Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-12-18

O'Ne cure OF themselves. ] was able
temporarily to relieve the distress bnt
] could not mend the main. that Is
could not institute system whereby
that family could provide for itself
and | am nce quite sure but that. as a
result cf my well~meaps charity their
second estate was worse than the 6rst
As to its worIhiness and actual
needs chat family is type of those
whose name Is legion, and the prob
lem they present for solution is com
plicatcd and serious. Matthews. the
author Of "Getting On In The World"
says The direst curse chat can be-
fall young man is to be the receip-
lent of charity; to lean while his char
aeter is forming, on others for sup
port. Observation supplemented by
a good deal of experience has CON
vincSd me that Matthews ia right.
Much Of our charity work, done in all
sincerity, begets ruinous pauper
spirit inlthe breasts of the Recipients,
and nsures physical existence at the
expense of moral worth. Genuine
charity deyotes itself, not so much to
giving as to helping the needy to help
themselves.
A few weeks ago was seated in a
restaurant in one OF our large cities.
1t was near ten O'clock at night. Sud
denly the doors were pushed open and
a motley crowd carrying old baskets
and paper bags rushed into the room
and began contending with each other
for the first place at the counter. 1
had locked upon such scenes before
and so understood what it meant.
Some of The poor of the city had come
in TO receive, as charitable offering,
the crumbs that were left over from
the days business. l noted that there
we're many small boys and girls in
that motley crowd and the evidence
that they were surely being pauper-
lied by the very means adopted for
their relief was borne in upon me
with such force that l could scarcely
refrain protesting against their re-
ceiving single crumb. But such a
, protest if successful, would have
! meant physical starvation for them
and SO / remained silent, noting with
sadness the deepening of moral degra-
dation in the name of charity. The
great problem of philanthropy now is
to discover the defect in the main, re-
pair it and so make it possible for
: worthy people to get into their own
homes and take care of themselves.
in the meantime we should do as
t much good and as little harm as posi-
BILE with the poor methods at our COM
t providentially severed for the purpose
: of teaching any fraction of humanity a
e much needed lesson; but it is possible
to use that and all similar incidents
l in such way as to get general good
/ therefrom. IT, amid the comforts oi
I their own homes, well-to-do people
= were in any degree becoming indiffer-
: ent to the actual needs of the helpless
III may not nave Deem 'lHe WOT6J vi
t calamities for the gas to fail Indif-
ference and hardness of heart in the
midst of plenty are more destructive
= of everything noble in human charac-
[ ter than occasional coldness of feet
| and hands. Adversely does some
times teach people valuable lessons
e that they refuse to learn in times OF
e prosperity Common suffering begets
sympathetic hearts, and if that sym
l pathy can be made to root deeply in
e the principle of justice, the fruit there
r of will be a nearer approach to the
= kingdom of heaven among men. Nov
], no chastening for the present seemett
f to be joyous, but grevious; neverthe-
less atterward it yieldeth the peace
t able fruits of Righteousness unto them
, which are exercised thereby"
X, ALFRED.