Evening star., 1901-05-13

number of the delegates Rev. DIR. Hodges is
one of the most prominent social scientists
in the country. He took his texts from St |
John, in which he proposed to call down
fire on samaritan village, and again where
he said: We know that we have passed
from death into Hfe because We love the
brethren. The difference between these
two sentiments. he said. is the difference
between the past and the present.
1T is difference in the spirit of COM
passion" he said. Compassion is not
pity. but sympathy. 1t is the recognition
of the individual and the administration of
our heart and hand to the enrichment OF
this life, in the spirit of Jesus. 1t is the
high virtue to which this conference is
committed.
The purpose of these convention meet
ings is to set forward more and more the
progress of compassion. 1t must be con-
feSSed that this progress has been an
ncyingly and perpleNingly slow. Chris
tianity began as the religion of compass
sion. Jesus came to help men to be fra
ternal. tender hearted. kindly. affectioned
one toward another. All that He said,
all that He did-even to the death upon
the cross-all that He was. as Son of God
and Son of man. had to do directly with
the progress of compassion.
Days of Preparation.
But the time came when the Chris
tians contradicted almost everything
Jesus Christ cared for. In the midst of
wars and prosecutions. in the midst of
slavery and suffering, compassion seemed
to be extinct. But those were days of
preparation The rough tasks of the race
had to be performed. Wars had to be
fought. for lack of knowledge of our more
reasonable way of arriving at justice anc
the truth
AT last, with the twentieth century. we
enter into the era of compassion. Never
have there been many different
people with so many different interests,
intent on making the present world Il
better world to live in. Consider the two
kinds of endeaNor which are represehtea
b. this conference of charities and cor
rection We have here in mind two classes
Of persons, the dependent and the delln-
quent. There has been more intelligent
service rendered these two classes or So
ciety during the past quarter century
certainly during the past half century,
than during all the ages slnce these prop-
lens that confronted the family OF men
After centuries of a progress OF com
passion so slow that sometimes there
seemed to be no progress, so SLOW that
sometimes the current seemed to pe SET
ting back We are now arrived at a time
when the river of human kindness flows
full and strong toward the ocean of God )
love
What makes this progress of compass
sfonc What is the heart Of 1t? The heart
of it is the recognition Of the individual
in the spirit of Jesus The essential thing
is friendship; not aims, but friend; not
form BILL but friend. The chief thing
that can be accomplished by the discus
sions of this conference is the better
ment of friendship. so that men small e"
back to their work IN a more fraternal
spirit, putting their hearts into it ana MT
ing up those who are down as Jesus did,
by giving them a friendly hand
Address Oh Child Saving.
Rev. Hasting II. Hart Of Chicago perma-
nent secretary of the conference with
which he has been connected for twenty
five years. was the principal speaker be-
fore the conference last evening at the FIRST
CONGREGATIONAL Church, his address being
on the subject of Child Saving There
is he said a child-saying movement In the
United States. which is an evolution, a de-
velopment of unseen forces rather than
plan devised and put in execution by some
wise individual or society.
Mr. Timothy ID. Hurley president OF the
Illinois state conference. spoke on Charity.
Mr. Hurley is a lawyer and at present
chief probation officer of the Chicago
iuyenile court and he talked concerning
the operation of this court. He showed
how by means of a system OF juvenile
courts the judicial officers are able to deal
with the young offenders more satisfactorily
than could be done in the ordinary police
court
| was presided over by President Glenn, who
/ int reduced the several speakers of the
| evening. Robert Treat Paine OF Boston. Z.
! P Bicknell of Chicago Miss Mary + Rich
mond. secretary of the Society for Organ
| lied Charity of Philadelphia, and Edward
7 Devine of New York. Prof B. 7. Jam
ney chairman of the local committee of ar
rangements. extended an invitation to peo-
pie Of this city to join the conference, say
ing it was desired to add to the member
ship in this city as largely as possible.
Mr.. Devine, secretary Of the New York
Charity Organization Society. spoke on
Associated Charities-Their Methods"
He showed the manner in which such work
Is done.
Imdisc eliminate Charity.
tI,a od-
dress of the evening and explained the
great need of proper investigation in all
cases in which charity is dispensed. She
warned every one against indiscriminate
charity A great deal of harm has been
done she said, by workers who scorn the
organiza tions and attempt to do work in
diyidually Individuals who dispense char
ity. she said often make the mistake of not
following up the relief they give with per-
sonal investigation of the manner in which
it is received and used Such investigation
would often prevent imposition on the part
of swindlers.
Mr.. Robert Treat Paine of Boston spoke
of personal visits a method of. dispensing
charity wisely.
The Ideal Element.
At the Metropolitan Church Rev. Samuel
G. Smith of St. Paul. Mimi. occupied the
pulpit yesterday morning and spoke on the
text from Gal. vi, e-10, Let US not be
weary in well doing"
Modern philosophy he said, "seeks to
como the common sense of science, the
fire and love of religion, and to unite them
in the complete regeneration of man. The
ideal element belongs to charity, as it does
to and literature The end of society is
the kingdom of God. But the kingdom of
God is built character. Charity must
be so administered to create a spiritual
home for the softer virtues Of Christ ianity
and the sterner virtues of paganiSm.
Money for charity must be obtained by
methods that minister 10 the character and
not to the vices of the giver. Methods
that say to men: You are pleasure-loving-
vain and theatrical. We propose to use
your vices means of raising money for
the poor does harm to the givers more
than they help the recipients
The first means of charity is not money
but knowledge. Material help is not for
the needy, but for the helpless alone Real
charity Is no easy task. 1t requires charac-
ter to create character. Comfort is not the
final object of life. Well being Is not in
houses and food and clothes. Well being is
in right living. Material good is valuable
only aid to the spirit.
mo wonder We are exhorted not to be