, 1888-10-09
CHILDREN OF ISHMAEL.
HOW INDIscRlMlNATE AlMseIvING
ENCOURAGES IpLENEsS AND VICE.

The Short sightedness of Public Charity.
A Chart Which Illustrates Social De-
Notwithstanding Inhuences-The
Unwisdom of the Charitable-Prevention.
The children of Ishmael are still with
u.s. They are not the rowing Indians or
reckless cowboys of the western plains,
nor the desperate "moonshiners" of the
Tennessee mountains. They live near us
in New York. or wherever our homes may
be. Their garments touch ours in the
public places. ~Strangest of all, we may
be responsible in one sense for the Ish-
maelitish MADNESS in their blood; and yet,
If we recognized that responsibility, we
would complacently count it to ourselves
for righteousness. For we consider aims
giving a cardinal virtue, while we are too
short sighted to estimate the effect of
much indiscriminate almsgiving in en-
couraging moral fabbiness and mental
and physical inertia, in increasing pauper
ism and crime. in multiplying the number
of the children of Ishmael throughout our
land.
This is one of themost suggestive topics
treated at the national conference of
charities and correction recently held in
Buffalo, and elsewhere considered at some
length. The speaker, Rev. Oscar c. Nc
SuhOSh u IuuldudpOllS, u1uSUrdLeQ MS
study in social degradation by a chart
showing the social condition of thirty
families through five generations. This
meant some illustration of the life history
of 1852 individuals. Their history had
been followed for fifty years. There had
been several murderers in the proup.
and thieves without number. The ma
jority lived by begging or petty thieving.
The children died young. Licentiousness
characterized all the men and women.
From this came meutal and physical weak
ness, general incapacity to work, and In
certain cases, hopeless idiocy.
MoRBID HEREDITARY TENDENCIES.
This study of hereditary morbid ten
denotes is most interesting, but it pre-
sents nothing absolutely new. Maudsley,
of England, and Charcot, of Paris, have
naturally included the subject in their
study of mental pathology. In fact, in
the present century-and especially since
Cation developed the study of heredity
into a science-hereditary influences Of
all kinds have received the most careful
consideration. not only by medical stu
dents of pathological states of the mind
and body, but al by novelists. We
need recall but oi L.,tance, the Rougan-
Macquart series II lola, in which that
uncompromising realist has essayed to do
precisely what Mr.. McCulloch did upon
the chart-that is, trace the development
and effects of morbid tendencies from
generation to generation.
But Mr.. McCulloch himself has used
this study of heredity merely as an illus
tration of his striking declaration that
the tendencies to mental weakness and
general incapacity which he describes are
met and encouraged by the benevolent
public with unlimited public and private
aid, which is practically an incentive to
an idle and vicious life. He charged that
our elaborate systems of public charities
are in a large degree responsible for the
perpetuation of this idle and vicious
stock, and what public relief failed to &C
complish private benevolence supple
mented. 1.-The so called charitable people
who give to begging men and women and
children have a large sin to answer for"
The remedy indicated by the speaker was
to close up official outdoor relief, check
private ndiscriminate charity, and get
hold of the children. The last is an ad-
mirable suggestion. There is no practical
way of restricting private almsgiving,
a by educating people to the idea that
unwlse aims foster pauperism and the
bringing of more paupers into the world.
1t would be impossible to do away with
the great public charities of New York
even if it were desirable. But the ten
dency of charitable work can be modified
and turned toward prevention rather
than cure. Children who are early taught
a spirit of independence and self reliance
will not become paupers. If public char
tiles encourage this spirit and rigidly in
sist hat nothing can be had without
working for it, if work is possible, their
evils will be reduced to a minimum
Frank L~eslie's.