Arizona republican., 1910-11-27
Unappreciated Benevolence.

One of. the crosses which philan- thropists must bear is the lack of ap- preciation which is exhibited by the beneficiaries of their good deeds.
 The police department of Kansas City has been trying to do something for the hobo-and incidentally for the public-and finds to its amazement that the hoboes are far from appreci- ative.
 In Kansas City. as in all other cities, a vexatious problem-especially in the winter mOnths-is satisfac- tory handling of that portion of the unemployed class which makes itself conspicuous by begging and loafing on the streets. It had been the GUS tom in Kansas City for the police to use their discretion in making arrests of men clasSed as hoboes, and there were many complaints that this dis cretion was not wisely used-that men were arrested and sometimes sent to lHe IoCh plle "ileH lntH oihg ol- fense was loafing and begging be- cause they could not find work. So the police department undertook to deal with the situation in a new way. An intelligent member of the force was detailed as labor inspec- tor" It was made his duty to find work for the unemployed As soon as it became known that the department had established an employment bu- quickly became known, was at the head of an important clearing house of information. Citizens advised him of the help they needed in the way of skilled and unskilled labor. and in the first week of the new regime the inspector was able to direct some hundreds of idle men to places where they could find work. Indeed, the places were more numerous than the men applying for them, and the peo- pie of Kansas City settled down to the comfortable feeling that the prob lem of the unemployed" had been happily settled.
 But due consideration had not been given to the other side of the ques- ton. It appeared easy to find either regular work or odd jobs for all men willing to work, but the inspector encountered more and more reluctance on the part of the idle men to accept work. There was, of course, no fixed wage scale; there could not be. Some of the jobs paid no more than s5 cents a day. but there was enough in every job to provide food and lodg- ing Just as the wide publicity in the newspapers and popular approval had apparently settled the thing. the police found that the problem of wages" had become a factor. It was found that many men would not work unless they could get satisfactory wages" An agitator. known as the king of
 
 men and had worked up hostility against the police departments employment bureau, had informed the men that they were the victims of a tyrannical system, and so forth and so forth. with the result that the new bureau of employment has plenty of vacant jobs on its books, but fewer and fewer applicants for them.
 It is to be hoped, however, that its unhappy experience will not discour- age the police department of Kansas City to the extent of causing an aban- donment of the scheme. Every city even cities as small as Phoenix would do well to have an employment bureau in the police department The police come into direct contact with the idle men on the streets, and it would be a good thing all around ij they could direct these idle men to places of employment. Numerous householders have odd jobs to be done. and they are frequently put to incon- venience in finding men to do the work, while on the other hand there are doubtless many deserving men who would be glad to know where they can find work.