 
in the school of life. 114 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
THE CO-OPERATION OF PUBLIC WITH PRIVATE 
CHARITABLE AGENCIES. 
BY ALEXANDER JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF BOARD OF STATE CHARITIES, 
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. 
As my friend and colleague, Professor Warner, is to discuss the sub- 
ject of "Subsidizing of Private Charitable Agencies from the Public 
Purse," it is evident that the co-operation of public with private chari- 
table agencies, of which I am to speak, does not include those most 
important forms which are exercised in institutions of miscellaneous 
support or control, most important when considered as to their imme- 
diate financial amount in cost to the public, or as to their ulterior 
effects. 
The co-operation of which I propose to speak, is chiefly that of the 
overseers of the poor or relieving officers with the various charitable 
agencies, which together form the circle of charities in our towns and 
cities. 
A few years ago the thought of such co-operation as we now make 
our aim would have been treated with neglect or derision. The intel- 
ligent, thoughtful agent of the public bounty looked upon private char- 
itable work as either useless from its irregularity, its inefficiency and its 
insufficiency, or as mischievous from its tendency to pauperize. He 
regarded the occasional question from volunteer charity workers, as to 
what he would do or was doing for a given family, as perhaps well 
meaning, but certainly impertinent meddling, and his answers were not 
such as to encourage the question becoming frequent. 
The public agent who was not thoughtful nor intelligent looked on 
the private charitable agents as a nuisance to be abated. Their ques- 
tions being based on the theory that the object of his office was to 
relieve the destitute, especially the class sentimentally called the worthy 
poor, were alien to his views. He held his position because he had 
been and was expected to be active and successful in the political work 
of his precinct or ward. That was his raison d etre. Enquiries from 
so-called good people as to why he had not aided this, that or the 
other poor person, and still more why he had aided certain other CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
115 
persons whom not even the most gushing would class as worthy poor, 
were very naturally resented as childish and silly as well as vexatious. 
But things have changed in this respect, especially during the last 
twelve or fifteen years, and the cause of the change has been the rise 
of the principle of charity organization. Like all other great princi- 
ples that have been applied to human efforts, this has had an effect 
much wider than its immediate application. The leaven has spread 
beyond the bounds of the societies working under the name, and most 
forms of charity, even the most conservative, have felt its influence to 
some extent. A certain degree of co-operation, or at any rate, a 
thought that co-operation of this kind might be advisable may be 
noticed in many places, still it is only in the cities having charity 
organization societies, or other societies imbued with their principles, 
that it has taken definite and noticeable form. 
For various reasons the public relief of the poor is one of the first 
departments of charity to receive attention from a new charity organi- 
zation society. Its amount can be precisely known, and is often looked 
upon by economical public officers and taxpayers as excessive. Its 
methods of administration often appear open to criticism. It appears 
to be given without discrimination and in many places without proper 
investigation. It does not and cannot regard the moral worth of those 
upon whom it is bestowed, but chiefly, if not entirely, regards their 
physical condition, and so it is not satisfactory to the great bulk of 
charity workers, who still persist in dividing the poor into two great 
groups, the worthy and unworthy, the sheep and the goats of the chari- 
table fold. The sheep, who are to be led into the green pastures and 
beside the quiet waters of plenteous material aid, and the goats, who 
are to be shut into the outer darkness of refusal, with the possible excep- 
tion of those who will consent to go to the poorhouse. 
Public relief usually appears insufficient in amount, especially to the 
minds of the recipients. It is not often designed as complete support, 
but as partial or temporary aid, and as those who apply for it usually 
imagine themselves entitled to complete support, or at any rate to all 
that they can get, they are generally found among the applicants at 
every other available source of relief. So that their names are sure to 
be among those detected in what we call duplication. Besides all these 
reasons is the fact, that many scientists in charity reprehend public out- 
door relief altogether, and the young enthusiasm of the charity organi- 
zation society is naturally turned to efforts to abolish or retrench a suf- 116 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
ficiently condemned evil. Efforts of charity organization societies 
towards this form of co-operation have often been quite successful. 
Several attempts have been made with greater or less success by the 
committee on charity organization of the National Conference, to 
estimate by means of percentages the degree of co-operation attained 
between the various charitable agencies and the agents of public relief. 
The most careful and successful of these attempts was made by the 
committee which reported to the fourteenth Conference at Omaha about 
six years ago. At that time several societies reported their co-opera- 
tion with public relief agencies as complete, claiming a full 100 per 
cent. At many other times societies have reported better success in 
securing co-operation with such agencies than with any other kind. 
And the experience of most of us who have set about it in earnest has 
been that a formal co-operation is often more easily obtained with the 
public officers than with most of the other charitable agencies. This 
last remark must be taken with some qualification. It is a curious 
coincidence, if it is only a coincidence, that with one or two notable 
exceptions the charity organization society and the associated charities 
which have been most successful in securing the cordial sympathy and 
practical co-operation of the churches and their relief societies, have 
not been the most successful with public officials. I will not attempt 
to explain this fact, nor to find the ethical or social law underlying it, 
if there be one. I merely state a fact which I believe the charity 
organization society delegates from Philadelphia and New York will 
bear me out in. I confess that in my own experience in Cincinnati 
and Chicago I was always most successful with the churches. 
In considering the question of co-operation between public and 
private agencies, it is essential to remember the great variance between 
the work of public relief in different states, a variance partly of law 
and partly of practice. In some states the laws are precise and the 
limits of legal relief clearly defined, in others they are very vague and 
the overseer of the poor is almost a law unto himself, and is only 
limited by the public opinion which is against lavish expenditure on 
the one hand, and against neglect of suffering on the other. In some 
states a settlement can be lost without another being gained elsewhere; 
in others no pauper can be left thus belonging nowhere, but retains 
his old belonging until he gains a new one. And in some states a law 
which allows of aid to strangers in urgent need, is stretched to cover all CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
117 
sorts of tramps and vagrants. In some States the laws appear purposely 
loose and are differently interpreted by each different officer. 
The first essential of co-operation is mutual confidence, the next is 
clear mutual understanding. If you and I agree to work together for 
a common aim, we must have confidence in each other that each will 
do what he agrees to do, we must understand each other, so that each 
will not attempt to do the other's share. 
Now it is often very hard for the public official to have confidence in 
the work of the benevolent society-because the average benevolent 
society neither can nor will accept much responsibility. This is in fact 
its usual greatest weakness, that its directors and officers do not feel 
sufficiently their responsibility to do all the work that their society is 
organized for doing. I have often heard an agent of a private benevo- 
lent society say, "We cannot help these cases for want of means." 
The assertion is usually false, or has been so in my experience, merely 
an excuse to get rid of the cases in point; but it shows the lack of the 
feeling of responsibility. A society organized for a certain work can 
no more refuse to do all the work for which it is organized that comes 
in its way, than a bank can refuse to cash its notes; in either case 
the result is practical bankruptcy and should result in suspension of 
the business; if it does not suspend, the bankruptcy becomes a fraudu- 
lent one. 
This is one of the great hindrances to co-operation between public 
and private relief agencies, that the public agent cannot depend on the 
private society to keep its word and live up to its professions. 
Another great obstacle in the way of co-operation between private 
and public benevolence is the hasty and inexperienced investigations 
with which private benevolence often contents itself. The private 
almoner discovers what is to her a new case in most urgent distress. 
She rushes off to the overseer to help her to give relief-for more 
is needed than she can supply alone'-and he tells her it is an old 
chronic case of vice and beggary utterly unworthy, or criminal, and 
so forth. He naturally has little confidence in a report from the 
same person about a case of which he knows nothing, should such 
come in. Here comes in the great opportunity of the charity orga- 
nization society. If it sees and accepts it, it is certain of suc- 
cessful establishment. A charity organization society does not agree to 
do relief work but to see it done, so that if one relief agency fails it 
can and will secure another. I know that the giving or securing of 118 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
material relief is the smallest part of the function of a charity organi- 
tion society. Still it is a function of a charity organization society, and 
an essential one; and much of the society's success depends upon its 
being properly performed. The charity organization society, feeling 
and accepting the responsibility, is able to propose plans of co-operation 
to the overseer of the poor which he can accept with confidence. 
These plans are of four kinds, to which I must refer very briefly: - 
ist. Co-operation in securing and imparting information, including 
registration. 2nd. Co-operation in giving relief. 3rd. Mutual deli- 
mitation of work. 4th. Co-operation in withholding. 
The first of these kinds of co-working often depends at its beginning 
upon the second, though it naturally precedes the others in order. 
There are some relief societies and some public agents of charity who 
make very accurate and wise investigations, but they are the exceptions. 
The charity organization society agent who studies his work has availa- 
ble now such a mass of printed assistance, that his investigations with 
but little training soon become superior to the work of most public offi- 
cers; especially is this true as soon as complete or even partial co-opera- 
tive registration of the charity work of a city has been established. 
The second, i. e., co-operation in giving relief, is usually the easiest 
way to begin. Many relief societies and some public agents establish 
queer limits for themselves, such as, that they will not give fuel and food 
to the same family-that they will not pay rent-that they will not give 
any money-or-that they will not give anything in kind. In these 
cases, with the charity organization society as the medium, two or 
more relief agencies can often work together usefully as well as with 
those societies which exist for certain specific kinds of relief, like diet 
kitchens, flower missions, coal charities, &c. 
3rd. The third form, mutual delimitation of work, is one of the most 
practical and useful. It often needs a high degree of confidence, as where, 
for instance, a charity organization society says to the overseer of the 
poor, "We will take the responsibility of all new cases, send them to 
us without investigation, you may still help those on the poor books ; 
let us keep the new cases off them, for once on it is hard to get them 
off again." 
A more usual form is when the charity organization society takes all 
the cases which only a strained construction of law allows the overseer 
to help, and yet whose necessity seems so great that he feels they need 
and must have aid. To this kind belong the frequent mutual agree- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
119 
merits as to the placing of paupers in almshouses or hospitals, at the 
request of the private agency or charity organization society. 
4th. Co-operation in withholding. This is the height of practical 
co-operation between the public and private agencies, and needs the 
highest confidence. 
When a charity agent can say to the overseer with regard to a 
certain family-"They need to be thrown on their own resources; 
we will watch them and secure aid if it is best for them-you leave them 
to us." And when the overseer has confidence that the work will be 
done as planned and that only a kind severity will be exercised, we 
have got near to success in co-operation. 
I have not spoken about the form of co-operation by delimitation, 
which prevails in a few cities, where the overseer of the poor gives no 
out-door relief, but agrees to send to the poorhouse or city hospital all 
who should go, and leave everything else to the private society, because 
however good it may be, it is hardly to be called co-operative, and co- 
operation is what I had given me for a subject. I have sometimes felt 
that when charity organization societies have claimed full co-operation 
with public relief agencies, they are giving the term a different mean- 
ing from the one I give it. And the mutual delimitation such as our Eng- 
lish friends develop between poor law and charity, is again very differ- 
ent from what we mean by co-operation, a co-operation which has 
something of the sentiment of brotherhood in it. It means more than 
an agreement as to how to do certain work or leave it undone. It 
means hearty, cordial sympathy, wise help, and true encouragement. 
I have only time to say, that the place to effect co-operation, to win 
each other's confidence and keep it, is the weekly conference meeting. 
Get your overseer of the poor to attend; let him learn how you really 
feel and talk of your poor people, and he will soon say and feel that 
you help him and he wants to help you. He will soon feel that he 
is a part of the weekly conference and belongs there. You will find his 
point of view a little different from yours,-all the better that you 
shall see with a different pair of eyes. The more varied the point of 
view the truer the conclusions. 
You will do him a great deal of good and he you. The profits of true 
co-operation are essentially mutual. 120 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
PUBLIC SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE CHARITIES. 
BY AMOS G. WARNER, PH. D., LATE OF WASHINGTON, D. C., AND NOW 
PROFESSOR IN THE STANFORD UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
On the second of last February, while the Senate of the United 
States was sitting as town council for the city of Washington, a member 
moved to amend the appropriation bill by inserting a proviso that 
almshouse inmates and other paupers and destitute persons, who might 
be a charge upon the public, should be turned over to any private insti- 
tution that would contract to provide for them at ten per cent, less than 
they were then costing the District. Senator Call, who introduced the 
amendment, explained that it was in lieu of one which had been 
rejected at the previous session of Congress, whereby he had sought to 
have forty thousand dollars of public money given to the Little Sisters 
of the Poor, to enable them to build an addition to their home for the 
aged. He defended the original proposal on the ground that this 
sisterhood cared for the aged poor better and more cheaply than the 
almshouse, and that the existence of their institution had saved to the 
tax-payers of the District, in the last twenty years, a sum believed to 
be not less than three hundred thousand dollars. It was not a novel 
plea, for Congress had already appropriated, since 1874, fifty-five 
thousand dollars to aid the Home for the Aged of the Little Sisters of 
the Poor; and each year the District appropriation bill has included 
subsidies for a large number of private charitable institutions, some of 
them avowedly under sectarian management and others not. How far 
the tendency to grant public subsidies to private charities has gone 
in the District of Columbia, is in some sort, indicated in the following 
table: CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
121 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS FOR PUBLIC AS COMPARED 
WITH PRIVATE CHARITIES DURING THIRTEEN YEARS. 
NO. OF 
INSTITNS 
TOTALS FOR MAINTENANCE 
TOTALS FOR WHOLE PERIOD-13 YEARS 
1880 
1892 
1880 
1892 
0 IN- 
CREASE 
CONSTRUC- 
TION 
MAINTENANCE 
CONST. AND 
MAINTENANCE 
COMBINED 
Public Institut'ns 
7 
6 
$78,048.82 
$119,475-50 
160 
$155,130-70 
$1,296,125.95 
$1,351,256.65 
Private " 
8 
28 
46,500.00 
117,630.00 
253 
300,812.53 
840,940.00 
1,141,752.53 
Totals . . . 
$124,548.82 
$237,105.50 
$455,943-23 
$2,137,065.95 
$2,493,009.18 
From this table it will be seen that the amount given annually for 
maintenance to private charitable institutions at the beginning of the 
period was a little less than one-third of the whole amount, while at 
the close of the period it is a little less than one-half. The most sur- 
prising fact, however, is that the District has given to private institu- 
tions nearly twice as much money to be used in acquiring real estate 
and erecting buildings, as it has granted to its own public institutions. 
Were we to deduct a sum of $66,900 charged to the workhouse, a 
purely correctional branch of the so-called Washington Asylum, it 
would appear that more than three-fourths of the money appropriated 
for permanent improvements in charitable institutions was given to 
private corporations to spend. 
The government of the District of Columbia is, of course, in many 
respects unique, but this tendency to vote public money to private chari- 
ties is by no means peculiar to it. The best known example of persis- 
tence in the policy of reckless subsidies to private institutions is that of 
New York. A single institution in this state, officered by a religious 
order, receives from city governments more than $260,000 per year. 
A list of over two hundred private institutions for orphan children and 
the friendless in New York state, shows that of their total revenue but 
$1,225,104.69 was derived from legacies, donations and private contri- 
butions, while more than twice as much, $2,664,614.40, came from the 
taxpayers of the state, the counties and the cities. A great part of the 
money handed over for disbursement to private institutions goes for the 
support of dependent children. The law provides for the placing of 
such children in institutions of the same religious faith as the parents 
of the child, and that the local authorities shall pay a certain weekly 122 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
stipend for its maintenance. The managers of the institutions can 
admit children and have them charged to the public. If parents wish 
to have a child educated in the faith of a sect at the expense of the 
public, they have only to get it admitted to one of the institutions, and 
many well-to-do people are known to avail themselves of the privilege. 
As, at the rates paid, there is a slight profit to the institutions on each 
child admitted, they are none too careful about investigating the cases 
of applicants. The results of this system are indicated by the fact 
that New York city has a daily average of upwards of 15,000 dependent 
children, or about one in one hundred of the population. The propor- 
tion of dependent children to the population of the state is 1 to 251. 
In Michigan, under a system of state care and placing out, it is 1 to 
10,000. California, which has practically the same system as New 
York state, has nearly the same high proportion of dependent children, 
viz: 1 to 290. 
According to Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell, the administrative result 
of this policy in New York city has been to build up the private elee- 
mosynary institutions at the expense of the public ones. She gives 
the following statement, covering a series of years, to show this: 
YEAR 
POPULATION 
FOR PRISONERS 
AND PUBLIC 
PAUPERS 
FOR PAUPERS IN 
PRIVATE 
INSTITUTIONS 
TOTAL 
1850 
5I5.-547 
$421,882 
$9,863 
$43I,745 
i860 
813,669 
746,549 
I 28,850 
875,399 
1870 
942,292 
1,355,615 
334,828 
1,690,443 
1880 
1,206,577 
I,348,383 
1,414,257 
2,761,640 
1890 
1,600,000 
1,949,100 
1,845,872 
3,794,972 
The appropriations for 1890 to private institutions fall under three 
heads: 
For defective, sick and vicious,33,565 
For children admitted by managers,1,081,746 
For board of children committed by magistrates, 630,561 
Total,$1,845,872 
After showing how ruthlessly the estimates for the public charities 
were cut by the Board of Estimate and Control, she says: CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
123 
"The point to which I wish to call attention is that the city continues, 
at the bidding of the legislature, to pay, without protest, year by year 
increasing sums for the support of public dependents under care of 
private persons in private institutions, many of whom, but for this pro- 
vision, would probably not be dependent at all, while, at the same 
time, the public dependents under the care of public officers in public 
institutions are housed in buildings which are in danger of falling down 
and are a discredit to the city." 
In 1889 the legislature of Pennsylvania appointed a special commit- 
tee, which investigated very fully the management of the charitable and 
correctional institutions of the state, and especially the methods 
employed by such institutions in securing public appropriations. The 
constitution of Pennsylvania forbids the granting of public funds to 
"sectarian" institutions, but the word "sectarian" is not defined, and 
the report of the committee shows a strong tendency to increase the 
number and amount of the state subsidies granted to private charities. 
This tendency is characterized as an "insidious danger." The com- 
mittee tabulated the expenditures during a series of years for charitable 
and correctional purposes, amounting to about $37,000,000, and found 
that nearly a third of it went to private institutions. The report says: 
"The remarkable increase during the last few years in the number of 
institutions receiving aid from the state is confined, in great part, to 
the so-called private charities, or private hospitals, homes for the desti- 
tute and to miscellaneous charities. A proportionate increase will soon 
render the commonwealth a contributor to the funds of every charitable 
institution in the state." 
The fact mentioned above, that there is no generally recognized 
definition of the word "sectarian," is noteworthy. There are few insti- 
tutions that will admit its applicability to themselves, and there are few 
to which it is not applied by some one. I have been gravely assured 
that an institution administered entirely by the oath-bound members of 
a religious order, was not sectarian for two reasons; first, because it 
admitted beneficiaries without regard to religious faith, and second, 
because there was a Presbyterian minister on its board of trustees,-a 
purely ornamental body. On the other hand, an institution having 
among its managers representatives of all the religious denominations 
except one, is apt to be regarded as "sectarian" by that one. Many 
institutions having no trace of sectarianism in charter, constitution or 
by-laws, are yet administered in the interest of a sect. A willingness 
to admit beneficiaries of all denominations is frequently less an evidence 124 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
of non-sectarian ism, than of a tendency to make proselytes. Much 
might be said in favor of the idea that all private institutions are sec- 
tarian, when not in a religious, then in a medical or a social sense. 
Public aid to a hospital may help to build up a medical school or a 
school of medicine just as surely as aid to an infant asylum may be used 
to build up a church. Social rivalries may stimulate people in pushing 
charities just as much as inter-denominational competition. 
In states where a constitutional limitation forbids the voting of public 
money to "sectarian" institutions, members of the Protestant denom- 
inations seek to have this clause so interpreted as to exclude the 
institutions officered by the Roman Catholic orders, while charitable 
enterprises in which they are themselves interested are nominally unsec- 
tarian. The Catholics try to evade the constitutional limitations by 
disingenuous and unfair subterfuges, usually successful, and the Protest- 
ants with characteristic short-sightedness, encourage such a course by 
their own eagerness to secure public money for the private institutions 
in which they are themselves interested. There is a logical and manifest 
distinction between public and private institutions. With the former, 
the Government owns the property and can modify or abolish the 
institution at will. In the case of the latter, the property is owned by 
a private corporation, usually self-perpetuating, its charter is a contract 
with the state that grants it, and the fact that it is a "private" institu- 
tion protects it in a great measure from criticism. In Pennsylvania it 
is found that such institutions tend more and more to be managed by 
a few persons who really choose their successors, and the state which 
grants them millions has not even the membership vote of a private 
individual, who pays one, two, or three dollars annually as dues. Just 
before the advent of a Superintendent of Charities in the District of 
Columbia a congressional committeeman thus described the attitude of 
the subsidized institutions towards the Government: 
"There is a universal feeling that while Congress must furnish the 
money, each society must have absolute control of the expenditures and 
none of them are willing to submit to any visitation or control of such 
expenditures, or even any auditing of the accounts. The beginning and 
end of their connection with Congress in their eyes, seems to be 'Give 
each one of us so much money and let us do what we please with it.' " 
This fact, that there is a clear-cut distinction between public and 
private charities, but none between sectarian and non-sectarian charities 
is one that those who shudder at every symptom of public aid to sec- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
125 
tarian schools would do well to recognize. Protestants are willing to 
tease legislators for public money on behalf of a hospital or orphan 
asylum in which they are interested, urging that it is "doing good" and 
that it is preventing crime and pauperism, and so saving money to the 
tax-payers. They do not see or will not acknowledge that the same 
could be said of a parochial school, and that the claim which they set 
up that their own institution is "non-sectarian" is equivocal and unfair, 
and one which in practice the courts have never been able to make 
definite. 
A tendency could hardly have gone as far as has that to grant public 
subsidies to private charities, unless there were in favor of it many consid- 
erations of great force, either apparent or real. As favoring this policy 
the consideration which is first and foremost in the minds of practical 
people is the matter of economy. Especially where the number of 
dependents in a given class is small, it is cheaper to have them cared for 
than to establish an institution for them. This is the reason that in 
most small towns a private hospital is subsidized and one is not built at 
public expense; but, of course, when we find a great city, like Brooklyn, 
depending entirely on subsidized hospitals for the care of its sick poor, 
this argument is inapplicable. Economy, however, may result from 
other causes, as when the private institutions are administered by 
religious orders, the members of which receive no pay except their sup- 
port. In almost every branch of philanthropic work, Roman Catholic 
institutions can underbid competitors, so to speak, because of the great 
organizations of teachers and nurses and administrators whose gratuitous 
services they can command, and if the state is to sub-let its relief on the 
contract system it is hard to see why those who can bid low should not 
get the contracts. In reformatory institutions, those under private 
management have an advantage over those managed by public officials, 
in that the former are able to keep the inmates busy at remunerative 
employment with less opposition from outside trade organizations. A 
public reformatory for girls that should keep its inmates busy with work 
from a great shirt factory, would be sure to be attacked on the ground 
of its competing with poor sewing women; but such employment in 
private institutions, even those receiving public subsidies, is quite com- 
mon. Even in institutions not officered by members of a religious order, 
the salaries are apt to be lower, and all the items of expense to be more 
closely scrutinized than in a public institution. Add to all this the 
further fact, that frequently private contributors aid in the support of a 126 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
private institution and we see how great may be its advantage on the side 
of economy. To the real economies, of this method of operation should 
be added the apparent economies, when a private institution is willing 
to make a very low bid, to make great temporary sacrifices, in order 
to get the subsidy system established-in order to establish connection 
between itself and the public treasury. "At first," said a United 
States Senator speaking of the charities of the District of Columbia, "at 
first they thrust in only the nose of the camel." 
Secondly, it is urged that private institutions, especially those for 
dependent and delinquent children, have a better effect upon the in- 
mates than can public institutions. For one thing, dogmatic religious 
instruction can be given. For another, the spirit of self-sacrifice that 
pervades a private institution has a good effect upon the inmates and is 
contrasted with the cold and officialized administration of the public 
institutions. Connected with this, as also with the matter of economy, 
is the fact that boards of trustees and of lady managers and visitors 
give freely of their time and energy and sympathy in aid of private 
undertakings. 
Thirdly, it is urged that by subsidizing private institutions we free 
them from the blight of partisan politics and the spoils system. The 
miserable political jobbery connected with so many almshouses and 
insane asylums, and other public charitable institutions, is pointed out 
and we are asked to shield as many as possible of the state's dependents 
from similar evils. In the matter of educating the blind and the deaf 
and the dumb, the private institutions managed by close corporations 
or corporations of contributing members, are thought to have been 
more successful than public institutions for similar purposes. The 
specialists needed to conduct them properly prefer to work for a private 
corporation, as their tenure is more secure, and it is more easy to map 
out and pursue a policy of steady development and improvement. At 
the same time it should be said that one of the institutions which the 
committee of the Pennsylvania legislature found most secretive and 
least well conducted was a private school for the blind, sustained by 
public subsidies. 
A fourth consideration is that by means of subsidies we aid the poor 
without fixing upon them the stigma of pauperism. A home for the 
aged is more respectable than an almshouse, and a private protectory 
or industrial school is supposed not to discredit the inmates as much as 
does a public reform school. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
127 
But this last mentioned consideration brings us to a turning point, 
for it is urged against such subsidies, as well as in favor of them. It is 
urged that private institutions receiving public money, by disguising 
pauperism promote it. Children who would support aged parents 
rather than allow them to go to the almshouse, desert them promptly 
when some provision is made for them that is ostensibly more honor- 
able. 1 have in mind the case of an abandoned woman, who supported 
her mother for years rather than permit her to go to the poorhouse, but 
who was trying all the while to get her admitted to a "private" home 
for the aged. Parents unload their children upon the community more 
recklessly when they know that such children will be provided for in 
private orphan asylums or protectories where the religious training that 
the parents prefer will be given them. And thus we reach the first 
great objection to granting public subsidies to private charities. While 
it may be cheaper to provide thus for each dependent during a year, 
yet the number of dependents increases so rapidly, that eventually the 
charge upon the public is greater than if the alternative policy were 
pursued. 
The results are most astounding where, as in the case of dependent 
children in New York, the managers of each institution are free to 
admit the children and have them charged to the community. The so- 
called Children's Law was passed in 1875, and forbade the keeping of 
able-bodied children between the ages of three and thirteen in a poor- 
house. On this, its negative side, it was beneficial ; but in providing 
for the care of dependent children in private institutions at public 
charge, it led to results that have properly been called portentous. 
These results, so far as they relate to New York city, have been indi- 
cated. Commenting upon them, the Hon. Seth Low said at the 
National Conference of Charities and Correction in 1888: 
"Nothing can be worse for the children than to be crowded in such 
numbers into large institutions; and nothing can be more unjust to the 
tax-payers of New York than to be obliged to assume the care of such 
armies of children." 
On the same occasion, speaking of the effect of the "Children's 
Law" in Brooklyn, Mr. Low said: 
"In August, 1875, there were about three hundred children in the 
Nursery, a branch of the almshouse. They were at that time transferred 
to sectarian institutions and the number of dependent children at once 
increased wonderfully. By 1883 the number had grown to 1,492. At 128 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the latter date the Commissioners of Charities and Correction, finding 
the number increasing again unduly, undertook a thorough inquiry 
into the antecedents of the children supported, which resulted in the 
discharge of two hundred and sixty-five who were not entitled to public 
support. Among those, the most flagrant case was that of three children 
who had been maintained at public expense for more than five years, 
though they owned $2,100, of which their mother drew the interest, 
whilq she also kept a shop in Jersey City." 
Where public officials alone have the right to commit children or 
others to the subsidized institutions, a check is put upon reckless admis- 
sions. But even under this system there is danger that many will be 
charged to the public who would never have sought admission to a pub- 
lic institution. In Illinois the constitution forbids public grants to 
sectarian institutions, but a law was framed providing that a county court 
might adjudge a girl to be a dependent, commit her to an industrial 
school, and the school should then be entitled to receive ten dollars 
per month for her "tuition, care and maintenance" besides an allow- 
ance for clothing. After the passage of this act the Chicago Industrial 
School for Girls was incorporated. Of the nine incorporators and 
directors, seven were officers and managers of the House of the Good 
Shepherd; and all girls committed under the act to the Chicago Indus- 
trial School for Girls, were placed either in the House of the Good Shep- 
herd or in the St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, both Catholic institutions. 
Questions as to the legality of such arrangements brought the matter 
into court, and during the trial it transpired that about seventy-three 
girls who were committed to the Chicago Industrial School for Girls 
by the county court, were already in the House of the Good Shepherd 
and the St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum at the time of such commitments. 
"In other words being already inmates of the institutions, they were 
taken to the county court and adjudged to be dependent girls and at 
once returned to those institutions, and thereafter the county was 
charged with $10.00 per month for tuition for each of them and $15 
or $20 or $25 for clothing for each of them."* 
In Maryland the juvenile reformatories of rival faiths are so anxious 
to secure inmates that the courts are criticised by each side for com- 
*The courts at first decided that the Chicago Industrial School was a "sectar- 
ian" institution and the payment of the money therefore illegal; but the institu- 
tion has since found a way to evade the constitutional limitation. This is a very 
good example of the unsubstantial nature of the barrier which such a constitu- 
tional limitation forms. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
129 
mitting an unduly large number of children to the other institutions. A 
lobbyist opposing a bill before the New York legislature urged that it 
should not pass because it would reduce the number of inmates in an 
institution in which he was interested, and which was just building 
large extensions. The anxiety of a doctor to fill up any hospital in 
which he is interested is well known, and it has been openly charged in 
a leading medical journal that the managers of dispensaries and hos- 
pitals are the beneficiaries of the well intended philanthropy which 
supports them rather than the poor for whom they are intended. The 
average dispensary makes no attempt to determine the ability of an 
applicant to pay, and the most reckless competition for patients exists 
between them. When the new superintendent of charities for the 
District of Columbia called at dispensaries where he was unknown, 
offers were twice made to prescribe for him out of hand, although he 
made no attempt to appear especially unwell or impecunious. The 
success of the subsidy system as regards institutions for the education 
of the blind and the deaf and dumb seems to come from the fact, that 
in this particular work the number of possible beneficiaries is strictly 
and obviously limited. 
In the second place, the argument from economy in support of the 
subsidy system is negatived by the fact that under this system there 
must be so many duplicate institutions. In Maryland, for instance, 
there are two reformatories for boys within a mile of each other, and 
two for girls, both in Baltimore. Catholics manage one pair of insti- 
tutions and private Protestant corporations the other. Besides this 
inevitable line of cleavage between Protestants and Catholics, there are 
various causes of institutional fission resulting from medical or social 
sectarianism. Many charitable institutions have been established less 
from brotherly love than from a quarrel in a board of managers in an 
older institution. This, together with the influence of individual ambi- 
tions, has led especially to the establishment of a great number of cha- 
rities. It has been estimated that one-fifth of the inhabitants of Phila- 
delphia receive free medical treatment, and while public subsidies alone 
do not cause such a state of things, they help it. When the public 
begins to grant such favors it is hard to draw a line. As a United 
States senator once said, speaking of the situation in the District: 
"The very fact that Congress makes these appropriations, has caused 
to a great degree, the multiplication of the organizations. A few 
people getting together who are desirous of doing charitable work, or 130 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES, AND CORRECTION. 
who have discovered some special need, or who are dissatisfied with 
some feature of some existing institution, instead of adding to or mod- 
ifying such an institution, will start a new one, because they can appeal 
directly to Congress for the money necessary to begin it, and can base 
their claim on the ground that they are just as good as some other 
association already on the list." 
A third reason for objecting to the subsidies we are considering, is 
that when voting them the legislator must resist special pressure. He 
has not a clear cut question of a given service to be rendered balanced 
by a given expenditure, but it becomes partly a question of offending 
or favoring some sect or nationality. The contention that the subsidy 
system takes the charitable institutions out of politics seems to be un- 
sound. On the other hand it drags them into politics in a new and 
unfortunate way,-in a way that is found in practice to give great scope 
to log-rolling and kindred expedients. Many who will not do any- 
thing else for a charitable institution are willing to bully a legislator on 
its behalf, though this is probably not common. Most of the lobbyists 
are sincere even to fanaticism, but their view of the situation is terribly 
one-sided. It had come to be, that when the District of Columbia 
appropriation bill was under consideration, and in the haste of the last 
days of the session, the congressional committee rooms would be full of 
the representatives of the various charities, both men and women, 
intent upon getting the largest share possible. There was neither time 
nor opportunity on the part of the committee to come to any intelli- 
gent conclusion. Often those applicants most skilled or most person- 
ally attractive were most successful, and sometimes the committees 
were obliged to average their gifts. After such a policy has been 
entered upon it cannot be altered without injury to great vested in- 
terests, and without giving offence to large and powerful constituencies. 
A fourth objection to the public subsidy system of supporting chari- 
ties is that it tends to dry up the sources of private benevolence. Indi- 
vidual contributors dislike to have their mites lost in the abundance of 
a public appropriation. Almost without exception, so far as my inves- 
tigations have gone, those institutions that have received public aid the 
longest and most constantly, receive least from private contributors. 
In looking up the history of a considerable number of institutions I 
have found that, after the public became a contributor, private contri- 
butions fell off from year to year, not only relatively, but absolutely, 
and in some cases ceased altogether. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
131 
Commissioner Bolles, of Pennsylvania, says: 
"The state by appropriating so generally is drying up the interest of 
individuals in organized charities. Our people have acquired great 
wealth, and their sympathies should be cultivated in every possible 
manner. * * * * The state can never do through its long perfunctory 
arm acts of mercy with the same degree of kindly interest as individ- 
uals, who live nearer the scene of relief, and who have a more distinct 
interest in the sufferers." 
This brings us to a fifth reason for objecting to the granting of public 
subsidies to private charities. It frequently does positive harm to a 
charitable institution, and sometimes wholly destroys its usefulness, to 
receive public money. An institution that receives no public money is 
freer in all its operations and is more highly valued by those who sus- 
tain and manage it. The beneficiaries also feel differently toward their 
benefactors. When visiting one subsidized institution the request was 
made, that nothing should be said before the inmates that would inform 
them that the institution received any public money. I could under- 
stand the wish and presume that the inmates would work more faithfully, 
be more grateful for favors received, and finally " turn out better " 
because they were kept in ignorance of the fact. Yet I doubt the pos- 
sibility or propriety of thus using public money and at the same time 
trying to conceal the fact of doing so. By no hocus-pocus of subsidy 
granting can we make taxation do the work of self-sacrifice. 
It should be remarked that the several states and municipalities have 
entered upon this policy of subsidizing private charities without decid- 
ing to do so, and even without perceiving that a decision was called 
for. Each request for a subsidy has been treated as a matter of admin- 
istrative detail, involving no principle, and not significant as a prece- 
dent. The resultant system, as it is applied to the care of dependent 
children in New York city, is about as business-like as though the city 
should try to get its streets paved by announcing that any regularly 
incorporated association that should pave a given number of square 
yards of street,-location, time and method to be decided by itself,- 
should receive a given amount from the public treasury. The Wash- 
ington system is theoretically looser, but practically not so bad. It is 
as though private associations were allowed to do paving at their own 
discretion, and then, on coming to Congress and teasing with sufficient 
skill and pertinacity, they should be given subsidies, on the general 
theory that they were "doing good" and rendering "public service." 132 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
This is subsidy granting at its worst. At its best, the government must 
attend to three things. First, on behalf of the poor, as well as the tax- 
payers, it must provide for the thorough inspection of subsidized insti- 
tutions and the systematic auditing of their accounts. This work can- 
not be done by grand juries or legislative committees, or ex officio 
inspectors, who may from time to time thrust their inexperienced noses 
into matters which they know nothing about. The work of inspection 
must be done by some thoroughly experienced and otherwise suitable 
administrative officer, who is definitely responsible for the thoroughness 
of his work. Secondly, the State must keep in the hands of its own 
officials the right of deciding what persons shall be admitted to the 
benefits for which it pays, and how long each person may continue to 
receive those benefits. If it pays for beds in a hospital, one of its own 
officials should have entire control of admitting and discharging the 
patients so cared for. This is necessary, in order that "there may be 
some gauge of indigency and some assurance that the gauge will be 
used." Third, subsidies should only be granted on the principle of 
specific payment for specific work. 
But even at its best, and with these safeguards, the policy of grant- 
ing public subsidies to private charities is one of doubtful expediency. 
There is ground for thinking that if the State is too big and awkward 
to do a given work, it is also too big and awkward to decide properly 
whom it shall subsidize, in order to get the work done. All that can 
be said against subsidies in general can be said against this form of sub- 
sidies, and more, because here we have to deal with religious, medical 
and social sectarianism. As a transition policy for growing communi- 
ties and for new and developing varieties of benevolent work, it may 
have its place, but it should not be entered on inadvertently, for while 
all its advantages and economies are greatest at the beginning, the dis- 
advantages and dangers of it increase as time goes on. PAPERS 
FROM 
CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN STATES, 
RESPECTING THE 
Public and Private Relief of the Poor. CHARITY IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM. 
ITS HISTORY AND PRESENT CONDITION. 
BY M. HERBERT VALLEROUX, DOCTEUR EN DROIT; AVOCAT A LA COUR 
D'APPEL DE PARIS} LAUREAT DE L'ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES MORALES 
ET POLITIQUES. 
[TRANSLATION.] 
Introduction. 
Charity in France originated in private initiative and was at first 
practised only by individuals. This was its condition from the founda- 
tion of the French monarchy until 1789, with only occasional inter- 
ference of the public authorities towards the end of that period. In 
1789, it passed entirely into the hands of the government, which 
deprived individuals of the right of practising charity and reserved to 
itself its full control and management. This is the second epoch, 
which begins and ends with the Revolution. The third epoch begins 
with the Consulate, that is, with the present century, and continues to 
the present time. During this period charity has been exercised both 
by the public authorities and by individuals. 
We have, then, three distinct epochs which it is our purpose to treat 
in their order. 
I. 
First Epoch: Before 1789. 
Sapiens non miseretur: "the sage pities not," says Seneca. But 
while the wisdom of the pagan wholly repelled the idea of charity, the 
Christian religion, on the other hand, placed the care of the poor and 
the sick among the first duties of the faithful. The early Christians 
also took great care to assist the unfortunate, the infirm, and even mere 
travelers and those who were persecuted. Nor did they limit themselves 
to giving aid to the aged, and the children and parents of martyrs who 
were killed during the persecutions; they gave aid also to pagans, 
and Julian the Apostate remarks with some bitterness, that Christians 136 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
who gave to poor pagans, whom their co-religionists left without assist- 
ance, were hated and persecuted. 
When Constantine gave to the Church external peace and a legal 
existence, he gave to charitable institutions the same right to hold 
property that was given to the Church. From that time endowments 
were made by Christian believers, either while living or by testament, 
for the purpose of endowing hospitals, almshouses, orphanages and 
asylums, which had before depended for their support upon daily offer- 
ings, and especially for establishing new ones. 
These endowments were frequent during the time of the persecutions, 
for the Christians were always on the point of being put to death and 
did not wish to have any attachments to the world; and besides, they 
formed a sort of community after the example of the early Christians 
of Jerusalem, where the faithful brought to the Apostles not only their 
income, but also the price of their lands; i. e., their capital, as we see 
in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. But when there was no longer 
any danger in being a Christian, such offerings became gradually less. 
In lieu of these constant, periodical endowments, on which the priests 
and the poor subsisted, there were only small offerings or, sometimes, 
large and valuable, but irregular and uncertain gifts. Was it not then 
the part of wisdom so to invest these large gifts that the subsistence of 
the poor or the sick might be assured without fear of any uncertainty 
in the supply of the daily alms? And, indeed, the endowments allowed 
this to be done. Where land, customs dues or certain seignorial reve- 
nues were given to a hospital, it was understood that these funds were 
in perpetuity, and that the revenue should be applied to its support. 
We have here the origin of those foundations or endowments which 
the Christian emperors authorized, and whose perpetuity was secured 
by their laws. 
Charitable work extended through all parts of the vast Roman Em- 
pire as fast as they became Christian; and when the Franks conquered 
Gaul and received baptism, Christian charity began to flourish there, 
as is testified by its works. Clovis and his successors respected and 
admired these beautiful effects of the Christian spirit and took pleasure 
in increasing the patrimony of the poor. 
But it is important to note that what was done by the kings, they 
did as individuals and as believers, and not with the view of having the 
government interfere with the exercise of charity. Charity was the out- 
growth of the Christian spirit, and only those kings sustained, directed CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
137 
and exercised it, who were possessed of this spirit. It is true that pri- 
vate almsgiving was common; that alms were often given on certain days 
at the doors of great personages or of religious houses; but this form of 
charity was less efficacious and less commendable. The best system 
of charity was the founding of permanent establishments, such as hos- 
pitals, either for all classes of disease without distinction or for particu- 
lar maladies, old people's homes, foundling hospitals, houses of refuge, 
travelers' inns (maisons hospitalieres pour les voyageurs')-our night lodg- 
ing-houses, which have existed from the beginning of the middle ages. 
In order to establish these foundations, the permission not of the public 
authorities, but of the Church, by which alone charity was encouraged, 
was necessary. 
It was the ecclesiastical power, represented by the bishop of the dio- 
cese, which authorized these foundations and took charge of the exe- 
cution of the work, or inspected it. The discussions that arose relative 
to the execution of the will of the founder or the management of the 
trustees, were taken before the ecclesiastical tribunals. The lay power 
-the civil government, as we say to-day-did not interfere except to 
assure the full execution of the will; that is, to protect this property 
like any other, and in case of need to defend the decisions of the eccles- 
iastical tribunals. But preliminary permission did not have to be 
asked of the lay power, nor did the latter exercise any control over 
these foundations. 
We may take as an illustration the forms and methods of charity in 
the thirteenth century, the age of Saint Louis. We have no precise 
figures, for we have no statistics, but only a table of the results of 
Catholic charities, as exactly as they can be traced by the aid of 
charts of the times and of the chronicles and movements that have been 
handed down to us. At that time France was far from having the pop- 
ulation that it has to-day. For if the rural population has remained 
about the same (a fact now well established by a number of excellent 
and erudite works), the urban population was then much less than it is 
now. Paris, which has now 2,500,000 inhabitants, had at that time 
only 300,000. 
Towns with eight or ten thousand inhabitants were considered impor- 
tant, while to-day there are sub-prefectures with thirty or forty thousand. 
As to wealth, the two periods are not at all comparable. One-half of 
Paris was not even laid out into streets in the seventeenth century; the 
Queen of France, wife of Philip Augustus, made a triumphal entry into INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
138 
the capital of her kingdom riding behind her .husband on the same 
horse; and not until the fourteenth century did the Queen possess a 
carriage, and then it was one which the women of our day would 
certainly consider very uncomfortable. The habits of life were simple 
in all respects and large fortunes were very rare. 
But in spite of this, there were certainly more hospitals in France in 
the thirteenth century than there are to-day. There were many small 
hospitals on the country estates, which have now disappeared. In some 
departments there were thirty or forty rural hospitals, where now there 
is only one; they have survived only in the cities. Leprosy, then 
common in Europe, excited the pity of the faithful, and there were 
not less than two thousand lazar-houses (leproseries') in France wholly 
constructed and maintained by the liberality of these faithful believers; 
while in Christendom, that is to say in Occidental Europe, there were 
not less than nineteen thousand. Besides these hospitals for lepers, 
there were many others for various diseases, and almost all had a room 
for the reception of poor travelers at night. 
We must not think that these hospitals and asylums were neglected 
or badly supported. This, indeed, might be true in the case of a few 
among a large number; but most of them were objects of the solicitude of 
the faithful, and were maintained as well as the simplicity, or, one 
might say in view of our modern ideas of comfort, as well as the pov- 
erty of the times would permit. Some, indeed, bore the marks of lux- 
ury, and though few of these still survive from those remote times, one 
may still visit the hospital of Beaune (a small village of Burgundy 
between Paris and Lyons), which was built in the fifteenth century by 
Nicholas Rolin, chancellor to the duke of Burgundy. The large ward 
has the aspect of a church, with its stained glass windows and frescoed 
arches; there is none of the depressing bareness too common in the 
wards of our hospitals. The patients' beds were arranged along the 
side walls and enclosed by variegated curtains, some specimens of the 
design of which have been preserved. At one end of the room a 
movable partition opened, which permitted a view of the resplendent 
and ornate altar, where mass was said every morning, so that the sick, 
even the most infirm, had the unusual consolation of being able to 
assist at the holy sacrifice on their beds. The same arrangement has 
been adopted in some modern hospitals, but there is surely no modern 
hospital covering so large an area or with such immense wards, nor any 
which has so cheerful and varied an atmosphere. The large ward CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
139 
in this hospital is vaster and more beautiful than any of the halls in 
the palace of Cluny, which was built at the same period, and stillstands 
in Paris. It seemed to the pious Christians of that time that they could 
not do too much for the sick; and they always had at heart the words 
of Christ: "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." As the 
palaces of princes at that time partook of the nature of hotels, hospitals 
were called Hotels-Dieu, and there may be still seen upon some this 
inscription, which was at one time not uncommon : Christo in pauperi- 
bus; that is "To Christ in the person of the poor." 
There is a street in Paris called Geoffrey-Marie, named after a Parisian 
tailor, Geoffrey, and his wife, Marie, who owned the land where this 
street has since been made and who gave it in 1260 by a deed, which is 
still extant, to the Hotel-Dieu of Paris. In this deed Geoffrey and 
Marie stipulate that both shall be received among the number of the 
confreres, or members, who take care of the sick, and that they shall 
remain there during their lives. Thus they gave not only their property, 
but also themselves, as was very common at that time. This calls to 
mind another charity by which a noble lady gave all of her property 
for a special purpose-the distribution of soup to the poor, (bouillon des 
pauvres}. She also gave up her life to preparing and distributing this 
nourishment to the unfortunate. 
In short, we must not think that these endowments had for their sole 
end the construction of hospitals and asylums. All sorts of chari- 
table works were proposed. For instance, endowments were made for 
the purpose of giving yearly allowances to poor girls; others for the 
purpose of loaning grain without interest to needy farmers, either for 
seed or for food for their families. Many endowments (then called 
alms) were given for the purpose of distributing every year to the poor 
of a parish a certain quantity of wheat or bread, but rarely money. 
A very common form of endowment at that period was the building 
of a chapel, with a'hospital and school attached. A small salary was 
sufficient to support a priest who officiated in the chapel, directed the 
small hospital and instructed the children, for establishments of this 
kind are usually found in the country. It was customary, indeed, at 
that time to combine three different objects: religion, education and 
charity. 
Charitable associations were also numerous under the name of guilds, 
brotherhoods or fraternities (confreries ou freriesf which included men 140 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
and women of all conditions of life, and were usually co-extensive 
with a parish. Thus the King and Queen of France belonged to the 
guild or brotherhood of Our Lady at Paris, in which were also found 
citizens of the parish, both artisans and small merchants; for Chris- 
tian charity effaced all distinctions of rank and class. The confreres 
or members of the brotherhoods were no longer nobles or peasants, 
lords or bourgeois; they were confreres united for the purpose of doing 
deeds of charity. They visited sick members, assisted at the obsequies 
of the dead, caused masses to be celebrated for the repose of their 
souls, and also gave aid to families that were left in need. They 
had not, as in our modern mutual aid societies, fixed assessments with 
relief provided for in advance at rates determined by circumstances. 
They made their contributions during the services, and in case of need 
an appeal was made to the charity of the confreres, which was always sure 
of a response. 
Some of these associations were established for special objects: to 
watch with the sick, to bathe them, to dress their wounds, and to bury 
the dead and follow in funeral processions. They were recruited by 
persons from all ranks of life, and their members visited all the sick 
who were known to them. Every municipal corporation had its 
guilds,-associations for religion and piety. But ordinarily, though 
not always, they were confined to the masters and workmen of a trade, 
together with their families. Certain of these confreries or guilds 
owned beds in the hospitals; the Parisian guild, for instance, had 
rooms in the guild hospital (hotel de la corporation), the use of which 
they gave "to the aged poor of their craft who had not prospered." 
These poor people, being housed in this way by the members of their 
own profession, who saw that their colleagues had not succeeded, advised 
with their confreres on matters pertaining to their trade, and did not 
feel themselves despised or burdensome; they had always belonged 
to the guild and felt, so to speak, at home there. To those for whom 
a gratuitous lodging did not suffice some additional aid was given, and 
the giving of advice was a very delicate way of bestowing charity. 
At Paris the Guild of Cooks, on the festival of their patron saint, 
gave a grand dinner to the poor inmates of the Hotel-Dieu, with the 
purpose of giving these unfortunates the pleasure of a good repast, 
and the master cooks themselves waited on the tables. The Bakers' 
Guild distributed to the indigent all bread that did not come up to 
the standard weight fixed by the guild. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
141 
There was, moreover, even outside of the guilds, an emulation in 
deeds of charity; in this way a number of hospitals and asylums have 
commenced on a small scale. Sometimes a person would take two or 
three poor invalids or orphans into his own home, and later the number 
would insensibly increase; but it was necessary to provide for their 
future maintenance; and so, when the charitable founder died, leaving 
for the purpose of carrying on his work all his personal property, or 
his house or some small revenue, he would find some good soul to 
guarantee the continuance of the work, and, as an old account reads, 
" the founder, as well as others, was eager to leave his property to it." 
In this way small gifts and many legacies were added to the endow- 
ment, which together not only assured the existence of the work, but 
even enabled it to be enlarged. 
The management of charitable institutions, the distribution of alms 
and the care of the sick were more especially functions of religious 
communities. In the country these communities became centers of 
population, and to the very last continued to aid the inhabitants of the 
neighboring country; while in the convents medical advice and treatment 
were given, as is still done by our missionaries in countries where they 
desire to spread the gospel. When, in time of famine, recourse was had 
to the granaries and the reserves of the monasteries, grain and wood 
loaned to the tillers of the soil was a form of relief that would have 
been sought in vain elsewhere, because in many country districts there 
were no well-to-do inhabitants. When faith began to grow weaker, 
and it became difficult to find confreres to care for the sick, the 
Sisters of Charity, established by Saint Vincent de Paul, took charge 
of them, as well as of abandoned infants. That you may see how a 
new religious order was established, I will give an example from my 
native city of Paris. 
In the second half of the seventeenth century, an epoch of distress and 
misery, due to wars with the league of Augsburg, a Parisian woman 
of a noble parliamentary family and a widow at the age of sixteen, 
Madame de Miramion, meeting a large number of unfortunates in the 
streets of Paris whom the city hospital was not able to accommodate, 
took them to her own home and gradually filled up her house until she 
had about seven hundred. When her own resources were exhausted, she 
went about soliciting contributions at the great houses to which her 
rank admitted her. She then dressed her numerous servants according 
to the fashion of the time and told them that she was no longer able INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
142 
to pay them. The good women requested their mistress to keep them 
without pay, that they might help her to take care of the sick and share 
with her in the eternal reward. Madame de Miramion then promised 
them food and clothing, and proposed that they should form a religious 
order, without waiting for the consecration of the church. With this 
consecration they received the name of Daughters of St. Genevieve, in 
memory of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, whose church was 
near the Hotel de Miramion; but up to the time of the Revolution the 
people always called them the Miramionites; and during all this time 
they did not cease to care for poor invalids. 
The number of charitable foundations diminished very fast in the six- 
teenth century on account of the religious wars, which put an end to 
many of them. In the following century Louis XIV conceived the idea 
of applying his method of administrative centralization to charity. In 
a certain number of towns he built large hospitals, which he called 
general hospitals, where all sorts of poor and sick people were received : 
sturdy beggars, the infirm, the aged, foundlings, and the insane,-a 
medley which could not but yield poor results. And further, in order to 
assure to these large houses sufficient resources, he transferred to them 
endowments given for the rural poor. This was violating the intention of 
the founders and changing the destination of their liberality. The rural 
poor, no longer receiving any, or receiving less aid, betook themselves 
to the towns, where they increased the indigent population ajready 
there. 
By degrees also, the royal authority replaced the ecclesiastical 
in matters pertaining to charity. It had arrogated to itself the right 
to authorize foundations, to approve of the gifts and legacies left to 
them, and to interfere in the management of their patrimony. It also 
took advantage of some abuses to assume control over the entire system 
of charity, which had been established and administered with full free- 
dom up to that time. This interference was not at all a happy one, for 
under the reign of Louis XVI a medical commission, charged with 
ascertaining the condition and needs of the Hotel-Dieu of Paris, made 
a report upon the bad condition and inconvenient arrangement of the 
hospital, which created a great deal of excitement at the time, and 
led to numerous subscriptions for renovation of the buildings. The 
product of these subscriptions, which amounted to several millions, 
was put into the hands of the public administration, which used it for 
other purposes. Assuredly the Hotel-Dieu of Paris was in a worse CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
143 
condition at the end of the eighteenth century under the management 
of the government, than in the thirteenth, when it was entrusted to 
notable ecclesiastics and citizens under the surveillance of the arch- 
bishop of Paris; at any rate, under the old regime the sums given for 
the poor in the hospital did not go into the public treasury, but reached 
the destination intended by the donors. 
And yet the writers at the end of the eighteenth century-the 
philosophers and makers of systems-desired to see relief committed 
exclusively to the public authorities. By their extensive and much 
admired writings, which, unhappily for France, had a great influence 
over men and shaped public opinion, they gave rise to two parties or 
classes among their contemporaries. The dominant party (it matters 
little in what manner they had obtained supremacy) had all the ability 
and came to have the widest authority. Both the souls and the bodies 
of men became subject to their discretion. It was their purpose to 
shape the soul by an education imposed upon it from without; and 
by the system of government which they hoped to organize, they would 
be masters of the body, distributing relief and even labor. It only 
remained to them to follow, in the organization of education and of 
the government, the plans and ideas of the system-mongers (jaiseurs), 
at that time all the fashion. As to the other class of citizens-those 
who were governed-they had neither the right of opinion nor of organ- 
ization, nor indeed of finding out what such rights meant; they were 
regarded as incapable of doing good, and so were not allowed to prac- 
tise charity. 
The national assemblies of the Revolution were charged with putting 
into practice these dangerous and false ideas. 
II. 
Second Epoch : The Revolution. 
The Constituent Assembly, which was the first of the revolutionary 
assemblies, had been in session only about a month, when it decreed the 
seizure of ecclesiastical property, that is to say, the foundations or endow- 
ments made for promoting religious worship and for giving a patrimony 
to convents, (November, 1789). This was a great blow to charity; 
for a part of the ecclesiastical patrimony was used for charitable pur- 
poses, and numerous charitable institutions found themselves without 
any, or with greatly diminished resources. A committee of the As- 144 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
sembly under the name of a committee on vagrancy, because this was 
one of its objects, charged with studying the question of charity, esti- 
mated that hospitals and asylums alone had thus lost, by a mea- 
sure that was not indeed directed against them, but which nevertheless 
affected them, more than a third of their income-10,330,000 livres 
out of 29,074,000 ($1,911,050 out of $5,378,690). But they took 
account of only the money value of the loss, and were unable to esti- 
mate the damage done to the poor, especially those in the country, 
who were left without assistance by the suppression of the convents. 
A physician of Bourg, Doctor' Ebrard, who not many years ago wrote 
a history of charity in Bourg, has told us that there are poor people 
still living, who recall with regret the time when they were permitted to 
gather fagots in the forests belonging to the Carthusian friars. These 
forests have been seized by the State and are no longer open; and the 
poor unfortunates, pursued by the state foresters for doing what was 
formerly permitted to their ancestors, exclaim : "Ah! the Carthusians 
were far better friends of the poor!" 
And so the Assembly received a large number of petitions, emanat- 
ing from the poor of different cantons, who protested against the confis- 
cation of property to which they thought that they had some title. But 
transported by its own passion and love of theories, it refused to take 
any notice of them. 
Another body, the National Convention, completed the ruin of 
charitable institutions by seizing what property still remained to them, 
that is, the hospitals, asylums, and other establishments for the bene- 
fit of the poor and sick. The numerous fraternities or guilds, even 
those composed of the laity, were dissolved. 
"At says M. Sauray, a historian of that town, "there 
were more than forty guilds, embracing all classes of society. In vain 
did they plead for liberty; one could wish it had been for their faith, 
and still more for their property. They were despoiled of their rents, 
their credits and the silver used in their religious services, though many 
guilds had nothing to surrender to the rapacity of the Revolution but 
the draperies used at the funerals of their dead members." 
The guilds had all been dissolved and their property seized under 
Louis XVI through the efforts of Turgot, a writer and statesman of 
that period. The Convention proscribed even the religious orders 
which had for many centuries cared for the sick. 
"Because," says the Decretal'issued at that time, " in a truly free 
state no corporation ought to be allowed to exist, not even such as by CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
the care of the sick and the education of children, deserve well of 
their country." 
The state was now proprietor of all the patrimony of charitable insti- 
tutions, which had been increasing for centuries through the liberality 
of devout Christians. In order to prevent the creation of new endow- 
ments and the exercise of private charity, it was forbidden to give alms; 
this was made a crime, and the laws of the Revolution punished those 
who gave their property to the poor, just as in a well regulated state 
the law punishes those who take the property of another. Charity 
became a monopoly, which the government meant to reserve to itself, 
and in doing so it exceeded its just rights and functions. 
It is not possible, and it wou<ld be of little interest, to give an account 
here of the different schemes organized by the members of the various 
assemblies of that period for the purpose of having charity distributed 
by the State. Sometimes they would conceive some such idea as a 
"board of public relief," which would produce a uniform distribution 
of relief by departments or districts, according to the classes of un- 
fortunates; sometimes they would invent new forms of organization. 
But it is worthy of note and remembrance that none of these beautiful 
conceptions were ever put into practice. Instead, they took away from 
the unfortunates the property whose revenues had served to give them 
relief, and in its place they gave them laws, decretals, and discourses. 
And they never received anything else from the revolutionary govern- 
ments. 
It had been repeatedly said that the property devoted to charitable 
purposes and administered by individuals was badly managed; that 
the revenues were poorly employed, and that the government would do 
better to take the administration of charity into its own hands. But 
when charity passed into the hands of the State, it almost entirely 
ceased; the poor were no longer helped, the sick were no longer cared 
for-everything was given over to pillage. 
" At the hospital at Blain on the Lower Loire," writes M. Leon Maitre, 
keeper of the records of the department, "the Sisters were driven out, 
their real estate sold, their furniture broken to pieces, the linen and 
medicines stolen, and the empty apartments were occupied by persons 
who live there without authority or opposition." 
Of the thirty-four hospitals which existed in Paris in 1789, fourteen 
were obliged to close, and the others were in the most wretched condi- 
tion. Their revenue, which before the Revolution was 7,100,000 
145 146 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
livres, ($i,313,500), did not now amount to more than 900,000 livres, 
($166,500). And with the government paying in assignats which no 
one would any longer receive, we can imagine the part played by the 
administrators of the hospitals which were still open, from the long- 
continued cries of distress, traces of which our archives reveal in letters 
filled with supplications and woe. The people of Bordeaux write that 
their resources are all gone, their food bills unpaid, and that being on 
the verge of bankruptcy, they are in despair. 
" Laborers support themselves and share their bread with the poor; 
but this condition of things cannot long endure, and the people of Bor- 
deaux are already inquiring how it is that asylums are no longer 
provided." 
The municipality of Bayeux writes: 
"The hospitals have in them only living skeletons, who are ready to 
succumb more from actual want than from natural infirmity." 
The administrators of the hospital at Maunac in the department of 
of Cantal, write to the Convention : 
" Come quickly to the aid of our orphans ; would you have us adopt 
them in the name of our country, only to leave them to perish from 
hunger and want? Allowances for the past thirty-five months are still 
due to them and their nurses." 
Still others dared to write, even at a time when free speech was at 
the risk of death: 
"The asylums of the Republic are no longer places of refuge 
opened by charity to the needy, but asylums for the dead." 
Were these complaints exaggerated ? The Directory, the last of the 
governments of the Revolutionary period, sent councillors of state into 
different parts of France to ascertain the real condition of the country. 
We have the reports made by them to the government on their return, 
and assuredly, as officers of the government, they were naturally dis- 
posed to present the situation in an advantageous light; but what they 
say of the condition of the hospitals is the severest that has been said. 
Councillor Fourcroy, who visited the West of France, states that the 
wages of nurses were everywhere overdue, and the State did not pay 
them. In the department of Manche the arrears exceed 539,000 livres, 
($99,550), which to-day would amount to three or four times that sum. 
In the department of Calvados, of 1,102,000 livres ($203,870) which 
were due, only 27,000 livres ($4,995) were paid. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
147 
As to the hospitals: • 
"They have become the abodes of the most frightful want; misery 
and sickness find in them but little relief. Everywhere, except at 
Rouen, the sick have no linen, or only torn and ragged pieces, and 
their beds have no coverings. The old people's and children's homes 
are in the same distressing condition." 
Francis of Nantes traveled over the middle of France. He writes: 
"The charitable institutions (hospices) continue to be in a pitiable 
state, and it is necessary that we should begin by giving them an assured 
income. At Toulon many invalids are put to bed without any cover- 
ings and without any straw in the mattresses. In the old people's home 
only a pound of bread is given per day, with some boiled beans, but 
without wine or meat." 
He saw a woman on whom an operation had been performed, whose 
only restorative was a dozen beans. 
"At Marseilles, out of six hundred and eighteen foundlings in the 
foundling hospital, only seventy-eight survived. At Toulon, of one 
hundred and four infants, only three survived; I have also seen in these 
hospitals four children in every cradle. They are wrinkled and present 
the appearance of premature decrepitude." 
In the country the poor were wholly without aid; the institutions 
founded to give them assistance were seized and nothing else put in 
their place, and thus their misery was extreme. Councillor Redon, 
who was sent into the East of France, stated that "mendicity has 
increased very much on account of the troubles of the Revolution," 
and he might have added, because it had suppressed the means of giv- 
ing relief. The administrator of the Department of the South com- 
plained loudly of the want of the inhabitants: "There is not, a 
winter in which there is not death by starvation." 
In the presence of so much destitution and suffering, many of the 
councillors who were sent on tours of inspection declared that, since 
the government was powerless, the remedy must be found in permitting 
individuals to practise charity, and even to establish foundations as 
formerly; and especially in allowing the Sisters of Charity to return 
to the hospitals, that they might care for the sick. 
The Directory carried out only one part of these propositions. It gave 
back to the hospitals and other charitable institutions that part of their 
property which had been taken from them and had not yet been sold, 
that is, about two-fifths; and it promised further, that it would replace 
the property sold by other property of equal value which had been 148 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
taken from churches, convents, exiles and emigrants, and those con- 
demned to death by the Revolutionary tribunals. Singular justice which 
used one spoliation to compensate another, and which, in the end, never 
gave back to the hospitals what they had lost! The Directory, more- 
over, was overthrown on the second Brumaire (December 2, 1799) by 
General Bonaparte, who, first under the name of Consul and then 
under the name of Emperor, reorganized France and gave it the form 
in which we find it to-day. We thus come to the third and most 
important epoch-the present situation. 
III. 
Third Epoch: The Present Situation. 
Napoleon I, exaggerating the tendency of the old royal government 
to interfere, took everything into his own hands, leaving as little as 
possible to individual initiative, and he did the same with charity as 
with everything else. The governments that have followed, although 
differing in name and representing different ideas, have all held to 
the same tradition. They have shown themselves strong partisans of 
the prerogative of the state and enemies of the liberty of the individual; 
so that the powers of the government have been increased and extended, 
with more or less readiness of application, according to the times. But 
it is worthy of note that the present government-that of the Republic 
-leaves far less personal liberty to its citizens than did the government 
of Louis XIV, who is still regarded as the model of absolute kings. The 
French of to-day have indeed the right, which they did not then enjoy, 
of electing a parliament. But the government, chosen in this way by 
a majority acting more or less under instructions, has more power than 
any of the old royal governments ever had; it penetrates more into 
the private life of citizens and, indeed, puts more constraint upon them. 
Proof of this may be found in that which forms the subject of this paper, 
i. charity. 
The ancient patrimony of charities, the gift of individuals, as we 
have seen, is now managed by the government, which, moreover, has 
organized different methods of rendering aid, its design being to 
make an administrative matter of charity; but on the other hand, as 
the provisions of the laws of the Revolution forbidding private charity 
have fallen into disuse, private associations have'also been formed, so 
that we have in France to-day administrative charity, or public assist- 
ance, and private charity. (The official name assistance has been CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
149 
applied to the former because the term charity recalls a Christian virtue 
which is displeasing to a government composed of irreligious men). Of 
these two forms of charity we will now speak. 
§ i. Public Assistance. 
The amount expended for this object does not form a separate item 
in the government's budget. There is no budget of "assistance" as 
there is of public instruction; in short the funds are supplied partly by 
the State, that is to say from the budget of France, and partly by the 
departments or communes, while still another part comes from the 
revenue derived from the capital belonging to the charitable institu- 
tions; and finally, the remainder is furnished by private alms. Thus 
the budget of "public assistance" is supplied from three sources: (1} 
taxation; (2) revenue derived from the property owned by charitable 
establishments and given by the liberality of individuals-a liberality 
in part recent, but chiefly ancient, some of the property having been 
given as early as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; and (3) alms 
given annually by the faithful for public assistance, in order that they 
may be well employed. 
The total budget for "public assistance" for 1889, according to a 
report made to the minister of the interior in 1888 by M. Monod, 
director of the Department of Public Assistance, (the latest figures 
received), was about 189,000,000 livres ($34,965,000). Of these 189 
millions the State, that is, the central government, furnished seven and 
a half millions ($1,387,500). The remainder was furnished by the 
departments and communes, or by private charity, but in what propor- 
tion was not indicated. All that is shown is, that in 1889 the revenue 
from the institutions themselves increased to almost 47,000,000 francs 
($9,400,000). There are no reliable and recent figures except for Paris, 
which on account of its importance has a separate administration. 
There the budget for "public assistance" for 1892, (for hospitals 
and asylums only), was 44,201,000 francs ($8,840,200), of which 
19,339,coo francs ($3,867,800) were voted directly by the department 
or the municipality, and about 4,000,000 francs ($800,000) came from 
the collection of certain taxes given over to the hospitals; in other words, 
of the total amount, almost 23 millions and a half (nearly $4,700,000), 
or more than half of the whole, was furnished by the tax-payers, which 
represents a charge of more than ten francs on every inhabitant, includ- 
ing indigents. If we consider, further, that from this number should 150 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
also be deducted children, domestics, etc., we find that every head of a 
Parisian family, excluding indigents, pays an average tax of fifty or 
sixty francs merely for obligatory public assistance. The burden on 
the inhabitants of the rest of France is, indeed, much less, being, 
according to M. Monod, only i fr. 60 centimes (35 cents) per inhabi- 
tant. We shall see below the reason for this enormous difference 
between the expenditure in Paris and that in the other departments for 
the same object. 
It is important to bear in mind that in France relief is not obligatory 
on the public authorities. The right to ask and receive aid, which 
exists in other countries has no place in our legislation; no commune 
can be compelled to give relief to its poor. It relieves them according 
to the means at its disposal, and in many communes, especially those 
in the country, their means are extremely small or even nil; but no 
constraint can be put upon the commune. The law requires only that 
the departments shall maintain asylums for the insane and for aban- 
doned infants. As to the insane, it is a measure of public order, for it 
would be dangerous to leave them at liberty. As to the foundlings, an 
ancient custom made them a charge on the lord of the place where they 
were found, and his duty has passed to the modern public authorities. 
