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CHARITY ORGANIZATION. 



CHARITY ORGANIZATION, the banding to- 

 gether of all benevolent agencies, municipal, 

 institutional, and private, for the better admin- 

 istration of charity and for a study of the 

 causes and cure of pauperism. (For a full 

 definition of charity organization and a history 

 of the New York City Charity Organization 

 Society, see " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1885.) 

 The fundamental idea of charity organization 

 is that pauperism is a disease of the body poli- 

 tic and must be dealt with on scientific princi- 

 ples ; that all the problems of modern social, 

 industrial, and political life affect the great 

 question of pauperism ; and that experience 

 teaches that its scientific solution is possible. 

 Charity organization has elevated to a profes- 

 sion the practical dealing with this problem. 



Alms. It is a false idea that the aim of char- 

 ity organization is to relieve the rich from im- 

 posture. Its aim is rather to enlist the rich in 

 an attempt to change the conditions of distress. 

 The warfare that in its preventive work it 

 wages against imposture is for the sake, not of 

 the rich, but of the poor, because of the de- 

 moralizing effect upon character of successful 

 imposture, because of the check upon liberal- 

 ity, and because money given to fraudulent 

 cases is so much diverted from the truly needy. 

 Saving money to the country is not the object, 

 but an incident of its work. 



Methods. The methods of charity organiza- 

 tion are of two kinds preventive and con- 

 structive. The former includes the detection 

 and suppression of frauds, a search into the 

 causes of the poverty of individuals, and the 

 securing of adequate and suitable relief where 

 relief is needed. For these purposes it makes 

 use of investigation, registration, conference, 

 and co-operation, acting on the principle that 

 the organization of charitable work is the most 

 effectual means of preventing poverty, as the 

 organization of labor is an efficient means of 

 increasing wealth. On this principle it is an 

 agency for the collection and diffusion of in- 

 telligence, its business being not to distribute 

 alms, but to show those individuals, churches, 

 societies, and public authorities who do, how 

 to make the most of their bounty. It is not a 

 relieving agency ; it discovers difficulties, and 

 society finds the means of meeting them. In 

 constructive work it includes both the rich 

 and the poor, aiming to educate both classes 

 in their relative duties, to break down class 

 prejudices, and to build up the character of the 

 poor. The first of these objects it seeks to at- 

 tain through direct teaching in churches, in 

 educational institutions, and through the press ; 

 the second by establishing friend ships bet ween 

 individuals of both classes through its system 

 of friendly visiting; and the third by the per- 

 sonal influence of the friendly visitor, educating 

 the poor in courage and hope, in providence 

 and skill, and by bringing reformatory influ- 

 ences to bear. In recommending individuals 

 for relief, the question is never, Is he worthy? 

 but, Will relief make him better? 



The preventive work of organized charity 

 includes, in Syracuse a Society for the Preven- 

 tion of Cruelty to Children ; in Philadelphia an 

 excursion fund for women with infants or sick 

 children ; in Buffalo, Brooklyn, and Orange, 

 N. J., day nurseries ; in Wilmington, Del., the 

 regular visitation of the aimshouse and of the 

 Boys' Reform - School. Five cities maintain 

 labor-bureaus or work-exchanges, five have 

 wood-yards, seven have wayfarers' lodges or 

 friendly inns, nine provide sewing for women, 

 three have laundries, and a fourth New York 

 is taking steps toward opening one. Indian- 

 apolis has free baths, and makes a special 

 feature of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas 

 work, associating together individuals and 

 families of the rich and poor by these means. 

 Baltimore, in connection with its friendly inn 

 and provident wood-yard, also maintains two 

 workshops where the old and feeble are pro- 

 vided with employment suited to their condi- 

 tion. In New York a committee of legal pro- 

 tection has been formed to protect the poor 

 against oppression or imposture. Its mere 

 existence has proved largely preventive. In 

 the past year it has given counsel in four cases 

 and active assistance in three. Attempts to 

 impose upon respectable workingwomen were 

 also exposed by New York and Baltimore act- 

 ing in co-operation, and the offenders were 

 brought to justice. New York publishes in its 

 " Monthly Bulletin," a cautionary list of fraudu- 

 lent societies or of individuals fraudulently so- 

 liciting aid. It also examines sensational ap- 

 peals sent to newspapers, and exposes those 

 that have no good claim upon public sympathy. 



Beggars. In view of the danger now threat- 

 ening society, of a caste of confirmed paupers, 

 the charity organization societies of the large 

 cities are making strenuous efforts to break up 

 the practice of street-begging, and with meas- 

 urable success. The New York society, through 

 its special agent, last year procured the arrest 

 of 117 beggars, 115 of whom were commit- 

 ted, and 2 discharged with reprimand ; 270 

 were warned, counseled, assisted, and direct- 

 ed. The results upon the practice of street- 

 begging are very marked. 



Central Registration. In 1886 the co-operation 

 of the various charity organization societies of 

 the country was made more perfect by a sys- 

 tem of central registration at Buffalo. This 

 system is of the greatest benefit in tracing 

 frauds and in diffusing intelligence. It includes, 

 besides the registration of hundreds of thou- 

 sands of investigated cases, a plan for a tele- 

 graphic code, a plan to secure uniform statis- 

 tics, a plan for introducing teaching of charity- 

 organization subjects into high - schools and 

 colleges, and the preparation of a primer of 

 organized charity for educational purposes. 



Education. Buffalo has for two years made 

 charity organization a subject of study in its 

 high-school. Johns Hopkins University has 

 established a course of lectures on the subject, 

 Harvard and Cornell Universities and the 



