The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-12-21
written Specially for The Catholic
Bulletin by Rev. James Donahoe.)

The care of the poor has been given
deep study during the last two dec
AIDES. Men of brains have devoted
their time to acquiring accurate knowl-
edge of conditions surrounding and
effecting the dependent. Diligent and
persistent efforts have been made to
discover the factors that cause many
to eat the bread of charity. Bureaus
have been established where today one
finds the personal histories of tens of
thousands of families who have re-
ceived aid from private and public
sources.
About decade ago experts began
to deduce from these records the con-
clusions that would furnish the funda-
mental tenets of the gospel of social
service. People who gave without
thorough investigation were looked
upon as failing to be true friends of
the poor, inasmuch as by such indis-
criminate giving they were encourag-
ing in men habits that have brought
the charity worker to their homes.
The most approved and strongest char
liable organizations gave or recon-
mended material relief only after paid
Investigators had satisfied themselves
that each case was truly deserving.
To rid a city or community of para
sites, to correct or improve the habits
of unworthy parents, to make the de-
pendent self-supporting became the
goal which trained charity workers
tried to reach. In time it was found
that the occasional helper, or volun-
teer worker could contribute very
much to carry out well-defned plans
for the uplift of the undeserving and
the direction of the improvident poor.
Progressive Ideas of Charity.
While the most earnest men and
women have been daily applying the
principles adopted by leading charity
organizations the years have slipped
by; and there has been ample time to
test the canons of approved philan-
thropy. Persons with some of the
skeptical in their makeup have looked
about for results and found that the
by regulation of relief to the family
is almost nil They have realized that
one cannot put energy into lazy hus-
band by making 1t necessary for his
wife to go out washing, nor develop
character in father by refusing his
children their daily bread. 1t has be-
come apparent that the visitor to
disorganized home can do little or
nothing by merely acting the part of
adviser or censor. The one who gives
no material aid will be little needed.
In many cases the charity or social
worker has made himself obnoxious to
a family, and does not even earn the
respect of the erring head of the home.
The true charity worker who seeks to
promote the moral and material we'll
being of a dependent family must help
before he can exhort to advantage. A
sermon given to hungry man is of
no avail, and a visit to children which
is merely of directive character will
not place any one in the position of
true friend to the hungry or underfed
children. Rev. William J. Kerby, D.
D., in an article in the current issue
Of the Catholic University Bulletin, on
the second National Conference of
Catholic Charities, says: "The poor
must be fed, and clothed and shell
tered; their immediate, concrete, par
ticular and individual wants must be
satisfied before we can do much in the
line of social philosophy and reform"
The generous giver is now con-
fronted much less than formerly with
the prohibitive slogan don't pauper-
ize,'' because the best friends of the
poor know that greater and more far
reaching evils have resulted from
Withholding material relief than from
giving it too generously by tender
hearted individuals. 1t is the mothers
place to be at home caring for and
directing her little ones. Few there
are who will not admit that in her abb
sence her boys are not likely to begin
to stray from the right path-in some
cases to follow in the footsteps of de-
praved father.
New criterions in Charity Work.
In the broad field of philanthropy
and social service many leaders have
of late spoken their progressive con-
victions and we should pay heed to the
most influential of them. Judge Julian
Mack, in his presidential address at
the last National Conference of Char
tiles and Corrections, Cleveland, Ohio,
said: To-day we are not only en-
deavoring to ascertain and eradicate