But what are the means at the disposal of the Department of Public 
Assistance for giving aid to unfortunates? 
We have hitherto spoken of hospitals and asylums {hospices}. There 
is this difference between the two terms: hospitals are intended for the 
sick, and their inmates are continually changing; while asylums are 
intended for the aged, for foundlings, or for various kinds of infirm 
persons-the blind, the incurable, etc.-who, when once received into 
an asylum or home, remain there either for a very long time (as the 
foundlings) or for their whole life (as old persons and incurables). In 
small communities there are hospital-homes {hopitaux-hospices} which 
receive the sick and foundlings, the aged and infirm, and sometimes the 
insane. 
In large establishments .the different classes of poor were carefully 
separated from one another; but in others not so much care was 
exercised. lhe legislators of the Revolution, who had strange ideas 
about everything, prescribed this confused rule: that "the old shall 
give the children lessons in civic duty {civisme} and virtue." As the 
homes contain vagabonds and beggars by profession, besides the honest 
people who have fallen into distress without any fault of their own, CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
151 
we cannot help thinking that they would give to the children very 
injurious lessons; that they would teach them to deceive the public and 
feign infirmity, so as to live without work, rather than to engage in 
labor and to practise virtue. In practice, however, separation between 
the different classes of the inmates of homes is the rule. 
The number of hospitals and homes in 1889 (the last official figures) 
was 1,639-3°8 hospitals, 882 hospital-homes, and 449 homes. In 
1789 the number was larger, for the Committee on Vagrancy reported 
2,188 in 1790, and added that they had not been able to get a com- 
plete account. But although these establishments were more numerous 
than are those of to-day, their capacity was probably less. But we 
have no precise figures. There were then many small hospitals scat- 
tered about in many places; to-day the tendency is to build large 
hospitals, and these only in cities. It is said that at the end of the 
eighteenth century there were fewer hospitals and homes in the coun- 
try than in the thirteenth, and that most of those that still existed 
in 1789 have now disappeared. We must not forget, however, that 
about one half of the hospitals and homes disappeared during the Rev- 
olution ; those that have been erected since are almost all in cities. 
Indeed, of the many hundreds that have been built since that epoch, 
certainly not more than ten have been erected in the country. It 
is then quite correct to say that the sick in the country have less 
care than they had one hundred years ago, and, above all, less than 
they had in the middle ages. At present the sick in the country 
who must be cared for, either because they have no family or because 
of the gravity of their disease, contagious disease for example, have 
to be transported to the nearest city, which perchance is far away; and 
further, the administrators of the urban hospital often refuse them, 
because they are not obliged to receive invalids from outside of the 
city. Strictly they can receive only persons of means, unless the com- 
mune from which the patient comes pays for him ; and in that case it 
is necessary, before transporting the sick, to call together the municipal 
council in order to vote the expense; and what becomes of the invalid 
in the meantime ? 
In 1889 there were in all the hospitals and homes together (Z<?j 
etablissements hospitallers) 180,473 beds, to wit: 78,497 beds for the 
sick, (of which, however, 13,293 were exclusively for the use of the 
army); 60,800 for the infirm, the aged and the incurable; 14,921 for 
assisted children; and finally 29,694 for the personnel of the hospitals 152 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
and homes. The last figure may seem very high, but we must consider 
that the number of persons employed was 30,579, viz.: 2,976 physi- 
cians and surgeons, 2,931 employees, 11,199 nuns (religieuses,} and 
13,199 servants. The cost of this service was more than eighteen per 
cent, of the total expenditure, and this proportion has a tendency to 
increase. 
The hospitals and homes, however, are very unequally distributed and 
very unequally endowed. In some establishments there are empty beds ; 
in others there are not enough. Some establishments are richly endowed; 
for example, the hospital at Vichy, which has the right, by an old royal 
ordinance, to collect a tax of five centimes (about one cent) for every 
bottle of mineral water obtained there, has a large income. On the 
other hand, there are hospitals whose only resources are the revenues 
from endowments made centuries ago, and, as the value of money has 
diminished, they are not able to maintain themselves except by subsi- 
dies from the communes. 
In fine, it is remarkable, in view of the new establishments, to see the 
old hospitals and homes remain what they were. Thus at Paris, the 
Quinze-Vingts established by St. Louis in the thirteenth century for three 
hundred-fifteen (quinze) times twenty (z/zw^-/)-blind persons still exists, 
but having the same capacity as formerly, it never receives more than 
three hundred Parisians, though the population of France and the num- 
ber of the blind have largely increased during six and a half centuries. 
One reason for the largely increased cost of service in the hospitals 
of Paris is a measure adopted by the administration at the demand 
of the municipal council, which, in view of the large population of 
the capital and the great abundance of poor, who come there from 
all directions, was fatal-I mean the laicisation (exchanging nuns for 
lay service) of the personnel of the hospitals, homes and asylums. 
The care of the sick in the hospitals had been assigned to the Sisters 
of St. Vincent de Paul, and physicians and patients alike were in accord 
in admiration of their zeal, their ability and their devotion. But the 
municipal council of Paris, by a very large majority, under the influ- 
ence of the Masonic lodges, resolved to exclude from the hospitals all 
who had a religious vocation, as it had already done in the case of the 
schools. 
It demanded of the government, on which the hospitals depend (for 
though the municipalities vote funds for these establishments, they have 
no control over them), that it should expel first the chaplains, then the CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
153 
sisters; and the government, desiring to please the municipality whose 
suffrages it sought, consented. The first to be expelled were the chap- 
lains, or priests, who gave consolation to the sick at the moment of 
death, or during their illness, and then a very complicated rule of pro- 
cedure was established for all the sick who should desire to have the 
consolations of religion,-a rule of such a nature that to-day a large 
number of the invalid poor die without having been able to reconcile 
themselves with God, and without hearing any one speak of Him or of 
their eternal salvation. 
Finally the Department of Public Assistance, always ready to favor 
men who are without religion, drove out the sisters from the different 
hospitals and homes. The physicians of these hospitals, although 
beholden to a certain extent to the administration, complained loudly 
in the interests of the sick ; they circulated a petition which was signed 
by doctors, both the religious and those of the most diverse opinions. 
All the signers, even Protestants, Jews and free-thinkers, said that the 
Sisters of Charity were invaluable on account of their experience, their 
absolute devotion and their disinterestedness, qualities rarely found 
among paid employees. Their complaint was no more listened to 
than was that of the sick, and to-day there are incompetent persons of 
both sexes paid for doing service in the hospitals. 
One of the first results of this system is much slackness in the care 
and watching of the sick, and there are numerous complaints from the 
patients, who are well cared for only if they are able to fee their nurses. 
And the latter are sometimes even negligent and cruel. They have 
cost the lives of many patients and caused a greatly increased expen- 
diture. 
Doctor Despres, physician of the Charity Hospital and a free-thinker, 
wrote : 
"A nun receives no pay; the government gives to the superior of the 
hospital 200 francs ($40) for every sister, which is called their cloth- 
ing expense (/<? vestiaire,') and serves to supply them with shoes, under- 
wear, stockings and clothing. A lay nurse, including her dress, 
costs 700 francs ($140) per year, and besides she is given food and 
a separate lodging." (He says elsewhere that they often get something 
from the parents and friends of those whom they nurse, at the expense 
of the hospital.) "You will get a better idea of the cost, when you learn 
that the laicisation of the Cochin hospital has cost 138,000 francs 
($27,600) in capital and 18,000 francs ($3,600) in revenue; that is to 
say, a sum of money with which a hospital could be built and twenty 
patients supported. Yet this is not the whole of the expense. 154 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
"The laicisation of - has cost 300,000 francs ($60,000) in capital 
and 45,000 francs ($9,000) in revenue, sufficient to support one hun- 
dred or more old people in the old people's home. When beds are 
wanting for the unfortunate, it is no time to make such unnecessary 
use of the public resources. Every one knows that the sister's is the 
most reliable and the most useful service for hospitals; that no one 
can take her place, and that if she did not exist, it would be necessary 
to invent her. To whatever religion one may belong, it is impossible 
to deny this." 
In spite of such conclusive testimony, different provincial municipali- 
ties have demanded and obtained from the government the removal of 
the Sisters of Charity. With the men who govern us the irreligious 
passion is everything; the care and interests of the sick count for 
nothing. 
Besides the various kinds of hospitals it is necessary to say something 
of the institutions devoted to the aid of the healthy poor, such as the 
bureaus of relief (bureaux de bienfaisanced) This name dates from the 
beginning of this century and was taken from the writings of the Abbe de 
Saint Pierre, but the idea is an old one. There were at the end of the 
old monarchy a large number of bureaus for the poor {bureaux des 
pauvres'') which originated, like all of the charitable institutions of that 
time, in private initiative, and were ordinarily made up of the leading 
men and some of the clergy of a parish. Their object was to receive 
the alms, either in money or in such things as might be entrusted to 
them, with the view of making a useful distribution of them among the 
poor after becoming acquainted with their needs. In 1789 they were 
numerous and had already received some endowments; the Revolution 
suppressed them and seized their property. 
The present bureaus of relief are organized upon the model of the 
old bureaus for the poor, but they exist only by the authorization of 
the government, which establishes them by decree. They are admin- 
istered by a commission chosen as follows : one-third of the members 
by the municipal council and two-thirds by the prefect; the mayor is 
president ex officio. There were in France on December 31, 1889, (the 
last public figures), 19,308 bureaus of relief. As there ar'e but a little 
over 36,000 communes, and as certain communes have several bureaus 
(Paris for example, has twenty), the greater number of rural communes 
must have none. 
The total receipts of these bureaus were in the year 1889 almost 
forty million francs (39,734,000 francs or $7,946,800); of these CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
155 
19,747,000 francs ($3,949,800) came from the revenues of the property 
belonging to the bureaus. This property has come either from the old 
endowments, made before 1789 in favor of the bureaus for the poor or 
other analogous works and since given over to the bureaus of relief; 
or from donations that have been made since. It is thus that Mme. 
Boucicault, wife of the founder of the Bon Marche at Paris and pro- 
prietress of a large fortune, has left 500,000 francs ($100,000) to the 
poor of the little village where she was born. This sum is to be in- 
vested, and it wilt yield an annual revenue of 19 or 20,000 francs ($3,800 
or $4,000). Few rural bureaus of relief have so large an income. 
12,192,000 francs ($2,438,400) have been furnished by the communes, 
but chiefly by the city communes; 7,346,000 francs ($1,469,200) have 
been furnished by the poor tax, the name given to the tax upon the 
receipts of theaters and other places of amusement that existed prior 
to 1789. Gifts and legacies have amounted to 3,040,000 francs 
($608,000); the remainder comes from different sources not specified. 
The aid distributed in money or in kind (food, clothing and fuel) 
amounts to 30,879,000 francs ($6,175,800) and the number of indi- 
viduals who have received aid to 1,616,481, which makes a little less 
than twenty francs ($4) for each person aided. But this implies that 
the distribution has been equally made; but in fact, in some places, 
where the bureaus of relief have only a small fund at their disposal, 
the poor enrolled in their books receive sometimes less than one franc 
(twenty cents) per year, that is to say, almost nothing. There are 
some bureaus which distribute nothing for want of funds. 
Of this total of forty millions francs ($8,000,000) Paris contributes 
one-fourth, or about ten millions ($2,000,000), while the number of 
poor which it enrolls is from 110,000 to 120,000; upon which we may 
remark in passing that less than three hundred out of every thousand 
are native Parisians. Foreigners or people from the departments 
represent more than seventy per cent, of those who are aided. It is 
a matter of common experience that large numbers of people ruined, or 
upon the point of being so, press into Paris, either to conceal their 
misery in a place where they are not known, or with the hope of 
finding employment. Often the authorities of small towns send to 
Paris, paying their railroad fare, the infirm or habitual beggars who might 
otherwise become a charge upon them. To these must be added the 
immense number of persons of both sexes who come to Paris expecting 
to find work or employment, and who, not finding it, fall into distress. 156 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
It is certain also, though it is difficult to prove it definitely, that 
the relative abundance of the public relief is one of the motives that 
draws the country population into cities, especially into large cities. 
Indeed from what we have said it is clear that relief must be inade- 
quate, especially in the country. Louis XIV, touched by the condi- 
tion of the rural sick, sent every year into all parts of his kingdom 
932,000 bottles of medicine with instructions upon the labels. They 
were sent to the sisters who took care of the sick in the country at their 
own homes and also gave instruction to children. Louis XVI sent 
three times that number, but the Constituent Assembly in 1790 sup- 
pressed this distribution of medicines, giving assurance at the same time 
that it would establish a better and more complete system of relief. 
It established nothing, however, nor did the assemblies which fol- 
lowed ; but in certain departments the general council have tried 
different means of aiding the sick of the country. The means most 
often employed consists in paying a small salary to the physicians 
practising in different cantons, for which they consent to visit gratui- 
tously the poor where they live; though well intended, the system in 
practice yields but poor results. But what is most important to estab- 
lish is that these results have been very variable; sometimes the system is 
praised, but more often criticised; sometimes opposite opinions are heard 
within the same department. Again, certain departments and com- 
munes, after having made use of this system, have renounced it. 
We should also include with other forms of public relief the workhouses 
(depots de mendicite'), where vagabonds without a home (sans aside} are 
confined. Begging and vagabondage are crimes punishable by the 
laws of France, but the laws are imperfectly executed. If an attempt 
should be made to shut up the numerous vagrants, who wander through 
the country aided by the peasants who fear them, or encumber the 
streets of large cities, it would be necessary to build ten or fifteen times 
as many workhouses as there are now. Those which exist at present 
are so full, that many unfortunates solicit in vain the privilege of 
admission to them and for that purpose even submit to conviction and 
sentence by the courts; for these workhouses are prisons, as well as homes 
or asylums. 
To get a true estimate of the bureaux de bienfaisance, which are 
the chief means of aid outside of the hospitals and homes, we should 
bear in mind that they are a source of hereditary pauperism. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
157 
"I have seen," wrote an inspector of public assistance, and a man 
who is largely occupied in questions of charity, M. de Watteville, "I 
have seen upon the registers of the bureaus of relief the names of the 
worst, even of the very worst, people among those who are registered 
there to-day." 
In short, governmental assistance has always something formal, rigid 
and bureaucratic about it, which does not easily discriminate between 
the worthy and unworthy poor. As long as the bureaus of relief 
were under the charge of the Sisters of Charity, investigations and 
discriminations were made; to-day they have been put into the hands 
of the laity, and the result has been less discernment and more 
distress. The tendency, moreover, is to give aid in the form of 
public works, and as a function of the state for political and, above all, 
for electoral purposes. In many bureaus of Paris it is asked of the 
unfortunates who solicit aid: What school do your children attend? 
If they go to schools where religion is taught, and where prayers 
are said before and after recitations, aid is refused them. In order to 
receive any aid they must send their children to the communal schools, 
from which all religious instruction and ideas are absolutely banished. 
This, too, is done elsewhere than in Paris. And some years ago the 
sub-prefect of a city in Normandy replied to the inhabitants of a city 
destroyed by fire, who had come to solicit the aid voted annually for 
this purpose, (collective disasters: as inundations, conflagrations of a 
whole city, etc). 
"You have no right to any aid, seeing that you did not at the last 
parliamentary election vote for the candidates who are agreeable to 
the government; relief is only for those who vote right." 
It is indeed the tendency of the party at present in power to use 
charity as an instrument for perpetuating its power and realizing its 
plans. 
§ 2. Private Charity. 
It is not surprising that the power of the dominant party shows 
itself antagonistic to private charity; that everything which originates 
outside of itself is displeasing to it; and that everything that comes 
from the initiative and from the action of citizens is considered as 
hostile. 
It is not that private charity is not well spoken of, for an official 
has said of it to the Superior Council of Assistance: 158 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
"A fair and unprejudiced opinion must admit that, when it gives with 
discretion, it furnishes both material and moral support. In certain 
kinds of work it brings a spirit of sacrifice, an ingenuity in its proce- 
dure, a tact in its application, that are looked for in vain from public 
assistance." 
After this beautiful eulogy it would seem that this private charity 
which is so useful, should be encouraged; that, at least, it ought to 
be left to act freely, more especially as it fills up the lacunae and insuffi- 
ciencies of public assistance. We shall see, on the contrary, that it is 
combatted without relaxation and shackled in every possible manner. 
There is, however, one kind of charity that the Convention was 
no more able to hinder than the legislatures which prohibited alms- 
giving; that, namely, which consists not only in aiding neighbors and 
dependents, but in taking grandparents or children of relatives to live 
with one. We must call this charity, because too often do we see the 
kind of people who drive away their aged parents or send them to an 
old people's home, and who also show very little anxiety for their own 
children, for whom they incessantly demand supplies, allowances and 
gratuities of all sorts. On the other hand, in some provinces, where 
the religious spirit has been preserved, the people are anxious, even in 
the very poorest families, to take their grandparents into their homes, 
and even orphans whose parents are strangers. Thus we see that house- 
holds burdened with children do not hesitate to take orphans whom they 
treat as their own children. Those who would abandon even their 
cousins would be poorly thought of by their fellow-citizens. Happy 
opinions and happy sentiments, which permit them to do without homes 
and bureaus of relief! 
There are, however, some cases where one cannot perform acts of 
charity by single handed, as in building orphanages, free hospitals and 
people's homes, and in doing all sorts of works which are multiplied by 
Christian charity. Such establishments can very rarely be founded by 
individuals; ordinarily an association is necessary, since a fund must be 
raised, which will yield an assured income, and it is here that the 
hostility both of our legislation and our government manifests itself. 
According to our laws, no association of more than twenty per- 
sons, founded for any purpose whatever, even a charitable one, can 
exist except by permission of the executive, and this authorization 
is given or refused at will, without justification and without giving any 
reasons for refusal. Even after permission has been given it is always CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
159 
revocable, arbitrarily and without cause. In fact, most of the existing 
charitable associations have been established without express authoriza- 
tion; they are tolerated, but always under the threat of persecution, 
which the government from time to time carries into effect where a 
society is displeasing to it. 
In the same way a license is necessary in order to establish a hospital 
or a home, even in one's own house, which the government arbitrarily 
accords or refuses. Indeed, one cannot make use of his own house to 
receive poor sick people, or orphans, or old persons, except at the pleas- 
ure of the government. There exists full freedom for wine-shops; one 
can without a license open as many of them as he pleases. Their num- 
ber is endless and constantly increasing. But liberty to do good does 
not exist; it depends upon the caprice of the authority in power. There 
is full liberty of debauchery in one's own house; it is the right of 
ownership. But one cannot practise charity there; the right of owner- 
ship then suffers a check. 
In order that any charitable institution may be durable, it is necessary 
that it should possess some property-at least the building which serves 
as the home or orphanage-and a little revenue; but in order that any 
institution, even though it has been licensed as an association-a 
hospital or home-may own property, there is required another special 
license, and since it is an affair of favors and influence with public 
officials it is very difficult to get what is called the "grant of public 
utility," {reconnaissance tf utilitepubliquep, and even a work thus recog- 
nized cannot receive gifts or legacies except by special authority in every 
given case, and this sanction depends absolutely upon the arbitrary will 
of the men in power. Further, the license, may be withdrawn at any 
time, and the government then seizes the property of the establishment 
and distributes it as it pleases-for example, to the institutions of public 
assistance. This right is not conferred by any written law. But there 
is no remedy in France against abuse of power by the government,* 
and its will is law. 
Another concession has been made by the government, which it 
sometimes uses according to its fancy, that is, permission to citizens 
to practise charity themselves-a great advance upon the principles 
of the Revolution. But if they desire to entrust the charge to others to 
*Thus the Council of State, in a recent decision upon the appeal of a citizen, 
held that tax-payers are obliged to pay a tax even when destined to cover an 
illegal expense, simply because the administration desires to collect it. 160 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
do it for them, they must give it over to the charge of the Department 
of Assistance, and to it alone. Citizens are permitted to choose at will 
managers for their own affairs, to buy, sell and trade in their stead. 
But in the matter of charity they can choose only the Department of 
Public Assistance, even if it inspire but little confidence. This, also, 
is not in any written law, but the will of the men in office is as 
strong as the law and even stronger. Consequently certain function- 
aries seize the funds of such or such a private institution, on the plea that 
this money was intended for charity and is not expended directly by 
the benefactors. The administrative tribunals often distribute to the 
Department of Public Assistance legacies left either to ministers of 
religion or to certain designated persons for charitable uses, declaring 
that benefactors are interdicted from making other distributions of their 
alms than to the Department of Public Assistance, and, moreover, that 
they are well aware of this. We see from this that the French in 1893 
have far less liberty to practise charity than they had in 1789. The 
word liberty is inscribed upon all of our public buildings, but in the 
matter of alms it exists neither in law nor in practice. 
We have still to speak of the taxes imposed upon religious associa- 
tions, even those which are solely occupied in works of charity, 
which fall on the buildings reserved for the infirm and sick, the beds on 
which they lie, the food which they eat, and the furniture which they 
use. These taxes are of recent origin. Formerly charitable establish- 
ments paid the same taxes as individuals; but for about eight years they 
have paid in addition special taxes levied for the purpose of ruining 
the religious communities, but which fell chiefly upon the sick and 
poor. For it is first of all necessary to satisfy the public treasury, and 
then there remains less for the benefit of unfortunates. They are 
therefore obliged either to restrict the number of those whom they 
assist or to retrench in the care and attendance they give to them. 
But the party which is in power at the present time would rather see 
the wretched without aid than to see them aided by private charity, 
and above all by Catholic charity.* 
*1 take the liberty to refer those who may be surprised at this allegation to a 
work that I have recently published, where many facts are cited" which I cannot 
quote here, and which has been crowned by the Academy of Moral and Political 
Sciences, which shows its value and accuracy of statement: Charity before and 
since 1789. {La Charite avant et depuis, 1789. Paris: Guillaumin, editeur: 435 
PP.) CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
161 
But in spite of this, private charity, so fettered and so combatted, pro- 
duces a multitude of institutions and gives relief to an immense number 
of unfortunates. Zealous persons who are engaged in the work speak 
encouragingly, even in spite of the obstacles and risks which they have 
often to encounter. Their property is in the name of the president or 
treasurer of the work in hand, but as individuals, not as officers of an 
incorporated charity, for otherwise the property would be confiscated 
as belonging to an institution not recognized by the law. There is 
established, in fact, a sort of tolerance which is never very certain, 
which sometimes gives rise to prosecutions and convictions, but which 
never arouses the zeal inspired by the love of God and of one's neigh- 
bors. 
There has also been formed in Paris a Central Office of Charitable 
Works ( Office central des oeuvres charitables: 3, rue Champ agnf) which 
has for its object the giving information to those who seek to further 
the existence of the numerous private institutions that are unknown 
to the public, because they have but a modest existence, and are not 
known outside of their own locality. The bureau points out to what 
institution one may go who wishes to aid such or such classes of unfor- 
tunates; and one may also learn from it upon what conditions the poor, 
the infirm, orphans, etc., whom one may wish to help, are received and 
aided. On the other hand the bureau endeavors to find out who are 
considered generous persons, in order to request their aid. 
To the charitable institutions it is fitting to add briefly an 
account of the provident institutions, which in their way also 
practise charity. First of all there are the mutual aid societies (socie- 
te's de secours mutuelffi of which there were on December 31, 1890, (the 
last official figures) 9,144, with 1,436,000 members and possessing 
173,432,ooo francs ($34,686,400). They give aid to their sick mem- 
bers, and sometimes have old-age pensions (pensions de retraite'y We 
may note in passing that only those that have honorary members, z. <?., 
members who pay assessments without the right to benefits, are self-sup- 
porting; the others always have a deficit, due to the smallness of their 
assessments, which are always relatively low. Then there is the Na- 
tional Old-Age Pension Fund (Caisse nationale de retraites pour la 
vieillessef a state institution which receives deposits, however small, 
and in exchange guarantees pensions, proportioned to the sums received 
and to the time during which they have remained on deposit. Finally, 
we should mention the numerous charitable institutions created by em- 162 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
ployers in behalf of their employees, as the Fund for Insurance against 
Sickness (Caisse de secours contre la maladie'), Pension Funds (Caisses 
de retraite''), etc., by which about a million people are benefited, for the 
most part heads of families; but an account of these would transcend 
the limits of the present memoir. 
And yet these useful institutions are menaced by several bills at pre- 
sent pending before our Parliament: bills for compulsory old age pen- 
sions organized, as in Germany, by the State; bills to compel employers 
to establish a fund or funds for insurance against sickness, also as in 
Germany. If such laws should be passed, they would be the ruin of 
institutions coming from private initiative. There is also before our 
Legislature a bill, under the modest title of "An Act for the Organiza- 
tion of free medical relief" {Loi sur I'organisation de la medicine 
gratuite}, obliging the communes to organize bureaus of relief, so 
that every commune shall have its own bureau directed by men ap- 
pointed by the national administration, and having in their hands the 
resources coming from the tax levied for the benefit of these bureaus. 
They are to occupy themselves first of all in giving aid to the sick, but 
one may well imagine that their role would soon be extended, and that 
under the name of aid they would give political subsidies. 
It may not be useless in closing to note the constantly growing 
tendency of our legislators and administration to put everything into 
the hands of the government, and to replace the ancient form of 
charity, done by the faithful with their money and for the safety of their 
souls, by a charity done by the administration with the money of tax- 
payers and for electoral purposes. 
IV. 
Charity in Belgium. 
What has been said of charity in France before 1789 is applicable 
also to Belgium, with slight differences in details. As has been justly 
remarked by a profound thinker and great historian, M. Alexis de 
Tocqueville, the social situation of the different Christian nations of 
V estern Europe was, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, more 
nearly identical than it is to-day. lhe same ardent religious faith had 
everywhere created similar institutions of charity, which were obviously 
organized on the same plan. Everywhere, too, since the sixteenth 
century the lay power has interfered in the management of charitable CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
163 
endowments, and gradually drawn to itself powers, which at first be- 
longed to the church alone. 
The Low Countries of Austria-the provinces that constitute the 
present kingdom of Belgium-having been conquered by the French 
armies in 1792, were from that time treated as a part of France; that 
is to say, the property devoted to charitable works was seized by the 
state, and charitable associations abolished. Confiscation and destruc- 
tion produced the same effects as we have seen in the case of the gov- 
ernment of the Directory, which returned to the charitable establish- 
ments at least a part of their property. 
Belgium remained a part of France until 1819, and during that time 
it accustomed itself so well to our civil and administrative methods that 
it has retained up to the present time not only our code, but many of 
our governmental practices. Charity there, as in France, is practised 
both by individuals and by public authority. There is, therefore, both 
private charity and public assistance. 
Private charity is freer in Belgium than in France : first, because 
there the right of association exists, being recognized and guaranteed 
by the constitution; second, because the Belgian government (the Cath- 
olic party being in power) is favorable to private almsgiving, even 
though it has a religious origin, while in France it is looked upon in a 
bad light, and often persecuted by the irreligious government which at 
present is in power. As a result the number of private charities is large 
in Belgium, in spite of the small extent of the country (about six mil- 
lion inhabitants against thirty-eight millions in France). Belgium 
glories, and with reason, in being the classical land of charity, and the 
religious faith which animates the great majority of her population 
sustains and animates her in a noble course. And yet, in one respect, 
private charity is no better treated in Belgium than in France. I 
refer to the right of charitable institutions to possess property. In 
this respect the administrative rules and practices of France are found 
also in Belgium, and we have seen that these rules and practices are 
hostile to the existence of charitable foundations. In Belgium, as in 
France, most institutions do not hold property in their own name; 
what they have is in the name of a president, a treasurer, an adminis- 
trator, or, indeed, of a society which has apparently some other inte- 
rest of its own; for only to these does the law allow the right to openly 
possess property. This situation is full of uncertainty and there is 
danger from legislation in both countries alike, which does not recognize 164 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
in individuals the right to dispose of their own property by will, but 
assures to children and relatives in the ascendant line a compulsory 
division of the succession. It is this which hinders charitable estab- 
lishments due to private liberality from having the stability, security, 
and development which they would otherwise have, and which they still 
have in some foreign countries ruled by a more liberal legislation. 
As to public assistance we may say that it is first of all given in 
hospitals, using the term in its broadest sense (etablissements hospitallers'), 
hospitals, homes or asylums, orphanages, etc., whose legal position is 
very analogous to that of institutions of the same character in France. 
There are also some bureaus of relief,* but since Belgium has been 
separated from France she has had some peculiar laws of her own, which 
have given to administrative charity a different turn from what it has 
received in France. 
The old canonical rule, which Charlemagne, even at that early 
period, recommended to be observed, would have every parish feed 
its own poor-quisque civitas pauperes suos alito. But this was a rule 
which had only a moral sanction and which did not give to the poor 
a right to demand help. The inhabitants of the parish might furnish 
it to them, but there was only an obligation of conscience ; no human 
power could constrain them. There was nevertheless, in the northern 
part of France a greater tendency to regard this as imparting a sort of 
obligation, and it was the same in the countries which to-day form Bel- 
gium. Temporal sovereigns have at different times tried to give assur- 
ance of the maintenance of the poor by their own parishes. This gave 
rise to a dim idea of obligation, which, however, was not found in 
France. And even in Belgium it produced no serious results except in 
consequence of a law passed in 1818, while Belgium was under the rule 
of Holland-a rule lasting from 1815 to 1831, when Belgium became 
an independent kingdom. 
1 his law made easier the acquisition of a domicile for purposes 
of receiving aid (domicile de secours,) and, gave a commune, which 
had relieved an indigent person found in its territory, the right to 
demand reimbursement from the commune in which he resided. But 
the communes could easily give aid in this manner, at the same time 
that they were harsh and even "inhuman" (the word is found in a 
*1 heir revenue, according to the figures of 1889, amounts to about io.soo.ooo 
francs ($2,100,000.) CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
165 
recent report made by the Belgian Senate) in regard to the poor 
whose support would finally fall upon themselves. The result was that 
claims were made upon rural communes-often without resourcesfor 
sums alleged to have been given for providing aid without their assent 
and without their knowledge. It was the ruin of some. Legally, it 
is true, the aid might be given by the commune where the indigent 
person was living (commune de la residence') in case of great neces- 
sity. But in fact this right was not observed. Says the preamble of 
the law of 1891, of which I shall speak: 
"We shall soon see the communes giving assistance without limit to 
the poor who do not belong to them, and using all sorts of quibbles and 
having recourse to all sorts of frauds in order to avoid their own obliga- 
tions and to baffle the execution of a law, whose injustice would seem 
to excuse all resistance." 
A law of 1849, which was designed to improve the situation, is vicious, 
because it retains the bad principle of the former law, which permitted 
one commune to have recourse to another and even made it easy to do 
so. 
Further, while certain able-bodied paupers were aided with excessive 
promptness, other unfortunates more in need of aid, but unable to 
solicit it themselves-the demented, the blind and deaf-mutes-were 
reduced to such a point that a special law was necessary in order to 
secure them aid. In 1878 Parliament voted to create a Common Fund 
in every province, to be furnished by a deposit made by the communes 
in proportion to their population. The distribution was to be made 
on the basis of need, that is to say, in proportion to the number of 
unfortunates to be aided. 
This law, which seemed sufficiently just, soon gave rise to the liveliest 
complaints on the part of the rural communes, who declared that they 
were sacrificed to the large centers of population. "We pay," they 
said, "and we receive nothing; the Common Fund all goes to the 
cities, and above all to the large cities." Thus in 1888, by the offi- 
cial figures, the city of Liege had contributed to the Common Fund of 
the province 89,000 francs ($17,800); it had received from the same 
fund 194,000 francs ($38,800); Ghent had contributed 149,000 francs 
($29,800) and had received 268,000 francs ($53,600); Brussels, the 
capital of the kingdom, had contributed 160,000 francs ($32,000) and 
had received 330,000 francs ($66,000). The municipalities of the large 
cities could allege with truth that they had received the poor and infirm 166 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
from all parts of the country; but one might reply to them that they 
had also the largest resources and the most wealth, and that a contribu- 
tion to the Common Fund in proportion to population is at once oner- 
ous and unjust. 
It was to satisfy these complaints that three acts were passed, Novem- 
ber 27, 1891, which, though distinct, together form a whole which 
re-organized the public relief of Belgium. 
One of these acts relates to the repression of begging and vagrancy: 
it provides for three kinds of institutions; workhouses for convicted 
beggars and vagabonds, which are already established, houses of refuge 
{maisons de refuge} for the same class of individuals, though not con- 
victed, who may be sent there either by the courts 'after arrest, or by 
the communal authorities directly-and in this case the commune 
defrays the cost of their maintenance; and finally, the charity 
schools {ecoles de bienfaisance} for individuals (always beggars and 
vagabonds) under eighteen years of age. In all these institutions labor 
is to be compulsory; and a part of the earnings is given to the 
inmates in money, part in clothing and tools, when they are dis- 
charged. 
The other two acts relate to medical relief and public charity in 
general. Relief of the sick (/'assistance des malades} is obligatory. 
"The communes must provide medical treatment for the sick who are 
found within their territory." On the contrary, relief of able-bodied 
paupers is not compulsory. "Public relief will be furnished to paupers 
by the commune in which they are found." It will be noticed how 
the terms of the law differ in these two cases ; there is in the second 
case only a kind of exhortation or, as it is called, a "moral obliga- 
tion." 
1 he commune which furnishes relief has a legal claim upon the com- 
mune where the pauper resides only in cases of sick persons, children 
under sixteen years of age, or persons over seventy; and yet no claim 
exists if it is a case "of a laborer, an apprentice or a domestic 
admitted into the hospital in consequence of an accident while at 
work. ' ' The expenses of strangers are met by the government. 
The Common Fund is maintained because of the service which it ren- 
ders in procuring relief for a class of unfortunates who would otherwise 
have nothing. But the province and the central government furnish 
only half; the other half is paid by the communes, in proportion both CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
167 
to their population and their resources, calculated according to the tax 
returns. 
These new laws, then, alleviate the burdens of the communes, but 
increase that of the central government. This, indeed, is a popular 
tendency, since nobody then seems to pay anything. Besides, these 
laws are too recent, having been in force but one year, for one to be 
able to say what their practical operation will be, or whether they 
will satisfy the hopes aroused, and will do the good expected of them. 
As to provident institutions, Belgium possesses numerous mutual aid 
societies (societes de secours mutuel}. In 1889 there were 299 "recog- 
nized" societies, having 39,000 members and a capital of 7,641,000 
francs ($1,528,000), and more than 90 societies not recognized. In 
addition to these, employers, especially the large corporations, as for 
example the Vielle Montagne, have organized for their employees numer- 
ous institutions for giving aid, which cannot be detailed here. 168 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND CHARITABLE WORK 
IN ITALY. 
BY EGISTO ROSSI. 
In Italy, as in other civilized countries, benevolent institutions are of 
very ancient origin. 
Although the lex frumentaria of Cornelius Gracchus* and the congi- 
aria f of Julius Caesar, cannot be reasonably considered benevolent 
institutions in the sense in which we now use the words, nevertheless in 
those periodical distributions of grain and bread, we find, as it were, 
the very beginnings of the present system of legal taxation for the bene- 
fit of the poor, or the maintenance, to a certain extent, of the indi- 
gent classes at the expense of the town or city. 
Under Trajan, public charity assumed a character somewhat more 
modern with the foundation of the "Instituti Alimentari," destined to 
provide the necessary food for the poor children of Rome as well as of 
the provinces. The many foreign wars undertaken by him had de- 
prived thousands of families of their head, and it seemed only right to 
the Emperor to provide for the children until the latter should be able 
to live by their own labor. According to Pliny the younger, in his cele- 
brated panegyric | upon the Emperor Trajan, these institutions were estab- 
lished about the year 853 of the foundation of Rome, and 100 of the 
Christian era. Under the Republic, as well as under the Empire, 
*This tribune, as is well known, with the desire for popularity, proposed that a 
modius (8.64 litres) of wheat should be distributed to the poor every month at 
public expense, -which custom afterwards became a law. (V. Appianus, De Bello 
Civile.} 
\Congiarium from congius, a measure containing about 200 ounces. The con- 
giarzim is different from the donativum, which was a gift to the soldiers, while 
the former was given only to the people. 
JWe find in Ch. 26 of this Panegyric the following words of Pliny, speak- 
ing of the children led by their parents into the presence of the Prince on the 
day of the distribution of the congiaria: 'Tu ne rogari quidem sustinuisti et, 
quamquam laetissimum oculis tuis esset, conspectu Romanae subolis impleri, omnes 
antequam te viderent, adirentve, recipi incidi jussisti, ut jam inde ab infantia 
parentem publicum munere educations experirentur, crescerent de tuo qui crescerent 
tibi, ALIMENTISQUE TUIS ad stipendia tua pervenirent. Haec prima parvulorum 
civium vox aures tuas imbuit, quibus tu datums ALIMENTA hoc maximum praesti- 
tisti, ne rogarent.'"1 Etc. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
169 
ancient Rome's conception of brotherly love was simply a natural 
instinct or philosophical sentiment, and even oftener a political and 
social expedient. 
On the contrary, under Christianity this sentiment became a religi- 
ous precept and the basis of the new social and religious life. And it 
is only in passing from pagan to Christian civilization that the founda- 
tions of modern benevolence were laid. Charities or donations ceased 
by-and-by to emanate from the government, especially for politi- 
cal aims as before, but became a moral duty. The "panem et circenses" 
was supplanted by private and voluntary charity. Government aid had 
produced corruption, whereas spontaneous help, the Christian agapae, 
tended to create a strong brotherly feeling. 
The primitive church, with its large income, increased still more by 
the donations of the Christian Emperors, was able not only to decree 
in the Council of Nice the erection of a hospital {xenodochium} in 
almost every city, but also opened and rapidly multiplied public 
asylums of all kinds; as foundling homes (brephotrophium}, orphanages 
(prphanotrophitirn'), asylums for the aged poor (ggerontocomiumj, and for 
invalid workingmen {paramonarp), etc. 
Although many of these institutions underwent great transforma- 
tions in the middle ages, and not a few of them have ceased to 
exist, nevertheless a large part of the spirit which animated them 
has been transformed into the more modern institutions; as our present 
hospitals of various kinds, religious confraternities with charitable 
objects, poorhouses, foundling asylums, etc., of which we have now a 
large number, all testify. 
In Italy the large majority of benevolent institutions have been 
founded by private means and are still supported to a great extent by 
perpetual endowments. 
We have not a legal tax for the aid of the poor, although many 
municipalities make a yearly appropriation for that object in the form 
of subsidies for the charitable organizations already existing, as will be 
seen later. 
The law prohibits absolutely all begging; but as the number of poor- 
houses is not everywhere sufficient for the need, in many cities and 
towns mendicity unfortunately is still tolerated. 
With the object of removing this plague of begging, and also with 
the view of bringing about a much needed reform in the numerous 
institutions of benevolence, of which we shall speak later, various 170 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
schemes have been brought before Parliament at different times, and 
with the new law (Legge sulle Opere Pie) recently put into execution, a 
great advance has been made in the way of repressing this shameful 
practice. 
The charitable institutions having a perpetual endowment are many. 
Their total patrimony is very large and they have a great variety of 
objects, hardly exceeded perhaps in any other country. 
There are, for example, institutions which are called " Opere pie ele- 
mosiniere," and which distribute to the poor money, clothes, or eata- 
bles; others which give a dowry to girls about to be married; others 
which provide for the nursing and care of foundlings; others for instruc- 
tion in colleges or parochial schools. 
Besides these, we have many hospitals, infant asylums, educational 
institutions, houses of rest and refuge, reform schools, houses of pro- 
tection for recently liberated criminals, endowments for prison visit- 
ing, poorhouses, blind, deaf and dumb, and lunatic asylums, work- 
houses, homes for poor widows, house visiting among the poor, mater- 
nity hospitals, seaside hospitals for scrofulous or rachitic children, the 
furnishing of wheat and grain (Monti frumentari} to poor peasants for 
sowing, confraternities for the transportation of the sick to the hos- 
pitals, and for the burial of the dead belonging to poor families. 
These and other similar institutions, which the piety and charity of 
our ancestors founded for the benefit of the needy classes in Italy, have 
usually been directed and governed according to the stipulations of the 
wills of their founders, although the origin of many of them is really 
lost in the distant obscurity of time. Many of much more recent date 
have been added to them, and their number is constantly increasing. 
Before the constitution of the United Kingdom, the public charities 
in Italy were subject to no law of a general character, but each of the 
States into which the country was divided regulated its institutions 
according to its own ideas, especially where its interference was not 
contrary to the statutes of the same. 
The first Italian law with regard to public benevolence was that of 
1862, which had two objects: to systematize and give unity to the vari- 
ous Italian laws upon the subject, and to free them from injurious politi- 
cal interference, leaving the control mainly in their own hands. Italy 
had just escaped from a state of bitter despotism, whose effects had 
been felt even in the administration of charities, making them serve 
political or religious ends, which accounts for the very liberal character CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
171 
of the law of 1862; although according to its provisions, the ad- 
ministration of each institution was obliged to keep an exact account of 
all its property and documents, and to make an annual financial 
request to the proper authorities. Many neglected this, and the experi- 
ence of about twenty-five years has demonstrated that the almost abso- 
lute autonomy then existing was not without its inconveniences, and 
that it might be necessary to strengthen the means of control and 
supervision. 
The first investigating committee was appointed by Sig. Nicutera, at 
that time Minister of the Interior, but a change in the Ministry pre- 
vented their propositions from becoming law. 
In the Congress held in Naples (1879), and in Milan (1880), this 
much needed reform was again discussed, resulting in the appointment 
by the Government in 1880 of a Royal Commission, who were to in- 
vestigate minutely and prepare a report upon the conditions of the 
benevolent institutions throughout the Kingdom. 
The commission, composed of persons most of whom belonged to 
the two houses of Parliament, went seriously and earnestly to work, 
receiving most valuable aid from the minute and carefully prepared 
statistics furnished them by Commendatore Luigi Bodio, the well known 
Director of the Bureau of Statistics in Rome, who had spared no pains 
to collect all information bearing upon the subject.* 
After long and careful studies, occcupying a period of about nine 
years, the reforms proposed by the above commission assumed definite 
form jn the new bill presented to Parliament in February, 1889, by 
Sig. Crispi,t at that time Premier, and an ardent supporter of the new 
reform. This bill, after long debate, was approved in July of the year 
1890. 
Before speaking in detail of this new law it seems desirable to give 
some statistics with regard to all such institutions, collected by the 
Statistical Bureau for the use of the commission, and also some of still 
later date. 
In 1880 there were in Italy 21,769 institutions of charity. These 
were distributed among the different provinces, as indicated in the 
following table: 
*These statistics are contained in ten large volumes, and constitute a most 
valuable monograph which reflects great credit upon our Statistical Bureau. 
t Besides Sig. Crispi, among those who took an active and important part in 
the discussion of this bill, Senator P. Villari, whose writings upon this subject 
are well known, Senator G. Costa and Hon. O. Luchini, who were chairmen of 
their respective committees in the Senate and Chamber, are worthy of mention. Classification of Charities according to the principal 
172 
Enumeration. 
Kinds of Charities. 
Piedmont. 
Lombardy. 
Liguria. 
Venetian 
Provinces. 
I 
A. WITHOUT BOARD AND LODGING. 
Institutions for distributing aims 
1,282 
1.577 
165 
565 
2 
For instruction or educational purposes.... 
151 
124 
26 
55 
3 
For dowries to women about to be married 
170 
639 
43 
211 
4 
For subsidies for poor widows 
24 
5 
5 
For the nursing of infants 
2 
15 
1 
...... 
6 
For orphans and deserted children 
4 
7 
For helping the sick poor in their homes... 
148 
784 
39 
224 
8 
For nursing mothers 
4 
76 
1 
9 
For the aid of prisoners 
3 
I 
IO 
For the help of criminals recently released 
2 
I 
...... 
11 
For the transportation of the sick poor to 
and from hospitals 
12 
For the burial of the dead 
13 
For the saying of masses for the dead and 
other religious objects combined with 
some charitable purpose 
7i 
172 
24 
37 
14 
For exclusively religious purposes 
7 
II 
9 
Total number of institutions not offering 
shelter or refuge 
1,840 
3,427 
299 
1,107 
I 
B. WITH BOARD AND LODGING. 
Hospitals, exclusive of chronic cases 
170 
149 
58 
73 
2 
Seaside hospitals for sick children 
3 
4 
• 2 
3 
Institutions for the benefit of the rachitic.. 
1 
1 
4 
Lying-in hospitals 
2 
I 
5 
Foundling asylums 
11 
11 
6 
I I 
6 
Asylums for nursing infants 
3 
4 
1 
I 
7 
Day nurseries or kindergartens (although 
not corresponding exactly to either) 
284 
126 
53 
23 
8 
Orphan asylums and boarding schools 
91 
79 
18 
43 
9 
Reform schools 
3 
6 
3 
IO 
Houses of industry 
2 
8 
2 
11 
Homes for widows 
4 
1 
2 
12 
Houses of refuge, poorhouses, hospitals 
for chronic cases 
31 
55 
10 
46 
'3 
Insane asylums 
2 
3 
I 
2 
14 
Deaf and dumb asylums 
1 
6 
4 
I5 
Blind asylums 
1 
2 
1 
I 
16 
Other institutions combining several ob- 
jects included above 
!3 
72 
5 
33 
Total number, which offer refuge or 
shelter 
622 
527 
157 
243 
General Total 
2,462 
3,954 
456 
1.35° 
- 
- 
- 
- -■-- OBJECT OF EACH, AT THE END OF THE YEAR 1880. 
i 
O' 
00 
to 
00 
SO 
«- 
m £ : 
so 
Un O> 
ft 
SO 
f to 
V© 
s© 
M ft 
J to 
: 
• to GO 
: to - Ln 
: ~ o GO 
• ~ so to 00 
Emilia. 
1 Ci 
to 
Os 
SO 
GJ 
Os 
OS Go 
GO ' 
ft M 
03 
to 
I ft 
• 
• GO 
: 4. O GO 
Marches. 
1 628 
'ck 
f 
to go • 
to « 
uo : 
>-t 
to 
00 
00 
ft M 
fi 
• Go CXOSO 
• Go CO 0'4- 
Tuscany. 
O 
to 
M 
oo : 
"tO 
O\! 
: to 
• oo 
• tO 
Ln (2 
£: 
• «-h tO Ln 
. f OS Go 
Umbria. 
Os 
<2 
\© 
GO 
to 
-1 '••J ft 
'o co 
ft ft 
o 
ft sO 
so 
SO 
OS Ln 
- 
SO to 
■ COGO OS 
. O SO 
Rome. 
to 
sb 
to 
I-u 
to 
"<0s 
Os 
• 
: to 
Campania. 
c* 
Ln 
~ oo : 
M '©''O' 
• to 
to 
O to 
V© : 
• to O so 
00 
to 
Os 
to 
M 
<0 
sO 
Os 
GO ' 
: w 
"Os 
•M tO 
GO 
. : - oo 
: o : o 
. « -px 00 SO • 4i. so 4- 
Other Neapolitan 
Provinces. 
to 
to 
s© 
: os to 
Sicily. 
UI 
so : 
- ~ 
to to 
• to 
Os 
O G1 : • 
Ln - 
. Go G1 O 
. 4x to 
M 
1 
Sardinia. 
O 
sO 
Ln - 
~ • 
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ft 4x 
ft f . 
co • : 
•• ij so i? 
to 
GO 
to 
o 
r ~ 
00 
f so cxd p 00 
to 
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to Go 
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o 00 
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Kingdom. 
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to 
173 174 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The entire patrimony possessed by all these charitable organizations 
amounted in the year 1880, to 1,890,617,124 francs; withan income 
from the same and from other sources, often including appropriations 
Gross Capital, Gross Income from the same, and Gross Income from other sources.-Expenses 
Incurred for Charitable Objects according to the Statistics of 1880. 
Kinds of Charities. 
Number of 
Charities. 
Gross 
Available 
Capital. 
Kingdom. 
Income. 
Expenses 
Incurred for 
Charitable 
Objects. 
Gross In- 
come from 
Capital. 
Gross In- 
come from 
Capital 
and from 
other sources 
I 
A. WITHOUT BOARD AND LODGING. 
Institutions for distributing alms 
5,821 
Francs. 
267,343,116 
Francs. 
13,087,381 
Francs. 
14,880,137 
Francs. 
7,668,454 
2 
For instruction or educational purposes 
813 
70,043,787 
3,423,973 
3,787,9'9 
1,818,970 
3 
For dowries to women about to be married 
3,o28 
61,989,092 
2,874,626 
3,0! 5,655 
',477,7'4 
4 
For subsidies for poor widows 
47 
1,' 56,197 
57,864 
58,756 
26,341 
5 
For the nursing of infants 
27 
1,235,591 
60,064 
i08,i9i 
80,907 
6 
For orphans and deserted children 
'9 
1,074,662 
66,098 
95,956 
63,129 
7 
For helping the sick poor in their homes 
2,181 
71,433,969 
3,469,908 
3,899,620 
2,256,339 
8 
For nursing mothers 
84 
743,265 
35,96o 
43,'52 
33,283 
9 
For the aid of prisoners 
25 
482,456 
22,406 
24,936 
10,254 
11,678 
IO 
For the help of criminals recently released 
4 
376,482 
17,651 
22,630 
ii 
For the transportation of the sick poor to and from 
hospitals 
2 
6,321 
211 
815 
669 
12 
For the burial of the dead 
3 
92,001 
4,522 
8,401 
4,823 
»3 
For the saying of masses for the dead and other reli- 
gious objects combined with some charitable purpose 
3,770 
105,218,896 
5,319,280 
6,782,591 
3,708,025 
'4 
For exclusively religious purposes 
2,363 
27,900,392 
1,376,123 
',572,630 
776,027 
Total number of Institutions not offering shelter 
or refuge 
18,187 
609,096,227 
29,816,067 
34,301,389 
17,936,613 CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
US 
by the towns or provinces, of 135,133,850 francs; as indicated in the 
following table : 
1 
2 
B. WITH BOARD AND LODGING. 
Hospitals, exclusive of chronic cases 
Seaside hospitals for sick children 
1,209 
13 
2 
600,725,640 
I,108,269 
2 I I,236 
3.985.399 
47,075.044 
28,217,106 
39.969 
5,77 < 
4<,979,<3< 
326,171 
33,28o 
28,044,378 
236,118 
26,309 
3 
4 
5 
Lying-in hospitals 
Foundling asylums 
7 
85 
185,208 
2,027,642 
230,658 
7,777,268 
141,677 
6,720,982 
6 
Asylums for nursing infants 
9 
507,104 
22,337 
111,169 
00,500 
7 
Day nurseries or kindergartens (although not cor- 
787 
33,080,927 
1,486,065 
4,002,460 
3.171,856 
responding exactly to either) 
8 
9 
Orphan asylums and boarding schools 
Reform schools 
894 
14 
31 1.372,477 
5,111,116 
'5,<67,703 
206,840 
20,442,356 
734,382 
<3,630,069 
625,904 
IO 
12 
3,949,030 
167,951 
283,617 
<97,773 
11 
8 
851.747 
42,210 
102,917 
92,748 
I 2 
Houses of refuge, poorhouses, hospitals for chronic 
7,780,782 
301 
'34,341,573 
6,349.959 
10,735,236 
13 
Insane asylums 
14 
'9.I5G595 
593.850 
5,959,<54 
5,oi4,545 
!4 
Deaf and dumb asylums 
17 
6,99<,495 
3,897,652 
339,520 
651,216 
497,866 
15 
Blind asylums 
10 
168,081 
377,214 
291,564 
16 
Other institutions combining several objects included 
109,160,593 
7,086,232 
3,934.4'5 
above 
2CO 
5,212,934 
Total number, which offer refuge or shelter 
3.582 
1,281,520,897 
60,233,146 
100,832,461 
70,487,573 
General Total 
21,769 
1,890,617,124 
90,049,213 
135,133,850 
88,424,186 
- - 176 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION 
The patrimony of all benevolent institutions has considerably in- 
creased throughout the country from 1861 to 1880, as will be seen from 
the following table, which gives the precise amount of this patrimony 
in each region of the kingdom, at those dates. 
Regions. 
Gross Patrimony or Capital, 
Gross Income. 
Percentage of In- 
crease from 1861 to 1880. 
1861 
1880 
1861 
1880 
Of the 
Capital. 
Of the 
Gross In- 
come. 
h rancs. 
Francs. 
Francs. 
Francs. 
Piedmont 
149,730,412 
272,240,552 
11,692,725 
19,405,016 
6,386,116 
81.82 
65-96 
Liguria 
51,234,827 
86,191,398 
3,433,947 
68.23 
85-97 
Lombardy 
276,743,001 
* 69,687,329 
424,956,075 
17,812,068 
26,768,210 
53-56 
50-28 
Venetian Provinces 
134,051,068 
* 7,994,686 
12,081,311 
'5,'36,373 
92-36 
51.12 
Emilia 
109,098,394 
208,972,981 
8,829,133 
9'-55 
71-44 
1 uscany 
109,680,884 
'26,813,364 
6,518,683 
10,534,639 
15-62 
61.61 
Marches 
26,953,276 
55,233,530 
2,181,281 
4,013,435 
104.92 
83 99 
Umbria 
Rome and Province 
22,340,969 
34,241,499 
124,642,179 
190,904,303 
',S10,524 
2,441,498 
8,701,670 
13,760,480 
53-27 
61.63 
Campania 
137 >9O4»711 
9,698,234 
38.43 
41.89 
Other Neapolitan Provinces.. 
55,056,376 
89,976,807 
87,626,388 
3,559,770 
6,503,940 
59-'5 
82.70 
Sicily 
'36,193,457 
5,658,964 
8,768,522 
5'-37 
54-95 
Sardinia 
3,886,406 
8,550,330 
285,455 
632,640 
120.01 
121.63 
Kingdom 
1,102,293,392 
1,890,617,124 
79,'75,470 
'35,'33,850 
t 60.20 
t 59-68 
*The figures for the Venetian Provinces refer to 1867. 
fThis proportion is calculated exclusive of the Roman Province. 
Gross Patrimony and Gross Income at the end of the years 1861 and 1880. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
177 
This patrimony in 1880 was composed of real estate and buildings to 
the value of 888,794,891 francs; and of government bonds and notes 
of credit, amounting to 1,001,825,233 francs. 
The real estate and buildings in 1880 represented an average through- 
out the kingdom of 50.32 per cent, of the whole patrimony ; ranging 
from a maximum of 71.86 per cent, in the Marches to a minimum of 
15.60 per cent, in Tuscany. 
In 1861 the proportion of real estate was 50.91 per cent, of the 
whole, as shown by the following table : 
M Regions. 
U 
Value of Real Estate 
and Buildings. 
Percentage of 
Gross Capital 
in Real Estate 
and Buildings. 
Population 
1881 
1861 
1880 
1861 
1880 
Francs. 
Francs. 
Piedmont 
86,125,582 
14,804,207 
172,118,266 
* 26,522,858 
65,3'5>463 
24,652,483 
115,754,096 
57-S2 
42.52 
3,070,250 
Liguria 
31,289,677 
28.89 
36.30 
892,373 
241,548,714 
58,107,783 
131,881,132 
62.19 
56.84 
3,680,615 
Venetian Provinces 
* 38.06 
43.35 
2,814,173 
Emilia 
59-87 
63.11 
2,183,391 
Tuscany 
'9,777,594 
22.48 
15-60 
2,208,869 
KT arches 
18,540,207 
16,296,915 
39,357,850 
68.79 
71.26 
939,279 
Umhria 
21,300,606 
63,119,460 
q6,2I 5,891 
72.95 
62.21 
572,060 
Rome and Provinces 
Campania .......... 
50.64 
903,472 
77>O48,79O 
34,090,703 
55-87 
50.40 
2,896,577 
Other Neapolitan Provinces.. 
41,145,204 
26,329,975 
61.92 
46.85 
4,688,666 
Sicily 
24,037,497 
26.72 
19.33 
2,927,901 
Sardinia 
1,621,691 
2,963,912 
4'-73 
34-66 
682,002 
Kingdom 
t 561,174,662 
888,791,894 
t 50.91 
t 50-32 
28,459,628 
- 
- -- 
* For the Venetian Provinces the above figures refer to 1867. 
t Not including the Province of Rome. 
I This proportion is calculated exclusive of the Roman Province. 178 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The amount of capital invested in government bonds (placing them 
at their nominal value), increased from 132,798,521 francs in 1861, to 
454,929,798 francs in 1880; the latter including, however, the province 
of Rome, whose charitable organizations in the latter year held bonds 
to the amount of 27,920,261 francs. 
The increase of this kind of investment between 1861 and 1880 has 
been 322 millions of francs. The largest increase took place in Lom- 
bardy, Sardinia, Piedmont and Emilia. 
Amount of Capital invested in Government Bonds. 
1861. 
1880. 
Regions. 
Francs. 
Francs. 
Piedmont 
25,014,910 
108,466,201 
Lombardy 
.... 17,094,389 
79,902,420 
Venetian Provinces 
.... 12,883,920 
31,258,201 
Liguria 
••• 9'37°,474 
27,743,949 
Emilia 
... 5,228,431 
21,050,935 
Marches 
.... 932,806 
3,284,718 
Tuscany 
•••• 15,775,946 
44,211,915 
Umbria 
922,245 
2,682,633 
Rome and Provinces 
27,920,261 
Campania 
•••• 22,556,855 
44,674,927 
Other Neapolitan Provinces.. .. 
.... 5,656,555 
17,733,295 
Sicily 
.... 16,928,077 
44,128,513 
Sardinia 
413,913 
1,871,830 
Kingdom 
• • • i32,778,52i 
454,929,798 
One of the things most criticized by the commission, and one for 
which a new law seemed especially necessary, was with regard to the 
excessive expense of administration, the heavy taxation, and other 
burdens. 
The total amount of these, in some cases, represented a conspicuous 
part of the income. In 1880 these three items alone amounted to 
38,985,393 francs (43.29 per cent, of the total), which, deducted from 
the whole income (135,133)850), leaves 96,148,455 francs, to be dis- 
posed of for charities. 
Of this sum, only 84,5 16,283 francs are available for actual charitable 
purposes; 3,907,903 francs being for religious purposes in connection CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
179 
with the institutions of benevolence, and 6,296,425 for exclusively reli- 
gious objects (fpese di culto}, the latter representing 7.45 per cent, of 
the entire sum expended for charities. This proportion varies greatly in 
the different provinces. Out of every 100 francs expended for benevo- 
lence in Piedmont, 2.93 per cent, is for religious objects solely; in 
Lombardy, 4.42 per cent.; in Tuscany, 5.19 per cent.; in Rome and 
provinces, 6.26 per cent. The greatest proportion is in Southern Italy, 
being 36.16 per cent, in Campania, and 18.01 per cent, in Sicily. 
With regard to the institutions for the distribution of alms, we are in 
position to give with accuracy the number of persons benefited by them, 
which in 1887 amounted to 769,809 for the entire kingdom, out of a 
population estimated December 31st, 1886, at 29,942,142 inhabitants. 
The amount distributed by the same institutions for charitable pur- 
poses in the same year reached the sum of 10,995,425 francs. The 
greater part of this amount was furnished by the larger cities and towns, 
as would be naturally supposed. The number of persons aided by 
them averages 26 for every 1,000 inhabitants throughout the kingdom. 
If we make comparison with other countries of Europe, we find in Ger- 
many,* in 1885, an average of 34 individuals for every 1,000 inhabi- 
tants, who received aid in the same way. 
In France, f in 1886, the bureaux de bienfaisance gave help to 
1,440,746 persons, in a total population (according to the census of 
1886,) of 38,218,903 inhabitants, which would make an average of 
38 for every 1,000. 
In England and Wales, this proportion is represented by 22 for every 
1,000 in the year 1886, 594,522 poor people having received aid, out 
of a population of 27,499,044 inhabitants. These comparisons, how- 
ever, have only a limited value, as it is impossible to know in all cases 
whether there were duplications in the persons aided by the same 
institution, or by others, during the same year. 
If then we make a comparison with regard to the average amount dis- 
tributed per individual, we have in Italy an average of 15 francs for 
every person aided. In France this same average, in 1886, was about 
20 francs, the bureaux de bienfaisance having distributed the sum of 
30,375,219 francs among 1,440,744 persons. This comparison we can- 
not extend to Germany and England, because in the institutions of 
* V. Statistische Jahrbuch fur das Detitsche Retch file 1888. 
t V. Annuaire Statistique, 1886. 180 
international congress of charities and correction. 
these countries, the amounts distributed by this kind of institutions are 
not given separately, but are included in the general sum of charities 
dispensed by various benevolent institutions. 
As we have indicated above, the towns *and provinces, by making a 
yearly appropriation, contribute more or less to the support of the hospi- 
tals, insane asylums, orphanages, and other benevolent institutions of 
which we have already spoken. These appropriations by the towns and 
provinces, for the year 1889, amounted to 20,273,500 francs for the 
latter, and to 42,683,917 for the former, making a total of 62,957,414 
francs.* 
Expenditures for Charities by the Provinces and Towns during 
THE YEAR 1889. 
Regions. 
Expenditures 
by the 
Provinces. 
Francs. 
Expenditures 
by the 
Towns. 
Francs. 
Total. 
Francs. 
Piedmont 
2,294,226 
2,472,662 
4,766,888 
Liguria 
877,710 
1,276,863 
2054,573 
Lombardy 
3,190,696 
6,626,627 
9,817,323 
Venetian Provinces 
2,241,851 
5,969,444 
8,211,295 
Emilia 
2,122,339 
4,165,424 
6,287,763 
rl uscany 
i,752,m 
4,669,275 
6,421,386 
Marches 
682,680 
1,993,109 
2,675,789 
Perugia-Umbria 
382,630 
1,208,556 
1,591,186 
Rome and Provinces 
845,018 
3,609,055 
4,454,073 
Campania 
1,605,924 
2,582,714 
4,188,638 
Other Neapolitan Provinces.. 
2,345,162 
4,313,858 
6,659,020 
Sicily 
1,846,103 
3,159,622 
5,005,725 
Sardinia 
87,050 
636,708 
723,758 
Kingdom 
20,273,500 
42,683,917 
62,957,417 
About half of the above total amount is for the maintenance of 
the sick, insane, and foundlings, as will be seen by the following 
statistics: 
* In the year 1891 the provinces alone contributed 20,724,960 francs. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
181 
Francs. 
For salaries for physicians, surgeons and midwives 12,851,542 
For general sanitary service 7,755,984 
For the maintenance of foundlings 4,834,178 
For contributions to hospitals 4,758,164 
To homes for the poor and infirm 2,768,127 
Subsidies to the poor in general 3,071,471 
Appropriations by the Provinces in 1889. 
Francs. 
For the maintenance of insane poor10,730,766 
For the maintenance of foundlings 6,592,093 
For contributions to the poorhouses, to colleges, hospi- 
tals, deaf and dumb asylums, and other benevolent 
institutions 2,076,435 
These appropriations are for the greater part* included in the gross 
income of all the charitable institutions, as already given, and do not 
constitute an addition to the amount of that income, as above referred 
to. 
Of late years the number of legacies and of new institutions for 
charitable purposes has considerably increased, as will be seen by the 
following statistics, published by the Bureau of Statistics in Rome. 
From 1881 to 1891, inclusive, the new foundations and legacies 
amounted to 11,7x5 with a total patrimony or capital of 186,751,696 
francs, of which 84,543,103 is represented by real estate and buildings, 
and 102,206,593 by other property. 
The average increase in the eleven years, 1881-1891, of the patri- 
mony has been about 17 millions per year. 
The new institutions founded during this period were 940, represent- 
ing altogether a capital of 75,184,934 francs, the remaining amount 
being represented by legacies or donations to institutions already exist- 
ing. 
The largest sums were given in Lombardy (42 millions), Piedmont 
(42 millions) and Liguria (36 millions). 
Next come the Emilian provinces with about 12 millions, the Venetian 
provinces with xo millions, and Campania with about 9 millions, etc., 
etc. 
Appropriations by the Towns in 1889. 
*The salaries of district physicians would not, for example, be included. 182 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
With regard to the kinds of institutions, the hospitals received the 
largest amount of donations (62,030,545 francs) and next came the 
poorhouses with new donations amounting to 21,078,972 francs; day 
nurseries and kindergartens with 19,709,167 francs; orphanages 
and colleges with 18,233,507, institutions for distributing alms with 
27,782,194 francs. 
Having examined the various institutions of the kingdom somewhat 
in detail, with their respective patrimonies, let us now consider the new 
law of 1890 in its relation to them. 
The institutions of charity coming under this new law, are best defined 
by quoting from the law itself. 
Art. I. All institutions which render assistance to the poor, both in 
the state of health and sickness. 
II. Those which provide for their education, or instruction in some 
profession, art or trade, or which tend to better their moral or economi- 
cal condition. 
III. Savings banks and co-operative institutions. 
One of the most important changes introduced by the new law was 
with reference to the so-called " Congregations of Charity" (fJongrega- 
zione di Car it a.') These existed under the old law and were to be found 
in every city or town, being a sort of associated charities under which 
were included all small local charities derived from bequests, which had 
been left to the care of the town instead of to separate executors or 
trustees. Besides these, there was still a large number of charitable 
organizations, which were managed independently, resulting in much 
unnecessary expense, a large part of their incomes being consumed in 
their administration. On the contrary, under the new law, all such 
institutions, whose income did not exceed 5,000 francs each per annum, 
became included in the Congregation of Charity. By thus simplifying 
the administration, the expenses are greatly reduced, leaving a much 
larger available income for the purpose for which it was destined. Not 
only these, but other institutions of charity were included, the terms of 
whose bequests could no longer be fulfilled owing to the changed con- 
ditions of society; for instance, those for the liberation of captives taken 
by pirates in the middle ages ; those established for shelter of pilgrims 
coming to Rome, rendered now quite unnecessary by hotels and other 
places of accommodation. Funds left for the outfit of poor nuns on 
entering a convent also found a place here, i. e. before 1870, after which 
date convents and other religious organizations underwent a complete CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
183 
change; also money left to minister to those condemned to death, 
capital punishment being now abolished. 
The administrators of these associated charities* are appointed by the 
city council, one-fourth of them being changed every year, and are 
responsible to it; thus many of the abuses which existed under the 
old regime, when they were controlled largely by priests, especially 
in the small towns, are avoided. 
Under the new law, all institutions of chartiy, whether included 
in the Congregazione di Carita, or not, are obliged to keep an exact 
account or inventory of everything pertaining to them, and render a 
financial report each year to the proper governmental authorities. The 
trustees or administrators who neglect to fulfil this duty cannot be re- 
elected for a second term, and no one can be appointed as director or 
superintendent of an institution of benevolence, whose position or office 
is incompatible with its best interests. 
Under the new law an opportunity is also given for observation and 
criticism by the general public, the government authorities offering to 
try any case at their own expense on the deposit of security by the 
plaintiff. 
Upon the Minister of the Interior devolves the general oversight of 
the work as to the general condition of each institution, and as to 
whether it is conducted in accordance with its own statutes and regula- 
tions, and in accordance with the law. 
For one to receive the benefits of charitable work, he must haxe lived 
more than five years in the town where he is asking help, or have been 
born in the town, without regard to legitimacy of birth. 
