,transcriber's note3     ,page numbers  
in this book are indicated by numbers   
enclosed in    curly braces1 e4g4 #ii4  
,they have been located where page      
breaks occurred in the original book4   
,for its ,index1 a page    number has   
been placed only at the start of that   
section4     ,footnotes have been       
renumbered sequentially and moved to the
    end of their respective chapters4   
,,friendly ,,visiting ,,among ,,the     
,,poor  ,a ,handbook for ,charity       
,workers  by  ,,mary ,e4 ,,richmond     
,general ,secretary of the ,charity     
,organization ,society of ,baltimore    
,new ,york ,the ,mac,millan ,company    
,london3 ,mac,millan  ,co41 ,ltd4  #aijg
  ,all rights reserved  ,copyright1     
#ahii1 by ,the ,mac,millan ,company4    
,set up and electrotyped ,january1      
#ahii4  ,reprinted ,november1 #ahii2    
,february1 #aijc2   ,february1 #aijf2   
,november1 #aijg4     v  ,,preface      
,this little volume is intended as a    
handbook for those who are beginning to 

do charitable work in the homes of the  
poor1 whether as individuals or as      
representatives of some church1 or of   
some religious society1 such as the     
,king's ,daughters1 the ,epworth        
,league1 or the ,christian ,endeavor    
,society4   ,the term friendly visitor  
does not apply to one who aimlessly     
visits the poor for a little while1     
without making any effort to improve    
their condition permanently or to be a  
real friend to them4  ,friendly         
visiting1 as distinguished from district
 visiting1 originated with the charity  
organization societies1 some of which   
are indefatigable in training volunteers
 to do effective work in the homes of   
the poor4  ,though ,i should be glad to 
find that my book was of some service to
 these societies1 it was not prepared   
for their use alone1 and no vi mention  
is made1 therefore1 of the organization 
of visitors into district conferences4  
,for inexperienced workers1 who need    
leadership in their charity1 there can  

be no better training than the meetings 
of a well-organized conference under a  
capable chairman1 and even the most     
experienced1 by keeping in close touch  
with such a conference1 can do more     
effective work4  ,the suggestions herein
 contained are not to be taken as all   
applicable to the work of any one       
visitor4  ,friendly visitors that tried 
to adopt them all would have to abandon 
their other interests1 and their other  
interests make them more useful friends 
to the poor4  ,like the words in a      
dictionary1 some suggestions will be of 
service to a few workers1 and others    
will be found applicable to the work of 
many4  ,in addition to the standard     
authorities mentioned under ,general    
,references1 a list for supplementary   
reading will be found at the end of each
 chapter4  ,these lists are in no sense 
a bibliography of the subject4  ,a      
handbook such as this is chiefly useful 
in suggesting further inquiry1 and1 for 
beginners1 ,i have thought best to      

include a number of references out of   
the vii beaten track to stories and     
magazine articles that seemed           
illustrative of the matter in hand4  ,it
 will be seen that ,i have borrowed much
 in direct quotation in the following   
pages from those who have preceded me in
 writing about the poor1 but my debt    
does not end here4  ,whatever ,i may be 
said to know about charitable work--my  
whole point of view and inspiration in  
fact--can be traced to certain definite 
sources4  ,to some of the leaders of the
 ,charity ,organization ,society of     
,london1 to ,miss ,octavia ,hill1 ,mrs4 
,bernard ,bosanquet1 and ,mr4 ,c4 ,s4   
,loch1 it will be evident to my readers 
that my obligation is great4  ,it will  
be evident also that ,i have been helped
 by ,mrs4 ,josephine ,shaw ,lowell and  
other workers in ,new ,york1 who1       
against such odds1 are making advances  
in the reform of municipal abuses2 and  
by that group too who1 under the        
leadership of ,miss ,jane ,addams1 have 

given us1 at ,hull ,house in ,chicago1  
so admirable an object lesson in the    
power of neighborliness4  ,but more than
 to any other teachers1 perhaps1 ,i am  
indebted to those members of the        
,associated ,charities who organized    
,boston's friendly visitors nineteen    
years ago1 and have viii led them since 
to increasing usefulness4 ,their reports
 have been my most valuable source of   
information4  ,if ,i do not name also my
 friends and fellow-workers here in     
,baltimore1 it is not because ,i fail to
 bear them individually most gratefully 
in mind4  ,,baltimore1 ,january1 #ahii4 
ix  ,,contents     ,,chapter ,i         
,,page  ,,introduction 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4    #a      
,,chapter ,,ii  ,,the ,,breadwinner  4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4  
#ag   ,,chapter ,,iii  ,,the            
,,breadwinner ,,at ,,home  4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4   #dd   ,,chapter  
,,iv  ,,the ,,homemaker  4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4   #fd      

,,chapter ,v  ,,the ,,children 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4    
#gf   ,,chapter ,,vi  ,,health 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4   #ie   ,,chapter ,,vii  ,,spending  
,,and ,,saving  4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4  #ajh   x  ,,chapter      
,,viii  ,,recreation 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4  #abg      
,,chapter ,,ix  ,,relief 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4    
#adj   ,,chapter ,x  ,,the ,,church 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4  #aff   ,,chapter ,,xi  ,,the       
,,friendly ,,visitor 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4  #agi   ,,appendix 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4  #aig  ,,index  4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4     
#bai     xii  ,,general ,,references    
,proceedings of ,national ,conferences  
of ,charities and ,correction1 #be      
volumes1 especially portions containing 
reports of sections on ,child-,saving   
and ,organization of ,charities4  ,the  

,conference ,reports constitute the best
 ,american authority on charities4      
,special papers in the ,reports are     
noted in this book after the appropriate
 chapters4  ,proceedings of             
,international ,congress of ,charities1 
,correction and ,philanthropy1 ,chicago1
 #ahic1 especially volumes on ,care of  
,children and ,organization of          
,charities4  ,published by ,johns       
,hopkins ,press1 ,baltimore4  ,homes of 
the ,london ,poor1 ,octavia ,hill4  ,for
 sale by ,new ,york ,state ,charities   
,aid ,association1 #be cents4  ,essays1 
,octavia ,hill4  ,for sale by ,boston   
,associated ,charities2 price1 #aj      
cents4  ,rich and ,poor1 ,mrs4 ,bernard 
,bosanquet4  ,how to help the ,poor1    
,mrs4 ,james ,t4 ,fields4  ,public      
,relief and ,private ,charity1 ,mrs4    
,josephine ,shaw ,lowell4  ,american    
,charities1 ,a4 ,g4 ,warner4  ,hull     
,house ,maps and ,papers4     #a        
,,friendly ,,visiting ,,among ,,the     
,,poor   ,,chapter ,i  ,,introduction   

,there is a certain development in the  
,english novel of which ,i have long    
seemed to be vaguely conscious4  ,at one
 time ,i hoped to set myself the task of
 tracing it1 though ,i have since       
relinquished all thought of this as too 
ambitious4  ,the movement--if1 indeed1  
there be such a movement--has always    
pictured itself to my mind as the march 
of the plain and common people into the 
foreground of ,english fiction4  ,i     
venture to introduce the idea here1     
though it may appear foreign to my      
subject1 as illustrating another and    
equally important movement in the       
development of charitable work4  ,should
 any one ever turn over the pages of our
 two centuries' stock of novels1 with a 
view #b to tracing this gradual         
development of interest in the poor and 
unfortunate1 he would find1 of course1  
that facts have a tantalizing way of    
moving in zigzags whenever one is       
anxious that they should move forward in
 a straight line2 but he would probably 

find also that1 in the earlier attempts 
of the novel writer to picture the poor1
 they were drawn as mere puppets on     
which the richly endowed heroes and     
heroines exercised their benevolence4   
,very likely he would discover that1    
when at last the poor began to take an  
important part in the action of the     
story1 we were permitted to see them at 
first only through a haze of            
sentimentality1 so that1 allowing for   
great advances in the art of novel      
writing between the time of ,richardson 
and the time of ,dickens1 we still      
should find the astonishing             
characterizations of ,pamela reflected  
in the impossible virtues and           
melodramatic vices of ,dickens' poor    
people4  ,to ,miss ,edgeworth and ,scott
 first1 perhaps1 and to ,george ,eliot  
most of all1 we should find ourselves   
indebted for faithful studies of plain  
people1--studies made with an eye single
 to #c the object1 and leaving1         
therefore1 no unlovely trait slurred    

over or excused1 yet giving us that     
perfect understanding of every-day      
people which is the only true basis of  
sympathy with them4  ,in ,america we are
 indebted to such conscientious artists 
as ,miss ,jewett and ,octave ,thanet for
 a similar enlargement of our sympathies
 through their life-like pictures of the
 less sophisticated people of our own   
time4  ,an even more recent development 
would be found in what is called the    
sociological novel4  ,monstrous and     
misshapen as this must seem to us often1
 if considered as a work of art1 it     
would have to be reckoned with in any   
investigation of the treatment of       
poverty in fiction4  ,turning to the    
treatment of poverty in fact1 it is     
surely not altogether fanciful to think 
that we can trace a similar             
development1--the march of the plain and
 common people into the foreground of   
the charitable consciousness4  ,here1   
too1 the facts will not always travel in
 straight lines1 and the great souls of 

earlier ages will be found to have      
anticipated our best thinking2 but      
usually the world has failed in #d any  
effort to adopt their high standards4   
,speaking roughly1 several centuries of 
charitable practice1 in the ,english    
world at least1 are fairly well summed  
up in the doggerel verses of that       
sixteenth-century divine1 quoted by     
,hobson1 who counselled his flock1      
,yet cease not to give     ,without any 
regard2   ,though the beggars be wicked1
     ,thou shalt have thy reward4   ,the
 spirit of the mediaeval church1 too1   
encouraged charitable giving in the main
 as a species of fire insurance4  ,the  
poor1 when they were thought of at all1 
were too likely to be regarded as a     
means of saving the giver's soul4  ,this
 view of poverty is either quite dead or
 dying1 but the sentimental view1 which 
succeeded it1 is still very common4  ,we
 are still inclined to take a           
conventional attitude toward the poor1  
seeing them through the comfortable haze

 of our own excellent intentions1 and   
content to know that we wish them well1 
without being at any great pains to know
 them as they really are4  ,in other    
words1 our intentions are good1 but they
 #e are not always good enough to lead  
us to take our charitable work quite    
seriously1 and found it solidly upon    
knowledge and experience4  ,but the     
century drawing to a close has seen two 
very important developments in          
charitable work in ,england and         
,america2 developments quite as         
important in their own field as the     
advances of the century in the art of   
fiction4  ,the first of these is the    
wonderful growth of the spirit of       
individual service1 which has found one 
of its highest expressions in the work  
of friendly visitors in the homes of the
 poor4 ,the second is the new but       
vigorous growth of the spirit of social 
service1 which has found its best       
expression in social and college        
settlements4  ,it might be possible to  

prove that both these developments are  
merely revivals1 that at several stages 
of the world's history the same ideas   
have been put forward under other names2
 but never before1 as it seems to me1   
have they found such general            
recognition4  ,this gives us three      
tolerably well-defined phases of        
charitable progress3 the phases of      
indiscriminate relief1 of individual    
service1 and #f of social service4  ,in 
the first phase1 we are charitable      
either for the sake of our souls or else
 to gratify our own emotions4 ,in the   
second1 we are charitable for the sake  
of the individual poor man4  ,in the    
third1 we are charitable for the sake of
 the class to which he belongs4  ,of the
 dangers of indiscriminate relief1 it   
should not be necessary to speak1 for   
much has been written on that subject2  
but the dangers of individual and social
 service have not been so frequently    
pointed out4 ,these two forms of service
 are very closely related4  ,it is      

impossible to treat the individual poor 
man without affecting the condition of  
his fellows for better or worse1 and it 
is impossible to deal with social       
conditions without affecting the units  
that compose society4  ,the problems of 
poverty must be attacked from both      
sides1 therefore1 and though ,i shall   
dwell particularly upon individual      
service in these pages1 we should       
remember that1 unless this service is   
supplemented by the work of good        
citizens1 who shall strive to make our  
cities healthier and freer from         
temptation1 our school system more #g   
thorough and practical1 and our public  
charities more effective1 unless this   
public work also is pushed forward1 our 
individual work in the homes of the poor
 will be largely in vain4  ,i have said 
that there were dangers in both forms of
 service4  ,in work with individual poor
 families we are likely to forget that  
these are part of a neighborhood and    
community1 and that we have no right to 

