The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-05-16
SWEET
CHARITY
Chari-
ties Held Meeting
Yesterday.
FINANCIAL AND
OTHER REPORTS
List of Officers Elected for Ensu
ing Year Seven Hundred
Dollars in Hand.

OOtidTS IN mana.
The second annual meeting of the
Associated Charities of Hawaii was
held yesterday afternoon at the Young
Mems Christian Association. Rev.
Alex Macintosh presided, in the I'M
avoidable absence of Governor Dole.
After few Introductory remarks
by the chairman, the secretary, Mrs.
]. M. Whitney, read her report for the
past year. 1t ran as follows:
1t IS pleasant to turn from disappoint-
ing and disastrous political and social
conditions to brief study of the blessed
grace of charity. We may have earthly
hope that the world Is growing better
and heavenly faith that
Somehow good
Shall be the final goal of ILL.,"
put meantime We are still here, present.
ed with the problems of life, of sin and
suffering and poverty; and only charity,
the brave, the long suffering, the kind,
the lowly the all-hoping and all-endur-
ing can solve for US the questions that
we must meet. Faith and hope are
well, but the greatest of all is charity.
II we are reminded that charity is only
another name for love, we accept the
definition and repeat that only love, not
weakly sentimental, hut strong in its
God-given instincts, can deal success
fully with the problems of vice and
crime and poverty about US, can cause
men and women to give their time and
strength and means for the uplifting of
the lowest and bring public sentiment up
to the high plane which seeks not so
much to relieve existing conditions as to
prevent their existence.
1t has been well and beautifully said
Ito charity, using the word in its most
comprehensive sense, everything human
is sacred, because everything truly hui
man is an offspring of the Divine. Sell
fishness would let the destitute perish,
while charity feeds and clothes and sup
plies as far as human power may go,
the needs involved in human suffering.
Stern justice consigns the offender to
prison and to punishment. Charity fol-
lows with sanity step the march of jus
tice, seeking to reform rather than ex-
terminate the offender, seeking to re-
store him to ways Of Righteousness and
justice and peace. Social order pun
ishes and restraints, while heavenly
charity seeks to prevent the first steps
to crime and disorder, immortality and
vice and the evils that follow in their
train"
This is an era of corporations and
trusts and cooperative schemes of all
sorts. We are each of us large por-
ton of our time, but serving as link
in a great chain of religious or social
or philanthropic effort. Whether we
will or not, We are linked and bound 10
countless other lives. How best, then,
to put forth our efforts, to economist
our strength and time and means, must
~ 70 mt And .niS
is the special effort of modern charity
organization. 1t Is 20 lift the small and
often partial charities of individual or
CARNATIONS into the atmosphere of sci
entific investigation and universal broth
erhood; to look upon our work so broad
ly that we cease to realize distinctions of
race or society or religious utilization,
because we are all Gods children, and
/ feel that nothing winch affects our
brother should be alien to us.
We are learning that poverty as a con-
dition can never cease to exist until we
go back of it's present aspect and find
and remove the cause. We are learn
ing that there is no more potent cause
of pauperism than indiscriminate giving.
| to such an extent that it has been laid
down as a rule that the amount of pau
perism is in proportion to the amount or
relief" While, on the other hand, it Is
stated that adherence by private as
we'll as public relief, especially by the
charitable public, to rigid rules, exclud-
ing all but those whose need is well
/ founded, has greatly lessened both the
number of paupers and the cost of re-
/ lief"
| To the study and application of these
principles the Associated Charities of
Hawaii has applied itself. That our la
Dor has not been in vain, we fondly be-
| lieve. We proudly and without hesita-
ton call attention to the notable dimi-
mutton of cases demanding charity in our
| City. All the charitable associations are
aware of it, and it is perfectly safe to
| say that in Honolulu, with all the ap-
pliances we have at hand, there is no
need that any hungry should go unfed.
any destitute be unclothed, or any sick
| be uncared for. At the same time, great
discrimination needs to be used-more
than ever before-to ascertain the
! worthy and truly needy, and the ad-
vantage of having an officer whose time
| is given to the investigation of cases
applying. has never been so apparent.
None appreciate this so fully as the be-
nevolent men and women, connected
with the various charitable associations,
who heretofore at great tax upon per-
sonal comfort and loss to business, have
given valuable time and strength to aid
| ing the needy.
Our most urgent appeal to the COM
munity is: Do not give indscriminate
charity. There may be emergencies
when charity is needed at once. But In
most cases the chances are ten to one
that the manager of the Associated
Charities knows all about the needs of
| the person, and has lines laid to afford
ali needed relief, if the case is worthy.
We extend an earnest invitation to any
man or woman interested in charitable
work to attend our regular meetings, the
third Wednesday of each month, at I