The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-20

E. s:. +s-,alv to make a simple pre- ..s.,+4.a,,t of the cause of or,gs ntEed charity. We are told again and again that 1t is too professional. lacks sym m patl1v. 1t gives, too little material re- ,,as and too much advice: itscos+s too much in salaries to get food to the poor: it loves to investigate. and tnves-. tigate while poor folks lstarve: it is'eo-1 inr work which the government should do: 1t deals with effects and over1ooks causes
 rhesa criticisms come from various sourcsstias hiking. the. auperfi- ciaI.S the indiscrl1ai in a1ing, thefinexper- fenced, the radical But question ara 4aased also by friends of the snove- nae.,t who at times grow discouraged over it's .slovly < accrued results. and consctentAoua too by those who vaguely suggest that some other kind of nAchinery would do better.
 HOW Charity orsa raizataon Grew.
 There is an enormous amount Of confuzaon ira the mind of the average citizen and also insthe minds of very many persons wnoseaiIs themselves SO ciaI workers. as tos osufaaf q charity or ganization society really is and what 1t stands for.
 England awoke in 1869 and Aneri- ca in the later seventies to the need of better nethods of treating theirrob- lem of dependency. It wasl more clearly perceived that man is aiblend Of heredity and will power plus many other inn nuences from without dnhu- ences issuing from his social and in dustrda1 environment; that he is in many senses also a victi ma victim of others greed and neglect
 Thought1esz and indiscriminate re- lief to the poor was clearly seen to lead to the breaking rather than the mending of human lives. To the gift must De added the gtver. Unrelated arnenorative enorts in the cozannun- fly meant waste, lost motion. excess here and neglect 4thare.
 The new leaders, students of social life, insisted upon discrini native methods upon help that had some re- laHon to real need. They wanted damaged folks actually reradred. As time went on an almost as a direct esnlt of thia arsfuinsss Of proce- 9ae tsure tn som nect1on itli sind dividua1 ca- ses bk distress, thers necessarily evolved fdeaa and brograns of pre- .ventien; t11ers cam co7operstion with others in the s1esntne up of plague spots n dernanding the nurpani4ation Of insaslgtry and community protection of iils ana health and the promotion Of ,efseiencs.
 Membership Increasing.
 h the United States there are al present one hundred and forty five bodies whose standards are such as te entitle them to membership Tn the American Association of Societies fo1 Organizing Charity and the number is ever increasing. For it is ineyitabls that wherever citizens really take thought about the nature of distress it's expanaive and infectious qualitiel and the unfairness and. cruelty Of let ting tsgo. there is g. pooling of effor ro reduce and remove it
 Now th E critic who says we are to, professional. we declare deliberatet that we are not professional enough il the sense that full professional stand ards would certainly call for the ap plication of every known remedy il the category of human heIpfulnes and tn# this category would nee csssarH be compassion and devotion. Withou which our striving falls, short L1acl Of warmth simply means incompiet equipment of the indiv1dual worker the equipment needs enlargement oi the other hand. we do say ernphatical y that mere warmth of sentim ent an good intentions without sound meth cd and clear perception of desirabi ends to be attained spells small thange charity and eneouragement Q weakneas.
 The assertion that the charity or Eartzation5 societies give too little ma terial relief in proportion to tn amount of advice extended to the. poo may honestly be met by the state ment that the whole relief questio has in the last few years receive esnacientious attention at the hand