The above are the main points of interest in the new law regulating 
charities, which was heartily welcomed by all serious minded people, 
as abuses had become very great under the former system. Ihou- 
sands of institutions of very small income allowed themselves a very 
large number of managers, with high salaries and a right to pension 
their widows and children; while many hospitals, worth millions, em- 
ployed the larger part of their income in the same extravagant and 
expensive administration, instead of for the needy sick or poor. 
We can easily see how, by all this mismanagement, begging and 
indiscriminate almsgiving were increased and encouraged, especially as 
no effort was made to educate the poor to a sense of self-dependence. 
* Women too may be elected to this office. 184 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
If the ancient benevolence of the middle ages was the giving of alms, 
modern charity is work and education. The latter, however, is no 
less prompted by the heart, but rather the heart is guided by a greater 
intelligence and deeper appreciation of the needs of the poor man, who 
should not be encouraged in idleness and improvidence, thus rendering 
him an object of envy to the man who works; but true charity should 
be preventive and should help him to help himself. 
The new law of public charities is imbued with this spirit and we 
may sanguinely expect great and lasting results from its execution, 
results which will be felt more and more as the years go by, and will help 
to raise the poor and degraded classes into a state of greater self-de- 
pendence and usefulness. 
Vide: "Atti della Commissione d'Inchiesta delle Opere Pie."Roma, 1889-90. 
Tipografia Nazionale. (9 Volumes.) 
"Statistica delle Opere Pie of 31 Dicembre, 1880, e dei lasciti di bene- 
ficenza fatti negli Anni 1881-91." Roma. Tipografia Nazionale 
(10 Volumes.) 
"La Beneficenza Romana dagli antichi tempi fino ad oggi." Studio 
storico critico dell'Avvocato Quirino Querini. Roma, 1892. Tipogra- 
fia Tiberina. (1 Volume.) 
Rivista di Beneficenza, edita in Roma e diretta dal Comre. G. Scotti. 
"La Riforma della Beneficenza," an article by P. Villari, published in 
the Nuova Antologia of May, 1890. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
185 
THE INTERNATIONAL TREATMENT OF CHARITY 
QUESTIONS. 
BY BARON VON REITZENSTEIN, FREIBURG, GERMANY. 
] AN ABSTRACT OF THE PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FIRST SECTION OF THE CONGRESS.] 
The growth of internationalism as a theory and an ideal force in the 
treatment of charity problems is first contrasted with the limitations of 
nationalism, as shown in legislation having in view the circumstances of 
a single country, in the narrowing sphere of questions to be discussed, 
in the larger number of men of practice chosen into the commissions as 
opposed to men of theory, and finally in the waiting attitude assumed 
by the Paris Congress of 1889 towards the question of the systematic 
organization of charities on an international basis. The International 
Congress of Charities now to assemble in Chicago will find this open 
question awaiting its consideration. A solution can be reached only 
through a study of the systems prevailing in single countries together 
with their conditions and limitations. The further question, whether 
such existing systems may be transplanted to other countries, or univer- 
sally applied, forms a second stage of the general inquiry. 
The French, Italian, English, American and German systems are 
then compared. The test to each system is applied in the question : 
What has been done to counteract and overcome the defects and limi- 
tations of national and local administration of public charities? Very 
high praise is awarded to the English-American charity organization 
societies as a corrective from the point of view of charities privately 
organized, but the German (Elberfeld) system is given the highest place 
among existing methods, as a successful development along the line of 
public (State) charities, but also as placing the administration of charity 
where it properly belongs, in the hands of the township, while making 
the freest use of the unpaid services of responsible private citizens. The 
charity organization societies represent a healthy reaction among 
private circles, and have shown that they are able to organize and 
centralize already existing private efforts, and to extend and individ- 
ualize the benefits of charity; but they by no means supply the place 
of the Elberfeld system, nor does their existence preclude the possibility 186 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
that the Elberfeld system may be found available for other countries 
than Germany, Austria and German Switzerland. In the first place, a 
public administration of charities (/. e. one controlled by State and 
local authority) offers a better guarantee of stability than the fluctuating 
views of private associations; but it is particularly in the open country, 
away from the large cities, that the greater organic usefulness of the 
Elberfeld system is seen, fixed as it is upon the basis of local adminis- 
tration and with responsible citizens called in as aids. 
America is peculiarly fortunate in possessing the township system, and 
were it not for the fear of political corruption a system similar to the 
German could be applied. The author recommends the point of view 
of Professor Peabody, in approaching this part of the question. 
The educating influence of the charity organization societies upon 
the circles of society engaged in the work is rated very high. Here 
the powers are to be schooled which may afterwards be used in the 
administration of public charities, and the charity organization socie- 
ties may from this point of view be regarded as a movement of transition 
towards a system similar to the German. 
The author, in closing, admits Germany's urgent need of a systematic 
organization of private charities, as supplementing the system of state 
charities, and recommends to his countrymen the study of the charity 
organization movement in England and America. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
187 
THE ELBERFELD SYSTEM OF POOR RELIEF. 
BY DR. THEODORE MUNSTERBERG, OF HAMBURG. 
[TRANSLATION.] 
I. 
In Germany, except in Alsace and Lorraine, the care of the poor is 
recognized as a duty devolving upon the public authorities. This was 
felt to be a public duty in the various German states even before the 
foundation of the Empire. At that time, however, each state was 
entirely independent of the others in the matter of charities; so that 
the same kind of poor relief was not given to persons coming from 
another state as to the inhabitants of the state itself. When the Ger- 
man Empire was founded, the principle was laid down that the inhabi- 
tants of all the states which belonged to the Empire, were citizens of 
the Empire and were entitled to the same privileges in all the different 
states. The origin of this relation was the recognition at that time of 
the general right of free domicile for all citizens of the German Empire, 
and it is of the greatest economic importance. Its effect upon the poor 
laws was also considerable, inasmuch as it not only permitted a man to 
change his residence and practise his trade in his new home, but it com- 
pelled the state in which he had settled to undertake his support should 
he in any way become a pauper. 
This duty of taking care of the poor {Armenpflege) was not, however, 
imposed directly upon the states or the state officials. It was committed 
in the course of its historical development entirely to the civil com- 
munes (Gemeinderip The old principle, that each commune must take 
care of its own poor, was extended, so that help must be given to any 
German who has lived for two consecutive years within the limits of a 
commune. But in order that communes, with which indigent persons 
have not established close relations by a residence of over two years, 
may not be unjustly burdened, the State, or a large district determined 
by it, assumes the care of those who have not been residents of any 
commune for a period of at least two years. 
A pauper has no legal claim corresponding to the duty of relief, a 
duty which, indeed, is imposed by the arbitrary action of the individual 
citizen himself in his voluntary choice of residence. Only state officials, 188 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
appointed to supervise the affairs of the communes, are authorized to 
use forcible measures to hold a commune to the performance of this 
duty. A cardinal principle of the German poor laws is that no 
citizen of the German Empire, who is in distress, no matter to what 
state or commune he may belong, shall remain without such help as 
may be necessary to maintain him. For this reason it is provided that 
the commune in which a pauper is residing must in case of need at once 
furnish temporary relief, without regard to the question whether the 
responsibility rests on it alone. 
The principle of law in regard to the duty of the commune with 
reference to the care of the poor, which rests on the fact of residence, is 
purely a financial one. Its object is to equalize and distribute accruing 
expenses as much as possible among the different communes. The 
extent and nature of the relief is, however, entirely independent of any 
financial question, and must be bestowed impartially upon every person 
in every part of every commune. 
Nevertheless this principle is rather an ideal general principle of 
law, than one which can be universally put into practice. For the 
law rests on an assumption which is not in fact true, namely, that the 
communes of the German Empire are in all respects alike. But in 
reality they are alike only in their political position and by no means 
so in their extent and resources. The realization of the principle 
of giving the same sort of relief to the poor everywhere is essentially 
dependent upon the extent and resources of the communes. It is 
quite evident that a little village with two or three hundred inhabi- 
tants must have a system of poor relief entirely different from those 
of great cities like Berlin and Hamburg. So poor relief must be very 
different in purely agricultural regions from what it is in municipal 
communes, and a poor commune must maintain a different system from 
that of a rich one. 
It is important to make these brief remarks in the beginning, because 
only with them in mind is it possible to understand how efforts in 
the sphere of poor relief, not only in Germany, but throughout the world, 
have been guided not so much by prescribed laws as by the force of 
circumstances. 
So that, without regard to the law, there is a much greater resemblance 
between the efforts in New York and Berlin for the solution of the pauper 
question than between those of a small German village and those of 
Berlin. For, with or without law, no great city can suffer a part of its CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
189 
population to remain in a state of pauperism; and, with or without law, 
it will look for the same kinds of remedies to meet the existing distress. 
Of course national customs and political events alter the situation; yet 
the tendency remains essentially the same. 
The chief characteristic of this tendency is the effort which is made 
to relieve the helpless person in such a manner that his bodily need- 
lack of food, clothing, shelter, etc.-may be supplied. In order to 
insure such relief, it is necessary first of all to have societies which 
will consider the necessities of different cases as they arise, and will 
select the most appropriate methods for relieving distress. The 
larger the community, the greater is the need for such societies; 
the greater the number of societies, the greater is the difficulty ex- 
perienced in the methodical and practical direction of their efforts. 
This is illustrated by the contrast between a large city and a rural 
community. In the latter every one knows every one else, and knows 
exactly to what extent they need relief. But it frequently happens 
in small communities that the means are lacking for the relief of 
distress. There may be, for example, a lack of proper hospitals, prac- 
tised surgeons, etc. In a large city, on the other hand, one citizen 
knows practically nothing in regard to the affairs of others, while the 
means for alleviating suffering are numerous. A bad system of chari- 
ties often exists in a small community, therefore, because of the lack of 
suitable appliances; in a large city, because of a lack of organization 
which prevents a proper use of existing resources. So it is compara- 
tively easy to help a small community, because it is only a matter of 
money. But in a great city, one dare not be too hopeful, because 
there the chief question is "Organization." 
II. 
Organization 1 This is the magic word which alone can solve the 
difficult problems of poor relief. Without proper organization every 
charitable movement must remain incomplete and unsatisfactory, and 
will be often hurtful rather than helpful. For the financial, moral and 
economic results of poor relief do not depend solely upon the laying 
down of certain universal principles, but quite as much upon the consider- 
ation and treatment of each individual case which may come to light. 
Not only is it a question of finding out the extent and nature of the needs 
of individual cases, but it is much more important that the manifold causes 
which bring about their unhealthy condition be studied and determined. 190 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The variety of unfortunate and painful mental and bodily conditions 
through which a man must pass to reach the level of a pauper is simply 
without limit. And as every individual differs from every other in his 
manner of life, and in his capacity for making a living according to his 
moral, mental and physical endowments, so a man requires such treat- 
ment as will correspond exactly to his wants, and to the particular 
circumstances which give rise to his need. It is not sufficient to recog- 
nize this as applicable to any one particular case or occasion, or to bestow 
a single gift only. There must be a continuing acquaintance with 
and study of the cases, and a continuous prosecution of the work among 
the poor. For relief must neither stop arbitrarily nor be kept up 
through caprice or carelessness longer than is really necessary. 
But to keep up study and oversight of this kind in a really effective 
way is possible only by securing a large body of persons who are willing 
and capable of doing this kind of work. In other words, there must 
always be two classes, those who receive and those who give; and the 
latter must be perfectly familiar with their work and with the conditions 
which surround the poorer classes, so that they may know how to direct 
their gifts in such a manner that they may do most good. 
Such are the true functions of systematic poor relief. To regulate its 
activity, to establish co-operation of the right sort on correct princi- 
ples, this is the task of organization. 
The numerous systems which underlie charity organization in no way 
recognize this universal and fundamental requirement. For a demand 
for individualization is everywhere heard. It is found in the charities 
of the old Christian societies and in those of the medieval church, 
no less than in the schemes of the end of the last century, which were 
due to the rise of the spirit of enlightenment. Still we are met 
with the complaint now, as formerly, that poor relief is both inade- 
quate and expensive that the claims of the poor are on the increase, 
and that in many cases deserving persons are not properly cared for. 
And when these complaints become too loud and the traces of misman- 
agement too evident, an attempt is always made to improve the con- 
dition of things. 
It is not possible to consider the history of such attempts at this 
point. Only let it be borne in mind that everywhere this striking 
fact appears, that in small communities there is usually a lack of 
means, and occasionally also a lack of inclination to employ them; 
while in the larger communities, as a rule, the lack of system is what is CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
chiefly to be deplored. 1 hus every attempt at improvement leads 
immediately back to the question of proper organization, of an organi- 
zation which will correspond to the cardinal principle of good, healthy 
poor relief, namely, the principle of individualization. 
To the German city of Elberfeld belongs the honor of bringing this 
principle again to life, and of having carried it out in a model manner. 
The Elberfeld system, which was established by an ordinance passed on 
the ninth of July, 1852, and has therefore been in use for forty years, has 
met with universal approval, and now stands as the type of a good and 
appropriate system of poor relief. 
The following are its most essential principles : 
(«) The whole city is so divided into precincts ( Quartiere) that usu- 
ally there are not more than four paupers within the limits of any pre- 
cinct. When one precinct is overburdened, relief is obtained by dis- 
tributing a number of paupers among those less heavily burdened. 
An overseer of the poor is appointed for each district. The overseer 
is the most important agent in the relief of the poor. He has to visit 
the poor in his district at least once in fourteen days, to acquaint 
himself with their circumstances, especially as to the existence of prop- 
erty or income from other sources, from labor, etc., to record the 
results of his investigations, and to act as an educator to the needy and 
the members of their families. He must be the friend and adviser of 
the poor, but must strictly require good behavior and order; and it is 
especially his duty to bring vicious and idle persons before the police 
courts. 
(£) The precincts are united into districts (Bezirke), and each dis- 
trict is put under the direction of a district chairman {Bezirksvorsteher}. 
The executive body of a district is the district board (Bezirksversannu- 
lling), which consists of the district chairman and all the active over- 
seers of the district. One of the essential points of the system is, that 
all the overseers participate in the deliberations concerning what aid 
shall be given, and only such aid is given as is decided upon in joint 
consultation. 
This is an important step in advance of the older systems. Formerly 
wherever the plan was adopted of having districts and overseers, the 
latter were merely reporters, while the final decision remained entirely 
with an executive board to which they reported. In the Elberfeld 
system they constitute the executive body; thus their interest in the 
cases which present themselves in the districts is considerably strength- 
191 192 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
ened, and the feeling of personal responsibility heightened. They 
learn to appreciate more fully the varied nature of the work, because 
they are not limited to an acquaintance with their own cases, but also 
learn from every case in the district which is brought up for discus- 
sion. The meetings foster a spirit of neighborly harmony and give rise 
to varied personal relations among the members, who otherwise might 
remain unknown to one another. And the meetings are of direct ben- 
efit to the work itself, for frequently more than one of the overseers 
know the circumstances and reputation of a pensioner; and, at any 
rate, the general discussion of the various domestic and social relations 
which come up for consideration is more thorough than it otherwise 
would be. Evidently these regular gatherings enlarge and increase the 
sum total of knowledge on the subject of poor relief, which is obtained 
step by step from many different kinds of cases. 
The district chairman presides over the meetings of the district boards, 
while the overseers bring' before the meeting the different cases to be 
acted upon, about which they have collected information. Even when 
one of the overseers is compelled, in a case of extreme necessity, to 
grant temporary assistance without having obtained the consent of the 
district board, he is expected afterwards to bring the matter up for 
approval at a later meeting. 
(<;) The keystone of the system is the central administrative board 
(Haupiverwaltung). Its more important offices are filled by representa- 
tives of the municipal government. This body exercises a general 
oversight of the districts, and considers complaints and such cases 
as naturally come before such a body. It must study the conditions 
of the poorer classes and determine the most appropriate means for 
relieving them. It must see that the funds contributed for the relief of 
the poor are expended in the most advantageous manner, and, in short, 
it must do everything of a general or more important character that 
may be of service in the advancement of this branch of government. 
The connecting link between this board and the overseers is the dis- 
trict chairman. He is responsible for the carrying out of the poor 
ordinances, and must see that all cases are treated on uniform princi- 
ples. He also receives the communications, decisions and directions 
of the central board, and is expected to make them known to his over- 
seers and his district board. On the other hand, he receives reports 
from the overseers and transmits them, as well as the decisions of the 
district board, to the central board. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
193 
It is evident that under the Elberfeld system the heavy burden is 
borne in the best way by many shoulders, and that a livelier and more 
active interest and co-operation are secured from a large number of 
citizens in the economic, as well as in the financial workings of poor 
relief. Besides, it is possible for the directors, because of the small size 
of the board, to survey the whole field and thereby insure uniformity 
in the administration of poor relief. 
GO The offices of overseer, district chairman and members of the 
central board are to be distinguished from the honorary offices (Ehren- 
amter} of the business department, which will be mentioned below 
under The persons holding these latter positions are selected 
from the citizens and receive no remuneration for their services. This 
is not peculiar to the system, for the principle of honorary office exists 
in all forms of municipal administration, and in all other branches of 
government. Only the highest positions, in which undivided atten- 
tion to the duties of the office is required, and which are to be held for 
a considerable length of time, are filled by paid officials. The law 
makes the acceptance of these honorary positions obligatory. As a rule 
however, no compulsion is necessary. 
Still, these honorary positions are of peculiar importance in poor 
relief, because no other branch of government shows such bad results 
when left to paid officials only. For in the care of the poor there is 
one thing which cannot be secured by even the truest devotion to one's 
office, and which can never be obtained under a bureaucracy, namely, 
the fostering of neighborly relations between man and man, the practi- 
cal exercise of what we express by the charming word "Charity." 
For poor relief relates not to one side only of civil and business life, 
but to human life as a whole, which only true charity can succeed in 
reaching. It has, therefore, been laid down as a settled principle that, 
in the administration of poor relief, the paid official should be kept in 
the background, and the chief responsibility should rest on the honorary 
officers. 
(<?) One of the cardinal principles of the Elberfeld system is that no 
grants can be made for an unlimited space of time. It is prescribed 
that relief may be given for only fourteen days at a time, and permis- 
sion for its continuance can be obtained only from the district boards. 
So it is possible for a needy person, by means of successive renewals of 
grants, to remain a pensioner for a long time, possibly for life. Continu- 
ance of the relief is, however, never assured. Hence arises the necessity 194 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
of continually making new examinations into the circumstances of the 
pensioners, in order to look after them properly, and to prevent their 
thinking that their support is guaranteed. From a practical and finan- 
cial point of view this is very important, since by a change in a person's 
circumstances, as, for example, the death of a member of the family, 
the inheritance of money, the remarriage of a widow, the finding work, 
etc., the need of help may entirely cease or at least be lessened. On 
the other hand, the allowance may for similar reasons-such as an 
increase or sickness in the family, loss of work, etc.-be for a while 
increased and a greater though temporary want may be taken into con- 
sideration. 
(/) There is a difference between the management of indoor and out- 
door relief. Of course in both cases it is the duty of the overseer 
to make the first investigation of the case. But it is only in the case 
of outdoor relief that the district board decides as to the nature and 
extent of the relief to be given, while in cases of indoor relief, it can 
only express an opinion as to whether relief should be given. The 
central board decides, upon the recommendation of the district board, 
whether indoor relief shall be given and what its nature shall be, 
as, for instance, permanent assignment to asylums for the infirm, the 
blind or the deaf and dumb, orphans' homes and similar institutions. 
Another exception is made in the case of indoor relief with reference 
to the time for which relief may be given, namely, that persons may at 
once be placed in an institution for a long period of time or even for 
life. 
(g) In addition to the methods of administration already mentioned, 
there is a well managed business department. This department is not 
independent like the tax and police department. It keeps, so to speak, 
the ledger of charitable work, and furnishes to agents proper forms for 
making uniform reports of their observations. It performs the clerical 
work of the central board, places before it the resolutions of the district 
boards and records its decisions. It collects complete information 
regarding the various persons relieved and makes abstracts of the facts, 
so that they may be easily accessible to the overseers when necessary. 
Finally, it manages the finances of the organization. It pays out all 
money as directed by the district boards, and delivers all orders neces- 
sary to enable the overseers to give relief in money or to buy supplies, 
such as clothing, shoes, beds, etc., for the persons to be relieved. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
195 
It is not possible to go into all the details of the work of this depart- 
ment, yet it is necessary to emphasize the fact, that the importance of 
the functions of the business management must not be underestimated. 
The wider the scope of the department, the more important it is that 
its system of bookkeeping and of collecting information should be clear 
and intelligible. 
Should a larger community desire to remodel its system of charities 
after that of Elberfeld, it would be well for it to thoroughly acquaint 
itself with the work of the business department of a city of its own size, 
where the Elberfeld system has been introduced. It may be-mentioned 
that Cologne and I rankfort, cities of 200,000 and 300,000 inhabitants, 
have each in operation a model and satisfactory business department, 
patterned after that of the Elberfeld system. Hamburg reformed its 
system of charities on April 1st of the present year, and at the same 
time recognized the necessity of making a complete change in its busi- 
ness department. 
III. Application of the Elberfeld system to conditions prevailing in 
larger cities. 
The Elberfeld system has run a victorious course through Germany, 
and we are told that it has also attracted attention in England and 
France. The Rhenish cities of Germany, such as Cologne, Duisburg, 
Crefeld, Mulheim, etc., for reasons similar to those which existed in 
Elberfeld, recognized the need of reform in their systems of charities, 
and their attention was directed towards the success of the system 
adopted in Elberfeld. Among other large cities adopting the system, 
may be mentioned Leipzig, Dresden, Magdeburg, Konigsberg and 
Frankfort-on-the-Main. It is rernakable that nearly all of these cities 
were induced to reorganize their systems by the same causes, and that 
they have had almost the same experiences as Elberfeld in adopting its 
system. Almost everywhere complaints had been made regarding the 
increase of begging, the disorderly conduct of the indigent, lack of 
method and insufficient relief. Wherever greater attention was given, 
a better administration adopted, and, above all, where the number of 
overseers was increased and they were permitted to take part and vote 
in the meetings, there was a very marked improvement in the condition 
of the poor, while at the same time the expenditures for poor relief 
decreased. No doubt, in the beginning there was a noticeable increase 
in expenditure, because, by increased attention to relief work, many 196 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
indigent persons were brought to light, who until then had been lan- 
guishing in misery. 
It would, however, be unwise to adopt the Elberfeld system in all its 
details without careful revision, or to introduce exactly the same system 
of administration everywhere. In the first place, there exists a consid- 
erable difference in the character of the population of various cities. 
While Elberfeld has a rather settled population, composed mostly of 
skilled workmen, the towns in the German coal region, the large sea- 
ports, and especially the metropolis, have a very unsettled population 
coming from all parts of the Empire and composed to a large extent of 
unskilled laborers. Under such circumstances it is more difficult to 
understand the general social situation or to become thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the special needs of the poorer classes. Besides, one does 
not find such neighborly relations among the inhabitants of larger cities, 
and therefore many of the propositions upon which the Elberfeld system 
is based do not apply there. It must also be remembered, that in the 
cities there are certain districts in which the poorer classes predominate, 
while there are others which are occupied almost entirely by the wealth- 
ier classes. It is, therefore, almost impossible to divide the whole city 
into definite precincts, and assign each one to an overseer, because in 
some districts the overseers would be overburdened with work, while in 
others there would be nothing to do. Sometimes a single house con- 
tains more paupers than the overseer of the precinct in which it is situ- 
ated can attend to. Thus the principle of granting relief only for 
short periods, which is a most important provision, cannot always be 
carried out under such conditions, because an examination of all the 
cases every two weeks would require more time and energy than the 
board could give to it. Finally, we must consider that in larger cities 
close relations between the district and central boards cannot be main- 
tained, on account of the great number of the former, and that the 
intervention of a decentralizing body is necessary. It is probable that 
Berlin will not be able to continue its system of poor relief much longer- 
especially when its numerous suburbs are incorporated and the popula- 
tion is thereby increased by two millions-unless it inaugurates a strong 
decentralization by administrative circuits presided over bv paid offi- 
cials. 
In accordance with the views above expressed, the city of Hamburg, 
having a population in round numbers of 600,000, has recently effected 
a change in its system of poor relief. Hamburg also regards the over- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
seer as an essential agent in relief work. Each overseer is not, how- 
ever, assigned to a fixed territory, bounded by certain streets and house 
numbers. Instead of each district being divided into definite precincts, 
the number of districts is increased-to ninety for the presentand 
each district placed in charge of a chairman. lhe latter has a corps 
of fifteen or twenty overseers at his command, to each of whom he 
assigns such cases as he thinks best. It is evident that there cannot be 
as close a relation between the overseer and the paupers as in Elberfeld, 
because the former is not limited to a small fixed territory, but is 
assigned to individual cases which may be scattered over a moderately 
large area. Of course, for practical reasons, the field of work of each 
visitor is generally near his own home. As a consequence of this 
arrangement, there are greater demands made upon the chairman of a 
district, because it is only through him that the overseer comes in con- 
tact with the person requiring relief. In Hamburg, as a rule, an over- 
seer must take charge of a larger number of cases than in Elberfeld. 
About six to eight cases are assigned to each overseer in Hamburg. In 
order that overseers may not be too severely taxed, a plan has been 
adopted which is not very desirable, namely, that in certain cases 
relief may be given for a longer period of time than two weeks-even 
as long as six months-without a re-investigation. This is permitted 
in all cases where the persons relieved are old or maimed, or when- 
ever it is safe to assume that they are likely to be in need of relief for 
a considerable time. In other respects there has been a strict enforce- 
ment of the rules requiring a careful investigation of each case, visits 
to the homes, and examination into the circumstances of the families 
and their capacity for earning money. 
The district board is likewise the body by which the individual 
allowances are made. All the overseers take part in its deliberations. 
All suggestions for the granting of relief must be brought before this 
body. Only such allowances as are approved by it are regarded as 
legal. 
The large number of districts has made it necessary that a new body 
should be created to hold an intermediate position between the central 
board and the districts. Such are the circuits (Kreise), each of which com- 
prises a certain number of districts. Like the districts, they meet every 
month. The members of each circuit are the chairmen of the districts 
composing it. The presiding officer of each circuit is a member of the 
central board, specially appointed for this purpose, lhe circuit boards 
197 198 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
at their meetings discuss matters in which the districts have a common 
interest, and act upon the recommendations of the districts in regard 
to the granting of indoor relief. This must be regarded as a happy 
arrangement. As the districts are represented in the circuit by their 
chairmen and the circuits in the central board by their presiding offi- 
cers, the highest body is brought directly in touch with the lowest, the 
work can be distributed according to the peculiar characteristics of each 
body, and the central board is relieved from the necessity of acting 
upon individual cases. The central board has charge of the general 
administration of poor relief, the supervision over the circuits and dis- 
tricts, the administration of the various asylums coming under its juris- 
diction, and above all it keeps a careful watch over the economic and 
social developments of the system of poor relief, so that further im- 
provements may be made as occasion demands. 
For the same reasons the business department has been correspond- 
ingly extended. It keeps all the accounts and is the connecting link 
between the individual overseers, the chairmen and the central board. 
It keeps a systematic record of all relief given and examines all reports 
of workers regarding the persons relieved. The object of this exami- 
nation is not so much for the purpose of seeing whether the relief in 
each case has been given judiciously, as to make sure that the matter in 
hand has been treated strictly in accordance with the business regula- 
tions, and to call attention to any errors that may have been made. 
For instance, whenever relief has been given in any district in viola- 
tion of the regulations, and of such a nature that only the circuit board 
should pass upon it, the error is reproved and brought to the attention 
of the latter body. The more extensive the system of poor relief, the 
more important it is to remember what has been said above in regard 
to the value of a business department, with paid officials in charge, who 
can follow up the work done by the overseers and the district boards. 
It is indispensable for preventing partiality and arbitrary action. The 
systematic collection of reports about all persons relieved makes it 
possible to trace any individual case of want. This is especially useful 
in the case of a pauper moving from one section of the city to another, 
where his circumstances are entirely unknown. Another useful feature 
of the business department is that it can examine into the family rela- 
tions of a pauper with a view to discovering relatives who may be in a 
position to maintain him, or at least to contribute towards his support. 
Finally, it has charge of negotiations with the systems of other places, CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
199 
and looks after the settlement of claims arising under the laws as to the 
right of domicile of paupers. 
In this form the re-organized system of poor relief entered upon its 
course April i, 1893. On its active force of workers it has nine circuit 
chairmen, ninety district chairmen, and about fifteen hundred over- 
seers. The central board of charities has twenty members, and in the 
business department there are about sixty officials and twenty other 
employees. From all appearances this organization is likely to be main- 
tained. Its success is partly assured by the fact that Hamburg has been 
longer accustomed to self-government than any other place in Germany. 
Its strength lies in the zeal with which the citizens of Hamburg enter 
upon the duties of public office, and in their great practical aptitude 
for self-government, due to an experience of centuries of independence. 
Besides, Hamburg has always been a fruitful field for charitable and 
philanthropic effort. 
In this place and connection we have had to deal only with the organ- 
ization of relief as an institution which aims to secure the most com- 
plete and practical method of providing for those in want. This, in 
itself, is a worthy task so long as we realize the fact that destitute and 
helpless persons will continue to exist in spite of all efforts. But we 
cannot dismiss the subject without remarking that all poor relief is only 
a makeshift. To prevent poverty, to remove its causes and thereby 
make relief superfluous, is the higher and more important problem, 
which can be only partially solved by relief. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
200 
THE ELBERFELD SYSTEM OF POOR RELIEF, AND ITS 
PRACTICAL APPLICATION. 
BY DR. THOMA, BURGOMASTER OF FREIBURG IN BREISGAU, BADEN. 
[TRANSLATION.] 
I. 
The sixth section of the International Congress of Charities, etc., in 
Chicago, in choosing for the subject of its second session, "the visiting of 
the poor in their homes by volunteer helpers," and in wishing to discuss 
the question of the utility of such visits to the poor under the direc- 
tion of organized charity, as well as the question of selecting efficient 
friendly visitors {Armenbesucher'), whether for single cases of poverty 
or locally for defined districts, has proposed as a theme for deliberation 
precisely the system well known throughout Germany as the "Elberfeld 
System," so called after its home, the city of Elberfeld in the Prussian 
Rhine-province. 
With a few exceptions, which are without interest here because of 
their purely local nature, there are at present only two systems of public 
poor relief in Germany: the old system of Centralization, also called 
the bureaucratic system, and the new system of Decentralization, which 
is the Elberfeld system. The former, as indicated by its name, is 
characterized by the fact that the whole system of poor relief of a city 
or community is governed from one centre, where the need of help is 
looked into, and relief is allowed and given. The duty of investiga- 
tion is assigned to a few salaried commissioners. At the first glance it 
becomes apparent that this method is applicable only to villages and 
smaller towns, where it has great advantages. It is found now in 
hardly more than three or four of the larger cities of Germany. 
Under the Elberfeld system, the system of decentralization and 
volunteer members, a town or community is divided into several admin- 
istrative circles or districts, (Bezirke) and for each district an indepen- 
dent administrative centre of poor relief is established. The general 
connection between the several districts is maintained by a supervising 
board. Under its direction the district boards (Bezirksvorsiande}, 
which meet periodically, preserve a certain uniformity in the general 
administration of poor relief. In the year 1853 the city of Elberfeld CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
inaugurated this system of individualization of poor relief. Since then 
the system has spread victoriously over all Germany, so that now its 
title has gained a thoroughly typical significance. 
Under the principle of decentralization every district manages its 
poor relief as independently as possible. Under the district chairmen 
(Bezirksvorsteher) are a number of overseers, (Armenpfleger) (friendly 
visitors, helpers). It is a rule following the principle of individualiza- 
tion, that one overseer ought to give his attention permanently to not 
more than four poor individuals or families. To that end the different 
districts are subdivided into precincts (Unterbezirke') or subdistricts, 
each of which is administered by one overseer. To accept the office of 
overseer of the poor is in Germany a civic duty, as it is to accept any 
other office in the community. As soon as a poor person needs relief 
he must first of all bring his case before the overseer of his precinct, 
who inquires into his personal affairs, his family circumstances, occupa- 
tion, cause of need, etc., and enters the results of his investigation on 
an examination or information blank. If convinced that relief is 
unnecessary, he simply rejects the application, but has to report the 
case and the cause of the rejection at the next meeting of the dis- 
trict board (Bezirksversammlung). The poor person, on his part, may 
address a complaint to the district chairman. But if the overseer is 
convinced that relief is proper, he has the power, in conjunction with 
the district chairman, to grant the necessary relief at once in urgent 
cases; in other cases he must make his report to the meeting of over- 
seers (district board), which meets every fortnight under the presi- 
dency of the district chairman, when the matter is decided by a 
majority vote. 
Above these district boards is the central board ( Centralverwaltu-ng), 
the council, commission or directory of poor relief (Armenrath, Armen- 
commission, Armendirection)., which has the right of annulling or modi- 
fying the decisions or orders of the lower boards, provided relief has 
not been already given. Here appears a difference, inasmuch as some 
cities nominate to this supreme body only men who have nothing 
to do with poor relief proper, and, therefore, have neither seat nor 
voice in the district boards. Other cities try to establish a connection 
between the central and the district boards by making the chairmen of 
district boards members of the central board, which is then called 
poor council or commission of poor relief. The latter method is decid- 
edly to be preferred; for under it the members of the central board, 
201 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
202 
who are occupied in their own professions and not acquainted with the 
condition of the poor by personal contact, get more graphic and cer- 
tain information; while, on the other hand, the volunteer chairmen of 
the district boards become familiar with the views of the central board 
by their participation in the revision of grants, the formulation of prin- 
ciples, tariffs, etc., and in the discussion of legal questions which arise, 
and put these views into practice in the district boards. By this means 
the uniformity of the general administration is essentially promoted. 
Another notable contrast exists in connection with the powers of the 
district boards or district committees (Bezirkskommissione'), as they are 
termed more frequently. Under the Elberfeld system proper, the dis- 
trict boards pay out directly, i. e., without authority from a higher 
board, all amounts allowed by them. Many cities, however, ques- 
tion the propriety of allowing a council of more or less inexperienced 
persons, who act only as honorary officials, to dispense city funds directly; 
they require either the consent of the central board in addition to the 
decision of the district board, or they treat the proposals of these 
boards merely as expressions of opinion and in every case refer the final 
decision to the central board. The latter arrangement guarantees by 
its double examination greater thoroughness, but could scarcely be em- 
ployed in a large city of 100,000 to 150,000 inhabitants. For in the 
latter case the approval of the central board, which could not possibly 
obtain sufficient knowledge as to every case of relief, would degenerate 
to an empty formality and unnecessarily relieve the overseers and dis- 
trict chairmen of part of their responsibility. 
As emphasized above, the Elberfeld system proper assigns to the over- 
seers as their sphere of work precincts containing four cases at most. 
Some few German cities have deviated from this rule. They make 
no division into precincts, but leave it to the district chairmen to 
assign any case of poverty occurring in their districts to one of their 
overseers, and not over four at one time to one overseer. This way 
of choosing visitors or overseers for particular cases is less commenda- 
ble. In view of the scattered condition and the frequent change of 
residence among the poor, the continual watchfulness and care, which 
are indispensable, become in many cases impossible. Besides, an over- 
seer gets into a habit of attending only to the cases assigned to him, 
having neither eyes nor ears for the rest of the pauper population. 
Just those considerations which are most important in the economic 
movements of the people, the variations in the prosperity of the poorer CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
203 
classes, changes of occupation, of residence, and of sanitary conditions 
are thus utterly lost. So the local delimitation of the sphere of relief 
is without doubt preferable. The visitor ought to live within his dis- 
trict and try to obtain a full knowledge of all interesting events that 
happen there. It is of the very greatest importance to make visits at 
all times of the day in those quarters where the poor-whether being 
assisted or not-reside, and thus to form one's opinion from personal 
investigation. 
II. 
Concerning the practical operation of the Elberfeld system and the 
success to be attained under it, I must here refer to my personal expe- 
rience as head of the department of poor relief in the city of Freiburg 
in Breisgau. The system is without doubt a very good one; if we can 
draw any conclusion from the splendid results attained since 1853, it 
will hold its position in the future not only in this city, but in all 
Germany. But it has here and there its weak points, which come to 
light only in practice; they may, however, be certainly and thoroughly 
corrected by the adoption of proper measures borrowed from the old 
system of centralization. 
The Elberfeld system has been in operation in Freiburg since 1879. 
'Fhe whole city is divided into ten districts and these again into eighty- 
two precincts. At first glance it is clear to everybody, that the good 
results of this system depend chiefly on the personal fitness of the 
chairmen and overseers. But just in this respect the experience of this 
city has not been very happy. It was often very difficult to fill the 
places of retiring chairmen and overseers, lhejnost incredible excuses 
were sometimes offered and women played a role which must not be 
underestimated. The more rich, refined and independent the person 
applied to, the greater were the difficulties encountered. The acceptance 
of the office of overseer is, indeed, a public duty which can be legally 
enforced. But of what use is a man who only yields to force, who has 
no zeal and love for his work, especially where the whole success depends 
on willingness and personal sacrifice! Constraint was, therefore, never 
actually employed with us. In this way it happened that in this city 
the offices of chairman and overseer fell mostly into the hands of 
people from the middle classes, small tradesmen and mechanics, who 
do not lack willingness, but very often lack the necessary discernment 
and, because of their business, the necessary time for energetic treatment 204 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
of individual cases. I have, for instance, proved that in the case of 
one overseer not he, but his wife had for years distributed relief, and 
that only in response to direct appeals by the poor. Under such cir- 
cumstances we must not wonder, that when the work is reviewed by 
the central board bad abuses appear. A widow, for instance, con- 
tinued to draw a sum once allowed, although she had found a sufficient 
support by marriage with a healthy, strong man; in order to conceal the 
real state of affairs she signed the receipts with her old name. This fact 
remained undetected for some time, because the overseer did not make 
regular visits, on account of business, as he stated. On the other hand 
it must be admitted that there are localities in large cities, which many 
people dislike to visit, and that there is work to be done now and then 
in the course of administering poor relief, which cannot be reasonably 
expected from an overseer who holds an honorary office. 
In order to alter this condition of affairs two official and paid chair- 
men were placed in two districts containing a large population of 
laborers and people of the lower classes, where no volunteers fit for 
the position could be found, while the remaining features of the Elber- 
feld standard were fully maintained. Besides these, there were appointed 
paid official inspectors (Armenaufseher) or comptrollers (Armencontrol- 
eure) for the poor throughout the whole city. The task of the latter is 
a double one. First they must, like the comptrollers of the sick benefit 
associations, exercise a continual and watchful vigilance over all who 
obtain relief; then they must, when directed by the central authority, 
make the investigations necessary for the re-examination of individual 
cases of need. In the latter case they not only exercise a control over 
less conscientious chairmen and visitors, but they also gather such infor- 
mation as the latter cannot be reasonably expected to get. For three 
years the best results have followed these new arrangements. Moreover, 
regarding the comptrollers the conclusion has been reached that they 
are a necessary supplement to the Elberfeld system, since they keep 
up a stable and active connection between the central board and the 
districts. The comptroller of the poor is just as indispensable as is the 
comptroller of the sick in the sick benefit associations. The comp- 
troller renders very important service in caring for the children of the 
poor, who must be closely watched not only in regard to relief, but in 
regard to their education. 
Another material innovation, which was introduced in 1889, is the 
adoption of the fundamental principle that relief shall be granted for CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
205 
a fortnight only, that is from one session of the district board to the 
next. This had already been the rule elsewhere. On the one hand, 
a new investigation of the case every two weeks is assured and abuses 
are excluded as far as possible. On the other hand, the interest of the 
overseers in their districts is kept alive. New life is infused into the 
whole administration and with increased work comes an increase of 
interest, because every one feels that his activity is recognized as very 
important and useful to the community. 
Good results have also been obtained by the co-operation of public 
charity with church charities, relief giving associations and private per- 
sons, by reason of which the destructive results of overlapping charity 
are becoming more and more rare. 
Finally, the overseers as well as the comptrollers in their rounds and 
visits are obliged to exercise a constant oversight of the sanitary condi- 
tion of the tenements of the poorer classes. At times such defects as 
cannot be remedied at once by kindly intervention are reported through 
the poor-counsellor to the police department with a view to employing 
coercive measures against the landlord. 
The re-organization of public poor relief in Freiburg described above, 
which is not an alteration of the principles of the Elberfeld system, but 
only a necessary completion and perfecting of it, has had good results in 
every direction. The expenses of administration have diminished 
by one-third, or even by one-half, in comparison with former years; 
other factors however, as, for instance, the enactment of compulsory 
insurance of laborers, have contributed to this result. But to avoid 
possible mistakes, it must be distinctly stated here that the prin- 
ciple of critical investigation as to the necessity for relief, as well 
as the rules about the kind and amount of relief, have remained exactly 
as before. The sole intention was to stamp out thoroughly all abuses 
in poor relief. On the other hand, the moral gain must not be under- 
estimated. All help for the poor that goes too far has the bad result, 
that the poor completely lose the sense of the duty to be fulfilled 
toward themselves and their families. They leave the care of themselves 
and their families to the public, become lazy and afraid of work, and 
live under the mistaken idea that it ought to be so, that they should be 
supported at public expense. The poor relief of this city is managed 
on this principle: real want must be relieved generously and in a 
manner worthy of humanity; but where with some assistance a pauper 206 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
is able to improve his condition, but shows no inclination to do so, even 
a penny is denied him. 
It is possible that in some other German cities better conditions 
prevail for practising the Elberfeld system unchanged than in our city. 
But I am firmly convinced, that the same defects may be found else- 
where in a greater or less degree, if we only take pains to investigate. 
The numerous letters that have come to me from other cities since I 
published my first observations about the re-organization of poor relief 
in our city, corroborate this statement. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
207 
THE ELBERFELD SYSTEM OF POOR RELIEF. 
BY L. F. SEYFFARDT, PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE CHARITY ADMINISTRATION 
IN CREFELD AND MENBER OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES FOR MAGDE- 
BURG. 
[TRANSLATION RECEIVED FROM THE AUTHOR.] 
At the meeting of the committee of the German Association for Relief 
of the Poor and Charity last spring, Mr. John Graham Brooks addressed 
to me various questions about the working of the so-called Elberfeld 
system of poor relief, which during the last generation has won its vic- 
torious way into the administration of most German cities. Mr. Brooks 
had been told that year by year new' cities were introducing the system, 
with alterations, however, differing in various details, and particularly 
in one highly important point, from the old model of the Elberfeld 
organization. This point consists in the limitation of the powers of 
the local overseer and the local district regarding the final decision 
about what relief is necessary in favor of the central board, and in the 
latter being authorized to engage paid officers of control. Mr. Brooks 
wished to know whether these facts were correct, whether they indicate 
that in the most important respects the Elberfeld system has proved 
insufficient, and that the necessity of returning to the old system of 
relief through paid officers appears as a matter of course. I did not 
hesitate to answ'er the question of Mr. Brooks to the best of my 
knowledge, whereupon he asked me to give a written account of the 
matter for the proceedings of this section of the Chicago Congress of 
Charities, etc. 
In doing this I must say that, as far as I know, the matter in dispute 
has never been spoken of in the special literature of the subject, 
though wherever the Elberfeld system has been adopted, it has never 
disappeared from the order of the day. No time is left before the time 
of meeting in Chicago to send a sheet of inquiry to a number of cities 
in order to get a proper basis for a scientific report. I am therefore 
limited to my own experience obtained during thirty years of practical 
work with the Elberfeld organization. 
Mr. Brooks in his question has indeed found out the weakest point 
of the Elberfeld system, which occasionally has cost some headache to 208 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
its friends. The new system has transferred the provident care of the 
poor and weak from the hands of paid officers, who had to care for a 
large number, and therefore were obliged to work according to fixed 
rules, into those of unpaid citizens, who have to provide for a very 
limited number of poor people only, and are in consequence able to 
treat every case individually. Theoretically this is undoubtedly right 
and has led to wonderful success in the average of cases in practice. 
Whenever the three factors, overseer, director of district and central board 
do their duty fully, it all goes of itself. But if one of them does not 
come up to the mark, errors and false decisions will occur which must 
be contested one way or another. The principal means made use of 
to control the giving of relief consists in revisions of the districts, 
arranged by the central board, and taking place at regular intervals, 
when the overseers have to give an account of every case entrusted 
to them, while members of the central board and directors of various 
districts are in attendance. This means of control however has proved 
unreliable, because people who are adroit in talking will always know 
how to veil that which is dubious, as long as an inspection of the 
place of living and working is out of the question. From the experi- 
ence of different towns, in which the Elberfeld system has been long in 
existence, another means of control seems to be preferable. The cen- 
tral board itself inquires into the details of the family circumstances 
and money earnings. Its members reserve the decision for themselves, 
while they make use of the services of paid officers to collect the facts 
of the case. However discreetly such measures may be carried out, 
they may occasionally offend the overseers, jealous of their right of 
decision. They cannot object to the control of the central board, that 
being an honorary body, but are very displeased by any real or appa- 
rent control by paid officers. To avoid such occurrences, the statutes 
of different organizations of modern date stipulate for the appointment 
of special paid officers to investigate every new case or cases already 
assumed, which appear to be doubtful and suspicious. For the same 
reason the appointment of such officers has been inserted in different 
statutes of older date. It will entirely depend on the selection of these 
officers, on their education and capability, whether the sensibility and 
jealousy of honorary overseers is sufficiently spared. 
What has been said will undoubtedly prove, that the measures in 
question do not constitute an alteration of the fundamental principles 
of the Elberfeld system, but only the filling up of a gap in the statutes CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
209 
of a former period, statutes composed at a time when no experience 
about the methods of control were at hand. All these statutes contain 
a paragraph of about the following tenor: 
The central board shall keep close acquaintance with the decisions of 
each poor district, by the study of its resolutions or in any other suita- 
ble way. It is authorized to annul such decisions, whenever they do 
not correspond with the circumstances stated or the prescriptions given, 
and to decide differently. 
Wise practice will make use of this paragraph in very rare cases only, 
in order not to weaken the very vital nerve of the Elberfeld system, the 
moral responsibility of the overseer for the poor whom he has to take 
care of. The necessity for such consideration is at the present time even 
more generally acknowledged than at the time when the system was 
introduced. In any case, in which measures adopted to strengthen the 
control are at variance with this admission, they are disadvantageous 
and prejudice the efficiency of the Elberfeld system of poor-relief. 210 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
CO-OPERATION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE POOR 
RELIEF. 
BY DR. VICTOR BOHMERT, CHIEF OF ROYAL SAXON STATISTICAL 
BUREAU, DRESDEN. 
[TRANSLATION.] 
i. General remarks regarding the Pauper Question as distinguished 
from the Labor Question. 
The benevolent efforts of the present day are by no means confined 
to the care of the poor and needy, but have in view the welfare of the 
great mass of the population, especially the wage earning class, which 
in most civilized communities represents about two-thirds of the popu- 
lation, and is placed at a far greater disadvantage than the other third, 
which includes the rich and the middle classes. 
Aided by scientific and technical improvements and inventions, agri- 
culture, manufactures and commerce have materially facilitated the 
production and accumulation of wealth and greatly raised the social 
position of all classes of the population. The laboring-classes especi- 
ally take a greater interest than formerly in the intellectual and politi- 
cal life of the nation; though at the same time, through the increase of 
the great industries, many new sources of danger to the health, morals, 
and economic condition of the laborer have arisen and necessitated 
legislative and administrative measures of social reform. Most of these 
are intended to protect minors and female laborers, but others to pro- 
tect adult male laborers from injury to their physical, economic, intel- 
lectual and moral interests; for example, laws regulating the observance 
of Sunday, hours of labor, la'bor contracts, factory regulations, inspec- 
tion of factories, laborers' insurance, etc. 
The efforts to advance social reform and the welfare of the laborer, 
seek principally justice for the laborer and differ entirely from the care 
of the poor, which requires practical sympathy and busies itself with 
the needy, the weak, the destitute, the widow, the orphan, the sick, 
the infirm, the neglected, and the fallen, striving to lift them up again 
and lead them on the right road. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
A sharp distinction must be drawn between the pauper question and 
the labor question. Laborers want neither alms nor relief, which 
would deprive them of important civil rights, such as the right of suf- 
frage. In many places their attitude is one of opposition to a patron- 
izing guardianship, or the bestowal of favors which are distributed 
alter all only to a few individuals. On the contrary, they wish to 
be regarded as co-laborers of equal birth with their employers and 
superiors, and desire, after attaining political equality, to elevate 
their class by their own efforts to a better economic and social position. 
But at least a portion of the poor, either through their own fault or the 
fault of those who should support them, or through infirmity or extra- 
ordinary mishaps, have been brought to a precarious condition, from 
which they cannot lift themselves by their own efforts. 
The following discussion is not intended to dwell upon the labor 
question, but considers only one branch of the care of the poor, 
namely, that which relates to the co-operation of public and private 
poor relief, {armenpflege}. 
The author of these lines was led to the discussion of this subject by 
an invitation to participate personally, as well as by papers, in the 
International Congress of Charities, Correction and Philanthropy. In 
the sixth section of this Congress, the organization and practice of 
charity in states, cities and rural communities, and preventive poor 
relief are to be discussed; also the sphere and duties of voluntary socie- 
ties, churches and private charities and their mutual relations to orga- 
nized charity. 
Efforts are being made to fix the limits of public as well as private 
poor relief, and to practically unite and organize them. 
2. The necessity for organizing public poor relief and supervising 
private charity. 
In nearly all departments of public, professional and business life, 
proper organization is a pre-requisite to success. The wealth of the great 
modern industries is due chiefly to the division of labor. Many a manager 
of an industrial enterprise, who has properly organized his employees 
and rightly distributed their efficiency, can accomplish more with two 
hundred laborers than his incompetent competitor with three hundred. 
The same rule holds in the government of states and communities, the 
command of armies, and the superintendence of institutions. lhe 
bravest soldiers will be defeated when they have a bad leader. But a 
united force, inspired by the right spirit and properly led in the right 
211 212 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
direction towards a common goal can accomplish much, even though 
it has little or no strength. This is especially true of ideal philan- 
thropic efforts. All who are interested in this work must put aside 
every selfish motive, every capricious impulse, everything of secondary 
importance, and must keep in view only the great object of promoting 
the permanent welfare of their fellow man. 
Regulations concerning poor relief can produce no lasting results with- 
out organization of the forces which are necessary for the alleviation of the 
wants of the poor. Such organization cannot be entirely of a non-official 
character, because the State and the community confer rights and 
impose duties upon the poor, and because, without police regulations 
and measures of restraint, justice could not be upheld nor public order 
be maintained. For instance, no government, whether of a state or a 
community, can leave only to chance or to benevolent societies the 
care of the poor, the sick, the insane, or of women or children deserted 
by those who should support them. The necessary police regulation of 
contagious diseases and a proper consideration for the welfare of the 
community forbid the authorities to maintain a passive position. But 
the community must not only consider those who are infected with 
contagion, but also deserted children, discharged prisoners, beggars and 
vagrants who are suffering from alcoholism, and in general all the poor, 
native or foreign, and must ward off anything that may threaten or 
harm the body politic. 
In large communities workhouses cannot be dispensed with for men 
and women, who by intemperance, gambling, vagrancy, vice, licen- 
tiousness or indiscretion have brought those dependent on them to a con- 
dition requiring public support. Boards of charity must therefore be 
established everywhere and entrusted with the supervision and manage- 
ment of poor relief. These boards, like every other authority, can 
require private persons and societies which wish to help the poor to 
accommodate themselves to general regulations, and not prevent the 
attainment of the main object nor make it difficult. The Saxon poor 
law of 1840, which is in many respects still regarded as a model, had 
already provided for the co-operation of public and private poor relief 
to the extent of requiring that private societies must not refuse to 
give information to the board of charities about persons relieved by 
them. The duty of giving this information, and the keeping of a sta- 
tistical record of the number, age, standing of the family, nationality CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
and other circumstances of the poor, were the first steps towards co- 
operation of public and private relief. 
It is not only to the interest of every community to become better 
acquainted with its destitute inhabitants, but it is also its duty to 
observe the work and results of its benevolent societies. 
Benevolence may become a plague and a curse for the poor, as well 
as for the benevolent and for whole communities, when anarchy rules 
in their charities, and individuals, societies, churches and institutions 
scatter their gifts regardless of one another. All benevolence requires 
not only sympathy, but wisdom, discretion and prudence, and regard 
for the general welfare. If at the time of an epidemic any one wishes 
to erect a hospital at his own expense for the purpose of having the 
sick taken care of, he cannot be permitted to do so in any locality he 
may select, but must submit to the public health regulations. Whoever 
would check the spread of mendicancy or the destitution of whole 
families and communities, must not scatter money without system 
among unknown persons and lead them astray into idleness, but must 
act in the general interest of the poor and of the inhabitants of the 
community which is threatened. 
Begging is carried on in many places as a business which is fraudu- 
lent and dangerous to the community. Young or adult persons unwill- 
ing to work appeal to societies or good natured individuals who like to 
give relief, and by applications, either verbal or written, succeed in 
getting help under false pretences in many places. By this means they 
lead a far easier life than those who live by the work of their hands. 
Their bad example and the consequences of an idle life of mendicancy 
spread contagion and encourage discontent far and wide. The impulse 
to advance by one's own exertions is weakened, and by such misdi- 
rected charity proper relief is really withheld from persons in need, who 
deserve to be helped. For these reasons, under the imperial penal law 
of January i, 1872, § 361, begging in Germany is threatened with pun- 
ishment, and in many parts of Germany-in Saxony, for instance, where 
the relief of penniless vagrants is regulated by special relief stations, 
(yerpflegungsstati.onen')-the police ordinances even go so far as to 
punish the giving of money to beggars. For the unsystematic relief of 
unknown persons exerts a corrupting influence and greatly endangers 
the safety and order of communities. It is a public duty of benevo- 
lent societies which control funds and often acquire the rights of en- 
rolled corporations, and corresponds to their public legal standing, 
213 214 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
not to interfere with the activity of officials, but to come into closer 
touch with public relief as well as with kindred benevolent societies. 
Whoever has a sincere desire to stem the tide of distress must foster 
efforts similar to his own, and take note of societies which are working 
in the same direction. Mutual ignorance prejudices the work of the 
agents of general benevolence, who unconsciously compete in matters 
of charity, and unnecessarily incur double expense. On the other hand, 
many schemes for the public welfare go by the board, which through 
united action could have been carried to success. A recent circular of 
the Board of Charities of Paris addressed to the public sums up the con- 
sequences of unsystematic charity in a few words, as follows: 
" The same persons are relieved twice and oftener; much money and 
labor is squandered; the capital is overwhelmed with the destitute from 
the provinces and abroad, who can neither be properly relieved nor sent 
back to their homes." 
In Germany the public authorities have another reason which com- 
pels them to assume control of the organization of benevolent societies 
and private charities. 
The imperial German law of June 6, 1870, in reference to the right 
of settlement, imposes the duty of continuous support of a pauper upon 
the community in which before becoming a pauper he has been uninter- 
ruptedly a resident for two years after the completion of his twenty- 
fourth year. This right of settlement is forfeited if public relief is 
given to a pauper before the expiration of the prescribed two years, 
but not if he is relieved by societies or by private charity. So it fre- 
quently happens that persons who are afraid of work or destitute or 
incapable of earning a livelihood, move to large cities and manage to 
live on private charity for two years, at the end of which time they 
present themselves to the city authorities as paupers entitled to public 
relief. This surreptitious acquisition of the right of settlement, means 
a heavy charge upon the finances of cities, where poor relief offers 
many more attractions than in smaller and especially in rural com- 
munities, and withdraws. from many smaller communities labor which 
they require. 
3. Attempts to regulate private benevolence in Germany. 
To combat injudicious relief, as well as to prevent private relief of 
persons who hope by its help to be able to reside for two years in a 
large city and so acquire the right of settlement, steps have been taken 
in several German cities, within the last two decades, to bring about CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
215 
harmonious and united action between public and private relief. This 
is regulated by the size of the cities.* In the cities of Elbing, (having 
in 1890 a population 41,576), Colberg (16,999), Coburg (17,106), and 
Bremerhaven (16,414), a co-operation of public and private relief was 
attained by having representatives of the benevolent societies take part 
in the meetings of the department of the poor. 
In Elbing a member of a society was -assigned to each overseer's 
district. In Colberg a representative of each society has a seat on the 
city board of charities. In Coburg the secretaries of the two principal 
societies take part in the sessions of the city board of public charities 
with a right to vote; while in Bremerhaven the representatives of churches 
and benevolent societies are invited to the sessions of the city board. 
In the cities of Halberstadt, (having a population of 36,786, Decem- 
ber 1, 1890), Hagen (35,428), Landsberg (28,065), and Greifswald 
(21,624), the reverse is true. Representatives of the public poor relief 
take part in the business management of the private benevolent societies. 
In Halberstadt and Greifswald the presidents of the public poor 
relief are members of the boards of private benevolent societies; in 
Hagen and Landsberg several members of the city boards of chari- 
ties are members of the boards of societies. 
In the cities of Zwickau (population 44,198, December 1, 1890), 
Brandenburg (37,817), Hildesheim (33,481), Reichenbach (21,496), 
Ludwigsburg (17,418,) and Coburg (17,106), a co-operation was like- 
wise established between public and private relief, which consisted 
partly in the giving of information by the societies, and partly in the 
mutual intercourse between the city boards of charities and private 
societies. 
The plan of the Saxon provincial town of Mittweida (population 
11,298, December 1, 1890), is peculiar. During the last eight years 
the directors of its five benevolent societies which give out door relief 
have been in the habit of holding general conferences in which they 
exchange experiences. These general conferences and the mutual 
exchange of information have had two notable results. The directors 
have learned to know the "beggars by inclination,'' and were soon able 
to put a stop to their trade. They have learned also to unite for general 
* A fuller description will be found in a compilation made at the request of 
"The German Society for Poor Relief and Charity," (Deutschen Verein fiir 
Armenpflege und Wohlthatigkeit) by Dr. Victor Bohmert, " Poor Relief in 77 
German Cities," Dresden, published by the Bureau of Charitable Statistics of 
the German Society for Poor Relief and Charity. 216 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
support in matters where only large gifts could be of service and the 
resources of a single society would not suffice. 
In April, 1889, further progress was made in Mittweida. They 
decided to found a "Central Bureau of Information for Poor Relief" 
for the use of the public. This central bureau is not a part of the 
municipal department of the poor, but is a private undertaking. The 
office of manager is an honorary one and is bestowed on some dis- 
tinguished citizen, after mature deliberation by the conference of direc- 
tors of the five benevolent societies. He himself cannot be president 
of any of the interested societies. The purpose of this central bureau 
is "to effect a concentration of all private poor relief in Mittweida." 
They try to attain this object by regularly making out for the benefit 
of the boards of the several societies at the central bureau, lists of per- 
sons relieved by individual societies and of persons not relieved, though 
they have applied for aid. 
The manager, after comparison of these lists, calls the attention of 
the directors to such persons as make a business of begging, and from 
his records and experience keeps the boards of the societies and benevo- 
lent individuals informed about applicants and special cases of destitu- 
tion. All the interested societies have the right to call the manager 
into any board or committee meeting to advise with them, and at the 
suggestion of the several societies, the City Council has accorded to 
him the privilege of having a voice in the regular sessions of the city 
board of charities, and of keeping a record of applications for relief 
which are accepted and rejected at these sessions, with such memoranda 
as are necessary to make this record complete. 
The features of the system in operation in Mittweida are that a com- 
petent person carries in his head and on his books all the facts con- 
nected with local poor relief, and that he is designated to act as adviser 
to all visitors to the poor, official or voluntary. This system evidently 
applies only to communities of limited extent, and requires a supply 
of competent persons. The verbal interchange of information among 
members of a properly constituted board, is much preferable to a mere 
exchange of recorded memoranda. 
While in the small and medium sized cities of Germany mentioned 
above, a variety of regulations have been developed to guard against 
the harm resulting from capricious and irregular charity, in Berlin an 
attempt has been made to combine the regulations described above for 
the use of the various poor districts of the great city. The famous CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
217 
"Society for the Prevention of Poverty in Berlin," which was founded 
in 1869 by Dr. Strassmann, president of the lower house of the City 
Council, (also founder of the "German Society for Poor Relief and 
Charity") and which to-day has members scattered over every part 
of Berlin, permits its representatives to take part in the sessions of the 
district boards or poor commissions, which are the centers of poor 
relief in Berlin. On the other hand, the representatives of public 
poor relief take part in the sessions of the district committees of the 
society. In every poor district of the city the public charity commis- 
sion co-operates harmoniously with the private district committee of the 
society. By this means an exchange of experiences is secured, and an 
uninterrupted co-operation of public and private charity is established. 
Besides this, in Berlin a mutual exchange of information is main- 
tained between the different societies, as well as between them and the 
public boards. By a series of well tried regulations made by the poor de- 
partment, efforts have been made to prevent the imposition which is so 
easily practised on boards of charities and benevolent societies. It is 
prescribed, for instance, in the instructions for the conduct of business 
for the public charity commissions of Berlin of June 7, 1884, in para- 
graph 85: "that, as a rule, applications for an increase of current 
relief within the first two months after a change of residence of a pau- 
per should not be considered;" for it has often happened that paupers 
of a district, where their application for an increase has been refused, have 
removed to another in the hope of gaining their object more easily. 
By paragraph. 13 of the same instructions, the chairman of a charity 
commission must superintend the affairs of the poor in his district, and 
keep himself informed as to the work of all benevolent societies and 
individuals in the district, so that he may know how the poor who 
apply to his commission are already taken care of. It is his special 
duty to attend the sessions of the district committee of the Society for 
the Prevention of Poverty, either in person, or by his substitute, or by 
another member. 
The Society for the Prevention of Poverty in Berlin has since its 
foundation exerted itself unceasingly to establish an organic co-opera- 
tion between the benevolent societies of Berlin and the agents of public 
poor relief. Dr. Strassmann, who was for many years president of the 
society, did not succeed in having the mutual relations between public 
and private poor relief regulated by statute ; but at his suggestion, and 
shortly before his death in 1886, the establishment of a common cen- 218 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OE CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
tral office on the model of the Bureau of Information for Poor Relief 
and Charity of Dresden, to which all benevolent societies should report, 
was decided upon, and its establishment guaranteed by the Berlin board 
of charities. This plan has not yet been put into practice in Berlin 
and the organization of poor relief in Berlin is still in an incomplete con- 
dition. 
Before the Dresden regulations above referred to are described, the 
attempts to regulate private benevolence in Austria, should be briefly 
noticed. 
4. Efforts to regulate private benevolence in Austria. 
According to Professor Mischler's book, "Poor Relief in Austrian 
Cities," attempts were made in Austria previous to those in Germany 
to prevent the injurious effects of relief giving by private societies. As 
early as 1882 (really in 1864), an attempt was made in Vienna to 
secure co-operation between the benevolent societies of Vienna and 
public poor relief by statute. But it was a complete failure. A start 
in the same direction was made in Graz (population in 1890, 97,791), 
where the plan was adopted of giving a seat and voice in the municipal 
administrative board to representatives of such societies as had apjflied 
for and been given the privilege by the local government. Also in 
Trent (1890, 19,585), where at regular intervals consultations are held 
between the executive committees of the charitable institutions, (JJon- 
gregazione di Carita'} and the municipal board of charities; also in 
Brunn (1890, 147,842), where poor relief was left entirely to a 
private society from 1816 to 1866. The "Men's Benevolent Society to 
Abolish Begging and Relieve the Really Poor" of that place, to which 
a "Woman's Benevolent Society" was attached, was absorbed in 1840 
by the old Parochial Institute for the Poor. On the executive com- 
mittee of this society, representatives of the state, city, and church 
have seats beside members of the society. The eight parochial dis- 
tricts were placed under the central board of this society, and this board 
administered the funds of the charitable institutions with the help of 
contributions from the city and state. This condition of affairs con- 
tinued until 1866, when poor relief passed under the control of the 
local government. 
Finally, in the manufacturing city of Gablonz a. N. in Northern 
Bohemia (1890, 14,653), according to Professor Mischler, the muni- 
cipal poor relief was actually transferred to the "Society for the Pre- 
vention of House and Street Begging." The Gablonz system proposes CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
219 
to commit the management of poor relief entirely to the society, i. e., 
to the co-operation of honorary officers taken from the most widely 
different classes of society, and to raise the material means for the relief 
of the poor by levying a poor tax on the community. The burgo- 
master of Gablonz is president of the society. 
The business and financial management is assigned to members of 
the municipal poor districts, while the remaining official positions are 
generally assigned to members of the upper and lower houses of the 
Common Council and other capable citizens. As far as the voluntary 
contributions of the members of the society do not suffice, they are sup- 
plemented from the public treasury; and legal provision is made for an 
appropriation to cover all the expenses of the society. 
5. The Municipal Bureau of Information for Poor Relief and 
Charity in Dresden. 
The city of Dresden, which in 1880 had a population of 220,818, and 
in 1890, 276,522, about April 1, 1880, re-organized its poor relief after 
the model of the Elberfeld system. Before the introduction of the 
Elberfeld system there were in Dresden in 1877, with its population of 
over 200,000, only 33 poor directors and 41 overseers for 1583 paupers. 
On the 23rd of March, 1880, a peaceable army of 400 official overseers 
was formally installed into the new offices. And it was provided in 
the new regulations that as a rule not more than five persons or families 
should be assigned to one overseer at once. At the same time a large 
private "Society for the Prevention of Pauperism and Mendicancy" 
was founded, which, on March 10, 1880, sent out an appeal to the citi- 
zens of Dresden to join, and in a few weeks received more than 4,000 
members and yearly contributions of over 22,000 marks. This society 
next established a central office to which local and transient paupers 
were referred for relief, and where every one could receive information 
regarding destitute persons. 
It also erected an institute for voluntary helpers of both sexes and in 
this way attracted a large body of women to the work, a matter which 
upto that time had not been thought of by the public relief department. 
The Society for the Prevention of Pauperism directed its activity more and 
more towards the prevention of destitution. For this purpose, it estab- 
lished among other things a rent savings bank, workshops for residents 
and transients out of work, and an employment bureau. Recently, it 
has undertaken to build small dwellings for families without means. 
As early as 1881 a desire was awakened in this society to form closer 220 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
relations with the other benevolent societies, more than fifty in number, 
and to make a combination with them that would secure a proper dis- 
tribution of private charity work in Dresden. The great object of this 
arrangement was to advance the moral and material welfare of the 
entire community. 
The outlines of such a combination were given more in detail by the 
author of these lines in an essay: "The Organization and Co-operation 
of Public and Private Charity in Dresden," in 1881, in part two of the 
Arbeiterfreund, (Laborers' Friend). 
In the discussions on the co-operation of all the benevolent societies 
of Dresden, it soon became apparent that to establish a closer co-opera- 
tion among the voluntary societies would be peculiarly difficult, because 
each individual society would have to put itself on an equal footing 
with all the others and must avoid all self assertion or criticism of 
undertakings related to its own. It was also evident that the organiza- 
tion of so many societies in a large city would not in itself be sufficient, 
but that the combination must depend upon and eventually be subor- 
dinated to the public relief. The committee of the poor board, which 
was taken into the counsels of the society, was forced to conclude that 
it was its duty to proceed independently and establish a central bureau 
of information as a public municipal institution, and to call upon the 
different societies to join in the officially prepared plans, and enter into 
closer relations with one another, as well as with the public relief. Out 
of these deliberations grew in 1883 the "Central Bureau of Poor Relief 
and Charity" of Dresden, which has proved a help to all societies and 
private citizens of the city in the administration of their charity and an 
excellent centre of information. And it has been imitated in several 
large German cities. 
