Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-19
DISCUSS COST
OF CHARITIES
C0NGREGATi0NALISTS HANDLE
BIG PROBLEM
One Speaker Says Prisons Are Blot
Cottages Replace Institutions.
Another Makes Plea for Or
ganlzed Charity

The second days session of the Pa
cifc Coast Congregational Church con-
gress in First Congregational church
was largely devoted to charities.
At the afternoon session Rev. ]. X.
Mclean of Berkeley was the first
speaker on "The Problems of State
Charity and Correction" He said
THE state charity and correction has
to do with three classes-delinquents
detectives and dependents.
In the delinquent class are included
only convicts i'm our state prisons, boys
and girls In our reform schools and
persons under commitment in county
Jails. Three years ago there were in
our two penitentiaries 1901 convicts, SO
of whom being women; 713 boys, and II
girls.
"The detectives are included in the
insane In the five hospitals. There are
5000 inmates. In the home for the
feeble minded there are 952 inmates
and the institution for the blind and
deaf 229; home for adult blind, 119;
making a total of 7S40.
THE dependents of two classes are
specified in the county hospitals and
orphanages.
Dependents Are 1928
THE round figures of the three de-
partments make 55,21S
turning now from the numerical
side of the state charitable and cor
rective problem, take a glance at it's
cost. For the two penitentiaries the
year under review the total cost was
$2555,535.
1T is calculated that the cost of Sc
curing and convictng inmates of
states prison is $1,000 each.
"One can OnlV saw that dpliDu1lppts
insanity and indigency are very ex-
pensve. If they were all out of the
way and the money they cost could be
applied to developing the state, in
stead of merely 'doctoring' it, what a
civilization we would presently have.
N"Our county hospitals are, too many
on them, poor affairs. They serve a
noble purpose of affording refuge to
paupers and temporary shelter for
the INDECENT sick. The superintendent
comes in the position by way of local
politics, often in ignorance and too
often in utter Indifference to it's duties
"Our hospitals for the insane are
altogether creditabe to the state. They
are well kept, economically managed
and compare favorably with those of
other states.
Big Buildings White Elephants
1T is Il misfortune, however, that the
buildings are so large. Some of them
are palatial in dimensions and archi-
lecture, making them too good to be
torn down. At the time of their erec-
ton they We're model asylums. But it
is now conceded that the cottage plan
is the better, giving more hope for re-
covery on the patients part. In Stock
ton there are 1900 PATIENTS under one
roof and at Napa 1900 The Whittier
and Prescott reform schools are on a
IL
good work.
Our state prisons and county jails
are a blot upon the state and a shame
to twentieth century civilization.
"The penitentiaries are universities
of vice and crime and the jails are
preparatory schools thereto"
Treatment of Destitute
w. A. Gates of San Francisco spoke
on THE Treatment of the Destitute"
Prefacing his remarks Mr.. Gates gave
his experiences in the San Francisco
disaster, in which he lost all his pos
sessions. He said;
THE surprise is that we have so
many indoor poor in this fine climate
Of ours. but this is easily explained by
the presence ofethe old miners who
have become wrecked while chasing
for the pot of gold, The sick and In
jured poor, who are mostly in the county
hospitals, numbered 1921 last July.
THE result of the hodge -podge and
loose business methods and official eX
travagance Is shown in the fact that
the unfortunate inmates and imposters
share alike, in which independence Is
broken down and pauperism and pro-
fessional mendioancy are fostered in
which the suffering and distressed are
humiliated by association with the
fraudulent in the public mind, in which
the exigencies of party politics aud
personal favoritism may be satisfied
without detection.
Paradise for Mendicants
California can have all the mendi-
cants, beggars and tramps that 1t can
feed. This state seems to be paradise
for these classes. The indiscriminate
giving of relief to families in their
homes has made this land of golden
plenty also one full of pauperism.
Families should be protected, but
when family comes to want there
must be some defect in the head thereof.
The charity worker must act with dis
cretion in the relief of these needy
people. To save and rebuild the family
Is our great work.
I"ReaI charity is reconstructive. This
requires money and work. The family
should not be broken up unless the
parents have both become so immoral
that it seems impossible to save them
In some cases the best solution would
be the prison for them both, and then
the charity worker should see that the
children have that education which
their condition and intellectual ca
pacity demand for their best develop
ment.
Organization is Best
t"Organized- charity and it's agents and
workers is the best method to do the
charity work.
LET me close by an appeal to the
Christian people for that higher charity
which builds UP men and women. That
organized charity builded on scientific
spiritual lines"
On Oriental Exclusion
The following resolution was adopted
after considerable spirited discussion
on the exclusion Of orientals;
THE Pacific Coast Congregational
congress, composed of Representatives
of the Congregational churches OF the
states of California, Oregon, Washing
ton. idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and