The sun., 1900-12-09
LEGAL AID FOR THE POOR.
orARrsN esvrrU ~ "OoD o"SS
M , vSW vORE sWItfb
Mar. rhs, Three Ows''sr' ~ w'''"" N.e"v'
.,,d r., Poor snsu'' b' no f"s'' ~" m.
,,.,, ~ "a. Cuiu's'sd rs'ri"'''n'' To"
s,,,,.. ~ n. New wort Am"us ssii"ts'

-.. ,t. toni AID Soc'rtv ~ 'his Citv wn,
fo,,ded The amount ~ good II has done
4, tho quarter - y century ~ itt 'Nst"ho'
.sn 10 onl, partly measured Nv tho ''au@ucr
At H.. work w'i'h ntc presented ~ l'' ahhn"
-,a,,. For instance the report n isgp show
,,at there were nclrly lOOn applications
4, cha, year 10 80 locictv FOR assistance, and
,,o, ,li. number wns roirly twice as lnrg"
a. TIM, for the ycar before The amount of
-onev collected FOR clients in 1900 raa .Na 700
.,d IN tho twenty -four wears the society had
b~cn IN esistercc when the report of $50 vas
i.sued " had recovered for ia clients the sum
of ,7ns,S7l In other words. during that time
more than three quarters of n million was
obtained for poor people from persons who
were trying 20 dofraud them
These arc great results, and they show In
n very impressive way the vital need there is
in this or any other large city for precisely
,h. kind 81 charitable work that the iegal Md
society va. planned 20 perform And yet
even these results and these figures civ" only
an imperfect basis on which ~ n'c0sure tho
acuinl good that the society ms don" ma tl1at
IL is continuing 10 do In rar.diy increasing
ratio. "a every year II becomes stronger ana
its field of operations widens. Speaking Of
the unrscorded good done by the ORGANIZATION,
Arthur Won Rriasen. the President Of the
society, said
III is not merely that We protect the weak
from being wronged and defraudcd " that
which il their Just due. that Is great deal,
10 be sure. but there nre other and collateral
results which are Of value 10 the community
ana the coIntry The sooioty'@ work makes
good citizens and arouses sentiment OF respect
for the laws and also. | nlay say, continent
Of patriotism Many of ou~ clients are persons
Of foreiEn bir'h-people, often. who are irno-
rant Of the laws and of how 10 act the maChine.v Y
of the law in motion They have some vague
idea That tlerc j. law for the redress Of wrongs.
bat they have heard that II ia too costly luz
urr for the poor. that ii l. law for the rich and
rot .or the poor. They know they have beer
defraudrd and wror ged. but redre~> may seem
u them hopclos- They have no money 10
secure II, and therefore they think II Is not for
them Tho consequence l. that they become
bitter not only AGAINST the particular person
who ha, Nrong"d lh,m but also against 60
oiety In general AGAINST the country which
permits society Ia b" orcanzad on so unjust
basis such person. ard they need not
be- confined % persons Of foreign birth 10y any
means are ruc - listen to those social agi
tators and dI,turtci. who are only too preya-
lent The, are riIc FOR enlistment In the ranks
Of those who are -ogarded ~ dangerous to the
serur'ty a law ard order
Now. /; Is 10 Just such persons a. these that
our socet comes with its helping hand We
demon .'ratc to them that there IS not only law
In this country to redress wrongs and to pro-
tect people from cheating and fraud but that
il is law FOR the poor a. well a. for the rich
II TCr,ou comes TO us with Il complaint
Of "Xtortin1 ~ Of swindng or of fathles~
hess in carry ing out contract, or Of any Of
fence a1au-' persons or property that is RENE
diable under our laws, We will sen hat he has
Justice done him, even thuarh h. NAV not bc
able to pay the retainer Of 10 cent. for which
the rule, of the society nomnal provide
lie has justice, IN Other wurd-. 10 matter how
poor he l.. Vow. when "A weak and helples,
person finds that he j. an integral part Of a
community that will protect him because Of
his yer, weakness. and hrplossncss. he is very
apt 10 becomes 'tanch supporter Of the social
organization Of that communt" and very
poor listener 10 The prcachcr- % dacord and
discomfort Furthermore. he il proud 10 claim
a country a, hi- own tn1t 20 well looks after
the rights of even the humhlo-t oi her ctizens
], ,tirS in him not "nl' that which re.ents a.
sHults upon eOciai order hut that also which
Ia the genuine spirit of patriotism
In view Of the mixed character of our popl-
latioH and the comparative strangeness on the
rart of many Of them To our ways and our
social structure these are important consider
ation, important not onlv as regards people
of thi. kind but also as regards ol.r own reo-
ule. horn and bred here The fundamental
conviction well .attled IN the mind of oil who
through misfortune nre unable to assert their
own rights that there is n force I'm the COM
munitv that will assert their rights for them.
and not only assert tbam brt ye, ,hep-such
n conviction as that implanted in all minds f.
o' great value to the community and is a ma
tcrial factor in tho countries r,renpth
These are only some of tho indirect results
Of the Legal Aid Society's work md nc 10 tho
direct result. INN .uro that if the ,-en.rol puh-
he could know and soc as do the .ooiatv's
agents and representatives the ,nulti,ude ~
cases Of onpression and injustice that are re-
ueyed there would be- little Doubt in anvbody's
mind that rho Iegal Aid soci.tv il worthy of
the .unnort TINT II rets frorn>tbose who have
tho host interests n, tho cor,,runi,,. a, beor,
Within tho mast veor the Jepa, Aid society
has very ma, ,crioI,, y.dencd II. Gold of onaro-
Mons Tnt,l ,so, il bad I'm, ono law on1ca i'm
which ~, o,,orrev in CHARGE with b;s ossis,-
ants r.co,ved his cli,nts There ara now four
,ucb oric.- ttrc. b,anclss and tho main ornce
st 2go proadu,v which Is ,,rd.r tho dircct
co,,roI or rorlI schu,., -o,, ,r ,orr,ar s.oro-