The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-11-10
SERVICE IN
THE PAST HAS

president McVeyP Points Out
Demands of the Future in
,, That Respect
The Quality OF Service was the
subject of President McEcy in his adj
dress last evening before the Mime
sofa state conference Of charities and
corrections ut Duluth. MINI. Prcsi-
dent Mcvcy said:
In attempting to discuss IL subject as
big as the one assigned to me for this
occasion. find that I am confronted
with the customary task OF present
ing Il point of view. In order that |
may be clearly understood In what l
have to say later on.
Tho milestones in the consideration
OF this topic may be put down as those
Of the point of view. the concept of
service, and the quality of service. The
first of these is essential and necessary
to II discussion because there is al
ready IL point of view in the field, one
which has come to us ASA sort of ira
dition from the history of the past.
Further than that. in the opinion Of
80 ~ - y q JSp
can render social service. while. OH
the other hand. there is Il wide lack OF
training In the line of social service
among otherwise skilled people.
ind IN the Bible many references
to the poor. and especially one in Deu-
teronomy which says: For the poor
will never cease out of the land; there
shalt surely open thy hand unto thy
brother. to thy needy and to the poor
in HI land" From this and many
other statements OF similar character.
we have come to the conclusion that
poverty is inevitable. that the work
which was to be done was individual
rather than social. This is unQucs-
tionably a wrong view. as we now re-
gard 1t. but 1t has continued because
OF the belief that Providence had or
dered 1t. and that SO far as the poor
were concerned they were out of ad-
justnlent and needed direction. Pow
crty. in consequence. was due to care
own punishment. This being in Il
measure Il punishment inflicted for
past deeds. it must he borne, and
hence contentment under the condi-
tions was desirable. Out of this con-
ccpt grow various statements that
character was made by adversely.
while the religious states of mems
~ " w Ia uSlllE 1.
der the necessity of doing the lest we
can. and as a consequence, worry was
inaugurated for the purpose of fright
ening men into thrift.
There is. however. IL basis for this
view. In the time of the Hebrews,
and even within the ken of our own
history. there was IL constant struggle
to get a living. Nations fought for the
great fertile areas. wealth increased,
but slowly. while food supplies were
limited: and so there was created the
philosophy and the policy of Il deficit
economy. The story of the early
trading in ancient times. and in Hol-
land and New England in more mod
ern days brings out again and again
the essential truth Of this statement.
In America. however. the economy is
really q surplus one rather than one of
deficit. Wealth is produced in large
quantities. lands have been opened to
the acquirement--o men, and while
the old viewa was, accepted and pow
erty was regarded as inevitable, yet
there has crept1 in gradually a new
all the bounty of nature. there is not
an adjustment Of men to their bur-
dens. The old view developed a
psychology of acceptance, while sthe
second has created an economic basis
of society without poverty. If we be-
lievc in the first, we are constantly m
4 phasizing relief and bemoaning the
breakdown in the self-reliance Of in
%dividuals, while If we accept the Sec
ond we come to the recognition of
what it means to be poor, that it Is
the result of ignorance, of vice, and
Of environment. and that so far as
the nation is concerned it in no respect
pays to have atlarge body Of poor
among h people.
II tb;c tbo, ~ o,. ~
ready to look at the concept of SER
vice. 1t is a much-used word, called
forth at all times and for many pur-
poses to define the charitable acts of
men. But it means more than that.
1t is, in short. the rendering of intelli-
gent aid. and 1t involves an ethical
principle of high Importance, the
democracy who. renders the aid that
Is guided by wisdom and discretion.
Their are many views of service. A
republic presents the business concept
with its emphasis upon economy, and
there is the police concept of fraud
and imposition, the welfare concept of
food and clothing, the religious view
with Its emphasis upon personal sal
Walton, the medical way of looking at
things as bound up in sanitation, and
the emphasis placed upon educational
views found in instruction and knowl-
edge. The acceptance of any n of
these as against all of them results in
a vast variance in methods of work
and the bringing into existence of
numerous societies which place
emphasis upon some narrower
concept of what they are expected to
do.
Social Program Needed.
There is great need OF a social pro-
gram. Since it has been our tendency
to ovcr-emphasize and to place too
much focus on the outcast and the
d%elinquent. We need a demo-
cratic In character, which shall involve
q unifying ethical principle as well as
economic w%ell-being. Mrs. Anna Gar
lin Spencer has suggested recently that
such a program would be found after
soctalizing the water. the air, the
earth.
Whatever may be our concept. 1t is
certain that the Limitation of it to any
OF the views recently expressed hardly
means what most Of us have in mind
when we speak of social service. The
new recognition of the social center
mas In Il measure widened the hori-
zon OF most Of us. but there is still
great need of conservation of energy
Of effort and OF organization
through the development of II real So
cial progress. Our failure to secure
a greater concentration Of effort and
OF oug upon a social progress has
been due to the lack of clear idons ~