220 HEREDITY. 



its paupers from one in ten to one in eighty. To-day 

 there is no able-bodied pauperism in Elberfeld. This 

 result has attracted attention in Great Britain, and 

 has been imitated in the district of Marylebone, in 

 the city of London, with great success. There have 

 been imitations of it in New- York City on a small 

 scale, and especially in Germantown in Philadelphia. 

 At this moment the most strategic words concerning 

 poor -relief are Elberfeld and Germantown. In 

 Boston, Springfield, Rochester, and Syracuse, some 

 imitation has been commenced of the Elberfeld en- 

 terprise. 



What was done in this German city ? Very much 

 what Chalmers did in Edinburgh, when he began his 

 famous experiment at the West Port. The whole 

 poor-quarter was districted and sub-districted; and 

 the rule was adopted, never to give out charity except 

 when the reasons for doing so were clear to a committee 

 of intelligent ladies and gentlemen who had visited 

 personally the cases in need. One central regulation 

 at Elberfeld was, that no visitor should have more 

 than four families on his hands. There were eigh- 

 teen districts, and each was subdivided into fourteen 

 smaller portions. Voluntary aid and the city official 

 relief were united. Eighteen men were selected by 

 the municipal government to superintend the dis- 

 tricts; and then in each sub-district a number of 

 visitors were appointed to report to these super- 

 visors. There were some two hundred and fifty vis- 

 itors, men and women. No one was allowed to have 

 a burdensome field. Often the number of families 