help them in a way that will work harm  
to the community4  ,we are always       
inclined to think that the particular   
family in which we are interested is an 
exceptional case1 and the exceptional   
treatment lavished upon our exceptional 
case often rouses in a neighborhood     
hopes that it is impossible for us to   
fulfil4  ,then1 too1 occupied as we are 
with individuals1 we are likely to      
exaggerate the importance of those      
causes of poverty that have their origin
 in the individual4  ,we are likely to  
over emphasize the moral and mental     
lacks shown in bad personal habits1 such
 as drunkenness and licentiousness1 in  
thriftlessness1 laziness1 or            
inefficiency2 and some of us are even   
rash enough to attribute all the ills of
 the poor to drink or laziness4  ,on the
 other hand1 those #h who are engaged in
 social service often exaggerate the    
causes of poverty that are external to  
the individual4  ,bad industrial        
conditions and defective legislation    

seem to them the causes of nearly all   
the distress around them4  ,settlement  
workers are likely to say that the      
sufferings of the poor are due to       
conditions over which the poor have no  
control4  ,the truth lies somewhere     
between these two extremes2 the fact    
being that the personal and social      
causes of poverty act and react upon    
each other1 changing places as cause and
 as effect1 until they form a tangle    
that no hasty1 impatient jerking can    
unravel4  ,the charity worker and the   
settlement worker have need of each     
other3 neither one can afford to ignore 
the experience of the other4  ,friendly 
visitors and all who are trying to      
improve conditions in poor homes should 
welcome the experience of those who are 
studying trade conditions and other more
 general aspects of questions affecting 
the welfare of the poor4  ,but they     
should not permit themselves to be swept
 away by enthusiastic advocates of      
social reform from that safe middle     

ground which recognizes that character  
is at the #i very centre of this        
complicated problem2 character in the   
rich1 who owe the poor justice as well  
as mercy1 and character in the poor1 who
 are masters of their fate to a greater 
degree than they will recognize or than 
we will recognize for them4  ,to ignore 
the importance of character and of the  
discipline that makes character is a    
common fault of modern philanthropy4    
,rich and poor alike are pictured as the
 victims of circumstances1 of a wrong   
social order4  ,a political writer has  
said that formerly1 when our forefathers
 became dissatisfied1 they pushed       
farther into the wilderness1 but that   
now1 if anything goes wrong1 we run     
howling to ,washington1 asking special  
legislation for our troubles4  ,symptoms
 are not lacking of a healthy reaction  
from this undemocratic attitude of mind4
  ,in so far as our charitable work     
affects it1 let us see to it that we do 
our part in restoring a tone of sturdy  

self-reliance and independence to the   
,commonwealth4   ,turning from these    
more general considerations1 it is      
proposed1 in this book1 to treat of     
various aspects of the home life of the 
poor as #aj affected by charity4  ,at   
the very beginning1 however1 it may be  
well to inquire1 ,who are the poor8  ,if
 this were a study of the needs of the  
rich1 we should realize at once that    
they are a difficult class to generalize
 about2 rich people are understood to   
differ widely from each other in tastes1
 aims1 virtues1 and vices4  ,the great1 
conglomerate class of the rich--which is
 really no social class at all--has     
included human beings as different as   
,lord ,shaftesbury and ,mr4 ,barney     
,barnato4 ,but it is the very same with 
the poor2 and any effort to go among    
them for the purpose of helping them    
that does not frankly recognize this    
wide diversity1 must end in failure4    
,the charity worker must rid himself1   
first of all1 of the conventional       

picture of the poor as always either    
very abjectly needy1 or else very       
abjectly grateful4  ,he must understand 
that an attitude of patronage toward the
 poor man is likely to put the patron in
 as ridiculous a position as ,mr4       
,pullet1 when he addressed his nephew1  
,tom ,tulliver1 as ,young ,sir4  ,upon  
which ,george ,eliot remarks3 ,a boy's  
sheepishness is by no means a sign of   
overmastering reverence2 and while you  
are making #aa encouraging advances to  
him under the idea that he is           
overwhelmed by a sense of your age and  
wisdom1 ten to one he is thinking you   
extremely queer4 ,the would-be          
philanthropist1 who is very conscious of
 himself and only vaguely conscious of  
the object of his benevolence1 is likely
 to seem and to be extremely queer4  ,if
 ,i were writing about the rich1 ,i     
should be inclined to divide them1      
according to their attitude toward life1
 into workers and parasites1 but this   
classification will serve for the poor  

as well4  ,the motto of the worker is1  
,i owe the world a life1 and the motto  
of the parasite is1 ,the world owes me a
 living4  ,when the parasite happens to 
be poor we call him a pauper2 but there 
is a world of difference between poverty
 and pauperism4  ,the poor man may      
become destitute through stress of      
circumstances1 and be forced to accept  
charity1 but your true pauper1 be he    
rich or poor1 has the parasitic habit of
 mind4  ,when we ask ourselves then1    
,who are the poor8 we must answer that  
they include widely divergent types of  
character1--the selfish and the #ab     
unselfish1 the noble and the mean1      
workers and parasites--and that1 in     
going among them1 we must be prepared to
 meet human beings differing often from 
ourselves1 it may be1 in trivial and    
external things1 but like ourselves in  
all else4  ,some who are ready enough to
 recognize these rudimentary facts about
 the poor1 question our right to go     
among them with the object of doing them

 good1 regarding it as an impertinent   
interference with the rights of the     
individual4  ,but those who hold to this
 view seldom have the courage of their  
convictions4  ,when they see suffering1 
they are very likely to interfere by    
sending help1 though this well-meant    
interference1 unaccompanied by personal 
knowledge of all the circumstances1     
often does more harm than good1 and     
becomes a temptation rather than a help4
  ,we must interfere when confronted by 
human suffering and need4  ,why not     
interfere effectively8  ,why not do our 
best to remove the causes of need8      
,many earnest workers in charity feel   
that social conditions could be         
wonderfully improved if1 to every family
 in distress1 could #ac be sent a       
volunteer visitor1 who would seek out   
and1 with patience and sympathy1 strive 
to remove the causes of need4  ,such a  
visitor must have the courage and       
self-control to confine his work to a   
few families1 for it is impossible to   

know many well1 to understand all their 
temptations and difficulties1 and so    
help them effectively4  ,to supply every
 needy family with a friend may seem an 
impossible ideal1 but if all who are    
undoing each other's work to-day by     
doing it twice over1 and if all who now 
waste their time in unnecessary         
charities1 were seriously to put        
themselves in training1 and confine     
their work to the thorough treatment of 
a few families1 the problem of how to   
help the poor would be solved4  ,the    
introduction to such work might come in 
many ways4  ,it might come through our  
natural relations as employers or       
neighbors or church members1 or it might
 come through the district office of a  
charity organization society1 for these 
societies usually make a specialty of   
training volunteers and of establishing 
friendly relations between volunteer #ad
 visitors and needy families4  ,but come
 as it may1 an introduction can be made 
for us1 and we need not enter the poor  

man's home as an intruder4  ,much has   
been written about the qualifications   
necessary for charitable work4  ,it is  
possible to exaggerate them4  ,those who
 are unfamiliar with the homes of the   
poor are likely to think it unsafe to   
send young and inexperienced people into
 poor neighborhoods4  ,as a matter of   
fact1 there are many good people in the 
poorest neighborhoods1 and young workers
 are as safe there as anywhere4  ,in an 
old note-book ,i find that years ago ,i 
set down the necessary qualifications of
 the friendly visitor to be tact and    
good-will4  ,if we consider that tact   
includes knowledge1 either instinctive  
or acquired1 this may still stand4  ,we 
cannot be tactful with those whose point
 of view we fail to understand1 or do   
not even strive to understand4  ,the    
best helps toward such an understanding1
 and the best training for charitable   
work1 must come from life itself4  ,if  
we take no interest in the joys and     
sorrows of human beings1 if we show #ae 

neither judgment nor energy in the      
conduct of our own affairs1 if life seem
 to us1 on the whole1 a flat and        
unprofitable affair1 then no amount of  
reading will transform us into good     
friendly visitors4  ,given the tactful1 
kindly spirit1 with a dash of energy    
added1 study and experience can teach us
 how to turn these to the best account  
in the service of others4  ,our reading 
must be supplementary to experience1 of 
course1 and can in no wise take the     
place of it4  ,leaving all further      
generalization about friendly visiting  
for the last chapter1 in the following  
pages my point of departure will be the 
organization of the poor man's home     
rather than the organization of charity4
  ,the head of the family as citizen1   
employee1 husband1 and father2 the wife 
as homemaker2 the children2 the family  
health and recreations2 the principles  
involved in spending and saving2 the    
principles of effectual relief2 the     
relations of the church to the          

poor1--these will be considered in turn4
  ,necessarily1 in a book of this size1 
the attempt must be to suggest lines of 
inquiry and points of view1 #af rather  
than to treat adequately any one part of
 the subject4   ,collateral ,readings3  
,individuality in the ,work of ,charity1
 ,george ,b4 ,buzelle in ,proceedings of
 ,thirteenth ,national ,conference of   
,charities1 pp4 #ahe sq4  ,scientific   
,charity1 ,mrs4 ,glendower ,evans in    
,proceedings of ,sixteenth ,national    
,conference of ,charities1 pp4 #bd sq4  
,chapters on ,scientific ,charity in    
,problems of ,american ,society1 ,j4 ,h4
 ,crooker4  ,papers on ,social          
,settlements in ,proceedings of         
,twenty-third ,national ,conference of  
,charities1 pp4 #ajf sq4  ,the ,causes  
of ,poverty1 ,f4 ,a4 ,walker in         
,century1 ,vol4 ,,lv1 pp4 #baj sq4 ,the 
,jukes1 ,richard ,dugdale4  ,tribe of   
,ishmael1 ,oscar ,mc,culloch in         
,proceedings of ,fifteenth ,national    
,conference of ,charities1 pp4 #aed sq4 

,the ,rooney ,family1 see ,charles      
,booth's ,life and ,labor of the        
,people1 ,vol4 ,,viii1 pp4 #cag sq4     
,life in ,new ,york ,tenement ,houses1  
,william ,t4 ,elsing in ,scribner's1    
,vol4 ,,xi1 pp4 #fgg sq4  ,an           
,experiment in ,altruism1 ,miss         
,margaret ,sherwood4     #ag  ,,chapter 
,,ii  ,,the ,,breadwinner  ,a conference
 was held in one of our large cities    
lately of half a dozen church and       
charity workers1 who had been called    
together to make some plan or agree upon
 some common principle in dealing with a
 certain family1 to whom charitable     
relief had been given in an aimless way 
for many years with no good result4     
,three churches were represented1 and   
the persons present had visited and     
relieved the family for periods ranging 
from three to ten years4  ,almost       
immediately1 however1 the fact was      
brought out at the conference that not  
one of these visitors had ever seen the 
man of the family1 or had ever made any 

effort to see him4  ,by way of excuse   
one visitor said she had always         
understood that the man was very        
good-for-nothing4  ,but happily there is
 no better dispeller of mental #ah fog  
than a friendly conference of those who 
are in earnest1 and it did not take long
 to convince these conferees that the   
man's good-for-nothingness was1 in part 
at least1 their own fault4  ,i shall    
have occasion to speak more than once1  
in this book1 of the power of           
suggestion4  ,even here1 where these    
relief visitors had never given the head
 of the family a thought1 they had      
taught him a lesson4  ,from their whole 
line of conduct he must have received   
the suggestion that his neglect of his  
family was an affair of no consequence4 
,in turning to the details of family    
life among the poor1 ,i take the        
breadwinner1 or the one who ought to be 
the breadwinner1 as my first            
consideration for the reason that he is 
so often ignored altogether by charity  

workers4  ,especially is this true of   
church workers4  ,a church worker came  
to me the other day1 writes ,mrs4       
,bosanquet1 about a family of little    
children1 concerning whom he was greatly
 distressed4 ,he had visited them for   
months1 and found the woman honest1     
striving1 and clean1 but as usually     
happens he knew very little of the man4 
,he assured me #ai over and over again  
that the family was in a pitiable state 
of poverty and in urgent need of help2  
and we at once set to work to ascertain 
the real financial position4  ,result3  
man earning #ces41 giving #bjs4 to his  
wife and keeping #aes4 for pocket-money4
  ,obviously1 if charity steps in here1 
it will not necessarily improve the     
state of the wife and children at all2  
it will merely enable the man to keep a 
still larger proportion of his wages for
 pocket-money4 #a  ,but1 though the     
charity worker may ignore the man of the
 family1 there are others who are wiser4
  ,in the first place he is a voter1 and

 the ward-worker1 the policeman1 and the
 saloon-keeper never forget this fact4  
,an illustration of the policeman's     
interest in the voter as an applicant   
for charity may be found wherever the   
police are allowed to become            
distributors of alms4  ,in ,baltimore   
the police have been allowed to         
distribute relief intrusted to them by  
private citizens1 and have been in the  
habit of making public appeals for such 
contributions to aid the poor #bj in    
cold weather4  ,one policeman1 who had a
 difficult beat1 where there were many  
toughs and criminals1 said that the     
distribution of police relief made his  
work easier1 as toughs whose families   
had been relieved did not trouble him so
 much4  ,it is an interesting fact that1
 during the hard times of #ahic-id1     
political clubs vied with each other the
 country over in distributing aid4      
,leaders of ,tammany ,hall were shrewd  
enough to urge their followers to       
organize relief distributions in every  

district of ,new ,york4  ,it is well to 
realize that much of the political      
corruption of our large cities may be   
traced to the simple fact that the poor 
man is like ourselves3 he follows the   
leaders personally known to him1 and to 
whom he is personally known4  ,he is    
sometimes a venal voter1 but more often 
he is only an ignorant voter1 who1 while
 innocently following the man that has  
taken the trouble to do him a favor or  
to be socially agreeable to him1 is     
handicapping himself and his children   
with dirty streets1 an unsanitary home1 
an overcrowded school1 an insufficient  
water supply1 #ba blackmailing          
officials1 and all those other abuses of
 city government which press with       
peculiar hardship upon the poor4 ,the   
question of municipal reform is         
inextricably connected with any effort  
to improve the condition of the poor in 
their homes1 and no charity worker can  
afford to ignore this connection4  ,in  
,problems of ,modern ,democracy1 ,mr4   

