The Washington herald., 1913-11-03
Effective Charity.

A fine sermon on benevolence and
benehcence-there's distinction and a
difference, too, between the two quail
ties-in the annual report 2of Presi-
dent Lee Baumgarten, of the United
Hebrew Charities, was recently made
public. For Mr.. Baymgarten, be-
sides giving an interesting record of
what the United Hebrew Charities and
its valuable auxiliary. the Alliance of
Jewish Women, have done for the
heavy laden-the sick, the needy, the
sorrowful-sets forth, briefly, it is true,
but quite clearly, how succor has been
given, what were its results of tempor-
ary relief, and what were its values of
enduring effectiveness to its bene-
fciaries and to society.
This record itself, upon which are
predicated the theories and practices
that Mr.. Baumgarten advocates as the
best, is impressive, if not finally con-
vincing. Its bare statements, which its
compilers have made no effort to adorn
with the figures of rhetoric, carry the
easily imagined stories of illness and
sin and woe which make the work of
Organized charity so essential to the
relief of the unfortunate in a large
city.
Families have been reunited; delin-
4uent husbands, where they were not
lmenable to gentle counsel and suasion,
were brought to book; orphans were
provided for. At heavy expense the
sick were tended. Boys in need of re-
straint were placed in an appropriate
Institution. Work was found for the
idle The Hebrew Free Loan Asso-
ciation gave The unfortunate oppor-
tunity to borrow and the equally valua-
bic opportunity to repay and thus to
hold their self-respect. Immigrants
ignorant of conditions in America re-
ceived friendly guidance
All these things were done gen.
erously and done well.
1t is valuable to know the attitude
OF an association which has done all
these things The attitude is, in the
first place, one OF sympathy. A society
whose president asserts a belief that
@75 per cent of Indulgence in our midst
is merely a disease of the body polite
and just as amenable to curative agen-
cies as is sickness of the human
frame" may be depended upon to act
sindly. no matter how firmly. The re-
port continues:
Our best thought, therefore, should
be directed toward the elimination of
the causes which produce the effects,
instead OF merely administering to the
latter, thereby increasing, or at least
prolonging the disease Following out
the idea of future benefit we have made
every effort to inculcate the principle
of self-help among the needy. So long
as the charities are willing to dole out
relief for the small necessities, so long
will the applicant continue to go for
such relief
We have demonstrated during the
past year by actual practice that under
wise guidance the giving of substan-
tial sum to enable the one in need to
help himself and those dependent upon
him, is in the long run the least ex-
pensive and the most beneficial form
of charity.
The most cruel of conquerors is he,
who vacillating between the necessity
of slaughter and desire to be merci-
full, protracts conquest into indefinite
devastation. We may take it that the
least kind charity is that which de-
prves its beneficiary of steadfastness
and independence without full pro-
vision to terminate, not temporarily
mitigate, the ills charity would remove.
Mr.. Baumgarten wisely states that
charity, to have permanently curative
effect upon poverty or any other mis-
fortune, must suffice TO destroy the
causes of misfortune and poverty. With
the achievements of the United Hebrew
Charities to corroborate him, Mr..
Baumgarten should go unchallenged.