From this central bureau the societies are informed whether appli- 
cants appear by the records to be worthy or unworthy; whether they 
have ever been punished for violation of law ; whether and to what 
extent they have previously received relief; whether they have acquired 
the right of settlement in Dresden, or have emigrated recently; whether 
they have presented applications to the city board of charities and 
to other societies at the same time, etc. It is customary in Dresden for 
the benevolent societies generally to hand over incoming applications 
for relief to the central bureau of the city board of charities for infor- 
mation. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
221 
The central bureau distributes to the different benevolent societies 
special forms for this purpose. It also sends question blanks containing 
special headings for such questions as can be filled out only by the 
central bureau, on which the several societies enter particulars as to 
each applicant. The central bureau is accustomed to return the appli- 
cations and blanks or forms as soon as possible to the societies; and it is 
their duty to make a careful investigation of the condition of the appli- 
cant or his family, in case the information received does not necessitate 
a refusal of relief. The action of Bern, does not however, tally with 
this view. There the committee of the Charities Aid Society dismissed 
the proposition to establish a central bureau of information for poor 
relief and charity on the ground that 
"A thorough knowledge of the special circumstances of the poor 
cannot be obtained at all through the medium of a central bureau, but 
only through the precinct officer; and, for the present, decentralization 
alone can solve the problem both for official and voluntary poor relief." 
The central bureau gives no special information, but answers only cer- 
tain very important general questions; for instance, whether the applicant 
has been punished at any time by either the law or police courts, his 
time of residence, and other points to which answers can be obtained 
only from an official source. 
This official information does not deprive a society of the right of 
making a special investigation of the personal affairs of the applicant, 
and in no way limits its power of deciding upon the application ; of 
course, any suggestions from the poor board, as to refusing relief to 
persons who are afraid of work, drunkards, or such as wish to acquire 
the right of settlement by fraud, are as a rule gratefully received. 
Not only for societies, but for private persons who are applied to for 
help, such information regarding unknown persons is important. It is 
therefore advisable from time to time to direct the attention of a com- 
munity to the bureau of information for poor relief and charity and to 
encourage them to make use of it. 
Every poor board, by establishing a bureau of information, can little 
by little make itself acquainted with all relief given in the community, 
whether public or private, and can have the relief entered in a special 
register, under the name of the person relieved or in a card catalogue 
containing a special card for each case. In this way the poor board 
• keeps a continual oversight of the condition of poor relief; of the 
increase and decrease of applications; of the coming and going of 222 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
applicants. The board is placed in a position to readily detect profes- 
sional beggars, to guard against superfluous relief in single instances, to 
watch over the acquisition of the right of settlement, and to render 
valuable service to societies and private persons by means of its register 
and card catalogue. 
Individual applications for relief coming from what we may term the 
uncomplaining poor, or rather the relief itself may occasionally present 
special difficulties. It may at times appear impracticable to hand in 
these applications to the bureau of information for discussion beforehand. 
On the other hand it is impossible to deny to the board of charities a 
special interest in informing themselves as to the condition of such 
persons and their families, since the management of special funds for 
the support of the uncomplaining poor is often committed to it. In 
Dresden the chairman of the poor department himself keeps a special 
register of the uncomplaining poor. The fundamental principles of 
the Dresden central bureau for poor relief and charity were thoroughly 
discussed in a meeting of the representatives of public and private poor 
relief held in November, 1882, and having been accepted in every essen- 
tial particular, were put into effect March 1st, 1883. During an active 
existence of ten years the Dresden central bureau has materially reduced 
professional mendicancy, and successfully prevented excessive giving to 
either individuals or families. Many undeserving persons have in these 
ten years been cut off from charitable relief, and many newcomers in 
needy circumstances have been prevented from obtaining the right of 
settlement. From published statistics covering the years from 1883 to 
1891 inclusive it appears that during that period 23,235 applications 
for relief were passed upon. Of these, however, only 13,112 obtained 
relief from societies or individuals and to the rest it was denied. 
In the latter year fifty-two societies co-operated in this work. rhe fact 
that more than 10,000 applications, concerning which the central bureau 
had given information, were refused, is a proof of the practical utility 
of and necessity for this whole organization. From the statistics given 
farther on in this paper it appears that, especially of late years, more than 
half of all the applications were not deemed proper cases for relief. 
In a conference of the boards of the charitable societies of Dresden 
called together by the chairman of the city board of charities, on the 
23d of November, 1889, the opinion was unanimously expressed that the 
co-operation of charitable organizations inaugurated by the establish-, 
ment of the central bureau, had proved an excellent policy, and that CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
223 
any further progress should be made along the lines of this union. 
Although previously some of the Dresden societies had worked together 
in isolated instances to relieve cases of exceptionally pressing need, in 
future this joint relief was to be regulated by the official central bureau, 
which was to co-operate with the societies. The representatives of the 
various societies further expressed the desire that conferences of the 
boards of the different societies should be called at regular intervals, in 
which technical and legal questions relating to the poor might be dis- 
cussed, and an exchange of experiences and a closer affiliation rendered 
possible. 
To facilitate the imitation of this Dresden system it may be well to 
introduce here a few official data. 
The principal grounds of association in Dresden between chari- 
table societies and public poor relief. 
1. In Dresden all private societies and institutions of a charitable 
nature or for the care of the sick or poor co-operate with the official 
system. 
2. The objects of this co-operation are : (a) The entire abolition, or 
at least the greatest possible limitation of professional mendicancy. 
(b~) The prevention of excessive gifts to individuals or families, (r) The 
rejection of unworthy persons, (T) The cutting off of indigent new- 
comers from private relief. (<?) Uniformity of action in procuring relief 
in times of general distress. 
3. For the attainment of the objects named above in 2, («) to each 
association pledges itself: To submit to the bureau of poor relief 
for preliminary discussion all applications for relief laid before it or 
directly presented to it, except applications for sick relief. Vide 4. 
To report monthly to the bureau every case of relief granted, 
whether in money, in kind, or in meal tickets, or sick or medical relief, 
or even when it takes the form of temporary or permanent consign- 
ment to homes, asylums or educational institutions, (c) To follow the 
suggestions of the bureau respecting the unworthiness of certain persons, 
absolutely in so far as concerns their right of settlement, and in other 
respects so far as practicable. 
4. The preliminary discussions mentioned above in 3, (#), cover the 
right of settlement, the character of the applicant, as disclosed by the 
records, the public or private relief previously received by him, and the 
propriety of admitting outside or state paupers to participation in the 
enjoyment of the funds of the associations. 224 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
5. The result of the discusions upon any of the above points, which 
follow as promptly as possible the receipt of the applications, are officially 
noted on each application and it is then returned to the society from 
which it came. 
6. The relief reported as mentioned above, 3, (/£), must be entered 
upon the records of the respective cases or where there is no such record, 
in a register provided for the purpose. 
7. A special officer is appointed for the central bureau by the 
Council of Dresden, who has charge of the preliminary discussions 
mentioned above and whose duty it is to keep a register, to make 
for each of the associations a list of their applications for relief, to make 
proper entries of these upon the general record, and to send reports 
to the registration officers of the respective societies for entry upon 
their records of cases. 
(D.) An appeal to the citizens of Dresden to make use of the muni- 
cipal bureau of information. 
With the advent of the cold weather and stimulated by the approach 
of the Christmas season, increased demands are made upon private 
charity. It is certainly the wish of every giver to bestow his charity 
only upon those who are really worthy and in need of it. In this con- 
nection the systematic co-operation of private charitable societies with 
public relief, now of some years standing, has proved most effective and 
been blessed with the happiest results. Public relief would, however, 
have a far better and wider scope, if the charitable instincts of indivi- 
duals were better instructed. Many well known and habitual beggars, 
who dread publicity, know how to work skillfully several sources of 
relief at the same time, and live by begging better than many of their 
fellows who have to earn their bread by hard labor. The necessity for 
caution cannot, therefore, be too strongly urged, and it is fervently to 
be wished that before granting relief individuals would satisfy them- 
selves, as do the societies, of the worthiness and need of the beggar. 
Opportunity for discussion on these points is afforded by the local 
bureau of poor relief. As it has often declared publicly, all persons 
may obtain at its central bureau, Landhaustrasse, No. 7, I, prompt and, 
of course, free information in reply to all written or verbal questions as 
to applicants for relief. The use made of this bureau of information 
is deserving of all the more consideration, from the fact that its 
object is not to restrict private charity, but only to guide it. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
225 
(C.) Statistics of the Dresden Municipal Bureau of Information for 
Poor Relief and Charity. 
Charitable societies 
and institutions re- 
porting the relief 
granted to the Bur- 
eau of Information. 
Applications for re- 
lief reported to the 
Bureau of Informa- 
tion by societies, in- 
stitutions and indi- 
viduals for the pur- 
pose of obtaining 
written informa- 
tion. 
Number of applica- 
tions for relief gran- 
ted by the several 
societies in accord- 
ance with informa- 
tion given by the 
Bureau of Informa- 
tion. 
Propositions of the 
Bureau of Poor Re- 
lief to the Royal Po- 
lice Department as 
to the definition and 
punishment of m en- 
dlcancy. 
1883 
49 
1875 
1137 
- 
' March to 
December) 
1884 
52 
2198 
1618 
6 
1885 
5° 
2456 
1495 
2 
1886 
5° 
2 13° 
1537 
4 
1887 
47 
2418 
1358 
- 
1888 
5i 
2755 
1283 
- 
1889 
53 
2979 
1552 
- 
1890 
53 
3062 
1506 
- 
1891 
52 
3362 
1626 
- 
23'235 
13,112 
6. Concluding Remarks. 
From what has been said above this lesson may be drawn, that the 
co-operation of public and private poor relief works no harm, but 
rather profit. All who are ready and feel called to share in the work 
of relief must bring their freedom of action in the matter of benevolence 
into harmony with the oneness of the object in view and with their duty 
to the community. 
The charitable societies will gradually place themselves more and 
more at the service of the community, or actually become absorbed into 
the public relief administration, as is already the case in Elberfeld and 
to a certain extent in Crefeld, two model cities in the line of the organi- 
zation of poor relief. Of course the care of the poor cannot be every- 
where organized on one and the same plan, but different systems for 
effecting the co-operation of the various societies and public boards 
must be employed according as the community is a large, moderate 
sized or small one. Only experience can decide whether the end to be 
aimed at is not rather a common co-operation of societies and com- 226 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
munities working together as a united whole, than an organization of 
various bodies working on parallel lines. 
The attainment of this end can be accelerated by collecting the ex- 
periences of many communities, states and peoples, comparing them 
with each other and carefully testing their value, as is contemplated at 
this International Congress. The various civilized nations exhibit great 
differences in their systems and methods of poor relief, and can learn 
much of each other as to the use of the proper appliances for relief and 
the means of alleviating human suffering. It is especially advisable to 
strive for unity of purpose. The chief aim of poor relief must be to 
combat the causes of bodily, spiritual and moral need. These causes 
lie partly in the circumstances of the individual, very often in the 
fault of the person in need of relief, but partly also in conditions which 
are general, and in the lack of love, sympathy, justice and compassion, 
which is so common a fault in social life and international intercourse. 
Not only individuals and different classes of society, but whole nations 
injure each other by inconsiderate self-seeking, envy, hatred, enmity 
and war; whereas it is their duty to live together in peace and unity, 
and by joint labor and free exchange of the fruits of that labor, to con- 
tribute to the advancement of their material welfare, and to prevent the 
mutual destruction of each other's property. 
Of still greater importance is it that the nations should exchange with 
each other their spiritual goods, their inner experiences, and learn of 
each other better manners, useful methods, profounder wisdom and 
virtue. 
International Exhibitions and World's Congresses are intended for 
the special purpose of bringing nations together, and causing them to 
see the spiritual and moral unity of man, and his community of pur- 
pose. In the sphere of poor relief and charity every nation must strive 
to combat not only the physical but also the spiritual and moral 
wretchedness of humanity. Since poverty results in many instances 
only from the pursuit of self, pleasure or drink, from dissipation or im- 
morality, the roots of the evil must be extirpated, and the human soul 
purified and refined. The chief object to be pursued and the chief 
means to be used in the care of the poor is the care of the soul. Not 
only must the souls of the poor and the alms receiving class be cared for, 
enlightened and disciplined, but the souls of the rich and alms-giving 
class as well, in fact the souls of all classes of society. The number of 
those who help and care for the poor can never be large enough in any CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
227 
community ; and beside every one who needs help should stand some one 
ready to help him as a true friend. "Not alms but a friend " must be 
the watchword. Through our care for the poor we will come to learn 
to look upon all our fellow beings as our brothers and sisters and lovingly 
to serve them according to our strength. Side by side with the weal of 
the individual we should ever keep clearly in view the common welfare 
of the community and the State and the lasting advancement of the 
well being of mankind. 228 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
THE PEOPLE'S CLUB, "VOLKSWOHL," OF DRESDEN. ITS 
EVENING ENTERTAINMENTS AND HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE. 
BY DR. VICTOR BOHMERT. 
I. General Remarks on Efforts for the Welfare of Mankind and of 
the People. 
We are living in an age of labor agitation and efforts for the welfare 
of the laborer. A generation ago Mr. Gladstone, the English Prime 
Minister, spoke of the present as "the workingman's century." The 
changes taking place in the views and opinions of men seem to point 
to the consummation of a great movement toward social improvement 
before the end of the century. On one of the most frequented thorough- 
fares in the East end of London, where the population of the city of 
five million souls is densest, and where, too, the greatest misery exists, 
a grand palace was erected some eight years ago, surrounded by gar- 
dens, play grounds and public baths. The interior contains one of the 
largest halls in the world, besides many smaller annexes in which may 
be found a library, class-rooms, entertainment and sitting rooms, a 
small museum, etc. All of these arrangements are intended chiefly for 
the benefit of the laboring people of the Easf End and are the results 
of public spirit. The name People's Palace was given to it, instead 
of Working People's Palace, and its object is to further the well- 
being of the people generally. In nearly all languages and countries 
the term "working people" (ar belt er, classe ouvriere'} is often inter- 
preted in a very narrow sense. It has generally been applied only to 
wage workers in factories and larger industries, whose condition it was 
sought to improve by means of labor legislation and labor insurance. 
It was, found, however, that this class of wage workers is by no means 
the poorest paid or the most unfortunately situated. For side by side 
with them are the small mechanics, the helpers and apprentices in 
smaller work-shops, the clerks, packers and porters in mercantile 
houses, the farm hands and the daily increasing number of office em- 
ployees in the larger cities, all of whom deserve as much attention and 
protection as the workmen in the larger industrial establishments. The 
[translation.] CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
229 
masses of either sex, whether occupied in manual or mental, indoor 
or outdoor labor, have as great a claim to the protection of the author- 
ities and to the public spirited services of their more fortunate fellow 
men as the factory operatives. It is therefore high time that we recog- 
nize by our acts and public expressions the fact that future efforts for 
the general welfare must be called by another name than "work for 
the laborer's welfare." The efforts for social■ improvement of the pre- 
sent day are directed towards lifting the masses out of misery and igno- 
rance to a loftier cultivation and a higher moral standard. Their 
object is the general welfare and they begin with the care of our near- 
est neighbors. Following this line of development, societies have been 
founded in a number of German cities, during the past decade, known as 
"societies for general welfare," (Vereine fur Volkswohl). They seek to 
advance the well-being of mankind without distinction of class, age, 
religion, politics or nativity. 
What follows is an account of only one of these societies, the People's 
Glub {Volksklub} of Dresden, called Volkswohl {public welfare). It 
will serve as an illustration of the growth of this very recent movement 
for the improvement of humanity. 
II. Origin and Development of Popular Evening Entertainments 
{ Volksunterhaltungsabende). 
The People's Club is an off-shoot from the District Society for the 
Prevention of the Abuse of Spirituous Drinks {Bezirksverein gegen den 
Missbrauch geistiger Getrankef and a step in advance of the popular 
evening entertainments arranged by the latter society. The object of 
this temperance organization, founded in 1884, was from the very 
beginning not only to work against the intemperate use of alcohol, 
but while doing so to establish places where higher enjoyments and 
recreation could be had. It adopted in its programme, among other 
things, (1) series of popular lectures on hygiene and nutrition, (2) the 
institution of evening entertainments and higher forms of amusement 
for the people. 
A committee on public welfare appointed from among the members 
•of the temperance society undertook the entire management of this 
part of the programme. The first large evening entertainment was 
held on Sunday, November 28, 1886, and the committee extended a 
general invitation to people of all classes in Dresden to attend. As a 
large hall was not available for a Sunday evening, the Turnhall in INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
230 
Neustadt-Dresden, with a seating capacity of about 2000 persons, was 
converted into an entertainment hall. A platform was constructed for 
the performers, and chairs and tables arranged in the hall for the 
audience. Cards of admission had been placed with manufacturers and 
other employers of labor, as well as with labor organizations, so that 
they might be distributed among the laboring classes, for whom the 
entertainments were chiefly intended. The services of working people's 
singing societies were also secured as a feature of the entertainment. 
The first entertainment was fittingly opened with Uhland's beautiful 
German hymn ' lDas ist der Tag des Herrn /' ' (This is the Lord's Day!), 
set to music by Kreutzer, and rendered by the singing section bf the 
Neustadt-Dresden Turn-association, with organ accompaniment. After 
the opening hymn the chairman of the committee on public welfare 
made an address of welcome. In his speech he dwelt upon the fact 
that the public evening entertainments were intended to give an oppor- 
tunity for mental and moral refreshment to all classes without regard 
to rank or station, religious or political convictions. He said, that all 
men and women present depended upon the same source of subsistence, 
namely, labor, and that it mattered not what the nature of that labor 
might be, whether in the workshop, in the factory, in the counting 
room, in the study, in the office or in the open fields, and he advised 
every one to be energetic in his own sphere, be it great or small. 
When the day's or week's work is over we should aim to encourage a 
generous sociability and a proper enjoyment of life, partly for the gen- 
eral good, partly for the special good of persons in single life, and 
as a consequence serve ourselves. This fundamental idea, and the 
aims of the committee as expressed at the opening meeting, have con- 
tinued to be the standard of development of this project in Dresden, 
and have also been adopted and even extended in other German and 
foreign cities. Wherever the example of Dresden has been followed, it 
has soon been demonstrated that the club evenings, instituted for members 
of workingmen's city and town clubs, and the parochial evenings of 
church societies, which have existed for years in Germany, were not 
sufficient for the masses. There was still a need in all large cities of 
some kind of association, where opportunities for unrestricted social 
intercourse and entertainment might be given to all adult persons 
regardless of club affiliations, religious beliefs, occupation or rank, and 
where all might find intellectual and artistic enjoyment of a high order, to 
replace the public houses and dance halls where they would be forced CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
231 
to drink. In these public evenings an instructive lecture ought always 
to be the main feature, accompanied by musical exercises, recita- 
tions and other features of a sober, but cheerful character. Choral sing- 
ing, dramatic and historical representations, tales of travel, popular 
classic poetry, stereopticon illustrations, and other proper amusements 
may well be given. In the selection of subjects for instructive lectures, 
the efforts of the Dresden society have thus far been confined to the 
sphere of public education, public welfare, public health, popular art 
and poetry, and to biographies of persons of merit. Unsolved scien- 
tific problems and doubtful questions have been avoided, attention being 
given rather to completed results of scientific research which are little 
doubted, and to expressing in popular terms such conclusions as are 
generally accepted and have become public property. 
In arranging the entertainments, what is simple and beautiful, pure 
and noble, and truly harmonious in art and poetry was selected, rather 
than what is speculative, fashionable and showy. Most of the lectures 
were delivered gratuitously by professors of the Dresden technical high 
school and physicians. For the other features of the entertainments 
special efforts were made to secure the assistance of those classes for 
whom the amusement was chiefly intended, for example, working peo- 
ple's singing societies and amateur talent from amongst the poorer peo- 
ple. Nevertheless, prominent artists and the first singing societies of 
Dresden frequently took part in the entertainments. There is a real 
absence of class distinction, all participants cheerfully offering their 
services for the common good. During the six years of the existence 
of these public evening entertainments there has never been the slightest 
discord-in fact they were so popular that additional space was required. 
During the first five winters, entertainments were held once every month, 
on Sundays or holidays, in the large hall of the Turn-association in Neu- 
stadt-Dresden. Last winter, however, ten additional entertainments 
were held in Dresden, four of which took place in the largest hall in 
Altstadt-Dresden, which could be obtained only on Saturday evenings. 
It was found that Saturday was not a bad day for entertainments of this 
kind, provided that in the interest of the working classes the perform- 
ances did not begin until 8 P. M. The result of this was that many 
men and single women after a hard day's work closed the week peace- 
fully in the enjoyment of high intellectual and artistic amusements and 
were better prepared for the Sunday rest than by frequenting public 
houses. On the occasion of the first entertainment in the Tivoli Hall INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
232 
in Dresden, on Saturday, October 26, 1892, the hall, which holds 3,000 
persons, was completely filled, and the number of adherents and friends 
of the People's Club was greatly increased. 
It is worthy of special mention that great pains are taken to remove 
all political and sectarian feeling from the evening entertainments. 
Shortly before the third entertainment of the society was held in Feb- 
ruary, 1887, and when at the national elections all the candidates of 
the social democratic party in Saxony had suffered defeat, a rumor was 
spread in the factories that this entertainment was to be made an occa- 
sion for celebrating a political victory. In view of this rumor, the 
chairman in opening the entertainment took occasion to declare that 
the public evening entertainments had nothing whatever to do with 
political affairs, but that, on the contrary, it was hoped by their means to 
bridge over the gulf which separates classes and parties. He also said 
that the society desired to win over persons of social democratic views 
to this movement for the public good. 
The committee on public welfare considered it equally important to 
avoid, in these public entertainments, all religious questions which 
related only to particular sects. There are, of course, thousands in 
every large city who like to associate only with people who agree with 
them in politics or religion. This is a perfectly legitimate view, but it 
is also right and proper that associations of men and women should 
exist whose primary object is to bring about a friendly understanding 
amongst the various classes and creeds, and whose members gladly 
associate with persons of different views and from other stations of life. 
At any rate, experience has shown that in many small as well as large 
communities in all countries a desire prevails seriously to encourage 
the exercise of a brotherly spirit towards all one's fellows. This move- 
ment for popular evening entertainments has spread very rapidly during 
the past six years, and not only has it taken root in the larger German 
cities, such as Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck, Leipzig, Halle and 
Dusseldorf, but also in the medium sized and smaller towns, such as 
Kiel, Bremerhaven, Luneburg, Gorlitz, Flensberg, Zittau, Guben, 
Bromberg, Elmshorn, Husum, etc. In many rural communities, and 
even on islands in the North Sea, popular Sunday evening entertain- 
ments are held once every four weeks when the roads-are lit by the full 
moon. And in some cities of Austria and Switzerland these institutions 
have been imitated, and about three years ago popular evening enter- 
tainments were started in Christiania, Norway, modelled entirely after CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
233 
those in Germany. Last winter the rural community of Norik, near 
Christiania, followed the example of the Norwegian capital. The weekly 
organ Volkswohl which appears in Dresden contained a very com- 
plete description of this Norwegian rural institution. 
On the occasion of the first entertainment the invitations were distri- 
buted by the joint action of an employer, a workingman, a farmer, a 
government official and the communal administration of the locality. 
Entertainments of this character cannot always be modelled after the 
same pattern. In a rural community, for instance, where religious dif- 
ferences rarely exist, it is advisable for the clergyman, the school 
teacher, the physician and perhaps a prominent employer to take the 
initiative. These persons should secure the co-operation of local socie- 
ties or individual workingmen and farmers, not omitting the women, 
and all should unite in distributing the invitations and arranging and 
developing the scheme in accordance with the needs of the particular 
locality. Officers of the State or locality should not take part in their 
official capacity, but should, nevertheless, as private citizens use every 
effort to further the success of schemes for public recreation and the 
intellectual development of the adult population. 
III. Origin and Development of the People's Homes (Volksheime) in 
Dresden. 
In consequence of the success, which the public evening entertain- 
ments inaugurated in Dresden in 1886, met with everywhere, the exec- 
utive board of the District Society for the Prevention of the Abuse of 
Spirituous Drinks, and its committee on public welfare appointed in 
1888, resolved to go one step farther in fostering sociability among 
persons of all ranks and creeds. This new scheme consisted of the 
establishment of social centres where persons might meet, not only once 
a month, but at all times, for friendly intercourse and mutual education 
and improvement. These centres were called "People's Homes," 
( Volksheime.) They are not public kitchens nor philanthropic institu- 
tions, but really people's club houses managed by the members them- 
selves, and are intended to be self-supporting. Plain food and refresh- 
ments are furnished to guests at low fixed prices, schedules of the latter 
being posted in the rooms. The essential differences between them and 
ordinary taverns and restaurants are that members have access to them 
at all times without being required to spend any money; that they con- 
tain reading and sitting rooms, libraries, gardens for recreation, and 234 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
playgrounds and gymnasiums for young people, that fresh drinking 
water is always on hand in the rooms and gardens, that the attendants 
are not permitted to accept fees for their services, and no partiality is 
allowed in serving guests. In fact, most of the guests help themselves 
to food and drink at the buffet. 
For the purpose of establishing homes of this kind the People's Club 
was founded December 7, 1888. By the end of December, 1892, three 
homes had been established. The founders of this society were, with 
few exceptions, the same persons who originated the Society for the 
Prevention of the Abuse of Spirituous Drinks in 1884. There might 
not have been any necessity for creating a new society, as the old one 
could as well have undertaken the establishment of people's homes. It 
was done, however, because many persons, though they approved of the 
object of the parent society, objected to its name, which had been con- 
tracted in common parlance into Drinking Society (Trunksuchts- 
verein} and feared that by joining a society of that name they might be 
taken for drunkards or at least for friends of alcoholism. Many mem- 
bers had expressly asked that the monthly journal of the society, which 
bore the name Mitteilungen gegen Trunksucht (Information in rela- 
tion to Drunkenness), should not be delivered at their homes, because 
they did not wish to arouse a suspicion among their servants that they 
were in need of a monthly paper to warn them against alcohol. It is 
at times advisable to take the prejudices of the masses into account in 
order to overcome an obstacle in the way of a useful institution. For 
this reason the executive board of the Dresden society publicly appointed 
the "Committee on Public Welfare" to inaugurate evening entertain- 
ments instead of doing so itself, and afterwards changed the name of 
the monthly organ of the society to Volksgesundheit, Blatter fur Mas- 
sigkeit und gemeinutzige Gesundheitspflege (Public Health, a Journal 
of Temperance and Public Hygiene.) 
As another means of avoiding the creation of a new society it was 
proposed to convert the parent society into the new People's Club. 
This suggestion was not received with favor. The old society already 
counted a membership of nearly two thousand persons contributing 
annual dues to the amount of about 4,000 marks ($1,000) and had a 
small sum in its treasury, and many persons objected to turning over 
these resources to the new society. Then again, there were many persons 
who were willing to contribute towards maintaining a society having 
the specific object of combatting drunkenness, but were averse to CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
235 
aiding an organization bearing the more comprehensive name of Volks- 
wohl, behind which they suspected a doubtful social or possibly social 
democratic scheme was lurking. Only recently, a Dresden physician 
gave 5,000 marks ($1,250) to the District Society for the Prevention of 
the Abuse of Spirituous Drinks, because in his daily practice he observed 
the undisguised ravages of drink. This physician was not a member of 
the People's Club and would probably not have made the donation had 
the new society superseded the old. It must also be remarked in this 
connection that in the Dresden Society for the Prevention of the Abuse 
of Spirituous Drinks, the small annual fee of 50 pfennigs cents) 
entitles members to all the privileges of the society, including admis- 
sion to the popular evening entertainments, while in the People's Club 
an annual membership fee of at least 2 marks (50 cents) is required. 
The executive board of the club did not hesitate to require a higher 
annual membership fee than the old society, because experience had 
shown that in the latter organization there were many persons, even 
with small means, who voluntarily contributed more than was asked of 
them. A good illustration of such a case was that of a servant girl, 
who joined the society shortly after the first of the evening entertain- 
ments, and agreed to pay 2 marks (50 cents) a year for membership. 
The officers of the society, knowing that the girl was a servant in a 
rather modest household, gave her to understand that only 50 pfennigs 
cents) were required and that this would entitle her not only to 
attend the entertainments, but to receive the publications and reports 
of the society. She insisted, however, upon paying the 2 marks, be- 
cause, as she said, for so good an object as the popular evening enter- 
tainments she would gladly give that much of her wages. This readi- 
ness to contribute on the part of the members of the old society has 
shown itself to a still greater extent in the club, because the aim of the 
latter is higher and its field of work greater. 
An experience of four years has demonstrated that they were in the 
right, who had claimed that two distinct societies were not too many, 
though their aims were so similar. There are, especially in large cities, 
many public spirited men and women who are quite willing to be 
doubly taxed for a good object. Many members of the society whose 
annual contributions are quite considerable, pay at the same time still 
higher annual dues into the treasury of the club. Some time ago the 
society erected at great cost a people's home of its own, which it after- 
wards turned over to the People's Club. 236 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
In the preceding pages we have endeavored to show that experience 
justifies the founding of new societies of general benefit, because there 
are many otherwise worthy men, who strongly oppose the tendency to 
private organization of our time without discrimination, and without 
considering that there are certain new problems relating to the improve- 
ment of mankind, which can never be solved without the creation of 
new societies. The State and the community should not be burdened 
with everything when private beneficence is quite as effective. Had it 
not been for the creation of the new People's Club one of the most 
beautiful garden sites in Dresden would have fallen into the hands of 
building speculators. This was the estate of the late Princess Pauline 
of Schleswig-Holstein, which now serves as a people's home and garden, 
a refreshing resting place for thousands of adults, and a healthy play- 
ground for many more children. Upon the death of the Princess 
Pauline in 1888, the president of the District Society for the Prevention 
of the Abuse of Spirituous Drinks obtained an option for several months 
on the estate at a price of 188,000 marks ($47,000). In the meantime 
he called for subscriptions and donations from citizens of Dresden to 
cover the first payment. In response to his call one prominent manu- 
facturer gave 20,000 marks ($5,000), another 5,000 marks ($1,250), a 
third promised an annuity of 2,000 marks, and many others promised 
annual contributions of from 100 to 300 marks ($25 to $75). The ex- 
ecutive board of the newly created club hesitated, however, about under- 
taking the purchase of this expensive piece of property, and so the 
option at the same figures was transferred to the city, which acquired 
the property and leased it to the club for a people's home. 
This people's home and grounds are in Neustadt-Dresden at No. 7, 
Wasserstrasse. The estate was named Paulinengarten, after the late 
owner. Since its opening it has become a great centre of public socia- 
bility. In the building there are on the ground floor two rooms for 
social entertainment with buffet and kitchen adjoining, and a spacious 
reading room, in which also dinner is served to the numerous boarders 
who come there at midday. A fourth room contains the staircase to the 
second floor. Here there are two rooms set aside as business offices 
for the club and the society. Two other rooms on this floor are used 
during the winter months as class rooms and for society meetings. 
There are also a library and a large hall, in which lectures, meetings 
and smaller evening entertainments are conducted. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
237 
'fhe chief attraction of this people's home is the large garden, which is 
one of the most beautiful ornaments of Dresden. It has large lawns 
and magnificent old trees. While in the foreground under a splendid 
group of plane-trees a grand view is spread out of the Elbe, covered 
with life, and the first hills of Saxon Switzerland, at whose entrance the 
towns of Loschwitz and Blasewitz offer a friendly greeting. Here under 
the shady trees hundreds of working people and others, who like a well 
prepared dinner at 25 pfennigs cents), come to take their meals in 
summer time. Many women with their children may be seen here in the 
afternoon, while in the evening and on Sundays men and women of all 
classes congregate. The garden is divided into two parts, one for adults, 
the other for children. That for adults is laid out as a park, with shady 
walks and quiet nooks, beautiful lawns, trees and shrubbery. The 
other and more important section of the garden belongs to the children 
and is subdivided into five or six separate parts. There are several sand 
piles for the very small children, an enclosure for swings which are con- 
stantly in motion, a space set aside for such games as require the direc- 
tion of an adult, another ground for other games, and an enclosure con- 
taining both gymnastic apparatus and games. Partly by this sub- 
division of the play-grounds and partly by the presence of an overseer, 
it has always been possible to maintain strict order in the garden, not- 
withstanding the fact that hundreds of children are often present at the 
same time. The games are under the guidance of specially employed 
teachers and assistants. There is also a large covered room in the 
playground for protection in case of rain. Benches are placed in the 
midst of this children's paradise, where mothers sit knitting or mending 
and enjoying the mirth of their little ones. And when the day's work 
is done, the fathers, too, find their way to the garden, and often with 
their wives and children sit down to a simple evening meal under 
the trees. Or they may bring their food with them from home and 
refresh themselves with a glass of light beer or a drink of fresh water, 
which is always to be had in the rooms and in the garden. 
The grounds and home are also used at times by other societies for 
children's picnics, and as a place of rest and refreshment for school children 
of the surrounding country making excursions to the city. In the summer 
of 1892 several Dresden singing societies for the first time gave concerts 
in the garden, which were attended by hundreds of members and others. 
By this means the noble art of music becomes more and more the com- 
mon property of all classes of the people. 238 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
Besides the above described people's home of Neustadt-Dresden, which 
is the most important one, there is a second in Altstadt-Dresden and a 
third in the Bischofsweg. In outward appearance these homes do not 
differ from respectable restaurants. But the difference is very marked, 
when one finds water on all the tables, and plain notices on the walls 
informing the guests that no one is compelled to spend anything and 
that fees will not be accepted by the waiters, and there is no card play- 
ing with its accompanying noise and disputes. Many of the guests 
occupy themselves with books and newspapers or games of chess, 
draughts and billiards. A midday meal is served at the people's homes 
for 25 pfennigs cents). Light beer is drunk by about one-third of 
the guests. The visitors to the people's homes are mostly ambi- 
tious young men anxious for improvement, and of the older men 
mechanics and factory operatives. There are also many office employees 
and wealthier and better educated people among them. A plain man 
visiting one of these club houses for the first time is at once made to 
feel that he is welcome and that he is under no constraint, as long as he 
conducts himself properly. Although non-members are, as a rule, 
cheerfully admitted as guests, only members have a right to stay at the 
homes and to expect a hearing for any complaints or wishes regarding 
the management. When we consider that wine and brandy are not kept 
in stock, and that the only beverages served are light beer, coffee, " warm 
beer", cocoa, tea and fresh water, we must realize that these people's 
homes have little in common with bar-rooms. Ample provision is made 
in Dresden for those who prefer the attractions of a bar-room, and they 
require no assistance from public spirited citizens to satisfy their tastes, 
but there exists a need for many more places where, away from a bar- 
room atmosphere, all classes may meet for a higher social intercourse 
without being expected to constantly spend money in drink. Two of 
the people's homes are more than self-supporting, the surplus being de- 
voted to the payment of the original expenses. The third still requires 
some assistance from the society to cover expenses. 
IV. Other Institutions of the People's Club. 
Lectures and Class Instruction. Besides promoting sociability among 
all classes, another aim of the People's Club has been, from its very 
beginning, the intellectual cultivation of the masses. With this end in 
view various courses of study were arranged during the past four years, 
including among other things, bookkeeping, penmanship, German, CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
239 
English, French and Italian, modern history, the chemistry of daily 
life, stenography and singing. There were also lectures by physicians 
on first aid to the injured, medical lectures for women, lectures on 
botany with botanical excursions, and lectures on art supplemented by 
visits to the Dresden Art Museum. In the arrangement of the course 
of study many branches were undoubtedly omitted, which would have 
been more useful than some of those selected. Nor can it be denied 
that there is still a lack of proper system in this respect, and that the 
selection of subjects depends greatly upon chance. In arranging the 
courses the management acts only as a medium between members who 
are anxious to learn, and such persons as are willing to impart know- 
ledge gratuitously. Besides, the object of this instruction is not only 
to impart knowledge to the people, but to create in them a taste for 
nobler pastimes and higher aspirations, and to give them a harmonious 
view of the world. Novel and especially attractive were the botanical 
excursions to the environs of Dresden, and the rambles of the art 
classes in the city. The participants in the former saw before their 
eyes the spring flowers and the foliage and pines of the German forest, 
as well as the exquisite plant life of the environs. For the latter, 
Dresden is specially adapted by its wealth of art treasures. It was 
clearly seen in the very beginning of these new experiments that not 
only professional men, but the masses have a desire, and in no small 
degree a capacity to receive mentally and morally the lessons taught 
by the treasures of art and nature. 
In connection with this organization, there have also been started 
two singing societies, one in Neustadt-Dresden for a mixed choir, the 
other in Altstadt-Dresden for male voices only. The former frequently 
assists at the popular evening entertainments. A dramatic club has 
also been formed, which devotes one evening a week to the reading of 
classic drama. The library of the society is a potent means of encourag- 
ing education. It is made up almost entirely of donations from the 
wealthier members, and already contains about 1400 volumes, which 
were given out 5000 times during the year 1892. Many parents, whose 
work prevents them from visiting the people's homes, avail themselves 
of their benefits by sending their children or half grown members of 
the family to the gardens in summer time, and to the classes or the 
library in winter, in order that the latter may bring home information or 
entertaining books. Many an afternoon the library is filled with per- 
sons, especially children, waiting their turn to get good books, or more 240 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OB' CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
often illustrated periodicals to take home, either for themselves or for 
other members of their families, so as to pleasantly pass away the long 
winter nights in reading at home. 
Finally, as another means of education, a monthly paper is issued 
by the society, called Volkswohl, which is delivered gratuitously to 
all members at their homes. This paper contains a review of general 
matters relating to the society, together with articles and communica- 
tions on public improvements, popular education, public health and 
social life. Reports of lectures delivered at the public evening enter- 
tainments, also appear occasionally in this journal. It also serves to 
keep the members more in touch with the executive board and with 
each other. 
Women's Meetings. Among the many minor divisions of the pre- 
sent organization, the People's Club, the women's meetings instituted 
at the people's home in Wasserstrasse, October 28, 1890, have been 
especially successful. This association meets every Tuesday evening 
from 8 to 10 P. M. It has a membership of 130, and a regular attend- 
ance of about 80, consisting of women and girls over 12 years of age, 
who come therefor instruction, cheering society, and contact with com- 
panions of their own age and sentiments. The time for social inter- 
course is from 7 to 8 P. M. Then follows an instructive lecture or read- 
ing, and after that comes a lively discussion of the letter-box, which 
contains all sorts of inquiries by members, relating chiefly to subjects of 
domestic economy. Portfolios containing patterns for cutting and 
crocheting, and ladies journals are placed on the tables to assist in 
educating the members in all branches of domestic economy. On the 
evenings set aside for them, the women have the exclusive use of the 
large hall and adjoining room on the second floor of the home. Two 
special courses were given during the past winter, one in cutting, and 
the other in darning and mending. A course in measuring and draw- 
ing patterns is to be added. Great tact and earnestness is displayed 
by the woman under whose guidance the meetings are conducted. She is 
a teacher in one of the public schools, and in her work at the meetings 
she seems to have succeeded in securing a united hearty effort on the 
part of all the members, to strive after definite aims and to foster a 
feeling of sociability among themselves regardless of rank. Often the 
women's meetings are enlivened by some of their members playing on the 
piano or singing. The aim is to make them sociable and instructive, 
and to remove all restraint. Members often bring needle work with CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
241 
them, with which they employ themselves while pleasantly chatting or 
listening to lectures on domestic affairs and other matters of interest to 
women, or they exercise their wits with riddles and games. It is not 
to be denied that many women and girls without family homes have as 
much need of such harmless associations as men. 
Home for Girls. This institution, also conducted by the People's 
Club since July i, 1889, was originally intended to accommodate work- 
ing girls whose means were so small as to compel them to live in bad 
lodgings. It was designed to take in women employed in factories, and 
by means of the regulation of a well-ordered home managed for the 
common benefit, to educate them in good manners and domestic duties. 
The cost for lodging, breakfast and dinner was fixed at 70 pfennigs (17% 
cents) per day or 3 marks 70 pfennigs cents) per week. The 
factory girl, however, did not take kindly to this idea, and seemed to 
prefer the dangerous surroundings, in which she was free, to a home 
where rules must be observed. So it came to be used chiefly by servant 
girls who boarded there while temporarily out of employment. From 
July t, 1889 to December 31, 1892, 1550 out of a total of 2005 girls 
accommodated, were servants. It was quite natural that efforts should 
be made by the management of this home, to secure employment for 
these girls, and therefore, on July 1, 1890, an employment bureau was 
opened at the home. A fee of 25 pfennigs cents) was charged for 
securing a situation, and the employer was charged 50 pfennigs 
cents). 3200 girls have secured situations through this bureau since its 
creation, the number in 1892 being over 1500. Employment is not only 
secured for inmates of the home, but for all who wish to patronize the 
bureau. As there are always many applications for servants on file, 
nearly every girl applying can obtain employment. The business of 
the employment bureau increased so much recently that the quarters 
were enlarged on April 1, 1893. The income from board and lodg- 
ing and from fees of the employment bureau is sufficient to cover all 
expenses. 
Home for Apprentices. Youths of from 14 to 18 years of age are also 
exposed to many dangers when forced to seek support away from home, 
'fhe dangersarising from the indiscretions of youth are at least partially 
guarded against by the establishment of homes and educational institu- 
tions where apprentices, who are removed from the care and guidance 
of the parents, may be protected from the temptations of a great city. 
The establishment of such homes is daily becoming more urgent, in 242 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
view of the fact that fewer employers board their apprentices, and that 
the hours of recreation are constantly being increased by legislation 
and custom. 
Two years ago the People's Club obtained a donation of 10,000 
marks ($2,500) from a person interested in the welfare of young men, 
for the purpose of providing an apprentices' home. Several rooms in 
the People's Club were specially devoted to Dresden apprentices, and 
provided with games, books and illustrated papers. A young teacher 
was employed during one winter to look after the entertainment and 
instruction of the boys on Sunday afternoons and week-day evenings. 
Sunday walks were added in summer. All this, however, is not suffi- 
cient and it only leads to the conclusion that larger apartments and 
better attractions must be offered to Dresden apprentices and that 
board and lodging and permanent supervision must be procured for 
apprentices who are strangers in Dresden-in short, a real apprentices' 
home must be founded. The home should be at the same time a place 
where the master, the manufacturer, the merchant and the teacher may 
co-operate in the systematic education of young men whose school days 
are over. A general call for subscriptions for this purpose was made to 
the citizens of Dresden at the close of the year 1892, and as this has 
met with a hearty response, the plan will in all probability be carried 
into execution during the current year. 
5. Conclusion. 
The various institutions described above are not the result of a pre- 
viously conceived plan, but grew up from time to time as the members 
found them necessary for the encouragement of sociability and intellec- 
tual improvement, and were developed from within. Without much help 
from the executive board, which rarely finds it necessary to meet, men 
and women, youths and girls, from all classes of society, earnestly 
co-operate for the good of the society, so that after their day's work 
they may have opportunities of refreshing their minds and strengthening 
their bodies. And they learn by personally managing their own affairs, 
that peace and harmony are always more agreeable than quarrels and 
dissensions. Notwithstanding the present unfavorable economic condi- 
tions, the membership in this society increased during the year 1892 from 
2161 to 2274. All classes and occupations are represented in the member- 
ship, but especially small mechanics, laborers and government employees, 
who lead a temperate life, enjoying the visits to the garden with their CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
243 
wives and families in summer, and in winter gladly availing themselves 
of the reading room, library and courses of study. A skating rink is 
another attraction where young and old can amuse themselves at small 
cost. The income from membership fees amounted to 9,536 marks 
($2,384,) in 1892. Since its creation, tljp society, unhampered by polit- 
ical, social and religious differences, has by its various institutions worked 
its way deeper and deeper into the hearts of the people. And while it 
cannot remove all or even many social troubles, its promoters cherish 
the hope that through the cheerful service and sacrifice of all classes of 
society, it may overcome at least some of the difficulties of the social 
life of the masses. 244 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
THE ORGANIZATION OF CHARITY IN RUSSIA. 
BY DR. H. GEORGIEVSKY, ST. PETERSBURG. 
[TRANSLATION.] 
In Russia, until the end of the seventeenth century, works of charity* 
were regarded as a means of saving one's soul. So the centre of bene- 
ficence was the Church and into her hands were turned the offerings 
both of sovereigns and of private persons. From the beginning of the 
18th century the State recognized the need of interposing in this work 
and of regulating charity, by adopting measures in regard to various 
kinds of needs, namely, caring for the sick, helping those unfit for 
work, and making those persons work who were able to do so. In 
order to check the growth of beggary the government forbade the giving 
of alms, under penalty of the law; it obliged each parish as well as 
each landlord, to help its own poor and not to let them become vaga- 
bonds ; and it strictly enjoined upon all local authorities of the State 
to see that these laws were carried out. At the end of the 18th century 
committees of public charity were founded, having for their duty the 
organizing of all necessary establishments (schools, hospitals, orphan- 
ages, workhouses, penitentiaries, etc.) In 1825 these committees 
possessed a capital amounting to 24,000,000 roubles. 
If the organization for helping the poor bore until the end of the 17th 
century an ecclesiastical character, it bore during the 18th century rather 
that of police. At the beginning of the 19th century this work of aid- 
ing the poor became a task, in which not only the organizations of the 
Church and the State were joined, but to which private individuals and 
free associations readily and voluntarily gave their aid. It was in 1802 
that the first organization of this kind was formed. 
During the 19th century, up to the present time, questions concern- 
ing the relations which should subsist between the work of government 
organizations, private societies and individuals, in order to establish 
perfect harmony of action, have been studied in theory as well as in 
practice. At the end of 1892, by a supreme order of his Majesty the 
Emperor, a special commission was formed with Grott, a member of 
the Imperial Council, as president, to revise all laws concerning the CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
245 
relief of the poor; the work of this commission is already somewhat 
advanced. 
At the moment there is not any general organization, that is, there is 
no central ministerial administration for charity. In each province the 
responsibility of giving assistance rests (since 1864) with the General 
Council, or where such a council is not established, with the Commit- 
tees of Public Charity. There is no general report given of work done 
throughout the Empire, and even in St. Petersburg the Municipal 
Council was not able to collect any complete or precise information 
concerning the work of the beneficent institutions of the capital. There 
is still less information concerning the cities of the interior. 
Besides the organizations of the government and private societies, 
there are beneficent institutionsofa semi-official character-for example, 
the Imperial Society of Philanthropy, which spends a considerable 
amount of money. As to official organizations mention must be made 
of the establishments of the Empress Marie, the expenditures of which 
in 1888 greatly exceeded 11,000,000 roubles, but of which no printed 
account is given. 
The parochial associations, instituted in 1864 in connection with the 
orthodox churches, merit special attention. Besides their other duties, 
these organizations must engage in helping the indigent of their parishes. 
As they give help without religious distinction and as they are brought 
mto immediate contact with the people, these should be the most valu- 
able forces for regulating the organization of private as well as of public 
■charity. Unfortunately it has not as yet been possible to establish even 
in St. Petersburg any bond between these various parochial societies ; 
so that the money at the disposition of each one, and in consequence 
the amount of aid given, varies according to the wealth of the inhabi- 
tants of each parish. 
If information is lacking concerning whole departments, whose 
special work is the aid of the poor, information in respect to the chari- 
table work of individuals or of private societies is still less to be ex- 
pected. With the information that I have received from various points 
in this vast country, I can assert that even the smallest cities have their 
charitable societies; but the task of collecting information from all 
Russia is recognized as an impossibility even by the commission estab- 
lished to supervise the actual work of helping the poor and prepared to 
help in its re-organization. Therefore, I limit myself to the statistics of 
St. Petersburg for 1889, which were obtained with great care by the 246 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
municipal administration. These statistics enumerate 757 establish- 
ments, among which are 326 schools, 146 asylums for children, 90 
asylums for the unfortunate, 70 ambulances, 55 hospitals, 40 lodging 
houses (either free or very reasonable in price), 13 boarding houses 
(either free or moderate in terms), 8 workrooms, 4 night refuges, 4 
establishments for sewing, and 2 workhouses. 
• The expenditures of all these establishments (governmental, public 
and private) rose in 1889 to 8,350,000 roubles; the schools and hos- 
pitals received 3,540,000 roubles, and the 4,810,000 roubles remaining 
were used in other charitable works. Nearly ninety-five per cent, of the 
sum total was spent in the institutions and only five per cent., namely, 
430,000 roubles, was spent in outdoor relief, that is to say, 335,000 
roubles by private societies and 95,000 by various agencies. 
It is impossible to give statistics concerning the number of persons 
helped on account of the lack of unity of action among the charitable 
societies. A person helped by one institution is perhaps also helped by 
several others; a person having received help during the course of the 
year from one or more institutions might be received as an inmate of an 
institution; so that the same person might be counted several times and 
we should evidently have a very inaccurate result if we added together 
the number registered by each society. The lack of connection between 
the societies being observed, it is evident that the number given in the 
records, 846,000, is that of cases aided not of persons aided. It is also 
quite impossible to estimate the considerable amount of aid given 
directly by private individuals. Unfortunately it is still quite customary 
in Russia to give alms in the street or at the church door to persons 
who pass as beggars, although in the few cases where it has been pos- 
sible to find out their true condition it was discovered that some among 
them owned houses or other capital. 
In order to give the charities of St. Petersburg a more regular organi- 
zation, I have elaborated a scheme for a special bureau of information 
about the poor modelled after one in Dresden, although differing from 
it essentially. The Imperial Philanthropic Society has organized a 
bureau (in part without me and in part with my non-official concur- 
rence) where persons who are willing to work without remuneration col- 
lect information about those who seek aid from the Philanthropic So- 
ciety or from two or three other societies. The principal part of this 
staff of workers is composed of women, teachers of the city schools, who 
have thrown themselves with ardor into this useful work. The informa- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
247 
tion collected is written on special sheets of paper which are arranged 
like a card catalogue in alphabetical order, and these statistics are con- 
stantly added to and verified. Although this bureau has existed but a 
short time (three years at the most) it has already about 9,000 cards 
giving quite detailed information respecting the poor living alone or sup- 
porting families. So that they have on the register the names of prob- 
ably twenty-five or thirty thousand individuals. PAPERS 
ON THE 
WORK AND PROBDENIS 
OF 
CHARITY ORGANIZATION 
IN 
GREAT BRITAIN. 250 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
BY C. S. LOCH, SECRETARY OF LONDON CHARITY ORGANIZATION SOCIETY. 
I was asked by the Committee of Arrangements for the Sixth Section 
of the Congress of Charities, Correction and Philanthropy, to pro- 
cure a full and careful statement of charity organization work and 
problems covering the field of Great Britain. This was a large task. 
I could only fulfil it within the time at my disposal by asking members 
of charity organization societies and others to write papers on the 
subject with special reference to the town or district which they best 
knew. No exhaustive statement was possible. The work and problems 
could only be tested by samples; and these samples, it appeared to me, 
would be of special value, if they disclosed the opinions and hopes of 
persons engaged in the daily work of the society, who would be likely 
to outline clearly and sharply what lay before them', and were, in the 
spirit of practical men and women, likely to minimise, rather than 
exaggerate, what they might accomplish in the future. 
Of the general work and problems of the societies the fullest par- 
ticulars'may be learnt from the books and papers on the subject, which 
form part of the English Exhibits of the Bureau of Charities and Cor- 
rection. (See page 31 of the Introduction of these Exhibits, especially 
No. 161: Annual Reports of the London Society 1885 to 1892, No. 
172: the Register of Charity Organization Societies 1891, and No. 366: 
Annual Reports of Charity Organization Societies in the United King- 
dom, 1891.) I will not repeat in epitome what may there be found at 
first hand. I will make only one or two remarks on the papers to 
which these few words serve as a preface. 
I have endeavored, as the Table of Contents shows, to obtain first a 
fair representation of the opinions of men and women who are engaged 
in the work of charity organization in the metropolis, and then a 
similar representation of opinions from industrial and other centres in 
the country. Two general papers head the London list. One is written 
by Rev- B. H. Alford, the Vicar of St. Luke's, Nutford Place, S. 
Marylebone, who has for many years been a member of the S. Maryle- 
bone Committee and a Guardian of the Poor. It describes the close 
proximity of rich and poor in a west end district, the lodging of CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
251 
beggars and the overlapping of benefactors, and the great changes for 
the better that have been made in the administration of poor law relief 
and charity in the last twenty years. The other is written by Rev. Dr. 
Bradby, a member of the Whitechapel Committee and Chairman of the 
Administration Committee of the London Society. He knows the East 
of London well and has drawn a picture of the industrial and chari- 
table characteristics of that part of the metropolis. It is a plain unem- 
bellished tale, and for that reason may be appreciated by those into 
whose ears have been dinned so many accounts of the romance of 
distress and degradation to which the East of London has given rise. 
Then follow four other London papers. That from Shoreditch describes 
the problem of Charity Organization and the Poor Law in a civil 
parish, usually classed as part of the East of London, but very distinc- 
tive in the character of its population and its industries-an old 
parish with many endowed charities and a strong local feeling. S. 
Olave's comes next, another old parish and well endowed, south of the 
river. In the account of it but little is said of the actual work of the 
local committee of the society, but the problem stands out clearly, 
and might be summed up by the words "Reform public administration: 
purify social politics." And in this direction there are, we hope, the 
beginnings of a salutary change. A short account of Islington as a 
fairly typical North London district follows. And the section concludes 
with a paper by Mr. T. Mackay on co-operation between the Poor Law 
and' charity, with special reference to the improved administration of 
the Poor Law in S. George in the East and elsewhere. In this paper 
the problem of the Poor Law reform from the point of view of charity 
organization is discussed, and the main objects which it is the policy of 
the society to accomplish in this field, are definitely stated. 
The next group of papers deals with the provinces. 
Mr. McDougall, who has a long and accurate acquaintance with the 
conditions of the poor in Manchester, is to describe the great reform 
in the administration of poor relief which has been accomplished by 
the Guardians of the Poor in Manchester, in concert with himself and 
other charitable persons there. At Manchester there is no Charity 
Organization Society but a District Provident Society, which was insti- 
tuted before charity organization societies came into existence. Bris- 
tol takes the next place, interesting for two reasons amongst others. It 
has a quite abnormal supply of charitable endowments, and many of 
its citizens are now bent on introducing judiciously and gradually into INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
252 
their administration of its poor relief changes which will make the 
charitable resources of the town of more real service to its poor. Mr. 
Leach, the Clerk to the Board of Guardians at Rochdale, has kindly 
sent an account of the administration there-a typical north country 
industrial town known all the world over as the pioneer of co-operation. 
Mr. Milne's account of Aberdeen describes some phases of charity 
organization which are to be found only in Scotland, where no Poor 
Law relief is given to able-bodied persons. And there, too, are asso- 
ciations for the. improvement of the condition of the poor-an older 
form of charity organization society now working in alliance with the 
general movement. Lastly comes Mr. Willink's detailed and most 
interesting account of Bradfield, a rural union, where outdoor relief 
has almost reached the vanishing point, and where some principles of 
charity organization which were formulated by the Poor Law Commis- 
sioners of 1834 and their predecessors are applied, but there is no 
charity organization society. 
In addition to these other towns and districts might have been 
chosen. But the reports of provincial charity organization societies, 
to which already reference has been made, and the papers furnished 
from Birmingham, Oxford, Leeds and elsewhere for the charity organi- 
zation conferences held in Oxford in 1890, will give the reader informa- 
tion, should he desire it. (See No. 162 of the Exhibits Charity Organi- 
zation Review.) 
On special departments of the society's work, the care of the feeble- 
minded, the epileptic, etc., I do not add any remarks. Reports and 
papers in regard to them will also be found in the Exhibit. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
253 
THE WEST OF LONDON: S. MARYLEBONE. 
BY REV. B. H. ALFORD, POOR LAW GUARDIAN AND MEMBER OF THE 
S. MARYLEBONE COMMITTEE OF THE C. O. S. 
I am asked to contribute a paper for the International Congress of 
Charities which shall deal with that small portion of the field of enquiry 
which has fallen under my own personal observation; that field is the 
parish of Marylebone, lying in the of London and containing a 
very mixed population of over 142,000. Throughout this parish the 
extremes of want and of wealth lie near one another. In Lisson Grove 
between 50 and 60 per cent, of the inhabitants are returned in Mr. 
Charles Booth's statistical tables as living in poverty, while in the 
neighborhood of Baker Street 100 per cent, of the inhabitants live in 
comfort. Occasionally the juxtaposition of the extremes is very close; 
for it takes only three minutes to walk from Bryanston Square, colored 
"gold" in Mr. Booth's reference maps, to Horace Street, colored 
"black." The direct consequence of this interstratification of opposed 
classes is to intensify distress, emotionally first of all, because bitter- 
ness is naturally engendered through a contrast so glaring; and also 
practically, for the services required by the rich are to a great extent 
casual, lasting for the season, and no longer; while the rent of rooms 
rises considerably higher than where land is less valuable. The conse- 
quence is that in no part of London are the operations of the Charity 
Organization Society more necessary or, if I may say so without local 
partiality, better carried out. 
: 1. It is desirable to curb the impetuosity of the well-to-do. Moved by 
the distress and squalor of their neighborhood they are anxious to 
apply the speedy remedy of giving. Those that appear with a whin- 
ing tale at the back door get broken meat or a dole ; those who occupy 
themselves in letter writing find a fair harvest. There has lately 
established herself a few doors off from me an impecunious beggar, 
whose trade it is steadily to go through the list of inhabitants in the adja- 
cent squares, and send an appeal varying in particulars with those 
addressed to every householder. But perhaps the most fatal form of cor- 
ruption is when a soft hearted lady undertakes on her own impulse to 254 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
visit and relieve the poor at their own homes. I have known an instance 
of a request for a trifle to buy rice acceded to by a gift of a sovereign. 
In such personal intercourse with neighbors there is indeed "the 
promise and potency" of valuable help, but only on the condition 
that the hand does not go ordinarily to the pocket. Until antecedents 
be known, temptations recognized, and the whole field of circum- 
stances reviewed, there should be no money-giving attempted, if even 
then. The Society is ready to step foward and advise such as have no 
patience or capacity for the process of sifting facts, of considering 
alternatives, of deciding upon that which will best aid effort and least 
hinder energy. 
2. It is desirable to methodize the works of charity, which are already 
afoot in Marylebone. It follows without saying that a parish of the 
kind I have described teems with charities. I have a list by me of 39 
churches, 27 chapels, and about 15 missions within our boundaries. 
Each of these will certainly have a machinery of its own for the assist- 
ance of the poor. The societies of the different churches may be 
expected to keep within their respective districts. Some of the chapels 
also, being for special forms of worship, will have only a limited 
.clientele, but the remainder will spread their work indiscriminately, 
and some of the least deserving characters in Marylebone may easily 
be getting help with both hands from more sources than one. When I 
add a number of institutions not directly religious, such as dispensaries 
with their supplies of medicine and sick food, hospitals with their in- 
door, outdoor and convalescent treatment, almshouses, orphanages, 
homes-you will perceive the imperative need of interchange of know- 
ledge and partition of labor. This the society has undertaken to promote; 
but its efforts are hampered by lack of co-operation. Some smaller com- 
munities do not think it worth while to give information as to work done. 
Some larger communities seem jealous of interference, and would 
rather act rashly than act openly. It is to be hoped that time 
and good humor may smooth away difficulties. Those who take coun- 
sel in common about their cases find individual judgment strengthened 
and corrected by the general judgment, and (I speak for myself) leave 
the committee room thankful for the sympathy of other minds, the side,- 
lights of other experience. 
3. It is desirable to repress the endeavors of the unscrupulous to prey 
upon the unwary. Our streets in winter time are a constant haunt 
of tramps; they sing sometimes popular ditties, sometimes popular CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
255 
hymns, and always badly; but their voices seem to affect the emotional, 
and I occasionally listen to a rain of half-pence pattering in the street 
from the front windows. The Society offers an alternative to this practice 
so discouraging both " to him that gives and him that takes." It accepts 
the task, difficult and generally thankless, of investigating the alleged 
want, of supplying honorable forms of help, of endeavoring to obtain 
work for those who plead that they have no employment. The result 
frequently is to discover that the last thing desired is employment, and 
that the life of the pavement is the present equivalent of the life of 
Sherwood forest among a certain set of " merry men," whom it is 
scarcely wise to encourage in their outlawry from order and work. 
Those, again, whose profession is more sedentary and whose pen is 
their organ of appeal, are taken to task by the Society; if they cannot 
be won from their mistaken industry, and especially if this industry 
borders fas it frequently does) upon fraud, their names are printed on 
a il cautionary card," which invites anyone around to communicate 
with the office before rendering help. 
4. It is desirable to co-operate with the Guardians of the Parish, so 
that charity and State relief, may each find its proper object-neither 
interfering with the other. If the Society were able wholly to realize 
its intention, and brought into a focus all the voluntary forces of the 
neighborhood, it would then be able to address the State with entire 
confidence, and arrange a full concordat. As it is, it is entitled to 
speak with a certain force of authority as an accredited mouth-piece of 
several agencies, and the only one so accredited. At present there is a 
change passing over the administration of the Poor Law in London. 
The process began in the East; it is gradually spreading to the West. 
Instead of money being promiscuously bestowed on a pauper family in 
the home, there are distinctions made. In the case of sickness, admis- 
sion is offered to the infirmary; in the case of a destitute widow, main- 
tenance for some of her children in the parish schools ; in the case of 
ordinary want, admission to the workhouse. But this sifting discloses 
necessitous cases which are either partial, or exceptional, or temporary. 
Under the first category come those who still retain a certain power 
to earn, but whose earnings are by reason of age or ailment inade- 
quate to their support; or those who have relatives able to supply some, 
but not able to supply all their maintenance. Here the Guardians-and 
I write as chairman of the Relief Committee of the Marylebone Board- 
do not desire to throw aside the amount coming in to the applicant, 256 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
and yet do not wish to initiate fresh out-relief. Again a not unfrequent 
occurrence is the case of a respectable man or woman or couple en- 
tirely devoid of means; they have worked themselves out, or they have 
failed without fault, or some sickness has overtaken them, with which 
their club is unable to cope. Here, were the workhouse to be pressed, 
we should insist on a remedy incommensurable with the disease, we 
should needlessly wrong 
" that feeling of decent pride," (1 quote from the last Report of the 
Marylebone Charity Organization Committee) "which is worth preserv- 
ing, if only as a shadow and ghost of the true independence of char- 
acter which the working classes have now such multiplied temptations 
to lose utterly out of sight." 
In this dilemma the Society aids the Guardians; it accepts the special 
case for special investigation; it traces out its past history; it examines 
its present surroundings; it weighs the evidence for thrift and upright- 
ness and, if the case endure the ordeal successfully, the Society organizes 
a pension, working in such earnings as are possible, and such help from 
relatives as is forthcoming. And of all pieces of work this is to my 
judgment the most satisfactory. Character finds its reward in exemp- 
tion from the stigma which must fall-and righteously fall-upon 
State aid; while the public sees that the recent rule of refusing outdoor 
aid, though strictly applied by the trustees of the State, has yet its way of 
escape through careful voluntary aid, and they are not thereby encour- 
aged to rush into almsgiving of their own through false compassion. 
The Marylebone Committee of the C. O. S. was one of the first, if not 
the very first among the committees, to arrange a special Pension Fund: 
it thus expends upwards of yearly in allowances to old men and 
women, while the parish authorities are able to reduce their out-relief 
correspondingly to a minimum,* feeling that no hardship is likely to 
result while this concerted action lasts. 
I note two illustrations from the Committee's Report of last year's 
work in this direction. 
"14,146, A. R., a thrifty, industrious woman, formerly a domestic- 
servant. She had saved which she lost through a bad invest- 
ment, but she struggled bravely on, supporting herself until she was sev- 
enty-six, notwithstanding bad health and extreme deafness. It would 
have been a terrible hardship for this woman to go into the workhouse, 
*There are now only 323 recipients in a population of 142,381, whereas in Dec. 
1886, there were 1043. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
257 
and ultimately a pension was successfully organized." "13,916. A. 
B., a respectable housemaid most highly spoken of by her mistress as a 
good servant and a devoted daughter. She left her place to nurse her 
old father, who was very ill, but refused to go into the infirmary. She 
was able to earn so little while attending on him, that they were half 
starved and were rapidly sinking into pauperism. Some help was 
given and influence brought to bear upon the father to induce him to 
enter the workhouse. This he finally did, and a loan was then made to 
the daughter to enable her to re-enter service respectably. She repaid 
the money as soon as possible, expressing much gratitude for all that 
had been done for her, and she is now doing well." 
It is evident to those who watch the social signs that some radical 
alteration in the rules of the Poor Law is approaching: such alteration 
will doubtless take the form of exempting certain classes of the desti- 
tute from its stricter requirements, and providing them with exceptional 
aid in old age. The Local Government Board would be well advised 
to make use of the machinery existent in the Charity Organization So- 
ciety-if only it could be duly extended to the provinces-in order to 
bring every source of relief to a focus for the provision of pensions. If 
relatives are overlooked, if the kindness of old employers and present 
friends is not invoked, if the Christian pity of church or chapel is ex- 
cluded from its share in the national object, and only compulsory rates 
and taxes are drawn upon-then we shall have a purely mechanical 
scheme, unrelieved by any human element. It would be within the 
desire and the power of the C. O. S. to supply this leaven of humanity 
and redeem officialism from waste and disrepute. Every year by calm 
persistent work the Society is more and more mastering details, extend- 
ing knowledge, fixing principles. Its collection of facts as to the needy 
of the metropolis written in thousands of volumes of papers and hun- 
dreds of volumes of indices, is an invaluable gift to enquirers; its dis- 
cussions of method have dealt with fallacies which fettered thought and 
encumbered action twenty years ago, but now are discountenanced 
things of the past. The ground is open for a forward movement, and 
while to prophesy its details would be presumptuous, to affitm its near 
occurrence is permitted to the sanguine. 258 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
THE EAST OF LONDON. 
BY REV. DR. E. H. BRADBY, MEMBER OF THE WHITECHAPEL COMMITTEE 
OF THE C. O. S. 
SYNOPSIS. 
I. Brief descriptive sketch of the whole area covered. Characteristics 
of the several districts in which the Society has Committees. These are 
conterminous with the Poor Law Unions. Whitechapel. St. George's 
in the East. Stepney. Mile End Old Town. Poplar and S. Bromley. 
Bow and N. Bromley. Unoccupied territory beyond. 
II. Enumeration of the chief difficulties in the way of Charity Organi- 
zation in East London. i. The absence of a leisured class and the 
consequences of that absence throughout the vast area that has to be dealt 
with. Enumeration of really available resources. 2. The multitude of 
competing agencies which have to be organized and refuse organization, 
3. The shifting character of the population. 4. "The unemployed." 
Distinction between those who do and those who do not really belong to this 
class. 5. The large foreign element in certain districts. Concluding 
observations on the work and position of the Society. 