,e4 ,l4 ,godkin says3 ,nothing is more  
surprising in the attempt to deal with  
the problems of urban life than the way 
in which religious and philanthropic    
people ignore the close connection      
between municipal politics and the      
various evils about which they are most 
concerned4  ,all the churches occupy    
themselves1 in a greater or less degree1
 with the moral condition of the poor4  
,charitable associations spend hundreds 
of thousands every year in trying to    
improve their physical condition4  ,a   
conference of ,protestant ministers met 
in this city two years ago to consider  
the best means of reviving religious    
interest among the working classes and  
inducing a larger number of them to     
attend church on ,sundays4  ,of course  
these gentlemen did not #bb seek an     
increase in the number of church-goers  
as an end in itself4  ,the ,protestant  
churches do not1 as the ,catholic church
 does1 ascribe any serious spiritual    
efficacy to mere bodily presence at     

religious worship4  ,protestant         
ministers ask people to go to church in 
the hope that the words which they will 
hear with their outward ears may be so  
grafted inwardly in their hearts that   
they may bring forth the fruit of good  
living4  ,what was remarkable in the    
debates of this conference1 therefore1  
was the absence of any mention of the   
very successful rivalry with religion   
which1 as an influence on the poor and  
ignorant foreign population1 politics in
 this city carries on4  ,the same thing 
may be said1 mutatis mutandis1 of the   
charitable associations4  ,no one would 
get from their speeches or reports an   
inkling of the solemn fact that the     
newly arrived immigrant who settles in  
,new ,york gets tenfold more of his     
notions of ,american right and wrong    
from city politics than he gets from the
 city missionaries1 or the schools1 or  
the mission chapels2 and yet such is the
 case4  ,i believe it is quite within   
the truth to #bc say that1 as a moral   

influence on the poor and ignorant1 the 
clergyman and philanthropist are        
hopelessly distanced by the politician4 
#b  ,it has been said that1 in the      
effort to establish friendly relations  
with a poor man1 often the greatest lack
 is a common topic4  ,here is at least  
one topic that rich and poor have in    
common4  ,here it will be found too that
 they have many grievances in common1   
and what makes a better beginning for a 
friendly relation than a common         
grievance8 ,another common topic1 and a 
related one1 is the news of the day4    
,more often than not1 even the very poor
 read the daily papers4  ,beside the    
ward politician1 the saloon-keeper1 and 
the policeman1 there are others who take
 an interest in the breadwinner4  ,if he
 is injured1 or his property is injured1
 there are third-rate lawyers ready to  
bring suit for half the proceeds--an    
unduly expensive arrangement for the man
 that has a good claim4  ,if he would   
save1 there are agents of unsound       

financial schemes ready to take         
advantage of his ignorance4  ,if he     
would borrow1 there are #bd             
chattel-mortgage sharks ready to burden 
him with a debt at ruinous interest4    
,if he would buy1 there are instalment  
dealers ready to tempt him into buying  
more than he can afford1 and ready to   
charge two prices for their wares4      
,whole industries are created to take   
advantage of his lack of shrewdness1 and
 every effort of his to get on1 to get  
out of the old groove1 is resisted by   
such agencies4  ,surely1 if any one     
stands in need of a friend1 who will    
patiently strive to see the world       
through his eyes1 and yet will have the 
courage to tell him the plain truth1 it 
is the breadwinner4  ,but that picture  
would be a distorted one which          
represented the poor man as friendless  
save for the politicians4  ,his         
neighbors and companions are in no      
position to protect him from the foes ,i
 have mentioned1 but their              

neighborliness is none the less genuine4
  ,most patient and long-suffering of   
neighbors are the small landlords who   
sublet4  ,the tradesmen in poor         
neighborhoods are also heavy losers4    
,when a family applies for the first    
time to a church or charity1 it often   
means that they have been aided most    
generously for a long #be time by       
neighbors and small dealers4  ,sometimes
 one happens upon the very best and most
 thoughtful charity given in this way4  
,a ,boston worker tells of a street-car 
conductor1 not only supported through   
the winter by his fellow-conductors1 but
 faithfully nursed by them at night1    
each one taking turns after the long    
day's work4  ,such glimpses as this show
 us how queer is our usual charitable   
perspective1 in which1 as in a picture  
on a ,chinese fan1 we see the church    
steeple in the middle distance and the  
church visitor looming large in the     
foreground1 while the poor little object
 of charity1 quite helpless and alone   

save for us1 huddles in a corner4  ,the 
fact is that every life has a           
background1 if we will but take the     
trouble to see and understand it3 all   
the barrenness is in our own            
imaginations4  ,when the poor man       
attempts to be charitable without       
knowledge1 he is just as clumsy as the  
rest of us4  ,writing of ,the ,attitude 
of ,workingmen toward ,modern ,charity1 
,miss ,clare de ,graffenreid says3 ,a   
notable instance of reckless giving came
 under my observation just after the    
great strike in the mining regions1 #bf 
when a man who had lost both arms went  
begging in ,georges ,creek ,valley4     
,how he was maimed1 whether he was      
worthy1 proved immaterial4  ,nor does it
 appear that he was even a miner2 but he
 asked alms at all the mines4  ,now the 
miners had had no money since they were 
paid off for ,april1 the strike having  
begun on the #gth of ,may and having    
lasted until the #ast of ,july1 while   
some workers were unable to secure      

employment until later4  ,after two     
months and more of idleness the men had 
either used their savings to live on or 
were deeply in debt1 or both4  ,they    
could hope for no money until their     
,july labor was paid for in ,august4    
,in the latter part of ,july came this  
armless stranger1 who personally        
solicited these big-hearted coal        
diggers1 and received1 without          
investigation on their part1 written    
subscriptions for various amounts1 to be
 withheld next pay-day from their wages4
  ,from the mines of one company alone  
the man presented to the paymaster      
orders amounting to three hundred       
dollars2 and the superintendent believes
 that this one beggar during a short    
stay in the ,valley obtained fully a #bg
 thousand dollars1 if not more4 ,nor did
 the enterprising mendicant trouble     
himself to remain to collect these sums 
in person4  ,he gave a ,chicago address 
to which checks for the total amounts   
subscribed in each mine were sent2 and  

he went away to 'work' some other field4
 #c  ,these facts stand side by side4   
,the poor man is often able to do the   
very best charitable work1 acting1 with 
a full knowledge of the circumstances1  
with quick sympathy1 and entire         
unselfishness4  ,on the other hand1 when
 considerations of public welfare1 or   
conditions outside his personal         
experience complicate the situation1 his
 charity is sometimes reckless and      
harmful4  ,another fact to bear in mind 
is that the ties of neighborliness and  
mutual dependence among the poor can be 
weakened by a charity that leaves such  
natural and healthful relations out of  
account4  ,the poor in rich             
neighborhoods1 or in neighborhoods where
 alms are lavishly given1 are less kind 
to each other1 and the whole tone of a  
neighborhood can be lowered1 #bh        
mistrust and jealousy being substituted 
for neighborly helpfulness1 by          
undiscriminating doles from those whose 
kindly but condescending attitude has   

quite blinded them to the everyday facts
 of the neighborhood life4  ,there are  
some who think it a pity that1 out of   
their slender store1 the poor should    
give to the still poorer2 they feel that
 the rich should relieve the poor of    
this burden4  ,but relief given without 
reference to friends and neighbors is   
accompanied by moral loss2 poor         
neighborhoods are doomed to grow poorer 
and more sordid1 whenever the natural   
ties of neighborliness are weakened by  
our well-meant but unintelligent        
interference4   ,turning to the         
breadwinner as an employee1 we are      
confronted with the gravest questions   
now occupying public attention3 with the
 organization of labor1 the strike1 the 
lockout1 the rights of capital1 the     
problem of the unemployed1 and of the   
unskilled laborer4  ,the truth about    
these matters1 even if one were so      
fortunate as to possess the truth about 
them1 is not to be stated in a paragraph
 or a chapter4  #bi ,only in so far as  

they directly concern the friendly      
visitor to the families of the least    
fortunate class of workers1 can         
questions of employment be even         
mentioned in these pages4  ,the more the
 visitor studies and thinks of them1    
however1 the better friend he can be to 
the poor4  ,partly because they are     
difficult1 and partly because our       
prejudices are involved1 the charitable 
are too prone to dodge economic issues4 
,we should ask ourselves fearlessly the 
object of all our charitable work4  ,as 
,mrs4 ,bosanquet says3 ,we need to be   
quite sure that we really want to cure  
poverty1 to do away with it root and    
branch4  ,unless we are working with a  
whole-hearted and genuine desire toward 
this end1 we shall get little           
satisfaction from our efforts2 but those
 who share unreservedly in this desire  
are comparatively few at present4  ,only
 the other day ,i heard it said that it 
was a very doubtful policy to aim at    
curing poverty1 for that in the absence 

of poverty the rich would have no one   
upon whom to exercise their faculty of  
benevolence2 and ,i believe that this   
was but an outspoken #cj expression of a
 feeling which is still very prevalent1 
the feeling that there is something     
preordained and right in the social     
dependence of one class upon another4   
,there is the lurking fear1 also1 that  
if the working classes get too          
independent the rich man may suffer for 
it4  ',it won't do1' said one wise lady1
 'to make them too independent2 they go 
and join trade-unions1 and a friend of  
mine lost quite a lot of money because  
his workmen joined a trade-union4'      
,this is quite in the vein of the old   
,quarterly ,reviewer1 who summed up the 
current objections to the ,owenite      
schemes of coperation as 'the fear that 
the working classes might become so     
independent that the unworking classes  
would not have sufficient control over  
them1 and would be ultimately obliged to
 work for themselves4' #d  ,the ability 

of the friendly visitor to put behind   
him his own personal prejudices and     
selfish interests1 and look at all      
questions of employment with reference  
to the best interests of the workers1 is
 of the first importance4  ,such        
questions are often very complicated4   
#ca ,an inquiry was sent out in #ahif to
 the charity organization societies of  
the country1 asking whether these       
societies approved of supplying workers 
to take the place of striking employees4
  ,the answers1 as reported in the      
proceedings of the ,twenty-third        
,national ,conference of ,charities1#e  
seem to take it for granted that either 
all strikes are equally justifiable or  
else equally unjustifiable2 the fact    
being1 of course1 that some strikes are 
entirely justifiable1 that others are   
quite the reverse1 and that still       
others1 which are justifiable at one    
stage1 become unjustifiable at another  
stage1 where the ground of contention   
has been shifted4  ,it is about such    

