New-York tribune., 1902-12-14
SOCIAL BETTERMENT.
ORGANIZATION of American Institute To BE
Clearing House of Facts on Subject.


Clearing House of Facts on Subject.
That the world may be better place in whlch 10
live for man woman, rich or poor Is ..- te
SON for the organization Of the American iiS'i
of Social Service which will have its headquarters
:, This civ The institute was organized Ie"
ael,s apo et q meeting held at Lyndhurst' lrV-
,i,,g+o,,-on-FJudson the country home or MISS
Helen Gould. Under the presidency OF bI- 'oo
Strong it has already made progress, anu wan 50 20.
he In position TO carry out TO the fullest extent m
three functions These the gathering from an
,,ossitla sources of facts which have any bearing
On social and industrial betterment: the 1nterlre'a
tion f these facts by ascertaning their causes ana
effects and the dissemination OF 1he IesUi'-i'7
knowledge for the education Of public opinion
The institute is the outgrowth OF the League 1or
Social Service which organized by Dr' otrohs
and Dr William II Tolrnan In 1898 1t is the league
enlarged better equipped and reorganlzed Win seN
eral new departments OF proved worth -dost VA
the members of the league have taken an active
interest in the organization which succeeds II anu
its work will continue without interruption Nc"
necessities and new opportunities the occasion
for the new duties which have been undertaken
and the scope of the old league was not large
enough. -.
clearing house of social facts is what the lnSu-
tute is to be. Thousands of experiments alcAg ihe
lines of social betterment being made-in leg
islation in government, in sanitation, In reilglon
in charity in reform, in the RECOMMENDATION OF caI
tai and labor and, in fact, in every department oi
human activity Some of these experiments are
successful and some fail, but whether the result
is negative or positive, each experiment throws
some light on the great problem OF readJus'rnehl
The study is so great that some central orsaIlza-
ton for collection. digestion and dissemination Oh
results is necessary.
Josh Billings. the homely truth philos pher once
said: ''It is better not TO know so many things
than to know so many things that amt So This
Is the reason why the first efforts Of the institute
will be directed the collection Of facts not I'M
prezsions, opinions assumptions. but PLAIN
everyday facts. From these facts tn eorles can oe
and lessons taught
OF the many departments of the institute, with
its bureaus information illustration. investiga
ton. publication, legislation and lectures, none
are more interesting than its prospective school
for the training of social secretaries This Is dis-
tinctly a new profession, and is made necessary by
the changed conditions of modern industry. The
social secretary acts point OF contact between
master and man. He she-for it is an occupa-
ton which is also open 10 women, with their tact
and larger sympathies-can get in touch with the
workmen and their families few employers have
been able to do. When the employer is in sym
pathy with his social secretary great deal in the
line Of social betterment" can be accomplished.
There is, for instance, the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company. with fifteen thousand employees. mostly
foreign. a social secretary gives his time to ele
waiting and Amerieanizing these men, Another in
stance Is a department store where five hundred
shop girls are looked after by a woman secretary
That there is demand for such workers is shown
by the applications being received by DR.. Tol
man, secretary of the institute. One which came
few days ago was from the president of a great
manufacturing company in North Carolina The
company its mill village of twenty-five hum
dred persons and is building mill which will
give additional population of five thousand. The
president writes:
pretty the bottom OF the list in iIliteracy but
linians. and make very apt pupils We now have
good school in our village where We are trying
might TO good advantage employ some man. per
maps better still man and WIFE to locate here and
our people interested in such development will
tend toward their mental moral and physical i'm
provement.
Several foreign countries have had organizations
like the new American institute for a number of
years, and in each instance the work accomplished
has been Of great value There is the Musee
Social, Of Paris. which has devoted years to the
study OF labor problems and the advancement Of
concrete of labor reform. 1t occupies in
the field OF economic research much the same place
that the Smithsonian Institution at Washing
has been literally endowed by private individuals,
sfe mas its own nome IN me Rue Las ecasas wheTe
and reform societies. exhibition rooms for the dis
Foreign social workers of prominence have taken
great interest in the formation of the American
The movement under the title of collaborating mem
bers- They prepared to assist in the collection
OF material and illustrations of social and economic
work in their respective countries
The most prominent collaborating member from
Ireland Is Horace Plunkitt. OF Dublin. who, with
few others, initiated the self-help movement and
founded the Irish Agric;;iturai @ Organization So
Agricultural and Technical instruction. and until
recently has been member OF Parliament.
DR. John Brown Patton, the who said to
have converted General Booth. of the Salvation
Army TO the conception of practical applied
Christianity, Is member from Great Britain. He
has recently been active in work for boys between
twelve and sixteen years of age He has been the
inspiration of q number Of successful movements
for social betterment.
DR. Max Richter. of Berlin. another member, is
frivy Chancellor in the Imperial German Home
Office. where he has been employed in the most
varied business of administrative and social charac
ter. He has been recently engaged with the prob
lem of supplying healthy dwellings of moderate
price for workingmen and clerks small salaries.
jules Siegfried, OF the MuSee Social is strongly
in favor OF the institute He that il will
centralZe Information difficult obtain. and will
be OF great service to American employers desiring
10 better the condition of their Wilhelm
Exner, chief secretary of the Belgian Minister OF
Commerce and director OF the Royal Technologica