The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-03-13
Tho Charities or New York-Tho Les
sons OF the Winter.

The Charities or Now York-The Les
sons OF the Winter.
"7he quality of mercy is not strained;
IL droppeth as the gentle rain from heduen
Upon The place beneath. II is taoice blessed;
IL blesseth him that giues and him that tahes. "
We are reminded of these words of the
master as we view the magufcence of the
charity shown by New York towards those to
whom the winter has brought suffering We
had hoped that the severity of the weather
would abate and with it much OF the misery
attending these cold. hard days. But Winter
persists in lingering in the lap Of Spring, and
the efforts that have been made with so much
generosity and self-sacriice must be con-
tinued.
1t is singular coincidence that while New
York is called upon to make unusual efforts to
remedy the condition of the worthy and suf-
fering poor the same duty is imposed upon
Paris We have heard of the meeting at the
palace of the Elysee, under the presidency of
the Duchess of Magenta, the wife of the Presi-
dent of the French Republic, at which the
journalists of Paris, without any distinction
Of party assembled to provide means for
relieving the poor The only plan
that could be adopted, so pressing was
the want was to provide soup kitchens or
cheap cooking saloons, similar to those under
the management of Mr. Delmonico and others
in New York. The Duchess of Magenta and
her associates know very well that as general
economical system nothing could be more un-
wise than to perpetuate any system Of absolute
charity, which would only result in general
mendicancy. In no city has this rule been
more strictly followed than in Paris. Mendi-
cancy is impossible under the rigid system of
French police. And the various institutions
for the relief of the suffering, which are upon
a more liberal and prudent plan in Paris than
in any other city in the world, oppose any
tendency to idleness and beggary, and only
grant relief to the most deserving. But.
occasions arise which We have seen in Paris, as
In New York, when we cannot be governed by
the ordinary rules Of prudent benevolence. In
Paris a hard winter and the arrangement
of business and industry consequent upon the
war have thrown thousands of honest and in
dustrious laboring men out Of employment.
These men are not paupers They do not
shirk employment They are not objects Of
charity. They would rather eat the bread of
industry than Of benevolence. But they are
victims of the dislocation of business conse-
quent upon the war, and there is only one way
of relieving them. They must have food or
die. 1t is with them as with the Irish in 1S48,
rrbo fbo RI fol 1a1 in Ind Ito
that the rice will not grow Ireland had to be
supplied with grain as India is supplied with
rice for what is more certain than anything
else is that we cannot feed the hungry on
ideas or satisfy the starving with logical de-
auctions and figures Of speech. We had the
same problem in New York. The extraordi-
nary want in this city which came upon US
with the winter was not the result of thrift
lessness. We have no doubt that large
portion Of those now receiving the
bounties of so many public and private insti-
tutions saw winter coming perfectly satisfied
they could meet its terrors and hardships
without embarrassment. But the panic fell
upon them as the war fell upon the poor in
Paris. Suddenly they were thrown out of
employment. All means Of earning wages
were arrested. There was no work to be
done-no money to be earned. They were as
much at the mercy of the famine as the
Hindoos when the season brought no rain
for industry to the poor is the rain that opens
the soil and brings forth fruits and enables
them to live.
What New York has done so magnifcently
she has done silently We do not know a
1.-THE of what has been achieved by our people.
We do not see everything on the housetops.
In our society there are innumerable methods
of bene6cence. The Church, the Sunday
school, the ''Dofcas'' and 'Mite" Society,
the mission, the lodge, the mutual associa-
! tons for relief, are all so many parts of the
social machinery. There is scarcely citizen
who is not in some way connected with
one of these institutions. The result is
that. charity enters into our social life as it
does into our religious life. Whatever we
may profess as matter of faith our civilza-
ton follows the teachings of Christ Chris.
tianity rests upon charity, as other forms Of
faith, wonderfully beautiful in their way,
rest upon selt-denial As religion gives tone
to our civilization we may see in this one cir
cumstance how the teachings Of Christ
differ from those of Confucius and Plato
and Mahomet. In many respects the
moralists and philosophers lay down doc
trine as wise and well worthy of example
as the lessons in the New Testament. He
would be a good man who would diligently
study Coniucius and Plato, and base his
actions upon their precepts. But where they
fail to reach the divine example Of the
Founder Of the faith is in their inability to
comprehend the real meaning of charity Ac-
cordingly, we honor no men in our