The sun., 1905-12-31
CITY'S GIFTS TO HER POOR.
NORE THAN S?,JOO, ,OOO 4 lEiR
SPENT ~ CHARITY.
New York Declared 10 Lead the world IN
the Matter OF Caring for the Infor-
tunate- ~ 900 900 Dispensed by One
I Association Generosity OF Churches.

on the various charitable organizations.
From January to April there are no days
off for the persons entrusted with the duty
Of dispensing bounty TO the very poor.
February, the shortest month in the year,
is the busiest
II is also at this time Of the year that the
greatest efforts are made to oh tain contri-
buttons from the charitaby disposed.
As a result OF such efforts New York has
gained the reputation Of giving more
generously than any other city in the world
to its POOR.
The exact extent Of its generosity has
never been set down in figures. No one,
st seems, has ever undertaken to com
pute with accuracy the sums spent by
New York annually on its poor, nor is it
likely that any one ever will perform the
task.
There are too many difficulties in the
way. If the disbursements of the public
charitable organizations alone were to be
considered the task would be easy enough,
but one might as well undertake to count
the spring daisies in two acre lot as To try
10 count the host of private associations
under secular direction the hundreds of
relief guilds operated by the city churches.
the thousands Of single cases of individual
benevoence dispensed without the aid Of
any association, and to state the amount
Of money handed out every year to the
poor through these various channels.
Nevertheless, among persons engaged in
philanthropic work in this city New York
Ia credited with topping all other cities
in the matter of benevolence. Even English
men engaged In this city in relief and rescue
work indorse the statement. In London
ray these men, there is proportionately
more acute poverty than in New York.
for the reason that Londoners don't
loosen their purse strings as New Yor kers
do for the relief of the city's poor.
To be sure, there are many persons of
big heart and fine intelligence who are
inclined to think that in comparison with
New York's great wealth her gifts to the
poor are niggardly rather than generous
which proves, as an official of a charitable
Organization pointed out that every per-
sons definition of generosity is not the
same Said he
ITO support the poor is the definition
most popular with the unthinking, while
to help the poor to support themselves is
the definition most favored by persons who
| have studied sociological problems in con-
! nection with great cities, and there are many
ramifications of both definitions.
The pity of it is that the rank and file of
the well to do know next to nothing about
how much money is spent on the poor of
New York, and are ignorant Of the methods
used to distribute this money"
About how much money is distributed"
the official was asked.
lean only speak for the United Charities,
which includes the Charity Organization
Society, the Society for Improving the
Condition of the Poor, the United Hebrew
Charities, the Society of st. Vincent de
Paul, and several others. Its disburse-
ments represented an outlay last year of
81 900 900. The United Charities does not,
Of course, include any OF the church phil
anthropic organizations, the Salvation
Army, the Volunteers, and dozens of relief
associations under secular management.
chat with half dozen managers Of as
many charitable organizations as to the
outlook for the very poor this winter
brought out these facts. Instead of be-
coming case hardened, New Workers. show
disposition to increase their contributions
to charity, and there is little prospect Of
charitable work being ourtailed this winter
for lack of funds. Also, unless the winter
will be less suffering this season than last
among the very poor, and because no two
societies work on exactly the same lines
almost any and every phase of poverty, of
suffering, is bound to be reached.
The secretary of the Charity Organization
Society, which aims rather to help families
to upbuild the home than to give tenn
porary relief to the individual stated that
q n 81 Nnnf Nv
the society annually in relieving distress.
And yet in one sense of the word, we are
not primarily engaged with relief work,
he added "We work every day and all
days the year around to better the condition
Of the poor, to put them on their feet, to
make them self-supporting. not merely to
give them temporary shelter and food.
Persons who do not understand this
uavil over our large force OF workers and
are never done pointing out that it costs
81 to distribute every single dollar passing
through the hands of the society, which is
about as reasonable as it would be to point
out that the Fire Department costs tre-
mendous sum in comparison with the water
it suuirts into the flames, and that in con-
trast to the sum spent for books, pens and
pencils by the Board of Education the
amount paid out in wages to teachers is
enormous
At the Society for Improving the Con-
dtion of the Poor, whose chief aim is to
give speedy relief where circumstances
warrant 1t and to follow such aid by as
sistanoe to enable the beneficiary to become
self-supporting, the superintendent of
relief stated that $42, 900 was used last year
in relief work, So 900 of which was for coal
and more than S21 900 for food.
"The drain on us during the month of
February, always the hardest on the very
poor, was terrific. There is always more
sickness in that month, and the misery
arising from the breadwinner being out
of work reaches a elimination about that
time.
"The state of the thermometer has more
to do with the suffering of the poor than
any other agency. A long continued sea-
son below freezing point lands the families
Of outdoor laborers close to starvation.
The men are willing to work, but work
Is not to be had until the thermometer
rises.
"In some quarters higher rents have