Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-12-21
yOBLY SUPPORTED.
Flattering Success of the Associated
Charities Mass Meeting
Sunday Night.
Explanation Of the Work by W. \. John
-ou. of Cincinnati-Frogress Made
Thus Far-Liet of >ubscrip-
tion Comm itt-rs

DIR. GutwaId. from the 10th chapter o
ST Luke iatIng to the good Samaritan
who hound up the wounds AMI took care o
the unfortunate man who tell among thieves
Rev. Wilkinson then rendered very i'm
preSSivr pral,.'. following which anothe
hymn was sung by IL" choir.
Mr.. Bowman then SAID: MY fellow cit
izen>: -Four weeks ago this evening at
public meeting held III this huu>,
il NaS decided that this community wuult
enter upon the work of caring for the dc>
tItutc in our M DIST by the organization of Al
a>snclaird charity corporation. During tn,
past four Weeks. a charter has been Oh
tanned for the corporation: il has been lr-
sal'y orga! ized under the laws of Ohio: q
Board OF Trustees has been elected and
held number OF meetings: district so"ietie>
have been 'urmrd in the ten districts int,
which the city has been divided committees
Ia take charge of the various departments
/ have been appointed. a central office has
been obtained by procuring room
over the office of the Probate
Judge: superintendent has been ap-
pointed and tomorrow morning al eight
o'clock that office will hr opened and Il
Associated Charities Of Springfield will hr
in the field. ready and fully equipped Ia aid
and assist the destitute 10y pecunary assist
ance. and by that assistance which is far
more valuable. that comes from willing
hands and earnest hearts.
Among the various committees. one upon
a hospital WAS selected. That committee
has visited several several cities in the
country. examined thoroughly the hospitals
and after careful consideration has matured
a plan for the establishment uf a hospital
in this city. During the coming week il is
expected that that plan will be reported to
the board ot trustees. their Judgment taken
upon il. and If il be approved. an attempt
will he made to pat il into execution. -
that before many weeks it i hoped that tn"
CITY will hr provided with a hospital. A.
this work involves cooperation ou the part
uf the citizens and charitable organizations
and rom each family. and from each in
divIdual. il was thought desirable by the
trustees that some ore who has given large
attention To this subject should he invited Ia
come here and explain Ia all of Us the
practical operation of such an organization
more fully than any one here would be able
Ia do il. The trustees have been fortunate
in securing gentleman who has been lTTgt-
ly connected with this work. have the
pleasure. therefore of announcing that
William A. johnson. superintendent of the
As uCiated Charities of Cincinnati. Will
now address You.
Before Mr.. Johnson had spoken five min
utes ne had demonstrated the fact that he
was perfectly at home on the subject
and knew exactly what he was taking
about. He said: Ladies aud Gentlemen
On last Thursday morning received Eel
egram lrum the Superintendent of the As
>ocated Charities OF this city telling me
N. b..r
subject OF associated charities | received
ii with mingled pleasure ard dfhden"e-
pleasure because it i pleasure To speak
about a work into which my heart enters
d tidencr because was atIaid that il was a
subject too broad for me to handle. But
when cane here and souud what a la~rr
interest was taken in it | felt that you
wanted to know the ac.ual acts ana not
hear a hurst of uratorN. The former
can give yon. the latte" | tan not
The subject Is charity aud 1t seems quite
proper that you should know the meaning
of the word. Ii had not the >..mr narrow
meaning that il has seventy or eighty wears
age. The definition ot II a. al present uSei
is practical henrNolencc. II there Is any
thing that the nineteenth century differs
from any other in il l. in the practical science
of the day. We light our streets and houses
by new scientific discovery. and il is ap-
piled in many different ways Ii is there
fore of scientific charity that | want
10 talk. Charity is not merely an emotion
of the human heart but ii is inGt
emotion put into active work. / will
not tell you that pauperiSm is the greatest
evil of the day. not that il is one of the
greatest evils. but will tell you that it l.
one of the very great evils of the nineteenth
century. Paupcrism is that scientific evil
which il is our duty 10 redress. Take the
word citizen and then imagine the very OPP
pOsite Of it, and you have a pauper. Pauper
ism blackenS everything il touches. | do
not want you 10 cunfound poverty and pau
perism. 1t i only a step down. hut il l.
much easier to take the step iTom poverty
Ia pauP"ri>m than from pauperI>m IL
simple poverty. Some persons claim
that pauperism is Necessary
evil. do not believe it,
Ii is an accidental and imperfect condition
Of civilization. When the millennium comes
pauperi>m will disappear. but there Will
still he poverty and distress. Therefore as
parperiSm i not neCr>sa-y there must be a
cause for il that can he found ont. What
is the cause? There are three conditions %:
il: First. poverty or distress second. laZi-
foolish. unwi>e charity. Without charity
then can bc no pauperi>m. There have
been people who say that the only way 10
cure pauperism is To give up charity. That
might be possible if the world consisted %
iron machines. hut not while the-r is huTan
flesh and blood. Scientific charity declares
paupcri>m a. its greatest foe. and laws
down four rules which you must obSe-ye.
The first is 10 supply a prompt adequate,
and worthy relief for every worthy case of
poyer.y The second is the cOrrelatye Of
the first, that no improper applicant for a r.
sistauce snail he assisted unless he gives ar
equivalent for what he gets. by wo.k or in
some other name. The third is that
every poor man. woman or family that
comes Ia ask FOR assistance at your hands.
shall he given such course Of treatment,
shall be 50 aided that they shall be lifted up
above the necessity Of aid in the future.
The fourth Is that no children shall be a
lowed 10 grow un as paupers. The old or.
il is hard to save. but the children can AMI
must he saved. The Associated Charities
have taken this in hand. Their work is al
Together different from what il was ten
wears ago. Then ii was theory. but now II
is systematic and practical. There are
four Kinds of work. the first two of which
| call negative. The firsi thing Ia do is in
ve>tjgatiun: the second registration: tie
third corporation. and the lou a. vista
tion. Investigation and regis, alton is
hard drrary. y >tematlC wo'k. ard lAeref"Te
to do this work every society should hire
some one who is competent 10 do it. IL re
quire' a good. clear headed. intelligent man
and believe you have made a good SeleC-
tion. The idea that 10 pay a maa a good
salary for this work is not right. iS all fool
iShne~S Iou do not realize of what I'M
portauce this i. II must be- done >yste-
mat,cally. You must not only know that
a man i poor but how he became poor.
Then re- Strati0n comes next and is a very
impo. taut feature. 1t is the part of wisdom
to put dOMh in the books the information
YOU get. 1t also avoids duplication in dis
persing charity. Here the speaker re-
la.ed several ve-y nUSirg instance
Of persons who received charity
from different sources aud were actually
getting rich. They were very laughahle hu,
splendid illustrations of the depth OF human
depTayity.
/ He then went on TO say that relief should
be given in such way as to be beneficial
81 that the recipient would not need relief
again. How can that be done? Work i