complicated relations as these that we  
must inform ourselves when we dare to   
interfere1 and charitable societies     
cannot afford to adopt any patent       
formula with regard to them2 they must  
be courageous enough and intelligent    
enough to bear their part in the        
solution of industrial questions4  ,the 
individual friendly visitor may be      
called upon at any time to advise an    
unemployed #cb workman whose only       
immediate chance of work is in replacing
 a striker4  ,his family may be         
destitute1 and their troubles may press 
heavily upon the visitor1 who sees in   
the offered work an easy solution of    
their difficulties4  ,but the visitor's 
duty toward the family does not end with
 their material needs1 and1 unless the  
man who replaces the striker is sure    
that the strike deserves to fail1 he    
will have done an unmanly thing in      
betraying his natural allies4  ,all     
question of the right of individual     
contract aside1 he will have injured    

himself1 he will be a meaner man and a  
less worthy head of a family4  ,charity 
cannot afford to ignore this possible   
result for any temporary and material   
advantage4  ,nor will it be enough for  
the friendly visitor to believe that the
 particular strike is an unjustifiable  
one2 the man himself must believe it4   
,other things being equal1 a man is     
stronger and steadier for having a trade
 that is well organized1 one that has   
its trade code of ethics4 ,it is safe to
 say1 therefore1 that a visitor is      
justified in advising non-union men to  
join trade-unions1 and that he is not   
#cc committing himself to an endorsement
 of every act of every trade-union in so
 doing4  ,but applicants for charity are
 not usually skilled workmen1 and most  
of the work of the friendly visitor will
 be with those whose occupations are    
still unorganized1 with porters1        
day-laborers1 stevedores1 etc4  ,in     
spite of many assertions to the         
contrary1 it would seem that1 in        

ordinary times1 there is still work     
somewhere for those who have the will   
and the skill to do it4  ,the charity   
worker has discouragements enough       
without allowing himself to be          
demoralized by the wild talk about      
millions of skilled workers out of work4
  ,during times of panic1 even1 the     
number of the unemployed is often       
grossly exaggerated4#f  ,the fact which 
most directly concerns us is that a     
large majority of those who are thrown  
upon charity through lack of employment 
are either incapable or are unfit for   
service through bad habits1 bad temper1 
lack of references1 ignorance of        
,english1 or through some physical      
defect4 ,experience has proven that a   
certain proportion of these can be #cd  
reinstated in the labor market if we are
 careful 7#a7 not to make it too easy   
for them to live without work1 7#b7 if  
we will use every personal endeavor to  
fit them for some kind of work1 and 7#c7
 help them to find and keep the work for

 which they are fitted4  ,character is  
not cut in marble2 it is not something  
solid and unalterable4  ,it is something
 living and changing1 and may become    
diseased as our bodies do4 #g ,like our 
bodies1 too1 it may be made whole again 
by skilful treatment4  ,those who are   
simply incapable1 without bad habits or 
other defects1 are often the victims of 
their parents' necessities or greed3    
they were put to work too early1 and at 
work where there was no chance of       
education or promotion4  ,sometimes they
 have been wilfully careless and lazy1  
but1 more often1 the fault was either   
with the parents or with an economic    
condition that denied them proper       
training4  ,of all this we shall hear in
 connection with the children1 but our  
present concern is with the breadwinner4
  ,the man who does not know how is the 
football of #ce industry2 employed in   
work requiring nothing but muscle1      
promptly discharged because easily      
replaced1 he drifts from job to job1    

and1 at certain seasons of the year1    
being unable to adapt himself or easily 
change from one kind of work to another1
 he is almost certain to be unemployed4 
,miss ,octavia ,hill calls attention to 
this in ,homes of the ,london ,poor4 #h 
,the fluctuations of work cause to      
respectable tenants the main            
difficulties in paying their rent4  ,i  
have tried to help them in two ways4    
,first1 by inducing them to save2 this  
they have done steadily1 and each autumn
 has found them with a small fund       
accumulated1 which has enabled them to  
meet the difficulties of the time when  
families are out of town4  ,in the      
second place1 ,i have done what ,i could
 to employ my tenants in slack seasons4 
,i carefully set aside any work they can
 do for times of scarcity1 and ,i try so
 to equalize in this small circle the   
irregularity of work1 which must be more
 or less pernicious1 and which the      
childishness of the poor makes doubly   
so4 ,they have #cf strangely little     

power of looking forward2 a result is to
 them as nothing if it will not be      
perceptible until next quarter6  ,this  
plan of equalizing work by saving our   
odd jobs for dull seasons is one way of 
helping4  ,another is to seek lists of  
unskilled and seasonal occupations that 
do not overlap4  ,some work is naturally
 winter work1 and some naturally belongs
 to the summer season4  ,the ice        
companies in ,baltimore employ their    
workers in winter by combining the coal 
business with the ice business1 and1 on 
this principle1 a list could be drawn up
 for each community of occupations that 
do not overlap4  ,no list can be given  
here1 because the conditions of work    
vary in different parts of the country4 
,when we furnish work ourselves we must 
be careful not to confound the employer 
with the friend4  ,a visitor was        
interested in a woman who needed work   
very much1 and herself employed her1    
writes the secretary of the ,boston     
,associated ,charities1 ,miss ,z4 ,d4   

,smith4  ,once or twice it happened that
 the woman had to go to court in the    
morning1 and came at ten instead of     
eight1 or again the visitor #cg let her 
off early1 but she always paid her for  
the whole day4  ,the visitor was advised
 that in the long run it was unwise not 
to pay her by the hour1 as was the      
custom1 but she was not convinced until1
 having got work for her among her      
neighbors1 they complained that she came
 at ten instead of eight1 and expected  
pay for the whole day1 and they would   
not employ her longer4  ,the relief the 
visitor gave1 disguised as pay1 defeated
 her efforts to help the woman to       
self-support4 #i  ,bad habits as a cause
 of unemployment will be considered in  
the next chapter4  ,as to the man who   
loses his work through bad temper1 it is
 well to bear in mind that there are    
many degrees of badness of temper1 and  
the bad temper that comes from worry or 
ill health must be carefully            
distinguished from innate ugliness4     

,lack of references1 another cause of   
unemployment1 does not always mean a bad
 record4 ,unskilled workers are often   
personally unknown to their employers1  
and the knowledge that a visitor can    
acquire by testing a worker may become a
 great help to him4  ,when a #ch man has
 some physical defect1 such as an       
impediment in his speech1 or a crippled 
arm1 only one who takes a personal      
interest in him can overcome the        
prejudice created by his defect4  ,often
 such people have qualities that would  
recommend them1 but they are awkward in 
pleading their own cause or in finding  
their right niche4  ,the following      
illustrations of timely help in finding 
employment are taken from the           
,twenty-eighth ,report of the ,charity  
,organization ,society of ,london4#aj   
,one was a quiet1 honest young fellow1 a
 gardener1 who had lately come out of a 
lunatic asylum1 his insanity being due1 
it appeared1 to ear trouble1 involving a
 painful operation4  ,he had been some  

months in the asylum1 and on coming out 
was at some loss to obtain regular      
employment4  ,the ,committee1 having    
thoroughly investigated the case and    
satisfied themselves of the safety of   
recommending the young man1 issued a    
circular to gardeners and nurserymen1   
which got him a job within a week4  ,the
 other man had been noticed in the      
infirmary--a big1 strong fellow1 #ci    
most of his life a seaman1 and part of  
it on board an ,american man-of-war1    
till he met with an accident resulting  
in the loss of one of his legs4  ,then  
he had to come ashore1 and a restless1  
roving disposition led him to tramp     
about the country1 and brought him on   
one occasion before a ,london police    
magistrate for attempting to commit     
suicide4  ,inquiry showed that the man  
could work hard1 and1 strange to say of 
a man over six feet high and broad in   
proportion1 was handy with his needle at
 embroidery1 etc4  ,the ,committee kept 
him a few nights at a common            

lodging-house--for he was homeless since
 leaving the infirmary--and then by     
great good fortune got him work at a    
tent and sail maker's1 where now1 some  
half a year later1 he is earning his    
#cs4 #f;d4 a day4  ,it is to be noted   
that neither of these men was           
able-bodied4  ,the ,society does not try
 to find work for ordinary1 able-bodied 
men4  ,ignorance of ,english has been   
given as another cause of lack of       
employment1 but this is not irremovable4
  ,after many days' searching1 work was 
found for ,mr4 ,h4 and his son1 whose   
ignorance of our language was so entire 
#dj that they failed to get employment1 
and were in despair4  ,at the earnest   
request of the visitor1 a furniture     
dealer consented to take them on trial2 
and they proved so satisfactory that    
they have now been employed a year1 and 
their pay increased4 #aa  ,a few        
cautions are necessary4  ,the charities 
of a large city often attract from the  
country those for whom there is no      

economic place4 ,our immigration laws   
have allowed many to come to ,america   
for whom there is no place1 and charity 
has kept them alive here1 knowing the   
while that they are forcing down the    
standard of living among our poor1 and  
complicating the problem incalculably at
 every turn4  ,but1 as concerns         
interstate emigration1 and the migration
 from country to city1 charity should   
not be so helpless4  ,it is within our  
power to refuse1 by charitable aid1 to  
settle the man who cannot settle himself
 in a community where he does not       
belong4  ,it is often doing other       
workers a wrong to establish him and    
find work for him where he has no claim4
 ,the attractions of a large city are   
great enough without adding #da any such
 artificial help to overcrowding4  ,our 
effort1 on the contrary1 should be to   
get back into country life those        
families that are found to be really    
fitted for it4  ,advertise in country   
papers1 interest friends in the country 

in finding places for families1 and do  
not fail to keep up communication either
 by letter or occasional visits with    
families so placed4#ab  ,one more       
caution4  ,it helps a man to know that  
some one cares and will help him to find
 work2 but it cripples him to let him   
feel that he can sit idle and let his   
friend do all the searching and         
worrying4  ,send a man to find work1 and
 go with him to a special place2 but    
never go from place to place seeking it 
for him4  ,develop his resources1 show  
an interest in all his efforts1 and     
encourage him to renewed effort4  ,it   
has been claimed that only men and men  
of business experience can be successful
 friendly visitors where the head of the
 family is concerned2 that1 in matters  
of employment especially1 a woman       
visitor is not capable of giving sound  
advice4  ,it is undoubtedly true #db    
that such work could be better done if  
more men1 instead of contenting         
themselves with service on charitable   

boards1 would take the trouble to become
 personally acquainted with a few poor  
families4  ,this would be better for the
 boards and better for the men that are 
charitable trustees4 ,but the woman     
visitor need not despair4  ,it is true  
that she could do her work better1 as   
will appear in this book1 if she were in
 her own person a lawyer1 a sanitary    
engineer1 a trained cook1 a             
kindergartner1 and an expert financier2 
but she may be none of these things and 
still be a very good friendly visitor4  
,when legal complications arise1 she    
will go to some friend who is a lawyer2 
when the children get into trouble1 she 
will consult a teacher1 or an agent of  
the children's aid society1 and1 in the 
same way1 the matter of employment will 
send her to a business man1 or some one 
who can advise her1 when her own store  
of experience is too scant4  ,the poor  
man often has a mean opinion of the     
judgment of charitable ladies1 and this 
opinion has not always been without a   

degree of justification2 but the visitor
 who #dc takes the trouble to go on     
,sunday and get acquainted with the men 
folk1 or makes occasion for them to come
 to her house from time to time1 who    
proves herself1 moreover1 not without   
resource or common sense as emergencies 
arise1 will soon overcome this prejudice
 and become the friend of every member  
of the family4    ,collateral ,readings3
 ,the ,settlement and ,municipal        
,reform1 ,james ,b4 ,reynolds in        
,proceedings of ,twenty-third ,national 
,conference of ,charities1 pp4 #ach sq4 
,benevolent ,features of                
,trades-,unions1 ,john ,d4 ,flannigan in
 the same1 pp4 #aed sq4  ,the ,ethical  
,basis of ,municipal ,corruption1 ,miss 
,jane ,addams in ,international ,journal
 of ,ethics1 for ,april1 #ahih4  ,the   
,workers1 ,walter ,a4 ,wyckoff4         
,working ,people and their ,employers1  
,washington ,gladden4  ,problem of the  
,unemployed1 ,hobson4  ,the ,unemployed1
 ,geoffrey ,drage4  ,korbey's ,fortune1 

