Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-11-06

| PUBLIC MONEY FcR OUTDOOR RELIEF.
| Mr. 4 G. Warner, superintendent of chari-
\ tics. has submitted to the District Commission
| ers his promised memorandum in reply 10 the
statements recently made to them by COM
\ mittee from the board of managers of the As
| sociated Charities.
The memorandum is as follows: In the
matter of apportioning to the Associated Char
| itics of this city some part Of the fund OF
$4,000 placed at your disposal by Congress
.for the relief OF the poor have the honor TO
submit the following memorandum: I have
pover definitely recommended to voc that the
| amount last year spportioned to the Associated
Charities should hereafter be WITHHELD, but I
have made Recommendations for other uses OF
the money inconsistent with their receiving
that amount, and I have indicated to their
managers my opinion that it would not be ex-
pedient TO renew the grant of last year. Some
matters, not strictly pertinent to the question
in hand. were brought forward By the commit
tee that appeared before you on the 23d Of
October last and these must DO briefly touched
upon before turning TO a systematic review Of
the points at issue
The president of the board Of managers Of
the Associated Charities urged that have no
authority to make recommendations regarding
the apportionment of the $4,000 for the re-
lief of the poor" You, the Commissioners,
will remember that on the 18th of June last
asked if you wished me ito report and make
recommendations concerning the expenditure"
of this money. and have the signature Of the
three Commissioners TO the written answer.
Yes" 1t would be strange indeed if You had
no right TO request a subordinate to furnish
You with facts and recomme ndations in such
matter. Mr. Dodge further urged that have
no right to make recommendations regarding
the uses to which the centennial fund shall
be put. / have never made any.
Ii was further said by the committee that the
only question is. Shall this money be given
to the Associated Charities or to the police for
distribution among the poor" l. on the con-
trary, think there are four distinct policies
open to you III the matter OF outdoor relief:
ID You FREQ to mold that outdoor relief
with taxpayers money is inadvisable and that
there shall be none of it. By taking this course
you would put yourself III line with what is
considered expcdient by a majority Of those
best acquainted with relief work il. the large
cities of America. The $4,000 might then all
he used TO pIO'ide more etectually for depend
ent children or for the relief of the destitute
sick than is now possible. (2) You are free to
hold that outdoor relief with taxpayers
money is advisable, but that it should be adj
ministered only by experts IN the work, ap
pointed by yourselves and directly respon-
siDe to you for their administration
of the trust. 90 lou free to mold that
| such relief should be given by and through the
police department., the health department or
any other branch of the city government on
which you may think best to impose the
sponsibility OF such additional work. "a You
are free to give the Taxpayers money Tor dis
trlbution in outdoor relief to self organized
private associations. such the Associated
Charities the Society of st. Vincent de Paul,
the Women's Christian Association or others
that do more or less of such work. 1t is only
as to the advisability Of adopting the last
named policy that We are now making inquiry.
The last non-pertineut matter to which 1
must briefly allude is the assertion by Mr..
Dodge that the clause of the statute which pre-
scrlbes that the man to be chosen superintend-
ent of charities shall not be a resident of the
District lis infamous" | wish to suggest that
he Is discussing an act OF Congress and one for
which am IN nowise responsible. l regard
the insertion of the nonresident clause un
fortunate. though certainly il was not the
worst misfortune that might have befallen the
new Office. have already indicated that pos
sibly shall hereafter see my way clear to rec
ommending its amendment or repeal. How
ever. since have become acquainted with the
District and have found how much at yari-
ance are the views of its citizens as compared
with these of Congress regarding
justice in the matter of appropriations. APP
preciate more fully than at first the reasons
that Congress has for wishing that the superin-
| tendent Of charities may represent federal as
well as local interests. And ii has occurred to
me that in consequence of the fact that come
from a distance, and because my attitude is
judicial, l may be able to serve the real
| interests of the District before Congress more
effectually than if the body we're given an ex-
| cuse for treating me as the mere mouihpiece of
local ambitions and as special picader in be-
| half of everything that the District claims.
/ wish to bring to your attention three rea-
sons for not hereafter apportioning to the
Associated Charities any part of the SIG, 900
''for the relief of the poor.
/. 1t will be injurious to the society itself to
receive public money. This statement is ques-
| toned by the managers. but it should be no.
ticed that they are not dlsintcrested judges.
| 1t is mucn easier and pleasanter to disburse
public money than to obtain and disburse pri-
waite contributions. As ore who has worked
for society entirely supported by private
contributions am well aware of the straits in
which finance committees find themselves and
| of the unpleasant nature of The work of secur-
| ing adequate support. i can understand that
even good men should wish to avoid such work
| if possible, but they should not forget that the
interests of the poor and of the community will
suffer if they do. Taxation cannot take the
| place OF self-sacrifce. To support my conten-
| IioE that public subsidies tend to diminish the
| amount Of private contributions submit the
| following facts:
| In 1850 there were only six institutions re-
| ceiving aid for maintenance from the District
| treasury, which have also received such aid
/ annually since that time. OF these there is not
one that during the year ending June 80, 1884,
| did not receive more from public than from
/ private contributions. and of the six four now
derive less than 10 per cent Of their annual in
| come from private sources. In most cases if
| We examine the records of a subsidized institu-
| ton for u series Ut years We find absolute as
| well as a relative falling of il the matter of
| contributions from private persons.
Mr.. Emery stated to me on the evening Of
1 the Goth instant that during the threc-quarters
| OF year ending October Is. 1891, the Asso-
| ciateG Charities had received from tie Com
missioners S75O and during that time their
private contributions had fallen off $3.50 as
| compared with the same period for the pre-
4 ceding year. He added that he thought that If
| he had exerted himself much as formerly the
private contributions wCuld nave been Kept up
| 20 their former figure. That means that a gift
| of public money merely frees the representa-
tiyes OF a society from "exerting themselves, -
and doubt the ACCESSIBILITY of doing this. That
| the general secretary Of such society ought
not 20 be expected to solicit and collect the
| money with which he is paid 1 conceive to be
| true, but this Is point for him and his mana
gers to settle between themselves. Just AZ SINH
iar points are settled between a clergyman and
his Practitioners.
| To you Mr.. Emery stated that e:nce nv ap-
pointment the contributions from private per-
sons had fallen off IS per cent. and attributed
| the decrease to the fact that people supposed
was going to do his work. But il should be
noticed that the time of the creation of this
office also the time when the Associated
Charities first received public money, and
\ vyhI mist oh iinn ft,,,.