Norwich bulletin., 1910-02-17

the charitable work of the town was
 held at the parlors of the Y. M. C. A. on Wednesday evening, lasting two hours Represented at the meeting were many church and fraternal organ fbations who had sent dele- gates from such bodies. and the state Inents made showed that the need of in- yestigation of all cases wherein aid Is asked for is imperative How to get at that and do it in the most practical and best way was talked over, and the idea that there should be 8 char 1ty commission for such work prevail ed. The deduction was that the out side poor includes those who are not identified with or not in good standing with any church or organization, ex- cept of course in some worthy cases where widows are helped and others who are deserving of assistance. The desire to prevent the overlapping of charity by the United Workers and the town, and the weeding out of the dead beats it what is aimed at by the meet ings, and it is hooed to solve the prob lem by a charity commission. o. ing, and he reviewed the objects of the meeting and told of the two previous meetings held, when various speakers were heard on the matter and at the second a charity commission was sug- gested. This gathering, he explained, was to get expressions from the differ ent organizations as to how charitable work is done by such organizations, in
  town than there is now. Secondly, 1t is desired to get interest aroused in the matter and have you take 1t back to your organizations. so as to help out in the general work and also see if the organizations are willing to cooperate by telling to whom charity is given and how much provided central body is decided upon.
 City Missionary Speaks.
 City Missionary c. A. Northrcp ex- plained7 that 86 organizations, includ- ing all the churches fraternal orders and Kings Daughters, had been invit- ed to the meeting, so that there could be an exchange of ideas. It is desired to know when people are helped from other sources The selectmen would like to be relieved of this outside poor task, and approve a charity commits sion. The selectmen and United Work CTS now cooperate, and would like this co-Optration from all the organizations dispensing charity. He believes it the last thing person should do is to get aid from the town. Relatives should be appealed to first, then the church, but last of all the town. It is possible to prevent many from getting on the town. The United Workers and the town are keeping track of those asking aid. The churches are doing large work but in all cases there should be a thorough :. investigation, and aid should not be given unless it is de- served. The expense can be cut down by all working together. The idea is not simply to save the dollars, but to benefit the man and make him stand for himself. He told of a case on Wednesday where 8, man who had been out Of work and received aid had se- cured work, and bringing his money home both he and his wife went on a drunk and have been on 1t for three days Such cases should be known to all organizations.
 Charity a Great Problem.
 Rev. P. c. Wright said that charity is always a great problem. It is not QueStion of money, but of citizenship. The giving by several organizations to one man is often helping him to a worse condition, when no organization knows that the other is giving Some say they prefer to do their own charity work, but the problem is so complex today that 1t cannot be done wisely that way.
 Families should be assisted when as- sistance is needed There is no crit icism of the present outside poor ac count but the cases need investigation, as the appearances of the applicant are not sufficient. A central body could keep a list of those assisted and or ganizations could peruse this list and see who is helped. The problem is how to administer for the cultivation of the best citizenship and the best handling of the funds for charity work
 He thought the selectmen could dele 1 gate the care of the poor to others | than the selectmen or ones who are familiar with the work
 B. P. Bishop stated that in New Britain the town pays the city stipu- | lated amount for the care of the poor | the same as the town of Norwich pays | the city for the care Of the streets.
 John Donovan said that he conSid- | cred the best thing to do was for the 1 pastors of the city to get together, l and this was the idea of Rev J. J. | Smith. he said and they. he thought, | could handle the matter. Father smith, he said, doesn't want the United Work CTS to help any Catholic of his parish | unless he is informed first. He spoke | of the fact that in 1850 the sum of S8,000 was spent for the poor, the past year $50,000 was spent.
 FraternaIs Not Included.
 F. J. Murtha, representing the A. o. H.. presented the fraternal side of the matter and cited the case of the For esters, where sick benefits of $5 week | for half the year and s2-50 for the re- There is a perfect system and it works successfully, there being very few frauds. The organizations could not | give any information. as the work is and secret It cannot be called charity as it is not charity. It | $ benevolence, and each one assisted | pay for what he gets. so that the | 'raternal orders cannot be classed as cnarlTy ~OrSan1ZatBOnS. The mefnDeTS pay so much a week or month to get | heir benefits and they have to pay up 70 get them.
 He referred to the great imposition 1n charity funds and thought the tax payers should have a meeting on this question. He thought there could not be too careful investigation and declared that the asking of aims 0y children should be discouraged. He old of a case where over SIS a week vas coming into the family and a boy was sent to ask for a pair of shoes. When asked as to why this was done, he lad replied that his father said it would cost 50 cents to get his shoes but he could get a new pair for 
 Representatives of the United Work nen and the H. H. Osgood lodge, I. O. }. F., M- U-, spoke in behalf of the movement and explained their own methods of dealing with charity cases. .s- A. Prentice spoke for the Second l congregational church and did not | hink the list of those assisted would ,e made public. as there is commit ee of -deacons who look after that work.
 Charity Imposed On.
 John Donovan considered that there l 8 too much imposition on the charity l People raise money for he United Workers and then some