The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-28
CHARITY
DR.. MARTINS
SUBJECT
Newark Pastor Writes on
Mistakes Made in Civ
ing of Aims.

True charity is treated by the Rev. DR..
Daniel H. Martin in an article in the
Christian I~nteIligencer this week, uncer
the head The Cold Shoulder" In the
article. DR.. Martin says:
When the prodigal was in the far
country reduced to rags and wretchedress
No nan gave. unto him. That was the
Struest charity. The best shoulder to turn
to a man living as that fellow did was
tho cold shoulder. 1t was a good thing to
let him feel the frost of social ostracisnl
snd .ealize that a dissipated life is ont of
gear with the machinery Of a well-ordersd
community. II he had been coddled aad
helped he would have been content 10 -e-
main a pauper; but all help withdrawn,
he had to help himself.
''That is the truest charity which makes
an able-bodied idler understand that no
one owes him a living. 1t was a good
hing that the prodigal came to want; a
good thing that all men turned their backs
on him; a good thing that he should be
scratched by the crop Of wild oats WHICH
he had sow1.
TT is Gods plan that a man shall reap
as he has sown. The sinner must surfer
the consequences of his sin or there will
be no reason to stop SHINING. When God
decreed that the way of the transgressor
should be hard, 1t was for the transgres-
soSs sake that he might face a new direc-
zion, and not go on to the ruin of his body
and soul, When a man wakes with a bad
headache after a debauch, 1t is the mont
tor which tells him he Is breaking the
laws of God by SHINING against the laws
of the body. 1t is the call to a new man
hood.
You and / are doing harm to the sa-
Ioon-soaked mendicant when we respond
- ~ ----aY E.. 900 - fhn cfroof
or his appeal for food at our kitchen
door. We are confirming his choice of
shiftlessness, making tramp life pleasant.
consecrating him to the career of a para
site on society, and ultimately to that
of thief or murderer, since idleness is the
mother of crime.
This is not a plea for hard-heartedness,
but for thoughtfulness. If a man is un-
able to help himself through illness or
d%ecrepitude, he is a worthy object of sym
patty and practical help. And we need
TO discriminate also with the poor. Many
are poor as the victims of other peoples
misdoings. Some of the noblest and most
unselish characters In the community are
found in the ranks of the poor.
II am dealing here only with the pro-
fessional pauper who makes himself such
for revenue only: who has discovered
that it is easier to beg than work, and to
take MS COMFORT Wn1le you anu i edrh
the money to support him..
Yet how many good people give money
TO any such person not realizing they are
Going a three-fold injury, In making the
mar think begging is as respectable as
working, in paralyzing his ambition, and
killing his self-respect. Thus indiscrim-
mate giving hurts the man, hurts society
and hurts o%urself, by i%mplanting the self
satisfaction of charity, which is a charity
in name only.
I'VE need to beware also of the per-
nlcious practise of giving to child beggars
on the street, for that only entails mis-
cry and vice, by teaching that money
can be gained without work; the next
step il. petty tbieying, for when begging
AEsb begins, and after that a
ruined life.
+ THE real way to help the poor without
hurting them is to investigate the need,
and provide not money but the food or
medicine required. If there is a head
to the house he should be made to under
stand that the help provided is only tenn
porary. that he is the responsible head for
his family. Thus we can make the poor
our partners in the honest effort to inn
prove their condition, and relief should
be made dependent upon their doing what
they can to help themselves"