The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-12

Iauper IOiicys
The wonderful growth of the Salvation
Army and its considerable measure of
success in reaching into the slums and
elevaung unfortunates found there are
evidences that the army's commanders
are careful students of sociology, and
that they have succeeded in getting very
close to the needs of the classes they set
out to rescue. 1t is interesting, there
fore. to get an insight into the IDEAS and
plans OF the army with regard to pauper-
ism and crime. Commander Booth-Tuck-
er has written a pamphlet on the armys
'pauper policy in America" which furn-
ishes this insight.
The main cause of pauperism and crime,
he says. is the strong centripetaI forces of
the city, which lead to an excessive in
flow of population. beyond the needs of
the labor market. 1t is first necessary,
therefore. to seek to establish opposite.
or centrifugal, forces of equal power
forces which will draw the surplus of pop
ulation out of the city into the country
districts. Every penal or pauper insttu-
ton, and all voluntary charitable institu-
tons should be established in suburban
sections. and there should be a farm colo
ny connected with each of them. In the
treatment Of both criminals and paupers,
the gospel of hope and not of despair,
should be taught Not even the worst
classes should be treated as hopeless, but
inducements should be placed before all
TO return TO a life of honesty, sobriety
and hard work Poverty should not be
treated as a crime. The sense of self re-
spect should be cultivated rather than de
stroyed. What is needed is to put more
backbone into a pauper not to take out
of him what little may be left. The poll
cy should be to change the man himself
as well as his circumstances. Self-sup-
port should be constantly kept in view,
and the pauper and the criminal should
be helped to work out their own regenera-
ton.
The inquistorial policy of making help
conditional upon a strict inquiry into
character should be avoided "a man
may starve to death while he is being in
quired about" The classification of will
ingness and unwillingness to work should
be substituted as far as possible for that
of the deserving and the undeserving.
Inquiry into previous character should
be restricted to the narrowest possible linn
it's, especially in the case of the non-crim-
inal poor. Under the nquisitorial policy
Ordinarily it will cost rs cents to get %
cents down "a mans throat, and even then
the money will often go dawn
the wrong throat" The auto
matte test of willingness to work would
make the inquisitorial policy needless.
The government should compete as.little
as may be possible with private enterprise
in the field of charity. The taxpayers al
ready have a sufficiently heavy burden.
When the government dispenses charity,
party politics is brought in, and charity
suffers. The policy of kicking the poor
from one city to another is brutal, and is
sure to react upon the community practic-
ing it, Pauperism should be dealt with as
a national rather than as local problem.
The interests of the country at large must
be considered as well as those of the city
A+those of the farmer as well as those of
the townsman. or ~sd+ 80.
This is but a superficial glance at the
pauper policy of the Salvation Army. But
1t is sufficient to show that it is based
upon common sense and an unders landing
of the conditions to be met. and overcome
if possible. Charity associations, and in
dividuals, would probably do well to give
Commander fuckers ideas care
full consideration, and build upon them.