The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-05-28
THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE
1LL .1BOUT THE VARIOUS MEET
 INGS HELD YESTERDAY,

Conference of Charities and Corrections
 was held at the United church and was
 largely attended in spite of the stormy
 condition of the weather. The subject for consideration was The Administra- | ton of Public and Private Relief '
 Rev. c. G, Truesdell, D. D., of Chicago,
 read the first paper of the evening on
 ''The System of Public and Private Re 1 lief in Chicago. Cooperation Between
 the two Agencies and the Best Lines
 of Division Between Them. The Best
 Program for Future Relief Work"
 "Hailing from Chicago and speaking
 of Chicago institutions you will natur-
 ally expect a modest and candid re- port Qaughter). We limit public relief in Chicago to the arrangements made
 by the county commissioners for the
 care of the poor. do not like to use the
 word paupers in speaking of the un-
 fortunate poor generally. For they are
 not as a rule either paupers or crimi-
 nals. This public relief consists of two
 kinds-indoor and out door-the latter
 kind being for such as can be better
 taken care of at their own homes. The
 indoor relief consists of the several
 public institutions such as the general
 hospital, the hospital for contagious
 diseases and asylums for the insane.
 The outdoor relief consists of giving
 meat, bread, flour, coffee and in the
 winter soft coal to the needy poor.
 The allowance is regulated according
 to the size of the family. There are re-
 lief societies among the Germans, Poles,
 Russians and nearly all the foreign
 colonies for the relief of their distress
 ed members. Besides the help to the
 poor furnished by the county there is
 the Chicago Relief and Aid society,
 which is not sectarian in it's character
 This runs two wood yards, which fur nishes work to men for limited time by which they can earn their board and
 room by working three or four hours per day, leaving them the remainder of their time to seek for more perma- nent employment For several years 1t has not refused work to anyone ap- plying to them. Before the close of the worlds fair there was a great hue and cry raised by certain sensa tion mongers that there were 100000 men in Chicago out of work, and it was proposed to raise S1000,000 to aid them. A special relief society was formed and house to house canvass revealed the fact that there was nothing like that number of men idle. The number was narrowed down to 10000, and when it became known that work was the condition of relief the number decreased to about 4, ,OO0."
 The next paper was by Mrs. Charles R. Lowell of New York Her subject was, "The Problem of Relief, both Pub lie and Private, in New York, with the Experience and Results of Recent Re- lief Work. The Best Plan for Relief Work in New York" She spoke in part as follows:
 "Wherever any body of Americans in poverty meet together this spring they should rejoice. During the hard times just past we did a great many dangerous things, from which we fear much evil might result. But re- ports are now coming in from all quar- l -ers that the evil results have not fol- | lowed. Thus We do well to rejoice for | l great danger has been escaped, and | ] great blessing has been earned. The | problem of relief in New York Is the | tame as in other large cities. The prob l em is to adequately help persons pro- | 1erly belonging in the city without | others from other places, and | 0 effectually help such of these as do ,ome. If there was a definite number if poor persons which was not con- inually increasing the problem would ,e much simpler. Three things seem O me to be necessary In the first place l
 will advocate decent lodging places, where cleanliness and comfort could be 1 introduced. In the second place | arm school where farm work could be aught and men and women fitted for l ountry life, and in the third place an syIum for moral idiots, where men and yomen who have proved incorrigible |, hall be prevented from harming them elves and each other. General Booth avs that 1t is a crime against society 0 allow such creatures to wander bout injecting their associates and multiplying their kind. Arrangements hould also be made for the moral of their souls. 'Is it not pity that so many relief } 1cieties give a little relief to so many { eople? Would ik not be better to con l entrate the means of relief on a fewer l umber of people? Is 1t not better to l i've man who needs it five dollars in- ' cad of giving him fifty cents and s usting to some one else to give him C le other $450, often at the expense of I lluable time and his own self-respect? C here should be constant effort to a we nothing at all to those who do not lr eed it. and perfectly adequate aid to S ose who do need 1t and are worthy of c
 Some persons ought to receive aid l o r years at a time, as for instance, t idows, who often have children which ir ey are not able to support, but which ii ey do not wish to relegate to the n ighting influence of an institution.
 not wish it thought that I am trying lt
 represent an ideal alms-giving sys- o m. There is no ideal alms-giving sys- e m. But I do think that a great deal
 good can be done by men and women O
 higher culture, refinement and edu- V tion taking up their residence among Inn nat Lincoln would call plain people n d thus become more conversant with al cir daily life" " Mrs. Lowell closed her address with H stroDor endorsement of the TniyarS;+,y Q