I. The stranger who for the first time visits the East End,-the 
workshop of London as it has been styled-will probably be agreeably 
disappointed. He will encounter few outward signs of the want and 
squalor with which he has probably been taught to associate the name. 
Broad airy thoroughfares, traversed by tramcars, omnibuses, and every 
description of vehicle except the gentleman's carriage, stretch far away 
into the suburban regions of "London over the border." The princi- 
pal streets are alive all day with a motley crowd of more or less shabby 
passengers. The houses which flank the thoroughfares are chiefly 
shops, commonplace buildings enough, when looked at individually, 
but at least having the merit of being low, so that the air can'circulate 
freely, and presenting a vast variety of outline. 
A glance down the side streets will show that the characteristic of 
most of them is a dull respectability. House succeeds house, and street 
succeeds street, built after the same pattern, and only distinguished CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
259 
from one another by their numbers or their names. And if one pene- 
trates behind these streets to the courts and alleys which, not unfrequently, 
lie between and behind them, though the spaces will be narrower the 
general features of the scene will not be changed. Only here and there 
will a really dark spot be found, and their number is being yearly 
reduced. It is only when he penetrates inside the fairly prosperous 
looking houses that the stranger will discover that very many of them 
are not the homes of a single family, but of several families, and that 
where this is not the case lodgers are common. Thus the population 
is often much more closely packed than would appear to the outside 
observer. What will strike a visitor more than the signs of anything like 
squalor is the general plainness and monotony, not to say ugliness of 
the region: the absence of striking and important buildings, the lack of 
all those suggestions of stateliness and antiquity and refinement, which 
we are apt to associate with the idea of city life. To complete the gen- 
eral picture, it should be stated that the East is bounded by somewhat 
i similar districts on the North; that to the eastward it melts indefinitely 
or by slow degrees into the country, embracing whole districts to which 
the society has not yet extended its operations, though it is now con- 
templating an advance; whilst on the southern side the Thames, with 
its long stretch of wharves and docks, and all the concomitants of a vast 
mercantile port visited by ships from every quarter of the globe, affords 
a welcome variety to the general sameness of this portion of the far- 
spreading metropolis of London. 
But in order to understand its character, and the kind of problems 
which it presents to the organizers of charity, it is necessary to break up 
the wide area just described into smaller portions. Each of these will be 
found to possess its own distinctive marks. Our task will be rendered 
easy by following the grouping of the C. O. committees, which are, as 
a rule, conterminous with the Poor Law Unions. The first of these as 
one passes eastward from the city proper is Whitechapel, (Population 
71,363.)* On the broad pavement of its High Street people of all 
nations jostle against one another, but they are the poor, the shabby 
and the toiling of all nations, not the rich and well-to-do. Half of the 
inhabitants are foreigners, mostly Jews. These congregate chiefly in 
this Union, and there are whole streets and districts in which they have 
gradually supplanted the native, and whole Board Schools, in addition 
*The numbers given here and below are those of the census of 1881. 260 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
to the excellent Jewish Free School, where their children occupy all the 
benches. Their ways are foreign, and they mix but little with the 
English. As a rule, they are a peaceable and industrious population, 
and in such virtues as thrift and sobriety they excel their neighbors; 
but they crowd unwholesomely together, and their standard of comfort 
being low, they tend to lower the wages of the trades in which they 
compete. From their practical isolation it is very difficult for any of 
our native agencies to come into real contact with them. Happily 
the Jewish poor are looked after with increasing judiciousness by the 
Jewish Board of Guardians, a splendid voluntary charity; while the 
Friends of Foreigners in Distress vindicates its name by an assistance 
which would be more effective if it were less frequently dissipated in 
doles. Of these two societies, the former is in active co-operation with 
our committees, while the latter frequently refers cases to them for 
investigation and advice. Another feature of Whitechapel is to be 
found in the large number of shelters and common lodging houses 
which are crowded into this district. The shelters especially form a 
serious and increasing evil, by attracting into this centre the tramps 
and ne'er-do-wells from all parts of the country. More particularly 
during the winter months, when relief of some kind is to be had for 
the asking, is this attraction potent and mischievous. The result is 
that while a wise policy of dispersion is being actively followed, on the 
one hand, by sanitary and moral reformers, their work is being as 
actively counteracted, on the other, by the efforts of a misguided 
philanthropy. When we add that Whitechapel has the misfortune to 
contain two or three streets which are notorious for the bad character 
of their inhabitants, it will be seen that there are many obstacles to 
contend with in this district. Besides this foreign and this floating 
population, there remains that of the regular residents. Many of them 
are Irish by birth or descent. They get their living by labor of all 
kinds, much of it casual, or by working at small trades. It is among 
these that the Charity Organization Committee finds its chief field of 
work. The two most satisfactory branches of that work are aid in 
sickness and convalescence, and pensions for the aged and deserving 
poor. In both branches co-operation and organization are needed and 
are obtained. Beyond this, in spite of much active co-operation on the 
part of many of the clergy, who in no place are more friendly than 
here, the committee is more successful in preaching the true principles CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
261 
of charity than in securing their practical acceptance by the host of 
independent agencies that are at work around them. 
We pass on to St. George's in the East As this is more 
fully described elsewhere, it may here be briefly dismissed. It has a 
less mixed multitude than Whitechapel, and it is plagued with fewer 
shelters. It is the home of the docker, the riverside laborer, and the 
very poor. As their work fluctuates with the seasons and with trade, 
so fluctuates the prosperity of the district. There are times of much 
want and depression, especially in a hard winter. The bulk of the 
upper part of the population is made up of artisans and small store- 
keepers. The district, poor as it is, seems to be gradually becoming 
poorer, from the removal of some large undertakings. Meanwhile the 
foreign element in the population is increasing. 
Beyond St. George's on the East lies Stepney (58,500). Stepney 
was once a favorite suburban residence-Mr. Pepys sent his goods there 
for safe custody to a friend's country house during the great fire of 
London in 1666-but the strong tide of population setting eastward 
has long covered and flowed far beyond it. With its arrival the more 
wealthy residents have disappeared. Those who make their fortunes in 
the district live apart from it. Clerks and small business men, whose 
work lies chiefly in the city, occupy the better neighborhoods. There 
is also a large number of artisans scattered throughout the district, 
but the bulk of the population find their living on the waterside in one 
way or another, and suffer with the ups and downs of trade. There 
are few large manufactories to furnish centres of life and industry. 
The foreign element is absent. Stepney has not the busy varied life of 
Whitechapel, nor the poverty of St. George's. It is poor but respecta- 
ble, orderly but dull. 
Mile End Old Town (105,573), which lies north of both the two 
districts last described, covers an area almost equal to them both. 
There are in this district two or three big manufactories; there are also 
a brewery, a distillery and large confectionery works; whilst one of the 
great London Gas Companies has it headquarters here. These, of 
course, give employment, much of it regular employment, to many. 
Hence there are large spaces in this wide-spreading district from which 
few, if any, applications come to the office of the society. By the side 
of these more fortunate persons lives a multitude of dockers, carmen, 
hawkers, and unskilled laborers. Add to this that the Jews have flowed 
over from Whitechapel, and occupy one quarter to the extreme west of 262 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the district. There is no rich resident class to take the lead in charit- 
able work, or in organizing public life. Here, as elsewhere in the East 
End, those who thrive by the district live away from the district, and 
the region is given over to trade and labor. 
Very different from the Unions already described is that of Poplar 
(156,525) to which we now pass. The area of this huge Union is 
divided by the Society between two committees, one for the north, the 
other for the south. The district cared for by the southern committee, 
called that of Poplar and S. Bromley, lies still further east down by the 
river side, and contains within it the Isle of Dogs. The Thames here 
makes a large semi-circular sweep or loop, washing the island on three 
sides, whilst its fourth side is formed by the great East and West India 
Docks. North of this lies the more thickly peopled quarter of S. 
Bromley where the bulk of the workers live. Poplar is the seat of a 
great iron industry. The banks of the Thames are studded with iron 
works, girder works, wire rope works, iron bridge works and lead works. 
The shipbuilding trade, which was once flourishing here, has fallen into 
almost complete decay. There is more independence, more hope, stir 
and resource among the men of Poplar than are to be found nearer the 
city. It is the headquarters of trades unionism and clubs; whilst the 
large seafaring population contributes its energy and its knowledge of 
the world. Of course, times of depression come, but they are encountered 
with more vigor and pluck. Owing to the nature of the industries 
followed, there is a considerable connection with the North of England, 
and, as a body, the workmen of the North are ahead of those of the 
South in intelligence and organization. To give an idea of the distance 
of Poplar from the centre of things, it takes about an hour to get from 
the Committee's office to Charing Cross, the headquarters of the Society, 
by tramcar and railway. 
Immediately north of this region lies the twin district of Bow and 
North Bromley, which is the last that we have to describe. There are 
some works here for the making of jam, chemicals, paper, and colors, 
and there is also a large brewery, but Bow is not a manufacturing cen- 
tre in the sense in which Poplar is. The factories lie mostly in the 
north corner of the district, round about Old Ford. They employ 
with fair regularity a large number of people; in one quarter reside a 
good many clerks, whose business lies elsewhere. The rest of the 
inhabitants are artisans, such as carpenters, painters and plumbers, and 
below them are laborers of various kinds. There is just a sprinkling CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
263 
of dockers. Few Jews are to be found in Bow: The foreign element, 
which is not conspicuous, is formed chiefly of Germans, many of them 
old residents. There are plenty of poor, some very poor, in the dis- 
trict, and in one locality is gathered a criminal or semi-criminal popu- 
lation-one of those black spots scattered over Mr. Charles Booth's 
famous Map of East London-which the operations of the Society do not 
touch. In Bow there are no wealthy residents, but a certain amount of 
loca'l help in money and service is forthcoming. Much as it is to be 
welcomed, it is but a trifle when compared with the wants of the dis 
trict and the opportunities for service which it offers. 
Though we have reached the end of our committees, we have not 
reached the end of East London. There are large densely peopled 
regions beyond, notably at Canning Town, and around the works of 
the Great Eastern Railway at Stratford. Into some of these the society 
is already meditating an advance, but its progress is slow and its 
resources few, and the day is yet distant when it will be in the happy 
position of being able to sigh for still more worlds to conquer. 
II. What are the chief difficulties which confront the Charity Organ- 
ization Society in the vast thickly peopled area which has now been 
briefly described? To name these is to state the problems which it has 
to consider, and, if possible, to solve. First and foremost must be 
placed the general absence of a leisured and cultivated class-men who 
have time and intelligence to devote to local matters. Consider the wide 
areas, the swarming numbers that have to be dealt with, and what 
are half a dozen centres for such a work? And yet even these poor 
half dozen are manned chiefly by workers who come from distant 
parts of London, and have a long journey by train and cars to encoun- 
ter, coming and going. The richer tradesmen used to live over their 
shops; now they leave them after business hours for a suburban home, 
which is the real centre of their affections and interests. They cannot, 
at any rate they do not help us. Of the clergy we shall speak pre- 
sently. There remains the great class of well-to-do artisans. They 
are always on the spot. Their aid would be invaluable, for they form 
the upper class of the really resident population, but hitherto we have 
failed to enlist their support. And there are great obstacles in the 
way. Not the least of these is the fact that their leisure time is in the 
evening, while much of the work of our committees must be done in 
the daytime. But there is more than this. Partly they do not under- 
stand, partly they do not sympathize with our methods. With our INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
264 
aims they would in theory agree, but they do not see the close connec- 
tion that exists between our aims and our methods, for, much as they 
study social questions, they do not study them from the side of charity. 
Hence there is much ill-founded prejudice against us, and those who 
would agree with us in private will not speak up for us in public. 
Intercourse alone can break down prejudice, and intercourse is hard 
to achieve. One of the chief problems set us is how to make the 
Society more popular without sacrificing principle. One important 
source of aid has yet to be mentioned. The parochial clergy are dis- 
tributed throughout the region, and their organization for charitable 
purposes is the most complete and the most universal. Could we cap- 
ture them, we should have made a great stride forward, for they are 
the only cultivated residents whom you are sure to find on the spot in 
every district. The only way to capture them is to convince them, 
and this is a long and difficult process. Perhaps our best hope in the 
near future lies in the acceleration of that process. At present the 
amount of their co-operation varies much in different centres. In 
Whitechapel it is hearty and pretty general; in most districts a few 
work with us genuinely, more are half convinced, and many stand aloof; 
the actively hostile are becoming fewer, and it is very possible that the 
next few years may see a great change for the better. 
2. Next comes the multitude of competing agencies that have to be 
organized. A few great societies, notably the Society for Relief of 
Distress and the Metropolitan District Visiting Association, work in 
hearty co-operation with us, but the smaller and more or less local 
societies form the crux. Their name is legion. As a rule, they fight 
each for his own hand, and they despise or mistrust, at any rate they 
neglect, scientific charity. They are all heart and no head. The con 
sequence of no concert is much overlapping; the consequence of much 
overlapping is the degradation of the poor. The poor are being dili- 
gently trained by them to dependence and a hand to mouth existence, 
instead of to manliness and self-reliance. This is the great national 
curse of charity as now administered by too many. Not those who 
need most get the most help, but those who know best how to exploit 
existing institutions. The wily applicant has many strings to his bow. 
No doubt this thoughtless but well meaning charity often mitigates 
much present distress, but it does it at the cost of character, and it 
helps to perpetuate it. Were all the money and personal service thus 
lavished given on wise principles and in concert with others, it would CHAR1TY ORGANIZATION. 
265 
go much further, and would do more good and much less mischief. 
Problem, to convince the charitable public of this. 
3. The shifting character of the population. The East Londoner is 
not much given to taking root in one spot. Why should he be? One 
street is very like another, one house is very like another. There are 
few oP those charms of locality and association which make a man 
cling to his home at any cost. Hence he shifts his quarters very 
readily to suit his work, or his convenience. Now the essence of 
charity organization is friendliness and personal contact, and the unit 
on which it works is the family. But how can you get to know families 
who are here to-day and may be off to-morrow? How can you get a 
hold on them, and be helpful in the long laborious process of aiding 
to build up self-help, self-respect, frugality? Of course, there remain 
many fixed residents; but so far as the population fluctuates hither and 
thither, so far the work of charity must be imperfect. The only soluble 
problem here is how to make the best of a bad bargain. 
4. The difficulty of the unemployed, of which so much has been 
heard of late. Now here there is need of much discrimination. Who 
are the unemployed? It is a term somewhat vague, as generally used. 
No trade gives unbroken employment to all who follow it; most trades 
have their busy and their slack time; some can only be pursued at all 
at certain seasons. It would be unreasonable to constitute the hands 
which from these various causes, from time to time, are short of work 
into a class, and call them "the unemployed." And yet this is fre- 
quently done. The lack of employment of these persons is not chronic, 
but temporary, and for the most part can be foreseen and provided 
against. In the long run it is taken into account in the wages paid 
them. The genuine "unemployed" consist of two classes. It some- 
times happens that a trade leaves a district altogether, or almost 
entirely. This happened a few years ago with the sugar-bakers in 
Whitechapel and St. George's; it is happening now with the ship- 
builders in Poplar. In that case a large body of steady workmen may 
be thrown out of work altogether, and may have great difficulty in 
migrating or getting absorbed in other trades. This is the first class, 
and theirs is a case very hard for charity to deal with effectually; for 
charity cannot invent work, which is what they want. But besides 
these there are in East London a vast number of men who know no 
trade, and are too poor, too ignorant, and too shiftless to learn one. 
They live solely by manual labor. They seldom have regular employ- 266 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
ment. When trade is in the flood-tide of prosperity, they pick up a 
living; when it ebbs, their fortune ebbs with it. Then the half em- 
ployed become the unemployed, and suffer much privation. Especially 
is this the case with the "casual" dockers and other riverside laborers, 
who are not enrolled on any organized staff. In dealing with these 
two classes, charity organization may possibly meet the special crisis of 
the one by a special effort, but the condition of the other is chronic, 
and all temporary expedients are at best but palliatives, and can never 
effect a cure. Many of the plans at present advocated, tend only to 
perpetuate and aggravate the disease. Time, patience, the spread of 
education, the spread of organization, the elevation of the standard of 
comfort, and, above all, a recognition of the truth that underlies the 
much abused and much misunderstood law of Malthus, appear to the 
present writer to be the chief remedies. 
5. It will have been observed that a large foreign population is 
quartered in Whitechapel and the parts contiguous to it. They are 
principally Jews. Their numbers have been a good deal increased during 
the past few years, but not to the extent which alarmists have reported, 
by refugees from Russia. These people live by trade and traffic of one 
kind or another, not by manual labor. They present a special diffi- 
culty to charity organization: they live in the midst of the native 
population without mixing with it, they speak and understand our 
language imperfectly. The result of these facts is that it is very hard to 
get to know much about their real condition and their real wants. 
Our best hope of success seems to lie in a closer co-operation with the 
two great societies already mentioned, which make them their special 
care and have better means of knowing and dealing with them. 
It is time to draw this brief sketch to a close. It will be evident to 
those who have followed it that the Charity Organization Society has 
much as yet to do, and few men to do it with, in the vast field of East 
London. It cannot be said, at present, to have effectively occupied 
that field, but in every Union it has, at any rate, one active centre, from 
which its influence may radiate. Nor is that influence to be fairly 
judged by the number of cases in which co-operation has been estab- 
lished, or distress relieved, through its direct intervention. Its widest 
influence is that which is exercised on the minds and opinions of men, 
and there are not wanting signs that that influence is beginning to tell. 
A juster estimate is abroad of the problems and the responsibilities of 
charity. Bad ways of relief are more readily discredited than they CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
267 
were. The absolute need of inquiry before relief is becoming more 
widely recognized. Overlapping is admitted to be mischievous. The 
methods of the society are sometimes partially adopted even by those 
who profess no sympathy with it. The society is essentially a mis- 
sionary and propagandist society, and in proportion as the prin- 
ciples which it preaches come to be accepted and acted on by others, 
whether they join its ranks or stand aloof, it may claim to be achieving 
success. 268 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
SHOREDITCH. 
BY MR. C. N. NICHOLSON, POOR LAW GUARDIAN AND CHAIRMAN OF 
THE SHOREDITCH COMMITTEE, C. O. S. 
The Union of which 1 am asked to write is that of Shoreditch, 
situated about twenty minutes walk north of the Bank of England. Its 
population is rather over 120,000 and almost the whole of them belong 
to the working classes, the remainder being small shopkeepers and a 
few factory owners, who of course reside outside the district. The 
principal trade carried on is the cabinet-maker's. In Curtain Road, 
Great Eastern Street and that part of Old Street that runs through the 
Union more than half the shops are furniture shops, wholesale and 
retail, the goods being made in the houses in the streets adjoining where 
the workmen live. A considerable part if not half of this furniture is 
thus made in the workmen's own home and not in the factory. The 
work is also very much split up, a chair, for instance, having to go 
through a large number of hands before it is turned out. There is also 
a considerable number of timber merchants in the district and many 
people are employed at the sawmills which supply the small workmen 
who make for the furniture dealers. The boot trade also employs a 
certain number, but very small in comparison with the furniture trade. 
There is also a zinc works and a white lead factory, and the inevitable 
box-making business which exists over a great part of London. The 
district is very fairly open and airy, the streets as a rule being wide and 
the number of courts and alleys small. The houses also are all low 
and the streets are consequently lighter than in many parts of London. 
At the time at which I am writing, the cabinet trade and the boot 
trade are very much depressed, the warehouses being full of goods for 
which there are no purchasers, and consequently employment is slack to 
such an extent that the small workmen can frequently be seen in the 
streets trying to sell the goods which ought properly to go to the ware- 
houses. 
One would naturally think that this would increase the number of 
people who have to be supported by poor law relief, but somehow the CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
269 
numbers in the house are very little above the average while the out- 
relief has been coming down steadily through the year. 
It will be perhaps right to explain at this point the rules for the 
giving of State relief in accordance with which the guardians of the 
poor of each Union are bound to act. In the first place no person is 
entitled to receive relief unless he can plead destitution. Now this 
particular term has never been defined and is probably incapable of 
definition. In practice its meaning is fairly well shown by a remark 
which I have heard a relieving officer make to his board of guardians, 
when asked by the chairman why he had given relief to a particular 
individual. He said, "The man told me he was destitute and I saw 
no signs of food in the house." It was evident therefore that the term 
is an elastic one and that probably a certain number of people get 
assistance who are not at all within measurable distance of starvation. 
Dividing up these cases who are taken as destitute they are sorted into 
two classes, the able-bodied and the not able-bodied. 
As to the able-bodied, out-relief is not allowed to be given unless 
there is sickness in the family; in all other cases the house must be offered. 
This exception of cases of sickness leads however to many difficulties. 
For instance, suppose a family consisting of a man and woman and 
three children to apply to the relieving office for assistance, the woman 
being ill and the man out of work. In such a case the medical officer 
will of course attend; but medicine is not much good without food, and 
therefore out-relief will be given-with the result that the pressure on 
the man to get back to his work is slackened and malingering, from 
which the friendly societies suffer so much* is encouraged. Of course 
if the woman had not been ill the house would have been offered in 
the first instance for the whole family. 
As to the not able-bodied, who form the greater number of the appli- 
cants for relief in the Union of which I am writing, the position is very 
different. They can be given out-relief or can be offered the house. 
Now if a board of guardians could be trusted to discriminate care- 
fully between those people who would be likely to make a proper use of 
the money or food given in out-relief and those who would probably 
make a bad use of it, and offer only the house to the latter, no difficulty 
would arise. But this is precisely the point at which the arrangements 
break down. 
In the Shoreditch Union the number of cases brought up before the 
ordinary weekly board varies, according to the time of year, between INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
270 
250 and 350. These cases are disposed of at an average of rather over 
three to the minute. It is therefore evident that the guardians them- 
selves cannot possibly be aware of the position or circumstances of the 
cases brought before them, and except in very glaring instances, or when 
a particular applicant is well known through his frequent appearance, 
they must rest entirely on the judgment of the relieving officer. 
The position of this officer is by no means satisfactory, he is paid 
about to a year, and before he actually comes into contact 
with the poor he passes through no course of training in his duties but 
picks up his experience as he goes along. He has a heavy amount of 
responsibility thrust upon him. He naturally wishes to keep his list 
as small as possible, for the board then considers that he is doing his 
work well; but, on the other hand, if anything goes wrong with one of 
his cases, the whole blame is cast upon him; and how serious the conse- 
quences to him may be can be imagined from the fact that I have 
known the guardians express the wish to discharge an officer on the spot 
for an imagined breach of discipline, which further investigation showed 
had never occurred. 
The length of a relieving officer's list depends a good deal on his 
power of sifting his cases quickly and accurately, but on the whole he 
is more likely to assist a doubtful case than to refuse. 
As mentioned above the relieving officer when bringing his cases before 
the board can only recommend certain things. He can offer to take 
the applicant into the house or the infirmary, or if he wishes to treat the 
case outside, he can recommend the board to give the applicant so 
much a week either in money or in kind; or, if the applicant is in 
want of medical treatment, he can send the parish doctor to his house, 
or he can, in case of certain infectious diseases send him off to one of 
the rate-supported hospitals. 
Now these powers enable him to deal with the immediate necessities 
of the moment, but in no way to prevent their recurrence. He may 
provide a family with sufficient food to drive away the spectre of starva- 
tion for twenty-four hours, but he can do no more. 
The necessity of the existence of voluntary charitable institutions 
working side by side with the state institution for relief is therefore 
tolerably evident, as a good example of the powerlessness of state 
relief to put a man on his legs. I may give the following instance 
which occurred under my own observation. A. B. a painter by trade 
had a wife and three children. His wife died about two winters ago, CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
271 
and he was so seriously ill with bronchitis and rheumatism that having 
spent all he had put by, he was obliged to come into the poor law 
infirmary, and his children, having no home, were taken into the work- 
house. When he recovered he was transferred to the workhouse from 
the infirmary, and there he is still. The Board very properly refused 
to let him go out, unless he took his three children with him,* and, 
as he had not got a penny and would not be paid until he had been 
out at work for a week, he had no choice but to stay where he was. 
The case was brought to the notice of private charity a few days ago, 
and arrangements are being made for the man to go out to work, while 
he and his children will be supported for a week or ten days, until the 
man gets his first earnings. 
This family has been living at the expense of the ratepayers of the 
Union for a year or fifteen months, and must have cost at least 
The actual cost to the charity concerned will be about 
In a case of this nature owing to the necessarily narrow powers of State 
relief, the man might have remained in the house, a charge upon the 
ratepayers for the remainder of his life, or until his children had grown 
up and started work on their own account. 
Another example of this and one which is frequently occurring is that 
of widows. A young woman marries and frequently gives up the work 
which she has been doing to attend to her new home. If she does not 
do this at once, the necessity is more or less forced upon her if she has 
children. 
If then her husband dies without making sufficient provision for her 
and the children are young, there is nothing for her to do except to 
take State relief, and this relief can do nothing more than keep her and 
the children alive. On the other hand, voluntary charity can assist her 
to get back to her old work, or, if that is impossible, have her trained 
to some occupation which will render her self-supporting. 
Now if a widow is once put upon the out-relief list, it is exceedingly 
difficult to have her name removed. She will get to depend upon it, 
and will not be likely to look out for work, or, if she does take work, 
she is, by the receipt of the relief, able to sell her labor at a price below 
that which would be paid to a woman not in receipt of relief. I have 
known of two women who applied for out-relief, stating at the time 
that, if it was granted, they would be able to take tailoring work at the 
* This rule is very necessary, as if a man is allowed to go out on the plea of 
looking for work, he not infrequently deserts his family. 272 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
starvation wages at which it was offered. The disastrous results from 
following such a policy in lowering the rate of wages is sufficiently 
obvious. 
I have known a case of a widow to be on the out-relief list for four 
years; and the relieving officer stated that at the end of that time she 
was no better off. 
Again, the State is only able to provide such maintenance for blind 
and crippled people as will provide them with food, clothing and lodg- 
ing; voluntary charity being unfettered, can go much further, and by 
careful training, can teach these unfortunate people certain trades which 
will not only enable them to earn at any rate something towards their 
own maintenance, but which will preserve them from the misery of 
enforced idleness in a workhouse. 
Further examples of this nature can of course be easily given, but 
enough has been said to show that, while it is the duty of the State to 
see that none of its members starve, there is a still higher duty which 
is imposed on the individual and one which the State cannot fulfil, 
namely, as far as possible, to prevent any member of the State being 
degraded to this position of dependence. 
Now I am quite aware that it will be suggested that the proper course 
to remedy these defects should be a reform of our present poor law, and 
that the boards of guardians should be instructed to exercise a greater 
amount of discrimination in treating the applicants for relief; and if 
this could be done, it would probably be the most satisfactory solution 
of the difficulty. But unfortunately the boards of guardians, at any 
rate in the poorer parts of London, are not composed of people who 
are likely to exercise this discrimination, even if they were able to do so. 
The Shoreditch board consists of eighteen members. Of these, last 
year, two were clergymen whose time was quite enough occupied with 
looking after their parishes. One was a large timber merchant, who 
was also a member of the London County Council, and rarely found 
time to attend the meetings. Four were retired men of business, and 
about the best members. The remaining ten were small shopkeepers, 
each engaged in business from which they drew incomes varying from 
to per annum. These men, too, though they attend with 
fair regularity, have quite enough to do to look after their own affairs. 
In these circumstances there is always a tendency to get through the 
business as fast as possible; and that part of the work which gets the 
greatest amount of attention is the contracting for supplies or building, CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
273 
the appointment of officers, and the correspondence with the Local 
-Government Board, the central authority which superintends all the 
unions through the country. But the visitation of the workhouse and 
the infirmary is not to my mind satisfactorily done, and, considering 
that these two institutions shelter a daily average of over 1000 people, 
I do not think that it is right that this should be left, as much as it is, 
in the hands of subordinate officers. 
I'he out-relief list, as I have stated above, is got through at the rate 
*of three cases a minute. It should be added that the cases of old people 
who have been in receipt of relief for some years, are passed every two 
months simply on the word of the relieving officer. No questions are 
even asked about them. Can it then be wondered at that there are 
cases receiving assistance who do not deserve it, and also cases that are 
not being assisted in a proper way. 
If then the powers of the Guardians were enlarged, the probability is 
that they would not be used advantageously, but that greater waste and 
greater pauperization would follow. 
The ideal Board of Guardians while paying proper attention to the 
ordinary business of maintaining the institutions under its care, would 
use its best endeavors so to give relief that it would not pauperize, but 
give the deserving applicant the power to rise again to a position of 
independence, and at the same time force the undeserving to maintain 
himself. Unfortunately we are a long way off from this. The rate- 
payers of the poorer districts are far too apathetic; and consequently 
voluntary charity is the only agent that can rescue the deserving 
applicant from the mire of pauperism. 
I pass now to charity and charity organization. The different 
methods in which is administered the charity of the churches whose 
parishes make up this union, show probably more clearly than any- 
i thing else the enormous differences of opinion which exist on this 
important subject. The high churchman will not work closely with the 
low churchman, and both, though unwilling to admit the fact, would, 
as a rule, decline to recognize the dissenter or the Roman Catholic 
minister. The latter say, "we look after our own congregations;" the 
Church of England vicar says, "I have the care of all the poor in my 
parish." Hence, as these parishes cover the whole ground, overlapping 
-abounds, and a poor person is sorely tempted to attend the church ser- 
vices of two or more denominations so as to qualify for the charity that 
is too readily given for purposes of propagandism. Women frequently 274 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
attend the mothers' meetings of two churches so as to be able to draw 
on both sources of supply in case of need. Here is indeed an extra- 
ordinary state of affairs. All these bodies have at any rate one com- 
mon bond, respect for Christ's teaching, all profess to recognize the 
charitable duties which He laid down, and yet they cannot agree to 
meet to discuss the best methods of dealing with the funds entrusted to 
them and are apparently careless how their administration may affect 
adjoining parishes. The injury that can and does occur through this 
want of co-operation and absence of definite rules in the giving of relief 
is considerable as the following instance will show. 
There exists in London a society formed for the purpose of sending 
for a few weeks to the country certain sick and ailing children in the 
hope that fresh air and good exercise may improve their physical con- 
dition. One of the rules of this society is that the parents of any child 
sent away must contribute one-third of the cost, this representing 
the approximate cost of the child in its own home. Another society 
more or less opposed to this, but professedly working on the same lines, 
sends away the children in a particular parish in this union, but does 
not call upon the parents to contribute anything. The effect of this 
upon the adjoining parishes where the second society does hot work is 
that the parents decline to contribute the one-third demanded by the 
first society, and the children who would be benefitted are in danger of 
being left alone. Now quite apart from the question whether the rule 
is right or wrong, is it not absurd on the face of it that these parishes 
cannot meet and agree upon some modus mwzz# which will enable them 
to work in harmony? 
The first thing that is necessary, if we are ever to get to a solution of 
the question, what to do with the poor of our great cities, is to sink all 
these differences of opinion. Each vicar, Roman Catholic priest and 
dissenting minister should consent to carry out loyally such a system 
of relief as is agreed to by all. And it should be recognized that the 
grant or refusal of charitable relief ought not to depend upon the 
question whether the applicant has or has not attended so many ser- 
vices-is or is not a member of a particular congregation, but upon 
the question whether he can be assisted in such a manner as will be of 
permanent benefit to himself and to the community. 
Will this idea ever be realized? It must be confessed that at present 
the signs are not hopeful. So long as the clergy are content to leave 
the relief of the poor of their parish in the hands of sisterhoods or like CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
275 
institutions, careless whether the assistance given is suitable to the par- 
ticular case, or whether it is likely to be of any benefit at all; so long 
as by their express or tacit sanction they allow children, who ought to 
be maintained by the parents who brought them into the world, to be 
fed and clothed by charitable societies so long as they are willing to 
prevent an individual from experiencing the punishment of his own folly 
and wickedness-so long shall we have distress and pauperization. 
The above remarks apply though in a slighter degree, for the respon- 
sibility is less, to each individual. He, too, is bound to take care that 
what he gives in charity is given wisely, for he may feel sure that to 
deprive a man of the wholesome feeling that he is under a necessity to 
maintain himself, is the most certain way of making him a permanent 
pauper. But, subject to this, the sphere of the charity of an individual 
is bounded only by his own powers. He can place his sympathy and 
experience at the disposal of all those who are in trouble, and a kind 
thought or a gentle word is oftep worth more than so much weight of 
gold and silver. 
The troubles of the deserving poor arise more from ignorance than 
anything else. How is the workingman to know which is the best 
market for his labor ? The rich man when he invests his capital has 
various schemes placed before him, and chooses among them those 
which are most likely to bring him a safe return. No such opportunity 
is open to his poorer brother. How is the poor woman nursing her sick 
child at home to know what is the right treatment to adopt? How is 
a workingman to know which is the safest friendly society for him to 
join? Here is a field where individual beneficence can exercise itself 
to the full, and with the certainty thkt the work is useful and that it is 
helping others to help themselves. How simple it all seems and yet 
how difficult it is to do. 
But this is by no means all that the individual can do. There is a 
common idea, which seems to exist among almost all classes of society, 
that they have only to pay their poor rate, and to subscribe to voluntary 
charities, and that these institutions will then work themselves. I 
believe that if the funds contributed for charitable institutions were 
doubled and the existing management continued, so far from reliev- 
ing distress and bringing us all to a happy Arcadia, the result would be 
infinitely worse. A fairly good instance of this is, the use that is made 
of what are called endowed charities in certain parts of London. The 
management of these is allowed to remain in the hands of the local 276 
INTERNATIONA!. CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
tradespeople and of the vicar of the parish, and very often they are 
given in very small sums to a large number of people, totally regardless 
of what the recipients may really need, or of what would be the best 
way of helping them out of their trouble. It never seems to occur to 
the managers, that it is infinitely better to raise one person to a position 
of independence than to keep ninety and nine in a state of idleness, 
in expectation of a shilling or two to tide them over the next week. 
Here then is another piece of work for the individual who will seriously 
interest himself in the welfare of the poor. Let him serve as a charity 
trustee, with the resolve that he will not attempt to do anything for a 
case, unless he can see his way to benefit it permanently, and that at 
all hazards he will refuse to let the money be squandered where no 
lasting good can be produced. 
A striking instance of the neglect of these principles came under my 
notice a week or two ago. What is known as a " midwifery letter " was 
given to a certain woman, and by her passed on to the wife of the vicar of 
the parish whoseduty it was to "cash" it. The vicar's wife called and 
found a large family living in one room without a particle of furniture. 
The woman had recently been confined, and her rags and her husband's 
coat were her only covering. Both husband and wife were known to be 
habitual drunkards. To give them money was absolutely useless, for it 
would have gone at once to the public house; to give them clothing 
was just as bad, for it would only have been pawned for drink, '1 he 
nurse employed by the vicar attended the case and kept the room as 
clean as she could, and had the other children looked after. But have 
these people been taught in any way that they must suffer for their own 
neglect, and that if they choose to Spend their earnings in drink, they 
must accept the degradation and restraint imposed by poor law relief? 
Surely not. But in reply it will be said, what is the remedy? The 
answer is, that if people wish to see their money do good and not harm, 
they must study the problems of poverty, and if they cannot afford 
the time for visiting the poor themselves, at any rate they can take the 
trouble to see that those in whose hands they place their money do 
make a proper use of it. For those who can give the time, the organi- 
zation of charity is a most important duty. Here in London the income 
of our charities amounts to about a year, exclusive of what 
is collected at the ordinary church offertories or given away in the 
streets. From the latter source I have known a beggar to state, that he 
could make 30 shillings a week. Our charitable income then is enough CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
277 
and more than enough. Our business is to see that it is not wasted, 
but properly applied. 
To prevent waste every one can do something. As a ratepayer he 
can take care that only those are elected to serve as Guardians of the 
poor, who will administer the poor rate so that the old and feeble may 
be properly maintained, and that the able-bodied may be encouraged 
and forced, if need be, to maintain themselves. As an administrator 
of charitable funds he can assist in those cases where the Poor Law can 
do nothing, always bearing in mind this main purpose-the restitution 
of independence. 278 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
ST. OLAVE'S. 
BY C. P. LARNER, DISTRICT SECRETARY TO THE ST. OLAVE'S COMMITTEE, 
C. O. S. 
Oh the south side of the Thames, opposite the Tower, lie the parishes 
of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, which, with three smaller parishes 
near London Bridge, comprise the poor law union of St. Olave. The 
whole district stretches from the Borough on the west, to Deptford on 
the east, the semi-suburban parish of Camberwell constituting, roughly 
speaking, its southern boundary. With a population in 1891 of 136,000, 
St. Olave's offers many features of interest, and also of difficulty, in 
discussing the question of social reform. Like many other metropoli- 
tan districts, it has changed much during the last fifty years, both in 
the character of its population and in their manner of living. Ber- 
mondsey was one of the centres of the leather trade; Rotherhithe 
partook of the nature of a port outside the metropolitan boundary; 
South Bermondsey, as it now is, was left to the tiller of allotments, 
and to the market gardener. Now a great part of the leather trade 
has gone either to the North of England or to America, and one would 
have to walk a long time about Rotherhithe before meeting a sea-cap- 
tain. Employers of labor generally, with the exception of shopkeepers, 
live away from the district; the educated classes are represented by 
clergymen and doctors; the people themselves belong to the working 
classes, with a sprinkling of clerks and board school teachers. In 
fact its proximity to the city has made the district almost a residential 
one for the weekly-paid wage earner, who finds that ten minutes spent 
on the railway at an expenditure of takes him from his home in 
Bermondsey to the heart of the city. 
In a community of this kind relief whether private, endowed, or 
from the State, has ample opportunities for good or for evil; it is to be 
feared that the latter influence has not been altogether absent. For if 
the demand is great the supply is no less so. First in the district in 
the ranks of public assistance stand the medical charities, and at the 
head of these is the famous Guy's Hospital. Established by the old 
city bookseller in 1725, it has undergone numerous alterations and has CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
279 
been greatly enlarged, so that now it has accomodations for 695 in- 
patients. The out-patients are counted by the ten thousand. That it 
is a great boon to the poor of south-east London cannot be doubted; 
that it is a great and permanent block to the development of provident 
dispensaries is equally certain. Attached to the hospital is a lying-in 
charity limited to the district situated within a mile of Guy's. Two 
other medical charities exist-the Surrey Dispensary founded in 1777, 
with its 14,000 patients in 1892, and the Lady Gomm Hospital in 
Rotherhithe. The latter is a small foundation. In addition to these 
there is a District Nursing Association maintained by annual subscrip- 
tions, and the district, as a working class one, shares largely in such 
metropolitan institutions as the Hospital Saturday and Sunday Funds, 
and the Surgical Aid Society, the latter with their highly objectionable 
many letter system. The chief endowed charities are found in the 
old parishes of St. Olave and St. John, near to London Bridge. Up 
to quite recently these charities presented many of the abuses so often 
associated with ancient foundations. With an income of over 
a year, there was ample room for unwise and extravagant expenditure. 
About two-thirds of this sum went for the support of a free grammar 
school for boys and a similar school for girls. The remainder was 
spent in pensions to persons, some over fifty and some over sixty, in 
apprenticeship fees, in training poor girls as servants, in bread, and in 
temporary relief to residents. The trustees were chosen from the prin- 
cipal inhabitants of the two parishes, or from gentlemen carrying on 
business there, and it will readily be seen that with an elastic fund for 
such delightfully vague purposes as temporary relief, a trustee's posi- 
tion carried with it many opportunities for jobbery and corrupt patron- 
age. Individually the trustees could give help in the form of tickets 
and bring the case forward for money grants at the monthly board 
meetings, where it would be pretty sure to receive help. Under these 
conditions to have lived for a number of years in these parishes was no 
small advantage to a poor person, while to have been born there was 
pretty sure to meet with substantial recognition. A very simple 
instance of the sense of injustice which may be produced in the minds 
of the poor by a careless though well-meaning administering of chari- 
table funds may be seen in the action of the trustees with respect to 
country holidays for school children. 
There is in London a society called the Children's Country Holiday 
Fund, which collects subscriptions for the purpose of helping poor 280 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
children to have a fortnight's stay in the country. The society has- 
local committees distributed through the metropolis, which work 
through the elementary schools in their respective districts. The 
parents contribute according to their means, and the average sum paid 
by them is between 35. 6d. and for the two week's stay. But in the 
parishes of St. Olave and St. John, the trustees have been in the habit 
of taking children for the sum of one shilling, and it is a difficult thing 
for the poor people of Bermondsey proper to understand why they 
should be called upon to pay 4J. for their children when their neighbors 
on the other side of the street, and possibly in a better position, pay 
only a quarter of the amount. 
Attached to both Bermondsey and Rotherhithe are a number of old- 
fashioned parochial charities for the supply of food and clothing to- 
poor folk. They are, almost without exception, in the gift of the 
rectors, church wardens and overseers, and the suggestion that regu- 
larity in attending the parish church may bring about material gain 
is more direct than pleasing. Rotherhithe has two pension funds, deal- 
ing with about fifty pensioners. One, the Gomm Charity, provides 
pensions of each to fifteen old men and women. The Qther, the 
Bayly Charity, grants a year to thirty-four widows, aged fifty and 
upwards, and not receiving parish relief. This sum is obviously 
absurdly inadequate, and one of two results follows: either it serves 
as a nucleus to which other sums will be attracted, thus enabling the 
recipient to live-and assuming that proper discretion is used, to this 
there is no objection; or it is given to widows who are able to work, 
and becomes merely a grant in aid of wages and is little removed in 
this respect from ordinary out-relief. And this is exactly what very 
. often occurs, for it is well known that the ordinary working woman 
does not stop work at fifty; she goes on with her employment to sixty- 
five or seventy, sometimes later, and the thus enable her to live 
on a correspondingly smaller amount of wages than her less fortunate 
neighbor. Beside these fixed charities, there are attached to all the 
churches and chapels in the district various funds for the relief of the 
sick and the poor. Those belonging to the established church are 
helped largely by the Metropolitan District Visiting Association, and 
are used for parish purposes generally; those belonging to the non- 
conformist places of worship are more commonly confined to members 
of the respective denominations. There is a goodly number of friendly 
societies in the locality, the Odd Fellows and Foresters being the most CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
281 
numerous. Some of the lodges and courts have supplementary funds 
attached to them, formed by extra voluntary subscriptions of the mem- 
bers, for the purpose of paying the regular subscriptions of such mem- 
bers as, through lack of work or some other exceptional reason, can- 
not keep up their dues. Several of the trade societies have sick funds 
attached to them, but this is not usual, and does not of course in any 
way affect the riverside and unskilled laborers who form so large a pro- 
portion of the population. In winters of exceptional severity there is 
the usual tendency to form relief funds, but the unsatisfactory nature 
of working them has become more apparent each time they have been 
formed. 
From what has been said it will be inferred that the St. Olave's Union 
is more generously supplied than many with the means of assisting 
and permanently benefiting such of its population as may be in need of 
help. And when added to these sources of relief, there is the charity 
organization committee prepared to deal with any applications which 
may come from the district, one might not unreasonably suppose that 
the work of the poor law authorities would lie in a very restricted 
province. Unfortunately this is not the case. St. Olave's has the 
reputation, and a very just reputation, of being one of the worst 
administered unions in the country. Out-relief is rampant and has 
for the last few years been on the increase. The results are the usual 
ones, demoralization of the poor and high rates. The latter is an im- 
portant point, but not to be compared with the former. It is positively 
painful to be continually coming across apparently decent respectable 
people, who have lost their self-respect and seem to have no sense of 
degradation in becoming paupers. A visitor at the parish offices is 
told by an official when discussing the increase in the number of appli- 
cants, that "lots come up on the chance of getting something." The 
vice-chairman of the Board of Guardians expresses surprise that the 
numbers of in-paupers should have gone up when they are giving more 
out-relief, as if the two were not bound up together. Similar instances 
of demoralization and ignorance might be added galore. Financially 
the result is to send the rates up in Bermondsey to 6;/. in the pound, 
and this has had the effect of at any rate making people think about 
what they are doing, and the recent elections show a tendency towards 
improvement. This condition of things has been aggravated greatly 
by the elections being fought on political lines. The two parties have 
issued their tickets and their programmes. The candidates have been 282 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
chosen, not because they were likely to be wise administrators, but 
because they were staunch Radicals or good Tories. The union has 
accordingly been in the hands of men who could do almost anything 
except administer the Poor Law. With a wise poor law policy there 
would be difficulties enough; with a policy that scarcely deserves the 
name, the situation is much more serious. It is impossible to have 
an intimate knowledge of the district without a profound feeling that 
at the bottom of every charitable effort must lie a reform of the public 
administration. When this is effected, and not before, those responsi- 
ble for the dispensing of charitable funds, both private and public, may 
feel that there is some hope of their work producing results not alto- 
gether out of proportion to their efforts. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
283 
CHARITV ORGANIZATION IN ISLINGTON. 
BY MISS L. SHARPE, HONORARY SECRETARY TO THE ISLINGTON COMMIT- 
•TEE, C. O. S. 
No present stands without its foundation in the past, and the future, 
as has been aptly said, "does not come from before to meet us, but comes 
streaming up from behind over our heads;" so no statement of charity 
organization in Islington can be complete, without some consideration 
of the local history and the special characteristics of the district in 
which the society here works. 
Islington seems to have been distinguished from very early days for 
its piety and its pastimes. On the one hand we have the records in old 
times of numerous monastic and ecclesiastical foundations, while in later 
days the parish has been a remarkable stronghold for Evangelical Pro- 
testantism in church and dissent, and on the other hand the citizens 
of London seem to have looked on Islington from time immemorial 
as a place for pleasuring and entertainment. While Goldsmith selects 
Islington as the abode of the man who ran "a godly race," John Gil- 
pin's "merrie Islington" is equally characteristic. 
The pious founders of the many parochial charities of Islington, in 
the same way bear in mind in their bequests the spiritual and material 
interests of the parish. There are many endowments for the saying of 
masses, the distribution of Bibles and prayer books, the preaching of 
sermons and the catechising of children, side by side with perpetual 
gifts of coal and bread and clothing to the poor, legacies for the main- 
tenance of the testator's tomb and, in one case, for an annual dinner 
to the trustees. 
It would seem as if the mantle of their predecessors had in some 
degree fallen on the shoulders of the present inhabitants, for never was 
there a district where flourished so many concerts and dramatic enter- 
tainments for charitable objects, so many bazaars and sales of work for 
churches, chapels and missions. We have heard of the Shetland Islan- 
ders who "earned a scanty living by taking in one another's washing," 
and it appears as if charities in Islington maintained their existence by 284 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the mutual exchange of fancy needle work and the musical and 
dramatic talents of the charitable. 
Another notable feature in the history of Islirfgton is its recent extra- 
ordinary growth of population. In the 17th century Cowley speaks of 
"a village fair as Islington," "a solitude almost." In 1793, the popu- 
lation was estimated at 6,600. The census of 1801, gave it as 10,212, 
and the census of 1891, as 319,433- During the last 50 years it has 
increased at the rate of 5,000 per annum,* though the increase has been 
less*in the last decade than in the two preceding ones. The little rural 
village once stood in the midst of its 3,000 acres of fields and farmland. 
The 3,000 acres still remain one ecclesiastical parish and one union 
as far as Vestry and Guardians are concerned, but the fields and gardens 
and lanes have given place to streets of houses and blocks of industrial 
dwellings; the mother church is supported by forty district churches, 
while one Vestry and Board of Guardians are still responsible for its 
local government. The parish is in some respects like an overgrown 
family, where the children have increased out of all proportion to the 
strength and resources of parental government. We have in the cen- 
tre the parochial traditions and institutions of a small village linked 
with the huge proportions and all the indifference to local interests 
of one of the largest of metropolitan suburbs. 
This sudden rapid growth may account in part, for an incapacity to 
keep pace with the times, in some directions. It is typical of the 
mind of Islington that it has steadily resisted a free public library, though 
canvassed for it several times. The administration of the Poor Law, 
which is so intimately connected with charity organization work, is distin- 
guished in Islington by a lax system of outdoor relief. The pauper- 
ism, especially the outdoor pauperism, shows of late years a stead}'' 
increase. Although the population made far greater strides between 
1871 and 1881, than between 1881 and 1891, the increase of pauper- 
ism has been more than twice as great in the latter decade. The 
official records for the half years ending Lady-day and Michaelmas, 
1892, show 19,127 and 17,440 paupers relieved in the respective half 
years in Islington and of these numbers more than half received out- 
door relief. Between and per annum is being spent 
on money and food given to the poor at their homes. Those who have 
any experience of the matter know the degradation of the poor of the 
district which this state of things represents. The impossibility of 
discriminating between good and bad applicants-since destitution is CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
285 
the only claim for assistance-makes poor law relief without the work- 
house check a constant encouragement to idleness and want of thrift; 
and the Charity Organization Society whose aim is the increase of thrift 
and independence, and the elevation of moral character among the 
poor, has up-hill work in such a district. Not only the poor themselves, 
but their charitable helpers are entirely confused as to when there is "a 
right to relief," and the energy of self-helpfulness and mutual helpful- 
ness is gradually sapped. 
There has been no systematic co-operation between the Board of 
Guardians and the Islington Charity Organization Committee in Isling- 
ton, as in many other districts, but a better feeling of understanding 
has been slowly growing and it is hoped that in time an established 
plan of mutual assistance may result. 
The Charity Organization Committee like other agencies in Islington 
suffers from too large a constituency, and while attempting to bring 
itself into touch with very many people and to bring them into touch 
with each other, is in danger of having no thorough co-operation with 
any. The Society has been at work in the district some twenty-one 
years, at first taking the whole parish. But about ten years ago the 
Committee wisely determined it was useless to try to cover 3000 acres, 
and deal with a population of 300,000, and they cut off from their 
operations about half the area of the parish. It is a melancholy fact, 
indicative of the want of appreciation of the charity organization 
idea, that in these ten years no serious attempt has been made by 
charitable workers or the inhabitants of the district cut adrift, to estab- 
lish any committee of organization and many of its streets remain the 
happy hunting ground of beggars and impostors, while churches and 
institutions for assisting the people rapidly increase. 
Spite of many drawbacks charity organization in southern Islington has 
made slow but sure progress. The first records of cases dealt with by this 
committee in 1871 are curious and interesting as showing how methods 
and aims have changed since then. At the second committee meeting 
a man was apparently given into custody of the police at the office for 
persisting in false statements and thus attempting to obtain money on 
false pretences. This experiment of repressing mendicity does not 
appear to have been repeated, although in the first 21 months 103 prose- 
cutions for begging were undertaken. A very large number of false 
addresses and otherwise "undeserving" cases shows that the system of 
thorough inquiry had hardly yet been realized by the impostors and 286 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the unworthy who now to a great extent avoid charity organization 
offices or "object to inquiry" when they come, thus reducing the pro- 
portion of unhelpable cases dismissed by committee. Let us hope also 
that growing experience and increased resources have developed better 
means and methods of helping. 
The original Islington Committee set out, like the rest of the Society, 
with the idea of repressing mendicity and inquiring into and reporting 
on cases of distress for charitable people and agencies. And it is very 
probable that bad or doubtful cases were most often sent to them. Now 
it is notable that the clergy of Islington send cases almost exclusively 
with a view to assistance and hardly ever for information as to character. 
In the first three months of the committee's existence it appears 
that out of about 200 cases, 82 were not recommended for help, 90 
were recommended and referred to private individuals and charita- 
ble agencies, though whether they were assisted is not shown. 5 
received hospital and convalescent letters and 1 remarkable person 
a grant of money. About 30 tramps were given bread to eat at the 
office, and it is not wonderful that a number of homeless people con- 
tinued to apply for this privilege until the system was modified and the 
number of people with "no home" rapidly diminished. 
It was really not consistent with the human nature of committees to 
continue this plan of inquiry and reporting only, and it was soon given 
up, and grants and loans of money and other gifts through the commit- 
tee increased and "adequate relief" became the watchword. 
But record books show little of the good work that may be done by 
committees and their allies, and it would be unfair even to judge them 
by their annual reports, though these, with occasional waves of depres- 
sion, show in Islington an advancing tide of life and zeal, with higher 
and wider aspirations and greater courage in attempting their realiza- 
tion. 
The present Islington Committee has the advantage of being composed 
entirely of local members, people who live in the district and care for 
the district they live in, and who are all, moreover, earnest workers and 
assist beyond the committee meetings in carrying out the work of the 
society. Linked with them is an always increasing number of local 
workers, who give valuable aid in various ways by visiting and talking 
with applicants, collecting loans and savings, befriending sick and old 
people, assisting in spreading the Society's views, and in the necessary 
business routine of the office. Each one does far more for charity CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
287 
organization in its widest sense than the special piece of work they 
take up. For once introduced to the ideal of a higher charity and 
trained, however unconsciously and inadequately, in some of its 
methods, there is no going back to a lower standard, and the influence 
of each person so initiated must surely spread in time to a wider circle, 
and must make itself felt in whatever sphere of work they choose. 
Some of our allied workers have formed a band of visitors to collect 
the savings of the poor, others have taken up rent collecting and the 
superintendence of neglected blocks of buildings on Miss Octavia Hill's 
plan; others are superintending a library, and some are visiting for the 
Children's Country Holiday Fund, or the Society for Befriending 
Young Servants; while others again have been called to posts of respon- 
sibility in other parts 'of London, and in religious or social work are 
putting into practice, we hope and believe, the lessons learnt with our 
committee. As a proof nearer home that the idea of thorough help 
hand in hand with the promotion of thrift and character is spreading, 
we note that one clergyman at least has abolished the ticket dole 
system, and established a committee for inquiry and consideration of 
cases in his own district. Another is substituting substantial help in 
the way of convalescent aid for smaller gifts, and two or three are 
encouraging "provident visiting" for collecting savings, a plan almost 
incompatible with dole giving. 
But such influence and results are slow to show themselves, and 
the committee's work is still far too isolated from the rest of the com- 
munity. 
All charitable work in Islington centres round some church or chapel 
or religious movement, and while this brings into the field many earn- 
est workers, their point of view in dealing with poor people in need 
remains still very different from that of the Charity Organization Society. 
Religious instruction, combined with intermittent attempts to alleviate 
suffering and distress, the weekly visit, the weekly ticket, the Bible 
reading and invitation to church or chapel or prayer meeting, these are 
the methods most in vogue; while soup kitchens, free breakfasts, half- 
penny dinners, and wholesale Christmas beef and plum pudding distri- 
butions are largely supported by the richest inhabitants, and adminis- 
tered from churches and chapels, with little or no co-operation between 
the various agencies, rather it would seem a rivalry as to which can 
attract the most applicants for relief, and the largest potential numbers 
of attendants at their services. 288 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The great problem of charity organization in Islington is how are we 
to bring these good people into sympathy with each other and with our- 
selves, and how are we to persuade them to act on those convictions 
which thoughtful experience must bring home to all minds. All will be 
ready to admit that character is the basis of any real improvement, 
moral or spiritual, that truthfulness of word, deed and thought can 
be the only real foundation of religion, and that small, irregular gifts 
without inquiry of circumstances or knowledge of other givers lead to 
concealment, hypocrisy and untruthfulness; but few are ready to take 
the trouble and the time which action consistent with this belief entails. 
AU will agree with Emerson's words: "It is a low benefit to give me 
anything, it is a high benefit to enable me to do something for myself;" 
but how are we to set to work in combination-for in selfish isolation 
we can do nothing-to help to enable the poorer inhabitants of Islington 
to do better things for themselves? What is the most effective way to 
work for character? That should be the question before all religious 
and charitable workers, and pity it is that all cannot combine thought 
and wisdom, heart and head to answer it. 
There is another large section of the population that charity organi- 
zation has practically left untouched in Islington, but which must be 
captured before any real progress has been made. The parish has 
the advantage of being, for the most part, neither very rich nor very 
poor. On Mr. Booth's map of London, Islington shows but few gol- 
den, or wealthy spots, and very few blue and black resorts of 
criminals and the lowest class. Shades of pink and red prevail and 
the best houses are often quite near to the poorest. 
The majority of the population is composed of respectable artizans, 
railway servants, warehousemen and clerks, who hate the very name 
of charity in connection with themselves or their families, but believe 
in charitable gifts and outdoor relief for those poorer than themselves, 
and object to the Charity Organization Society, if they know anything 
about it, because they have heard that it protests against this kind of 
relief. From their ranks come the men and women who are active in 
political associations, who are leaders at dissenting chapels and among 
trades unions, benefit clubs and co-operative societies, and many 
of whom are beginning to take part in local government. Their 
experience of hard work, industry and economy ought to be most help- 
ful to charity organizers in keeping before their eyes the healthy side CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
289 
of working class life, in contradistinction to the diseased and decrepit 
aspects which are brought most often to the front. 
The power of these people in lifting "the next below" them ought 
to be immeasurably greater than that of those who have to come down 
a step or two to reach the position of the unfortunate; their influence 
in social and political movements is undoubtedly great. For all these 
reasons we ought to be in sympathy with them, to be learning from them 
and at work with them. But so far the Islington Charity Organization 
Committee know almost nothing of these neighbors and it is to be feared 
that what they know, or fancy they know of us they dislike. 
Such are some of the problems of charity organization with the 
local color of Islington. The aims and ideals which we share in com- 
mon with the whole society will be better dealt with elsewhere and need 
not be diminished in brightness and force by the prentice hand of the 
local artist. 
Briefly stated here is the Islington position with the problems and 
work that lie before the Charity Organization Committee: 
Granted, that we have made some progress in twenty-one years and 
that many who formerly turned their back on us and spoke evil of us, 
now look on us with friendliness and occasionally lend us a helping 
hand; 
Granted, that we have extended our power of usefulness and have 
brought up the level of our "case work," so that we have gained a char- 
acter for thorough help; 
Granted, that we have trained to a certain extent a number of 
workers whose influence spreads abroad; 
How are we to bring about a better administration of the Poor Law 
which is so absolutely essential to the improvement of the district? 
How are we to subdivide our district so as to get to know the 
charitable workers and persuade them to act on the principles they will 
often admit in argument to be right? 
How are we to learn to understand the upper working class and how 
bring them to know the truths we are striving for, so as to have their 
sympathy and influence with us in social reform ? 
For all these things we need evangelists, united by a common 
enthusiasm for the gospel of charity, patient with its slow progress and 
its humble details, strong with the "undying hope" which is "the secret 
of vision." 290 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
CO-OPERATION OF CHARITABLE AGENCIES WITH THE 
POOR LAW, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ST. GEORGE 
IN THE EAST. 
BY T. MACKAY, HONORARY SECRETARY TO THE ST. GEORGE IN THE 
EAST COMMITTEE, C. O. S. 
All agencies for the relief of the poor should have two objects in 
view : (i) The relief of distress; (2) The removal of the causes of dis- 
tress. It is sometimes said that the Charity Organization Society con- 
cerns itself too exclusively with the prevention of pauperism, and that 
it is indifferent to the cause of abundant and adequate relief. On this 
criticism I will only remark that the bitterest element in the distress of 
the poor arises, not from mere poverty, but from the feeling of depen- 
dence w'hich must of necessity be an ingredient in every measure of 
public relief. This feeling cannot be removed, but is rather intensified 
by liberal measures of public relief. This fact might in itself be justifi- 
cation for those who would say, "The object of our efforts is not only 
the relief of the poor, but their independence." There is a section of 
the well-to-do classes of society who, unfortunately, limit their concep- 
tion of their duty to their poorer neighbors to relief, and plenty of it, 
from legal or from voluntary sources. It is in their view the ransom 
due from those who are well-to-do in this world's goods. There is a 
section also among the poorer classes who have a vague feeling of some 
injustice which depresses them. It is foreign to the purpose of this 
paper to discuss how far this feeling of resentment is justified. It is 
mentioned only to remark that this feeling sometimes makes itself felt 
by demands on the Poor Law for forms of relief which have been already 
tried and condemned in the experience of the past. It is worth notice 
that such demands, as a rule, take the form of " work," not " charity," 
and that among the poor themselves little or no support has been given 
to a mere policy of extensive relief, such as making the old age main- 
tenance of the community a charge on the rates. What the poor want, 
they say, is better wages and better conditions of life. Controversy, 
of course, rages as to what is the best course for the poor to follow in 
this quest. The Society, unpopular though it may be with the working 
class, can yet distinctly claim to have them on its side in this matter. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
291 
Its business is to insist, in the hearing of all men, that independence is 
a nobler ideal than any form of dependence, however adequately and 
abundantly relieved. 
As a further justification of the practical wisdom of its attitude in 
aiming at the independence, as well as the relief of the poor, it may 
point to the fact that during the fifteen years covered by the last report 
of the Statistical Abstract, 1877-91, the invested savings of the work- 
ing class have risen from in millions to 220 millions.* Here is a new 
creation of wealth, not arising out of the confiscation of other men's 
* This assertion is based on the following calculation from the Statistical Ab- 
stract, 39th number, and other available sources, as to the more obvious institu- 
tions where working class savings are deposited :- 
Present ''Time, say 1891. 
♦Post-office Savings Bank, 1891 
♦Trustee Savings Bank, 1891 42,875,000 
♦Government stock standing in name of depositors at 
Post-office, 1891 5,087,000 
♦Government stock standing in name of depositors at 
Trustee Banks, 1891 1,282,000 
ZT 20,832,000 
♦Building Societies, 1890 52,482,000 
♦Industrial and Provident (Co-operative) Societies, 
1890 15,621,000 
♦Industrial Insurance Companies, 1890 8,873,000 
tFriendly Societies 20,167,000 
Friendly Societies, 1889 2,565,000 
31,605,000 
180,000 
Fifteen Years ago say 1877. 
♦Post-office Savings Bank, 1877 
♦Trustee Savings Bank, 1877 44,238,000 
♦Government stock standing in name of depositors at 
Post-office, 1881, (no earlier figures given) 738,000 
♦Government stock standing in name of depositors at 
Trustee Banks, 1881, (no earlier dates given) 124,000 
♦Building Societies, 1876 20,854,000 
♦Industrial and Provident (Co-operative) Societies, 
1876 6,224,000 
♦Industrial Insurance Companies, 1880, (no earlier 
figures given) 1,476,000 
♦Friendly Societies, 1876, (as estimated by Mr. Lud- 
low, "Chief Registrar's Report," 1890, Part A, 
p. 9,) 9,336,000 
£\\ 1,730,000 
♦Statistical Abstract. 1877 to 1891, 39th number. 
+Rev. T. Frome Wilkinson, "Mutual Thrift." Estimated, p. 191. 
JRev. T. Frome Wilkinson, "Mutual Thrift," p. 104. 292 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
goods, but owned and acquired in accordance with the laws of our 
country and the principles of private property. Surely a process is here 
disclosed from which we can justly hope for the spread of the blessing 
of independence among our laboring class. Contrast this with the 
vague hopes held out that some species of common property will yet be 
devised which will make the acquisition of private property by the poor 
an unnecessary .thing. I will not carry this controversy into other fields, 
but in the province which it has made its own the Society protests 
against the futile assumption that the progress of the poor can be ad- 
vanced by inducing them to rely on the common property which can 
be derived from the voluntary benefactions of the rich, or from the 
enforced contributions of the taxpayer. 
The Society has, however, taken up no doctrinaire position; its sub- 
ject-matter is the charitable effort of the community at large, and if it 
can be shown that there is no adequate provision made for a certain 
class, the Society, as in the recent report on the condition of the feeble- 
minded and epileptic, is ready to advocate an extension of charitable 
effort. In the case cited a certain form of co-operation between the 
Poor Law and voluntary effort is recommended. It is suggested that 
charitable agencies shall establish and manage the necessary institutions 
for these unfortunates, and that the Guardians shall be permitted to 
send patients there and pay for them out of the rates. Under certain 
restrictions this form of co-operation already exists, but I think I am 
right in saying, that in every instance the persons in whose favor this 
exceptional provision is made are, so to speak, marked out and sepa- 
rated from the rest of the community automatically by what in another 
connection is spoken of as the "act of God or the malice of the Queen's 
enemies." 
By reason of this condition, it is obvious that we get rid of some very 
familiar difficulties in poor law administration; the capricious discrimi- 
nation of Guardians and the rankling feeling of injustice to which it 
gives rise; and, secondly, that deterioration of character which results 
when the poor are tempted, as they are by outdoor relief, to qualify 
themselves for pauperism by presenting themselves in a real or feigned 
condition of destitution. It is the absence of these dangers that war- 
rants our committee in urging that from one source or another ample 
provision should be made for this class. 
Let us go a step further, and use this principle as a dividing line 
between two classes of pauperism:- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
(1) Those who become paupers by fulfilling or accepting an automatic 
test. («) Those afflicted by some congenital disabling disease, e. g. epi- 
lepsy, deficient intellect; (<£) those who accept in some shape or another 
the workhouse test. 
(2) Those who are selected arbitrarily by Guardians for outdoor 
relief, and who in many cases (it is impossible to say how many) have 
been brought to their present condition by the attraction of a mainte- 
nance to be obtained without effort. 
With regard to the first class of paupers-those determined by an 
automatic test-there is a very large field for the work of charitable 
volunteers. As recommended, charitable bodies may establish and 
manage institutions to which paupers may be sent. Volunteers may 
with great advantage visit the poor law institutions, schools, infir- 
maries, workhouses; may organize employment for the old and infirm 
on the lines of the Brabazon experiment; may take steps to help inmates 
of the workhouse to make a new start in life; may by judicious interpo- 
sition save young people from lives of pauperism; and do a variety of 
kindly actions which it is impossible to enumerate. 
Here the Poor Law and charitable agencies combine to assist the same 
person, and for the sake of clearness, I will term this form of action 
co-operation proper. 
A totally different account, and a totally different recommendation, 
is to be given in regard to the second class of paupers. 
Those who have paid most attention to the question condemn the 
state of the law which permits a man to receive from the rates an addi- 
tion to his income to be used in exactly the same way as a similar sum 
derived from wages or savings, on the sole condition that he can suc- 
ceed in persuading Guardians that he is destitute. It has been shown 
over and over again that relief given under these conditions is rarely 
adequate and is always demoralizing. 
Those, therefore, who wish well to the poor are anxious to reduce the 
evil results of the present law to the smallest dimensions. Their recom- 
mendation is simple. They say to Guardians, cease to give this demora- 
lizing form of relief, and allow such relief as maybe required by people 
at their own homes to be administered by voluntary agencies. 
By this division of labor there will result, they argue, a great diminu- 
tion in the burden borne by the Poor Law, and a great diminution also 
in the burden borne by charitable institutions, for a third agency will be 
called into existence, viz: the successful effort of the poor themselves. 
293 294 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
If these expectations are realized, if by this policy sickness, old age, 
premature death, and the ordinary risks of life are more and more pro- 
vided against by the provident associations of the poor, it is obvious that 
the demand both on compulsory and voluntary funds will be a dimin- 
ishing quantity. 
For this reason there is a disposition to argue by those who hold this 
view that we should not commit ourselves irrevocably to the proposition 
that the feeble-minded and the imbecile should be relegated to the care 
of the law and made a burden on ratepayers; for it is maintained that 
in the future-in the not very distant future, let us hope-the ordinary 
risks of life will be so fully provided for by the thrift associations of the 
poor that the contributions of the charitable will be set free for extra- 
ordinary occasions of distress such as arise from epilepsy and deficient 
intellect. 
