The Portland daily press., 1883-04-27
sign was executed at Poissy in house full
of German soldiers,
The Pauper Question.

A writer in the Atlantic, Mr.. d. o. Kel-
logg, discusses the pauper question from a
broad standpoint, and outlines the efforts
made in various countries to suppress it.
The truth that he gathers from all the Stats
ties and facts that he presents is that ''men-
delaney grows by the provision made for II. !"
He says on the subject:
The corrupting influence Of professional,
or mechanical, or official charity Is beyond
all denial. In 1t the element Of personal
sympathy is almost wholly obscured. The
fountain of beneticence is concealed Pau
pers do not drink at the clear spring. The
almoner of public fund does not give his
own away, but simply distributes among
clamorous claimants what they regard as
morally their own. They can recognize but
little more ground of gratitude TO the mech
anism of distribution than to the hydrant
which brings the water that 1t taints into
their dwellings. There Is little In this per-
functoriness to reinstate the poor In the con-
sciousness of social ties. Rather, the offic-
ial agency of relief is bar to the avenues OF
society. II is a gate where those stand, to
use Longfelow's graphic words
'sWho Amid their wants and woes
Hear the sound of doors that close,
And OF feet that pass them by;
Grown familiar with dsfavor,
Grown familiar with he flavor
u the bread by which men die
Whatever scheme of dealing with pauper-
I'm may be pressed upon our notice, one
truth will doubtless emerge from every ex-
pertinent, clad in responsiveness until society
recognizes it. TRANSPORTED with divine radi-
anee when oheyed. 1t Is the truth that man
Is not an animal, but moral and social be-
Ing. The system must be simply the meth
cd by which the noblest spirit acts, not la
bor-savlng mechanism. The English work
house, with all its discriminating rules, has
lapsed again and again into winters ref
uge OF vagahonds, a recuperating asylum Of
the inehriate and licentious, source of in.
lection to its hapless innocent inmates, and
prop TO prolong the career of profligacy.
Under the elaborate and splenddly adjusted
organization of the Bufeanx de Renaissance,
Napoleon III. thought 1t necessary, during
his reign. to expend more than $500. 000, 900
on the public improvement of Paris, in order
70 furnish employment to the people, while
Belgium is "the classic land of pauperism.' =
The severe Fragebogen OF Leipsic cannot
remedy the faithlessness or Indifference OF
the oyerseer, nor the
LACK OF MORAL INFLUENCES
attaching to the paucity OF visitors. Under
all systems, everything depends on the man.
ner OF administration, and the spiritual
wealth OF the community at their command.
While the scope OF relief extends to no great.
or wants than an intelligent farmer consld-
ers in his herd, the pauper cannot but fee
that he Is placed among the cattle outside,
and excluded from all participation in the
life OF these households. The closing of the
doors TO high human fellowships, with theil
moral bases of order aud concord, with their
bright conventions of courtesy and refine.
ment, with their rich play OF responsive sym.
pathies, with their hope-exeiting vistas OF
still afnpler and purer prospects-this is the
saddest element in the situation OF those
whom adversely, ignorance or vice has de-
pressed. The poor wretch, who, lapsed from
the pale of cosmic life, is sinking into the de.
basement of animalism, where intelli sence
turns TO predatory instincts, the voice Of
| conscience is quiet, the faculties for fellow,
| ship wither up, and the hope of better thing:
does not stir the heart, needs to be
ENyIRoNED BY THE FRIENDSHIPS
of the capable and strong. Without this higl
| err and harder charity, organization is moi
method, but mechanism. The hand without
the mind is but tool. Together they arr
the artist The mechanisms Of charity car
never shape the hard rock Of pauperism int
the features and forms of beauty For tina
undertaking society must become an inspired
artist. May not this persuasion have led thu
Apostle Paul to couple the principle and ex
hortation together? "He that soweth 10 hi.
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; bu
he that soweth to the spirit, shall of thu
spirit reap life everlasting. And let us moi
be weary in well doing; for In due season We
shall reap If we faint not.