The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-17
FORMERLY PRESIDENT Of THE
NATIONAL CONFERENCE, AT
PEOPLES CHURCH.
MASS MEETING A SUCCESS.
Interesting Programme for the Edi-
fcatiOn of Those Who Love
Their Fellow Men.

The church was fairly we'll filled. The
church choir was present in full force
ana rendered number Of selections
Miss Eva Alcott sang a solo,
The Associated Charities has been
established but four years, but during
that time it has come to the front, and
is recognized all over the country as
one of the most successful Some idea
of the work accomplished may be
gained from the annual report of Sec
rotary j. F. Jackson. During the year
1856, there were GA investigations
and $50 ADMINISTRATIONS, making 1,074
in all. The total for the four years was
4,731. The number of persons benefit.
ed by, or interested in, the investiga-
tons was 1,02S.
Rev. S. G. Smith, D. D., president of
the association, outlined the work and
the objects Of the association in a few,
Introductory remarks in which he
asked for greater efforts for the months
to come.
John D. O'Brien. speaking Of the re-
suits or the past year. said that the
work of the association was not being
carried on from a purely sentimental
OS~AANROAAAI' he SdlQ, was
all right in proper quantities, but too
much or 1t had a bad effect upon
charity, as well as too much zeal The
Associated Charities, said Mr.. O'Brien.
was the centralizer Of the work in ST
Paul. 1t was the organizer of all the
forces. There are hundreds of people
IN the city who would be glad to give
charity and to assist themselves, but
who do not know how to go to work.
and the duty Of education devolyed
upon the Associated Charities.
Mr.. OBr1en would not accept the pop-
ular saying that philanthropy was an
intense desire on the part of A, that
b should do something for c. He be-
neved that charity in the real sense
ties, he said, treated all the matters
which came under it's notice from q
scientific standpoint
Hon. Alexander Johnson followed in
an address upon Personal Service.
MI. Johnson called attention to the
fact that the st. Paul association was
but four years old. He said. however
that the glorious results of the four
years work showed the successful ef
forts OF the managers. He believed
that so successful a showing under the
circumstances, taking into considera
ton hard times, and the many conflict
ing institutions, proved that st. Paul
was a healthy city, morally and phys-
1cally, that its people were more in
dustrious and enterprising than the
average, and far more honest. There
mad been no complaints made against
the work Of the association during the
past year, which shows that there is
harmony in every branch Of the work.
MI. Johnson dWelt at some length
upon the scientific phase of the work
saying that while it might seem hard
TO annlV Sl1Oh q h11S
charity and religion, that nevertheless
The work deYOlviug pom the associa
ton embraced many scientific points
1t meant the adoption OF certain means
to carry out certain important ends
| Ibe work has seV eral elements. The
| hrst was the repressive, and the ne
| gat1Ve element. 1t was met with the
| moment that an association like this
| launched out into it's field Of usefulness
The first function was the wedding out
OF 1mpostors and frauds. After the first
| wedding out had been successfully ac.
| complished, the number of dead beats
| and lmpostors decreased year by wear
Another feature was that Of the eco
| nomic side Of the question; the science
of saving time, money and labor. Il
was the science which avoided rivalry
among similar institutions, which pre-
| vented deception, and smoothed the
path Of the association. The speaker
narrated a number Of incidents show.
ing 10 what extent impostors woulc
scheme. He told of an incident in Chi
cago, illustrating the bad effects of sen
sational newspapers stories upon char
ity. A reporter for a Chicago paper
learned Of woman whose child haC
| died, and who was unable to bury thu
Infant. She had no food and was utter
~ destitute, although she lived in thu
center of the city. The day after thu
i1ln -i141 -.
$50. The second day she received NJ
less than $125, and she found the none,
coming in SO fast that she did not wan
| to bury the infant as long as she coulC
use it to draw sympathy and dollars
The speaker told of another woman
who had her child baptized In five diff
| ferent churches for the purpose Of Sc
| curing aid from each church.
Mr. Johnson announced a new nam,
for the scientific administration O
charity. He said the word was "asthe
nontology," meaning the science of car
ing for the weak, the unfortunate, desti
tute, etc. The word, he said, had com
into use at the recent convention a
Grand Rapids, Mich, and expressed tn
meaning fairly we'll The speaker be
lieved the administration of charity
from a scientific standpoint. First
there was the law Of motion, which
meant that a moving object would fol
low the line Of the least resistance
The law applied to the life of the indi
| vidual as we'll as to inanimate objects
People followed the line of living tina
is the easiest, and would crafty TIL
desires which were the easiest satisfied
| This was a principal which the publ
should study closely. They shoult
strive to make a reform in the way o
living so easy, that the resistanc
would be reduced and more peopI
| 411Tr7 in4n I7n
who sought aims on the public street
| was aided and abetted by the peopl
who gave him money, and even in thi
case, the line of resistance was less
ened, and the pauper was encourage
in begging because it is made easier.
The law of the individual was an
other axiom. Mr. Johnson believed
that sufficient attention was not paft
to the individual cases, but that a gen
eral rule was made to apply to all
Each case. each character should b
made the subject of special study. Tn
investigators should consider the traits
characteristics, education, and tn
training of each individual. This, h
said, would insure a more accurat
judgment as to the merits of each case
The old fashioned way was to investi
gate twenty or twenty-five cases be
fore dinner, and make a report that
certain number needed, coal, a certain
number needed flour, and others money
No attention was paid to individuals
The third axiom given by the speak
er, was that granting the individual
need, the only way to help one person
is through another. The new problem
is to discern the latent resources of
family or an individual, and how t
make something of each. The friendl,
visitor is the one to carry this out
The confidence of the person to be in
yestigated is first required, and Their
are a number Of ways Of getting 1t.
Rev. DR.. Smith added few NOR
remarks in which he spoke of the har