This condition of affairs has not arrived. It is my task to show that 
this prospect of reformation is not Utopian. I will endeavor to do 
this by a brief reference to the past and present history of the subject. 
And at the outset let me insist on one point which I believe to be the 
governing truth in all this controversy. Reformation will not come from 
any gerrymandering of the Poor Law or charitable funds, but from the 
development of the poor man's capacity fqr a life of independence. All 
our administration of legal and voluntary relief should be made sub- 
servient to this idea, provided always that adequate relief is not thereby 
withheld. 
• The most serious crisis of poor law administration which this coun- 
try has ever experienced was that previous to the Poor Law Amendment 
Act of 1834. The idea that an able-bodied working man could sup- 
port himself and his family was regarded as chimerical. Every man 
received an allowance from the rates in proportion to the number of 
his children, and the employer obtained his services at a nominal wage. 
The single man or the man without a family was not employed, because 
the farmer or manufacturer had to pay his wages in full. The poorer 
classes of the country lived in a state of discontent and open rebellion; 
land went out of cultivation because its produce was not sufficient to 
pay the rate. The country was brought to the verge of ruin. The 
Poor Law Commissioners inquired and reported on this state of affairs. 
Now what was their recommendation ? It was simple enough. Stop, 
they said, all outdoor relief to the able-bodied. Throw the poor man 
absolutely on his own resources, and do not fear for the result. Their CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
295 
advice was carried into legislation, and, as all now admit, with the 
happiest results. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that we have got 
rid of the able-bodied pauper-or to be more correct, and the distinc- 
tion is important, we have got rid of those economic conditions which 
condemned the able-bodied man of that day to pauperism and de- 
pendence. Poor law reform does not war against the person of the 
pauper, but against the economic conditions which arise when the 
poor are encouraged to look to rates rather than to wages and sav- 
ings for their maintenance, and against the formation of the parasitic 
habits of dependence, the necessary correlatives to this economic con- 
dition. 
But to return. We have got rid of able-bodied pauperism, but we 
are still struggling with a pauperism that is not able-bodied. 
Let us review the situation briefly. Throughout a great part of the 
country, more especially in the rural districts, there is still a perfectly 
unbroken tradition of pauperism handed on from generation to genera- 
tion. It is assumed that the laborer must become a pauper in his old 
age, in his time of temporary sickness; that his widow and children 
must at his death become pensioners on the rates. 
Is it possible for us, without inflicting undue hardship, to break this 
tradition? And if so, how is it to be done? Time does not permit 
me to elaborate all the detail of the argument. I will state, how- 
ever, in baldest outline the policy which I think has now become an 
integral part of the theory of those who support the Charity Organiza- 
tion Society. 
In the first place, we rely with absolute confidence on the precedent of 
the abolition of able-bodied pauperism. The only way in which the legis- 
lator or the administrator can promote the reduction of pauperism is by 
abolishing or restricting the legal endowments provided for pauperism. 
The country can have, there is no doubt of it, exactly as many paupers 
as it chooses to pay for. Abolish or restrict that endowment, or the 
more acceptable form of that endowment-I mean, of course, outdoor 
relief-and new agencies are called into activity, man's natural capacity 
for independence, the natural ties of relationship and friendship; and 
under this head I would include private as distinguished from public 
charity, for private charity in any real sense of the word is not a virtue 
practised toward a stranger, but arises out of the natural affection of 
neighbors, and proceeds on the Gospel rule of seventy times seven 
rather than on any pedantic weighing of merit and demerit. By the 
action of these forces pauperism, so to speak, evaporates. 296 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
I insist on this aspect of the question, for I think it is apt to be over- 
looked. The abolition or limitation of outdoor relief is urged not 
merely because outdoor relief can be best administered by voluntary 
agencies, but because its abolition restores men to their independence. 
There are many subsidiary reasons why it is desirable that the Poor 
Law should confine itself to giving relief within the walls of some one 
of its institutions, and leave the relief to be given at people's homes to 
voluntary agencies; but 1 venture to think that the reason I have given 
is the paramount reason, viz., that this policy more than any other calls 
out the successful effort of the poor themselves. Every other considera- 
tion, though some of them are of great force, is relatively trivial. 
Now let me meet the objection which is at once raised to this. It is 
often said, but I think only by persons who have no practical experience 
of such matters, that there is no difference brought about by transferring 
the duty of giving outdoor relief from a legal to a voluntary agency. 
Others ask what is the necessity for this. If we could secure really 
good Boards of Guardians, Mr. Marshall has argued, they would admin- 
ister out-relief with quite as much discrimination as any charity organi- 
zation society. This argument evades the whole point of our conten- 
tion; We do not rely on the greater discrimination used by a volun- 
tary agency. We rely on a much more efficacious protection, viz., the 
greater moderation of the poor in making claim on a charitable fund. 
Legal relief seems to be, indeed is, the right of all the poor equally. 
All are that is, have an insufficient income; application for 
relief, therefore, is made by all, or at all events by many more than will 
apply to a charitable fund. 
The success which has attended the administration of the Poor Law 
in Bradfield and Whitechapel is often, and no doubt with justice, 
ascribed to administration, but it can never sufficiently be insisted on 
that the action of the Poor Law is purely negative-it is restriction, 
abolition; the positive element in the reform is the quickened develop- 
ment of the spirit of independence among the poor themselves. This 
quickened development again rests on the fact (too often ignored by 
the mere theorist) that the moderation of the poor is such that they will 
not apply for indoor relief, or for relief from the funds of a charitable 
society, if those funds are protected by a very slight exercise of discrim- 
ination and inquiry. 
I am not merely theorizing as to the existence of this moderation of 
the poor in pressing demands on charitable funds, as the following facts CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
297 
will show. In St. George's East the outdoor relief in 1871 was 
in 1874, It is now a merely nominal sum, and the local 
Charity Organization Society is giving relief at the rate of about 
per annum. The clergy of the union are firm supporters of the Society, 
and the indiscriminate almsgiving is probably less now than in the old 
out-relief days. As a matter of fact, moreover, the committee does not 
refuse many cases. The trade of the union is, on the whole, less 
prosperous than in old days, owing to the decline of the shipbuilding 
and sugar industries. To what, then, are we to attribute the fact that 
the Society (which I may add, has never refused a case for lack of 
funds) has had to meet a demand so comparatively slight? They have 
never been so absurd as to pretend that the diminution is due solely to 
their greater industry in investigation and discrimination. Far from 
it. It is due much more to what I have termed the moderation of the poor. 
It has frequently been pointed out that it is necessary to restrain the 
acceptance of poor law relief by deterrent conditions. There is 
something repugnant to our feelings in this. I would have you observe, 
therefore, that by relegating the duty of giving relief to people 
at their homes to voluntary agencies, the condition of deterrence is 
replaced effectually by a much more honorable and salutary safeguard. 
I mean the moderation of the poor themselves. 
The offer of institutional relief, to w'hich legal relief is by our pro- 
posal confined, will be said by some to be inhumanly deterrent. Such 
an opinion requires some qualification. It is urged by the Poor Law 
Commissioners, and ratified by common sense, that the condition of 
the pauper ought to be inferior to that of the poorest independent 
laborer. Now, the condition of the poorest independent laborer is 
poor indeed, and attempts to maintain the pauper at his own home in 
a still inferior condition result inevitably in inadequacy of relief. 
Juries occasionally find verdicts of starvation at inquests on the death 
of persons in receipt of outdoor relief. Such a state of things cannot 
be thought satisfactory, and it is aggravated by the feeling of injustice 
which arises because all are not treated alike. There is no union where 
everyone gets outdoor relief. Some are everywhere refused. The 
inferiority of the pauper's condition ought not, on grounds of humanity, 
to be brought about by inadequacy of relief. What is the alternative? 
Nothing more than this, that the same measure should be given to all, 
namely, carefully managed and adequate relief within the walls of 
some poor law establishment. When the Irish Poor Law was created 298 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
it was feared that the scale of maintenance in the workhouse, which, 
relatively to the standard of living of the Irish peasant, was ample, 
even luxurious, would attract too many applicants. Those who under- 
stood the question insisted that there was no fear of that. The result 
proved that they were right. The dilemma is a simple enough one. 
It is desirable that the condition of the pauper shall be inferior to that 
of the poorest independent laborer. Will you effect this by giving 
inadequate relief and half starving the pauper at his own home? Or 
will you not rather import the necessary element of inferiority into the 
lot of the pauper by attaching conditions of restraint and discipline to 
an adequate and, on the whole, comfortable maintenance ? On grounds 
of humanity, quite apart from the fatal influence of outdoor relief on 
the thrifty habits of the people, can we have any doubt as to the best 
choice in this dilemma? 
There is no wish to pursue the pauper with penalties. His destitution 
arises from the fact that from one reason or another he has failed to fit 
himself into the framework of free economic society. If there are 
causes which have brought him to this pass, removable without injustice 
to others by legislation, by all means let them be removed. In the 
meantime his condition is a misfortune; no legislation can reverse this 
verdict and convert failure into success. Remedies are only a choice 
of evils. Civilized society will not permit the unfit to perish, nor will 
it ruin itself by permanently fostering failure by giving it all the re- 
wards of success. In a sound administration of the Poor Law it takes 
a third course. It gives a maintenance to failure more adequate than 
that which can be won by those who live on the border line between 
success and failure; but in order that this shall not be a premium on 
failure, it imposes conditions of discipline and restraint. 
To return, however, to our proposed division of labor. Although it 
is true that the moderation of the poor and their latent capacity for inde- 
pendence will contribute largely to the success of this policy, still it is 
necessary that schemes of public charity should be conducted with care 
and discrimination. I can best explain my meaning by an illustration. 
The heaviest year our Society ever had in St. George's was 1886, the 
year of the Mansion House Fund. This fund was raised amid great 
excitement and boundless advertisement. The idea of relief was in the 
air, and though some was expended in the district by the 
Mansion House Relief Committee the only result was that a larger 
demand was made on other agencies. The moderation of the poor was CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
in this instance, and by the means above mentioned, broken down. 
The fund was happily only temporary, but its influence while it lasted 
was very similar to the state of things brought about by a permanent 
system of lavish out-relief. The poor were kept in a state of speculative 
ferment, and during the sittings of the Mansion House Relief Com- 
mittee application for relief was made to it on behalf of about one- 
third of the whole population. 
Public charities of a permanent character managed in this manner 
would, without doubt, be very nearly as mischievous as outdoor relief. 
Public charity, therefore, should be administered without ostentation, 
and under the safeguard of full and deliberate investigation. In this 
way, and in this way only, can the whole benefit of the policy now 
advocated be secured. I use the term public charity advisedly, for the 
action of private charity, as already indicated, is not a matter to be 
controlled by organization societies, whose work lies mainly with funds 
arising from endowments and subscriptions, and from the donations 
of the rich for persons unknown to them. Private charity, in the strict 
sense in which I use the term, is liable to error. A father may be over- 
indulgent to a son, and a friend, by misplaced liberality, may confirm 
a friend in unprofitable habits; but this is a form of error not to be 
dealt with ex cathedra by any organ of public criticism. 
The co-operation of the Poor Law with charitable agencies, as carried 
out in three of the poorest unions of London-Stepney, Whitechapel, 
and St. George's-was commended in the report of the Select Commit- 
tee of the House of Lords, and the experiment is often quoted in poor 
law discussions. There is, however, one misapprehension on the sub- 
ject which I should like to correct. The reform of the Poor Law in these 
three unions was begun and carried out before our system of organized 
charity had taken root in the soil. The poor law reform in White- 
chapel and Stepney began in 1870-71. The first report of the Tower 
Hamlets Pension Committee is dated 1878. When I first became a mem- 
ber of the Charity Organization Society in 1879 the Whitechapel and 
St.George's committees had a common office, and at an earlier date there 
was only one committee for the whole of the Tower Hamlets, which used 
to meet in a little room in Philpot Street*. We have been enabled 
299 
*The following note has been supplied to me by Mr. Loch with reference to 
the early history of the society in the East End:- 
The East End Inquiry Committee was opened in February, 1871, and continued 
to be the only office for five of the East London poor law divisions (viz., White- INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
300 
to extend and consolidate our operations because the Poor Law Guar- 
dians have taken the first step and confined themselves to giving indoor 
relief only. 
It is impossible to make any subdivision of labor till the more power- 
ful party to the agreement has become satisfied of its necessity. I 
argue, therefore, that Poor Law Guardians must take the first step, 
under a profound conviction that whether there be an organization of 
charitable agencies, or whether there be none, they have no right to with- 
hold from their union the benefit of sound administration. As matter 
of fact there can be no doubt that, if Guardians have the courage and 
disinterestedness to face this reform, there will also be found among 
them men of sufficient position and energy to organize the charitable 
agencies; but I confess there seems to me to be very little to be done 
till the policy of Guardians is animated by a profound conviction of the 
necessity for reform. 
At the same time, though I must insist that the initiative lies with 
the poor law authorities, I think that our organization of charity has 
been of service in strengthening the party of reform on the various 
boards. Guardians are able to say that provision has been made to 
deal with exceptional cases, and they have not been deterred from con- 
tinuing to the union the enormous benefit of a sound administration. 
They have never (and this is the danger to which I desire to draw atten- 
tion) asserted a right to choose our applicants for us, or to override 
our decisions. The two bodies are entirely distinct, and there is no 
publicly ratified compact between us. The only bond between us is 
that we both believe that by the tactics pursued the poor are learning 
to do without the help of either of us. 
The proposal of Professor Marshall, that we should be recognized as 
a part of the legal machinery of the Poor Law, would, therefore, be 
fatal to our usefulness. The co-operation which we advocate is, there- 
fore, more a division of labor than co-operation pure and simple. It 
consists in this, that the Poor Law should confine itself to institutional 
relief; as a result the greater part of the outdoor legal relief now given 
chapel, St.George-in-the-East, Poplar, Stepney, Mile End Old Town), till Feb- 
ruary, 1873, when the joint Whitechapel and St.George-in-the-East Committee 
and the Poplar Committee were formed. The Fast End Inquiry Committee 
became in April, 1873, the Stepney and Mile End Old Town Inquiry Committee. 
In March, 1875, separate committees were formed at Whitechapel and St.George- 
in-the-East, and they continued to make use of only one office. In April, 1875, 
separate committees were formed in Stepney and Mile End Old Town. The 
East End Finance Committee was formed early in 1874. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
301 
will be rendered unnecessary by reason of the increased independence 
of the poor, and the remainder is so small in amount that it can be 
dealt with by voluntary charity. 
The administration of the Poor Law and of voluntary relief should go 
hand in hand, animated by the common purpose not only to relieve 
adequately, but, as it has been well put, to make the influence of our 
relief system centrifugal, and not centripetal. When this purpose is not 
present in the minds of administrators, the most senseless and disastrous 
competition between the Poor Law and charity is set up. 
The City of London is a contiguous .union to Whitechapel. At the 
time of the Lords Select Committee the pauperism of Whitechapel was 
16 per 1,000. In the City it was 62 per 1,000. Some years ago I made 
some remarks on this contrast, and I was taken to task by an influential 
city paper. This gentlemen, it was said, is very badly informed about 
the City Union. "Many poor persons have come into the city for the 
small charities which have hitherto been obtainable in different parishes, 
and it is hardly fair to compare the City" with other places. How far 
this is an exculpation of the City Guardians I do not stop to inquire, but 
it does confirm my view that where no definite division of labor exists, 
the larger and more numerous the charitable institutions, the greater the 
burden on the Poor Law. In the chaos here delineated both legal and 
voluntary relief act with an overpowering centripetal force, so much so 
that their warmest defenders can only excuse the authorities by saying, 
"What can they do? The place is a nursery for paupers." 
Let me say a few words on the experience of those country unions which 
have reformed their Poor Law administration. In none of them, as far 
as I know, has there been established any charity organization society. 
The contrary is often asserted, but without foundation. A charity 
organization is very desirable, nay, even necessary, where there are a 
number of public charities and a large mass of population, but there is 
much less necessity for it in a sparsely populated rural district. The 
squire and the parson and the ladies bountiful of the neighborhood 
ought to exercise their common sense, and if there be many of them, 
there is no reason why, if they choose, they should not meet in a com- 
mittee, but neither at Bradfield nor at Brixworth has this been found 
practicable or desirable. The late Mr. Bland-Garland told a friend of 
mine, who has repeated it to me, that when he became responsible for 
the administration at Bradfield he put aside a certain annual sum- 
/100 I think-which he was prepared to give away, in order to make 302 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the transition to a stricter system more easy. He added that in the 
first year the demand on his purse did not reach half that sum, and 
that in subsequent years it became gradually less. 
Very similar is the information given to me by Mr. Bury, Chairman 
of the Brixworth Board. He has from his own resources, and from 
moneys entrusted to him, a small fund which he has used much in the 
way described by Mr. Bland-Garland. He is definitely of opinion 
that he would much rather not have any organization society. It is 
not-there, at all events-necessary. I do not think I misinterpret 
Mr. Bury's opinion if I say that he does not regard the reform of 
administration at Brixworth as a mere transition from dependence on 
poor law relief to a dependence on charitable funds, but rather that 
under the administration for which he is responsible the poor are suc- 
cessfully learning to achieve an absolute independence for themselves. 
This desirable result would be endangered if a charitable committee 
were established permanently and prominently before the eyes of the 
people. I mention Mr. Bury's opinion and experience-even though 
it may seem to show that co-operation with charity is not necessary- 
because it emphasizes what I liave already stated, viz., that the positive 
element of reform in all this matter is neither charity nor the Poor Law, 
but the spirit of independence in the people themselves. 
In the foregoing remarks I have advisedly avoided going into detail. 
The first step in reform is to convince the majority of a board of guar- 
dians of the necessity of reform. The details of the methods taken to 
give effect to the principle must differ widely in each district and with 
each board. It would be very desirable, I think, that the Society 
should publish one or two statements similar to the late Mr. Bland- 
Garland's paper, "From Pauperism to Manliness." It would be inte- 
resting to have an account of the success of the cross-visiting system 
pursued in Manchester; of the method of reducing pauperism by rigid 
investigation, as in Paddington; of the successful establishment of a 
provident medical society covering the whole union, as at Milton in 
Kent; of the history of efforts to affiliate provident societies to hos- 
pitals, with a view of making our hospital system the auxiliary, and 
not the hostile competitor, of friendly societies and doctors' clubs; of 
the efforts for the improvement and better management of the indoor 
establishments in Whitechapel and elsewhere, and a thousand other 
matters which will readily occur to you all. I hope this meeting may CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
303 
encourage both the London and the provincial societies in collecting 
and circulating in a readable form information on such points. 
If time had permitted, I should have liked to say a good deal on these 
matters of detail, but I hope I shall not be blamed for confining myself 
on this occasion to the larger aspect of the question. I have presented 
to you an ambitious programme-the reformation of public opinion on 
this whole question. 
I do not disguise from you the difficulties, but to some minds its 
attractiveness is its difficulty, the splendid opportunity that it offers for 
being unpopular in a good cause. My reading of poor law literature 
has discovered to me one little bit of sentiment. It is where Sir G. 
Nicholls, to whom as much as to any man the country owes the reform 
of 1834, relates how, on his return to his old home at Southwell, he 
was met in the market place by a party of laborers, who shook him 
warmly by the hand and thanked him for having been their best friend. 
In a momentary lapse from the dry, unemotional language of a public 
official, he bids us imagine how "gratifying" the incident must have 
been to one whose conscientious discharge of his duty had for years 
made him one of the best abused men in England. 
There is one element of encouragement which I think worth men- 
tion, there is no subject in which there is a more complete unanimity of 
opinion among persons who have made any intelligent study of the 
question. Among the recognized authorities there is absolute con- 
formity. The enemy in this case is ignorance and inexperience. There 
has been a disposition in the past to relegate this matter to the "loose 
ends" of society-to the unemployed busybody of the leisure class. 
But the question is becoming urgent-it is becoming a question for 
statesmen-and with the hour let us hope there will come the men of 
courage and insight. Hitherto the politician has not helped us much, 
but rather the reverse. Legislation of various kinds is proposed, most 
of it of a mischievous character; but the debate is only just begun, and 
those who have for years made study of this question must not be silent. 
I confidently believe that we shall be able to defeat the pessimism of 
those who assume that inadequacy of wages and spendthrift habits are 
ineradicable incidents in the life of the laborer. We, at all events, 
cannot admit that the only solution of this question is to be found in 
conferring easy terms of pauperism on those who were born for inde- 
pendence and freedom. 304 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
MANCHESTER. 
POOR LAW RELIEF AND CHARITY ORGANIZATION IN AN 
INDUSTRIAL TOWN. 
BY ALEXANDER MCDOUGALL, J. P., VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE 
MANCHESTER BOARD OF GUARDIANS. 
The consideration of the development of charity organization in a 
town or district must be based upon knowledge of what is being done 
within it by the poor law authorities and by voluntary associations for 
the relief and mitigation of distress. 
The city of Manchester has a population of about 505,000; the Poor 
Law administration is carried out by three separate Boards of Guar- 
dians, but as two of them (the Chorlton Union and the Prestwich Union) 
extend also over rural districts outside the city, it will suffice to describe 
briefly the methods of the board whose district lies entirely within the 
boundaries and includes the older portion of the town. It is officially 
known as the Manchester Board of Guardians, and acts for the town- 
ship of Manchester containing a population of about 145,000, with a 
density of 91 persons to the acre. Within the township are the chief 
portions of the commercial buildings-the warehouses and offices and also 
some of the manufacturing establishments. The majority of the popu- 
lation are of the operative class, living in streets of cottages, and there 
are many instances of streets formerly occupied by middle class tenants, 
now inhabited by persons of the laboring class-the houses being sub- 
divided into tenements. The better houses of the township are chiefly 
occupied by the lower middle class and artisans. Manchester stands in 
close relation to several large towns within a radius of 12 miles, the 
high roads leading to them running through populous pla'ces containing 
factories and works surrounded by the cottages of the operatives. 
Throughout these surrounding districts a considerable number of haw- 
kers of small articles, casual laborers and others pick up precarious 
livings. The great majority of these "travellers" as they are called 
have their homes in the township-many of them using the lodging 
houses, of which there are some with as many as 400 beds. It is the 
portion of the city in which the largest amount of poverty may be 
expected. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
305 
The Guardians have for the last twenty years devoted very much time 
and consideration to methods of administration of both indoor and 
outdoor relief, striving as far as possible to meet the real needs of all 
suitable applicants, and yet not to attract from labor and habits of self- 
support any of the large numbers on the borders of pauperism. Whilst 
they have not. abolished out-relief, they have reduced it to narrow limits 
without adding materially to the number of indoor paupers. The 
change has been brought about by the adoption of the following stand- 
ing order. 
STANDING ORDER. 
" Outdoor Relief shall not be granted or allowed by the Relief Com- 
mittees (except in case of sickness) to applicants of any of the follow- 
ing classes: - 
" (zz). Single Able-bodied Men. 
" Single Able-bodied Women. 
"(r). Able-bodied Widows without children, or having only one 
child to support. 
" (z/). Married Women (with or without families) whose husbands, 
having been convicted of crime, are undergoing a term of imprisonment. 
"(<?). Married Women (with or without families) deserted by their 
husbands. 
"(/). Married Women (with or without families) left destitute 
through their husbands having joined the militia and being called up 
for training. 
"(£•). Persons residing with relatives, where the united income of 
the family is sufficient for the support of all its members, whether such 
relatives are liable by law to support the applicant or not." 
The effect of strictness with regard to outdoor relief may be seen by 
comparing the average number receiving relief on one day for 1873 and 
the average number on one day for the year 1893. 
For the year ending March 29th, 1873, average number of 
persons receiving relief on one day was 3,198 
For the year ending March 25th, 1893, average number of 
persons receiving relief on one day was 594 
Being a decrease of 2,604 
INDOOR RELIEF. 
For the year ending March 29th, 1873, average number of 
persons receiving relief on one day was 2,298 
For the year ending March 25th, 1893, average number of 
persons receiving relief on one day was 2,718 
Being an increase of 42° 
OUTDOOR RELIEF. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
306 
There have beeri other remedial causes at work to reduce pauperism, 
and also some decrease of population owing to public improvements 
and erections of large railway stations and warehouses, but these have 
been counterbalanced by the change during the same period which has 
taken place in the township from the removal of well-to-do tenants to 
the suburbs-the houses becoming occupied by the wage-earning class. 
This large reduction in the number of persons granted out-relief has 
not been at the cost of hardship and suffering. Careful enquiry has 
failed to discover any cases of necessity unrelieved because of strict 
adherence to the regulations. On the other hand, it has raised the 
respectability of out-relief and made really worthy persons less disin- 
clined to apply. The collateral results have been most beneficial; the 
character of notoriously pauperized localities has been changed. Out- 
relief readily granted causes groups of improvident persons to localize. 
These nests of pauperism were soon broken up when out-relief became 
restricted to exceptional cases only. 
For indoor relief purposes the workhouses are well arranged. The 
Guardians have, within the last twenty years, built a very commodious 
infirmary and abolished all nursing of the sick by paupers. Medical 
oversight is fully provided for, and the nursing is in charge of a lady 
superintendent and highly trained nurses. There is but little unwilling- 
ness on the part of the sick poor to go into the infirmary ; it has become 
popular even to an extent not desired by the Guardians, as it is a fact 
that sick persons from a distance are attracted. 
In the workhouses every effort is made to keep the inmates employed, 
but not to raise the impression that the work done is something for 
which the Guardians have any desire to retain the workers in the 
house. 
The children of parents in the workhouses, deserted children, and 
some children of widows receiving out-relief are maintained and 
educated in schools at long distances from the workhouses, no pauper 
labor being employed at the schools, so dissociating the children as 
much as possible from pauper influences. 
There is very general provision made for sickness and burial by 
joining friendly societies and also sick and burial clubs. The operatives 
largely avail themselves of such facilities, especially for burial, many of 
the very poorest managing in some way to keep up club payments for 
burial. A considerable number of those dying at the workhouse are CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
307 
buried not at the cost of the Guardians, but by means of money due from 
clubs. 
Medical charities place the very best medical aid within reach of the 
poorest. The local infirmaries and hospitals are readily available for 
necessitous sick persons, but on convalescence, though perhaps still 
unable to work, they must leave, and the supply of food and nourish- 
ment ceases. 'The medical charities as a rule endeavor to obtain pay- 
ment from patients who may be able to afford it, and for some years 
have striven to make the generous aid to the sick as slightly pauperiz- 
ing as possible. 
.Manchester has some municipal charities, but they provide chiefly 
gifts of blankets, calico, shawls and counterpanes once in the year, and 
only occasional doles of money. 
There are active and successful societies for the rescue of children 
from the streets, penitentiaries, preventive homes, prison gate missions. 
A considerable amount of aid is given in money, food and clothing by 
the churches, chapels and missions of the city acting independently of 
each other. 
The operations of the Manchester and Salford District Provident 
Society are based upon some of the chief aims of charity organization. 
Its first rule describes its object. "The encouragement of industry and 
frugality, the suppression of mendicity and imposture, and the occa- 
sional relief of sickness and unavoidable misfortune." 
The methods of the Society are:- 
r. A thorough system of inquiry into all cases brought under the 
Society's notice. 
By the inquiries made by the experienced officers in response to 
requests for information by benevolently disposed persons much impos- 
ture is exposed, and frequently the intending donor turns his charity 
into useful channels. The society not only seeks to expose imposture, 
but to guide assistance to real service. 
2. A fund for the relief of sickness and unavoidable misfortune. 
The distribution of this fund is most carefully conducted. A large 
number of respectable persons and families are assisted during periods 
of sickness. Grants are made to widows of money, sewing machines 
and mangles to enable them to become self-supporting; and for men in 
distress, when investigation has shown there is good probability of a 
livelihood being earned, tools, donkeys and carts, and other capital 
outlay is provided. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
308 
3. Provident Dispensaries. 
The system of weekly payments by persons of small incomes, ensur- 
ing medical advice and medicine when sickness arises, has been 
successfully developed. The majority of the dispensaries established 
have become self-supporting. The effect is most beneficial to the 
members subscribing, habits of thrift are induced. But for member- 
ship in a dispensary, many of them would be compelled to apply to 
the Guardians for medical relief when sick and be thus brought into at 
least temporary pauperism. There are nine provident dispensaries in 
Manchester and Salford. The number of members on the books on 
December 31st, 1892, was 21,581. The amount paid by members 
during the year ending on that date amounted to 17J. 6/Z. 
The Society undertakes investigations for the hospitals of the city 
into the circumstances of patients receiving aid, who may be con- 
sidered able to pay for the hospital service rendered to them. The 
following figures show the percentages from year to year, of those 
applicants to the medical charities co-operating with this association 
who were found on investigation to be ineligible for gratuitous medical 
relief, and who were in consequence referred to the branch provident 
dispensaries :- 
187 5 42.32 per cent. 
1876 24.50 " 
1877 24.00 " 
1878 19.74 " 
1879 13-61 
1880 14.76 " 
1881 14.48 " 
1882 13.51 
1883 12.12 " 
1884 14.19 Per cent. 
1885 13.57 
1886 11.15 " 
1887 9.29 " 
1888 6.53 
1889 6.89 " 
1890 6.49 " 
1891 7-49 
4. Convalescent Home at the Sea Side. 
This home is of great value in enabling wage-earners to quickly 
regain strength for work. There is a fixed charge per week for main- 
tenance there, paid either by subscribers, or by patients and their 
friends, or in necessitous cases by the Society, which debits its relief 
fund with the charge. 
5. Penny Banks. 
The Society led the way in the city in the establishment of these use- 
ful encouragements to thrift. Since then increased facilities for small CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
309 
savings have been provided by the Government and the School Board. 
Opportunity for the lodgment of small savings is regarded by the 
Society as of great service to poor persons. 
Though the Society does not make money grants from its funds except 
for temporary assistance, yet there are some cases of aged persons of 
good character aided for longer periods by private gifts of some of its 
members, which are placed in the hands of the secretary for small weekly 
payments to the recipients. 
This rapid glance into the chief agencies in operation in Manchester 
for the relief of distress and assistance towards self-support makes appa- 
rent some developments still needing to be undertaken. There is no 
provision for permanently aiding enfeebled and weary aged women and 
men who are failing in the struggle of life, who dread the workhouse and 
who shrink even from out-relief by the Guardians because of repugnance 
to becoming paupers. 
Nothing appeals more to the sympathy of the benevolent than the 
deep poverty of an old woman or man of good character, who growing 
past work and without any or only partial support from children, holds 
aloof from poor law relief, and dreads coming days with still lessened 
earnings. The number of such persons even in a large population is not 
great, because the majority of aged persons have children able to contri- 
bute to their support; and though this duty is often neglected, it can be 
no function of charity organization to relieve children, who are able, 
from proper contribution to their parents. They are principally women. 
Old men do not live so long in necessitous circumstances as old women 
do; they much more readily seek the food and shelter of the workhouse. 
A member of the Manchester Board of Guardians, who has interested 
himself specially in the administration of out-relief and is fully alive to 
its dangers and advantages, having the impression that there were in the 
city a number of elderly women and men of excellent character, living 
in great poverty, who instead of regarding poor law relief as an available 
provision, feared it with such intensity that the probability of its becom- 
ing inevitable became the sharpest trial of their lives, began seven years 
ago to search for them. They are not readily found, they make no noise 
and give little sign of their deep want. His experience has been that 
regular small gifts of money, which can be relied upon, make all the 
difference between anxiety and contentment, and brighten to a wonder- 
ful extent lives otherwise darkened by daily fear of want. Relieving 310 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
officers, district nurses, clergymen and city missionaries have assisted 
him in finding the right persons. A friend having joined in the cost, 
it has been possible for him to continue his visitations and provide 
weekly grants. He is, in fact, taking small pensions-of from 2s. 6d. 
to 6d. per week-to respectable old persons who have some slight 
source of income or house-room, but are without relations who can sup- 
port them, and who can be relied upon to expend the money benefi- 
cially. 
The development of organized charity to meet this work would require 
the society undertaking it to add to its present system of investigation 
inquiry for aged persons of good character who are without children 
able to support them, and in satisfactory cases to make grants of weekly 
, sums of money, which will not be discontinued, except on change of cir- 
cumstances, for at least six months. The fact of some degree of perma- 
nence is of great comfort to the recipients. 
The society should also see that removal to a hospital or to the work- 
house took place in cases where sickness or incapacity might make it 
necessary. But these cases are few. Decent old people have almost 
always friends and neighbors who come to their help for nursing and 
attendance at the last. The warmest expressions of thankfulness that 
have been made by old persons assisted by such weekly grants have been 
from persons who have thus been enabled to meet the expected last ill- 
ness at home and among friends. It is noteworthy that, during the 
seven years the gentleman named has been assisting aged persons, in 
every instance of death provision had been made by the recipient for 
the funeral by payments to a burial club, often commenced early in 
life. 
Poor Law Guardians are becoming disposed to make special provision 
for aged persons of good character in homes outside the workhouse 
proper. This will remove some of the causes of unwillingness on the 
part of such persons to avail themselves of Poor Law relief. But there will 
remain scope for the operation of organized charity on behalf of some, 
who through no fault of their own "have waxen poor and fallen into 
decay." 
There are some aged persons of good character in worse circum- 
stances than those who are without children capable of aiding them, 
namely, those who have children able to contribute, but who are neg- 
lected by them, receiving nothing or only occasional sums. The fact CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
311 
of the ability of their children puts them out of reach of aid from 
organized charity. They can only obtain magistrates' orders to compel 
children to support them by first becoming chargeable to the Guardians. 
There is a bill before Parliament to give power to parents to apply 
directly to the magistrates. When this bill becomes law it may prove 
to be one of the functions of organized charity to assist poor and feeble 
parents to obtain orders for maintenance against capable sons and 
daughters. 312 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
THE CHARITIES OE BRISTOL. 
BY MISS ELIZABETH STURGE, A MEMBER OF THE BRISTOL C. O. S. 
Bristol is an ancient city whose municipal life dates from Saxon, if 
not from Roman times. It is not an easy task through the chequered 
history of a thousand years to trace the growth of its institutions for 
dealing with the poor and destitute. 
Before the Reformation it possessed its Abbey and other religious 
houses whence, doubtless, alms were dispensed according to the usage 
of the middle ages; but with the dissolution of the monasteries this 
form of relief to the poor ceased. The deplorable destitution through- 
out the country which followed this and oth'er changes, and led to the 
passing of the great Act known as the "Forty-third of Elizabeth," 
doubtless moved the hearts of the charitable to deeds of mercy; and 
after this period religious activity took the form of endowments for the 
relief of the indigent rather than, as in former times, of noble works of 
church architecture. 
In Bristol henceforth a long succession of benefactors sought by 
larger or smaller bequests to provide for the bodily wants of the poor 
of the several parishes. Thus St. Mary Redcliff draws from its endow- 
ments for the uses of the poor; St. James has gradually acquired 
an income of about while St. Nicholas possessed, until they were 
recently diverted under a scheme of the charity commissioners to gen- 
eral educational purposes, revenues amounting to about 
The vicars and church wardens of twenty parishes still distribute 
yearly from their endowed charities a total of about of which 
between and appears to be given away in bread; in 
clothing and fuel; and in doles of money, which range in amount 
from to a few shillings. 
Beside the founders of the parochial charities, Bristol has been rich 
in benefactors whose generosity has extended over a wider area. Thus 
Aiderman Whitson, about 1629, left large bequests to be distributed in 
the form of doles to the needy in any part of the then existing town; 
and Edward Colston, about 1690, founded numerous schools and alms- 
houses on so liberal a scale, that his name has ever since been represen- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
313 
tative for Bristol citizens of large-hearted charity. Three societies, 
established during the last century and called after him the Colston 
Societies, are still in active operation, subscriptions to the amount of 
being raised annually by them and dispensed as annuities and 
doles. 
'The non-parochial endowed charities are in the hands of trustees, of 
which the most important board is responsible for the administration of 
those formerly in the gift of the corporation. These consist, besides 
schools on which an income of is expended, of annuities, 
almshouses, gifts of money &c., and amount to a yearly value of 
In addition a large number of almshouses and annuities are 
in the bestowal of more private bodies. Almshouses provide for a total 
of 526 persons; annuities, which range in amount from to 
for 439; while about is expended annually by parochial and 
other charities in doles. 
This large provision for the poor would be a subject for local con- 
gratulation if good intentions could ensure good results; but unfortu- 
nately this is not so; and it is not too much to assert that while tem- 
porary comfort and satisfaction have doubtless been given in many indi- 
vidual instances, the effect of the action of the charities on the well- 
being of the poorer citizens has been on the whole for evil, because of 
the weakening effect on character resulting from encouragement to rely 
for the future on the help of others. 
The law guards jealously, and no doubt wisely, the sacredness of 
testators' rights. Property of more than a small yearly value which 
has been left for a particular purpose cannot be diverted to any other, 
except under special legal powers, even when it is obvious that its pre- 
sent use is doing harm. 
In Bristol, as elsewhere, the lapse of centuries has wrought great 
changes. Parishes which were formerly populous have become com- 
paratively deserted. The inhabitants of the ancient city, who alone 
share in the benefits of many of the charities, form now but a small 
proportion of the total population, and since the passing of the first 
Reform Act the freemen of the city, for whom and whose families 
many benefactions are reserved, have much diminished in numbers, so 
that the charities limited to this class have become far less generally 
applicable than was the intention of their founders. 
The operation of the system of doles must be regarded as productive 
of harm rather than good to the classes affected by them.. In general 314 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
the church wardens and vestries are not guided in their choice of 
recipients by considerations as to thrift and permanent benefit; and 
even if they were, they would be unable under the rigid terms of their 
foundations to vary either the amount or the time of bestowing their 
gifts. These are not as a rule therefore available for cases of temporary 
difficulty, while at the same time they are too small and too irregular 
to be of permanent benefit as pensions. 
The methods pursued by the municipal trustees for apportioning the 
charities in their gift cannot be regarded as adequate. There is a very 
large number of applicants for every vacancy, and there is no other means 
of judging between them than such as is afforded by the enquiries which 
the time and opportunity of individual trustees-generally men honor- 
ably occupied in other important duties-may allow of their making. 
As no candidate can obtain a hearing who has not such personal sup- 
port, it inevitably results that the provision thus existing is unavailable 
except for the few who are known to or have access to one of the 
trustees. 
There is no reason to believe that the case stands differently in regard 
to the almshouses and annuities controlled by other trustees; but as to 
the methods of these more private bodies it is less easy to obtain infor- 
mation. 
As regards the action of the Colston Societies, the main object of 
two of these is political, and their annual dinners are made the occa- 
sions of speeches by members of the Government and others, so that 
they are involved with matters unconnected with the relief of the 
poor. 
The distribution of their annuities and doles is managed as in the case 
of other voting charities. One or more known citizens having granted 
their names as recommending a case, details are generally neither 
asked nor given, and the voting is determined in the usual way by 
canvassing and personal pressure. By the action of the three societies 
about annually distributed in annuities of the value of 
and in doles. 
In addition to the gifts thus bestowed, Bristol is not behind other 
places in supporting liberally the many societies and charitable institu- 
tions which modern benevolence has called into existence. According 
to the report of the commission of enquiry of 1885, about is 
annually raised for these purposes. A very large sum is also given 
away privately; much of it in the form of that true charity which CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
315 
silently provides for the needs of neighbors and dependents, but much 
also of that unwise charity which gives without enquiry, and enables 
the importunate and idle to live on the credulity of the careless rich. 
Side by side with the great charities we have of course the Poor 
Law. 
For poor law purposes Bristol is divided into three unions of which 
the parishes comprising the ancient city form the central one, wholly 
urban in its character, and containing now 55,500 inhabitants; while 
Barton Regis (193,000) and Bedminster (77,500) include different 
parts of newer districts and suburbs, as well as portions of the outly- 
ing country districts, and involve the difficulties of administration inci- 
dent to a mixed urban and rural population. 
In Bristol as a whole, but more especially in the ancient city, there 
has long been an exceptionally high rate of pauperism as compared 
with other large towns; and this undesirable distinction still continues, 
although the last twenty years show a steady decline in all three unions, 
corresponding with the decrease throughout the country. 
Causes connected with the industrial condition of the city may have 
had something to do with this state of things. A century ago the port 
of Bristol was one of the most important in the kingdom. It has 
entirely lost that position now, and ranks far behind many newer towns; 
partly in consequence of the ruin of its sugar industry brought about 
by the results of emancipation in the West Indies, followed by the 
French bounty system; partly owing to the difficulty and danger attend- 
ing the navigation of its narrow tidal river by large modern steamers; 
partly, too, owing to the short-sighted policy of the authorities, who 
in the early part of the century exacted exorbitant dues, and long 
neglected to supply dock accommodation at the mouth of the river. 
Trade thus left the port, and Liverpool and other towns prospered at 
its expense. 
Another cause of pauperism must be noted in the low rate of wages, 
which have not risen in Bristol to an extent commensurate with the 
general rise throughout the country. It may be open to question, how- 
ever, whether this may not be an effect as well as a cause of the 
large amount of out-relief which has always been given; for, making 
allowance for the drawbacks to prosperity alluded to, we should, we 
believe, ignore a commonplace of experience if we did not recognize 
the vital connection between a free administration of out-relief and the 316 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
existence of large charities on the one hand, and low wages and a high 
rate of pauperism on the other. 
It will be seen that there is thus no lack of aid to the poor from 
many sources. The real difficulty has been the want of method and 
intelligence shown in bestowing it. No attempt has been made by 
any centre of relief to work with reference to any other. Overlapping 
has gone on unchecked. Guardians and dispensers of charity of all 
kinds have relieved the same people, none of them having any know- 
ledge of what others were doing. The idle and improvident have thus 
flourished at the expense of the industrious and thrifty; for under such 
conditions it is those who ask most who receive most. 
No serious effort was made to improve this state of things until about 
1870, when the interest aroused in the subject of wise methods of 
charity, which had led to the issue of Mr. Goschen's Poor Law Minute 
of 1869 and the subsequent establishment of the London Charity 
Organization Society, extended itself to Bristol, and a Charity Organiza- 
tion Society for that city was formed. Before that time a Mendicity 
Society did useful work for nearly a quarter of a century; but it seems 
to have limited its operations to efforts for the prevention of begging, 
and not to have attempted to deal with the larger and more complex 
aspects of the subject. 
The difficulties in the way of the pioneers in this work in such a city 
as Bristol cannot be exaggerated. The complexity of the questions 
involved; the difficulty of learning the truth; the vested interests to be 
disturbed; and, not least, the impossibility of arousing public sympathy; 
all this made the work seem for many years well nigh hopeless. Warm 
friends of the cause, disappointed and disheartened, withdrew one after 
another to more hopeful fields of labor. Nevertheless the Society con- 
tinued to do useful work. Its main office through all changes remained 
open, although branches which were tried from time to time had to be 
closed. At present it is not claiming too much for it to say, that at its 
table case-work, as careful and sound as that of any of the London com- 
mittees, is done weekly. Still the amount accomplished remained small 
when compared with the needs of so large a town, and the committee 
failed to bring about any system of co-operation between the poor law 
authorities and the dispensers of the endowed and other charities. 
Most of the influential inhabitants of Bristol and Clifton have held 
aloof from giving the Society the advantage of their personal support 
and guidance, and perhaps the unpopularity attaching to such work has CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
317 
not invariably been lessened by tact in its dealings. It was impossible, 
too, that one office should really do the work involved, and that dispatch 
and thoroughness should not suffer while such long distances had to be 
covered by a limited staff. 
The appearance in 1885 of the valuable report of the "committee of 
enquiry into the condition of the Bristol poor" threw a flood of light upon 
these subjects, and suggestions as to wise methods of improvement were 
made. It did not succeed in arresting public attention, however, and 
the efforts which followed to bring about co-operation consequently 
failed. 
But during the past three or four years prospects have brightened. 
Bristol has shared in the revival of interest in questions affecting the 
welfare of the poor which has everywhere shown itself. In 1889 at the 
annual meeting of the Society many valuable speeches were made by 
representative local men, who from different points of view had come to 
see the need for action on its lines. These were published in permanent 
form, and the pamphlet was widely circulated in the city with an appeal 
for co-operation. As a result consultations took place between mem- 
bers of the Society and some of the Guardians of the ancient city. An 
influential council has been formed in order to establish a committee to 
work within that union, which shall act as a medium between the chari- 
table agencies and the Guardians, and much local interest has been 
aroused among the clergy and others who are in contact with the poor. 
It is hoped that this committee, acting in co-operation with the Charity 
Organization Society, will begin work before long. 
What is needed is that the Guardians and different charitable agen- 
cies should arrive at an understanding as to the class of cases coming 
within the sphere of labor of each; so that cases of temporary distress, 
which may be saved from a condition of permanent dependence, may 
be helped adequately and at the right time by the action of charity. As 
regards permanent cases, the pensions and almshouses should be reserved 
for the most thrifty and deserving, apart from accidents of acquaintance 
and personal favor; the bodies which dispense these gifts bearing in mind 
that they are intended for the good of the citizens as a whole, and not 
of any special individuals accidentally more fortunate than the rest in 
their opportunities for pressing their case. The system of election to 
the Colston charities by voting should be abolished, and the choice of 
applicants should rest with a wise committee. In addition to considera- 
tion as to general good character, thrift and forethought on the part of 318 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
all candidates for almshouses or annuities should count as important 
factors. In such a large city and among many hundreds of applicants 
the task of decision must involve the expenditure of much time and 
trouble. The trustees and others, therefore, should obtain assistance in 
the necessary labor of enquiry. 
Could such changes as these be brought about, Bristol might well be 
proud of her noble institutions for the aged poor. 
In order to facilitate co-operation between the various charities and 
the Poor Law, it has been proposed to form a central council, on which 
Guardians, trustees and all relieving agencies should be represented, 
and which by subdivision of work should furnish the needful means for 
enquiry and render each agency more effective within its sphere of 
action. Of such a general council, that which has been established for 
the central union may be regarded as a foreshadowing. Its work must 
necessarily be extremely difficult, but when it is realized how important 
is such common action, surely the Guardians and others will not shrink 
from the trouble involved. 
The enterprise of Bristol citizens is not yet extinct. At immense 
cost they are about to build large additional docks at the mouth of the 
Avon, and the city will once more be abreast with other great ports in 
its provision for the shipping requirements of the day. Should this 
undertaking succeed, the future may see a large extension in the trade 
and prosperity of the city. 
The labor agitations, though they have been accompanied by much 
that is deplorable, may have the ultimate effect of somewhat raising the 
rate of wages, and it is earnestly to be desired that, should an opportu- 
nity thus be afforded to the working classes of Bristol of sharing in an 
increased general prosperity and advancing to a position more favorable 
to permanent well-being and independence, the improvement will not 
be hindered, so far as the unskilled and the less able are concerned, 
because the dispensers of poor law relief and charity refuse to co-operate, 
and continue to uphold a policy which is inimical to the best interests 
of the poor. 
Rate of pauperism in Bristol: Ancient City i in 20. Bedminster 1 
in 25. Barton Regis 1 in 42. 
Number of places in almshouses, 526. Number of annuities 
to 5J.), 439. This may not be quite all. 
Amount given yearly in doles about to about 1,746 persons. CHARITY ORGANIZATION 
319 
ROCHDALE. 
INDUSTRIAL AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS, POOR 
LAW ADMINISTRATION, AND CHARITIES. 
BY R. A. LEACH, CLERK TO THE ROCHDALE BOARD OF GUARDIANS 
I. Industrial and General Characteristics. 
Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, is a manufacturing town 
which is typical of many others to be found in the county and in the 
West Riding of the adjoining County of York. So long ago as 1680, 
William, Lord Byron (Baron of Rochdale, and Lord of the Manor) 
described it as "an ancient market town of great resort." Flannel, 
which was the staple trade of its inhabitants for centuries, was manu- 
factured in the town so far back as the year 1322. Notwithstanding 
its great age as a market and manufacturing town, it is said to be poor 
"in historic fact and antiquarian memento," but the fact that it was 
the birthplace and home of John Bright, that it could claim Richard 
Cobden as its member in Parliament, and that a few of its working 
men (the "Equitable Pioneers") gave the breath of life to the co-opera- 
tive stores movement, which has yielded results inestimable and far- 
reaching, is alone sufficient to make any Rochdalian proud of the place 
of his origin. 
The area of the town is 4,180 statute acres, and the population 
71,458 (Census 1891). The area of the poor law union, which covers 
the town and stretches out to the surrounding district, is 34,822 statute 
acres, and the population 123,910 (Census 1891). The annual rental 
of the town is which permits of a net valuation for local 
rates of 492. The annual rental and net valuation for rating 
purposes of the union are and respectively. At 
present the chief industries of the town are flannel, cotton, and engine 
and machine making. Among the minor industries are manufactories 
of silks, velvets, carpets and paper, dye works anckcorn milling, and, 
as may be supposed, there are several building contiactors. In the 
surrounding district, besides the industries mentioned, there is stone- 
quarrying and also coal-mining, but coal-mining is not carried on to 
any large extent. There is farming, too, though it is not of a kind 320 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
that enables us to speak of any part of the poor law union area as 
"agricultural" in the popularly accepted sense of the term. 
The population of the town and district may be truly characterized 
as a working-class population; and though there may be nooks and 
corners in and about the town and district where dirt, poverty and 
wretchedness exist, the population in the bulk for comfort of circum- 
stances will compare very favorably indeed with the population of any 
other place. The death rate in the town is, for a manufacturing town, 
comparatively low. This may to a large extent be attributed to a 
splendid water-supply and a system of sanitation which inspectors of 
the English and American Governments have acknowledged to be "un- 
surpassed." 
The working people of Rochdale are a people of sturdy indepen- 
dence and of forethought and thrift, a people who have worked up- 
wards, and who no doubt will continue to work upwards. Two years ago 
I made inquiry into the provisions which the working classes of the 
town made for old age, the days of scarcity of employment, sickness 
and death. The information then obtained was considered conclusive 
evidence of the virtues mentioned. The following information is simi- 
lar to that obtained two years ago, only it is, if anything, a little more 
ample: 
PAYMENTS TO MEMBERS DURING THE YEAR ENDED 
DECEMBER, 1892. 
Local Friendly Societies having their Registered Office or Meet- 
ing-place in the Town of Rochdale: £ s. d. 
Total Payment for Sickness 20,716 7 10 
" " Funerals 4,027 10 o 
Trades Unions or Local Branches having their Meeting-places in 
the Town: 
Total Payment for Sickness 1,297 o 11 
" " Funerals 432 6 o 
" " *Out-of-Work, &c 5,388 11 5 
Industrial Assurance Societies and Companies doing business with 
the Working People in the Town: 
Total Payments by Societies which have supplied 
information (nearly all death claims).... 19,493 19 9 
(Several large Societies have refused to state their Payments). | 
Total - 355 15 11 
*Had the year been made up from March to March, this amount would have been 
much heavier because of a dispute in the cotton trade. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
321 
Total amount 
owing to Deposi- 
tors at end of De- 
cember, 1892, in- 
cluding Share 
Capital and 
Loans. 
INVESTMENTS. 
£ s. d. 
Post-Office Savings Banks (Rochdale Town Branches) 111,200 o 9 
Yorkshire Penny Bank, Rochdale Town Branches 12,428 18 4 
Co-operative Stores, Juvenile Banks 5,726 15 1 
Children's Bank at Board Schools 445 4 8 
Co-operative Stores (members'claims) 515,932 6 o 
*Rochdale Corporation 36,730 o o 
*Limited Companies which have supplied information (4 of the 
largest Companies have stated their inability to furnish 
figures) 186,480 o o 
*Building Societies exclusive of Loans 41,831 o o 
Total 4 10 
*1890 Returns. 
The figures given have been obtained either from published accounts or from chief 
officials, and refer to working people. 
Care has been exercised to limit the information as far as possible to the town of Roch- 
dale. It may be taken, therefore, that the figures given pertain only to residents within 
the town and adjoining district. 
From the investments have been excluded such as are not the investments of indi- 
viduals, i. e. investments of stores, working men's clubs, and sick societies are excluded. 
Information of amount standing to the credit of Rochdale depositors in the ordi- 
nary banks not ascertainable. 
The local friendly societies and the various concerns in which investments are made 
are financially sound. 
Population of the town, 71,458. 
To the above information may be added another item which speaks 
for the sturdy independence and forethought of the working people 
of Rochdale. From the 7th November, 1892, to the 25th March, 
1893, a conflict between the masters and the workpeople in the cotton 
trade raged more or less throughout the cotton manufacturing centres 
of Lancashire. 
This conflict was the severest that has ever taken place in the Lanca- 
shire cotton trade, and it is said to have involved both sides in the loss 
of upwards of two million pounds. Rochdale was not so much affected 
as were some of the other cotton manufacturing districts; nevertheless 
it was very appreciably affected. An estimate carefully computed by 
the trades union officials shows that in the town and its immediate 
vicinity the workpeople employed as cotton operatives drew about 
less in wages than they would have done had the dispute not 322 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
occurred and had all the mills been working full time during the 
twenty weeks the struggle lasted. 
This loss of wages meant privation in hundreds of homes, yet during 
the half year which embraced the whole period of the dispute, the out- 
door relief granted by the Poor Law Guardians was only /419 in 
excess of the amount given in the corresponding half of the previous 
year. The increase in the number of workhouse inmates was but slight; 
while the relief given by the local Charity Organization Society was only 
os. nd. in excess of the amount given in the corresponding period 
of the preceding year. Even these small increases were not altogether 
occasioned by applicants who were cotton workers. Had it not been, 
though, for the spirit of independence amongst the operatives, and 
the helpful resources of the trades unions, which the unionist workers 
were able to draw upon as their own, immensely more poor law relief 
and charity would have been called for than was the case. The ques- 
tion may be asked, "Did the workers keep themselves from being 
recipients of parish relief and charity by being allowed to run into 
debt with tradesmen?" To such a question the answer may be made 
that Rochdale, in bad times as well as good, excels as a ready money 
trading town. 
II. The Administration of the Poor Law. 
In dealing with poor law administration it is well to remember that 
in England the boards of Poor Law Guardians, in dispensing poor law 
relief, whether indoor (workhouse) or outdoor, are subject to the orders 
and regulations issued by the central (Government) authority. As 
regards outdoor relief, there are two classes of unions, viz: (1) unions 
where the "outdoor relief prohibitory order" is in force, and (2) unions 
where the "outdoor relief regulation order" is in force. The "outdoor 
relief prohibitory order" directs by Article 1 that 
"Every able-bodied person, male or female, requiring relief (from 
the Guardians) shall be relieved wholly in the workhouse, together with 
such of the family of every such able-bodied person as may be resident 
with him or her, and may not be in employment, and together with the 
wife of every such able-bodied male person, if he be a married man, 
and if she be resident with him; save and except in the following 
cases: 
1st. "Where such person shall require relief on account of sudden 
and urgent necessity. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
323 
2nd. "Where such person shall require relief on account of any 
sickness, accident, or bodily or mental infirmity affecting such person, 
or any of his or her family. 
3rd. "Where such person shall require relief for the purpose of de- 
fraying the expenses, either wholly or in part, of the burial of any of 
his or her family. 
4th. "Where such person, being a widow, shall be in the first six 
months of her widowhood. 
5th. "Where such person shall be a widow and have a legitimate 
child or legitimate children dependent upon her, and incapable of 
earning his, her or their livelihood and have no illegitimate child born 
after the commencement of her widowhood. 
6th. "Where such person shall be confined in any gaol or place of . 
safe custody, subject always to the regulation contained in Article 4. 
7th. "Where such person shall be the wife or child of any able- 
bodied man who shall be in the service of Her Majesty as a soldier, 
sailor or marine. 
8th. "Where any able-bodied person, not being a soldier, sailor or 
marine, shall not reside within the union, but the wife, child or child- 
ren of such person shall reside within the same, the Board of Guardians 
of the union, according to their discretion, may, subject to the regu- 
lation contained in Article 4, afford relief in the workhouse to such 
wife, child or children, or may allow outdoor relief for any such child 
or children being within the age of nurture and resident with the mother 
within the union." 
Article 4, referred to, directs that: 
"Where the husband of any woman is beyond the seas, or in custody 
of the law, or in confinement in a licensed house or asylum as a lunatic 
or idiot, all relief which the Guardians shall give to his wife, or her 
child or children, shall be given to such woman fin the same manner, 
and subject to the same conditions, as if she were a widow." 
It will be seen from the foregoing extracts from the "outdoor relief 
prohibitory order" that where the order is in force the Guardians can- 
not give, save in the exceptional cases set out under Article 1, outdoor 
relief to able-bodied persons. 
The "outdoor regulation order," however, permits the Guardians of 
the unions where the order is in force to give outdoor relief to any 
resident destitute person, subject to the restrictions that the Guardians 
cannot establish an applicant for relief in trade, nor redeem from pawn 
tools, implements or other articles belonging to the applicant, nor pur- 
chase tools or implements for any applicant, nor pay the expenses of 
an applicant's conveyance to any place (unless when conveyed in 324 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OE CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
accordance with legal provisions), nor pay wholly or in part the rent 
or lodging of a pauper, save temporarily in a case of sudden necessity. 
The order lays down the further restrictions that relief shall not be 
given "to any able-bodied male person while he is employed for wages 
or other hire;" and that every able-bodied male person (save in case 
of sudden urgent necessity, sickness or death in the family, or the 
husband being in prison or absent), if relieved out of the workhouse, 
shall be set to work and kept employed by the Guardians "so long as 
he continues to receive relief." And further that one-half at least of 
the relief given shall be given "in articles of food, clothing, or in other 
articles of absolute necessity." Rochdale is one of the unions where the 
"regulation," and not the "'prohibitory order," is in force. 
As regards pauperism, the union stands better than the average of 
the Lancashire unions, and Lancashire as a county stands better than 
England and Wales as a whole. Taking the returns of pauperism for 
the ist January last year, when there was not any exceptional distress, 
the proportion of paupers to the population was in this union i in 74, 
in the county 1 in 61; and in England and Wales 1 in 41. From 
these figures pauper lunatics in county asylums are excluded, as also 
are vagrants-of whom Rochdale has more than enough, owing to 
one of the great highways of the country running straight through the 
town. 
'bhe statistics attached to this paper show the class as well as the 
number of persons relieved by the Guardians on the ist January, 1892, 
and on the ist January, 1872, there being a freedom from exceptional 
distress at both dates; and they prove that the pauperism of the union 
within the twenty years has been fairly reduced, even allowing for the 
fact that the Charity Organization Society was at work in 1892, while 
it was not in existence twenty years previously. 
In the proportion of indoor paupers to outdoor paupers, Rochdale 
does not stand as well as Lancashire as a whole, but it stands better 
than England and Wales taken as a whole. On the ist of January, 
1892, the proportion of indoor to outdoor paupers in Rochdale was 
1 to 2.38; for Lancashire the proportion was 1 to 1.58; and for Eng- 
land and Wales 1 to 2.61. As before stated, Rochdale is a union where 
the "out-relief regulation order," and not the "prohibitory order," is 
in force, and this may be accepted as a reason why there is not a higher 
proportion of indoor to outdoor paupers at Rochdale than there is. 
Still, the Guardians are making more use of their workhouse than CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
325 
formerly; and there is every reason why they should, for the workhouse 
is a modern one, and has been admirably planned. It affords accom- 
modation for about 900, and has a full and efficient staff. The infirm- 
ary is detached from the main building, and there are also detached 
buildings for the insane, for the children and for vagrants, as well as 
self-contained cottages for the aged married couples. 
There are two classes of indoor poor, viz., the sick (embracing the 
insane), and the children, as regards whom the Guardians' management 
has been greatly improved during late years. The old condition of 
things, when the sick inmates of the workhouse were left chiefly to the 
care of other pauper inmates, and the children had not sufficient special 
care, has gone, and is not likely to return. The sick and insane inmates 
of the Rochdale workhouse are now attended through the night, as well 
as through the day, by paid nurses and attendants, who have been well 
trained for their work. And as regards the children, such as are at the 
workhouse, besides being kept apart from adult pauper inmates, are 
brought as much as possible in contact with the better influences of 
life outside the workhouse walls. Up to quite recently these children 
were instructed in the workhouse, but now they go out unattended, with 
the freedom of the children of the artisan, and dressed, not in garb which 
is uniform and carries the pauper look, but as other children, to the 
public elementary schools in the neighborhood of the workhouse, and 
on Sundays to the church, or chapel, and Sunday school belonging to 
their religious denomination. 
It would, perhaps, not be amiss at this point to state that the legal 
provisions which are in force in England enable Guardians to deal with 
pauper children in a variety of ways at the expense of the rates. For 
instance, children may be maintained in workhouses or in separate 
schools, or they may be maintained and educated in voluntary schools 
certified by the central poor law authority for the reception of pauper 
children; or, if of age, they may be placed in service or apprenticed, 
and if orphans or deserted, they may be emigrated to Canada or boarded 
out with artisans, or the Guardians may allow them to be adopted by suit- 
able persons willing to do so. Some Boards of Guardians have a pref- 
erence for one way of dealing with their workhouse children, and some 
prefer another, but the wiser course is to make as free use as possible of 
all the provisions named, according to what is found to be best for the 
children individually. 326 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The following figures show that the Rochdale Guardians have of late 
years made pretty ample use of the various provisions which relate to 
pauper children. 
Placed in service since the year 1880, including children adopted, 249 
Boys sent to be trained for sea service since the year 1880 26 
Placed in voluntary certified schools since October, 1890 56 
Emigrated to Canada since 1889 13 
The children who have been adopted and placed in service have on 
the whole turned out remarkably well, and this accounts for the reluc- 
tance which the Rochdale Guardians have always felt against availing 
themselves of the "Boarding-out System,''which is the system of board- 
ing orphan and deserted children out in the homes of artisans and pay- 
ing so much per week to the foster parents for the children's mainte- 
nance and schooling. 
And here let it be said that the proper treatment of the sick poor in 
the workhouse infirmaries is a policy which must pay well. Proper 
treatment breaks down the reluctance of the sick poor to enter the 
workhouse, for they know they will be better seen after than they possi- 
bly can be at their homes, though perhaps the full and comfortable pro- 
vision made at a properly appointed workhouse infirmary lends itself to 
the danger of encouraging persons, whose circumstances do not warrant 
them in seeking parish relief, to seek admission when sick to the work- 
house infirmary for the benefit of the treatment found there; but that 
danger may always be carefully guarded against by vigilant relieving 
officers. It is equally true that it must in the long run pay well to deal 
with pauper children in a thoughtful and generous manner, in a manner 
which not only does not begrudge the children a future free from the 
taint of pauperism, but which goes a long way towards making such a 
future for them. The pauper children of to-day will a few years hence 
be grown men and women. To help them to become free men and 
women is to ensure a permanent reduction in the pauper roll and an 
increase in the number of honest toilers and worthy citizens; but to 
neglect them means continual accession to the ranks of adult paupers 
and an increase in the number of the idle and the dissolute, who make 
society their prey. 
Before passing on from the administration of the Rochdale Board of 
Guardians, another feature in their administration may be mentioned. 
It is that they not infrequently afford aid, where they may legally 
do so, at the expense of the poor rate, to persons who, while they are CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
327 
above the stamp of the usual applicant for parish relief, are greatly in 
need of assistance. Sometimes the aid is in finding the wherewithal to 
send some such persons to a convalescent home or hospital for special 
cases; sometimes it is by undertaking the cost of maintenance and train- 
ing of a blind child or adult, or a dumb child, or an imbecile child, 
in a special institution. Within the last few years the Guardians have 
sent io cases to institutions for training the blind at a cost of 
per case per annum; 9 cases to schools for deaf mutes at a cost of 
per case per annum; and 5 cases of imbecile children to a special insti- 
tution for educating such children, at a cost of ioj. per case per 
annum. 
III. Charities. 
There are several endowed charities in Rochdale, mostly founded dur- 
ing the last century. Roughly speaking, they cannot in the aggregate 
be worth less than They are charities which were founded 
principally for the schooling of poor children, but one of these charities, 
viz., Kenion's Charity, which is the most valuable one, having over 
invested, was founded for "placing out poor children as 
apprentices;" and another, viz. Gartside's Charity, which has a fund of 
about was founded that the annual income from the fund 
might, after the annual payment of 20 shillings for a yearly sermon at 
the parish church, be applied in buying clothing or corn for distribution 
among the poor on Christmas day. Both the Kenion's Charity and the 
Gartside's Charity are at present administered according to the directions 
of the founders, but as there is a growing disposition that these charities- 
and all such endowments-should be applied in founding exhibitions 
and scholarships at institutions for secondary and technical education, 
it is within the range of possibility that they may lose at no distant date 
their present distinctive features as charities; so it would be best here 
to leave them out of reckoning. Besides the endowed charities above 
referred to, there are in Rochdale the undermentioned recognized 
charitable societies and institutions, viz :- 
(1) The Benevolent Society, established in the year 1807, for the 
temporary relief of the poor and sick of all denominations. 
(2) The Ladies' Charity, established in the year 1817, to afford 
assistance to poor married women in childbed; and to widows whose 
husbands have died leaving them pregnant. 328 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
(3). The Rochdale Dispensary (now Infirmary and Dispensary), insti- 
tuted in the year 1831, to afford medical and surgical aid to the poor. 
(4.) The Good Samaritan Society, established in the year 1832, for 
the relief of the sick poor. 
(5) The Ashworth Chapel for the Destitute, established 1858, and 
embracing a nightly shelter for homeless females and a mission for 
teaching the blind. 
(6) The Poor Children's Aid Committee, formed in 1878, for send- 
ing poor and sickly children to the sea-side, which committee has now 
an excellent Home for Children at St. Anne's on-the-Sea. 
(7) The Charity Organization Society, established in 1879, for the 
repression of mendicancy, and for securing adequate relief for really 
necessitous and deserving cases. 
These seven recognized charitable societies and institutions depend 
for a continuance of their operations on voluntary donations and sub- 
scriptions; and though the Ladies' Charity has invested in Cor- 
poration stock, the Good Samaritan Society invested, the Benevo- 
lent Society invested, and the Charity Organization Society 
(as an emergency fund) similarly invested, yet if the voluntary sub- 
scriptions and donations ceased, the work of the societies would soon 
come to a standstill. 
The value of the aid given in food, money, and clothing by four 
of the seven charities, namely, the Benevolent Society, the Ladies' 
Charity, the Good Samaritan Society, and the Chapel for the Des- 
titute, during last year amounted to about and the cases 
dealt with would probably be between four and five hundred. In 
connection with the infirmary and dispensary, 253 in-patients and 
1871 out-patients were treated during the year, while the Poor Child- 
ren's Aid Committee sent no children for a few weeks' stay to the 
Home at St. Anne's on-the-Sea. The Charity Organization Society, 
which is the only charitable agency in Rochdale which keeps a paid 
officer for the purpose of receiving applications and investigating the 
circumstances of the applicants, received during the year 1161 appli- 
cations for assistance, of which 659 were recurrent applications. Of 
the 1161 cases, 882 received relief, the total value of the relief being 
i8j. 8//., exclusive of 195 hospital letters distributed, which were 
valued at 12J. $d. As to the remainder of the cases, 46 were recom- 
mended to other agencies or to private persons for assistance, while no 
cases were dismissed as undeserving, and the rest were refused assist- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
329 
ance as being cases which should be left to the Poor Law, or were 
rejected on other grounds. It may safely be taken that the foregoing 
figures relating to the relief given by the seven charities.-during the 
past year are fairly representative as the figures of an average year. 
