New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-14
THE SYSTEM.
Impressions of Former Charity
Investigator.
".
BY Louis 4. Freedman


- .,-,,, . time a gentleman of leisure. an
.,oto-;,a nv profession. saint by conviction
c,-,aor hv name. Stylites by surname eS'ao-
usbod himself in SYRIA upon the top Of a column
tbree feet in diameter with balustrade pIo'eo-
ton of eourse) more or less dangerously INSTANT
from the ground and. standing there Tor 'he le''
or his natural life-which was seventy years
1one-be wrote homilies. made addresses ana
gave advice A sage as few about him. Win
mind unburdened by positive knowledge anu
go, ,,-+a;,+ad nv actual experience, he reflected
deeply on problems practical and impractical
and penetrated profoundly into THEFT solutions
77ao,,Ins syvarmed TO listen TO him. three en-
,,orors came 10 consult him; and when he died
- ,ef+ os n memorial to himself-his solitary
column. 80,
HIS successors IN the spirit. If not in the flesh
rad not all the Indian fakir- physical courage
o< their precursor but his method they foHoWed
4aitbfIlllv. Whether on the top OF the column
ar within executive offices. they all agreed IN
standing aloof from the reality on which they
80. ., mass and in expressing their views and
giving their orders by virtue OF their eIeVatloh
above the facts. The results in practice have
been sucb as fully to justify ali rational eXpec-
..+ione and TO add to the comfortable conVlc-
80, mar there IS still some truth in the COM
r1onest Of common sense
Let Us descend from the column OF our lr19ho
e-,.7i.ee and enter the door Of our neighoor' the
orarirv institution There IS such hurrylng
70 and fro. such an abrupt whisklns away III
+ta midst Of q conversation such sudden dash
while at work on one thing to work out sollle-
rin altogether different, that it is difficult Tor
.+-ar,s,ar n make out any purpose or method
a. eli this cor1,raotion. The explanations OF one
4 the Office staff soon make it clear TO the Vlsl-
ro~ An applicant on arriving receives NUMBER
this is for the purpose Of keeping a recoIo u
how many applications are made IN the course
of a dav-and when his turn comes he gives MS
,,-r,a and his address 10 an attendant. A cara
catalogue IS kept Of all the applicants anu inns
6 consulted to find out whether the person mas
.7,,z 7,sfora and If So what the ease num-
,ar" is The applicant waits until the record
,er+ NJ his relations with the institution Is
- . he Is q new applicant he simply
ai+e his turn-and then, when called goes
a., ., side room. there TO tell Of his case. Il
--oesible some disposition is at once made. Inc
arrlicant may be unworthy, MS request may
Ia tronracticable his case may not ian WITHIN
the rroyince Of the institution in question: 'ho
-rlican+ is told at once whether any thlhg can
10 done for him and what he should 90 lot MN
self But should it prove 10 be a case mat iieSl-S
- attention. the matter is referred to the
investigator. and the applicant Is sent iiOiie -
await visit l.,
-+:era+or ASSIGNED to the particular district III
-rb,cr the a7plicant lives calls on him and looks
s-+D +ha situation at first hand. He cross-Ques-
.+,,,e the arplcant 10 find If the dispositions he
made at the Office are true; in new case Il
The nersonal details of himself, his business ms
cbi,5rar- etc. are exact; if he has any relatives
~ friends who are able to help him; makes
further inquiries among the neighbors' among
.f,e admitted friends relatives, JUDGES py ben
.eraI Appearances whether the person heeuS any
:-e1fer or not and what form of assistance he re-
c,ras and then makes his. recommendations &C
cordingIv Important action he cannot take
For this he must wait until the executive de-
partrnent vises his report. At most he may give
immediate monetary relief up to 50.
He submits his report the following day, dis
,7,sses # with the executive who has read it, and
receives instructions to carry out the recon-
mendations in whole or In part, If at all. Only
after receiving such instructions does the in
vestigator become free 70 act. It is true that
immediate action is in many cases not essential
and that few days delay does not aggravate
the situation. An applicant who has a dis
possess notice. or who is in such arrears with
his rent that he fears such a notice, has always
At least three days Of grace. as for cases Of
actual restitution often the slight monetary as
sistance which the investigator may give IS suf-
aclent TO tide over the family until more I'M
rortant action is taken. But cases are contnu-
ally coming up which call for pronptest action
-perhaps even for the expenditure of a con-
siderable sum of money at once-where 1t is
highly probable that the executive Will decide
4avorabIy on the recommendations made but
the investigator cannot transcend his powers
may not break through the routine.
An example Of the result Of such red tape
may still be present to the minds Of some read
ers In the case of the little newspaper boy,
Kondos by name. the sole support Of his mother,
who died from starvation after the latter had
anpealed in vain for assistance, the delay IN &C
ZION being apparently due TO the prescribed
amount Of routine to be gone through. Stiu an
other case IS that Of a pedler who. without a
e+nclr Of goods, H. Respondent appealed for as
sistance so as TO get started; who waited 1or
.be time 10 elapse that is necessary for eXecu-
i've consideration. and finally in despair put an
end 10 his life. Cases such as these cast
shadow over the work OF an INSTITUTION
shadow which becomes the gloomler the more
closely an observer scrutinizes the amount OIL
.'good" actually accomplished daily what Is
there IN the System" that thus impedes' tha'
zuinimizes, that even sometimes annuls, the
good results that it should accomplish?
There is in the first place hopeless amount
OF clerical work connected with every action
and much of it falls on Just those whose time Is
most precious. The investigators lose a sooc
part Of their morning IN writing their reports
or in having them typewriter. in filling out the
relief cards showing the money. supplies, medi'
cal assistance actually given. in attending tC
various other minor details, IN making out as
the occasion arises special reports. synopsis re-
ports, monthly reports-in doing a great dea
oF v7ac7a7i-al routine work that may have sta