Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-04-25
great waste by m;sdirected effort, and not
only that, but an unavoidable fostering of
=aca-r;onnl r,nnaicancy md fraud PR

great waste by m;sdirected effort, and not
only that, but an unavoidable fostering of
professional mendicancy and fraud. Pri-
vate and public charity was dispensed
with absolute ignorance whether the
shower Of benefits fell upon the deserving
or the undeserying. ): To prevent
the blessed Offices OF charity which should
reach the really needy from being appro-
nriated by the idle and vicious, nothing
could have been satisfactory except
thorough Organization and 4 system of in
saection and registration as exact as the
operations of we'll conducted police de
partment. This is what the society has
ACCOMPLISHED 1t has 20,0G0 poor families
registered, and when applications for re-
lief are made it can ascertain Just how
much truth there is, and how much
deception, in the representations made"
This fairly presents the issue i'll the pres
ent debate Il applies with equal force TO
great ard small cities, since human nature
is not greatly different i'll its manifesto
tons in thc greater than in the lesser
community. The Secretary Of the New
York society, in his report, says; THE
great problem Of the whole business of the
organization is to find channels Of occu-
patton for the poo-" Or rs We ex-
pressed il in cur first article, the
most helpfal charity is that
which enables is recipient to help him
sell, while that nost unwisely dispensed
is the charity that encourages idIeness and
viciou5ness. The experience, we under
stand, Of that long established charitable
society of Sacramento, "The Howards,'
gives emphasis to these expressions, and
proves that the difficulty met with in New
York. with its more than million Of PEG
pie, is precisely Of the same character en-
countered in Sacramento. The collection
OF charitable donations and their di7pers-
ing, it would appear, are Offices that may
be made distinct from that Of the new
class Of organizations These may he
termed the detective and way-prepaTins
agencies for the best disposition Of the
charities Of The former. We do not see
why such m organization would not prove
Of the highest benefit in this community.
L would enable the deserving poor tomake
their needs known without humiliation or
publicity, while il would guard the public
and private charity societies from impcsi
ton, and thus enable them to accomplish
the largest measure OF good with the mir
imam Of misdircction Of effort. The sub
joct receives a great deal Of light and as
distance from the admirable monograph Of
Mrs. lowell on "Public Relief and Private
Charity" in which she lays down the gen
eral principles underlying all action in the
premises somewhat Is follows: That char
ity must tend to develop the moral nature
Of those it helps, and must not tend to
iniure others. Each case must be dealt
with radically, and permanent
means Of helping it be found, and that the
best way to help people IS 70 help them to
help themselves But to do this requires
an amount Of principle AID character Of
work and devotion, which It Is sometimes
almost impossible to find. But ia most
communities it ought not to he difficult %
find those ready to undertake such task,
and unless they are found, vice and crime
will continue to grow by the side OF pow
erty and wretchednes-. Bnt this writer
points out with great clcarnes> that, III
applying labor tests, il must be borne in
! mind that to undertake to make artii-
cial work" for the poor, 10 supply charity
sewing, or open a charity woodward, is only
to make matters worse than they were he
fore, for the original poor people still re-
main where they we're, and Others, more
over, viii probably come also to ask for
employment, attracted b. the offer Of work,
which is great induccment to many who
would scorn to ask or accept open charity,
A labor test, it is held, IL an absolute
necessity for the able-bodicd, but il must
he labor test only and preliminary to
finding them regular employment, "and
it must be disagreeahc and undcr-paid, or
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