Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-12-02

| public spirit 1t will assist as to make this
inquiry practical IL we look over the ground
and see what these demands are In general
they are in the lines Of public health, public
order public employment, public charity and
public instruction. Let US glance ut these
lines of public work.
l. No c0mmunitycdn possess tie conditions
If g0odhea ioitlout c0mmunttyac These
conditions include an adequate supply Of
good water, sufficient in quantity and at such
rates that the poorest family in the commun-
ity may have an abundance for every domes-
tic purpose. Corresponding with tho water
supply there must be complete and ample
system Of sewerage. Water and drainage go
together as conditions Of public health, and
they must be abundant and cheap. Every
home should be supplied with them. All
streets, lanes and public places should be
kept thoroughly clean, orderly and tidy. In
addition to this supply of the means Of health
there should be an active and constant super
vision Of the habits of the people to see that
no man or household so neglects the means
of health as to impair the health of q neigh
borhood. Every community has in it persons
who will not use the means of health howev-
er abundant they may be, and the health of
the community requires that such persons be
constrained by public authority, at least not
to imperil the health of others by their stu
Ilu ubBltNAs LNbIO lubTtIOIts DG-
sides its water supply and sewerage, should
have its board of health, which should be sus-
tanned by strong and intelligent public SEN
tment in an active and extensive supervision
of all matters affecting the health of the peo-
pie.
2. Pubic order requires community action.
II every man is left to do what he pleases,
there will always be enough persons who
are both sensual and lawless to ill the
hiding places of town with vice and
its streets and public places with rowdy-
ism. Every public interest of q COM
munity, therefore, demands an efficient po-
lice, so strong in the integrity Of the men on
the force and in the support of public spirited
citizens that vice shall be driven from its hid
ing places and rowdyism find no chance to
lift its barbarous face in public places
Why should such thing as a dram shop. n
gambling saloon or house of prostitution be
permitted in any community? The good cit
liens know and feel that these things are
public enemies more dangerous to the peace
and happiness of the people than an armed
foe laundering at the gates with shot and
shell The good citizens t 90 are very largely
in the majority in our New England towns
and cities. Why, then, are these deadly evils
permitted to wage mortal war upon our
peace Certainly it is not Christian for us
to be satisfied with protecting our own sever
al homes while the young who are sojourn-
ing with us away from their home, the young
whose parents are themselves the victims of
vicious appetites, and the many whose circum-
stances are such that they cannot protect
themselves, are exposed TO the attacks of these
insidious evils So we all say. But we ask
in despair, what can be done about it and
those who for gain are daily Turing the young
and the weak to their dens laugh in our faces
and ask US what We are going to do about it.
Now the thing to do about it is perfectly
plain if only we were public spirited enough
to do it. The laws are strong enough, and if
in any particular they are unsuitable they can
be modified. All that is needed is that there
should be officers Of the law, not mere hire
lings. ready 10 serve the criminals when they
pay more than the citizens, but men of ster
ling integrity, in sufficient number, too, SO
that the vicious cannot slip through their fin
gers, well paid and well furnished with mon
ey-always the sinews of war-and this po-
lice force commissioned 10y powerful public
sentiment to watch day and night for all vio-
lations of law and vigorously to suppress
them Public order demands an efficient po-
lice, and public spirit will not begrudge the
cost of such force Public spirit is the pro-
duct of that divine law of love which says
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"
Public spirit therefore will lead good citizens
about those who need its protection.
3. Public charity demands community dc-
ti0R. The poor, the orphaned and the sick
make large demands on the well to do and the
strong. They should be cared for Just as far
as possible by private benefcence but when
individuals have done all for individuals which
they can, there remains much to be done by
public charity.
The almshouse is well-recognized New
TVr, tv,.t IA
three classes of persons-the imbecile, the in
firm through accident or disease, infancy or
old age, and the destitute through vice. Just
as far as possible our almshouses should take
account Of these various causes of pauperism
in the treatment of their inmates. All should
be treated kindly; but he whom vice has made
dependent, but who is still able to labor,
should be treated as a child and taught how
to become a man. His whole moral training
should be made the object of special care
Children whose necessities bring them to the
almshouse should find it genuine home, full
of the light and Joy of Christian love; a home
of which they will never be ashamed, and to
which in after years they can look back with
grateful pleasure. For the sick and the aged
it should be the same; its furnishings and its
care should make them feel that the citizens
who provide them with a home are Christian
men who love their neighbors as themselves.
Those who have the care of the almshouse
should therefore be people of superior make,
NOT only capable in business way, but hav-
ing also the capacity to train misguided souls
and minister comfort, sympathy and spiritual
helpfulness to stranded humanity. Most
towns and cities would regard this sort of
| treatment of their wards as very expensive,
not to say troublesome. This would be a suf-
fcient objection to it with the taxpayers in
most communities. And it is open TO that
objection. Loving your neighbor as your
self is expensive if you love in deed and not
in talk only. But publc-spirited Christian
men will nevertheless desire to deal with the
vicious and unfortunate in Just this Christian
way.
But there is a natural limit to what com
munity may do in public charity by town au-
thority. Where the town authority leaves off,
there the voluntary cooperative effort of the
citizens should begin. How far the able
bodied, who are suffering through improvi-
dence, should be assisted, is always a difficult
| question. The apostolic preeept, "If any
will not work, neither let him eat, " is certain
ly wise one; but the wife and children of
| the improvident man must not be altogether
neglected. 1t is better even to lift the weight
of suffering little from the lazy, vicious
man, much as he deserves it, than that they
should suffer permanent harm. They, too,
who do the best they know how sometimes
fall into straits and need help. when it would
be very unwise as well as unkind to compel
them to apply to the town authorities for aid
1t seems to me that the Christian churches of
a community-whent they are genuinely Chris
tian and not mere pagan sects under Chris
tian name-are the very best organizations
| for this kind of work. The various charity
lodges do good work of this kind, but their
work is necessarily limited to their own mem
bers and their families Too often this is the
case with the work of the churches but when
it is SO it is because they fail of their ideal
help to all men everywhere. 1t is, therefore,
when properly ordered, the best possible or
ganization for doing just this work.
But there is still another kind of public