Evening star., 1932-11-01
Sidewalk Charity.

While it is hard to resist the pleas of
should be done. For the sake Of those
who are in acute distress, whose fam
lilies are in want Of necessities Of life,
sidewalk beggars should be refused the
little doles they seek-the price of
meal or a cup OF coffee or a bit toward
nights lodging. A survey has just
been made in this city, with the re-
suit of disclosing that some 1000 pro-
feSsional beggars are now working Wash
panhandlers" they are called
and it is estimated that no less than
$4,000 a day is being given to them by
the generously inclined people whom
they accost. If this sum were turned
into the channels of organized charity,
the problem of maintaining the desery-
ing poor of the Capital during this
period of want would be two-thirds
solved. These nickelS and dimes and
quarters that are dropped into the
palms Of sidewalk petitioners total
in a year. These are almost all indi-
vidual cases, with no dependents-no
wives and children waiting at home for
sustenance, If they have homes.
Doubtless many of these street beg
gars are needy. They are probably all
jobless But many Of them, perhaps
most of them, are drawing large and
undeserved dividends from the gener-
osity of those whom they accost. Charles
Lamb once wrote that he was dis
posed to give to the sidewalk petitioner
even though he suspected that the
pleader for suffering family was an
undeserving bachelor. This Is a kindly
impulse, and it does credit to those who,
feeling it, give small change to the
passing pleader. But when this small
change is aggregated, as it may be by
cooperative giving, it becomes a for
tune sufficient to tide the really deserv-
ing over the crisis.
Books of tickets can be obtained from
the Community Chest or from the or
ganized charitable agencies to serve as
currency for the meeting of immediate
need of food These tickets may be
exchanged for sustenance. A fair test
of the actual need and the genuine
ness of the sidewalk aims seeker Is to
give him one of these tokens. His reac-
ton will in most cases be revelation
of insincerity.
Refusal of the plea for the sidewalk
dime may leave an uneasy feeling lest
an opportunity has been missed to rem
der real aid to deserving man. But
that can be cured if the one who
denies this gift will at the end of the
week send to the Community Chest or
to one Of the distributing agencies a
sum equal to these bounties that have
been withheld. The process OF doing
so is only a little more troublesome
than reaching the hand into pocket
for the coin which it is quite certain
will quickly be spent wastefully.
1t requires no particular power OF
discrimination to differentiate between
the professional panhandler and the
really deserving seeker for assistance.
True, the professional sidewalk beggar
usually looks the part. His rags, his
general makeup. his woebegone coun-
tenance are his stock in trade. His
voice is pitched in tones calculated to
open the heart and the purse. To re-
sist it is not hard-heartedness or lack
of sympathy for the suffering, but dis
cretion in behalf Of those who are
really in need-provided the nickel or
the dime or the quarter that is with
held is promptly given to the deserving
sufferers through the agencies estab-
lished for this purpose.