Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-20
CHARITY THE THEME
DISCUSSED AT BANQUET OF MON
DAY EVENING CLUB.
Addresses by Commissioner Macfar.
land and others-Common Sense
in Carrying on the Work.

| Charity in all its phases was the theme
| of the Monday Evening Club at its annual
| banquet In the hall of the new Y. NJ. c. \.
building last evening. The Monday Even
| ing Club is not as It's name might be con-
strued as Indicating merely an organize
ton the members of which meet Monday
| evenings. 1t Is an assembIage of profess
| sional, scientific Clarity workers of this
| city, persons in direct charge of nearly all
of the local philanthropic enterprises. Many
| guests in addition to the members of the
club We're in attendance last evening, IN
| Guiding men and women from all sections,
| but nearly all of them personally inter-
ested in charitable work ready to con-
tribute material support for the cause;
Charles w. Skinner, the superintendent
of the Industrial Home School the presi-
dent of the club. acted POSTMASTER.
| Several of the expected speakers We're I'M
| avoidably absent. Justice Ashley NJ Gould
| was i'll, Senator Patterson of Colorado was
| detained elsewhere and Representative
| Gardner of Michigan, who was to have
spoken on The Attitude of the General
| Government Toward the Charities OF the
| District" had been called out OF the city
by the serious illness of a member OF MS
family.
! Commissioner mcfarland spoke on The
| Districts Charity Budget.
The progress of the Monday Evening
| Club has been remarkable, and its influence
1
| gagged in of the nohlest tasks or me
| citizen has been most valuable, he Silio
The public spirit, the charitable sPflt OF
| the District nave always been strong. Ten
Ell osity has characterized the gifts OF money
| ana of personal service But in the past ten
| years greater things have been accomplish
ca by the application of modern principles
| and the ideas for social bettermept Which
are now everywhere.
THE Board of Charities has in the past
five years done lone OF the great pieces Oh
municipal work of our time in improving
| the public charity system, which calls for
| the second largest item in our District
| budget at times nearly three-quarters of a
| million dollars. The Associated ChariueS
| has done no less notable things in tho
| field of private charity Many other So
| cieties of individuals have co-operated
Pressing Social Reforms.
| The social reforms which we have De2a
| pressing, whether in bills presented by The
f, Commissioners to Congress or otherwise
are in a hopeful state and We may look
forward 10 large practical results at an
| early day In this as in other respects, IL
is not difficult TO be optimistic about the
| future of the national capital All the
| remediable conditions which we deplore ana
| have been working for years 10 remove, Will
/ be remedied i'll time, and snort time at
| that We cannot abolish poverty and dis
| ease, but they can be reduced, and they
! will be.
| we have nothing but praise Tor tile men
| and women who are giving themselves as
well as their money for the leaders and the
| followers and for the officials who cannot
| be compensated in money, in this great Ell
| fort for the improvement of conditions ana
| the uplifting of unfortunate brothers
ana sisters. 1t is all community work in
| the highest interest of the national capt.
| tall
! A speaker whose name did not appear on
| the program was Miss Mary Z. Mcdowell
of Chicago. She said she was merely a Wis
| ttor here, having come to the national cap
| ital in behalf of the working girls and Wo-
men with whom she had spent much of hes
| life. For twelve years past, she explained,
| she had lived back of the stock yards IN
| Chicago, where there was perhaps more OF
| misery and less of nope ana comfort among
| the women workers than IN any other spot
| in the United States. The people who knew
! of the conditions there wanted to do some
! thing to improve them, but they were
| handicapped by lack of information. Few,
| If any statistics of women workers were
available and what she and her associates
wanted to do was to impress upon Congress
the necessity of making thorough fnyesti-
CATION and furnishing data that could be
depended on in helping the general condi-
ton of the workers, I'm addition to aiding
specific cases.
~ am a complete stranger to The Wash
ington end of the work" Miss Mcdowell
added Il do not know how Congress
ought to be approac hed. ! do not even
| know many of you here but | know that
YOU sympat hize with what want to do.
and | ask most earnestly that if there Is
| ANYTHING you can do to help the cause
| along, you will DO it.
| Champion of Intelligent Charity.
| To Mr.. r. c. Noyes had been assigned
| the subject THE Press as Champion of
| Intelligent Charity Mr.. Noyes remarked
| that he did not propose to talk on that
| theme. Any charity work is good and If
| II is performed in the true spirit of the
| golden rule it will benefit not only the
| giver but the receiver. The speaker point
! ed out that there is no hard and fast rule
/ to be laid down for charitable work; that
| IL is impossible to know when man or
| woman is really down and out or when IL
| is no longer possible to help them. The
| most laundering, unscientifc, unintellisent
| charity If applied with the real spirit of
charity will often accomplish wonders and
| will do good to the giver, II It does to no
| one else, according to the speaker. He ex-
| pressed the wish that he could make those
present feel that there is nothing united
| effort cannot accomplish There was suffi-
Client of the spirit and strength of Wash
| ington within the four walls of the banquet
| hail. In the opinion of Mr. Noyes. to ac-
| complish any object on which united
| minds might be set He was free TO say
1t was added. that whatever work there
| was to be done. If the workers would call
| on the press the press would Invariably
help.
Mr.. d. w. Baker United States attorney
for the District of Columbia, spoke of the
good that he feels sure will result by rea-
son of the establishment of the Juvenile
Court. Another thing that this city should
possess Mr. Baker added, is provision
| for segregating first offenders from the
l aIav