,william ,t4 ,elsing in ,scribner's1    
,vol4 ,,xvi1 pp4 #eij sq4    #a ,rich   
and ,poor1 p4 #baa4  #b pp4 #ada sq4  #c
 ,charities ,record1 ,baltimore1 ,vol4  
,i1 ,no4 #f4  #d ,rich and ,poor1 pp4   
#ach sq4  #e pp4 #bdb sq4  #f ,see      
,warner's ,american ,charities1 pp4 #agg
 sq4  #g ,george ,eliot in ,daniel      
,deronda4  #h pp4 #bb sq4  #i ,charities
 ,review1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #ed4  #aj p4   
#aa4  #aa ,thirteenth ,report of ,boston
 ,associated ,charities1 p4 #db4  #ab   
,see ,charities ,review1 ,vol4 ,,vi1 pp4
 #djb sq4     #dd  ,,chapter ,,iii      
,,the ,,breadwinner ,,at ,,home  ,we    
have considered the breadwinner as      
worker1 neighbor1 and citizen2 we now   
turn to the breadwinner as husband and  
father4  ,it has been said that the home
 is not only the true unit of society1  
but that it is the charitable unit as   
well1 and that when we deal with        
anything less than a whole family1 we   
deal with fractions4  ,much of our      
charitable work is still fractional4    

,it not infrequently happens1 for       
instance1 that the members of one poor  
family will come in contact with dozens 
of charitable people representing many  
forms of charitable activity1 and that  
none of these will ever have considered 
the family as a whole4 ,the             
,sunday-school teacher1 the             
kindergartner1 the day nursery manager1 
the fresh air charity agent1 the        
district nurse1 the obstetric nurse1 the
 church almoner1 the #de city           
missionary1 the relief agent1 the head  
of the mothers' meeting1 the guild      
teacher1 the manager of the boys'       
brigade or girls' friendly1--all these  
will have touched the family at some    
point1 but will never have taken the    
trouble to make a picture of the family 
life as a whole1 and of the effect of   
their charity upon it4  ,they may have  
assumed important responsibilities now  
and again1 home responsibilities that   
belonged primarily to members of the    
family1 and helped to hold the family   

together2 but the chances are that they 
will none of them have worked           
continuously or thoroughly enough to    
learn from their blunders or to repair  
their mistakes4  ,i have mentioned home 
responsibilities4  ,let us consider1 for
 a moment1 what these are4  ,they have  
an old-fashioned and conservative sound1
 but the fundamental facts of life are  
old-fashioned4  ,the man is still the   
head of the normal family1 and1 as the  
head1 still owes his best endeavor to   
secure for the other members of the     
family the means of subsistence4  ,the  
wife's part in the family is to         
transform the means provided into a     
home4  ,the children1 #df for their     
part1 should be teachable and obedient2 
and1 as their own strength waxes and    
their parents' wanes1 they should stand 
ready to provide for father and mother  
both the means of subsistence and the   
home environment4  ,these are the       
prosaic but fundamental elements of home
 life1 and1 when they are lacking1      

neither the marriage ceremony1 nor the  
sanctions of law and custom1 can prevent
 the home from becoming a sham home1 a  
breeding place of sin and social        
disorder4  ,it is my misfortune that1 in
 attempting to meet the needs of those  
who visit the poor1 ,i must dwell more  
upon the difficulties than upon the     
encouragements of such work4  ,there are
 many poor homes where every essential  
element of home life exists4  ,the home 
may be of the humblest sort1--it may be 
in one room1--but1 to the best of his   
ability1 the man is struggling to       
provide for his family2 the woman is    
striving to make the little shelter     
homelike2 and the children are learning 
that1 out of the simplest elements1 a   
certain measure of peace1 orderliness   
and growth may be won4  ,the home       
relation is right1 and1 though sickness1
 #dg industrial depression1 accident1 or
 some other of the misfortunes that     
assail us from without may have made    
charitable relief necessary for a long  

time1 the elements of successful        
charitable aid are there1 because the   
home life works with the visitor to win 
back health and independence4  ,there is
 a deep satisfaction in protecting such 
families from the careless1 patronizing 
charity of the thoughtless almsgiver1   
whose unsteady hand would give them a   
feast to-day and a famine to-morrow4    
,there is deep satisfaction in          
coperating with such families to conquer
 difficulties4  ,there is a deeper      
satisfaction1 however1 in turning a sham
 home into a real one2 in teaching the  
slatternly1 irresponsible mother the    
pleasure of a cleanly1 well-ordered     
home2 in helping a man who has lost his 
sense of responsibility toward wife and 
children to regain it4  ,even at the    
risk of drawing a too gloomy picture1 ,i
 dwell in this chapter1 therefore1 upon 
the husband and father who is either    
lazy or drunken or both4  ,the married  
vagabond has many #dh characteristics of
 the single vagabond or tramp1 though he

 is usually less enterprising4  ,his is 
a type peculiar to our large cities1    
where political1 industrial1 and        
charitable  conditions have helped to   
make him what he is4  ,there is a sense 
in which he is not responsible for his  
faults2 but there is a sense in which we
 are none of us responsible for ours1   
and when we are once permanently        
committed to this view of ourselves1    
there is no health in us4  ,to treat the
 married vagabond as not responsible1 is
 only to increase his irresponsibility4 
,one man ,i know who has done hardly a  
stroke of work for years1 says ,mrs4    
,bosanquet2 during his wife's periodical
 confinements he goes off on the tramp1 
leaving her to take her chance of       
charity coming to the rescue1 and       
returns when she can get to work again4 
,i have known fathers who would send    
their hungry children to beg food from  
their neighbors1 and then take it to eat
 themselves2 and one ,i have known who  
would stop his children in the street   

and take their shoes from their feet to 
pawn for drink4  ,the negative attitude 
of a man to his own family is #di an    
impossible one2 if responsibility       
disappears1 it will be replaced by      
brutality4 #a  ,and again1 from the same
 book3 ,take a case which is constantly 
recurring4  ,a man has let himself drift
 into bad ways3 he neglects his work1   
spends his money for drink1 cares less  
and less about his family2 the children 
become more and more neglected and      
starved4  ,at last some charitable      
agency steps in4  ',the man is          
hopeless1' it says1 'there is no        
question of relieving him of            
responsibility1 for he has already lost 
all sense of that1 and matters cannot be
 made worse by our interference4  ,the  
children must not be allowed to suffer  
for their father's sins2 we will feed   
and clothe and educate them1 and so give
 them a chance of doing better than     
their parents4'  ,all very well1 if this
 were the only family2 and we should all

 rush joyfully to the work of rescuing  
the little ones4  ,but next door on     
either side are men with the same       
downward path so easy before them1 and  
to a large extent restrained from       
entering upon it by the thought1 ',what 
will become of the children8'  ,this    
restraining #ej influence will break    
down much more rapidly for the knowledge
 that ,smith's children are better cared
 for since he gave up the battle1 and so
 the mischief spreads down the street   
like an epidemic4 #b  ,the method to be 
followed in dealing with the family of  
the married vagabond must depend upon   
circumstances1 but it will usually be   
necessary to let him find out what the  
charitable community expects of him1 and
 this he will hardly do unless the      
charitable withhold all aid except in   
the form of work4  ,a visitor will not  
succeed in bringing this about until he 
has taken the trouble to find out what  
sources of relief are open to the       
family1 and has persuaded each source to

 withhold relief4  ,visitors often      
hesitate to urge this radical measure1  
fearing that it will bring suffering    
upon the wife and children2 but the     
plain fact is that the family of a lazy 
man must suffer1 that no amount of      
material relief can prevent their       
suffering4  ,on this disputed point ,i  
venture to quote what ,i have written   
elsewhere3 ,let us #ea consider the     
chances that a married vagabond's       
children have of escaping suffering in a
 large city4 4 4 4  ,they are born into 
a world where the father is             
inconsiderate and abusive of the mother2
 where cleanliness1 fresh air1 and good 
food are not assured to them2 where all 
the economic laws of the civilized world
 seem topsy-turvy2 where things         
sometimes come miraculously1 without any
 return for them in labor1 and where    
they sometimes do not come at all4 ,they
 are born1 moreover1 with diseased      
bodies1 often with the taint of         
alcoholism in their veins2 too often    

with some other inherited malady1 such  
as epilepsy or unsound mind1 as a direct
 result of parental excesses4  ,how can 
we say that we 'do not let children     
suffer1' so long as alms keeps together 
thousands of these so-called homes in   
our large cities1 and1 worst of all1 so 
long as into these homes thousands of   
helpless1 unfortunate babies are born   
every year8  ,if ,i were one of these   
same little ones1 and could see what the
 charitable people were about1 ,i should
 feel inclined to say3 ',ladies and     
gentlemen1 you have supplied the doctor1
 and the nurse1 #eb and the fuel1 and   
the sick diet2 doubtless you mean it    
kindly1 but ,i have been assisted into a
 world where you don't intend to give me
 a fair chance4  ,you know that my      
father won't work for me1 that my mother
 has no time to care for me1 and that my
 brothers and sisters must fare worse   
than ever1 now that there's one more    
mouth to feed4  ,moreover1 my nerves are
 none of the strongest1 and my body none

 of the stoutest4  ,unless you intend to
 do a great deal more for me1 ,i'm sorry
 you didn't do less4  ,frankly1 ,i don't
 thank you4' #c  ,often when a man finds
 that charitable people are quite in    
earnest1 that they really intend to     
place upon his shoulders the            
responsibility of his own family1 he    
will bestir himself and go to work4  ,he
 is not likely to stay and let his      
family starve4  ,in fact1 ,i have often 
found that the withholding of relief    
from the family of the married vagabond 
has the immediate effect of improving   
the material condition of the           
family--the man has either found work or
 left home4  ,this method of being      
charitable requires courage1 but if #ec 
people would only see how wretchedness  
is perpetuated by the temporizing       
method1 it would require courage to give
 small doles4  ,in many states there are
 laws for the punishment of the man that
 will not support his family4  ,some of 
these enactments are of very little use1

 but several of the ,new ,england states
 have effective laws4#d ,when a complete
 cutting off of charitable supplies     
fails to bring a man to some sense of   
his duty1 the visitor should try to have
 him punished by the courts4  ,the      
evidence of one who has faithfully      
visited a family for a long time is very
 valuable in such cases1 though         
conviction is often difficult to secure 
for lack of the wife's testimony4  ,if  
the married vagabond that has been      
punished is still incurably lazy and    
irresponsible1 the visitor should not   
allow his desire to reform the man to   
stand in the way of the best interests  
of the children1 born and unborn4  ,the 
wife's duty to her husband is a very    
sacred one1 ,but so is her duty to her  
children4  ,when #ed all other measures 
fail1 the home should be broken up4     
,only those who have had wide charitable
 experience will be likely to consider  
this separation of man and wife         
justifiable4  ,says ,mrs4 ,josephine    

,shaw ,lowell3 ,i have not the slightest
 doubt that it is a wrong2 and a great  
wrong1 to give help to the family of a  
drunkard or an immoral man who will not 
support them4  ,unless the woman will   
remove her children from his influence1 
it should be understood that no public  
or private charity1 and no charitable   
individual1 has the right to help       
perpetuate and maintain such families as
 are brought forth by drunkards and     
vicious men and women4 #e  ,it is       
unnecessary to say that the advocates of
 separation as a last resort do not     
approve of divorce1 which would only    
multiply sham homes4 ,they recognize in 
certain cases the sad fact of           
incurability1 and are prepared to take  
courageous measures in order that the   
innocent may not suffer with the        
guilty4#f  #ee  ,the following history  
of a ,baltimore married vagabond will   
illustrate the need of separation in    
certain cases3 ,several years ago the   
,baltimore ,charity ,organization       

