The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-10-14

highest triumphs Of our civilization; but II |
nay well be doubted II there Is not here =
great Waste--if the saeriaoes Of means and
time made By these benevolent people DO not
fail 10 produce A. much ffult a. they should.
and still worse, n they are not attended with
a good deal Of evil.
It must be borne In mind that this charity
Is unavoidably 70 a great extent indlscriml-
nate. Misery pleads with too great eloqueb,o
TO admit Of any question M TO whether It Is not
deserved. 1t Is ~ much 10 crafty ourselves
as anything else, that we lnstlnctvely help
the sufiering-lust as a gentleman invariably
breaks all his good resolutions, and weakly
gives up his seat in public convcyauces TO
some vlrago In pottlcoas who de-
mands II a. rieht. The result, there
fore, IS that we pay premium 70
Incidence, improyldence, and crime. The
sturdy beagar who has been fed and clothed,
when he needed such aid, at the expense Of
Others, spends his summer In idleness and dis
sipatlon, With the well-grounded assurance
that cold weather viii start into activity host
OF mistaken friends 70 feed and warm him.
Another saying Is, ~once on the parish, always
on the parish,' and the experience Of every
one acquainted with our public charities win
| confirm It's truth. Thus not only are the really
worthy frequently deprived Of full assistance,
and needless outlay Incurred, but the charac-
ter Of many Is depraved stlll more than 1t was.
! A high ethical authority says that "pru-
deDco Is akin TO virtue" but modern ben0yo-
lence throws its influence entirely against that
| useful trait. Parasites are not Of enough
value 10 repay us for cultivatlng them as we
do. As we cannot treat them as the bees
serve drones, and cannot lot them perish out
right, common sense suggests that we should
get rid Of them by putting an end TO the
causes which produce them, five can do 30
without inhumanity. Now this Is feasible,
and would surely be far the best for them, as
well as for us. The sources Of psuperisn are
chiefly Ignorance and crime. Let the schools
which are furnished for all be used by all, by the
enactment and enforcement Of laws requiring
| the attendance of all children for some years.
| The plan works well In Prussia, and Is no
new experiment. Then, n one-tenth Of the
across the Schuyllsiu were appropriated TO
teaching some useful trade TO every child that
had no certain prospect after leaving school,
there would be no men here unable to keep
themselves. AS again, the complaint Is Often
Justly made that no employment can be found,
IL Is important that arrangements should be
made similar TO those, for instance, in the peni-
tentiaries or some of the asylums where the
inmates are supplied with work.
IA Il - III NE..A-
woman, or child able to labor in any way,
should get bread save by earning it. Every
| political economist lays It down as an axiom
that "labor Is the source of wealth :" and yet
thousands of able-bodied paupers are encour-
! aged and sbetted in laziness by jhoughtless
kindness. OF course, compulsory toll, under
the direction Of the State or of any society, as
here suggested, would be distasteful, and open
to the objection that II took away the respon-
sibility and independence of the Individual I;
but this could be further improved by adding
| the means Of removing those who wish TO go
to the country The city ruins thousands who
would be comfortable and respectable II once
fairly started In the country.
| II should be the aim of the phllanthropist
to put the unfortunate In the way Of helping
themselves. To foster the lmproVident,
and reward the incorporate, and nurse
the sluggard are not the best we can
do for the poor, and certainly not the wisost
for ourselves. While distress must be sleVi-
ated, 1t should bo, u possible, guarded against; +;
and in Homes for friendless children" and
destitute women, where instruction iS i'm
parted and morality taught, we find the
germs Of a movement which will result in the
extinction ofR very largo proportion Of that
class which now demands our censure and
reproof, while it appeals so strongly to our
sympathy.
Apuv Op rup pornuAc