The work of the Charity Organization Society, I feel, deserves more 
extended mention than is given by the summarized figures of one year, 
and having that feeling, I append hereto an interesting report with 
diagrams prepared by Mr. Aiderman J. R. Heape, J. P., Hon. Secretary 
of the Society, on the work done by the Society during the years 1880 
to 1891. 
IV. Co-operation between the Poor Law and the Charities. 
It would be untrue to state that there is a thorough and an all- 
round co-operation between the administration of the Poor Law and the 
administration of the charities in Rochdale. That there ought to be 
such a co-operation may at once be admitted. That there is not may 
be set down to want of thought. The Guardians are ready to co-operate 
with the charities, and do co-operate with the Charity Organization 
Society by appointing representatives from their Board on the Society's 
committee of management. The relieving officers of the union and 
the inquiry officer of the Society also keep well in touch about their 
cases. That there is not a thorough and an all-round co-operation, and 
co-operation with the general public as well, cannot be laid to the 
blame of the Charity Organization Society, as the following extracts 
from the constitution of the Society will show:- 
The objects of the Society shall be (1st) to investigate thoroughly the 
cases of all needy persons in the district coming before the committee, 
with a view to (tz) forwarding such cases to the poor law authorities or 
other charities (to be brought if possible into mutual co-operation), or (Z») 
relieving them through the funds at the disposal of the Society, or (?) 
referring them to private benevolence. (2nd) To repress mendicancy 
within the sphere of the Society's operations by prosecution or otherwise. 
The Society shall be under the management of a president, vice- 
presidents, treasurer, one or more honorary secretaries, and a committee 
(with power to add to their number), constituted in the following man- 
ner : one representative from each charitable agency and relief 
society working in the district; one representative from each church, 
chapel, or other place of worship in the district (not otherwise repre- 
sented); two or more representatives from the Board of Poor Law 
Guardians; and other persons able and willing to devote time to the 
work. The Mayor of Rochdale shall be ex-officio president of the 330 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
Society. All the other officers and members of the committee shall 
be annually elected. 
One or more properly accredited charity officers shall be appointed 
by the committee, who shall be responsible for the investigation of all 
cases coming before the committee, and shall be in communication with 
the relieving officers and agents of the various charities in the borough. 
The charity office shall be open to applicants at such stated hours 
as the committee shall determine, and a charity officer shall be in 
attendance during those hours to receive applications. 
Tickets bearing the address of the charity office shall be supplied 
gratuitously to householders in the district, and the cases of all appli- 
cants presenting themselves at the charity office shall be investigated 
and reported to the committee. 
All cases properly belonging to the Poor Law shall be at once re- 
ferred to the Guardians, and the committee shall not supplement the 
relief given by the Guardians, except under special circumstances. 
All cases that can appropriately be dealt with by any existing 
charity within the borough shall be, after due investigation, referred to 
such charity, and assistance shall only be granted by the committee in 
cases which cannot properly be dealt with by any other agency. 
Information regarding the scope and operations of the charities of 
the district shall be collected, and kept at the office for the information 
of residents, and the books of the committee shall be at all times open 
to those legitimately interested in particular cases, or in the welfare of 
the poor generally. 
A register of persons willing to dispense charity privately shall be 
kept at the office. 
In face of the foregoing extracts it is scarcely conceivable that there 
should not be perfect co-operation between the Poor Law and the chari- 
ties in Rochdale. The lack of co-operation is owing, as above sug- 
gested, to want of thought; two or three of the charities keep entirely 
to themselves and to what they consider to be nobody's business but 
their own. Thorough and all-round co-operation with the Charity 
Organization Society, however, will, I am inclined to think, be brought 
about in the near future, for the subscribers to the various charities are 
beginning to see the need of proper investigation into cases; and 
already several of the subscribers to one charity or another hand over 
to the Charity Organization Society for distribution the ''letters" 
which entitle them as subscribers to recommend cases to the charities 
to which they subscribe. With advantage to all concerned the Benevo- 
lent Society and the Good Samaritan Society might at once be merged CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
331 
into the Charity Organization Society, and I do not see why one or 
two of the other charitable agencies should not be so merged. 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
In concluding this paper, I would point out that if the population of any 
town or district was mainly a population of thriftless persons who cared 
not how or by what means they were sustained in the flesh, so long as 
they were left in the enjoyment of indolence and the vices which indo- 
lence is so fruitful of, there would be an ever present need for the appli- 
cation of the best corrective measures and influences. If corrective 
measures and influences were not brought to bear upon such a popula- 
tion, the condition of things would ultimately become too frightful to 
describe. Admitting this, it would be consummate folly to allow that 
there is not an ever present need for the application of the best cor- 
rective measures and influences where the population is mainly a popu- 
lation possessing great virtues. In the opening part of this paper I 
have stated, and given facts in support of the statement, that the work- 
ing people of Rochdale "are a people of sturdy independence, and of 
forethought and thrift-a people who have worked upwards, and who 
no doubt will continue to work upwards." But although this state- 
ment with the facts adduced will bear the strictest investigation, there 
is need at Rochdale, as there is everywhere, for the application of the 
best corrective measures and influences, for wherever you go is found 
a lowest stratum of society, and if it be not wisely seen to, there can 
never be any guarantee that one of two things may not happen, namely, 
the quiet undermining of the virtues of the higher by the lower, or an 
upheaval of the lower to the disturbance and hurt of the whole com- 
monwealth. In England, so long as the Poor Law remains, the wise 
administration of that law is bound to prove one of the most correc- 
tive measures and influences that can be ; and if it be not wisely admin- 
istered, there is no measure or influence of a corrective nature which 
is not neutralized. The provision which the Poor Law compels for the 
relief of destitution is practically a tax upon thrift. If the provision 
be loosely dealt with, not only is an injustice done to the thrifty, but 
demoralization sets in, which cuts two ways, the thrifty, except such as 
have great moral strength, becoming demoralized down to thriftless- 
ness, and the always thriftless becoming more deeply steeped in vice, 
The poor law administration in Rochdale has not been held up in this 
paper as a paragon, but it is easy to conceive that if the administration 332 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
were a loose one, no such figures as have been given showing the provi- 
sion made by the working classes against sickness, non-employment, 
and old age could be obtained, for there would not be the same incen- 
tive to make that provision. 
To a wise administration of the Poor Law I would add organized and 
discriminating charity as one of the most corrective influences that can 
be brought to bear where the lowest stratum of society exists. Disor- 
ganized and indiscriminate charity is as baneful as would be lax poor 
law administration. Such charity should be called by some other name, 
for it is not worthy of the name of charity. It is called " charity," it is 
true, and it is said "charity never faileth." Disorganized and indis- 
criminate charity unquestionably never faileth to afford indulgences for 
the idle and the vicious, which in the interest of their present and future 
welfare should be determinedly withheld from them. Should it be 
asked, "Is there a need for charity at all where there is a State pro- 
vision for the destitute and afflicted?", the answer, so far as relates to 
England, is that the limitations to the Poor Law, as indicated in the 
"outdoor relief prohibitory order " and the "outdoor relief regula- 
tion order"-limitations which could not be prudently removed-and 
the disabilities which poor law relief carries with it to the adult recipi- 
ent, create the need for charity. In spite of their forethought and 
thrift, people are sometimes pushed down under the surface, submerged 
by sheer misfortune. It is for charity to bring them up again; and 
when charity, with its hand of strength and kindliness, lays hold of 
them, then in the sense that is highest and noblest it "never faileth." 
But the " charity" that so never faileth must be organized, discrimi- 
native, co-operative, and investigative. It is a mistake to think that 
charity is not charity if it investigates. The wounded will gladly bare 
themselves to the physician; it is the impostor who covers up and when 
questioned shrinks away. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
333 
ist January, 1872 
1st January, 1892 
Increase .... 
Decrease ... 
DATE.- 
4» 
INDOOR. 
: : • : 
„ Males. 
Mar'ied 
Coupl's 
Adults. 
Number of the several Classes of Paupers in the Workhouse. 
2 2 2 2 
M Females. 
0 W N 
w Other Males. 
: 0 -u +» 
Other Females. 
Z 2 to to 
Illegitimate Children. 
Children un- 
der 16 of able- 
bodied adults 
: cm 
o, Other Children. 
• • CM CM 
M Males. 
Mar'ied 
Coupl's 
Adults. 
Not Able-bodied. 
• M C/3 tO 
oo Females. 
M M O 
o Other Males. 
Qx 00 
Ox w -4 
5 Other Females. 
m2 to 
„ Illegitimate 
" Children. 
Of Parents not 
able-bodied, 
being inmates. 
, Children under 16. 
Ox • 00 4- 
g Other Children. 
• QO C\ to 
• Oo to \o 
Orphans or other chil- 
£ dren relieved without 
Parents. 
: cm cm 
. Ln xo 4* 
X Males. 
Lunatics, I 
Person 
and Idic 
Ox 1 xO Ln 
£ Females. 
2 2 to to 
5, Children under 16. 
0 
O 
K> Hl 
: Cn 00 
• Ox Cn xo 
Males. 
1 Adults. 
.Summary of the pre- 
ceding Columns. 
• m o> 
• O 00 
Females. 
• to 00 Cn 
• 'O to Qo 
Children under 16. 
• " -P CM 
: 0 xo xo 
-L -L O 
Total. 
ROCHDALE UNION. 
Statement of the Numbers of the several Classes of Paupers Relieved in Workhouse 
(EXCLUSIVE OF VAGRANTS) ON THE UNDERMENTIONED DATES. 334 
in 
r-t- 
c/> 
ft 
Decrease. ... 
Increase 
January, 1892 
January, 1872 
DATE. 
H 
Adult Males (married or»single) re- 
lieved in cases of sudden and urgent 
necessity. 
KJ 
KJ 
KJ 
u 
Adult Males (married or single) re- 
lieved in case of their own sickness, 
accident or infirmity. 
-I 
M 
00 
Adult Males relieved on account of 
w sickness, accident, or infirmity of any 
of the family, or of a funeral. 
► 
co 
Ln 
00 
04 
Adult Males (married or single) re- 
lieved on account of want of work, 
or other similar causes. 
LE-BO 
O' 
04 
0 
Cn 
Wife. 
Families of Adult Males 
DIED, OR 
w 
0 
•-I 
Ch 
Children 
under 16. 
in columns i, 2, 3 and 4, 
resident with the Father. 
04 
00 
0 
M Widows. 
pi 
04 
KJ 
1-1 
KJ 
00 
Children 
Widows. 
under 16 dependent 
on 
Tl 
> 
2 
04 
•-l 
o Single Women without Children. 
00 
KJ 
0 
Mothers. 
Illegitimate Children 
O 
o 
O' 
h-t 
H 
Children. 
and their Mothers. 
> 
co 
Ln 
W 
Wives. 
Families relieved on 
account of Parent being 
in Gaol, etc. 
le-Bodi 
00 
. - 
KJ 
KJ 
O 
w 
Children. 
Wives. 
Families of Soldiers, 
w 
p 
I 
-< 
KJ 
U1 
Children. 
lieved. 
KJ 
04 
O 
Ch 
KJ 
O' 
Wives. 
Resident Families 
of 
Ch 
KJ 
z 
KJ 
04 
4 
Children. 
other non-resident males 
relieved. 
O' 
o 
: 
M 
KJ 
O 
00 
Males. 
2; 
0 
Oj 
04 
00 
00 
KJ 
'O 
Females. 
> 
co 
PI 
O' 
O' 
M 
0 
to 
0 
Children 
Parents. 
under 16 relieved with 
Bodied 
KJ 
KJ 
Ch 
Ln 
M 
to 
Orphans or other Children under 16 
relieved without their Parents. 
C-H 
00 
Ch 
KJ 
Ch 
HM 
Males. 
h: 
w 
00 
KO 
KJ 
-< 
Females. 
r 
g 
2 
C 
O 
V) 
a 
2 
M 
CzJ 
439 
KO 
KJ 
Children. 
M 
1- 
<> 
Total. 
c 
2 
2! 
«> 
0 
*3 
ROCHDALE UNION. 
Statement of the Numbers of the several Classes of Outdoor Paupers 
(exclusive of Lunatics in Asylums and those residing with relatives) relieved on the undermentioned dates. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
335 
rf 
CZ2 
r* 
Decrease ... 
Increase .... 
July, 1892.... 
July, 1872.... 
DATE. 
H 
Males. 
gE 
to 
Females. 
■'ied 
pl's 
> 
0 
c 
2 
to 
r-t 
to 
w Other Males. 
c/5 
imb( 
vO 
Ch 
0 
Other Females. 
0 
• 
to 
to 
Ml 
Illegitimate Children. 
c-g-o 
» 5,2 
3* 
CD 
72 
Go 
Ck 
Other Children. 
ren un- 
of able- 
d adults 
everal 
-< M • 
>4 
Males. 
Mar 
Cou 
p 
72 
M 
HI 
00 
Females. 
■ *0 
' -2 CD 
1 72 
> 
O 
CD 
72 
-L 
1-! 
GO 
0 
Ch 
0 
Other Males. 
c 
of Pauper 
z 
0 
Ch 
*o 
Ch 
0 
Other Females. 
% 
0 
r-t- 
0 
• 
to 
to 
Illegitimate 
Children. 
Of Pa 
able- 
being 
Able-bc 
s in the 
0 
Ch 
Ch 
to 
Other Children. 
rents not 
bodied, 
inmates. 
CD 
3 
3 
3 
r 
cd' 
r* 
Workhouse. 
to 
Os 
to 
04 
w 
Orphans or other chil- 
dren relieved without 
Parents. 
ph 
1-1 
04 
Go 
to 
* 
Males. 
Lunatics, 1 
Person 
and Idi< 
Ch 
04 
Ui 
Females. 
to 
to 
O\ 
Children under 16. 
£ w 3 
72 CO 
P 
3 
CD 
Os 
00 
b> 
0 
Ch 
00 
Males. 
> 
0 
Sum 
ce 
to 
00 
0 
to 
00 
Females. 
- 
C/2 
imary 
ding 
o 
00 
00 
Children under 16. 
3 
3 
0 
Ch 
o 
474 
Ga 
H4 
Total. 
CD 
ROCHDALE UNION. 
Statement of the Numbers of the several Classes of Paupers Relieved in Workhouse 
(EXCLUSIVE OF VAGRANTS) ON THE UNDERMENTIONED DATES. 336 
tn 
O ? 'g 
1st July, 1872 .... 
DATE. 
w f 
2 ? 
2 p 
> 0 
52 f 
pl 
y, 1892. ... 
* 
Adult Males (married or single) re- 
lieved in cases of sudden and urgent 
necessity. 
•H « 
O 
w 
w 
Adult Males (married or single) re- 
lieved in case of their own sickness, 
accident or infirmity. 
Cm 
CM 
Adult Males relieved on account of 
sickness, accident, or infirmity of any 
of the family, or of a funeral. 
> 
35 
M t-i • 
Z cx> oa Z 
Adult Males (married or single) re- 
4. lieved on account of want of work, 
or other similar causes. 
le-Bo 
|x • 
to 
Oo 
-5 
01 
Wife. 
Families of Adult Males 
0 
H 
*o : 
to 
SO 
w 
Ch 
Children 
under 16. 
in columns 1, 2, 3 and 4, 
resident with the Father. 
0 
W 
Oa : 
to 
Gn 
00 
O 
M Widows. 
S 
"o 
00 
to 
0 
0 
00 
Children 
W idows. 
under 16 dependent 
on 
> 
oo Z 
CM 
to 
M 
o Single Women without Children. 
to Z 
Cm 
Gn 
0 
Mothers. 
Illegitimate Children 
0 
z z 
Os 
Os 
- 
Children. 
and their Mothers. 
> 
w 
to Z 
t-l 
CM 
to 
Wives. 
Families relieved on 
account of Parent being 
in Gaol, etc. 
PI 
c* : 
O 
M 
Children. 
0 
Q 
* *4-. 
* 
Wives. 
Families of Soldiers, 
pi 
p 
to 
Os 
Cn 
Children. 
lieved. 
M • 
Cm 
'o 
3\ 
Wives. 
Resident Families 
of 
to • 
Os 
00 
00 
HI 
Children. 
other non-resident males 
relieved. 
CM • 
Os 
M 
to 
M 
00 
00 
Males. 
0 
\o 
00 
CM 
SO 
SO 
5 
Females. 
> 
2 
pj 
»-< z 
O 
to 
HI 
n 
0 
Children 
Parents. 
under 16 relieved with 
■Bodied 
IH 
Oo 
"os 
to 
Orphans or other Children under 16 
relieved without their Parents. 
cm 
Os 
SO 
to 
to 
to 
Males. 
5 
X 
PI 
o> 
Ln 
to 
O 
694 
Females. 
C 
P" 
J 
3 
% 
s 
£ 
Cm 
so 
SO 
Gn 
Children. 
C 
C 
0 
> 
w 
Cm ; 
Cm 
O 
SO 
•-1 
O 
Total. 
c 
3 
T 
ROCHDALE UNION. 
Statement of the Numbers of the several Classes of Outdoor Paupers 
(exclusive of Lunatics in Asylums and those residing with relatives) relieved on the undermentioned dates. ROCHDALE UNION. 
Total number of Indoor and Outdoor Paupers (exclusive of Lunatics and Vagrants) on the dates mentioned 
below, together with the Population of the Union. 
Indoor 
1872, 
1st January. 
1892, 
1st January. 
1872, 
1st July. 
1892, 
1st July. 
Population of the Union. 
39° 
1594 
494 
1177 
314 
1470 
474 
1097 
Census 1871. 
Census 1891. 
Outdoor 
109,829 
123,910 
Proportion of Indoor to 
Outdoor Paupers 
1984 
1671 
1784 
1571 
1 to 4-08 
1 in 55 
I to 2-38 
I in 74 
i to 4-68 
i in 61 
I to 2-31 
i in 79 
Proportion of Total Number 
of Paupers to Population.. 
337 338 
international congress of charities and correction. 
Mr. Alderman Heape's Report on the work done by the 
Rochdale C. O. S. during years 1880-1891. 
The Rochdale Charity Organization Society has now completed twelve years 
of work, and in addition to the usual statement recording what has been done dur- 
ing the past twelve months it is proposed to analyze briefly the reports of each 
year from the commencement of the Society. 
Taking a broad view, it may be said that there has been a most striking con- 
tinuity in the procedure of the weekly meetings of the managing committee, and 
the lines upon which it was at the first decided to conduct the Society have proved 
to be thoroughly satisfactory, yet there have been developments in certain direc- 
tions and modifications in others, which experience has dictated, and which it is 
worth while noting. 
The annual volume issued by the London Charity Organization Society, con- 
taining the reports of all the affiliated societies in the kingdom, shows their num- 
ber to be steadily increasing, and it is curious to observe the very different lines 
upon which they are conducted; it is hoped that a statement of the various modi- 
fications which have proved to be desirable in the course of twelve years' work 
in a manufacturing town may not be without interest as a contribution to that 
volume. 
On pages 342 and 343 below are a number of diagrams in which each curve shows 
the progress of some particular phase of the society's work for twelve consecu- 
tive years. 
Curve number 1 gives the number of applications that have been dealt with 
by the committee. The first year these reached a total of 996; the Society was 
then of course a novelty, and following close upon the exhaustion of a relief fund 
that had existed for eight months, it was to be expected that large numbers of the 
indigent, and especially of those who flock to any centre where public relief is 
being dispensed, would apply to the new society to see what could be got out 
of it. Thorough investigation proved that nearly half the .applicants, per 
cent., were unsuited for pecuniary help, and the effect of their disappointment is 
seen in the diminished numbers of the next two years, when the applicants were 
only 752 and 456. After three years the Society's aims became better understood, 
and there was a gradual increase in the number of cases, until in the year 1886 
the applications reached 1,016. This was due to the fact that during the winter 
of 1885 a good deal of distress existed in the North of England ;in several manu- 
facturing towns special relief funds were organized. Here such a course was not 
thought necessary, the existing organizations and private charity being capable of 
dealing with the emergency. In the two following years trade became better, 
and the cases fell from 1,016 to 839. In the succeeding year there was some 
amount of short time in the cotton trade, which had its effect upon the number of 
cases, but in the report for that year the increase is stated to be due more to the fact 
of the Society's becoming better known both by the deserving poor, who found their 
way directly to the office in increasing numbers, and by householders making freer 
use of the Society's tickets. This statement holds good as a partial explanation CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
339 
of the rapidly ascending curve of the last two years, but another factor must be 
taken into account which has largely affected the result. In the year 1883 a new 
departure was commenced in collecting special subscriptions for a particular case, 
which it was not considered desirable should be constantly assisted from the funds 
of the Society. From that time the number of these cases has steadily, and of 
late rapidly, increased, as is shown in curve number 8. During the last year there 
have been 320 grants to nine of these cases, and this of course swells the total of 
the number of applications. This branch of work did not exist during the first 
four years, but it seems likely to be one that will be permanent, as it has certainly 
been proved to be useful and important. The cases for which these weekly pen- 
sions are organized are generally those of invalids incurably and hopelessly ill, 
or in some instances, old people who receive a small sum weekly from the Guar- 
dians. These could not be constantly helped from the funds of the Society, but 
where the friends of the recipients are wishful to supplement their little income 
the agent collects the subscriptions and hands forward each week the stipulated 
sum. Altogether has been collected and disbursed in this way. 
These pension cases also affect curves 2 and 3, which show the number of cases 
that come each year for the first time, and those that come more than once. The 
curves are tolerably synchronous, the percentage of recurrent cases being about 
one-half the first applications until the year 1886 is reached; then for two years 
they are practically identical, but the curves cross, and now the recurrent cases 
largely exceed the first applications, a result of course mainly due to the pension 
cases. 
The curves No. 4 and No 9, w.hich must be looked at together, are of con- 
siderable interest. No. 4 shows the number of cases dismissed each year as 'not 
requiring relief,' 'ineligible,' 'undeserving,' or 'vagrants.' This curve follows 
roughly in its main lines that (No. 1) giving the total applications, but it can be 
seen at a glance that it recedes farther away from the main line each year. The 
full significance of this is shown by line number 9, which gives the percentage 
that these cases bear to the whole number each year, and here it is seen, with one 
very trifling exception, to be a steadily diminishing proportion each year, the 
extreme figures being 41.5 per cent, in 188c and 13.7 in 1891. This is a very 
striking proof of the discrimination of the professional loafer and vagabond. He 
has learnt that it is no use pouring forth his most heart-rending tale into the ears 
of the agent at 32 Water street, unless it is founded upon fact, for his words are 
merely taken for what they are worth, and thorough inquiry is sure to be made as 
to their truth. There is no doubt that knowledge of this fundamental rule of the 
society is now pretty widespread in the town. 
Some of those who solicit charity from door to door refuse to accept the 
enquiry tickets for various alleged reasons, and of those who accept them only a 
proportion present them at the office. It would be a matter of interest could it be 
ascertained what proportion of the tickets accepted are never used. Household- 
ers are again urged to refer each case of which they have not full personal know- 
ledge to the office for enquiry. The necessary information is acquired in a sym- 
pathetic, and not in any inquisitorial manner. Those who need and deserve 
helping do not resent investigation, and each year's work but further proves its 
necessity. 
Curve No. 5 tabulates the amount of employment that has been given each 
year at the workyard of the society. For the first two years, as might be expected, 340 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARJTIES AND CORRECTION. 
good use was made of it as the best way to assist men out of work, and as a test 
of the willingness of applicants to do something for themselves. For the next 
three years the figures are but small, an increase takes place in 1885, and in 1886 
there is a sudden rise to 162; this is due to the fact before referred to, that in the 
latter part of 1885 (the period covered by the report of 1886) there was a scarcity 
of employment in the town, and aid being given to men out of work, much use was 
made of the yard. From that time the curve comes rapidly down to lower figures. 
It may, in fact, be considered as being, as far as it goes, an indicator of the general 
state of employment afforded by the various industries of the town, for when relief 
is given to a family in which there is an able-bodied man, some portion of the 
help is almost invariably given in the form of work for which the man is paid. 
The next curve, No. 6, illustrates a phase of work that has increased in im- 
portance each year, 1886 being considered as exceptional, and shows how experi- 
ence gradually determines the most useful channels in which aid can be given. 
The curve indicates the number of instances in which help has enabled applicants 
to receive the benefits of the Southport Convalescent Home, the Rochdale Infir- 
mary, and other institutions. This number has gradually increased from one case 
in the first year to 123 in the current year. The wonderful advantage that it is to 
convalescents to have the benefit of three weeks' residence at the Home at South- 
port is most strikingly proved each year. The complete freedom from home cares 
and surroundings, and the change of air and diet, generally result in the patients 
returning fit to resume work. That the committee are able to deal with so many 
of these cases is due to the liberal help afforded by the governors of the Cotton 
Districts Convalescent Fund in Manchester; to suitable cases they grant a remis- 
sion of a portion of the usual charge, and the committee would again express to 
them their thanks. The greatest number assisted are those who have received 
recommendatory letters to the Rochdale Infirmary. Subscribers have sent their 
letters to the office for the use of the Society, and the committee are able to ensure 
their reaching suitable recipients. The cases sent'to various institutions during 
the year are as follows : Rochdale Infirmary, 69 ; Convalescent Hospital, South- 
port, 40; Devonshire Hospital, Buxton, 6; Ladies'Charity, 4 ; Manchester Royal 
Infirmary, 1 ; Rochdale Children's Home at St. Anne's, 1 ; Hospital for Consump- 
tion, Bowdon, 1 ; Dr. Hodgson for eye examination, 1. 
Curve No. 7 show's how' much the work of the society has increased in grant- 
ing aid in cash and food tickets. The curve commences at the figure 270, goes as 
low' as 188 in the year 1882, and terminates in the figure 736 for the past year. 
When it is remembered that each of these 736 cases has been thoroughly investi- 
gated, and found to be needing monetary help, it is evident that a great deal of 
the temporary poverty of the towm receives timely and efficient help through the 
medium of the society. It is not wirh chronic pauperism that it is sought to deal, 
but principally with those who have stumbled in the way, who require a friendly 
hand to lift them up and to steady them on their feet until they are again able to 
w'alk alone. The very large increase in this year's w'ork is, therefore, rather indi- 
cative of much more help being given in this way through the genuine cases reach- 
ing the society, than of greater poverty in the town. 
The average amount of relief (exclusive of hospital letters and clothing) 
given weekly to each case assisted is 5J. o%d. against 5J. last year. 
Fewer loans have been made during the past twelve months than the average 
of previous years. From the commencement of the Society /'100 19J. has been CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
341 
lent, in sums varying from a few shillings to to 42 borrowers. Of this amount 
j£73 ij. 9<Z. has been repaid, £6 os. icd. has been written off, and i6r. $d. is 
still owing. This the committee regards on the whole as very satisfactory. To 
some of the borrowers the loans have been of great use, and they have been 
repaid with commendable regularity; but it is a form of help that is liable to 
abuse, requires great care and discrimination in its exercise, and frequently a per- 
sistent pressure to ensure repayment that it is not pleasant to exert. 
Such then is a brief resume of the work of the Society, which has commended 
itself to the judgment of a committee most widely representative, and of which 
the members are frequently changing ; it is clear that the work falls into no nar- 
row groove or stereotyped method ; that course alone is taken which experience 
shows to be the best, and the committee again with confidence commend the 
Society to public approval and support. Diagrams 
rLLUSTRATING IS YSARS WORK OF THE 
■ftOCHDALE CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY. 
1. 
2. . 
tus. 
3. 
cawc*r. 
JL) ccj 
, 
m^c^zOe)t 
ar r-aJi^ts. a. 
I iy 
O'. 
Letters £>r jPc'spv&zZs 
7. 
Assutc^1 &_)' 
yfr-ast&s /ooc£> 
8. 
ccls-gj'. 
c/" 
I rL4)-& 
reJpc^', 
i?r cxj? 344 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
HELPING THE POOR IN ABERDEEN. 
BY GEORGE MILNE, SECRETARY TO THE ABERDEEN ASSOCIATION FOR 
IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE POOR. 
Aberdeen is a city of 125,000 inhabitants, situated on the east coast 
of Scotland about 135 miles north north-east of Edinburgh. It may be 
reckoned the capital of the North of Scotland, and is the seaport of a 
large agricultural district. 
Unlike many of the large towns in England, or Dundee in Scotland, 
it has no single industry that overshadows every other; and being far 
removed from the coal and iron mining districts it is less liable to those 
industrial disturbances that paralyze these trades and plunge vast 
multitudes of workers into sudden idleness with its attendant evils. 
Of manufactures Aberdeen has a little of many, including flax, jute, 
cotton, wool, combs, paper; and among the other industries of the 
place are the iron, granite monument, fishing and preserved provision 
works. The town has within the last thirty years been to a consider- 
able extent rebuilt and greatly enlarged, a circumstance which accounts 
for the steadiness that has usually prevailed in the various branches of 
the building trade. 
These conditions render Aberdeen a place of comparatively steady 
social circumstances, never suffering from the excitement of a boom nor 
from the depression of a general collapse. One other characteristic may 
be mentioned, namely, the comparative absence of the wealthy and 
leisured class, and of the most wretchedly poor, who are so frequently 
to be met with in our large cities. It is thus favorably conditioned for 
giving a fair trial to the principles of charity organization. 
Prior to the year 1845 the-relief of the poor throughout Scotland was 
committed to the Kirk Sessions of the parish churches, and the necessaiq 
income was derived from a voluntary assessment, though as far back as 
1576 a statutory assessment could have been enforced, had the circum- 
stances of any parish required it. 
THE POOR LAW IN SCOTLAND. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
345 
In the year 1843, however, the formation of the Free Church resulted 
from the disruption of the Church of Scotland, and in nearly every par- 
ish in the country a sharp ecclesiastical division took place which mate- 
rially affected the relations of the people to the parish Kirk Sessions. 
In 1845 a special act of Parliament was passed placing the care of 
the poor in the hands of parochial boards, with powers of assessment 
for their relief, and that act continues in operation to the present day. 
The legal objects of relief are:- 
1. Persons who are disabled by sickness or accident, who are not 
dependents of able-bodied parents. 
2. Women (although able-bodied) having two or more dependent 
children, or one child under one year old. 
3. Persons above seventy years of age. 
4. Orphans. 
5. Lunatics and Imbeciles. 
No able-bodied men, nor able-bodied women without dependent 
children, are legal objects of parochial relief. 
The City of Aberdeen now includes the parish of St. Nicholas, the 
greater part of the parish of old Machar and parts of the parishes of 
Banchory-Devenick and Nigg. The population of the city was in 1851, 
71,973; 1871, 88,125; 1891, 124,943; and at the same periods the 
number of paupers was in 1851, 2,082; 1871, 1,991; 1891, 1,519. 
In addition to this legal provision for relief of the poor, Aberdeen 
possesses many private charities, medical, educational, and alimentary, 
which are managed by boards of directors in terms of the deeds by 
which they have been severally constituted. 
THE ASSOCIATION FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE POOR. 
It was felt that there was room for an organization that would bring 
help to the struggling classes, not only by the distribution of money or 
goods, but by personal intercourse. 
Accordingly, in 1870, the "Association for Improving the Condition 
of the Poor" was established, with the following objects:- 
1. To obtain accurate information respecting the condition and cir- 
cumstances of the poor in the city of Aberdeen and neighborhood. 
2. To prevent the poor from sinking into a helpless condition of 
poverty, and to endeavor to recover such as have sunk. 
3. To discover, and as far as possible remove, the temptations and 
hindrances in the way of an improvement in the condition of the poor. 346 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
4. To encourage and foster, in every available way, the efforts of 
the poor to form temperate, frugal, industrious, provident, and cleanly 
habits. 
5. To discourage mendicity, and the indiscriminate distribution of 
charity, whether by individuals or societies, and to give such informa- 
tion as may enable these to administer their charity to deserving and 
suitable objects;- 
6. To encourage and promote co-operation amongst all the charita- 
ble institutions in the neighborhood, so as to secure better classification of 
objects, prevent unnecessary overlapping, atid thereby secure economy 
in the distribution of their charitable funds. 
For carrying out these objects, the city was divided into fourteen sections, 
and these again into sub-sections and allotments, such as could be over- 
taken by individual visitors, without involving anyone in a burdensome 
amount of labor. The section committees are composed of leading 
citizens, many of whom also share in the work of visitation. The whole 
visiting staff, who are all volunteers, numbers about 200. 
With a large body of volunteers there is usually some difficulty in 
keeping them all up to the standard of sound principle in the discharge 
of duties requiring so much tact, judgment and human sympathy, and 
to help towards this end the following instructions were issued to visitors 
sometime ago: - 
1. -Only cases of temporary necessity are contemplated for relief 
from the funds of the Association. 
2. -Every case should be carefully considered at the outset. If it be evi- 
dent that the case will require ultimately to be taken up by the parochial 
board, it should be handed over to that body at once. If, however, 
there seems a strong probability of it again becoming self-supporting, 
although somewhat protracted, it may nevertheless be persevered with by 
the Association. 
3. -Cases of acute illness should have the advantages of treatment 
in the Royal Infirmary pressed on their attention. The chances of a 
speedy and complete recovery will thereby be increased, and the house- 
hold relieved so far of the patient's maintenance. 
4-Other existing local charities should be utilized for the benefit 
of cases, the resources of the Association being made available where 
others fail or are insufficient. 
5. -Information about the local charities will be supplied by the 
secretary. 
6. -Cases in which exceptional treatment seems desirable will be 
considered on their merits by the section committees. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
347 
When relief is granted out of the funds of the Association, it is 
usually in the form of provisions, clothing, &c., rather than in money, 
and in periodic allowances at short intervals of a week generally. 
If a personal opinion were permitted in this connection, it would be of 
a critical kind, the result of twenty-one years' experience and observa- 
tion of the influence of charity on its recipients. 
The conviction is forced upon us, that charity, under its most favor- 
able conditions, "creates much of the misery it seeks to relieve, but 
does not relieve all the misery it creates." 
The touch of charity should be as momentary as possible, and hence 
it is our belief that more good and less harm would be done if, in- 
stead of attempting to mitigate many cases of distress, we were 
to set ourselves resolutely to cure the curable. By the adoption of 
such a policy the work of our voluntary charities would tell more 
effectively than they do, even if the number of cases were greatly 
diminished. 
ABLE-BODIED OUT OF WORK. 
It will be observed that the Poor Law of Scotland does not recognize 
able-bodied persons as entitled to legal charity, even when they find it 
impossible to obtain work. And this necessarily affects the policy of such 
associations in Scotland, in a direction in which the English charity or- 
ganization societies have no experience. 
In Aberdeen we had to meet this difficulty at a very early period of 
the Association's history. Applicants were numerous who pleaded 
utter destitution from want of work, and the parochial boards could 
render them no assistance. A labor test, therefore, became necessary to 
protect the Association from imposition. The kind of labor provided 
could not be of such a description as required skill. Any one who could 
use his hands at all must be able to accomplish the task if he be willing 
to do so. Timber chopping for men and knitting for women were in- 
troduced and have answered the purpose of helping the willing, and of 
getting rid of the mere loafer. 
ORGANIZATION. 
When this Association was established there were already in exist- 
ence, many institutions for relieving the different necessities of the poor, 
each acting largely in ignorance of what the others were doing. 348 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
Early in its career this Association set to work in the direction of 
charity organization and co-operation, and in the report which was 
prepared on the subject at the time (1874,) the following statement 
appeared, viz: 
"In the subjoined statement of the amount annually expended in 
Aberdeen by the various public charities, which, through the kindness 
of those connected with them, the committee are enabled to present, 
there is a sufficient argument for the necessity of such co-operation as 
would enable each one to know what the other is doing, and thereby 
to check unnecessary overlapping and imposition." 
Persons. 
Amount 
Expended. 
Totals. 
i. Poor Rates (for both Parishes), 
2,368 
Z25>438 
Less-For stranger poor resid- 
ing in the above Parishes, 
the amount of which is re- 
paid 
4,245 
- 
Z2iH93 
Cases. 
2. Voluntary Alimentary Funds* 
I,8lO 
Z3,6i3 
Medical Charities 
13,200 
7,345 
Congregational Fundsf... .say, 
1,000 
1,800 
Miscellaneous 
5,000 
2,152 
Exemptions (complete or par- 
tial) from Poor Rates 
8,028 
i,943 
16,853 
Inmates. 
3. Hospitals (Educational) 
1,500 
- 
i5,39o 
Totals 
32,906 
Z53,436 
* Including the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. 
f "Exclusive of the amount contributed by the congregations of the six city 
churches, which is otherwise accounted for." 
"As stated in the above table, about (including 
repaid for stranger poor'', consists of poor rates. From to 
is revenue derived either from invested capital or from Gov- 
ernment grants for industrial schools; while from to 
is raised by voluntary subscriptions. But the facts to be considered are, CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
349 
that on the books of the institutions included in the above table, which, 
although very diverse in their character, still come within the category 
of charitable and benevolent institutions, there are about 33,000 names, 
and that the annual expenditure is upwards of 
The approaches then made to the various, bodies for information to 
facilitate the preparation of the foregoing statement, have been followed 
by a gratifying amount of co-operation between this Association and the 
municipal and parochial authorities, as well as most of the more pri- 
vate charities. 
The co-operation takes various forms. In some cases, the chairman 
of our Association has been made an ex-officio member of the board or 
committee of management; in others, the secretary is invested with the 
powers of an administrator, giving assistance in the investigation and 
disposal of applications, while his recommendation of cases is uniformly 
accepted, and in every case the representations of the Association 
receive the most sympathetic and respectful consideration. 
MENDICITY. 
In the repression of mendicity the Association has sought to instruct 
the benevolent in sound principles of almsgiving, but still the tide of 
beggars flows on and will continue to flow so long as begging 
meets with the success which it does. The evil can be cured only by 
making it less profitable to beg than to work. 
INTEMPERANCE. 
In the work of the Association during the twenty-three years of its 
existence the evils of intemperance have forced themselves into promi- 
nence as chief of the hindrances to the prevention, mitigation, and cure 
of poverty. If poverty sometimes leads to intemperance, intemperance 
much more frequently leads to poverty. Better social conditions may do 
something to lessen intemperance, but the fact that there are many 
whose social condition is known to have been no safeguard leads to the 
conviction that not in one direction, but in many, must we look for the 
improvement of the condition of the poor, which we desire and are 
striving to bring about. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
350 
THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY IN AN ENGLISH RURAL 
UNION. 
BY H. G. WILLINK, CHAIRMAN OF THE BRADFIELD BOARD OF GUARDIANS, 
' BERKSHIRE. 
Charity can scarcely be "organized" in the country in the same 
way as in a town. There is not the same need. People's circumstances 
are better known, and the amount of real distress is not so great. More- 
over, persons who accept " charity organization principles" are rarer, 
and distance would, in any case hinder joint work. "Overlapping " is 
probably one of the greatest evils, and no country committee could 
really stop that. As a matter of fact, the writer is not aware of any 
really rural union in which charity organization, as understood in 
towns, has been successfully attempted. 
Nor is this very much to be regretted if the term "charity" is rightly 
comprehended by individuals. The letters s. d. do not spell "charity," 
and there is perhaps no kind of help more capable of being really help- 
ful than that which country neighbors can give. A sensible broad 
minded rector or farmer, thoroughly in touch with rich and poor, can 
do as much as any committee. 
The administration of the Poor Law in rural unions stands, however 
on a different basis. Officially centralized, in official contact with every 
parish, endowed with large discretionary authority, a Board of Guar- 
dians has almost unlimited powers of good and evil. Too often it is an 
obstacle to the growth among the poor of those very habits which 
charity organizationists most desire to foster. It can set an example 
of indiscriminate dole-giving, and promote indolence, improvidence, 
envy, deceit, dependence and selfishness. It can, by inadequate, unsui- 
table "relief" leave starvation unalleviated while stimulating greed. It 
can demoralize him that gives as well as him that takes. It can tempt 
the rich to evade their proper responsibilities, and can introduce log roll- 
ing into the dispensation of other people's money. It can in short do 
everything which the founders of the Poor Law intended that it should 
not do. 
On the other hand, a board can do an almost infinite amount of good. 
And the object of this paper is to give some account of an English CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
351 
rural union in which has been accomplished during the last twenty years 
a piece of poor law administration that may fairly be regarded as hav- 
ing been essentially in harmony with charity organization principles, no 
less by bracing up the spirit of self-reliance than by tending to strengthen 
those ties of kinship and neighborly feeling between man and man, 
which are the very bonds of true charity. 
Would that he who was mainly instrumental in the work, Mr. Bland- 
Garland, late chairman of the Board, were still alive to describe it. 
The Bradfield Union comprises 62,650 acres, situated five-sixths in 
Berkshire and one-sixth in Oxfordshire, to the west of Reading, having 
a total rateable value in 1892 of The population, which in 
1871 was 15,853, had in 1891 risen to 18,017, in spite of the transfer in 
1889 to the Reading Union of a portion containing about 1600 inhab- 
itants. There is not any large town, and the villages are mostly small 
and scattered, there being in 1891 only one parish (which has two vil- 
lages) with a population exceeding 3000; all the other 28 parishes have 
less than 1500, and only 5 of them more than 1000. 
The occupation of the laboring classes is chiefly agricultural, except 
as regards such trades as brewing, brickmaking, building, forestry, corn 
mills, shop keeping, &c. In some parishes there is a considerable num- 
ber of resident well to do landowners, while in others there are large 
extents of moor and rough ground occupied in places by small farmers 
and by cottagers descended from squatters. On the high lands the sub- 
soil is chalk, or gravel on London clay, the lower ground being prin- 
cipally clay or, in the valleys, river gravel. 
It is impossible to state shortly the rates of farm wages with any ex- 
actitude, but they may be taken to range at present from 155-. a week 
for the better kinds of laborers to ioj. for the lower kinds. Women 
earn 6s. as a rule at field work; charwomen of course get more. As 
regards men, however, these rates do not usually include the very com- 
mon additional advantage of a cottage rent free, or at a low rental, 
generally with garden, nor the considerable earnings receivable at 
certain seasons in respect of harvesting, haymaking and piece work, 
ranging from 14s. to 255. nor the "Michaelmas money" of or 
according to the class.* On the whole it may be said that a man 
* The old custom of yearly hiring, wages being paid throughout, rain or fine, 
sick or well, has been largely superseded by written agreements providing inter 
alia that wages shall cease to be payable during disability caused by sickness or 
accident. Michaelmas money is not paid to laborers who are earning extra money 
at harvesting, haymaking or piecework. 352 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
in regular employment at a nominal 12J. a week really gets something 
more like 17J. a week on a year's average, without taking into account 
the produce of gardens and cheap allotments, the latter being rented 
usually at from ijjz/. to 3//. per pole, including rates, tithe. &c. In 
many households, of course, the boy's earnings form a substantial addi- 
tion to the family income. 
Other wages run, roughly speaking, as follows, viz., building trade 
from 36J. to i8y. 6d.; brick kilns from 255. to i8j. ; breweries from 25j. 
to with 3 pints of beer per day; corn mills from 24J. to i8j. and 
often a cottage rent free; railway laborers about 185-. Another large 
field of labor is afforded by the wood lands, the weekly earnings averag- 
ing about to 165., with the advantage of being earned at seasons 
when other work is scarce.* 
Cottage rents vary as much as do wages, the highest rented cottages 
being by no means necessarily the best, for, as usual, the small land- 
lords and small farmers can generally least afford to be liberal. From 
3s. 6d. to ij. 6d. or even lower, is probably a fair statement of the 
extremes; ij. 6d. is an average rent for a cottage and garden on 
the larger estates. As above stated, there are some cases where squat- 
ter coftages exist. These are either held at low rentals, or are prac- 
tically freehold. They are, for the most part, wretched little one-story, 
ill built tenements, often sadly overcrowded and sometimes falling into 
decay. The people, however, are attached to them, and indeed in 
many instances prefer them to the better-constructed dwellings erected 
by good landlords, which are probably as good as the same class of 
habitation all over England. 
The character of the district having thus been stated in general terms, 
the reader will be better able to appreciate the following account of the 
poor law administration. 
On 1st January, 1871, there were in receipt of poor relief 999 out- 
and 259 indoor paupers, (exclusive of lunatics in asylums and 
vagrants), a total of 1258, or one in thirteen (7.7 per cent.) of the then 
population. The total poor law expenditure for the year was 
and the poor rate stood at 24^d. in the pound, entailing a cost of 13J. 
2d. per head of the population. 
On 1st January, 1893, the corresponding figures were as follows, viz., 
outdoor paupers 22, indoor 99, total 121, or 1 in 148 (0.67 per cent.), 
* In Appendix A will be found a more detailed statement of the wages in the 
various trades. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
353 
expenditure during the preceding year poor rate 3%/Z., cost 
per head of population 2s. 
These figures (the scope of which is perhaps more clearly seen from 
the diagram in Appendix C) do not, remarkable as they are, suffice of 
themselves to show that the change of system has been successful in the 
true sense of the word. If they signified that there had merely been a 
blind withholding of needful relief, and that in 1892 the poor were 
actually worse off by than in 1870, they would point rather to 
failure than to success. If, again, it could be shown that the had 
been distributed in alms instead of in poor law relief, the outcome 
would appear to have been little more than a displacement of burden 
from public responsible shoulders to those of private individuals; though 
there would be something to be said even for this result, since charita- 
ble gifts are less pauperizing than poor law relief, inasmuch as they 
do not create a feeling of claim as of right. 
But if the reduction of relief has been gradually made, and no appli- 
cations have been refused without careful investigation ; if, as is generally 
admitted, the present condition of the poor is no worse, but decidedly 
better than under the old system, and bears comparison with the con- 
dition of the poor in other similar districts ; if while there may have 
been some increase of individual voluntary aid, such increase includes 
increased assistance from non-chargeable relatives, and from other per- 
sons (such as employers), upon whom there are only moral claims; if, as 
is certain, there has been a marked growth of friendly societies, doctor's 
clubs, savings bank accounts, and other signs of thrift, then it cannot be 
denied that the poor law figures do represent a real advance, and that they 
testify to the success of a work which by raising the poor to a position 
of greater independence is in accordance with the principles of true 
charity organization. 
It is sometimes objected that the work would have been impossible 
but for the general prosperity of the country and greater cheapness of 
living. This may possibly be quite true; at any rate the general im- 
provement of circumstances has been a factor which must not be for- 
gotten. f But this only shows, if it shows anything, that other unions 
* For statistics as to neighboring unions, see Appendix B. 
t Agricultural wages seem to have risen but little, if at all. Labor in other 
trades is better paid. The prices of most necessaries have fallen, e. g. the 
4 lb. loaf cost yd. in 1873, 'n h cost On the other hand, the 
standard of living is higher than it used to be. 354 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
could have done the same, not that Bradfield has been wrong or has 
not done anything. 
Unfortunately there is some difficulty in getting exact statistics as to 
absence of hardship. The case must rest upon the statements of per- 
sons living in the district, and their opinions will vary according as 
they approve or disapprove of outdoor relief. There always will be 
people who would like to have out-relief if they could get it, as well as 
people who would like to be saved the trouble and the direct expense of 
taking an active part in trying to help their kinsfolk and neighbors. 
And there are still some people who honestly think that public relief is 
in itself better than private charity. Moreover there is, no doubt, as 
there has always been and always will be, a certain amount of real 
poverty in the union. So long as men, especially young men, spend 
all they get, so long as people marry before they can afford it, so long 
as there are bad workmen, and so long as drink maintains its attrac- 
tions, there must be poverty. Consequences will follow causes. But 
poverty is not more likely to come when men realize that they 
can themselves provide against it;* and that if they do not do so 
they cannot reckon upon others saving them from the results. It is 
a significant fact that the late chairman's successor was elected upon 
the express understanding that the policy of the board should be 
continued, and no suggestion has since been made that that policy 
should be changed. 
The present condition of the union may be judged in various ways. 
To take as a sample one parish, the population of which was 1327 in 
1891, there were on 1st January, 1893, in the workhouse 12 persons 
belonging to the parish (5 being above 65 years of age, and 3 being 
children), and on the out-relief list 4, all these latter being survivals 
from the old times. It is not possible to give detailed statistics of any 
firm value as to the numbers and condition of the rest of the poorer 
classes, or the causes of their poverty. But of those persons ("widows, 
widowers or old married people) who are unable to support them- 
selves, there are, beside those known to be receiving more or less 
substantial help in charity, many who are practically supported by 
their own relations. There are several endowed charities, viz., one of 
about a year applicable to the apprenticing of boys to some 
useful trade; one of about ioy. applicable in donations for special 
* See Appendix E. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
355 
cases; two others of about each, distributed once a year in doles 
among 10 poor men and 10 poor women; and lastly, almshouses 
capable of accommodating 3 old women. 
There are a clothing club, a boot and shoe club, and a coal club. 
A medical club has long been in existence, the members of which, num- 
bering over 100, are by a yearly payment of 55. for adults and 2s. for 
children entitled to attendance free. A parish nurse is just completing 
her first year, and there has not been one instance in which difficulty 
has been made as to payment of her small fees, though, of course, the 
expenses are chiefly met by private subscriptions. An Oddfellows 
Lodge, of many years standing, now has about 145 members; it is 
entirely self-managed without the aid of the gentry, except that one 
acts as treasurer, and has more than invested in sound securi- 
ties. A schools penny bank has about 150 subscribers, with a total 
balance of about deposits, in the Post Office. Interest at i/Z. on 
each complete pound per month is allowed. The number of private 
savings bank accounts cannot be stated, but the writer knows of several. 
There are three voluntary schools, two of which are supported to some 
extent by a voluntary rate, the third being endowed. There are two 
village and one junior, cricket clubs. There is a Horticultural Society, 
at whose annual show the cottagers and allotment holders compete in 
large numbers. Allotments in three or four different places are to be 
had at from id. to 2*7. per pole according to situation. A working- 
men's club, self-managed, is in a prosperous condition. It is not 
teetotal, but for a long time there has been no complaint. Lastly, at a 
recent sale of cottage property, chiefly of the squatter class before men- 
tioned, no less than fourteen were purchased by cottagers, money being 
borrowed for the purpose in (it is believed) only four cases. 
If it is said that this may be an exceptional parish, as being the one 
in which the late chairman of the board lived for twenty years, the writer 
can only say he does not believe it is exceptional, at any rate as re- 
gards the general condition of the people, though the smaller parishes 
can probably not show quite so good a roll of special advantages.* In 
other parishes there are similar signs of a healthy independence. For 
instance, a group of three small contiguous parishes, numbering together 
only 1100, has possessed for very many years a benefit society which 
* In Appendix D will be found some tabulated information as to other parishes 
in the union. 356 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
has, with a present membership of 103, no less than 30 invested, 
and has recently been pronounced by a competent actuary to be on 
so sound a basis that part of the fund may be applied towards pro- 
vision for old age. In some parts of the union the Oddfellows, in others 
the Foresters, in others the Hearts of Oak, in others the Berkshire 
Friendly Society predominate; but there can be few, if any, in which 
thrift is not apparent in some form. Even the public house clubs, bad 
as they are (and they are giving way to better), point to a habit of liv- 
ing within income. Not that thrift implies every virtue ; but its ab- 
sence makes the practice of others very difficult among the poor. 
The real danger, perhaps, lies in the direction of an exuberance of 
private alms-giving with the accompanying evil of mendicity, or at all 
events expectation of alms. The parishes where there are fewest rich 
residents are not always those which furnish the largest number of pau- 
pers in proportion to their population. There is in some places a 
tendency among benevolent people to relieve the merely "poor" from 
the duty of providing the necessaries of life. It is quite right that 
individual cases of real distress should be liberally helped, with care 
and discrimination. Nor-can it be wrong for the rich to assist the 
poor to obtain certain advantages which, while not strictly necessaries, 
are nevertheless of real benefit to them and would otherwise be beyond 
their reach. For instance, a trained nurse cannot possibly be main- 
tained solely out of the fees which poor country people can afford to 
pay. Yet so long as they do pay something her services may wisely 
be secured, not only for the sake of the comfort which they bring, but 
because of the teaching which insensibly accompanies them. Again, 
a well managed horticultural society can do so much to encourage 
proper gardening and husbandry, that money spent in supporting it 
cannot do anything but good. On the other hand, funds raised to 
enable whole classes of poor to purchase at less than cost-price articles 
(such as coals, clothing, or food), which would otherwise have to be 
bought in the usual way, are open to the objections against benevo- 
lent trading. And the same is true, in its degree, of the practice of 
subsidizing interest on savings. The most that can be said for these 
things is that they are less harmful in proportion to the amount contri- 
buted by the recipients, and that in so far as they induce self-denial by 
extracting periodical deposits, or as they bring rich and poor together 
in the transaction of necessary business, they do have a good effect. 
But these merits are not peculiar to these forms of action ; and it must CHARILY ORGANIZATION. 
357 
not be forgotten that there is difficulty in confining the dispensation of 
these funds within proper limits ; so that there is always a tendency to 
admit to participation in them individuals who ought to be able to 
do without them. It is in the direction of a wise ordering of these- 
kinds of assistance that the influence of those who aim at promoting the 
well-being of the poor in rural districts maybe applied. The object of 
charity is to relieve not the giver but the receiver, and so to relieve as 
to remove the causes of distress and not to perpetuate them. 
But to return to the Bradfield Union. Another test of the working 
of its system may be applied by analyzing the indoor pauperism. 
Of the 99 indoor paupers on rst January, 1893, 59 were mjile and 
40 female; 33 were children under 16, and 36 were old people over 65, 
28 of whom were males and 8 females. Of the children 2 were orphans 
having lost both parents, 3 deserted by both or the only surviving 
parent, and 8 illegitimate. Of the total number of inmates 17 were 
in the infirmary on the doctor's book and 8 others were imbecile. 
There were 10 classed as able-bodied, 9 women, 1 man. This man, 
aged 44, who has since gone out, is of the casual class and unmarried ; 
his father and uncle were then in the workhouse. Of the 9 women, 5 
had illegitimate children, 3 were weak-minded or subject to fits, and the 
husband of 1 was in gaol. 
Again, these inmates may be regarded in the light of families, not 
individuals. Viewed in this way, the indoor pauperism reduces itself 
to 74, and even these 74 families were to some extent inter-related, and 
in several cases are of pauper descent or connection. It is hard to 
believe that any poor law administration could produce better results 
on a total population of over 18,000. 
To sum up, unless it can be shown («) that the poorer classes are 
worse off in Bradfield than elsewhere, or (£) that if not, private charity 
has reached an excessive pitch and is a worse form of assistance than 
outdoor relief, there can be no doubt that the board have proved them- 
selves true guardians of the poor. 
As to the latter point, those who hold charity organization princi 
pies, and consider that reliance upon State or rate funds is fatal to 
independence, will agree that private charity must indeed be badly and 
lavishly bestowed if it can do as much harm as out-relief; while as to 
the former point, this paper will have failed in its object if it has not 
convinced the reader that the laborer's position in the Bradfield Union 358 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
is not below the average standard of comfort in that part of England * 
from youth to age, and that in the absence of great social or commer- 
cial disturbances everything points to a progressive amelioration of the 
present satisfactory conditions. 
* Before this paper is printed will be published the Bluebooks containing 
the Report of the Assistant Commissioner upon the condition of the agricul- 
tural laborer. Bradfield was not among the unions selected for investigation, 
but the adjoining union of Basingstoke and the union of Wantage were visited, 
and the Reports will no doubt be full of information. They can be obtained from 
King & Son, King Street, Westminster. There are about 12 series, each costing 
from 1 to 2 shillings. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
359 
APPENDIX A. 
Agricultural: Per Week. 
Carters, 13/ to 15/ -|- cottage + harvest and extras, 
equivalent altogether to about 17/ to 20/ 
Under carters, 9/ to 13/ -|- harvest and extras, equiva- 
lent altogether to about 12/ to 15/ 
Stockmen, (young men generally) 12/to 14/ -|- cot- 
tage -]- harvest and extras, equivalent to about 17/to 19/ 
Mill men and machine men 16/ to 22/ 
Farm laborers, first class, 15/ -|- harvest and extras, 
(sometimes cottage) 16/to 18/ 
Field hands, 12/ to 13/ -j- harvest and extras 14/ to 16/ 
Rickbuilders and Thatchers16/ to 17/ 
Current Wages in Bradfield Union, 1893. 
Building: 
Bricklayers, per hour, equivalent say to 32/ 
Stone masons, 8 " " " 36/8 
Plasterers, 8 " " " 36/8 
Carpenters, 7 " " " 32/ 
Plumbers, " " " 34/3 
Painters, " " " 29/9 
Plumbers' mates, 4JZ " " << 20/6 
Laborers, 4 " " " 18/4 
Per Week. 
Chiefly 
Summer 
Work. 
Brewing: 
Tun men, 
Enginemen, 
Coopers, 
Head Maltsters, 
from 20/ to 25/ per week 
Ordinary laborers, 
e. g., Cleaners, 
Draymen, &c. 
also 3 pints per day 
- from 15/ to 18/ 
Cornmills: 
Foremen, 30/ cottage, equivalent (say) to32/6 per week. 
Purifiermen, Rollermen, 24/ 4- cottage, equivalent 
(say) to26/ 11 
Carters, 20/-J-cottage22/ " 
Sack carriers and general millers18/ " 
Brick Kilnsfrom 18/ to 25/ 
Note.- During the last 20 years wages have not varied much as regards 
agricultural labor. 
In the brewing and cornmilling trades they have risen 10 per cent. 360 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
APPENDIX B. 
Percentage of Indoor and Outdoor Poor (excluding vagrants) on the 
population of twelve Berkshire Unions. 
Union. 
Population 
1891. 
Percentage of In- 
door poor on the 
Population. 
Percentage of Out- 
door poor on the 
Population. 
Abingdon 
19,612 
O.8o 
l-73 
Bradfield 
l8,OI 7 
O.6l 
Cookham 
20,468 
0.86 
2.91 
Easthampstead 
I3-7I7 
0.78 
2-03 
Faringdon 
13-544 
0.80 
2.37 
Hungerford 
17-017 
0-63 
3.22 
Newbury 
21,677 
0.90 
i-97 
Reading 
60,054 
0-85 
0.28 
Wallingford 
14-706 
1.or 
0.66 
Wantage 
16,544 
o-57 
2.80 
Windsor 
35-649 
o-75 
i-*3 
Wokingham 
17-347 
0.72 
2.01 
Total 
268,352 
o-79 
i-5° CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
361 
APPENDIX C. 362 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
APPENDIX D . 
Four Parishes in the Bradfield Union. 
Par- 
ish. 
Area 
in 
Acres 
Popu- 
lation. 
1891 
Paupers 
1 Jan., 1893. 
In- Out- 
door.' door. 
Other 
poor 
dependent 
on rela- 
tives or 
friends or 
charity. 
Endowed 
Charities. 
Clothing, 
coal and 
similar 
Clubs. 
Doctors 
clubs. 
Parish 
Nurse. 
A 
4237 
1327 
12 
4 
i. a year for ap- 
prenticing lads. 
ii. ,£3 10J. spec'l cases 
iii. /i2 annual dole. 
iv. annual dole. 
v. Almshouses for 3. 
Clothing club. 
Boot and shoe club. 
Coal club. 
(All subsidized 
slightly.) 
One. 
5.?. per 
head per 
annum 
for adult 
2J. for 
children. 
Member- 
ship 
over 100. 
One. 
Paid 
out of 
(a) fees 
(b) sub- 
scrip- 
tions. 
B 
1175 
277 
I 
0 
4 
of whom 
2 are cer- 
tainly sup- 
ported 
entirely by 
relatives. 
i. Annual dole bread 
and clothes. 
ii. " " " coal 
iii. " " " " 
iv. /io a year for the 
school. 
Clothing 
club. 
One. 
Much 
same 
as 
above. 
No. 
C 
The district really 
forms part of a larger 
parish, though it is for 
most purposes distinct, 
and there are no sepa- 
rate returns * 
38 (over 65) 
of whom 
15 are cer- 
tainly en- 
tirely sup- 
ported by 
relatives. 
i. Rent of 
parish 
land 
applied in 
coals. 
ii. Alms- 
houses for 
3- 
Clothing 
club. 
Coal club. 
"Relief 
club." 
One. 
No. 
D 
989 
159 
1 
0 
2 (widows); 
one is 
supported 
entirely by 
relatives. 
a. /12 a yr. 
School and 
Poor. 
b. /I lOj. 
Calico. 
Clothing 
Club. 
8 members 
Subsi- 
dized. 
One. 
6<Z. per 
quarter. 
No. 
♦The returns for this large parish are as follows: Area 4848, Pop. 3154, Paupers, Indoor 
27, Outdoor I. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
363 
APPENDIX D.-Continued. 
Friendly 
Society. 
Penny 
Bank. 
Schools. 
0 
.gO 
U 
Horticult. 
Society. 
Work- 
ing- 
men's 
Club 
Allot- 
ments. 
Remarks. 
Oddfellows. 
Membership 
145. 
Invested 
Funds over 
£900. 
Berks 
Friendly. 
Membership 
8. 
In all 
schools. 
Member- 
ship about 
150. 
Balance 
in hand 
over £80. 
Three 
all 
volun- 
tary. 
Total 
chil- 
dren 
on 
books 
about 
300. 
Three 
and a 
Junior. 
Yes, 
very 
well 
sup- 
ported. 
Yes. 
Non- 
tee- 
total, 
self 
man- 
aged. 
Yes, 
In 3 or 
4 
places, 
from 
\d. to 
-2d. per 
pole. 
« 
Occupation 
chiefly agri- 
cultural and 
forestry. A 
straggling 
parish, 3 or 4 
good sized, 
and 6 or 7 
smaller, 
gentlemen's 
houses, I large 
flour mill. 
Cottage rents 
from 15. to 35. 
(>d. A good 
many small 
freeholders. 
A joint 
Society com- 
mon to three 
small 
Parishes. 
Membership 
(all 3 
Parishes) 
103. 
Invested 
Funds over 
£1200. 
Started in 
Dec. 1891. 
Member- 
ship about 
40. 
One. 
Volun- 
tary. 
Chil- 
dren 
on 
books 
about 
60. 
One. 
No. 
No. 
None. 
Occupation 
chiefly agri- 
cultural. 
One good 
sized 
brewery. 
No freehold 
cottages. 
No squatters. 
Only one 
large house 
& the rectory 
Foresters. 
Membership 
200. Invested 
funds about 
£600. 
Oddfellows. 
G. W. Rail- 
way Benevo- 
lent Society. 
Juvenile For- 
esters and 
other clubs. 
Yes. 
Doing 
well. 
One 
senior, 
one 
junior 
and a 
foot- 
ball 
club. 
No. 
Yes. 
Non- 
tee- 
total. 
Yes. 
at 3<Z 
per 
pole, 
but not 
all 
taken. 
Five good 
farms, brick 
kilns, mar- 
ket gardens. 
Many men 
work in 
Reading, or 
on the rail- 
way or river. 
Cottage 
rents from 
15. 6 to 75. 6. 
District Benefit 
'Society. 
21 Parishioner 
members. 
Total No. of 
members 
about 250. 
Total funds 
£1000. 
No. 
Voluntary, 
30 on 
books. 
No. 
In neigh- 
boring 
parish, a 
few 
parishi- 
oners 
exhibit. 
__ 
No. 
About 
5 acres 
at \d. 
per 
pole. 
Occupation 
agricultural. 
Two farmers. 
Three freehold 
cottagers. 
No squatters. 
No gentry be- 
sides the far- 
mers and the 
parson. Cot- 
tage rents 
from 15. to 15. 
Sd. a week. 364 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
APPENDIX E. 
Table showing means available for providing against sickness and old 
age, (the figures being only selected specimens from a number 
of various tables.) 
Oddfellows: 
A young man joining at the age of 18 may by weekly payments 
of 6%d. secure a sick allowance of 12/ per week for the first 6 
months of sickness and 6/ per week afterwards, with on 
death, and f6 on death of his wife. 
Berkshire Friendly Society: 
Such a man may by payments of id. per month during his life 
secure a sick allowance of 4/ per week at any time during his life. 
I'or 1/ per month he will be entitled to 6/ per week in sickness up 
to 70 and a pension of 3/ per week after that age. 
Private Saving: 
A lad beginning to save at 17 may by putting away weekly 
sums increasing gradually from 3d. to 1/6 find himself at 25 in 
possession of without including interim interest receivable. 
By saving sums rising similarly from 6d. to 2/6, he would have 
accumulated exclusive of interest, by the same age. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
365 
CHARITY ORGANIZATION IN RELATION TO VOLUNTARY 
EFFORT. 
BY THE REV. BROOKE LAMBERT, M. A., B. C. L., VICAR OF GREENWICH, 
LONDON. 
A cynic has told us that when the virtues met in a better sphere, 
Charity asked to be introduced to Gratitude ; they had never, they 
said, met before. The cynic is wrong, as cynics generally are. He 
has mistaken so-called Good Nature for Charity, and as for Gratitude, 
which he tells us elsewhere in the History of Human Weakness is the 
expectation of future favors, he has not seen her. Yet I should like 
to make his parable true by saying that Charity and Commonsense were 
strangers till they met at 15 Buckingham Street.* 
In saying this I am by no means claiming for the Charity Organiza- 
tion Society any more than I claim for any other good movement. The 
genesis of all movements which are destined to prevail is the same. First, 
there is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and some few go out 
to hear him. But he dies the martyr's death. Then his big message is 
caught up by minor prophets, till by degrees the conscience of mankind 
i§ awakened. Then there comes a movement which gives voice to half 
formed, half expressed notions. Such has been the story of charity or- 
ganization. It is the result of many prophets' work. It has succeeded 
at last in introducing Commonsense to Charity. Charity so-called had 
long sought to better mankind, but Charity such as we know is human, 
and therefore fallible. She needed to learn of Him who visited a pool 
at Bethesda and saw a multitude of sick folk, and healed only one. 
Commonsense met her and explained this apparently eccentric exercise 
of mercy, showed her that poverty like disease had many causes, and 
that it was mere waste of power to help those who would afterwards fall 
back into the same condition. Commonsense made her understand 
that there was a "worse thing"even than thirty-eight years suffering, that 
character was more precious than comfort, that self-restraint was cheaply 
purchased at the cost of suffering. For commonsense is educated judg- 
* Office of Charity Organization Society, London. 366 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
ment, and is not to be mistaken for that empirical instinct which often 
breeds nonsense. 
I learn that in other papers which are to be presented to this Con- 
gress it will have been laid down that there is a sphere for voluntary 
effort. I presume that it will have been shown that there is a sphere in 
which it can profitably work, that there are cases which must be left to 
legal treatment, which if equitable is stern. To use the parallel of 
medicine, some cases must be treated in hospitals and asylums. 
I learn, too, that it will have been asserted that there is a special 
sphere and scope for the work of the churches. I hope it will have 
been emphatically asserted that when the churches take up a case 
they must treat it thoroughly and fully. Again using the parallel of 
medicine, they must see that the patients have food as well as physic, 
and must not because the case is burdensome provide the one, and leave 
the other to haphazard. 
I learn, further, that it has been laid down that there is a sphere for 
individual munificence. I suppose a distinction will have been drawn 
between organization and relief. Organized charity is not selfishly eager 
to treat the case for the satisfaction of being credited with the cure. 