,society made the acquaintance of the   
family of a good-looking ,german        
shoemaker1 who had married a plain1     
hard-working woman some years his       
senior4  ,soon after their marriage he  
began to neglect his work1 and1         
depending more and more on his wife's   
exertions for his support1 he took to   
drink4  ,child-bearing often            
incapacitated the wife for work1 and    
church and charitable friends aided at  
such times4  ,when the sixth child was a
 year old1 he deserted his family for a 
while1 but came back again1 after having
 been in jail for disorderly conduct4   
,the ,charity ,organization ,society1   
seeing no chance of reforming the man1  
suggested that his wife leave him1 but  
the ,german pastor strongly objected to 
any separation of man and wife1 and     
nothing was done4  ,a discouraging      
aspect of the situation was that the man
 taught his children to deceive the     
hard-working mother4  ,when the seventh 
baby was born1 and charity had supplied 

a registered nurse1 baby linen1 #ef a   
doctor1 fuel1 and food1 it was          
discovered that the man had sold the    
fuel supplied by the relief society1 and
 had gone on a spree4  ,he was a good   
workman1 and could always have work when
 sober1 but even when at work he        
neglected to provide properly for his   
family4 ,stung at last into active      
resistance1 his wife had him arrested   
for non-support4  ,while the man awaited
 trial1 the ,charity ,organization      
,society removed his family1 found work 
for the wife where she could keep three 
of her children1 placed one with a      
relative1 and two others temporarily in 
institutions4  ,when he was released1 he
 had no family to attract charitable    
aid1 and was thrown1 for the first time 
in many years1 entirely upon his own    
resources4  ,many good people may think 
that to deprive a man of family ties is 
to hasten his downfall2 but what        
downfall could be more complete than the
 downfall of the man who not only       

permits his wife to support him1 but    
abuses her and his children8  ,in making
 this no longer possible we are         
sometimes doing the one thing that can  
be done to save him from #eg spreading  
the contagion of his brutality1 and so  
assuming a still heavier burden of sin4 
,there are many charitable visitors to  
whom the very thought of strong drink is
 so offensive1 to whom everything       
connected with the saloon seems so      
brutal and degraded1 that they are      
unable to make allowance for national1  
neighborhood1 and family traditions in  
judging a man's habits4  ,it sometimes  
happens that a whole family are         
condemned as frauds because they drink  
beer for dinner1 or because the man of  
the house has been seen to enter a      
saloon4  ,on no subject1 perhaps1 are   
charity workers so divided as on the    
question of how best to deal with the   
drink evil4  ,here1 if anywhere1        
fanaticism is excusable1 perhaps2 but   
here1 as everywhere1 the friendly       

visitor must be on guard against        
personal prejudice and a hasty jumping  
at conclusions4  ,at night all cats are 
gray1 says the old proverb1 and it is   
only the benighted social reformer that 
thinks of all who drink as drunkards1   
and of all places where liquor is sold  
as dens of vice4  ,the saloon is still  
the workingman's #eh club1 and1 until   
some satisfactory substitute is found   
for it1 all our denunciations will fail 
to banish it4  ,it is none the less true
 that1 of all personal habits1 the drink
 habit stands next to licentiousness as 
a cause of poverty and degeneration4    
,the problem of intemperance meets us in
 less than half the families that we    
know1 says the ,secretary of the ,boston
 ,associated ,charities1 but it is that 
half which gives us the most concern4   
,there are many ways of dealing with the
 drunkards and with their families1 and 
the remedy must be separately chosen for
 each case4  ,some of our friends are   
impatient with all these partial        

remedies and will use none of them1     
waiting until they can sweep out of the 
,state the alcohol which seems to them  
the whole cause of the trouble4  ,but if
 it were all taken away to-morrow1 ,i   
feel sure we should find this also only 
a partial remedy1 and that the same want
 of self-control which makes men and    
women drunkards would drive some of them
 to-morrow to other and perhaps worse   
stimulants4  ,so1 while ,i hope and     
believe that slowly and steadily the    
sentiment of individuals #ei is growing 
toward total abstinence1 and that in the
 course of years1 generations1 perhaps1 
it will become the law of the ,state1 ,i
 believe in working man to man and woman
 to woman in building up and            
strengthening character as the chief    
safeguard against so great an evil4 #g  
,the first thing1 in dealing with an    
individual case of drunkenness1 is to   
find out its history4  ,is it the cause 
of poverty and misfortune1 or have      
poverty and misfortune caused it8  ,is  

there an inherited tendency to drink1 or
 did the habit originate in some other  
bad personal habit8 ,is bad health the  
cause8  ,has unhealthy or dangerous     
employment anything to do with it8  ,is 
bad home cooking one of the causes8     
,some one has said that the best        
temperance lecturer is the properly     
filled dinner-pail4  ,worry from lack of
 work1 and the need of some warm        
stimulant after exposure1 are frequent  
causes2 and they are both removable with
 friendly help4  ,a man who is honestly 
trying to break himself of the drink    
habit #fj deserves all the patience1    
sympathy1 and resourcefulness at our    
command4  ,when a man is sensitive and  
proud1 the visitor can often be most    
helpful by simply showing his sympathy4 
,a travelling salesman who became       
addicted to drink lost a good situation 
through this habit4  ,he had a wife and 
seven children1 all the children being  
too young to earn anything4  ,the wife  
was very brave and supported the family 

as long as she was able4  ,when the case
 came to the ,charity ,organization     
,society the rent was in arrears and the
 landlord threatening4  ,we sent a      
gentleman as our friendly visitor in the
 case1 and after great persistence and  
repeated failures he succeeded in       
keeping the head of the family sober for
 a few days4  ,the man was proud1 and   
much hurt at having to accept charity1  
but his family was suffering1 and there 
was no alternative4  ,the aid was       
provided in so delicate a manner that   
the man's heart was touched1 and he     
became very grateful to the visitor for 
his unflagging and kindly interest4     
,they spent their evenings together     
frequently4  ,the man began to drink    
less1 at last stopped altogether1 and   
#fa now has secured permanent work and  
is doing well4 #h  ,there is diversity  
of opinion as to the value of pledges4  
,it would seem unwise1 however1 when a  
man has broken a pledge1 to encourage   
him to renew it4  ,let him try a promise

 to himself1 and prove that he can be a 
man without artificial props4  ,in more 
stubborn cases the law must be invoked4 
,sometimes it is well to try several    
remedies at once1 asking the police to  
threaten arrest1 following this up at   
once with an invitation to join some    
temperance society 7preferably one      
connected with the man's church71 and   
trying at the same time to substitute   
some new interest4  ,milder measures    
failing1 it will sometimes be necessary 
to cut off all supplies of relief1 and1 
this again failing1 to take steps to    
protect wife and children from the      
brutalizing influence of the man by     
breaking up the home4  ,there are many  
causes of the drink evil1 as ,i have    
tried to show1 but1 after every         
allowance has been made1 the chief cause
 will often be found in the selfishness 
of the human heart4  #fb ,there are men 
who do not care to be cured of          
drunkenness1 who feel no shame for the  
misery and degradation brought upon     

their families4  ,here again the sad    
fact of incurability must be recognized4
  ,it is folly to let such men discover 
that1 through our charitable interest in
 their families1 we will either directly
 or indirectly pay their whiskey bills1 
or will assume the burdens that they    
deliberately shirk4  ,a ,committee on   
,intemperance1 reporting to the ,ward   
,,viii4 ,conference of the ,boston      
,associated ,charities in #ahhf1 called 
attention to this aspect of the         
question4  ,the committee1 however1 say 
that1 in their opinion1 the question of 
moral responsibility on the part of the 
intemperate1 and also1 in its degree1 on
 the part of those who1 by gifts or     
other aid1 make intemperance easy1 is   
too much lost sight of2 and they believe
 that the refusal of all aid to the     
families of drunkards1 outside the      
almshouse1 unless in exceptional cases1 
would bring about a better state of     
opinion and a juster sense of           
responsibility4  ,the committee add that

 it will be almost impossible to make   
kind-hearted people believe this1 since 
they are more moved #fc by the sight of 
present suffering than by the hope of   
future permanent improvement1 to secure 
which some measure of present suffering 
may be necessary4 #i    ,collateral     
,readings3 ,an ,adventure in            
,philanthropy1 ,edwin ,c4 ,martin in    
,scribner's1 ,vol4 ,,xi1 pp4 #bcj sq4   
,charity and ,home ,making1 the present 
writer in ,charities ,review1 ,vol4     
,,vi1 ,no4 #b4  ,married ,vagabonds1 the
 same1 in ,proceedings of ,twenty-second
 ,national ,conference of ,charities1   
pp4 #ead sq4  ,drunkards' ,families1    
,rev4 ,w4 ,f4 ,slocum in ,proceedings of
 ,fifteenth ,national ,conference of    
,charities1 pp4 #aca sq4  ,the ,social  
,value of the ,saloon1 ,e4 ,c4 ,moore in
 ,american ,journal of ,sociology1 ,vol4
 ,,iii1 ,no4 #a4  ,substitutes for the  
,saloon1 ,f4 ,g4 ,peabody in ,forum for 
,july1 #ahif4  ,law and ,drink1         
,frederick ,h4 ,wines in ,charities     

,review1 ,vol4 ,,vii1 ,nos4 #c and #d4  
#a ,rich and ,poor1 p4 #aje4  #b pp4 #gb
 sq4  #c ,charities ,review1 ,vol4 ,,vi1
 pp4 #aba sq4  #d ,see ,proceedings of  
the ,twenty-second ,national ,conference
 of ,charities and ,correction1 ,new    
,haven1 #ahie1 pp4 #ead sq4  #e ,public 
,relief and ,private ,charity1 p4 #aje4 
#f ,see on this subject the ,proceedings
 of the ,twenty-fourth ,national        
,conference of ,charities and           
,correction at ,toronto1 #ahig1 pp4 #e  
sq4  #g ,miss ,z4 ,d4 ,smith in ,report 
of ,union ,relief ,association of       
,springfield1 ,mass41 #ahhg4  #h        
,charities ,record1 ,baltimore1 ,vol4   
,i1 ,no4 #a4  #i ,seventh ,report of    
,boston ,associated ,charities1 p4 #ci4 
#fd  ,,chapter ,,iv  ,,the ,,homemaker  
,the wife brings us to another aspect of
 the home1 though it cannot be too often
 repeated that all aspects are so       
inextricably interwoven that they must  
be considered together4  ,when the wife 
takes the means provided1 the raw       

material from which a home is to be     
made1 she engages in a very complicated 
form of manufacture1 including in its   
processes the buying1 preparation1 and  
serving of food1 the care of the        
household possessions1 the buying1      
making1 and care of clothing1 the       
training of children1 and many minor    
departments4  ,these are only processes1
 however1 and1 unless the maker have an 
ideal picture in her mind of what a home
 should be1 neither some nor all of     
these processes will make a home4  ,in  
dealing with the homemaker1 the friendly
 visitor becomes more directly a        
teacher1 though #fe it is often         
necessary that she should first be a    
learner4  ,the agent of a ,new ,york    
charity tells of a friendly visitor who 
was consulted by the agent about a      
family applying for relief4  ,they were 
found to have an income of #bj4jj a     
week4 ,well1 said the visitor1 that is  
very little money on which to raise a   
family4  ,the agent felt that this      

visitor had not only a great deal to    
learn1 but a great deal to unlearn4     
,not every visitor is skilled in buying 
and preparing food1 or in arranging a   
household budget1 and the visitor that  
is skilful in doing this on one scale of
 expenditure may be quite ignorant and  
helpless in dealing with another and    
much smaller scale4  ,one who is really 
in earnest1 however1 in the desire to   
help another1 will never give up because
 there are difficulties to overcome4    
,the visitor may not know1 but as       
compared with the homemaker in a poor   
family1 has far more time and a greater 
facility1 perhaps1 in learning4  ,the   
visitor's best teachers are friends that
 have had experience1 and the poor      
themselves4 ,one can learn a great deal 
from the more frugal and industrious of 
the very poor1 and these are proud to   
explain #ff their small economies1 when 
our reasons for wishing to learn are    
made clear to them4  ,lacking these     
teachers1 there are books1 though books 

have the disadvantage of never meeting  
the needs of any one locality4          
,variations of climate1 custom1 and the 
local markets make specific suggestions 
about buying difficult4  ,for this      
reason ,i shall not attempt to go into  
detail1 but suggest that1 as our        
relations with our poor friends should  
be as natural as possible1 when we do   
not know anything1 it is always best to 
frankly say so1 and then think out with 
them some way of learning4  ,for        
instance1 it would be natural enough for
 a visitor to say to the homemaker3 ,we 
both feel that there is a lot to learn  
about the best way of buying and        
preparing food4  ,i have an acquaintance
 that has made a study of the subject1  
and1 with your permission1 ,i am going  
to bring her here1 to give us both some 
suggestions4  ,scientific dietaries have
 been prepared with a view to teaching  
the poor to use nutritious and          
economical foods4  ,professor ,j4 ,j4   
,atwater1 ,edward ,atkinson1 ,mrs4      

