A PRACTICAL DUTCH CHARITY. 105 



glad to copy after them; it conducts a sort of neighborhood loaning 

 banks, and it is likely that its plans will be incorporated in the agri- 

 cultural banks now under consideration. Through its instrumental- 

 ity people of different classes are brought together in periodical meet- 

 ings, when the lower can learn by observation from the higher, and 

 lose much of the prejudice and envy which is so often felt, while the 

 higher will become more tolerant toward the lower as they realize 

 the burdens which the latter carry, and appreciate the obstacles which 

 mar their progress, thus leveling many of the artificial class distinc- 

 tions. 



What this society has done for Holland, " Ons Huis " is trying 

 to accomplish in Amsterdam; and though the latter is occupying a 

 more limited field, its energies are more concentrated and its methods 

 are such as to warrant its characterization as a practical charity. 



The founder of " Our House," Mr. Janssen, fully realized that 

 outright giving while blessing the giver is of questionable value to 

 the recipient, and alms once accepted suggested in the ease with which 

 it was obtained that a second be asked for, and the feeling of de- 

 pendence soon calls into existence the belief that the uncontracted 

 debt of a living must be collected. We therefore find a charitable 

 organization in which everything must be purchased, but at cost so 

 slight as to be within the reach o fall, yet being a charge, no benefit 

 is esteemed for naught because it was obtained for nothing. 



We find this unique society in a sort of " people's palace " in the 

 very center of Amsterdam's working population. The building, 

 which is the gift of Mr. Janssen, is on Rozen Street, JSTos. 12, 14, and 

 16, extending through to Rozen Gracht, and contains a board room, 

 reading room, library, gymnasium, lecture room, assembly rooms, 

 large hall, kitchen, quarters for the janitor's family, and a res- 

 taurant. 



The purpose is declared to be " to promote the moral and material 

 development of the people — poor as well as rich — both in giving and 

 receiving by inducing those who are blessed with knowledge or 

 money to assist their fellow-beings whose lives are monotonous and 

 devoid of comforts and pleasures." The very name — " Our House " 

 — is intended to show that withimits walls all enjoy equal rights, that 

 the less learned are the younger members of the family whom the 

 less ignorant will gladly instruct, and that the purposes and aims of 

 all classes should be the same. Both sexes have equal privileges, and 

 the religious and political views of those who attend the meetings or 

 enjoy the benefits offered are never inquired into. The adherents 

 of all faiths are treated with equal deference, and the only condition 

 imposed is the observance of such principles of etiquette as should 

 find favor in every home. 



