EDITOR'S TABLE. 



411 



that what society lacks is the bread of 

 knowledge and the discipline of firm 

 governmental administration can lend 

 their aid to a scheme which totally sub- 

 ordinates knowledge to dogma, and seeks 

 to solve social difficulties by a kind of 

 deus ex machina intervention of a some- 

 what fanatical and not overscrupulous 

 individual. We do not grudge Mr. Booth 

 the utmost support he can get from per- 

 sons on the same plane of thought as 

 himself, and who believe that it is a 

 good thing that he should wield an 

 autocratic power over so many thou- 

 sands of his fellow-men ; but we can not 

 believe that those who regard his way 

 of thinking as narrow and unintelligent, 

 and who disapprove of the concentra- 

 tion of unlimited power, however ac- 

 quired, in the hands of one man, are 

 justified in directly helping to strengthen 

 his organization. It is right, however, 

 that those who fight under the banner of 

 science should note what is going on and 

 be admonished thereby. If the forces 

 of reaction are in motion, the forces of 

 progress should not be inactive. It is 

 time that the whole problem of social 

 reform should be considered in the light 

 of the best knowledge now obtainable. 

 Medical and sanitary science have much 

 to say to it, and so has political econ- 

 omy. History, psychology, and ethics 

 should all be able to throw light upon 

 it, and anthropology might render more 

 or less assistance. One unfortunate re- 

 sult of the undue specialization of scien- 

 tific study now prevalent is that scien- 

 tific men are, or feel themselves to be, 

 cut off to a great extent from large ques- 

 tions of every-day life ; but here cer- 

 tainly is one of pressing importance 

 which should not be left to ignoramuses 

 and fanatics to solve in their own crude 

 way. We do not hesitate to say that 

 the scientific men of this generation will 

 gravely fail in their duty if they do not 

 collectively strive to bring the improved 

 knowledge of the time to bear on social 

 problems. If we can not be helped to 

 discern all we ought to do, it would be 



something if we could be led to see 

 what we ought not to do. The promi- 

 nence which a man like " General " 

 Booth is able to achieve is largely due 

 to the abstention from social concerns 

 of men who ought to be able to take a 

 wider and more sober view of the situ- 

 ation than he. There are social prob- 

 lems to be dealt with in this country 

 just as there are in England, though 

 they may not have reached so acute a 

 stage ; and we trust it may not be left 

 to the Salvation Army to take up on 

 this side of the Atlantic work which 

 might so much better be coped with by 

 scientifically directed effort. 



CHARITY AS A FETICH. 



A fetich is commonly understood to 

 be some inanimate object ignorantly and 

 blindly worshiped as possessing super- 

 natural powers. In the March number 

 of the Westminster Beview Mrs. Emily 

 Glade Ellis discusses The Fetich of 

 Charity. The expression is happily 

 chosen. It is hardly too much to say 

 that, with the Christian world in gen- 

 eral, chai'ity is little better than a fetich. 

 It is blindly believed in as something 

 that must do good, that must bless both 

 the giver and the receiver. True, this 

 fetich, like other fetiches, often does not 

 do the things that are expected of it, 

 but, on the contrary, seems to take a 

 spiteful pleasure in doing the opposite 

 of what was expected ; still, the faith of 

 its worshipers is not shaken. The Afri- 

 can savage will sometimes treat his un- 

 complying fetich to a sound drubbing; 

 but the Christian savage (shall we say?) 

 has a casuistry at his command that en- 

 ables him at all times to make apologies 

 both for his fetich and for himself. 

 How richly the fetich deserves to be 

 drubbed, or rather, to use a more ra- 

 tional phrase, how strong the case is for 

 discarding it as a fetich, any one may 

 learn from a perusal of Mrs. Ellis's ar- 

 ticle. Her arraignment of the fetich 

 falls under five heads : " (1) It invites 



