The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-14
ORGANIZED CHARITIES.
A Pian by which That object May
he Obtained.

he Obtained.
Savannah. Ca. March 13-Editor OF the
Morning News. In an editorial in the
Morning News a few days ago. you called
attention TO the unsystematic manner Of
distributing aims in Savannah, and the
/ opportunity it afforded persons to obtain
charity from several different organiza-
I lions at the same time. thus opening a
way to imposters to subsist upon the
charity. which should so to benefit deserv-
Ing persons.
/ From the plans of other societies. desig-
mated to remedy this trouble. have pre-
| pared plan. which, believe, would suit
! the condition of Savannah.
! Let member of the county commission
ers. a member of the board of aldermen,
! the president CT the Savannah Benevolent
/ Association, a delegate from each Of the
| other charitable societies of Savannah
/ and such other citizens as desire. meet
| and form an Associated Charities Society
/ This societyrto employ a secretary, whose
! duty It would be TO investigate every per-
| son applying for aid, and ascertain If the
| applicant is deserving He should keep
/ a record of the names and addresses of all
! persons receiving aid from any charitable
/ organization, and no one person or family
I would be able to get aid from more than
/ one organization at the same time.
When a person applied to a charitable
! organization, or private individual for as
sistance, instead Of the party applied 10,
/ relieving the applicant, he would be re-
| ferred TO the secretary of this society,"
| who would make a thorough investiga-
! ton of the case and then apply for assis-
| lance through one of the charitable or
D ~.
requiring immediate aid, the society should
! relieve the applicant of his present wants.
until the investigation could be made.
As in other societies of this kind, this or
ganization should be supported through
membership fee. Let each person applying
for membership pay a sum, say. So which
entities him to one years membership.
| These members to be furnished with a
number of cards, printed in a form. after
wards to be decided upon, with a blank
space for applicants name and address.
| When a member has been applied
to for aid, he is to fill
out this card, sign his name, and either
give to the person applying, or mail to the
office of this association. 1t will be read
lily seen that this system would at once
put a stop to the present promiscuous
begging, and that imposters and unworthy
persons would cease their attempts to pro-
cure aid, while the money saved from
these unworthy cases would Increase the
ability Of the different charitable organi-
cations to help the worthy poor
1t is said that tramps carefully avoid
cities where charities are consolidated.
The benevolent will also give more liber-
ally when they are positive that every dol
lar is being made to count and that it
will not be wasted upon the worthless.
The society should also endeavor to
find employment for worthy poor out of
uuo "a helm them TO be-
come self-sustaining, instead Of encour-
aging them in idleness and poverty, which
the indiscriminate giving of aims leads TO.
The secretary, devoting his whole time
to this question, would soon be able to
discriminate between the worthy and the
imposter, and make suggestions, which
would be a help to and improve the So
ciety.
There are between fifty and sixty cities
in the United States, in which organiza-
lions of this kind. have been established
for a number of years, and in every IN
stance they have revolutionized the whole
system Of aims giving and produced re-
suits which no one had anticipated.
To begin with. the small assessment
from each of the charities entering the
society, and a contribution from the
county and city would defray the expen-
ses of organization. In short time
sufficient number of members could be
obtained at s. per year to make the So
ciety self-supporting.
If the mayor would issue call for
meeting of representatives of the chart
table societies and citizens to consider this
matter there should be no difficulty in
forming such an organization and assur-
ing its successful existence.
have in my possession information on
this subject, which is at the service of
any one interested in this movement.
r. L. Clancy.