St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-01-11
Pauperism and Fermentation

Pauperism and Pauperization
Every city is confronted by the
problems of pauperism and pauper-S
ization, How to deal with the one
without promoting the other is the
chief of these problems. This
fact was brought out in an inter-
esting manner by Hon. G. 2. Smith
in the course of his discussion of the
subjeot of the city charities before
the mems class of the College St.
church yesterday at the noon hour;
and what he had to say concerns
every community in the land, for,
as he showed by the text he quoted
from Deuteronomy, "the poor shall
never cease out of the land.
The extent to which pauperism
can become a family tradition was
shown by Mr.. Smiths statement
that when he became a member of
the board of charities, he and his
colleagues found grandfather and
grandmother, a father and mother
and the son and the latters wife all
receiving aid from the city. They
felt that the most important thing
to secure was the education of this
class of people away from pauper-
ism. Children who have become
familiar with the thought and spec
tacle of living upon charity doled
out by the pauper department have
lost their pride, and this is one of
the saddest features of the whole
problem. They come to take it as
a matter of course that the city is
under obligation to help them, and
it. is not an unusual experience for
woman with a husband and no
children to ask for aid because the
city helps her sister, widow with
half a dozen children
One of the chief obstacles to the
education of people away from paup-
perism is the extent to which politics
figures in charities. Mr.. Smith said
that from hundred or so different
cities with which the board had cor
responded came this same testimony.
What is needed is to put control of
municipal charities in the hands of
men who do not want to make poll
teal capital, who are careful BUSH
ness men and who at the same time
will use every reasonable effort to
prevent the pauperization of families,
especially children.
The difficulties facing the charities
department are UNNECESSARILY in
creased evidently by the way in
which communities colonize their
paupers. Burlington was shown to be
constantly in receipt from other COM
munities of paupers, or families who
will soon become paupers, and the
utmost care is necessary to prevent
the city from being imposed upon.
To prevent this is<often impossible.
Some of the people of this city
have little idea of the experiences of
the department as illustrated by Mr..
Smith. A woman and six children
were found on the wharf, and when
asked why they had come here the
woman said they had heard that Bur-
Hngton took good care of the poor,
and SO came here from Westport, N.
Y. If they had come from Westford,
for example, Mr.. Smith said, they
could have been sent back to that
town anytime within three years
under our state law, but they had no
jurisdiction across the lake. What
would the reader do in case like
this? The pauper department has to
deal with numerous cases of this
kind.
In another instance young man
was brought from a hospital to this
city by his brother-in-law, who ap-
piled to the city for aid. The sister
wanted six dollars week for caring
for her brother. 1t would be inter
esting to know how the majority of
people would solve question of this
kind.
Still another class of cases are
those resulting from the sentencing
to penal or reformatory institutions
of men who should support their
families. Still others result from the
desertion of families by husbands.
In this connection the fact was
brought out that Vermont should
have law making it penal offence
to desert a family, as was recently
shown to be the case in New Jersey in
connection with an offender arrested
in Burlington and taken home for
trial 1t was also suggested that
some method of enabling men to
support their families while
under sentence might be devised.
One of the greatest obstacles en-
countered in connection with the eff
forts of the charities board to dis
courage pauperism is sentimental in
reference. For instance, Mr.. Smith
said able bodied men who APPLIED for
assistance were given a chance to saw
wood and receive their pay in grocer
les and other necessar1es. Some good
people thought provision should be
made that these men might ride to
and from their work.
It is true, as Mr.. Smith said, that
whereas people have come to regard
the charities department as one of the
1oaSL important III the CITY anu 10
hold that $500 or $1,000 will hire
a good enough man for overseer or
superintendent, it would be money
saved in the long run to secure the
services of man who would COM
mand a salary of $4,000. While the
education of people away from paup-
erism is a work of humanity it also
saves money for the community. To
what Mr.. Smith, said we would add
suggestions of our own.
It is evident from common ex-
perience that the people of Burling-
ton can cooperate with the board
of charities by extending aid to no
person begging from door to door
and no one should be aided without
an investigation first as to the con-