The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-11-04
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1915
Loaning to Dependents.

is resourceful. The German thrift
which he inherited from his fathers and
his father Is fathers is beginning to
show itself in the conduct of his Office
as public servant and it is just poss-
ible that one Of his recent innovations
may offer some time in the distant flu
ture the solution Of caring for depend
ents without making this care con-
slant drain on the public purse.
Mr.. Saftig is putting into practice
in his Office he usual principles of reci-
procity. He holds like Sis Hopkins,
EIt ain It no use doing nothing for no
body who won It do nothing for you. /"
In the other words he asks the question:
why should not the man who is de-
pendent in the lean years purge him
self Of the dependency in the years
when he is prosperous 1t a great
question and capable of an answer which
would bring a solution to one Of the
biggest problems that a city has to
meet. There is no desire on the part
of the pauper commission in Kenosha
to tie up the purse strings Of the city
SO that the worthy dependent may not
receive aid. If times are hard and the
children are suffering, If the little boys
and girls have no shoes for the cold
weather and if sickness overtakes an
unfortunate and makes it impossible
for him to make both ends meet the
city stands ready all the time to re-
lieve his restitution and seek to put
him into the right way to become self
supporting again. If man in bust
ness or if the ordinary man in his home
life feels a pinch and needs money he
goes TO the bank and gets is He never
thinks of asking the bank to give it to
him and when he casts up his balance
or estimates his expenses for the period
the repayment of this little loan is al
ways provided for. Most dependents
have not looked at the matter in this
light Commissioner Saftig wants them
all to begin to see it this way He holds
and rightfully that if the city advances
money or supplies to man to tide him
over days of adversely there is no rea-
son why the same man should not pay
this back to the city when he is able.
A lot of them have made returns to
the city and when they get a receipt
in full they feel more like real men
for they have the feeling that they are
not dependents but simply customers of
the city who have paid every cent that
they owe. Of course this new system
will not in any way interest the human
parasites that lay awake nights fgur-
ing out how they can best get some
thing for nothing. 1t is system that
is for honest men and men who believe
that as part of great community
they want to bear their part rather
than shoulder the responsibilities of
their care on others.
There is no idea of meanness or little
ness in the plan of the commissioner.
1t is simply a business proposition.
Stores of the city extend credit to pep
pie and they expect them to pay. Why
may not the whole people Of the city
when they draw from the general fund
of their earnings to help one who is un-
fortunate expect him to pay when the
time comes that fortune again smiles
on him. This basis for public aid of
dependents is a real basis of fairness to
all concerned. When the man or wo-
man learns that they will be expected
to pay to the city the amount that may
be advanced then that man or woman
%
dependent he will pose i'll the guise of
a borrower.
If the people who may need things
to keep body and soul together will look
at this idea in the same manner that
the pauper commissioner looks at it
these little l. 0. U. notes turned over to
the commissioner will be paid and paid
promptly. A general operation of such
a system would go a long way towards
removing from the shoulders Of the
people one of the largest bills that the
public has to pay.
Of course, the poor we have always
with us and these poor will have to be
taken care of without hope Of return
but the new plan is one which is espe-
cially fitted to the unfortunate and the
men who on account of being out of
work are forced to ask for aid from the
public bounty. The loan made by the
city exacts no pledge of immediate pay
ment and the days of grace are made
numerous but they let men getting aid
understand that they are borrowing
from their fellow men rather than ac-
cepting the charity of strangers and
then they will begin to appreciate.
A lot of the ideas of Mr.. Saftig have
found place in other pauper depart
ments in the state. This new idea
promises to become popular in many
other states. 1t offers a real solution
for real problem.
The farmers are heoinnin0 To reSan+