The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-03-25

| thousands who, IL was supposed. would be
thrown out Of employment. Soup houses
were established by private individuals. the
machinery Of public charity was enlarged,
and liberal appropriations were made 10y
benevolent organizations for the supposed
emergency. Tho result was that thousands
OF paupers were succored, but IL was soon
found That these paupers were not our own.
! They were strangers attracted hithcrby the
! bait OF free quarters and free living. aud
| after few months trial the effort to relieve
! them had to bc abandoned. Since then we
| have had no more soup houses. and the ex-
pcnditurcs of our charitable institutions have
been rather less than the usual amount
/ Yet. a. We have said, no extraordinary suf-
fcring has been apparent, though tile actual
poverty must have hcen greater than ever.
II must bc that private charity has been all
the moro busy, and that an ingenuity
sharpcncd by distress has taught the uncm-
ploycd to find either new occupations or
moro favorable fields of labor.
The cflcacyof private charity in relieving
the suTcrings Of the poor is usually greatly
undcrratcd because its operations cannot he
presented to the mind in n mass like those Of
Ni' government vi IL SD'fAl. W non WE
read that the Department Of Charities is
distributing So many tons Of coal and so
much bread. or that this or that organiza-
tion has spent so many thousands of dollars,
IL strikes the Imagination as something inn
portant. But If we could aggregate in the
same way the money given and the assist
ancc rendered 10y individuals, it would make
far more imposing array. Let every one
reckon up his own personal charities. and
those he knows Of in his friends, and then
compute what the whole must amount to In
a population Of one million and more, and
he will be surprised at the result. All win
ter long there has been falling upon the city
a shower 4 APPROXIMATIONS Kindness, Of
which the single drops pre- comparatively
nothing. but which, put together, Aays IN
mcnee value. We have heard of humble
families giving shelter and food to families
without homes and means Of support; Of
poor men sharing their pittance with others
poorer than Themselves; while the really
benevolent rich, who tire moro for doing
good than for seeing their names in the
papers, have been quietly bcstowing their
bounty where they saw with their own eyes
that If was needed.
Again. inquiry shows that a considerable
number Of poor people have sought refuge
outside Of the city. The tenement houses,
which. few years ago. were crowded, are
now half empty. and bills ITO lot" in nu-
mcrou, quarters show that n better class
OF dwellings are not all occupied. The In
cxorable law Of political economy by which
a locality which cannot furnish employment
Il deserted for another which can. j. exert
INK it-ei hero, and II not iutericrcI with.
Mil alon, do great deal toward solving
tine dilleuity. New York will lose Just So
much OF her population as she cannot find
work for, and then the remainder will take
care Of itself. When, too, any particular
occupation becomes unremunerative, those
engaged in it are driven to invent another,
and this, too, helps tighten the load Of dis
tress.
These two methods Of relieving the poor.
private charity and n change Of residence
on employment. have peculiar advantages
over mere ministerial bencvolcnce. Private
charity, ike mercy, hlo-ecs both the
giver and the receiver, STRENGTHENING in
each the sentiment Of common humanity.
and knitting closer the ties Of social life. The
| charity Of the Government or Of an organ
lzation is harsh and repcllng. The agent
who dspenses ii has no personal interest in
ii, and its recipient feels no thankfulness.
! The one discharges only q duty, and the
other accepts what he conccivcs to be his
rights. Besides, with every precaution.
official benevolence cannot avoid being inn
posed on. Where there are 80 many case
/ 10 be- attendeito impo-turc must slip inland
/ it l. piece Of good fortune when the minis