The morning call., 1894-04-22
A DUTY OWED BY THE STATE.

The final session of the Congress of Re-
ligions. which took place yesterday after
noon in Golden Gate Hall, was as we'll
attended aud appeared to excite fully as
much interest as the one on the opening
day.
Charity and education were the themes
discussed by the three speakers Of the
afternoon. Rev. N. J. Ferguson. in his
paper on "The Problem OF Charitable
Work, took the widest possible view of
the subject going, as far as possible in a
brief address, to the root of the problem.
'The question" be said. involves a
painstaking study Of moral and industrial
conditions, that we may see how and why
our brothers and sisters have been dis
tRnced in the race for life. 1t involves the
study of heredity and sociology, and is
not merely a matter of almsgving, but it
involves the question of whether the
foundations of our present social system
were laid in righteousness or inlQuitY."
The speaker then quoted statistics to
prove the statement that the proportion of
persons dependent on the community has
Increased in the United States during the
last two decades out of proportion 10 the
increase in the population. ITO these
must be added those children whom pow
erty bars out of the schools and condemns
to the workshops and the sweating sys-
TEN, dWarfng their moral and mental edu-
cation, and making them a menace to the
community and not strength. In fact no
statistics reveal the dumb misery OF the
poor, more than the statement that 10 per
cent of the population OF New York is
buried in the pOiter'S feld-the poor are
too poor to bury the pOoT."
The evils of the tenement-bouse system
were next dwelt upon, The presence of the
i
to be "a dark omen for the future" and the
speaker continued: at is surprising how
people shun the knowledge of these things.
The two questions the philanthropist must
answer are: How to remedy these evils,
and how to prevent them in the future.
As remedy Rev. NJ. J. FERGUSON urged
q grand cooperation OF charita bic forces,
the consideration of the pro blem of the
prevention of poverty rather than its re-
lief, the abolition of careless unscientifc
almsgiving, no saloons, compulsory educa-
ton, better homes for the pUOr, more re-
spect for manual labor and deeper intel
lectual life for all the people.
$40 do this would require wider study
Of sociology than has yet been made, but
it cannot be that under a benefcenl sys-
tenn the larger portion of mankind should
be condemned to live in m sery. lnyolun-
taIy want and poverty ought TO be an i'm
impossibility."
Mrs. Sarah b. Cooper, the next speaker,
discoursed upon "Fhe Religious Education
of Children in a rousing manner that was
much spDlauded. She did not confine her
self to the subject of religious training.
however, but also defined ehildren's rights
from the broadcast humanitarian point of
view.
After hearing of religious training, the
audience was next given an address upon
'Fhe States Duty to Its Unfortunate
Children" by Walter LiDdey, NJ. D., super
intendent of the Whittier School.
"Our educators tell US of a new educa-
ton, new religions are launched upon us,
but crimes and criminals still invade the
slums. II must be apparent to all that the
right remedy has not yet been applied.
THE object of education. at the public
expense, should be the practical equip
ment Of our youth for the great struggle Of
life. Over ten millions of dollars are
being spent annually in California on her
schools, and how many of our boys ana
girls are being prepared TO core with the
question OF earning their daily bread
Even those schools that have been pro-
gressive enough to add manual training to
their systems boast that they 10 not teach
trades. The boys that are 10 fill the
vacancies that will occur during the next
decade in the great army of skilled me-
chanics in the United States are receiving
their training in Italy, France, England
and Germany. While the sons OF the