New Britain herald., 1916-10-12

share in this arrangement dhy
other sensible charity organlzauon'
we earnestly advocate justice ana
right before aims.
Social justice, we think, should
supplant, whenever possible, the KIND
of brotherhood which is typlhed IN
almsgiving. 1t is our duty as charlty
agents to recognize this, and use every
particle of influence and persuasive
power we possess, even enllst1ng ex-
pert assistance If necessary, in order
to obtain for our applicants the right
and justice that is their due, rather
than complacently dole out coal and
groceries to fill the gaps and smile
comfortably over a more generous
showing for relief expenditures.
The principles of charity Organiza
ton work is the banding together of
all the charitably inclined, so as to
make their efforts more effective.
Coal shute charity" was never effec-
tive. According to Hans Christian
Anderson it either fostered resent
ment in the recipients or bred a gen
Grafton that seemed born under the
sign of the wheelbarrow,-they had
to be pushed all the time. The old
method Of giving charity was all
heart. The newer method threatened
to become all head charity, and "a
human being in misery is not bug
to be stuck upon a pin for learned
investigation But now we find that
it must be a com bination of head and
heart-yes, and hand, too, the three
HIS, as Jacob Rits would say.
Heavy Demands.
pie of American life Of a great soul
triumphant over poverty, said, God
must have loved the poor,-He made
so many of Them In spite Of present
prosperity our statistics show nearly
as heavy demand as that of a year
ago when the employment situation
was SO trying. We can only explain
this by the constantly charging scope
of our work. We find there are such
things as starving hearts and starving
minds as we'll as starving bodies.
Whether times are good or i'll there
are certain types Of families con-
stantly enlisting our services Among
these are the families in which the
wage earners are i'll in sanitarium or,
hospital or incapacitated through &C
cident or mental handicap. We must
meet the challenge Of the man who
says: VERY we'll If T go to the hos
pital at your advice Will you support
my family?" There are also those
families SO large that the wages of
the uskilled laboring father are not
always sufficient to make ends meet.
Ten Or twelve dollars may be all
and more than a certain man is
worth, but it does not go 50 far In
these days, especially in times of ill
ness
Some are in need because old age
prevents them from working. Drunk
enness, which does not depend on the
times, takes its customary toll. I'M
m morality plays a significant part II.
creating poverty. There are neglect
ed children to safeguard, and I'M
mothers to protect and cham
pion. Many stranded men and wom-
en- drift into the city and are re-
ferred to us. Usually they have some
mental or physical handicap that
makes 1t harder to anchor them.
Some Of those sent to us are tramps
who seem to think the world owes
them a living which they are bound
to collect with as little effort as pos
sible. In these instances we incline
to agree that there is no tramp prob
lem which hard labor behind iron
bars would not solve"
Families Suffer for Offender.
Constantly we have to look after
families of men sent to Jail. I'm
der the present system a jailed man
is simply laid on the shelf for time,
50 far as his moral Improvement or
his ia i1y'S wo1farn ic
often seems that the family suffers
more than he, for while the man ex-
periences a we'll merited loss of lib
erty, after all other methods have
been exhausted, he has shelter and
food, whereas with the enforced de-
parted Of the bread-winner all the
household machinery is topped. Credit
at the store ceases, rent is due, milk
is needed for the baby, and clothing
for the school children. Thus, when
John Smith Is sentenced to jail, Mrs.
John Smith loses no time in transit
from the court room to the Public
Charities or Charity Organization to
secure support during that period
This demonstrates the fact that So
ciety at large, for the privilege Of
Furnishing an offender must, through
CHd11Iy, support MS ldnlly Thus an
endless chain is formed in which
charity Is forced to supply the con-
meeting link. We all look forward to
the time when at least a part of a
mans earnings in jail will go to the
support of his family at home
In many other instances a sudden
crisis arises in a family entailin.
much extra expense or curtailing of
income. Sometimes collecting wages
or arranging with creditors helps ou..
but usually some secret aid is nec-
essary until the family is independ-
ent again. These cases and those
involving widows with many little
children sometimes five, six, or even
seven under fourteen years) are usu-
ally the most satisfactory and hopeful
ones we have to deal with.