Daily Kennebec journal., 1914-02-13
Where Should We Begin?

with a worldwide and world-old
topic-God's suffering children and
"our" duty. Let us not say they
should attend to it, but "I'' am holden.
Perhaps you should read what he
says:
The sudden sharp fall in tempera-
ture produced the inevitable result OF
multiplying requests for assistance
from the various charitable and phil
anthropie institutions of the city. Even
the slightest hardship, interrupting a
season of unprecedentedly favorable
weather, reveals the dsplorabiy large
number Of persons who are living
close to the dividing line which sepa-
rates humanity from distress and suf-
fering.
The books of such organizations as
the Good Fellows, the Provident AS
sociation, the Helping Hand and Kin
dred institutions and agencies for do
ing good are crowded with stories
which are narrowing in the extreme.
Thousands of little dramas and larger
tragedies are written on those pages
not written in plain words and figures,
but between the lines and in the ex-
periences of those who have investi-
gated cases which appear only as
formal entries of relief extended. There
is nothing in the world more heroic
than the silent and uncomplalnlng
struggle against adversely, the strug-
gle of which even the secret-keeplns
world of charity investigators never
hears the whole story. Here Is one;
Good Fellow applied for the
name of a family whom it was his
desire to make happy last Christmas
He was given the name and ADDRESS
of a family, and on investigation
found something like this state of at
fairs, There were five or six in the
family. The father was hard-working
man, an exemplary citizen in every re-
spect. He was devoted to his wife
and children. He had saved up {.
tidy" sum of money, when his wife's
health required a long and expensive
course of treatment, costing In the
aggregate more than $4,000. The sacri-
fee was made with kind of herce
eagerness and nothing would nave
been more bitterly resented than any
insinuation that it was regretted. When
the outlay had reduced the little hoard
to almost nothing, the father was at
tackled with q malady which rendered
him hopelessly crippled, unable to earn
a penny The sole -apport OF the
family is boy of Is, large for MS
age, who earns precarious living as
n teamster. insufficient clothing often
keeus the smaller children from school.
The Good Fellow found the little
house in which the family lives scru-
puIously clean, and everywhere evil
denccs of heroic effort to maintain
seJf-respect, to bear with fortit9de
whatever comes. That is the situa-
tion TODAY. The Good Fellow" could
take care of but one day There are
S64 more every year on which the PROB
lem is this: Who win give this little
father work that will enable him 10
make the sacrifice of his labor ana
his years of young manhood more ef-
fective? He wants no charity. lie
asks for nothing but chance. In fact,
he is not even asking that, for no ap-
peal has ever come from him or from
any member of the family School
is out of the question for him ana a
precarious probability for his younger
brothers Who will unite the mllistone
that is about his neck and give him
a chance to look forward to something
in the future7
There are thousands of cases just
as appealing; perhaps there are many
which are more so. They disclose d
gap in the social system which all the
q Al. h On r or
generous has not yet succeeded IN
bridging. They make one long for the
rising up of men who will raise nome
missionary funds Of princely proper
tions and extend to the suffering all
about us the Christian love which IS
poured out in such bounteous measure
by those who are doing their duty so
splendidly in tha foreign missionary
field Somehow or other, the call OF the
heather does not sound so loud when
the thermometer is lowering around
the zero mark. The Macedonian" cry
is ringing around the world and 1t Is
being heard by noble men who are
opening their purses in four and five
and six and seven figures. But there
are Borrioboola Ghas on every hand,
next door, around the corner, down the
street, a few blocks away, over on
the other side Of the city, in the next
town, in every state, from one end of
the country to the other.
BY all means let the cry of the
heather be heard. Their need is great
and the salvation provided for them
is abundant. The evangelizing philan-
thropy which pours out hundreds and
thousands and millions of dollars is
entitled to all praise. No possible crit
icism can be passed upon those who
choose to spend their money on such
admirable enterprises. But there is
also need for home missionaries who
will give this 15-year-old boy better
Job, which viii fill the Golfers of the
Provident Association, so seriously
drained by the first cold snap which
comes along during the "god-send
winter that is almost over. If duty
is only half done when those .'at home
are cared for, surely it is not even
half done when they are not. 1t is
desirable to carry the light of the gos-
pei to foreign lands. to make those who
live across the sea good Japanese and
Chinese and Hindu citizens and fol-
f1v.nx1 ~ Christ surely ~ ia desir-