The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-10-19
THE PARIS SOCIAL MUSEUM.

| DS dlhpFun-lHlpOfldnL WoIh III
 the Study of Social Questions-Mis- slons of Inquiry and Missions of
 Study.
 M. Joseph De Pineton, Comte De Chambrun, was born in 1921. He studied law and then entered into the govern ment service, becoming sub-prefect and later prefect, $n 1857 he entered par liamentary life, be ing a deputy for nearly twenty years, and in 1876 became a senator, in which body he remained for three years, retiring to private life in 1879 But it will no be as prefect, deputy or senator that the Comte De Chambrun will be remembered by his country. His name will go down to posterity as the founder and benefactor of the Paris Social Museum.
 Comte De Chambrun was always charitably inclined. But, never satis- fled with hismple charitable acts, he began to seek the cause of poverty and social distress, and finally came to the conclusion that an institution which eventually took the name of Social Mu- scum could do much to check pauper- ism and ameliorate the condition of the laboring classes He once remarked: | @'NS ACA SbhS iS GlllllGly uut lO ldpOT, and it should go back to labor'-an all fusion ot his late wife, who was the daughter and grand d-daughter of the owners of the celebrated glass works at Baccarat, France.
 The work attempted by the Social Museum may be divided into eight diff terent categories. The most important of these is the consultation department. { "a those who take up social questions is to be exactly informed concerning the constitution and conditions of the work ing of different institutions at home and abroad whose aim is to improve the material and moral situation of the working classes
 When workmen wish to form a CO., ' operative society, mutual benefit soci- ety or the like, or when the head of a business house desires to admit his employees to a share in the profits, to es- tablih pension fund etc., or when philanthropists interested in the well fare of the working classes are led to form societies for the construction of workingmen's homes, etc., the initial obstacle is ignorance of how to go to work to create and organize these va rious institutions. And this first diffi- culty surmounted, it often happens that the interested parties perceive that their organizations might be bettered, that more scientific basis is neces- sary or form more in accordance with surrounding requirements.
 Tere 1t is that the Social Museum comes into play. It stands ever ready to aid al l pa1ties-laborers, heads of houses, societies, etc, and is prepared to furnish them gratis any information to show them what has already been done or is now being done in these sames lines in France and in foreign lands
 When the question is an ordinary one, the managers of the Museum immedi- ately furnish the desired information But if the matter laid before the Muse um is new and it's solution calls for the aid and experience of specialists, it is referred to one of the appropriate standing committees for examination and a report There are seven commit tees of this kind whose members are as distinguished for their competency as for their devotion to the public good. find on them such well known special ists as Professors Zolla, Espinas, Liesse, Paul Beauregard, Glasson, Lyon-Caen, Alix and Boutmy, and such public men senators or deputies-as Waldeck- Rousseau, Jules Siegfried, Louis Ri- card, Guieysse and Ribot.
 That the Museum is doing much good is shown by the statistics for single year. During 1896 it answered 342 re- quests for information, of which num- Der 31 concerned cheap dwellings for the laboring man. 49 cooperative stores and "A cooperative manufactures. Yer bal replies to these and other questions were furnished immediately at the Mu- scum itself to 624 inquirers. Since 1896 all the SC figures have grown and some doubled
 The Museum has already an impor- tant library of over ten thousand vol umes, under the charge of very in- telligent librarian. M Martin Saint eLon, catalogued in such way that few minutes glance at the cards tells the searcher all the books, pamphlets and manuscripts possessed by the Mu- scum in any particular field. Though the great bulk of the volumes have to do exclusively with. social questions, many sets of general periodicals, such as the "'Revue des Deux Mondes," "The | NOFIn AI1eT1CdH iIeNleW, euC., are found on the shelves. Nowhere else in Paris can such a full collection of printed matter bearing on social econ omy be found, and the fact is gradu- ally becoming known.
 But the information to be obtained at the Museum is not limited to it's committtes and it's library Delegates are sen out into France and foreign countries to observe and report on social institutions, and are instructed to proceed in their investigations in a strictly scientific and impartial manner. The result of their observations is made the subject of publication and lectures! aid in the replies to questions laid before the Museum, and in form ing dossiers which are deposited in the library. These missions also bring about valuable relations between the Museum and the labor and scientific centers of France and other nations.
 When a strike occurs the Museum 1 sends one or more delegates to the scene of the trouble to learn it's origin cause and effects. Other representa- tives of the Museum attend congresses l and make reportS thereon Thus dllr-