The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-06-16
The Beggar6.

It is proposed to establish board to Sc
cure cooperation among the various charita-
BILE institutions OF the Episcopal Church In
New York, to give information as to them,
and to check their needless multiplication,
80 that the same field shall not be covered
twice over. to the waste OF money, energy,
and charitable sentiment.
The charities referred to are those outside
OF the parishes. appealing to the Church gen.
orally for support, and it Is important that
they should be under such supervision. The
present tendency is to increase these private
charitable agencies In all directions, though
the list of those already existing fills hun
dreds Of pages. and the public institutions
for the same purposes are numerous and
maintained at great cost. AS a consequence,
paupcrsm is stimulated the body OF pro-
fessional dependents Is steadily null
tlpled and the benevolently disposed
are beset with opportunities from
agents of the institutions which make life
burden to them. The Scriptural injunction
not to let your left hand know what your
right hand does, is obeyed to the letter, and
as a matter Of self-protection. A rich man
or woman who gets the reputation Of liber-
atty and soft-heartedness is pursued I'M
ceasingly by beggars for charities in New
York. Therefore the wise do their good by
stealth oftontimes, even at the expense of
acquiring a reputation for niggardliness.
These charities are founded by different
churches, by individuals who have some
whimsical scheme for benefiting society, by
uneasy characters who are at a loss to find
something to do, and In other instances by
professional almoners who go into the bust
ness to make living. Wherever new field
is opened, perhaps advantageously at
the start, initiative workers rush In I'M
til it becomes SO far crowded with
them that their principal work is in hunting
up ostensible objects of charity upon whom
they can expend the money begged from
the benevolent. Where one agency is enough
a score OF agencies are established. Chari-
ties overlap each other many deep, and breed
and support an army OF paid operatives and
professional paupers.
Besides these institutions every church
has its parochal charities and they have
multiplied greatly since religion has substi-
tuted the sentiment of humanity for doc
trinal conviction. There are hundreds OF
them, with thousands of volunteer workers.
pOOu anu enlHuSldbIlC young WOMEN III Culel
part, who are shocked because the mass OF
people have notions about the proper mode Of
living very different from their own. There
fore, no matter how heavya mans purse
may be. it Is not full enough to satisfy the
demands OF his own parish and have much
left for outside charity In many OF the
churches collection boxes and subscription
papers arc passing around continuously
and charitable impulses are subjected to q
severe strain.
The begging goes on 50 industriously as
to give the impression that this is town OF
paupers instead of great and prosperous
community OF self-respecting and self-de-
pendent people. As an expert In charity has
declared, enough money is collected annually
to support all the really suffering in the
Fifth Avenue Hotel. Meantime, as every
family knows, there are mutitudes of
needy people whom these institutional
charities do not reach. Where, then
does the money gor 1t goes in great part
to the maintenance of the idle and slothfu
the leeches. and those who make business
OF pauperism, They know best how to sat
isfy the vanity OF benevolence in the anna
teur almoners, They can cringe, and they
are adopts in the art OF Discrimination. To
get food for the body without working for 1t