The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-08-04
Policy of PaternalisIn
Successful in Ireland
Stimulus Is Given to Agriculture, Fishing and
Manufacturing by Board
Continued from Page 1

after long training. were producing
the dainty. filmy articles such as the
teacher proudly showed us in the fin
ished state. Each of these girls will in
time be an efficient worker, able to
make a welcome addition to the family
income through her skill with the
needle
Cooking, laundering and domestic
economy constitute another branch OF
education which is fostered. particu-
larly in Donegal. The board employs
six teachers and by a four months
course fits those young women who
seek domestic service to earn higher
wages than they could earn if ineXperi-
enced in the mysteries of household
work.
But the scheme of Improvement
which, perhaps, has the greatest ef-
feet. and which certainly produces the
most notable change for the better. is
the system of encouraging the inhabit-
ants of the poorer congested districts
to make permanent Improvement in
their farms, buildings and surround
ings by means of small grants of
money, administered through local
committees. These bodies are known
as parish committees; they are made
up OF clergymen of all denominations,
the poor law guardians. and the land
lords or their agents, all of these be-
ing members ex officio; and six addi-
tional members elected by the rate
payers of each parish.
BOARD EXTENDS AID
To each committee the board grants
a sum varying from $3.50 to $500. and
then invites the occupiers of the proper
farms to state what improvements they
Will make il help is given to them.
Enormous benefits have been produced
through comparatively small outlay in
this direction. The principal works are
the erection of decent habitations in
place of insanitary dwellings, and of
adequate stables and other outbuild-
ings; the making of roads, fences,
drains etc.
It must be understood that the money
aid given is small. covering only such
materials, etc, as the occupier could
not afford to buy. All the unskilled
labor must be supplied, by the man
himself. The good comes from the
encouragement and supervision more
than from the financial help. The peo-
pie want to improve their surround
ings, and need only a helping hand.
That the plan is productive of immense
good is shown by the fact that, while
the board has expended about $500. 600
upon it, the permanent improvements
made have a value Of at least $780,
600. In a single year 800 new houses
have been erected, and 1900 unfit
dwellings made sanitary and comfort
able.
An important feature of this work
is the raising of the standard of liv-
ing. Financial aid is strictly contin-
gent upon the Improvement of the sur
roundings of the house by the occu-
pier. He must remove the stable ref
use a specified distance from the
dwelling. and must turn the cattle out
of it il they have been sheltered there.
Thus the trifling help changes for the
better not only the farm equipment,
but the whole manner of living. Hun
dreds of homes which helpless poverty
made unsightly and insanitary have in
this way been transformed into homes
as pretty and comfortable as will be
found in the most prosperous rural
communities of America.