Again using medicine to guide us, the patient will be sent to that doctor, 
that climate, that "cure," where the case can be best treated. I am 
asked to wind up the discussion with some words on the mutual relation 
of these agencies. I write in the dark, not having seen the other papers. 
Some remarks on the subject of charity organization will, I hope, illus- 
trate the subject. 
Whatever may have been said : i. It is the purpose of charity organi- 
zation by calling in the aid of all society agencies to quicken individual 
sympathy. 1 he charity ot the multitude, that which the cynic miscalls 
charity, may be expressed in the words "Send her away for she crieth 
after us. Poverty is so unpleasant, let us'get rid of it. A gift of 
money will stop the cry, a gift of clothes will cover the rags. The 
Charity Organization Society says to those who call themselves bene- 
factors, to the individual givers, you must throw yourself like a doctor 
into the case, determined to cure, not simply to palliate the suffering. 
I his .s iuither the message it gives to voluntary societies. Only that 
society can be said to be doing the work it ought to do in which the 
care ot the individual is not lost in the thought of the association. The 
society must beware of routine and treat each case individually. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
367 
2. This will be the message of charity organization to the churches. 
The great object of charity organization is to produce better conditions 
of life. When the doctor has to treat a case he does not nowadays at- 
tempt only to alleviate symptoms, he tries to restore the system. Diet 
does as much as drugs. You, it says to the churches, have been thinking 
of one remedy mainly, and in your effort to make people take that 
remedy you have often increased the disease. Without self-respect the 
sufferer can never recover. In your effort to make men take the nos- 
trum on which you rely, you have mixed up charity and religion in a 
way which has destroyed self-respect. When you fully realize that your 
agency is only one among many, when you have ceased to regard your 
proselytes as worthy of more attention than any others, then you will 
have learnt that true charity regards the need and not the creed. Then 
perhaps you will understand why He, whom you profess to follow, was 
so constantly pointing out that Samaritans and heathen were not so 
completely outside the pale as your representatives in these days 
affirm. You will learn the difference between faith and a creed. 
3. The Charity Organization Society holds up to the individual donor 
the two truths which it has tried to enforce on volunteers and on churches: 
individual contact; the bettering of the general conditions. It will 
show him that this agency offers the munificent donor a way of coming 
into contact with those who need his help, new to him. If he listens to 
the tale of the man who knocks at his door, or makes the postman his 
ambassador, he will find himself often deceived. If he will spare an 
hour a week to go down to the Society's office and read through the 
case papers, he will find abundant occasion for munificence. His 
charity account will be like his private account. There will be big and 
little sums in it. He will not always be spending. He will often find 
it well to reserve himself for a big occasion. He will find there is a 
spring and an autumn, a time for spending, a time for saving. Generally 
the result of his experience will be that, whereas before he gave ten 
pounds or shillings to ten cases, and found these cases to be recurring 
decimals, he will now give _£io to one case, and find that by the gift he 
will have put the person out of need of distress. He will understand 
the incident at the pool of Bethesda, and see that perfect charity must 
leave certain cases untouched. Meanwhile he will have learnt what a 
millionaire may do. The meaning of poverty will have been revealed 
to him, he will of necessity become a philanthropist. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
368 
Not content as once to leave orders when he is away to draw on him 
for heavy cases, he will use his leisure and his brains to do away with the 
causes of poverty. Some of these are as remediable as those sanitary 
defects which made epidemics plagues. He will learn that legislation 
can come to the aid of sympathy. In removing the sources of evil, in 
supporting efforts to develop thrift and self-reliance, he will do much to 
diminish pauperism, if he cannot annihilate poverty. Money spent to 
help forward such projects will be as real charity in his eyes as direct 
gifts to the poor. Then, too, perchance there will be born in him the 
spirit of the old Greeks. He will feel that to undertake a 
to be the means of furnishing public recreation in providing for the 
people parks and libraries is a privilege. He will know that this ex- 
penditure of money will be more profitable than that employed in con- 
trolling syndicates, or in supporting a personal state which is food for 
penny-a-liners. He will feel that his own art treasures and pleasure 
grounds minister to a much higher purpose when he holds them in trust 
for the good of others. His own personal satisfaction will be multiplied 
just in so far as he shares with others that which once had only the value 
derived from exclusive and solitary possession. This will be the message 
of charity organization. As men listen to it they will become acquainted . 
with the sweet virtue Charity, who is always accompanied by her sister 
Gratitude, because she does not, like the Charity of the cynic's story, 
patronize, pauperize, or humiliate her clients. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
369 
FRIENDLY VISITING. 
BY MISS F. C. PRIDEAUX, WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT, BLACKFRIARS 
ROAD, LONDON. 
The organized scheme of friendly visiting which I am about to 
describe had its origin rather more than two years ago in the minds of 
Miss Octavia Hill and others, who were keenly alive to a need which 
it is intended to fill. This need is described by Miss Octavia Hill 
herself in the Nineteenth Century Magazine for August, 1891. It may 
be briefly characterized as the need for the union of two people in one, 
the ordinary district visitor and the charity organization visitor, or 
perhaps it would be more correct to say, the union in one person of 
the methods of the ordinary district visitor with the principles of the 
charity organization society visitor. These two had for the most part 
been strangers so far, and not infrequently regarded one another with 
something of the suspicion bred of ignorance. But this was not a 
necessary state of things. Miss Octavia Hill felt how much might be 
gained by the really friendly and systematic visiting of a group of 
families by one who came with no gifts in her hand and who would 
therefore be valued as a friend or not at all, visiting not only in times 
of special pressure or distress, but constantly, and so gaining some 
knowledge of the family under all circumstances. What she wished to 
see was the periodical house to house visiting and the personal know- 
ledge of a few peoples pecially committed to her charge, that is, the 
method of the ordinary district visitor, combined with those princi- 
ples on the subject of material relief and other questions which we may 
call generally "Charity Organization Society," and which the ordinary 
district visitor is in the habit of disregarding. It is impossible for the 
visitors from the charity organization committees to fill this need. 
Their time must be occupied for the most part with visiting the cases 
actually applying for help; and after the decision has been arrived at 
and the family helped or not, as the case may be, the visits in the 
nature of things will drop. Where a pension is regularly allowed, there 
will certainly be scope for a friendly weekly visit, and that the value of 370 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
this visit is recognized is shown by the fact that most committees make 
a point of the pension being taken by a visitor rather than fetched 
from the office by the pensioner; but such cases form a very small pro- 
portion of the whole, and even in them perhaps the friendliness of the 
visit is a little spoiled by its being inseparable from relief. Evidently 
then, visiting from a charity organization society's office could not meet 
the want, though close co-operation with the local charity organization 
committee was an essential element in the idea. It was clear that some 
fresh organization was wanted and this organization, as then planned 
and now practised, I will here attempt to sketch. 
The central idea being to have a body of visitors who would 
each undertake to visit regularly a certain group of families, the two 
questions which first arose were naturally how should the visitors be 
found, and whom should they visit? Miss Octavia Hill's connection 
with the Women's University Settlement in Southwark led her 
very readily to an answer to the first question. Here were already a 
few women who should be fitted and would certainly be willing to 
undertake the work, while beyond those actually living in Southwark 
was the association which supported the settlement and included many 
who would be glad to give one day weekly to something of this kind. 
And so it came about that the organization started with the settlement 
as its basis, and ever since the connection between them has been of the 
closest possible nature. In the first place the warden of the settle- 
ment naturally became the head or directress of the visitors. As all 
applications for work of whatever kind at the settlement are made to 
her in the first instance, she was thus able to select for this visiting 
work those who seemed likely to succeed best with it, and these visitors 
understood that they were responsible to her. It was impressed upon 
them that when anything seemed to need attention in the circumstances 
of the people they were visiting, this was to be reported at once at the 
settlement, special report forms being provided for the purpose. 
Among those circumstances that should be and are reported are such 
as destitution, unsanitary condition of the house, neglect of school, 
chronic illness or special physical affliction of any kind in any mem- 
ber of the family, as well as occasional events, such as temporary ill- 
ness vor accidents of any description. These reports it is the care of 
one of the resident workers at the settlement to receive and attend to 
at once. The advantage of this is obvious, as the resident worker being CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
371 
always on the spot there is no unnecessary delay, which could not be 
avoided if the visitor herself, living as she often does in quite another 
part of London, tried to do all that is required. But as far as possible, 
she is associated with the resident worker in what is done for the cases 
reported by her. Often where she has the requisite experience she is able 
to carry the whole matter through herself, and always the aim is not to 
take it out of her hands more than is necessary. When a report has 
been received it is made into a case much after the fashion, of the 
Charity Organization Society case papers, and every week at a fixed 
time the warden and the worker in charge of the cases,-secretary 
for the district visitors as she might be called-go through all the 
cases, discuss the best means of dealing with them, and record their 
suggestions as to how it should be done on the case paper. The visitor 
at her next weekly visit comes to the settlement to see what this sugges- 
tion has been and acts upon it, always supposing that her judgment 
coincides, as it is not at all wished that she should look upon it as an 
arbitrary decision. 
But it was felt that this system of reports would not quite suffice for 
the visitor, who might easily desire advice about some of her people 
without having any special need of theirs to report upon. It was there- 
ford arranged that each visitor should have an opportunity monthly for 
talking over her district. To this interview she brings her book in 
which are entered the names of all those whom she visits, with as 
many particulars about them as she has been able to gather, the families 
are gone through and the difficult points which are sure to arise in her 
intercourse with her people can be discussed. But a need for some- 
thing more than this even was recognized, if the work of the visitors 
was to be all that it might. Beside advice on special points, which 
could only be given separately to each, there was much knowledge of a 
general nature which would be useful to all and which could be given 
to them collectively, local knowledge as to the resources of the neigh- 
borhood in the way of education, amusement, relief in sickness, etc., 
or knowledge on such points as the working of the Poor Law, elemen- 
tary education, friendly societies and so forth. It was therefore decided 
that the best way would be to have monthly meetings at the settlement 
to which all the visitors should be invited, and at each of which a 
paper was read or an informal lecture given on one of the subjects 
mentioned above or the like. These monthly meetings were held for 372 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
more than a year and only discontinued as their place was taken by 
courses of lectures on similar subjects given at the settlement to other 
workers besides the district visitors. It had been felt for some time 
that education for philanthropic workers of every kind was becoming 
more and more important, as the complexity increased of the problems 
which, however seemingly simple their work, they must inevitably come 
across. To meet this demand to some small extent these lectures were 
started at the settlement, specially with a view to the district visitors 
and other workers in Southwark. 
So much for the organization of the visitors; now for the question 
as to whom they should visit. Possibly it may seem as if this ques- 
tion could hardly present a difficulty, considering the great numbers of 
the poor massed together in South and East London, and the com- 
paratively small number of those who have any desire to visit them. 
But it must be remembered that the parochial machinery, though inade- 
quate for the most part for want of workers, is still at work and that 
wherever the settlement district visitors began to visit it must be in 
somebody's parish, and that at least the leave of the vicar, if possible his 
co-operation, must be obtained. Fortunately for the new scheme the 
vicar of St. Paul's, Westminster Bridge Road, was ready to welcome as 
a band of helpers the visitors from the settlement. 
A certain part of his parish was apportioned off to be visited by them 
and the connection of these visitors with himself and the other clergy of 
the parish was and is still maintained by means of the parochial relief 
committee held weekly, at which the warden or the secretary to the dis- 
trict visitors is always present, and reports are exchanged. Nothing of 
moment, therefore, can happen in any district without its being reported 
to the clergy at the weekly committee, or if their help be urgently 
needed, they are communicated with by the secretary without any delay. 
There are now 15 visitors all with two or three exceptions working 
close together in this parish of St. Paul's. 
I have said that co-operation with the local charity organization 
society committee was one of the essential elements in the idea of the 
scheme. This co-operation is very closely maintained, for the secre- 
tary for the district visitors is also a member of the charity organiza- 
tion committee. She there takes special charge, as it were, of all cases 
which apply from the districts and works them entirely. The warden 
is also a member of the charity organization committee, and the fact CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
373 
that these two are on both the parochial and charity organization 
committees secures the most complete co-operation possible. It was 
hoped that not only might the charity organization committee help the 
visitors, but that occasionally at any rate the visitors might help the 
charity organization committee by being able to supply information 
about applicants living in one or other of their districts of a more 
detailed and dependable kind than could be obtained from a single visit 
or the accounts of the neighbors. But, of course, the help is chiefly on 
the other side. Whenever a case reported by a visitor at the settlement 
seems to be of such a nature as to make help by the Charity Organiza- 
tion Society desirable, it is referred to the committee, and the person in 
need is told to apply; or sometimes the intermediate step of reporting 
the case at the settlement is not necessary and the person is sent straight 
to the charity organization office. Almost all cases except those of 
temporary sickness are by the decision of the parochial committee 
referred to the Charity Organization Society, which, therefore, becomes 
the usual channel of relief. But the visitor may be and generally is the 
means by which the relief is given; as if it be the question of a loan 
granted by the committee, she would be the natural person to collect it 
at her weekly visit, and to distribute the pension or temporary relief 
which had been allowed to any of her people. 
Effort is also made to maintain co-operation with all other wise local 
agencies for the good of the people; with one especially, perhaps, it is 
well that the visitor should be in close touch, namely, the Metropolitan 
Association for Befriending Young Servants. Sometimes certainly, very 
often possibly, she will come across young girls in her district on the 
lookout for places, first places perhaps. She will feel the great import- 
ance of this first place turning out successful, but will not have the re- 
quisite time or opportunities for finding it herself. By referring the 
girl to the free registry of the Association she knows that all she would 
like to do will be done and done more efficiently by them. 
One word might here be said as to the rules for visitors to guide 
them in their work. They are of course expected to visit regularly, 
and to make note of their visit in the book of which mention has been 
made. Appended is a specimen sheet from one of these visitors' books, 
showing the sort of information that is to be obtained where possible, 
and, of course, only by degrees. Very often there may be no special 
remarks to record, but just the date and the fact of the visit having been 374 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
paid should be entered. This system of keeping a written record has- 
been found of great use both by the visitors for reference for themselves, 
and also specially when a district has had to be handed on from one vis- 
itor to another. But there is one rule, and one only, on which much 
stress is laid, and that is one which really follows from what has already 
been said about the connection with the Charity Organization Society, 
namely, that no relief of any kind be given by the visitor on her own 
responsibility alone. One great point in the whole scheme was this, that 
the visitor never being looked upon as the source from which material 
relief in the shape of tickets or money would flow, her visits might be 
valued by the people for just what they were worth in themselves; the help 
that she was to give them was to be just that which her own nature made 
it possible for her to give, and as experience has shown, this means a great 
deal from some people, if but little from others. And it need hardly 
be pointed out how much she herself gains from this rule; if she is wel- 
comed, she knows it is not for the sake of what she brings with her, and 
at any rate one obstacle to her getting to know the people as they really 
are is removed. 
Perhaps it may be thought that a good deal has been said about what 
the visitor may not or cannot do, and very little about the positive side 
of her work. It must be remembered in the first place that friendli- 
ness is to be the characteristic of these visits, and we may have a very 
friendly feeling for a person for years, and add something, however, 
inconsiderable, to their pleasure in life by this feeling, without being 
able to do them one single act of service worthy of record, much as we 
should like to. It was felt by the starters of the scheme that friendli- 
ness was a thing of growth which if it were to be worth anything would 
not spring up at a word; it would, however, be very desirable to give 
the visitor some regular excuse for calling on the people whom she was 
to try to know, some raison d' etre for her visits until such friendly rela- 
tions should be established as to make excuse unnecessary. The distri- 
bution of tickets or tracts, the traditional district visitor's resource, was 
out of the question, and the exactly opposite course was decided on, 
the district visitor should not distribute, she should collect. She should 
suggest to and make easy for the people the habit of putting by some- 
thing weekly, by taking round with her a number of stamps and post 
office forms, selling the stamps to those who would join her bank, and 
then starting them with their post office savings bank book when the CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
375 
necessary shilling had been saved. Thus she not only gained an intro- 
duction to her people, but began her acquaintance by a real, if small, 
act of service, introducing them to the great State-aided system of 
saving, and helping them in the little formalities which often seem so 
formidable to them as to deter them from belonging to the Post Office 
Savings Bank. And the acquaintance once established, opportunities 
for other acts of service are sure to come sooner or later in the course 
of the family vicissitudes. There is at the settlement a small library 
from which books can be taken by visitorsand lent to their people; there 
are often notices of evening classes, entertainments, exhibitions or the 
like, to which she can invite those for whom they are suitable; she can 
urge upon the girls to join a benefit society established in the district, 
and in many other ways can she be the link which is often all that is 
wanted to bring together the people of a neighborhood and the advan- 
tages, educational or recreative, all ready for them. 
And now to conclude, as this scheme has been in force nearly two 
years it may fairly be asked has it been a success? The answer must be 
I think that where the right person has been at work the scheme has 
been distinctly successful; everything depends here, as elsewhere, on the 
individual worker, and the difference between what some have achieved 
when compared with the results obtained by others is most marked. 
But speaking generally, I should say that so far as succeeding in getting on 
friendly terms with the people goes, the visitors as a body have been more 
successful than might have been hoped, though perhaps not as much is done 
in the way of collecting savings as was expected at first. And as among 
ourselves one friend will have far more power of helping and influencing 
for good than another, so one visitor will be able to make her friendli- 
ness much more fruitful than another, yet the mere fact that a feeling of 
friendliness exists at all must be so much to the good and is well worth 
any efforts that have been made to advance it. But not too much of 
even this must be looked for by any who might think of taking up work 
of this kind. Again what we find in our intercourse with friends and 
acquaintances of our own class will hold good here. With some we seem 
to have by nature that inexplicable sympathy which makes it possible for 
us to influence and even help them sometimes, while with others it is 
just the contrary; without any fault exactly, our two natures do not har- 
monize and we can do each other no good. So in our districts, we 
must not reasonably expect to influence all alike, perhaps with some we 376 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
may never "get on" at all. Of one thing we may be sure, that there 
will be very little to show or to talk of as the result of our work; it will 
be very indefinite, intangible, so that we ourselves may often doubt 
whether we are doing any good at all. But the "growing good of the 
world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts," and that friendliness 
and mutual interest should be awakened is surely something towards the 
"growing good," though the acts that go to bring it about are unhis- 
toric and insignificant indeed. 
Specimen Sheet From Visitor's Book. 
(RIGHT HAND PAGE) 
Name, Address, Floor, 
Christian Names. Age. j ~..9,CCUPA?I9.N OR ' Savings or 
Children's School. | Club. khaiakks. 
Only remarks of 
permanent interest to 
be entered under this 
head. 
♦ 
(left hand page) 
Date. Deposit. | Visit. Date. Deposit. | Visit. 
I 
I CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
377 
ENGLISH POOR LAW. 
BY BALDWYN FLEMING, GENERAL INSPECTOR OF LOCAL GOVERNMEN T BOARD 
FOR COUNTIES OF DORSET, SOUTHAMPTON, SURREY AND WILTS. 
The memories of sixty years ago have grown so dim that it is difficult to 
realize the terrors and the miseries which led to the introduction of the 
"New Poor Law" in 1834. Much may be learned from the most 
logical and powerful report of the Poor Law Commissioners upon 
which that act was founded; but it is necessary to dig deep into local 
records and the passing literature of the times to appreciate how com- 
pletely the comfort and convenience of the well conducted sections of 
society were at the mercy of vicious, insolent, and rapacious idlers. 
In the more quiet days which have come for us it is difficult to under- 
stand a state of affairs under which employers of labor were obliged to 
part with old and trusty servants, in order to find room for the able- 
bodied loafers allotted to them by the parish. 
It is hard to believe that if any single woman declared herself to be 
pregnant, and charged any person with being the father, it was lawful 
for any justice of the division to issue his warrant for the immediate appre- 
hension of such person, and his committal to gaol unless he gave security 
to indemnify the parish. 
Grumble as we may at the rates imposed upon us, it is difficult to 
picture to ourselves the reality of a time when they were in many places 
105. and 125., in several places over 205., and in at least one place 
over 305., in the pound. . 
It is difficult now to realize the absolute despair of employer and 
employed in the times when night after night through the southern coun- 
ties of England the sky was reddened with the flames of the burning 
food of the people, and the landowner or the farmer scarcely dared to 
lay his head upon the pillow. 
We have almost forgotten the tragedy of the special assize issued to 
deal with the rioters of Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset- 
shire, when prisoners were tried by the hundred and sentenced to death by 
the score. Public opinion revolted against the execution of such a crowd 
of victims. But although in a few cases only was the capital sentence car- 378 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION 
ried into effect, the wretched men were torn from their homes to transpor- 
tation and imprisonment, in numbers which represent so appalling a 
sum of suffering that even now it can be recalled only with shuddering 
horror. 
The problem to be solved by the Poor Law Commissioners was two- 
fold: (i) the reformation of the laboring classes who had become abso- 
lutely demoralized by the then Poor Law; (2) the salvation of the 
country from financial ruin. 
The Commissioners spared no effort to obtain every information upon 
every branch of the complications which they were set to unravel, and as 
the evidence was sifted and compared, it was found all to point in one 
direction only-that the evils which had assumed such portentous propor- 
tions were distinctly traced back to one great economical error, the unlim- 
ited grant of outdoor relief to the able-bodied. The whole tenor of the 
elaborate report of 1834 may be summed up in the foregoing sentence, 
and the cause having been made clear the remedy was equally apparent. 
Outdoor relief to the able-bodied must be abolished. This alone would 
not, however, complete the reform that was imperative for the restoration 
of order and prosperity. It was essential that all able-bodied destitu- 
tion should be tested, and that, in one form or another, the test should 
be work in return for the relief afforded. 
The Poor Law Acts and Orders do not prohibit out-relief to the sick, 
the widow, the orphan, or the aged and infirm, but only to the able-bod- 
ied; and even for that class there are many exceptions and modifications 
to meet emergencies and prevent hardship. The great principle of the 
English Poor Law as it now exists is that outdoor relief shall not be 
given to those who are able to work, and that all who are able to work 
and receive relief, whether under ordinary circumstances in the work- 
house, or in exceptional cases out of the workhouse, shall have their 
destitution put to the proof by the enforcement of a labor test. In work- 
ing out this principle another great object has been kept in view-that 
the position of the pauper should be less eligible than that of the inde- 
pendent laborer. 
A comparison between the England of to-day and the England of sixty 
years ago will show at once how sound were the conclusions arrived at 
by the Poor Law Commissioners in 1834, and how large a measure of 
gratitude is due to them from their descendants. In one sense the 
present position of pauperism is undoubtedly disappointing. The pre- 
vailing sentiment which underlies the "New Poor Law" is the abolition CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
379 
of outdoor relief, and although the law has been more than fifty years 
in operation out-relief continues to be granted to a large, and in some 
parts to an enormous extent. 
It was apparently the hope and the intention of those who framed the 
Act of 1834, that the withdrawal of out-relief from the able-bodied, and 
the closer restriction of all relief outside the workhouse, would create 
habits of thrift and independence, which would result in provision for 
sickness and old age without recourse to the degradation of relief from 
the rates. It may be argued that the large amount of out-relief still 
granted is proof that such hopes and expectations have proved to be 
unfounded. But it would be very wrong to assume that such an 
argument is correct. Many considerations must be weighed before any 
conclusion can be attempted, and it is doubtful whether even yet expe- 
rience is old enough to warrant a reliable decision as to the final effects 
of the Poor Law as at present constituted. One thing is certain, it was 
inevitable that the aged and infirm who are now upon the rates, either 
in or out of the workhouses, should come upon the rates when they had 
outlived their own generation and their wage-earning power. Neither 
they nor their relations had the facilities for thrift which are so freely 
offered to the younger generation, and it was the almost unavoidable 
consequence of their position that such as survived to old age would find 
themselves compelled to come to the Poor Law for maintenance during 
the ending of their days. This fact, however, should not put us out of 
heart, and society to-day can afford to grant with a very sympathetic 
hand such relief as may best meet the necessities of those whose burdens 
are the outcome of the stormy times in which they were bred. It by no 
means follows that succeeding generations will be equally needy. On 
the contrary there are many hopeful indications that the present phase of 
old age pauperism is a passing one, and that the laboring population are 
taking full advantage of the opportunities for maintaining their inde- 
pendence. 
The enormous development of friendly benefit and kindred societies, 
the steady increase in the savings banks deposits, the greater prudence 
with regard to marriage, the intellectual advancement of the people, the 
evergrowing facilities of transport, the extension of free libraries, the 
means of obtaining instruction in every branch of education, and the 
constant decline of pauperism, all give evidence that the working classes 
are willing and able to provide for themselves when they are not 
demoralized by mischievous offers of maintenance without work. 380 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The test of destitution by work has been proved to be the only sound 
principle upon which relief can be afforded at the public-cost. This prin- 
ciple is at once the justification of the workhouse, and the condemna- 
tion of outdoor relief. Indoor relief can be tested; outdoor relief can- 
not. Indoor relief is sufficient; outdoor relief must be insufficient. 
Indoor relief is shown to be required by the fact that it is accepted; 
outdoor relief affords occasion for endless fraud and imposition. Indoor 
relief is safe as regards the interests of the poor and of the ratepayer; 
outdoor relief is equally dangerous to both. 
The large amount of out-relief still granted, although not so indefen- 
sible as it may at first sight appear to be, does most certainly give ground 
for anxiety-all the more so, because it has been over and over again 
proved to be unnecessary, notwithstanding all that may fairly be urged 
in its favor. Wherever the Guardians have made an intelligent and 
continued effort to diminish pauperism by restricting out-relief, they 
have been successful. The object to be aimed at is not the abolition of out- 
relief, but the restriction of out-relief to the smallest legitimate amount. 
This has been tried under every variety of circumstances in unions of 
the most different descriptions, Atcham, Bradfield, Brixworth, Manches- 
ter and Whitechapel are but a few of many, where sound administration 
has worked as beneficially for the poor as for the ratepayers. If the good 
example of such administration had been universally followed, the con- 
dition of the laboring classes would give less cause for doubt than it does 
at present to those who most desire to elevate them above the necessity of 
recourse to rate relief. The very fact that the Poor Law stands between 
the individual and actual destitution must have an adverse influence 
upon thrift and self-help, and that influence becomes the more power- 
ful as the limits of rate relief are widened. 
The influence itself may be submitted to in order to protect the com- 
munity from greater mischief, but clearly it should be kept within the 
narrowest possible bounds. It is a mistake to urge that indoor relief is 
more disgraceful than outdoor relief. Both are unfortunate necessities, 
and it is a false philanthropy to minimize the evils of pauperism; but in a 
comparison of in with out-relief the latter is the worse of the two. 
The recipient of indoor relief submits to the fullest test of destitution 
and gives the fruits of his labor in return for the relief afforded to him. 
The person who obtains out-relief, submits to no test of destitution and 
gives nothing whatever in return for what he receives. That indoor 
relief is distasteful may be admitted, and it is fortunate that it is so. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
381 
The reluctance to enter the workhouse is the best inducement to make 
provision for the later years of life, and operates powerfully to enforce 
the obligation upon the members of a family for their mutual support. 
As regards life in an English workhouse there is very little to which reason- 
able objection can be taken. Speaking generally, the accommodation is 
good, the diet is sufficient, the regulations provide for every comfort sub- 
ject to the enforcement of necessary discipline, the sick are carefully 
tended, the children well educated, and the inmates well treated. 
In 1834 the able-bodied poor created the difficulty to be met. Since 
then the number of the able-bodied and the children in workhouses 
in the rural districts, and to a less degree in the towns, has gradually 
diminished, and now the unions are filled with the aged and the infirm who 
were young during the thirties. This change in the character of the work- 
house inmates has rendered it possible to introduce a less rigid enforce- 
ment of discipline than when the inmates were drawn from classes 
requiring stricter treatment. We have reasonable grounds to hope that 
as those who are now aged and infirm pass away, the amount of pau- 
perism in the country will diminish. 
The deterioration of laboring class morality, which reached its 
crisis in 1830, had sunk far too deep to be quietly eradicated. The 
Poor Law then introduced has been unevenly, and not always loyally 
administered. Although it is a sad fact to be faced that there are still 
more than 750,000 paupers in the country, costing over £8,000,000 a 
year, it is well to know that much of this vast amount is amenable to 
the sounder administration which is gaining ground; Jhat we may look 
for a gradual diminution of the large proportion now resulting from old 
age and infirmity, and that the good influences at work for encouraging 
thrift and independence are daily acquiring a firmer hold upon the 
classes whom they are designed to benefit. 
Large, and to a great extent unnecessary, as is the burden borne by 
the country on account of this vast weight of pauperism and expenditure, 
when the proportion of pauperism is spread over the population of Eng- 
land and Wales, it is well under 3 per cent., and the cost upon rateable 
value is less than ij. 2d. in the pound. Even to those who feel most keenly 
how imperfect much of the poor law administration still is, there must be a 
feeling of grateful satisfaction in the comparison between these figures, and 
the state of the poor and the expenditure prior to the passing of the Poor 
Law Amendment Act. 382 
That the principles of the English Poor Law are thoroughly sound has 
been demonstrated by all experience since the great reform of 1834. 
That those principles have not been more uniformly and consistently 
applied has prevented the much greater good which might have been 
gained. Those, however, who seek to depreciate what has been done, 
and to deny the future possibilities for good, are blind to the lessons 
taught us by the past. 
In the first three decades of this century England went through a 
struggle during which the administration of the Poor Law had brought 
absolute ruin within the near future unless measures could be taken to 
cope with the general distress and disorganization. The Poor Law 
Commissioners ascertained and applied the remedy. Many and many 
a time since then the working classes in this country have suffered 
periods of stress and difficulty. They have emerged from them with- 
out serious detriment, however great the local and temporary suffering 
may have been. Often the Poor Law has been abused, and sugges- 
tions in every conceivable direction have been made for its modifica- 
tion or amendment, but always it has stood strong and firm to bear the 
burden imposed upon it, to give maintenance to the destitute on the one 
hand, and on the other to save the people from an expenditure, which 
had nearly brought them to ruin sixty years ago. 
It is not feasible within the limits of this paper to do more than 
advert in the most general terms to the past and present position of 
pauperism in England. The many and interesting collateral influences 
and effects have pecessarily been for the most part left aside, but it 
may truly be said that the actual good obtained by the Poor Law Act 
of 1834 is small in comparison with the far reaching indirect, but con- 
sequent influences, which have been at work in furthering the interests 
and well being of the non-pauper population, and in keeping large 
numbers who would otherwise have been paupers in a position of inde- 
pendence. 
The great growth of benefit societies is one of the most striking 
symptoms of improvement. Upon this important subject there is still 
a considerable lack of definite information. The best of the societies 
are making strenuous efforts to place themselves upon a thoroughly 
sound footing, and the immense numbers of members prove that their 
hold upon the public confidence has been well established. It is im- 
possible to estimate their enormous power and influence for good, and 
they carry with them the hearty "God speed" of all who care for 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
383 
the true interests of the working classes. Unfortunately there are still 
extant many societies which are not sound and which may in the future 
add to the distrust consequent upon failure. 
There are no data upon which it is practicable to state what proportion 
of the population have made efforts to provide for themselves more or less 
completely by this description of thrift. The number of members of bene- 
fit societies is known to be very large, and it is also known that very large 
numbers are not counted in the recognized returns. Although the propor- 
tion of members and those dependent upon them to population cannot be 
given, it certainly may be reckoned by millions and is constantly 
increasing. An additionally satisfactory consideration is the fact that 
this increase is chiefly among the great and well managed societies, and 
that the small and unsound ones appear to be gradually disappearing. 
The wiser use of charitable funds, the provision of institutions with- 
out end to meet the varied necessities of the poor in sickness and in 
want, the growth of kinder feeling between class and class ; these and 
many other things which have for their object to render the life of the 
working classes better and more wholesome, owe much indirectly to 
the law which has laid down the right principles upon which pauper- 
ism should be dealt with. 
When we look back through the half century since the present Poor 
Law was enacted we have reason to be grateful to it for the remedy of terri- 
ble evils, the removal of many dangers, and the active benefits it has 
conferred. Having regard to the dark past and the comparatively 
happy present, our prayer should be that no temptation may induce those 
who will administer it in the future to abandon the sound line of action 
which has brought us to the calm of to-day out of the wild storm in 
which the Poor Law Amendment Act was launched sixty years ago. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
384 
SCHOOL SAVINGS BANKS. 
BY CHARLES HENRY WYATT, CLERK. OF THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL 
BOARD. 
In response to the request conveyed to me by Mr. C. S. Loch, Secretary 
of the Charity Organization Society, I have pleasure in laying before 
the Congress the following particulars relative to the School Savings 
Bank movement and its development and extension by the School 
Boards, and the managers of public elementary schools. 
The object of the banks which are carried on in England, Wales, 
and Scotland, may be said to be two-fold: 
First. By the practical method of instruction to inculcate habits of 
thrift and the husbanding of resources; 
Second. To enable children and their parents to save small sums of 
money which are not received by the Post Office Savings Banks carried 
on by the Government. 
These school savings banks are valuable auxiliaries for supplying de- 
positors to the Post Office Banks and must be of extreme value in bring- 
ing into the homes of the people, particularly those of the lower classes, 
a fuller and more intelligent acquaintance with the various facilities 
which are now offered by the Government for the safe deposit of money 
in connection with the savings banks, which have developed into such 
a gigantic business in the United Kingdom during the reign of our 
present Gracious Sovereign. 
Englishmen lay claim to a great many virtues, some of which they 
do not possess; but the most devoted Anglo-Saxon would scarcely say 
that thrift is one of them. We know that the working classes of this 
country are probably as well off as those of any other part of the world, 
and yet the less reputable parts of the great cities and towns of the United 
Kingdom will match for squalor, depravity, and poverty, with centres 
of population in other countries which lay no claim to such advances 
of civilization as mark Great Britain. It has been very wiselysaid that, 
like many other good habits, the husbanding of our resources is an art 
which may be acquired, and if the wasteful improvidence of the work- 
ing classes is to be combated, it must be very largely by the tuition of CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
385 
the children in attendance at our public elementary schools in the proper 
use of money and the economical expenditure of earnings. Such teach- 
ing will also have a very valuable effect in the furtherance of the tem- 
perance movement and of all that tends to the lessening of the evil aris- 
ing through the drinking habits of a large portion of the working class 
community of large cities. 
I will now proceed to explain as briefly as possible the mode in which 
school banks are carried on in English public elementary schools, tak- 
ing for example the case of the City of Manchester with which I am 
most intimately connected, and where the system has achieved the 
highest success. 
We have 130 of these school banks in Manchester under the control 
of the School Board. They are open each Monday morning for the 
receipt and withdrawal of money. The work is entirely a labor of 
love on the part of the teachers, who do all the necessary bookkeeping; 
it is of course made as light as possible. To ensure accuracy the 
Board have the books audited twice a year. I should like to say in 
passing that in dealing with the savings of the working classes every 
care should be taken to give confidence to the minds of those whom it 
is wished to attract as depositors. Every thing connected with the 
banks must be like Caesar's wife, "above suspicion." Monday morning 
is found to be the best time for holding the banks. This, however, does 
not hold so strongly now as when the banks were established, one rea- 
son for the choice of the day having been that the savings could be 
brought in with the school fees; but the general adoption of free edu- 
cation in England limits the argument at the present day. The money 
is collected each week from the schools and deposited at the bank of the 
School Board. We have not found it practicable to allow interest in 
our school banks in Manchester, but when a depositor has saved twenty 
shillings he is encouraged to have the amount transferred to the Post 
Office Savings Bank where he is allowed interest at the rate of per 
cent, per annum. It is always well to encourage these transfers, but it 
cannot always be managed, as many of the parents prefer that the 
deposits should remain in the school banks thinking that the money can 
be more easily got at in case of emergency. The books required are: 
1. Depositor's Pass Books, 
2. Cash Book, 
3. Ledger. 386 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
The officials who conduct the business of the bank are: 
1. Cashier, 
2. Secretary, or Bookkeeper. 
The banks should be open only on the day and at the hour appointed 
in the rules (see Rules, p. 389), and no business can be transacted with 
depositors at any other time. Each depositor on opening an account 
receives a pass book showing his number in the ledger, his initials, and 
the amount of his deposit. The full name of the depositor appears at 
the head of his ledger account. The initials only are inserted in the 
pass book so that in case the pass book is lost, any fraudulent attempt 
on the part of the finder to withdraw the money may be rendered more 
difficult. The name of the bank, and the place and time when it is held, 
are printed on the cover of the pass book together with the names of 
the officials of the bank. An abstract of the rules of the bank are 
printed on the back of the pass book. The pass book is produced 
every time business is transacted with a depositor. The cashier receives 
and pays all moneys, and enters each transaction in the cash book giving 
the depositor's number, his initials, and the amount either deposited or 
withdrawn. The cashier also enters the date and the amount in the 
depositor's pass book, which is then passed over to the bookkeeper, who 
finds the account in the ledger, and enters the date and amount, copying 
these particulars direct from the pass book, after which the pass book is 
returned to the depositor. All entries in the pass books and ledger are 
initialed by the person making the same. At the close of business 
the cash is at once counted, and the cash book added up in order to see 
that they correspond. The cash is then forwarded to the offices of the 
Board with an advice note, signed by both the cashier and bookkeeper, 
authenticating the day's transactions, in order that the officer of the 
Board who has the oversight of the school banks may lodge the amount 
in the general account at the bank. As pass books are repeatedly lost 
by the depositors, it is customary to charge a small sum (one penny) 
for supplying a new book, the balance to the credit of the account 
being duly entered in the new pass book, and a note made in the ledger 
that a new book has been issued, so as to prevent fraud. When any 
depositor has £1 in the school bank he may have an account opened in 
his own name at the Post Office Savings Bank and he will then receive 
interest on the same. Before making such transfer the bookkeeper 
enquires whether the depositor has a pass book with the Savings Bank; 
if he has, he is requested to bring it; if not, one of the forms pre- CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
387 
scribed by the Savings Bank in the case of new depositors is filled up, 
in order that a pass book may be procured. All transfers are effected 
through the office of the School Board. When a transfer is made care 
is taken to write off the amount in the school bank pass book, and also 
in the ledger account of the depositor. Transfers are entered in the 
cash book after the re-payment. The books are balanced on the 20th 
November in each year. Each ledger account is added up, and after 
the balances due to the depositors have been checked, a list is made 
and a total arrived at. This list is copied in the cash book and follows 
the last week in the year. The correctness of this list is found by com- 
paring it with the cash book. Should there be any discrepancy between 
the total of the balances due to the depositors taken from the ledger, 
and the annual statement made up from the cash book, a rigid exami- 
nation is always made until the cause of difference is discovered. The 
teachers are advised to try the accuracy of their books (say every three 
months) by a trial balance. This is easily done by adding up the 
various accounts in pencil in the ledger, and comparing the total with 
the cash book summary, which should be regularly posted up week by 
week. According to the rules, a week's notice is required for the with- 
drawal of money; but we do not insist upon the rigid construction of 
the rule, the teachers re-paying any money that may be required from 
the money in hand, so long as they are able. 
We began this work of school banks in Manchester in the year 
1877. We had then 3 banks and the total amount deposited during the 
year was 5-r. yi-, the number of depositors being 921, and the 
number of transactions 5,157. 
In order to show the way in which the work has grown, I will quote 
the figures for the last year (1892), when we had 133 banks, and the 
amount deposited was The number of depositors was 21,257 
and the number of transactions 584,453. Since the establishment of 
the banks we have received altogether 6s. id. Inorder to 
show the very small risk connected with the carrying on of the work, I 
may state that a note would cover the whole of the money which 
has been lost, mislaid or stolen. With regard to the safe care of the 
money in the banks, the Board have all deposits collected from the schools 
weekly and paid to an account which is open in the name of their treas- 
urer at their own bank. We know pretty well the amount of money 
likely to be required, and also the amount beyond which the withdrawals 
are not likely to pass. I may say that such a thing as a panic in con- 388 
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 
nection with our school savings banks is unknown. Our principal with- 
drawals are at the great Lancashire holiday of Whitsuntide, and again 
at Christmas. There is no doubt that many thousands of children in 
the City of Manchester are provided with new clothes and new shoes 
at these annual festivals through the aid of the banks. 
We calculate the amount of money required to be kept at our bankers for 
the purpose of working the banks, and the balance is invested in govern- 
ment securities, /. e. consols. The interest upon these consols and upon 
the money lying with the Board's bankers is carried to a reserve fund to 
meet any necessity that might arise, and at the present time this reserve 
fund amounts to 15J. 
In order to develop the work of the banks as far as possible we adver- 
tise them by means of handbills, and we have also found it a capital 
plan to issue picture cards to the children. The first time these cards 
were issued some 25,000 were distributed. The business of the banks 
the following week was nearly double what it had been before the issue 
of the cards, and the business has since continued to increase. 
Such briefly is the mode in which this work has been carried on suc- 
cessfully for many years past in the city of Manchester, and it is the 
conviction of all who have had to do with the work that a very large 
amount of good has been done, not only in giving lessons of restraint, 
but in arming the children with weapons of defence against the innum- 
erable tendencies which may work to affect their misery and ruin in 
after life. But the banks are also very valuable to the schools themselves. 
Though we have compulsory attendance at school in Great Britain, it 
does not follow that every child attends perfectly, and it is found that 
these school banks contribute very much to regularity of attendance 
and to a large extent stop the capricious migration of children from 
school to school. An account in a school bank is a wonderfully good 
anchor. 
I believe that such banks, wherever established, if carried on with sys- 
tem and properly supervised, are likely to be among the greatest bene- 
fits that school managers can confer upon the rising generation. 
I esteem it a high honor to have been invited to send a paper to the 
Congress upon this subject. 1 hope the day will soon come when there 
will be facilities in all civilised countries for children to have bank accounts 
at their schools and so learn to save their small sums of money 
" Not for to hide it in a hedge, 
Nor for a train attendant, 
But for the glorious privilege 
Of being independent." CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 
389 
SCHOOL BANK RULES. 
1. The bank is held in the school premises every Monday at nine o'clock in the 
morning. 
2. Any sums from one penny upwards will be received. 
3. No money will be received or paid out without the production of the pass 
book. The depositor is requested to see that the sums deposited are correctly 
entered in this book. 
4. If the depositor loses the pass book, a week's notice must be given, and a 
new pass book will be supplied for one penny, in which the balance of the account 
will be shown. 
5. As soon as any depositor has deposited £1, an account will be opened in his 
or her name in the Post Office Savings Bank, and interest will be allowed. The 
school bank will continue to receive future deposits from such depositor, but does 
not alloxv interest. 
6. In the event of the death of a depositor, such money as may stand to the 
credit of the deceased in the hands of the trustees of the school bank, will be 
paid to the parents, guardians, or other representatives. The trustees will pay 
the same to the person whom they believe to be the legal representative of 
the deceased child, but will not be responsible if the money is paid to the wrong- 
applicant in error. 
7. The index number and initials of the depositor are written on the pass book. 
8. Twice every year the books of the school bank will be audited, and four times in 
each year, viz., on the second Monday in February, May, August, and November, 
every depositor will be required to leave his or her pass book at the school for com- 
parison with the ledger. The pass books will be returned to the depositors on 
the following Monday. INDEX. 
Aberdeen, Scotland, helping the poor in, 344-349. 
Alford, B. H., 250, 253-237. 
Almsgiving, indiscriminate, x, xvii, 44, 49; see Begging. 
Almshouses, 34, 59, 62, 75, 84; see Workhouse. 
Ames, Miss, 35. 
Apprentices, homes for. Dresden, 241. 
Austria, charity in, 218. 
Ayres, P. W., 15, 30, 35. 
Baltimore, charities of, 92, 129. 
Barbour, Levi L., v, vii, 4, 34. 
Begging, suppression of, 49; in France, 156; in Italy, 169, 183; in Germany, 213, 
219; in Russia, 244; in Great Britain, 254, 285, 349; see Almsgiving. 
Belgium, charity in, 135, 162-167. 
Bemis, E. W., 12. 
Benevolent trading, 356. 
Berlin, organization of charity in, 217. 
Birtwell, Miss Mary, 19. 
Bland-Garland, Mr., as administrator of poor law, 301, 302, 351. 
Bohmert, Victor, xiv, 210-243, 215. 
Bolles, Commissioner, quoted, 131. 
Bonaparte, Charles J., v, vi. 
Booth, Charles, xxvi, 253, 263. 
Booth, William, quoted, 85. 
Boston, charities of, xii, 17, 19, 28, 44, 47, 49, 53, 91, 99, 108. 
Brabazon experiment, 293. 
Brackett, Jeffrey R., 15, 17, 22. 
Bradby, E. II., 251, 258-267. 
Bradfield, England, charity in, 350-364; see Tables. 
Brinkerhoff, Roeliff, 32. 
Bristol, charities of, 312-318. 
Brooklyn, charities of, 44, 48, 90, 125, 127. 
Brooks, John Graham, v, vii, xv. 
Phillips, tribute to, 56. 
Buffalo, Charities of, to, 14, 44, 47, 48, 51, 93. 
Bureaux de Bienfaisance, 154, 156, 179. 
Burial clubs, 306. 
Burlington, Iowa, charities of, 26, 48. 
Bury, Mr., as administrator of poor law, 302. 
Buzelle, George B., tribute to, 56. 392 
INDEX. 
Cedar Hill farm labor colony, 77-79- 
Central Bureau of Poor Relief and Charity, Dresden, 220. 
Charities aid associations; see State charities, etc. 
building in Boston, 44, 47; in New York, 47. 
Charity organization, general principles of, viii, xvii, xxiii-xxxii; in Italy, 182; 
in Russia, 244-247. 
section of Congress of Charities, etc., committee of arrange- 
ments, ii, v-vii. 
societies, in America, 43-57, 87-119; history of, 43-55; lapsed 
societies, 45; relief given or withheld by, 45, 46, 53; finances of, 47; 
organization and work of, ix, 48-55; friendly visitors of, see friendly visit- 
ing; registration by, 50, 99-107; agents of, 112; co-operation of with public 
relief, 50, 114-119; educational work of, ix, 186; Great Britain, 249-368, 
372-374; West London, 253-257; East London, 258-267, 299; Shoreditch, 
268-277; St. Olave's,'278 -282; Islington, 283-289; St. George in the East, 
299-303; Manchester, 251, 307; Bristol, 316-318; Rochdale, 328, 338-343; 
Aberdeen, 345; co-operation of, with poor law, 255, 270, 285, 290-303, 317, 
329; difficulties encountered, 263, 288, 316; repressive work of, 254, 285, 
332> 339; organizing work of, 254, 273, 288, 317, 330, 348, 365-368; relief 
granted by, 286, 297, 339, 340, 373; educational work of, 287; objects of, 
29°, 329, 367- 
Charity, the problem of, xix-xxxii. 
Chicago Relief and Aid Society, 53, 89. 
Children, homes for, 63, 67, 72, 121, 127, 325; poor law schools for, 306, 325; 
placing out, 11, 325; boarding out, 326. 
Church charity in England, 273, 280, 287; France, 136-141, 160; Italy, 169; 
Russia, 244. 
Churches, charities of, 5, 7, 8, 11, 18, 29, 125, 367. 
Cincinnati Associated Charities, 48, 93. 
Clark, A. W., n. 
Colston societies of Bristol, 313, 314, 318. 
Committees of State Charities Aid Association, duties of, 59. 
Compulsory relief, 117, 15c, 162, 166, 187, 214; from children, 310. 
Confreres, 139, 140. 
Congregazione di Carita, 182, 218. 
Congress of Charities, Correction, and Philanthropy, vi, xix; officers, ii; section 
on organization of charities, committee of arrangements, ii, v, vi. 
Convalescent home at the sea side, 308. 
Co-operation, ix, xvii; between voluntary and official'bodies, 14, 33, 68, 
210-227, 290-303; see Public and private charity, Charity organization socie- 
ties, Organization of charities. State charities aid associations. 
industrial, at Rochdale, 319, 321. 
Country week for children, 274, 279, 328. 
County visiting committee of State Charities Aid Association, 60. 
Craig, Oscar, 32. 
Crozier, A. O., 12. 
Dawes, Miss Anna L., v. 
Decentralization of poor relief, 200, 221. 
DeForest, Robert W., v, vi, 3, 4, 8, 22, 31. INDEX. 
393 
Depots de mendicite in France, 156. 
Deserted wives, 305. 
Directories of charities, 106, 161. 
Dispensaries, private, with public support, 129, 156, 162; provident, 302, 308. 
District Provident Society of Manchester, 307-309. 
Dooly, John, 77. 
Dresden, organization of charity in, 219-225; People's Club of, 228-243. 
Drexel, Joseph W., supporter of Cedar Hill labor colony, 77. 
Dugdale, R. L., quoted, 85. 
Dupuy, E. J., 37. 
East London, charity organization in, 258-267. 
Educational work, see Charity organization societies; of People's Club, Dresden, 
238. 
Elberfeld system of public charity, xxix, 5, 113, 185, 187-209; in Elberfeld, 191, 
225; in Hamburg, 196; in Freiburg, 203; id Crefeld, 207, 225; overseers, 
191, 197, 202, 209; district board, 191, 197, 202; central board, 192, 201; 
business department, 194, 198; unpaid service, 193; temporary grants, 194, 
205; application in large cities, 195; circuits, 197; conditions of relief, 201; 
paid agents and inspectors, 204, 207, 208; its shortcomings, 113, 203, 207; 
adaptation to American towns, xxix. 
Electric sewing machine rooms of Baltimore, 92. 
Emergencies, 53, 223. 
Employment bureaus, 241. 
Endowments, charitable, 136, 143, 165, 169, 182, 275, 279, 283, 312, 327. 
Epileptics, care of, 67, 70, 292. 
Evening entertainments of People's Club, Dresden, 229-233. 
Farming out the poor, abolished in New York, 63. 
Feeble minded, care of the, 292, 294. 
First aid to the injured, 64. 
Fitch Creche, Buffalo, 47. 
Fleming, Baldwyn, 377-383. 
Foundling hospitals, 150. 
France, charity in, 5, 37, 135-162; history, 135-148; public assistance, 149-157; 
private charity, 157-162. 
Friendly societies, 280, 320, 355, 363, 382. 
visiting, discussion of, 15-31; papers on, 15, 108-113, 369-376; in Aber- 
deen, 346; Boston, xii, 17, 19, 28; Burlington, Iowa, 26; Galveston, 23, 31; 
London, 16, 286, 369; Manchester, 302; Minneapolis, 26; New York, 22, 24, 
67; Philadelphia, 27; by districts or by families ? xxix, 25, 113, 191, 197, 
202, 346, 370. 
visitors, conferences of, 112, 191, 371; education of, 19, 28, 346, 371; 
enlistment and introduction of, 29, 108, 370, 374; suggestions for, xxxi, 
15-31, 109-112, 373-376; as almoners, 27, 373, 374; as collectors of sav- 
ings, 374; in tenement houses, 28; in cases of intemperance, in, 276; from 
churches, 29; from colleges, 29; of Association for Improving the Condi- 
tion of the Poor, 24, 346; of St. Vincent de Paul, 30; of the Women's 
University Settlement, 369-376; see Elberfield system, overseers, etc. INDEX. 
394 
Georgievsky, H., xvi, 244-247. 
Germany, charity in, xxix, 187-243, 200; see Elberfeld system. 
Gilman, Daniel C., v, vi, viii, xviii, 3. 
Girls' Home of People's Club, Dresden, 241. 
Gladden, Washington, 7. 
Glenn, John M., v, vii, 33. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., poor relief in, 12. 
Green, David I., vii. 
Grey's hospital, London, 278. 
Harrison, C. C., v, vi. 
Hartford, charities of, vii, 48, 95. 
Hayes, Rutherford B., v, vi. 
Hayes, Mrs. R. H., 23, 31. 
Heape, J. R., 329, 338-343. 
Henderson, Charles R., 7. 
Hill, Miss Octavia, 68; her plans for collecting rent, 287; for friendly visiting, 
369' 370. 
History of charity, in Belgium, 162-167; in France, 135-148; of charity organiza- 
tion in the United States, 43-57. 
Hodge, H. Lenox, tribute to, 55. 
Holt, George D., 26. 
Home libraries, 1 1 1. 
of Industry of Brooklyn City Mission, 91. 
Hbpitaux and hospices in France, 150. 
Hopkins, Mrs. M. A., 19. 
Hospital Book and Newspaper Society of New York, 63. 
Hospitals, in England, 278, 326; in France, 138, 150-1 54; reformation of, 59, 75. 
Hbtels-Dieu, 139, 142. 
House of the Good Shepherd, Chicago, 128. 
Improving the Condition of the Poor, Association for, Aberdeen, Scotland, 345- 
349; New York, 24, 38. 
Indianapolis, charities of, 48, 56, 94. 
Individual treatment necessary, 108, 190, 275, 366. 
Industrial School for Girls, Chicago, 128. 
Inebriates, institutions for, m. 
Infirmary, Poor Law, of Manchester, 306. 
Insane, state care for, 65. 
Instruction, college, in charities and correction, 55. 
Intemperance, visiting cases of, 111, 276; a cause of poverty, So, 349; Society 
against, Dresden, 229, 233. 
International treatment of charity questions, 185-186. 
Investigation, x, xvii, 50, 194, 255; of hospital applicants, 308; success of, at Pad- 
dington, 302. 
Islington, charity organization in, 283-289. 
Italy, charity in, 5, 168-184; see Tables. 
Jails in the United States, 84. 
Jenks, Prof. J. W., v. 
Jews, in Whitechapel, 259, 266. INDEX. 
395 
Johnson. Alexander, xiii, 33, 114-119. 
Jones, J. Lloyd, v. 
Juvenile reformatories of Maryland, 128, 129. 
Kellogg, Charles D., xi, 43-57. 
Labor question distinguished from pauper question, 210. 
in almshouses, 34. 
colonies, 33, 35, 77-86. 
homes, 38, 91. 
tests, 38, 87-98, 378, 380. 
Laicisation of charities, 5, 152, 157. 
Lambert, Brooke, 365-368. 
Larner, C. P., 278-282. 
Laundries, 88-98; in France, 37; training schools, Brooklyn, 90, Newark, 93. 
Lazar houses in France, 138. 
Leach, R. A., 252, 319-337. 
Lewis, Charlton T., 74. 
Licenses for disguised begging, 49. 
Liquor traffic, 26. 
Literature of English charities, 250. 
Little Sisters of the Poor, 120. 
Liverpool, joint collections for charities in, xxvii. 
Loch, C. S,, vii, xvi, 250-252. 
Lodging houses, 36, 37, 49, 55, 65, 87-98; in London, 260. 
London, charity in, 16, 249-303, 369; see Charity organization societies. 
Low, Seth, quoted, 127. 
Lowell, Mrs. Charles R., v, vi, xii, 33, 77-86, 122. 
McCulloch, Oscar C., tribute to, 55. 
McDougal], Alexander, 251, 304-311. 
Mackay, T., xvi, 251, 290-303. 
Maison hospitalikre, 37. 
Manchester, poor law relief and charity organization in, 304-311; school savings 
banks, 385. 
Mansion House relief fund, 298. 
Marshall, Alfred, ideas of, concerning co-operation with poor law, 296. 300. 
Mayo-Smith, Richmond, v. vi, 3. 
Medical relief, see Relief, medical. 
Mendicancy, see Begging. 
Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants, London, 373. 
Milne, George, 252, 344-349. 
Miramion, Madame de, 141. 
Mittweida, charity organization in, 215. 
Moderation of the poor in seeking private relief, 296. 
Morse. Miss Frances R., xii, 99-107. 
Mumford. Mrs. Mary E., v. 
Municipal lodging-houses, 37, 55, 65, 91, 93, 97; see Lodging-houses. 
Miinsterberg, Theodore, xiv, 187-199. 
Mutual benefit societies, 161, 167; see Friendly societies. 396 
INDEX. 
Necrology, 55. 
Newark, charities of, 49, 93. 
New Haven, charities of, 44, 51,94. 
New Jersey, State Charities Aid Association, 72-76. 
New York City, charities of, 22, 24, 38, 47, 54, 57-71, 88, 99, I2I> I22« 1 27- 
State Charities Aid Association, 57-71. 
Nicholls. Sir George, as a reformer of the poor law, 303. 
Nicholson, C. N., 268-277. 
Nurses, for the insane, 64; for the poor, 355, 356; schools for. 62. 
Old age pauperism, 161, 379. 
Omaha, charities of, 11, 48, 93. 
Organization of charity, viii, xviii; see Charity organization societies, Elberfeld 
system, etc.; in Austria, 218; in France, 161; in Germany, 215, 219; in 
Great Britain, 250-252; in Italy, 182; in Russia, 244; its necessity, x.xxvii, 
186, 211, 273. 
(Jutdoor relief, private, 25, 246, 256, 279, 296, 313; see Charity organization socie- 
ties, etc. 
public, 10, 12, 14, 44, 48, 116, 154, 168, 179, 201, 378-381; in London, 255, 
269; its abolition desirable, 296, 301, 379-380; see also, Elberfeld System, 
poor law, etc. 
wages lowered by, 271, 294, 315. 
Paine, Robert Treat, v, vi, 17, 30. 
Panorama of charitable work in many lands, viii-xviii. 
Paton, John, 24, 38. 
Paulinengarten, Dresden, 236. 
Pauperism, decrease of, in Bradfield, 361; in Bristol, 315; in Manchester, 305; its 
causes and cure, 80, 226, 293, 295; statistics of, see Statistics. 
Peabody, Francis G., v, vi, xi, xix-xxxii. 
Pellew, H. E.,,quoted, 100. 
Pensions, by private charity, 256, 279, 280, 309, 339; old age, 161, 379; U. S., 14. 
People's Club, Dresden, 228-243; club bouses, 233; entertainments, 229-233; 
gardens, 237; home for apprentices, 241; home for girls, 241; journal, the 
" Volkswohl," 240; lectures and class instruction, 238; library, 239; women's 
meetings, 240. 
Home, Dresden, 233-238. 
Palace, London, 228. 
Philadelphia, charities of, 9, 27, 44, 46, 50, 89. 129. 
Playgrounds, Dresden, 237. 
Police powers in private hands, 9. 
Political influence in public charity, 114, 124, 126, 130, 157, 281, 314. 
Poor-house, see Almshouse, Workhouse. 
Poor law, Amendment Act of 1834, 294; its history and influence, 377-383. 
:- commissioners, report of, 377. 
relief in England, co-operation of, with private relief, 255, 270-273, 
290-303, 3!7, 3295 in a rural union, 350-364; reform of, 255, 294, 299, 301, 
305; rules of, 269, 305, 322-327, 378; shortcomings of, 272, 281, 284, 293; 
in Scotland, 344. 
Poor laws, U. S., 116. INDEX. 
397 
Poor relief in Austrian Cities, 218; in German Cities, 215. 
Portland, Oregon, charities of, 49, 96. 
Post Office savings banks, 291, 384. 
Preston. Vicar-General, tribute to, 56. 
Prideaux, Miss F. C., 15, 369-376. 
Prison reform, 74, 84. 
Private charities lack responsibility, 117. 
Provident dispensaries, in Manchester, England, 308; Provident Medical Society 
in Kent, England, 302. 
efforts and institutions, 52, 53, III, 161, 167, 287, 291, 302, 307, 308, 
32O> 355» 363> 374, 384-389. 
Public and private charity, co-operation of, 33, 50, 57, 68, 114-119, 205, 210-227, 
in German cities, 215, 219-225; their relation, 31-33, 57-76, 185; respective 
fields, 4-15, 121, 257, 293; in Belgium, 162-167; England, 269; France, 
135-162; Germany, 187-227; Italy, 168-184; see Poor law relief. 
control of private charity, 132, 148, 159, 182, 213; in Austria, 218; Ger- 
many, 214, 223; Russia, 244. 
subsidies to private charities, xiii, 120-132; in the District of Columbia, 
120, 124, 129; Pennsylvania, 123; Illinois, 128; New York City, 121. 
Quinze-Vingts, in Paris, 152. 
Reform schools, 166. 
Registration and information, ix, xi, xvii, 50, 99-107; in England, 330, 339; Ger- 
many, 216, 220, 224; Russia, 226. 
Reitzenstcin, F. Frhrn. von, xiv, 185-186. 
Relief, see Almsgiving, Outdoor relief, Poor law relief, Poor relief. 
by work, x, 33, 49, 77, 87-98, 324, 339. 
• medical, 129, 156, 162, 166, 181, 278; in England, 302, 306, 307, 308, 326, 
328, 355, 362; see Hospitals. 
special, 298. 
Rescue work, 11, 36, 37, 38, 91, 307. 
Rice, Mrs. W. B., v. 
Richmond, Miss Mary E., 13, 33. 
Rochdale, England, poor relief in, 319-343; administration of poor law, 322-327; 
co-operation between the poor law and charities, 329-331; industrial and 
general characteristics, 319-322; private charities, 327-329; see Tables. 
Rogers, Miss A. P., 36. 
Roman largesses, 168. 
Rosenau, N. S., v, 7. 
Rossi, Egisto, xiii, 168-184. 
Russia, charity in, 244-247. 
Saint Vincent de Paul, 30, 141. 
Salvation army, work of the, 38, 78, 85. 
Sanitary inspection, 205. 
Savings banks; see Provident efforts. 
School savings banks, 384-389; benefits of, 388; rules of, 386, 389. 
Schuyler, Miss Louisa L., v, xi, 31, 57-71. 
Scotland, poor relief in, 344-349. 398 
INDEX. 
Sectarian institutions, public appropriations to, 123, 128. 
Self-respect developed by friendly visiting, no. 
Servants, 241,373. 
Settlement, laws of, in Belgium, 164, 166; in Italy, 183; in Germany, 187, 214. 
Settlements, university, 370. 
Seyffardt, L. F., xiv, 207-209. 
Sharpe, Miss L., 283-2S9. 
Shoreditch, London, charity organization in, 268-277. 
Sisters of Charity in France, 141, 152, 157. 
Smith, Miss Frances, 15, 28. 
Mayo-, Richmond, v, vi, 3. 
T. Guilford, 13. 
Miss Zilpha D., 11; quoted, 104. 
Societies for general welfare, Germany, 229, 236. 
Society for Poor Relief and Charity, German, 215, 217. 
for Prevention of Abuse of Spirituous Drinks, Dresden, 229, 233. 
for Prevention of Pauperism, Dresden, xv, 219. 
for Prevention of Poverty in Berlin, 217. 
Sociology in university courses, 55. 
Spencer, Herbert, 7. 
Starr, Miss M. E., 26. 
State boards of charities, 32. 
State Charities Aid Association of New Jersey, 33, 72-76; law creating, 73. 
- of New York, xi, 31, 57-71; county visitors, 60, 
68,70; law creating, 70; legislative work, 61; organization, 58-60; publi- 
cations, 60; results of work, 61-68; standing committees, 59. 
Statistics : 
appropriations to public and private charities. 121, 122. 
Cedar Hill Farm, 78. 
charities of Aberdeen, 348; Bradfield, 352, 362, see Tables; District of 
Columbia, 121; Dresden, 222, 225; France, 149, 154; Italy, 172-182, see 
Tables; Manchester, 305; New York, 122; Rochdale, 328, 333-343, see 
Tables; St. Petersburg, 246. 
friendly societies, 320. 
pauperism, 51, 318, 324, 333-337, 360-364, 381. 
school savings banks, 387. 
working class savings, 291. 
Sterilization of the unfit, 33. 
Strikes, industrial, 321. 
Sturge, Miss Elizabeth, 312-318. • 
Suffrage lost by accepting public relief in Germany, 211. 
Supervision of public charities, unofficial, in co-operation with official boards, 
32> 57-7i, 72-76. 
Tables : 
Aberdeen Charities, 348. 
appropriations for public compared with private charities, in District of 
Columbia, 121; in New York City, 122. INDEX. 
399 
Tables:-Contin tied. 
Bradfield Union : 
outdoor and indoor pauperism, 1871-1892, 361. 
poor in twelve Berkshire unions, percentage of, 360. 
sickness and old age, provision against, 364. 
social statistics of four parishes, 362, 363. 
wages, 359. 
Cedar Hill Farm, 78. 
deposits of working class savings in England, 291. 
Dresden Municipal Bureau of Information for Poor Relief and Charity, 225. 
Italian Charities : 
capital invested in Government bonds, 178. 
classification according to the principal object of each, 1880, 172. 
expenditures for charities by the provinces and towns, 1889, 180. 
financial statistics, 1880, 174. 
patrimony and income, 1861 and 1880, 176. 
real estate, value of, 1861 and 1880, 177. 
Manchester, outdoor and indoor relief, 305. 
Rochdale charities and institutions: 
classification of outdoor paupers, January, 1872 and 1892, 334; July, 1872 
and 1892, 336. 
classification of workhouse paupers, January, 1872 and 1892, 333; July, 
1872 and 1892, 335. 
diagram of the work of the Rochdale Charity Organization Society, 342. 
investments of working class, 321. 
payments to members of friendly societies, 1892, 320. 
total number of indoor and outdoor paupers, 1872 and 1892, 337. 
Tenement-house reform, 67. 
Thoma, Dr., xiv, 200-206. 
Thrift, see Provident efforts. 
Training schools, for nurses, Bellevue, N. Y., 62; see Laundries. 
Tramps, 34, 35, 49, 51, 64, 156, 166; see Labor tests, Laundries, Relief by work, 
Woodyards. 
Trading, benevolent, 356. 
Uncomplaining poor, 222. 
Unemployed, 34, 79-86, 97, 265; causes of lack of employment, 80. 
Unpaid administration of poor relief, advantages of, 193. 
Vagrancy, see Tramps. 
Valleroux, Herbert, xiii, 135-167. 
Vincent de Paul, Saint, 30, 141. 
Visitors, friendly, see Friendly visitors; official, see Elberfeld System, overseers. 
Visitors to charitable institutions, 32, 57-71, 72-76, 98, 183. 
Volkswohl, Dresden, xvi, 228, 240. 
Wages lowered by outdoor relief, 271, 294, 315. 
Wages, rates of in Bradfield, England, 351, 353, 359. 
Walk, J. W., 8, 11, 27. 
Warner, Amos G., v, xiii, 5, 33, 120-132. INDEX. 
400 
Washington, D. C., charities of, 93, 120, 129, 130. 
West London : S. Marylebone. charity organization in, 253-257. 
White, Alfred T., v, vi, xii, 87-98. 
Whitechapel, London, 259. 
Wilcox, Ansley, v, 14, 31, 39. 
Williamson, Mrs. Benjamin, xii, 33, 72-76. 
Willink, H. G., 252, 350-364. 
Wines, Frederick H., v, vi. 
Wolcott, Mrs. Roger, xii, 15, 108-113. 
Women, see Laundries, Relief by Work, Workrooms. 
Women's meetings of the People's Club, Dresden, 241. 
Wood, Mrs. Glen, 18. 
Woodyards, 36-39, 88-98; self-sustaining, 90, 95; see Relief by work. 
Work, x; see Labor, Laundries, Relief by, Woodyards, Workhouses, W orking- 
rooms. 
Workhouses, 34,89, 212; in England, 306, 324, 326, 333, 357, 381; in France, 156. 
Workrooms for women, 36, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95. 
Wyatt, Charles Henry, 384-389.