,juliet ,corson1 and ,mrs4 ,mary ,hinman
 ,abel are authorities on this #fg      
subject4  ,the ,bureau of ,associated   
,charities1 ,orange1 ,n4 ,j41 publishes 
a leaflet on foods1 prepared by ,mrs4   
,s4 ,e4 ,tenney of ,brooklyn4  ,taking  
,orange prices1 a dietary is given for a
 family of six 7man1 wife1 and four     
children71 at a cost of #c4ca per week4 
,in urging changes in diet upon poor    
families1 it is first necessary to      
become well acquainted with the         
families1 and1 even then1 to introduce  
any innovations slowly1 one thing at a  
time4  ,a friendly visitor in ,baltimore
 has tried the plan of meeting her      
friends in market1 and pointing out to  
them the best cuts of meat1 the best    
place to buy vegetables1 etc4  ,but her 
greatest success in introducing new     
dishes has been through the children4   
,she has been wise enough to secure the 
coperation of her cook1 and1 by inviting
 the children into her own kitchen on   
,saturday mornings1 has taught them the 

best way to prepare simple dishes4  ,she
 finds that scientific dietaries too    
often ignore the tastes and prejudices  
of the poor4  ,it is best to begin by   
teaching them to prepare well the things
 that they like4  ,if they are devoted  
to strong tea1 for instance1 we can     
teach them first of all that it should  
not boil on the stove all day4  #fh     
,when we are dealing with questions of  
taste1 whether in manners1 diet1        
clothing1 or household decoration1 we   
cannot afford to take the attitude of   
the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,honeythunder1 ,come up  
and be blessed1 or ,i'll knock you down6
  ,we may find a preference for cheap   
finery very exasperating1 but our own   
example is far more likely to be        
followed in the long run if we do not   
insist upon it too much at first4       
,begin by teaching the homemaker to mend
 and keep the clothing in good order1   
and give her some of your own experience
 as to which materials wear the best4   
,one of the important items of          

expenditure is fuel1 and the first thing
 to find out under this head is whether 
kerosene or any other inflammable fluid 
is ever used to start the fire4         
,experienced housekeepers say that it is
 good economy to have stoves with small 
gratings and then buy a good grade of   
pea coal1 which1 if carefully used1 is  
cheaper and quite as economical as more 
expensive grades4  ,the poor often      
prefer expensive1 free-burning coals    
because they are little trouble4  ,a    
practical engineer says that1 in burning
 pea coal1 the fire must be #fi kept    
clean1 not by violent shaking1 but by a 
straight poker used on the bottom of the
 fire only4  ,remove clinkers through   
the top4  ,add coal in small quantities1
 and1 when not using the fire1 give it a
 good cleaning at the bottom1 spread    
enough coal to make about three inches  
of fuel in all1 put on the draught until
 kindled1 add four inches of fresh coal1
 allowing the draught to remain on until
 the gas is burned off1 then shut the   

bottom draughts1 take the lids half-way 
off1 and open the top slide1 if the     
stove has one4  ,in many of the homes   
into which visitors go1 cleanliness     
seems the greatest lack4  ,sometimes the
 mother has lost heart2 sometimes she   
has never known what cleanliness was4   
,tact is necessary here to avoid hurting
 the feelings of our poor friends1      
though some are far more sensitive than 
others4  ,the ,boston woman whose       
visitor sent soap1 scrubbing brushes1   
mop1 and pail1 with the message that she
 was coming on the morrow to use them1  
took this very broad hint and made the  
home tidy for the first time in many    
months1 but it is unnecessary to say    
that all poor people #gj could not be   
dealt with in this way4  ,one visitor   
went1 when she knew the mother would be 
absent1 and helped the children to clean
 the house4  ,another found that1 if the
 family knew she was coming1 the home   
was set in order2 so she was careful for
 a time to come at stated intervals1    

then tried irregular visits1 and was    
finally rewarded by finding the home    
presentable at all times4  ,mr4 ,william
 ,d4 ,howells1 who during his recent    
residence in ,boston gave much of his   
valuable time as a visitor for the      
,associated ,charities1 was amused one  
day to be told1 on knocking at the door 
of a house where he had studiously      
endeavored to inspire a sense of        
cleanliness1 that he could not come in1 
as the floor had just been washed and he
 might soil it again4 #a  ,housecleaning
 seasons are not always observed in poor
 homes4  ,the visitor can call attention
 to the value of whitewash as a cleaning
 agent1 and if once taught to do it1 the
 children take pleasure in putting it   
on4  #ga  ,it is not merely as the      
adviser about household matters that the
 visitor can be helpful to the          
homemaker4  ,many women in poor         
neighborhoods lead starved1 sordid      
lives1 and long for genuine friendliness
 and sympathy4  ,a friend who would be  

helpful to them must exercise the same  
self-restraint that our own friends     
exercise with us4 ,the friends who      
encourage us to exaggerate our troubles 
and difficulties are not our best       
friends3 theirs is a friendship that    
tends to weaken our moral fibre4  ,but  
the sympathy that the poor need and all 
of us need is the sympathy that makes us
 feel stronger1 the sympathy that is    
farthest removed from sentimentality4   
,we should be willing to listen         
patiently to the homemaker's troubles1  
and should strive to see the world from 
her point of view1 but at the same time 
we should help her to take a cheerful   
and courageous tone4  ,one unfailing    
help1 when our poor friends dwell too   
much upon their own troubles1 is to tell
 them ours4  ,here1 too1 indirect       
suggestion is powerful4  ,the wife1 in  
her attitude toward husband and         
children1 will unconsciously imitate our
 own attitude #gb toward them4  ,as     
,miss ,jane ,addams says1 if the visitor

 kisses the baby and makes much of it1  
the mother will do the same4  ,a        
,baltimore visitor has cured one tired  
woman of scolding her husband in season 
and out of season by diverting her      
attention to other things1 and by       
seeking her coperation in plans for     
improving the man's habits4  ,a ,new    
,york visitor tells of a woman living in
 a two-room tenement who is regarded as 
a marvel by her husband's friends       
because she makes a point of having a   
specially good meal one night in the    
week1 and it is understood that her     
husband can bring his friends home to   
supper on that night without giving her 
warning4  ,the home is very humble1 but 
she has learned the wisdom of making it 
a real home for her husband1 and one    
that he can be proud of4  ,so far1 ,i   
have ignored the fact that1 in the poor 
home1 the woman is often the breadwinner
 as well as the homemaker4  ,i wish it  
were possible to ignore the further fact
 that charitable visitors1 finding it   

difficult to get work for the man or    
finding him disinclined #gc to take it1 
will bestir themselves to get work for  
the woman instead4  ,one of the few     
rules which it is safe to follow blindly
 is the rule that we should not         
encourage any woman to become the       
breadwinner who has an able-bodied1     
unemployed man in the house4  ,only harm
 can result1 says ,mrs4 ,lowell1 if     
efforts are made to induce the woman to 
leave her home daily for work4  ,where  
the breadwinner is disabled1 or the     
woman is a deserted wife or widow1 work 
is1 of course1 necessary4  ,we must     
distinguish1 however1 between the       
deserted wife and the wife whose husband
 chronically deserts her1 until her     
condition attracts the charitable help  
that he returns to share4  ,widows with 
children belong to a class with which   
charity has dealt too harshly in the    
past4  ,when the woman is incapable of  
supporting all her children1 and this is
 usually the case1 charity has either   

allowed her family to depend upon       
insufficient doles and so drift into    
beggary1 or else has put all the        
children in orphanages4  ,if the mother 
is a good mother1 capable with help of  
rearing her children to independence and
 #gd self-support1 this latter is not   
only a cruel but a wasteful method4  ,as
 charity becomes more discriminating and
 resourceful1 it will be possible to    
organize pensions for widows of this    
class1 though these pensions will need  
the careful oversight of a visitor1 who 
should see that the children are taught 
to bear the family burden as they become
 older4  ,there is great diversity of   
opinion about the value of mothers'     
meetings for women whose home duties    
prevent them from attending church on   
,sunday4  ,if these meetings confined   
themselves to providing what the church 
service provides1--a chance for         
spiritual uplifting and                 
refreshment1--there could be no possible
 objection to them2 but1 unfortunately1 

many mothers' meetings strive to attract
 and hold members by such small devices 
as paying them for very bad sewing1 or  
making small gifts1 or selling things   
below cost4  ,these attractions1 small  
as they are1 lead many women to neglect 
their home duties1 and it is no unusual 
thing for one woman to belong to three  
mothers' meetings of three different    
denominations1 which take her away #ge  
from home three afternoons in the week4 
,the atmosphere of patronage and        
sprinkling charity that is so common in 
these meetings1 distinctly lowers the   
self-respect of the women2 before very  
long they learn to write begging notes  
or send begging messages to the ladies  
in charge1 and the place that should be 
for them a source of spiritual strength 
becomes merely a source of supplies4    
,collateral ,readings3 ,the ,lustig's   
and ,corinna's ,fiametta1 ,mrs4         
,schuyler ,van ,rensselaer in ,one ,man 
who was ,content and ,other ,stories4   
,practical ,sanitary and ,economic      

,cooking 7adapted to persons of moderate
 and small means71 ,mrs4 ,mary ,hinman  
,abel1 published by ,american ,public   
,health ,association1 ,rochester1 ,n4,y4
  ,foods3 ,nutritive ,value and ,cost1  
by ,w4 ,o4 ,atwater in ,farmer's        
,bulletin ,no4 #bc of ,united ,states   
,department of ,agriculture4  ,dietary  
,studies in ,new ,york ,city1 ,w4 ,o4   
,atwater and ,charles ,d4 ,woods in     
,bulletin ,no4 #df of ,united ,states   
,department of ,agriculture4  ,the      
,health ,department of ,new ,york ,city 
will soon publish leaflets prepared by  
experts1 which will contain simple      
directions about buying and preparing   
food4  ,the ,le ,play ,method of ,social
 ,observation1 ,american ,journal of    
,sociology1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 ,no4 #a4        
,treatment of ,widows and ,dependent    
,children1 ,mrs4 ,l4 ,wolcott in        
,proceedings of ,fifteenth ,national    
,conference of ,charities1 pp4 #acg sq4 
,girls in a ,factory ,valley1 ,mrs4     
,lillie ,b4 ,chace ,wyman in ,atlantic1 

,vol4 ,,lxxviii1 pp4 #cia sq4 and #ejf  
sq4    #a ,mrs4 ,roger ,wolcott in      
,proceedings of ,international ,congress
 of ,charities at ,chicago1 ,volume on  
,organization of ,charities1 p4 #aaj4   
#gf  ,,chapter ,v  ,,the ,,children     
,the visitor in the homes of the poor   
whose chief concern is with questions of
 material relief often overlooks the    
children entirely1 unless they are large
 enough to be forced into the labor     
market and made to contribute toward the
 family income4  ,in charity meetings1  
where visitors get together to discuss  
the difficulties of individual families1
 it will often happen that the children 
are not mentioned4  ,on the other hand1 
there is a large class of charity       
workers who concern themselves with the 
children only1 and a strongly marked    
tendency of modern charity is to treat  
the children of the poor quite apart    
from and without any relation to their  
home life4  ,we constantly hear it said1
 writes ,mrs4 ,james ,putnam1 that we   

cannot help the older ones1 but that we 
must save the #gg children4  ,it seems  
clear to me that to help one without the
 other is usually an impossible task4   
,their interests are too closely bound  
together4 #a  ,there is always danger1  
in our eagerness to help the children1  
that we may only encourage parents to   
shirk their duty4  ,take the admirable  
charities known as day nurseries4  ,if  
care is not taken to exclude all except 
the children of widows1 or of women     
whose husbands are disabled1 these will 
only encourage laziness in the husband1 
and help to bring about that unwholesome
 condition in which the wife is         
breadwinner1 homemaker1 and             
child-bearer4  ,the first thing that a  
visitor should observe in a family where
 there is a baby is whether the child is
 nursed too many months and too often4  
,a child should not be nursed during the
 night after it is six months old4      
,solid food is usually given too soon2  
tea and coffee are often given before   

the child is a year old1 and to these is
 added anything on the table4 #gh ,for  
the children's sake1 the visitor should 
be very observant4  ,it is difficult1 at
 first1 to find out how they are fed1   
bathed1 and clothed1 and whether they go
 to bed early1 in clean beds and        
ventilated rooms2 but one can learn more
 by observation than by direct          
questions4  ,ask to see the baby bathed1
 and notice the condition of its scalp  
and skin4  ,if in any doubt1 it is      
always best to consult a doctor2 do not 
allow your ignorance to make you a      
non-conductor4  ,learn how to sterilize 
milk1 and teach the mother2 show her the
 importance of feeding at regular       
intervals1 and impress upon her that    
small children should never have        
stimulants1 greasy food1 green fruit1 or
 cakes1 nuts1 and candies4  ,in summer1 
the baby should have frequent airings in
 the nearest park1 and1 in case of      
sickness1 the visitor should know how to
 use the children's sanitariums1        

