Middletown transcript., 1914-06-13
$4,000 IN NEEDED BY BOARD

The organizing committee of the plo-
posed Delaware Society of Civic and
Social Welfare held meeting in its
temporary office at the dupont Build
ing There was an interesting discus
sion of the work.
Some members of the committee in
talks with friends had been asked a
question of the. need for $4,000. This
shows that the people of the State
have not yet appreciated the thorough
ness and extent of the work planned
and what it means to do the work
right. There is no agency in the
State at present familiar with the de-
tails of all welfare work and legisla-
tion.
Very few citizens can answer the
question as to just where Delaware
stands in the matter of civic and socia.
progress in its many departments.
There is need of study to be carried
on with thoroughness and serious pur-
pose. To make this study worth while
by gathering first hand and accurate
information Of conditions within the
state and experience outside of it,
will require available funds. To treat
as a whole the improvement needed in
the state and decide on the relative
urgency of special questions, the Gen
eral Service Board must be familiar
with the details of all questions, and re-
duce them to basis for study and pre-
sentation to the public. This will mean
that qualified representatives must de-
veteseonsecutive days to the preparing
of data on many points and that cap
able general secretary conduct investi-
cations and carry out the work.
Once the study of question or ques-
tions has been completed and the So
ciety as a whole has voted on a line Of
procedure in regard to approved meas
ures, the efforts of the board and gen.
eral secretary will be devoted to an
educational campaign. The thorough
ness efficiency of this campaign will
again depend upon funds for bringing
the necessary information before the
people of the State in telling manner.
In many cases the hard and unselish
work of small group of people in the
State has failed or ended in compro-
mise unsatisfactory to business inter-
ests and reformers alike. Had such a
General Service Board and society been
in existence to conduct hearings and
prepare an impartial setting forth Of
the situation based upon thorough and
comprehensive study and investigation
supplementing and backing the efforts
of the original workers, the history of
these movements might have been
more satisfactory.
While the educational campaign is
being carried forward by the General
Service Board on any particular ap-
proved problem which calls for legis-
lation, the legislative committee win be
preparing for the final presentation of
the measure before Legislature or
Council, employing the outside legal as
sistance necessary. For, by whatever
individual or group of individuals bills
may be presented, legislation itself
which is to fulfil its purpose for the
permanent and effective protection of
human gights and the preservation of
the material well-being and resources
of a community must prepared under
the direction of trained minds.
There is no limit to the possible ac-
tivities of such a permanent body as
the proposed Delaware Society of Civic
and Social Welfare with its active gen
eral service board. There are many
questions concerning which it is not ne
cessary to go to law. Only an awak-
ened conscience or accurate knowledge
on the part of the public is sufficient to
conditions of to-day.