40 Anderson William Clark 



private charity. This involves the assumption that the state can 

 never learn to do such work as it ought to be done. Are we war- 

 ranted in drawing such a conclusion ? It is true that blunderings 

 and political corruption have characterized much of the public 

 , relief of the poor in their homes in the past, but the improved 

 methods of late justify the belief in still greater improvements. 

 Give the state time to be free from the "spoils system," and time 

 for civil service principles to dominate, and then, I believe, the 

 state will do the relief work in families much better than the 

 average official representatives of relief and aid societies. In 

 spite of all the talk about "personal touch and personal sympa- 

 thy," my observations have led me to believe that in the work of 

 private societies there is a good deal of officialism and lack of 

 personal sympathy and self-sacrifice. Even the charity 'organ- 

 ization' societies have been driven to practice indirections. There 

 has been a steady tendency towards relief and aid work on their 

 part. In most cities this has been a necessity, and all sorts of 

 schemes of indirections have been tried. The visitor goes to the 

 home of poverty and distress as a friend, speaks words of sym- 

 pathy, encouragement, and advice, and then under some kind of 

 a cover sends food, coal, etc., to relieve the distress. The money 

 used in the case was contributed by a business man who had no 

 time to visit any poor family. His money, however, had gone 

 into the general relief fund of the society, and in very few cases, 

 relatively, is any specific report made to the giver. He does not 

 care for it. The fact is that most of relief is given officially. 

 There is very little of the personal touch anywhere of the giver 

 with the poor in distress, and to make up for this our charity 

 organization societies are doing the best they can, and are to be 

 greatly commended. No one doubts but that better methods will 

 be adopted next year than were in use in the past year. Every 

 society is learning by experience. The state is learning also, and 

 it is expected that new systems and methods of state relief work 

 will be evolved in the future which will enable the state to utilize 

 the element of self-sacrifice and personal sympathy far better 

 than they are utilized by private societies to-day. This will 

 insure thoroughness and efficiency. 



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