The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-10-09
Plans Discussed for Putting
Associated Charities on a
More Substantial Basis the
Coming Winter.
FUNDS ARE NEEDED
TO HELP THE POOR
A Citizens Committee Will
Be Appointed to Manage
Organization. - It's Past
Work Is Praised.
BY ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.


The meeting called by the Finance
Committee of the Associated Charities
for Tuesday evening in the lecture
room of the Y. M. c. A. was generally
attended by the citizens of the town
and the status of the organization dis
cussed.
Rev. Conrad Huber, chairman of the
Finance Committee, presided, and Ar
thur L. Smith acted as Secretary for
the evening.
Mr.. Huber stated that the meeting
was called for two purposes:
First, to ascertain public opinion as
to whether or not the organization
should be continued, and, second, if it
was continued on what basis should
its propaganda for funds, with which
to carry ON it's work be instituted.
Whether by the old plan or through
the introduction of a new one.
Mr.. Huber, himself, entered into a
general statement of the aims and
achievements of the Associated Chair
ties from it's inception to the present
time and showed the benefits of such
an organization to a community, stat
ing, in effect, that it not only assisted
the worthy poor, but protected the be-
nevolently inclined from the frauds
and the parasites.
Nicholson Its Champion.
In reply to question as to his opin-
ion on the first proposition, namely,
as to whether or not the organization
should continue or be permitted to
lapse, Timothy Nicholson said:
'1t would be a disgrace to Richmond
to permit the Associated Charities to
cease it's existence"
Mr.. Nicholson, who has been a mem
Der of the organization since it's be-
ginning and who has also been a
member of state and national boards
of charities and who is widely recog.
nized as an authority on matters per
tanning to his work, then went into a
history of the latter's local phases.
Mr.. Nicholson stated that when a
meeting, similar in intent to that OF
last evening, was called twenty years
ago, those who responded filled the
Gennett theatre.
He said the meetings. specific pur
pose was to organize against the fl
nancial depredations of the dishonest
element of the community through the
township trustee, who, it had been
found, had been paying out $4,000 tt
$4,000 yearly for the support of per
sons and families within his jurisdic
,tion and that this had assumed the
proportions of scandal.
He stated the organization now
known as the Associated Charities was
the result and that the township trus
tees operations were cut down from
the former figure to about $4,000, anG
subsequently, state law was passed
regulating the financial operations Of
township trustees and that in the
State House was to be found record
of the actual transactions in every
township in the state made by reports
from the various townships
Mr.. Nicholson said through this law
The amount expended by the public
through these officers had been Gu,
down from 100000 to 100000 an
nually and, possibly, at this time, les.
than the latter figure.
George H. Knollenberg, associate
with the work of the organization from
the beginning said that the Associate
Charities had been of incalcula bl
benefit to the city in assisting tn
worthy and sitting the latter fror
those who preyed upon the public OF