The Washington herald., 1908-04-02
By FREpERIC J. HAskIN.

Arrangements are now being made In
Richmond. Va. for the thirty-ffth Ma
tionaI Conference Of Charities and Cor
rections, which convenes there the 6tb
OF May. Some 15oO people. moved by a
spirit Of helpfulness. will meet to take
another step forward IN the great move
ment 10 Danish want and distress from
/ this country The conference is in some
particulars peculiar one. for its doors
are wide open TO whosoever Will lend
hand IN the work OF rescuing the sub
merged and helping the unfortunate.
The National Conference Of Charities
and Corrections has for its purpose the
making OF every dollar 90 the greatest
! possible good when expended in charity
work. and the making Of corrective work
in the penal and reformatory Institutions
OF the country accomplish the best pos
sible ends As such IL has been leading
the thought Of its realm for many years.
and IS the membership represents every
section OF the country, new ideas gained
from q years practical work viii give
new aid in the great free-will work OF the
nation, in which men show that they re-
gard themselves as their brothers
keeper"
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
in America were given 10 the conquest of
wild men and wild lands The twentieth
century will be given to even better work.
1t will be devoted largely 10 the con-
quest Of poverty and incompeteacy. and
through the rescue Of the children OF the
nation this will be brought about What
the period makes Of itself depends on
what II makes of the children Herein
lies the democratic enrichment Of the
future. These are largely the views OF
the man who presided over the last meet
ing OF the conference, which was held
IN Minneapolis-Amos ". Butler and Of,
the man who viii preside at the Rich
mond conference-ThOmas W. Mulry.
One OF the delegates who may be ex-
pected to attend is Miss Kate Barnard.
Of Oklahoma. At the Minneapolis con-
ference she was declared the most deadly
in earnest Of all present The news
papers made her the headliner Of the
meetings. She was the impersOnation OF
all that the work stood for Zeal enthu-
siasTn. and intelligence combined TO give
her a prominent place. She was one OF
those who had done something during
the year. She had led the crusade for
O provision in the constitution Of the
new State Of Oklahoma prohibiting child
labor. It was an uphill fight II carried
| her all through the proposed State. and
caused her many days Of hard and try
ing work But child labor was prohibited.
and that clause of the constitution stands
as a proof of what a woman in earnest
can do. even though she be but little
beyond her teens.
No census OF charity has ever been
taken in the United States. and it would
be hard one 10 take But the opinion
Of those qualified to speak is that the
past decade has witnessed a doubling Of
the interest that the successful and the
fortunate can show for the poor and the
unfortunate. AS the number Of associa-
tions has multiplied so also have the
lines Of activity increased. Charity has
been reduced TO a science, and there are
those who make 1t q profession. The
work has been practically revolutionized
in recent years. The activity of n dec
ade or two ago was palliative rather
than curative The effort was mainly TO
relieve distress rather than to remove its
cause. To-day the question is treated
as one that calls for cure. The charity
subject in days gone by was treated
as an individual To-day he is treated as
member Of the state. and the effort is
10 get him on his feet. so that he may not
only stand Of his own will, but may also
lend a hand TO others.
Charity work in the United States has
grown with wonderful strides The first
charity organization in city work was
effected in Buffalo in 1877. To-day there
are more than 16O such organizations in
the United States. They follow a hundred
different lines of activity. but that Of
child rescue is the most interesting. Fig
ures recently compiled by the Children's
Aid Society show that Of the =. 120 chill
dren placed by that society. only sixty.
so far as is known have been arrested or
sent to reform schools OF the careers OF
all Of these wards the society could not
know since they fail TO keep in touch
with them after they have reached their
majority, but the greater number Of them
became farmers OF farmers wives. OF
the Others two became governors OF
States. two district attorneys. one a men,
Der Of Congress. one a sheriff, three coun-
ty commissioners. and a number went to
their State legislatures. IN the business
world twenty-six became bankers thirty
four lawyers, twenty-five merchants. sew
enteen physicians, six postrnasters, eighty
seven railroad men, ten real estate agents.
fourteen newspaper men. eighty-one
teachers. nineteen clergymen. and nearly
five hundred become successful business
men. Wherever statistics Of child rescue
work are TO be had they show equally
rich harvests
One Of the most interesting lines of