CHARITY— THEORY AND PRACTICE 3 



characterize voluntary charity. The heroic fii:;ht of Thomas 

 Chalmers against the introduction of the outdoor relief system 

 of England into Scotland was lost, and the principle of individ- 

 ualization by small districts, which he demonstrated l)y action, 

 has never yet taken deep root in Great Britain, although it has 

 triumphed in the German Elberfeld system, and struggles for 

 life and growth in the charity organization society on both 

 sides of the Atlantic. On the other hand, the obligation of 

 the whole community to all its destitute members, which is the 

 fimdamental principle of poor laws, seems destined to be ac- 

 cepted by all the states of Christendom. The reaction against 

 it in American cities is probably due to the general despair of 

 securing honest and competent administration under the spoils 

 system of municipal government ; for outside the cities the wis- 

 dom of a poor law for outdoor relief is practically unquestioned. 

 France, which long persisted in refusal to extend outdoor relief 

 beyond the urgent cases of insanity and helpless infancy, has 

 in recent years greatly enlarged its scope. The law of 1811 

 was modified in 1893 by placing medical relief under public 

 administration. The next stage of development would seem 

 inevitable, pensions for indigent aged people at cost of tax 

 payers, and definite provision for all who are indigent and help- 

 less. 



Italy, united politically into one kingdom, has patiently 

 sought to bring some kind of order out of the chaos of medi- 

 eval relief methods which filled her cities with beggars, and 

 yet left the most miserable paupers of backward communes 

 to starve. The endowed charities have been gradually 

 brought under systematic control, dead branches have been 

 pruned, hurtful and absurd methods have been corrected, and 

 the foundation has been laid for a rational and modem relief 

 system. 



But if the state enlarges its activities on behalf of the des- 

 titute, it follows that there must be central regulation of the 

 conditions under wliich relief may be granted. The state 

 must lay the burden on local political divisions for direct ad- 

 ministration and support. This involves, first of all, more 

 stringent settlement laws. The movement of population from 

 state to state and even from continent to continent is now so 



