New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1917-12-29
$ to Plattsburg immed-

lately.
In the way of material equip
ment, in nearly three hundred
cities we have buildings. Through
two of them. when our troops
were modified on the Mexican
centers for the protective and
recreational work for girls that
kept them out of trouble. Our
national secretaries were called
upon to 90 there to help their
work, to speed it up,t find new
secretaries to enlarge it.
Besides equipment We have
fifty years of experience in test
ing out our motive, our method
and our knowledge of girls. We
have records that might be marked
in places like some verses in an
old fady's Bible ''T and P.' One
day her minister in reading the
Bible with her said. What does
this mean? | find it throughout
your Bible quite often. ''The
old lady smiled and said, "Tried
and Proved" For fifty Years
the Y. w. C. A. has been grad
ually growing; it has learned
from its failures, it has learned
from its successes. 1t can mark
it's fundamental Christian motive,
tried and proved. " 1t works
for all girls and women irrespec-
tive of creed. But it's trained
leadership is always Christian
leadership with the Christian mo-
tive. whether it is spoken in words
or only expressed in acts. It's in
spiration, consciously acknoWl-
edged. may perhaps best be ex-
pressed in the words of mediae-
val saint; eff you would in
crease much in holiness and be
strong against the temptations to
sin. this is the only art of it. view
much and so seek to know much
of Jesus Christ Knowing girls
comes down to individual tact.
We cannot say that fifty years OF
experience with girls would be a
particular help unless the field
workers, the< committee members
and the trained leaders them
selves personally had the tact to
get along with girls and the love
in their hearts that will draw
girls to them. But it seems to be
universally true that the organ
ization who in ordinary times
does a special piece Of work well
is the organization who is pre-
pared to do the unusual bit of
work in extraordinary times. Our
work for girls in ordinary times
has become storehouse of exper-
ience THROUGH long familiarity
with problems of protection. and
we have learned that there are
certain methods and activities
that d oput the fence at the edge
Of the precipice and so prevent
having to call the ambulance at
the bottom. In other words. our
fifty years growth has along
many lines transformed expert
ment into experience, and our
methods. tried and proved during
normal times, are available for
greater use now in extraordinary
times.
Another reason favorable to q
large use Of the Y. w. G. A. is con-
sidered by some people to be OF
primary Importance. and that is
the economic reason. Both men q
and women's institutions, when
expanded to q national scale,
have found the cost Of admins
tration to be very high during the
first years Of organization and
expansion. The experience Of
| our own National Board is that
during its first year the cost Of
administration was approximate'
Ily sixteen per cent. During its
eleven years life that proportion
has steadily decreased. until now
reckoned from the point of view
of work that is not self-support
ing it STANDS between seven and
ten per cent; but reckoned from
the point of view which also in
cludes our income-producing fea
lures. publications, cafeterias
conferences, and Training School
/ the cost Of administration has beel
| reduced to less than three pc
cent. As it is much more eco
nomical to promote a natiOn-wid
program through one center 0