Waterbury Democrat., 1901-03-21
AL WAYS WITH US
The Poor and the Needy List ia
 Growing.
MANY CALLS FOR TOWN AID.

Much of It Brought About By Illus bands Deserting Their Families-Se- lectmen Find Hard Work Getting at the Facts-Other Cities Also Afflicted In This Way. The question of assertions, not from
 the army but from the family, is some thing which the lawmakers of Con | 1iecticut and of the whole country, for that matter, will have to deal with soon unless the different towns want
 to continue indefinitely the business or supporting the families of men who are separated from their wives, with
 out knowing whether the natural pro-
 viders are helping out or not. It is
 said that Chicago has list of $50
 women who claim that they are ignor- ant of the whereabouts of their hus- bands, and as all of them are in needy circumstances the taxpayers of that city are carrying big burden which should be borne by others. Our own
 board of selectmen has had much to do in that line during the present win ter. 1t being nothing unusual for woo man to drop in and state that her chil-
 dren were in want simply because the lead of the house had not shown up for some time past If these people are not put on the town books right off the selectmen get called down. ana II they do put them on and it should turn out that they are not deserving
 cases the situation is still worse, so | that those who have to deal with such 1 cases are between two fires, and in | many instances it is no easy matter to tell Which is the warmer. A wo- ] mans husband might be working Nin | New York or some place else and send | ing money here right along, and under these circumstances, of course, she would not be entitled to assistance | from the town. but if she denies thac
 her husband is doing this it is almost l impossible for the Selectmen to get l at the facts and on this account the at- l thoriticS in many places are confused l to know what to do with some people who call upon them and state that they
 have been abandoned by their hus- 1 bands and want the town to step in | and provide for them.
 1t comes as natural to some people
 to beg what they want for the needs
 of their homes and put their money to | other uses as it does to others
 to work for a living. and many hays | the profession of aims seeking down
 so fine that it requires sharp man
 with good deal of experience in that
 line to distinguish the fraud from the |
 son why we'll meaning people who
 would never dream of looking for | charity if misfortune had not over
 taken them have to answer whole lot of questions before the oyerseerS
 of the poor feel justified in doing any
 thing towards helping people who ap-
 ply for town aid. No one objects to
 helping the needy, but everybody has
 q strong prejudice against being im- l h hn
 eXertion on their own part could man.
 age to take care of themselves and
 those who are dependent upon them
 without being a burden upon others.
 But it is aid that the latter class ex-
 isted from the beginning, and it is safe
 to predict that they will always be
 with us, and the only course open to
 public officials whose duty it is to 1n- | Quire into such cases is to have their
 eyes wide open and push aside the
 frauds: but before doing this they
 should be sure that they are making
 no mistake. for it would be better that
 q few impoSters should be fed rather
 than run the risk of turning one
 worthy applicant away. A woman. or
 man either, who alleges that there
 is nothing in the house and that the
 children are cold and hungry should
 have his or her case attended to right
 off and let the matter be investigated
 later. and then if they should not be
 found as the applicant had represent
 ed them to have been, shut down on
 the business right eff. So far as we
 have been able to learn this IS the | plan pursued by Selectman Doran
 and in consequence all deserving peO- pie find immediate relief and any l shaIper that appears is discovered be fore he gets anything worth speaking