Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-24
Conserving Sociological Energies.

8
A meeting has just been held in New York
to form another charity organiza ton. 1t
was attended by large number of earnest
men and women. eager to do something to
lessen The evils of child labor in the me-
tropolis, and it was addressed by distin-
guished people who have had considerable
experience in the broad field of charity en-
deavor. One of these was Bishop Potter,
be heard by the charity workers of every
city in the country and adopted as a guide
to their future labors He spoke of the
danger of becoming deeply involved in
the mechanism and red tape of organizatio
as to lose sight of the primary objects. He
added:
lit has afforded me great amusement to
attend some meetings of charitable organi-
cations conducted by women and to note
the immense amount of energy wasted in
red tape and the attempt to follow par
liamentary rules. The history of the wastes
of charity is yet to be written. but it
would contain a long account of the good
lost IN the mechanism of several organiZa-
tons, all designed for the accomplishment
of. the same object. That is why the thing
that interests me most in this meeting Is
the idea of unification.''
1t Is undeniably true that in many cities
there Is serious overlapping of charity
carnations, until 1t is often difficult to
know where one Jurisdiction ends and the
other begins. Many times the same people
are members of half dozen different So
cieties which are working generally for the
amelioration of social evils of various kinds
The urgent need in practically every COM
munity today is for a concentration of eff
fort, for unihcation. as Bishop Potter ex-
pressed the idea in connection with the New
York child labor organization.
These volunteer associations of people are
necessarily dependent for their going force
upon the interest OF members. and II is to
be feared that this interest is sometimes
conferred chiefly in questions OF organization
politics rather than in the furtherance of
the principles for which the organizations
stand and the objects which they serve
There is much waste of energy in this di-
rection and a greater waste in the duplica-
ton of societies
The ideal form OF charity organization
would seem to be one grand local commit
tee OF men and women of intelligence of
more or less means and with some leisure
forming a central body with Jurisdiction
over all lines of sociological work dividing
into committees devoted to special subjects
such as child labor, sanitation. prevention
OI cruelty, reEeI OF the worthy poor, the
provision of employment for the idle. etc
Each committee. IL equipped with its own
agents working under the immediate direc-
ticu of a skilled sociological specialist
would be able to accomplish as much as a
distinct and independent organization, and
probably more. In the overlapping of fields
the authority of the central body would be
effective to prevent Implications and lack of
attention.
The present tendency is toward this man
ner of unification. not merely in similar
lines of work. but in the entire charity field
of community The steady progress of
sociological enterprise IS away from the
individualistic methods toward the organi-
rational, and the more perfect the develop
ment of the organization the more compre-
hensive and systematic and efficient it be-
comes. 1t is TO be hoped that a result of
the Sage Foundation research the wisdom
OF concentration and subordinate subdi-
vision VIII be effectively demonstrated to
the charity workers of the country.