New-York tribune., 1914-11-30
UNITE TO CRUSH
THE EVICTION EVIL
Continued from page 1

cations and that the response to their
arneal would not be as it would in the
case of an entirely new organization.
~ suggested some such arrangement
TO three societies." continued Hartman,
"and they regarded it as an intrusion,
on their inalienable rights. They VIII
not favor any step which will not give
them an absolutely free hand"
CYRUS Sulzberger then took the floor.
al admit that the suffering this year
is far above the average" he said, but
| do not think the situation calls for
any such extraordinary means as nave
been suggested. | do not know what
the representatives of the United He
brew Charities and the Charity Organ
ization Society could haYe meant when
they said that they had sufficient funds.
We never nave had sufficient funds to
carry on our work
"The raising of a huge fund to be
applied to eviction cases alone would
be to advertise to the landlords that
the surest way to get their rent is to
begin eviction proceedings. 1t would
encourage the tenant to fall behind IN
his payments.
"Judge Hartman has said that there
is too much red tape, and now he
wants to establish a new organization
which will employ the same methods,
with the additional burden of admin
istrative expense. Mr. Hartman says
that our Investigators are brutal and
not humane" He raised his voice. 81
tell you that there is no investigator
in the employ of organized charity
who is not as humane as any one in
this city"
Neutrality was the keynote of the
remarks of the Rev. DR.. Bernard
Drachman, of the Lexington Avenue
Temple, who expressed himself next.
DR.. Drachman advised middle
course" but did not offer definite
plan.
He said that he did not wish to de-
nounce the charity societies, but be-
lieved that investigators might grow
callous in the course Of long service.
Father J. J. Mcmahon, of the st.
Vincent de Paul charities, referred to
the situation of twenty years ago,
when much suffering resulted from
the hard times of 1S93-'9s. He said
that an appeal issued by the charity
societies at that time, in which they
agreed TO care for every case OF pow
erty in the city, met with an outpour-
ing Of funds.
He said that st. Vincent de Paul
had no paid investigators and that the
total expense Of disbursing 100000
each year would not exceed $4,000.
Justice Hartman was then lombard
ed with various questions as to what
he meant when he said that the socie-
ties were not handling their work prop
erly.
"I1l tell you of one case," he said.
"A woman who had four small chill
dren, who was out Of employment and
faced eviction, came to me for AID
| asked her if she had applied to the
societies. She said that she had, but
that help had been refused because
she had a husband in California, who
was earning S15 a week. Because
her husband was a scamp she was not
entitled to assistance. That's what
mean"
The Rev. DR.. Charles II. Parkhurst
asserted that distrust of the organi-
cations did exist. He thought that an
appeal from them would not be ade-
quate for raising funds. 81 am glad
tnat we have come together" he said.
az had no thought that 900 families
had been thrown into the streets dur
ing the last year"
The opinion of Justice William II.
Wadhams was that the facilities of
existing organizations should be EN-
ployed. THE people will give" he
asserted. at is an insurance against
crime. In cases of burglaries and
similar crimes the court record al
most always shows, man on trial IN
employed and when it is realized
that idleness breeds crime, steps will
be taken to remedy it,"
After Frank Moss had expressed
himself as agreeing with DR.. Park
hurst, on the suggestion of Bishop
Greer, it was decided to send out
call for another meeting, which addi-
tional representative men would be
invited to attend. The names of all
those present were to be signed to
the call, and Mayor Mitchel's attend
ance and cooperation requested.
The belief was expressed that not
only eviction cases, but all forms of
worthy charity, should be considered,
and that, while the city authorities
would be asked to act, the funds
should come from private purses, as
Father Mcmahon put it-from the
latent generosity of the city. The
meeting will be called by Justice
Hartman within few days. Others
who were present yesterday were
Rabbi Joseph Silverman and the Rev.