The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-03
WORKING CHARITY
 FOR JOY RIDES
Armies of Wanderers with Paid Transportation = Passing On" the Halt, the Lame, and the Blind Simple Way to Remedy Evil.
Alice Willard Solenberger. Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau.)

Alice Willard Solenberger.
 Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau.)
 (The author of this article, whose life of service came to an unt1mely close at her death last December, was for some years agent of the Central district of the Chicago Bureau of Charities In her office was muster ed daily a ragged regiment of the homeless. She studied intimately the life history of over a 1000 homeless men. It is such facts as are set forth in this article which have led over 400 organizations to enter vol untary agreement to abide by the Rules Governing the Issuance of Charity Transportation" of the Ma tiona1 Conference of Charities and Correctfon)
 The fact that thousands of boys, un- employed workmen. tramps, and va grants are stealing rides on the rail- roads is one with which all are fami- liar, but that a second army Of wan ders, almost as large, is travelling from Maine to California, and back again, with it's transportation paid out of charity funds, is a fact which is probably not so well-known.
 The most striking differences which exist between the two armies are, first. that the paid for'' group in- cludes hundreds of women and chil- dren, while among those who beat their way women are rare, and, sec ond, that although among the men who are travelling on charity tickets some are capable of self-support, the great majority are old, crippled. de- fective, or for some other reason chemically dependent, while in the other group the majority are young and able-bodied, and when dependent are as often so from choice as from necessity. Certain states which have not yet protected themselves by leg islation have been heavy sufferers from the unregulated migration of de- pendents from one section of the country to another.
 Chicago, on account of the non-resi- dent dependents thrust upon her for care. has been afflicted with an enor- nous expense. Unless there is a turn dependents at the expense of the railroad which brought them into the state. a city cannot rid itself of this burden. It may return dependents to their homes if they are willing to go. but if unwilling, it cannot compel them to leave.
 In 1902 a large family of paupers came from Pennsylvania to Chicago. The man was blind, the woman crip- pied and there were seven children, the oldest of whom was minded. The next child was only ten, so that it would be four years before he would be legally able to work. We ascertain ed that these people had never been self-supporting. They had received aid for fifteen years and they had been aided to reach Chicago by the poor relief agents of their own county and of a chain of counties extending across three states. In spite of our definite knowledge of these facts, we were unable to return this family to Pennsylvania. They refused to go. This one family has cost the public and private charities of Chicago, not less than 5000 or $10,O0O since their arrival and the amount is probably much larger. for they are professional beggars and have undoubtedly secur- ed more than the actual cost of their support.
 There are a great many cases where the granting of charitable transporta- tion to an applicant who requests it not only does no wrong to the com munity to which he is sent but is by far the best method for caring for the man himself. Runaway lads; men who have met with crippling accidents away from their homes and wish to be returned to them; men who have definite promises of employment in other cities and are dependent where they are.-all these and many others are manifestly greatly assisted by be- ing sent to the places to which they wish to go. and if they are sent clear through to their destinations, after the facts in regard to their means of support upon arrival have been as- certained, no possible wrong will have been done to any one.
 The 'if'' clause in the last sentence is. however, very important, and up- on the failure of private citizens and public authorities to abide by it's sim- pie provisions hangs much of the wrong connected with the system of sending dependents about the country as 1t is at present generally practiced Just what the system referred to is and how and why 1t causes suffering as we'll as an enormous waste of char itable funds. can perhaps best be illus trated by the stories of few men.
 One bitter December Day a feeble tottering. almost maudlin old man was brought to us by the police. Some body. somewhere" had bought him a ticket for Chicago. That was all he could tell us except that he had been to Tots of places" Every clue of any sort which he gave us we attempted to village in Illinois, brother-in-law of