Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-12-10


\ institutions, held in the main audience
room of Eden Hall Thursday. The
4 meeting was opened ut 2.45 O'Clock by
p Mayor Wiley, who spoke briefly upon
Z the object of the conference and stated
that the purpose was to secure the con
current and harmonious action of the
different charities in the State in order
10 raise the needy and destitute and
diminish pauperism and mendicity.
Judge Ball was unanimously chosen
secretary of the meeting. Dr. j. w.
Walk, general superintendent of organ
4 led charity in Philadelphia, was unable
to be present at the meeting TO give u
dissertation on "Organized Charity,n as
n was expected he would.
f Miss Mary Il. Richmond, general sec
( retary of the Charities Organization So
ciety of Baltimore, was present and gave
an extremely interesting address upon
the subject of "Organized Charity" The
Nspeaker said that the object Of organized
Charity was to labor to prevent poverty
a and alleviate the suffering of the
needy and destitute. Real charity was
81 not alms-giving, she said but it is deeper
and harder than that. It is a grind
week in and week out. There must be
no relaxation in the work.
0O1if MISS Ailce II. lnOnhS, superintendent
OF the Eighth and Ninth districts of
Philadelphia, read an interesting paper
Upon the subject, "Friendly Visiting.m
This work, she said, was invaluable.
She was followed by Mrs. Abby Morton
Diaz of Boston, who discourscd on the
"True Work of Humanity for HUI
H manity."
NM Thursday evenings session of the State
IT, (,npfaroppp ftf (thn % nd Ipctifutianc
held in the assembly room of Eden
Hall was attended by an interested and
intelligent audience. Mayor Wiley
presided and introduced the first speaker
Phillip 9. Garrett, Esq, of Philadel-
hphia. To the left of the speakers stand
and Immediately facing the audience sat
u Frank Ball, judge of the municipal
b court, while Daniel w. Taylor, presi-
dent Of the Board of Associated Chari-
ties occupied a position upon the stage
at the extreme right Of the speaker.
.ltf MIR. Garrett was preceded in his dis
course by d. w. Taylor, who stated
that the meeting was called together for
the purpose Of getting more co-opera-
ton of the churches and charitable or
ganizations throughout the State. In
order to do good work Mr.. Taylor
stated that it was necessary to secure
cooperation, and this could be accom-
plished by the charitable organizations
bending every energy to help the con
n ference in its good work,
Mayor Wiley then introduced to the
audience Mr. Garrett as the flrstspeaker
during the evening. Mr.. Garrett was
for five years president of the State
Board Of Charities Of Pennsylvania, first
chairman of the committee on lunacy
in Pennsylvania and ex- president of the
National Conference Of Charities and
Corrections at Washington, d. G. The
speakers subject was: "rhe Value Of
Organization in All Philanthropic
Work" He said:
.srhe poor you have always with you,
and from the earliest record of the human
heart it has been regarded as pious obli-
CATION upon those who were blessed with
the worlds substance to aid those who
were less fortunate. He prayeth well wht
loveth well, both man and bird and beast
And the tender synonym for love itself, is
the word chosen to describe that broar
class of acts and of institutions createt
and performed for the good of the needy
charities, charity or love.
1t is one of the numerous unjust obiec
tions raised against the movement which
has been known rs organized charity thai
il was destructive of that reflex benefit &c
the giyer of aims which arises from hi.
personal contact with the poor man who
is his beneficiary, rendering his feeling:
and causing him to be humbled and con
trited in the realization of his own mer
cies. There are, nevertheless, two opposit,
answers to this The first one being tha
too-often an unwarrantable assumption ol
superiority on the part of the givel
interferes with any spiritual advan
tage to him personally from contac
in acts of charity with his poorer
hrotbar The gpnpt11 ie d.
Corps of Friendly Visitors furnish rs
part of the system of charity organization,
and abundant outlet for the sympathies o
the bcnevolet, and at the same time pro
poses to temper instrumental sympathy
with a wisdom most beneficial 10 the re
cipient Of help. The advantage to TIN
giver of relief to the afflicted, depend
largely on the spirit in which he gives
He should do il in the trues spirit Of charit!
and not herald his aims as the hypocrite
do in the synagogues and in the streets.
But am going to dwell tonight prin
cipally upon what Charles q. Amcs lie
scribed rs AWisdom in Charity" Til
W address entitled Wisdom in Charity wa
made to the society which is supposed Il
have been the first in the country 10 adop
4 this system of organized charity. 'rlii
was the Germantown Society, in 1873, til
year of the Jay Cooke failure. Among til
la large number of persons then thrown on
~ Of employment it was found that onl
ti about W or W per cent were then deServin
of aims. There was disposition to re
lieve distress among the people, but onl
among the needy. The Germantown St
cety, organized not solely for the relief o
the suffering, but its purpose was to als
Y prevent impostors and undeservng pei
n sons from taking the bread from iii
III mouths of the poor and starving. Til
was not the first society for this purpose
however the London Society for organic
n ing charity and suppressng mendicit
having previously been in existence
The seed once planted III the Ne'
b World rapidly spread until, iii 1881
eighteen years after the beginnin
of the movement, there are at least {
Il societies following the same sytem thi
side the Atlantic. On its organization th
new system found every church gyin
independently of the other, and often tn
same pauper was found upon the rolls {
several churches receiving aid from eacl
1t found persons capable of working livin
exclusively upon the charity of other
Benevolent societies of all kinds had bee
formed wholesale. In the almshoust
families were found who had lived in I'll
same place for generations, at the publ
charge. Other families were foun
equally dependent upon outdoor reli'
with luxuries at their command. In son
cases groceries were found TO be used as
currency. exchangcable for value receive
l atbrothels and dramshops.
n The poverty that followed the panic {
IN 1873, increased tho doles Of CHART