Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-05-02
-THE-
FUTILlTY OF PHILANTHROPY
BY Mrs. Rose Pastor Stokes.

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q good thing II this whole philan-
thropic system could be swept out of
existence, because 1t blinds people to
the real issues. It is not true philan-
thropy. Philanthropy is love of man,
and 1t Is not love Of man to take from
him what is his, and then, when he
Is lying robbed and wounded upon
the Jericho road, to put him on
beast and take him to soup kitchen.
There is little use in trying to relieve
poverty while we are creating it.
Just so long as we go on leaving men
and women on the Jericho road we
will have these problems.
It is a curious psychological fact
that people should want to relieve
distress while they are careless about
what they do to create 1t. Not long
ago Mr.. Stokes refused to become
trustee for vast estate. He told
the two men who tried to persuade
him to accept the trust that IL he
did he would feel bound to see that
those who created that wealth re-
ceivGd 1t again. He didn't think that
the dividends mattered. Now, these
two men are very philanthropic.
They believe that they are so, and
others believe 1t of them. But they
were very much surprised and hurt
at this attitude. They told Mr..
Stokes that 1t was not at all his busi-
ness how the dividends were pro-
duced. His only concern was to see
that those who intrusted him with
the estate received them, and finally
they said, as If concluding the whole
matter: "Our duty Is to God and not
to the workers"
This attitude is very common
among the sustainers of great philan-
thropies and churches. They do not
see that taking dividends is taking
from the worker. They live in lux
ury, denying themselves nothing, and
what they have to spare they give in
philanthropy. They do not see that
they are working at the wrong end,
that poverty can be cured only by
doing justice and seeing that those
who create wealth get 1t and that all
help to create 1t.
The care OF the public health is the
subject in which you are particularly
Interested, and sickness is one Of the
greatest of our problems under the
present social system. Most Of our
treatment of 1t is merely on the sur
face. Only few forces are trying to
remove the cause. There is section
of our city known as the lung block.
Many efforts have been made to have
1t torn down and replaced by park,
but nothing can be done because the
proposition touches vested interests.
Even the priest Of nearby church
objects because 1t would remove his
flock. To be sure, death removes
them anyway, but he doesn't seem
to think of that.
Many Of our workshops are so bad
that If people don't get tuberculosis
in them they get something else. 1t
is inevitable. Recently, in Philadel-
phia, met in a settlement witch he
himself sustained wealthy mill
owner. lie employed 1900 girls, and
he was much concerned over the way
they dropped off and died. 1t was
terrible to see, but he didn't know
how to help it. He said they came to
him we'll and rosy, but in six months
or year they grew pale and thin,
and after dropping out and returning
to work a few times they died Of
tuberculosis. I expressed surprise
that he couldn't find a way to pre-
vent this, but he explained that he
couldn't ventilate the weaving rooms,
because the dust from the colored
fabrics blew onto the white ones and
marred their purity. thought that
human beings were more important
than cloth, and If his heart hadn't
been hardened by business he would
have thought so, too; but 1t didn't
seem to me necessary even to sacrifice
the cloth He might have woven the
different colors in different rooms.
That would have necessitated more
supervision and more expense, and
perhaps wouldn't have left him any
money for philanthropy. This man
really wanted to be philanthropic, but
couldn't see that he was responsible
for the killing of hundreds of girls.
And yet l do not blame him or any
individual. blame the competitive
system back of 1t all.