Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-11
The Keynote Of the Associated
Charities.
PHE new SECRETARY'S REMARKS
Officers Elected at the Meeting
Last Night.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

Society at the Fourth Presbyterian Church
last evening the new constitution of the
society was formally adopted. Mr.. s. w.
Woodward was elected president, and the
six vice presidents provided for by the con-
stitution were also chosen. Secretary Will
son outlined the new policy Of the society,
and the board Of managers were requested
to announce the purpose Of the society in
the matter of affording immediate relief
in cases of urgent necessity at the earliest
day possible.
The Constitutions.
Mr.. F. L. Moore presided over the meet
ing, which was very well attended, and,
after a letter from Commissioner John w.
Ross had been read, in which Mr.. Ross re-
GREETED his inability to be present at a
meeting of an organization so worthy and
in which he is deeply interested, the consti-
tuition of the society. as reported from the
board of managers. was laid before the So
ciety for adoption. The constitution has
been heretofore printed in The Star, and
although subjected to certain amendments
before being adopted, no material or extern
sive alterations were made in it last even
ing.
After the constitution had been unanj-
mously adopted as amended Mr.. Davis
moved that 5000 copies of it be printed for
general distribution. He stated that he
had learned from yesterdays Star that the
population of the District Is 100000, and he
thought that the distribution would result
in the increase in the membership of the
society by 5000. The motion occasione.l
a brief discussion, which resulted in MIR.
Davis motion being so amended as to pro-
vide for the printing and distribution of
1000 copies of the constitution and bylaws
and 1000 copies of prospectus. to be pre-
pared by Secretary Wilson. The motion,
so amended, was then adopted.
Present Suffering.
The Rev. DIR. Bradford stated that there
is now much suffering among the poor of
the District. and he inquired what steps
were contemplated by the society to re-
lieve such suffering.
Mr.. Moore called upon Secretary Wilson
to answer DR.. Bradford's inquiry, and the
secretary briefly outlined the general plan
to be followed by the society in the future.
Relief, and not mere aims giving, should
be the great purpose and object of the So
ciety. he explained. Poverty should in
every way possible be prevented, and that
plan which most effectually prevented it
would be found to be not only the most
beneficial, but also the most charitable
one. In New York, he stated, little, if any,
funds were expended in aims giving, but
thousands of dollars are spent annually in
assisting the poor and needy in making
themselves self-sustaining. That should he
the rule here, he believed for the mere
giving Of aims was the perpetuating of
poverty. To make such a plan successful,
cooperation between all persons and or
ganizations interested in such work Is alb
solutely necessary. The children of the
poor should be educated and their parents
encouraged and taught that idleness,
where not impossible, is wrong. Mr.. Will
son said he did not wish to talk much
about local conditions just yet, for he has
not been here long enough, but he had
found in the slight investigation he had
been enabled to make of the condition of
a. fol hnr hot hoa hanv ,nl, .lsv-
plication of relief, and that the various
charitable bodies had been not infrequently
imposed upon. Indiscriminate giving of re-
lief must cease. Cases must be thoroughly
Investigated. The indiscriminate giving of
aims not only encouraged tramps and beg
gars, but it made them, and when 1t
ceased tramps and beggars would be no
more, for that on which they thrived
would be taken away from them and de-
voted to better and far more deserving
causes. He therefore recommended that
every application for relief should be mi
nutely investigated by corps of friendly
visitors, and their reports made confiden-
tial. The first reports would show, he
believed, extensive duplication of both ap-
plicants and past relief, and the wisdom of
the plan would be thereby at once estab-
lished.
Providing Employment.
These friendly visitors, explained Mr..
Wilson, should not go in a patronzing way,
but in a friendly spirit of encouragement
ard sympathy And the applicant Should
not be dropped after one visit, but he
should be locked after and encouraged I'M
til he becomes self-supporting.-
That is" exclaimed Mr.. S. w. Wood
ward. from January to December 81"
Yes. sir" replied Mr.. Wilson. THAT Is
the idea exactly.
Referring to the class now, perhaps, need
ing Immediate relief, Mr.. Wilson said he
had reason to believe that there is large
IL .,,11x
who have been in the habit of yearly de-
pending on being provided and cared for.
OF course. much suffering will probably
come to light, he thought, and the suffer-
ers will have to be relieved but their num-
Der can be largely decreased by judieious
and he believed that in some
way employment can be secured for appli-
cants this winter Employment. he be-
lieved. is the real solution of the difficulty,
for ultimately the giving of aims would
have to be given up, and the question, he
thought, is: Can it be done in the next two
months?
DIR. Bradford hes rtily Endorsed the sug-
gestons of Mr.. Wilson, but remarked that
there is even now much Iced for immedi-
ate relief, and he cited q case where he had
a few days ago found and relieved a wo-
was starving and freezing.
Rev. DR.. Gilbert F. Williams also in
dorsed Mr. Wilson's suggestions and he
called attention to what ne believed Is a
need for a law which will punish those who
give Up positions to throw themselves upon
the charity of others. Many servants, he
thought, made 1t a practice to leave the
employment of those who greatly needed
their services every winter to live in idle
ness upon the charity of the benevolent.
DR.. Williams thought, too, that certain
hospitals here are imposed upon by those
who go to them as the result of offenses
which should be ely punished.
Ready to Help.
Mr.. Pratt, on behalf of the Central Union
Mission. inquired what the society would
ask of it in the work of relieving the suf-
fering poor The mission stood willing and
ready, he said. to do what it could, and on
ly desired directions. He was delighted
with Mr.. Wilson's Suggestions, and thought
the proposed charitable clearing house, as
it had been termed, a most excellent idea.
LAST year the police rendered assistance to
5000. more than one-fifth of the Districts
population. 1t is apparent, he thought, that
such statement evidenced an outrageous
of affairs.
Mr.. Wilson said that the inquiry made by
Mr.. Pratt would be acted upon by the soci-
ety's board of managers, and Mr.. Moore
stated that the contributions of those char
itably incli ed would be accepted as before
Mr.. l.. S. Emery, former secretary of the
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