The record-union., 1893-12-29
CHICAGO AND RELIEF OF THE
POOR.


simple way that among those claiming to
be the unemployed there are a great
many imposters-at least so far as the
crowd demanding relief at Chicago is con-
cerned. The really needy man who is
sincerely anxious to earn his food and
shelter, is not the one to refuse work
when it is offered to him. Acting on this
truth the citizens in charge of the free
soup houses, where four thousand men a
day had been fed, made a rule that every
applicant for food and shelter must work
As first test the Lakeside soup house.
which was feeding 1000 people daily,
gave the applicant one meal; the man was
then instructed to apply to the Labor
Relief Committee. and on receipt of its
ticket showing that three hours work had
been done by the party, one meal was
furnished and a good lodging for the
night. Without this receipt the applicant
was refused further assistance. The Labor
Committee was provided with the means
to put all applicants at work in preparing
material for the surfacing of roads and
similar labor. But the weaker men were
provided with other labor suitable to
their condition. No hardship in labor
was imposed upon any one.
The result was that the applications for
food and shelter at once fell off from two
thousand to four hundred and fifty at the
Lakeside establishment. That is to say,
exactly three-fourths of the men refused
to work three hours day for ample food
and good shelter until they could secure
permanent employment al fair wages.
The conclusion reached is that three
fourths preferred to tramp and beg, or
else they were imposters not needing
assistance at all. It should be stated also,
that in all cases where men desired to
work more than three hours day they
received from the Labor Relief Commit
tee check for ten cents an hour for the
extra hours, which check was receivable
for clothing at quarters where clothing
was sold at cost price Of manufacture and
material.
The Chicago relief committee has now
decided, the dispatches inform US, to
abandon indiscriminate relief operations,
and to relieve only those who are willing
to work. The strange thing about it all
is that the people of Chicago managing
the relief business did not long ago realize
that indiscriminote giving is charity
waste and pauperizing. The Board of
Charities of New York years ago arrived
at that conclusion, and as far back as
decade ago announced the abolition of
indiscriminate charity. Also, that when
work is furnished it must be of a charac-
ter that will tend to stimulate the man to
get at something better, and not be con-
tent to remain dependent. The wage,
too, should be only sufficient to maintain
the worker in clothing. food and shelter,
and not enough to tempt him to sit in
content with his condition.
England twenty-five years ago arrived
at the same policy in her relief systems,
finding that her former methods were
creating an aristocracy of pauperism,
that thousands were content to remain
idle and live upon the charitable dole,
and these looked with contempt upon
those who labored and got more. The
change she made in her system worked
great good to the poor, and relieved the
Government of the professional beggars
and the indolent dependents.
In Chicago the new plan of aid is to
have the relief committee sift out the
vagrants from the deserving and worthy
poor by the labor and other tests. Then
the police will arrest the vagrants and
put them at work in the bridewell
grounds on the preparation of macadam
material for the city streets. OF course to
escape the stone-pile the tramps will clear
out of the city. But if they do so they
will only float on to other communities.
To effectively apply this treatment to the
tramp evil. then, all other communities
ought to provide labor tests, so that the
lazy per cent. of the unemployed. or so
claiming but really the tramps, will be