The Washington herald., 1912-03-03
CoEGREGATIoEAL1sT
CALLS WASHINGTON
A NEGLECTED. CITY

Editorial I'm Religious Weekly Dis
cus.es Condit,ons IN the Distriet
Estimates Men and Religion
Movement Resulfs.
Conditions in the District OF Columbia
tparticulariy as regards religion and so
lcial service, are made the topic OF ar
editorial In the current number OF the
lcongreeationeiist. The text of the edi'
ttorIal follows: 80.
Washington Is a neglected city. Thii
was indicated by the social service sur.
lvey and exhibits OF the recent Men ant
Religion Forward Movement last week
While citizens OF the United States com
monty look upon IL as the magnificent
Capital, withi imposing public buildings.
and wide avenues and nne parks. the
attention of the thoughtful was directed
last week to Washington as the place
where 251 ,06S souls ,fnd their habitation.
And the changed viewpoint did not reveal
an altogether lovely picture, 1t was
shown. that 1000 persons In Washington
are below the poverty line. that needy
residents have been charged as much as
IA per cent on loans and that last year
$50 babies died without having reached
the age OF one year. Washington's great
disadvantage lies In its lack Of local
power to legislate.
Everything rests with Congress-. and
Congress Is too busy TO attend to Wash
ington. Mostly the eyes OF members are
upon their own districts. Then, too.
Washington iabors under the disadvan-
tage of shifting population. which
this can be found than in the recent ex-
perience. Of financing the Men: and Re
ligion campaign. The general secretary
OF the campaign having had some expert
ence elsewhere. expected that there would
be number OF subscriptions Of 800 each
TO the fund. He Was disappointed. Few
wealthy persons living In Washington In
the winter have their eyes upon local
religious or phIlanthropis movements. At
one time It was proposed to hold there
the Conservation Congress-, the great
roundup Of the Men and Religion Mqve-
ment. A guarantee fund was necessary
to cover expenses. With previous ex-
rerience along that line, the local lead
ers thought Il uuwise 20 even try to
raise SO large n fund as was desired. So
New York win get the Conservation Con-
sress. Washington Is a laeEard IN the
playground movement With houses built
In long rows. the nations Capital needs
Fairgrounds more than most cities OF
It's size. Congress prefers 10 take a
chance on the 3S.O0o arrests. yearly rather
than to build Up means for lessening Of
lenses. Congress Is willing that Wash
ington should spend S,0o.0Oo annually
for saloons. this being the exceedingly
conservative estimate OF the survey.
while the expenditure for schools Is
slightly more than 100000. The result
of the social service study has been TO
start q new movement for at least par
tial local self-government in the DIS
triet. This can be brought about only
through Congressional action. To secure
such action the help OF the Men and Re-
hgion Movement throughout the coun-
try may later be sought The campaign
IN Washington was conducted without
the help of any OF the regular teams. The
date originally arranged for Washington
was In April. which was too late to
aford best results SO a special team of
specialists was organized The insti-
tutes in each line drew up a programme
tor future work in. Washington. In the
aggregate the programme was imposing
IL not staggering. To get results Il will
probably be necessary for the immediate
future to concentrate upon a compare
lively few Of the objects which were
looked upon as worth attaining"