Waterbury Democrat., 1902-01-22
CARING FOR HE POOR.
Waterbury's New Charity Board
 is Investigating.
The System of Giving Relief in Other Towns is Being Studied Up-The Local System Seems to Be About as Good as Any Yet Investigated.

Good as Any Yet Investigated.
 The board of charities is picking up
 considerable information here and there regarding the method of dealing . with the poor ill other towns, and Il seems that the more they learn about
 now the business is conducted in some
 of the large cities of the state, as well
 as i'll the small towns, the more they
 begin to realize that after all the sys-
 tenn ill vogue in Waterbury is not half as bad as it has been painted. It is 1 true that some of our neighboring towns are not so generous with the poor as Waterbury, but it is q notorious fact that they spend as much if. not
 more of the taxpayers money in big
 salaries with the result that the poor do not receive the treatment they are
 entitled to while q few clever fellows 1 succeed in getting considerably more than the officials of Waterbury ever l dreamed of asking for their services.
 The idea of housing ablebodied men l between the ages of 20 and 30 in aims | houses is ridiculous, and it is thought l that no such system will ever be intro
 duced into Waterbury. Another thing
 practiced in some of our neighboring
 towns is the breaking up of families 1 that are temporarily. in need by send J ing them to the almshouse putting the l fathers in one ward, the mother and l the small children in others and farm l ing out children over years old.
 We have many very worthy families
 in Waterbury who have found it nec-
 essary at times to apply for town aid,
 and by giving them a little i'll their | I, and in most cases soon got to a point
 so that they were able to provide for themselves and were no longer a pub lie charge. What would have been the
 result if these families had been com
 pelled to go to the almshouse? Why, the chances are that few of them would ever again have met in homes
 of their own Once you separate
 family it is difficult to get them to-
 gether again, and if they happen to be
 reunited the same harmony never ob-, tains as in the home that existed there
 before they had been set apart. The
 family ties have been broken, the au-
 thority of the parents dethroned and those who are able to care for them
 selves refuse to assist in helping the others and want to go it alone The outdoor relief plan as practiced in Wa terbury may have it's defects, but on the whole. it is much better to con- tinue it under proper supervision than abandon it altogether and resort to the practice of corraling every needy app plicant in the almshouse, for once young people enter the big house on the town farm put on the livery of the pauper and live in idleness for few | ic,1 f<1 oI-f. that the world does not owe them a | living without working for it. Those whom it does not affect this way, it | crushes their spirits and often deters them from putting forward the efforts they otherwise would use to secure employment and provide for them selves and those who are looking to them for bread
 The town house should be the last resort and no man, woman or child should be allowed to enter it's portals until the authorities are satisfied that the cases are permanent charges, and even then if the cost is not in excess of them in their own homes, the outdoor relief plan should be pre- ferred. Some time ago Selectman Doran tried to inaugurate a scheme to
  mems office and the town store. His dea was to keep children ill ignorance Df the fact that their parents were not them and thus foster the spiria of self dependency in the youth of the community, so that they might not grow mp with the notion that all hey had to do when they wanted any hing was to call at the selectmen's office and have their wants supplied ! It is a grand idea, and the board of ! charities should instruct the superin- endent to keep it up wherever he sees t can be done without infiicting a upon families who might 2 ind it necessary to send their children l o the office. It is probable that { vOman might be i'll and have no other a 1eans of communicating with the au- \ hoflties except through one of her l hlldren, and of course in such case o would be unreasonable to send the messenger home without hearing what t, e had to say. MT Doran did not in- il end this. Ite objected to the people F ringing their children with them the r, anne as if they were going out to a F earby store. There does not appear V } be any excuse for such conduct on G le part of callers on the board of R harities, though no doubt those who o1 IL nave reasons of their own for So h olng. Here's one Woman's explana- p on, given to a Democrat reporter a al lort time since: s'What am I to do fl ith this baby? He's only four !, onths old and who'll take care of him te hile I'm away? I can't leave these il her two in the house and I don't G. ant to have them on the street. One m but year and half and the other bl as just turned three. I have nobody in at can depend upon to look out for lem. My husband is not home and dc le neighbors don't want to bother tn ith them. What would you do if YOU af ere in my Dosition?o hs The reporter frankly admitted that he 7'd do just as she had done. bring if lem along, no matter who found fanlt ar you see it is an easy matter to theo- w ze about these matters, but after all ra le has 10 be up against it, to use sc 'inllon expression, in order to fully do lderstand what has to be resorted to w om tune to time by people who are m lndlcapped in their efforts to provide on I themselves and the little tots who IT,. e not yet old enough fo play game co baseball. skate on the ice or man th n I