The Hawaiian gazette., 1904-02-05
LECTURE At
PUNAHOU
Mrs. Mary R Smith
of Stanford
Talks.

| A large and representative gathering
| of the thinking people of Honolulu was
present in Pauahi Hall at Punahou
College last evening to listen to an in
teresting and valuable address by Mrs.
Mary Roberts Smith, of Stanford Uni
versity, on THE Subjective Causes of
| Poverty in Cities" The unusually
large audience attested to the merit of
the subject and the lecturers growing
popularity in educational circles of Ho-
nolulu.
The lecture was given under the aus
pices of the Young Mems Research
Club, and was the first of a series of
three to be given by Mrs. Smith under
the same auspices.
one of the most pertinent statements
made by the talented educator was
that no charity can ever be of any per-
manent value which does not stop the
causes of poverty. To prevent sickness,
which was one of the primal causes,
fresh air and good water must, among
other things, be supplied. To stop in
temperance, another deep rooted cause,
the charity worker must ascertain why
people drink and supply something else
If possible.
In opening her subject Mrs. Smith
said one question which is often put
to her is, what is sociology? Her an
swer to that broad and very general
question is that sociology is a very
modern English American outgrowth
of the subject of economics. Economics
is confined largely to the study of
world production and distribution of
commodities and goods. That is what
is generally taught in the universities
H.. 80 ,t., toll
has only recently come to be respecta-
BILE subject. Sociology, roughly speaking.
is the study of man in association, the
reaction of the individual actions of
men upon one another when they form
society. If Robinson Crusoe were on
his island all alone, it would be i'm
possible to develop sociology, but so
soon as you have him acted upon by
Friday then we have what is called
sociology.
Sociology is divided into two great
fields of study. One of them is theo-
retical, embracing the principles of
sociology, and the other is applied
sociology, or philanthropology.
Theoretical sociology investigates the
remote and fundamental causes of
mans action in association while ap-
piled sociology deals with immediate
causes and attempts to find remedies
for pathological conditions. These con-
ditions are not ideal. Applied sociology
goes further than to investigate the
causes. 1t suggests remedies. This the
speaker more clearly pointed out by
suggesting chemistry, wherein certain
results are obtained from certain COM
binations, or causes. Applied chemis-
try is directed, for instance, to the dye
ing of materials, the making of salt
and soda, etc. That is practical chemis-
try.
The basis of all charitable work is
to make a diagnosis of the causes and
then to proceed to find a palliative.
Charity in earlier times was almost
wholly ameliorative. This is typitied
in the middle ages when the practice
of medicine was ameliorative. done en-
tirely by the monks and nuns In the
history of the time nothing is found
giving reasons why one man should be
rich and the other poor. There was alb
solutely no study of these matters. In
the 18th century the world began the
task.
Charity of the amelorative sort was
considered right. In the eighteenth CEN
tury there was a tremendous human
effervescence, with political upheavals.
In short, 1t was the effort of the COM
mon man to make himself heard on the
one hand, and the question, on the
other hand, OF ascertaining how far his
rights extended. There was an extra
ordinary impetus given to humanitarian
effort by the breaking down of politi-
cal, social and religious barriers.
The first attempts to ascertain the
causes of poverty We're made by NAL
thus. In America, Henry George the
Single Tax theorist, continued the in
vestigations. The first discussion of the
causes was purely philosophic. Since
the middle of the nineteenth century
there has been an enormous increase
in the number of scientific and prac-
teal workers among the poor, whose
first-hand knowledge affords n more
accurate basis for conclusions. The
world has never before seen such an
expansion in phlanthropic effort as is
going on in England and America. The
growth of Christianity, the speaker
contended, has produced an extraordi-
nary development of humanitarian.
1t is not true that the poor We're un-
worthy, any more than that the rich
We're worthy. Men have given to chari-
ty all out of proportion to their sub
stance, and this to the poor had been n
hindrance rather than help, and has
produced pauperism.
AS an instance of this she cited the
competition of founding hospitals in
Paris at one time to obtain the chill
dren of women who wanted to be rid
of their offspring. 1t proved an easy
manner to rid themselves of distasteful
!
crime.
The most important observer OF prac-
tcal charity is Mr.. Charles Booth who
has spent his life and fortune in un-
derstanding and describing accurately
the poverty-stricken population of East
London, His six volumes contain ac-
curate statistical and social descrip-
tions of rent, food clothing and living