floating hospitals1 free excursions or  
other charities provided for sick       
children4  ,for the older children it   
will be possible to procure a country   
holiday through the fresh air society or
 the children's country homes that are  
provided within easy #gi distance of all
 our large cities4  ,or1 better still1  
the visitor may know some one in the    
country1 or may have a summer home      
there1 where the little ones can be     
entertained4  ,any one who has once     
realized how important it is that every 
growing child should know and love the  
country1 will gladly put up with some   
personal inconvenience to give this     
knowledge to the little folk in the     
family he visits4  ,as soon as the      
children are old enough1 connection     
should be made with the nearest         
kindergarten1 or if1 unfortunately1     
there is no kindergarten near enough1   
the visitor should learn some of the    
kindergarten games and occupations1 and 
teach the children4  ,when the children 

go to the public schools1 the visitor   
should make the acquaintance of their   
teacher4  ,one of our visitors went for 
two years to visit a widow and her      
children without feeling that she       
accomplished anything1 though the       
intercourse was pleasant enough in      
itself4  ,then she heard that the girl  
of thirteen was having trouble in school
 and was in danger of being expelled4   
,she went to see the teacher4  #hj ,the 
girl was always well dressed1 and the   
teacher had no idea she was a poor girl4
  ,after seeing the visitor the teacher 
touched the girl at last by talking with
 her of the sacrifices her mother had   
made for her education1 and urging her  
to do her part1 that her mother's hard  
work might not be in vain4 ,in this way 
she persuaded the girl to good behavior 
and kept her in school--all because some
 one had visited the family for a year  
or two and could speak confidently of   
their condition and character4 #b  ,no  
one can work among the poor in their    

homes without realizing the need of     
compulsory education laws4  ,there are  
still people here and there who talk    
about the danger of educating the poor  
above their station1 but those who know 
the poor in our large cities from actual
 contact feel that over-education is the
 very least of the dangers that beset   
them4  ,the lack of adequate school     
accommodations1 making it impossible to 
punish truancy1 is a much greater       
danger1 and1 in some ,states1 the       
absence of any compulsory education law 
#ha makes the child the easy victim of  
trade conditions and of parental greed4 
,the visitor should never permit the    
desire to increase the family income to 
blind him to the fact that the physical1
 mental1 and moral welfare of the child 
is seriously endangered by wage-earning4
  ,where there is a compulsory education
 law1 he should coperate with the truant
 officers in securing its enforcement2  
where there is no such law1 every       
influence should be brought to bear upon

 parents to keep children in school4    
,the ,hebrew ,benevolent ,society of    
,detroit refuses aid to families in     
which the children are kept from school1
 and all our relief agencies1 churches  
included1 would do well to adopt this   
rule4  ,some of the most intelligent and
 devoted workers in child-saving        
agencies have sounded the note of       
warning on the subject of children      
wage-earners4  ,the fact1 says ,mrs4    
,anna ,garlin ,spencer1 that the world  
of industry has found out and           
established methods of labor which can  
utilize the work of children to profit1 
gives to that world of industry1 as an  
upper and a nether millstone1 the greed 
#hb of employers and the cupidity and   
poverty of parents1 between which the   
life of the child is often ground to    
powder4 #c  ,and ,mrs4 ,florence        
,kelley1 writing from her experience as 
a factory inspector in ,illinois1 says3 
,i do not mean that every boy is usually
 ruined by his work1 but ,i do mean     

that1 the earlier the child goes to     
work1 the greater the probability of    
ruin4  ,i mean1 too1 that there is to be
 gained1 from a scientific study of the 
working child1 an irradiating side-light
 upon the tramp question1 the unemployed
 question1 and the whole ramifying      
question of the juvenile offender4 4 4 4
  ,one reason that immigrants cling so  
closely to the great cities is that they
 find there far more opportunity to get 
money for their children's work4  ,there
 is probably no one means of dispersing 
the disastrously growing colonies of our
 great cities so simple and effective as
 this one1 of depriving the children of 
their immediate cash value4 #d  #hc     
,another hindrance to the proper        
education of the children is the habit  
of keeping them from school to run      
errands1 to carry their fathers'        
dinners1 or to help with the housework4 
,the girls are often taken away from    
school very early for trivial reasons4  
,recent developments in child study show

 that many of the moral and mental      
obliquities of children may be traced to
 physical defects4  ,in dealing with    
wayward and dull children1 the visitor  
should bear this fact in mind1 and1     
either by observation or by the help of 
a physician1 discover wherein the child 
is defective4  ,the sooner a defect is  
discovered1 the easier it will be to    
cure it1 and for this reason the visitor
 should learn to apply simple tests for 
defective sight and hearing4  ,in a very
 instructive article1 which every       
visitor should read1 on ,child ,study1  
#e ,professor ,krohn says that dull     
children suffer from defective hearing  
in ninety-nine out of one hundred cases4
  ,he tells of one girl in a class who  
failed to answer correctly1 and was said
 by the teacher to be the most stupid   
child in the #hd school4 ,after the     
class was dismissed1 ,i told the teacher
 that ,i did not believe that the little
 girl was intellectually stupid2 that   
there was probably some physical defect 

clogging the pathway to her active      
little brain2 and ,i requested an       
opportunity to talk to the child at     
recess1 when ,i found that she could not
 hear my stop-watch tick until it was   
within nine inches of her right ear1 and
 eleven inches of her left ear4 ,the    
average child1 under the same local     
conditions1 can hear the same watch tick
 at a distance of twenty-one feet4  ,how
 could the poor child answer correctly  
when she could not hear what was asked8 
,every answer was a mere guess4  ,after 
a time any child would become stupid    
under such conditions1 believing it of  
no use to attempt to answer at all4     
,this little girl was1 at my suggestion1
 given a seat not far from the teacher's
 desk and especial pains was afterward  
taken to speak distinctly to her4 4 4 4 
,she has since manifested such marked   
improvement that1 at the close of the   
last school year1 she ranked second in  
her class4  ,in puzzling cases of       
waywardness1 the visitor #he should seek

 the advice of the agent of the local   
children's aid society1 who is often an 
expert1 and glad to help one who is in  
earnest in such work4  ,the ,report of  
the ,boston ,children's ,aid ,society   
for #ahif1f cites two cases of truancy  
due to physical defects4  ,one was a    
girl of ten years1 whose eyes were found
 to be defective4  ,after fitting her   
with proper glasses1 the ,society's     
agent had her returned to school4       
,another was a boy of eight1 with a     
slight impediment in his speech4  ,no   
one had noticed that his schoolmates    
teased the child1 until he told the     
agent4 ,after the boy's teacher had been
 seen1 there was no more laughing and no
 more truancy4  ,massachusetts has an   
excellent system of placing juvenile    
offenders on probation for a first      
offence4  ,this same report contains    
illustrations of the work of the        
,children's ,aid ,society's probation   
officer4  ,a boy1 fifteen years of age1 
already on informal probation1 and      

apparently doing fairly well1 was       
suddenly brought into court1 charged    
with breaking and entering his          
employer's shop at night4  ,on #hf      
account of his past good character1 he  
was put on probation by the court under 
our agent's care4  ,he told ,mr4        
,lawrence that he got into this criminal
 state of mind by bad reading and by    
attending low theatrical performances4  
,with the aid of the boy's              
,sunday-school teacher he has been      
encouraged to do his best1 and is now   
working regularly1 taking good books    
from the ,public ,library1 and is doing 
very well4  ,the charitable are only    
beginning to discover the importance of 
such personal and preventive work among 
children1 founded upon an intimate      
knowledge of their habits and character4
  ,such work must be done in large      
measure by volunteers1 and the friendly 
visitor's relations to poor families    
render him specially fit for the        
service4  ,the illustration just given  

emphasizes the importance of guiding a  
child's reading4  ,it is not enough to  
teach the children to use the ,public   
,library2 we should know what they are  
reading and teach them to enjoy the     
right books4  ,an admirable system of   
lending libraries having this object in 
view has been established by the ,boston
 ,children's ,aid ,society4  ,these     
little ,home ,libraries in small #hg    
hanging book cases are placed in certain
 homes in poor neighborhoods1 and the   
visitor in charge of a library meets at 
regular intervals a group of children of
 the neighborhood who form the library  
circle1 explaining the books to them1   
playing games1 and getting well         
acquainted4  ,a friendly visitor might  
easily establish such a library in any  
poor neighborhood2 the details of the   
plan may be had upon application to the 
,children's ,aid ,society4  ,training in
 citizenship must not be overlooked4    
,our boys and girls should know more    
about our country than their parents can

 teach them4 ,the publications of the   
,patriotic ,league1 #bcj ,w4 #acth ,st41
 ,new ,york1 will be found very useful4 
,the ,league issues a ,young ,citizens' 
,catechism and a monthly journal1 ,our  
,country4  ,the ,sunday-school is       
another help to the visitor1 and it is  
well to know not only the public-school 
teacher1 but the ,sunday-school teacher1
 whose coperation should be sought in   
any plans for the children's welfare4   
,one ,sunday-school is a help1 but two  
or more ,sunday-schools for one child   
are thoroughly demoralizing1 and we #hh 
should do our best to discourage any    
child in whom we are interested from    
going to more than one4  ,it too often  
happens that children are sent by their 
parents to several churches with the    
deliberate purpose of making profitable 
charitable connections4  ,this habit of 
thrusting the children forward to excite
 sympathy1 of sending them to ask help  
of teachers1 clergymen1 and charity     
agents1 is so obviously bad for the     

children that one wonders how the       
charitable can ever have permitted it to
 become so general4 ,children should    
never be permitted to deliver begging   
notes and messages from a family in     
which there is an able-bodied adult4    
,of all charitable practices that help  
to manufacture misery and vice1 the     
practice of giving to child-beggars on  
the street is the most pernicious4  ,one
 boy who has become a skilful beggar    
teaches another1 and first the money    
goes for candy and cigarettes1 then for 
gambling and low theatres4  ,the next   
step is petty thieving1 the next        
burglary1 and then follow commitment to 
a #hi reformatory1 which often fails to 
reform1 and1 later1 a criminal career4  
,i have seen children travel this road  
so often that it is difficult to speak  
without bitterness of the unthinking    
alms that led them into temptation4     
,sometimes parents connive at           
child-begging1 but often they know      
nothing of it until the children have   

grown incorrigible4  ,a strict          
enforcement of the laws against         
child-begging is very difficult until   
every one is convinced of the cruelty of
 giving money to unknown children on the
 street or at the door4  ,it sometimes  
becomes the visitor's painful duty to   
protect children from cruelty1 criminal 
neglect1 or immorality by legal removal 
from their parents' control4  ,here a   
society for the protection of children  
will often render valuable assistance4  
,such a society is likely to be hampered
 in its work by the unwillingness of    
charitable visitors to tell what they   
know in court4  ,sometimes this is due  
to timidity1 and sometimes to a fear of 
losing influence in the neighborhood4   
,clergymen have been known to refuse    
their testimony for this latter reason4 
,the friendly visitor1 #ij whose        
interest is centred in only one family  
in the neighborhood1 need not be so     
cautious1 and his continuous visiting1  
extending over many months1 makes his   

testimony very valuable4  ,no fear of   
losing influence with other members of  
the family should prevent him from      
speaking out where a child's future is  
at stake4  ,just a few months more in   
evil surroundings may mean moral death  
to the child1 and neighbors are         
notoriously unwilling to tell what they 
know4  ,it is impossible to enter here  
upon the vexed question of the relative 
merits of boarding-out dependent        
children1 of placing them without pay in
 country homes1 or of committing them to
 the care of institutions1 though ,i    
cannot refrain from quoting1 in passing1
 the opinion of ,miss ,mason1 for twelve
 years an ,english government inspector 
of boarded-out children1 that well      
carried out1 boarding-out may be the    
best way of caring for dependent        
children2 ill carried out1 it may be the
 worst4 ,there is a very foolish saying 
that the worst home is better than the  
best institution1 but no one who knows  
how bad a home can be #ia or how good an

 institution can be will venture beyond 
the statement that1 other things being  
equal1 a home is certainly better than  
an institution4  ,the friendly visitor  
should make himself familiar with what  
has been written on this subject1 and   
should be prepared1 in any given case1  
to make the wisest selection of a home  
that local conditions make possible1    
always remembering1 of course1 that his 
responsibility does not end here2 that  
he should continue to visit the child1  
if it be placed within visiting         
distance4  ,the visitor should also be  
familiar with the local laws for the    
protection of children4  ,these usually 
include laws against child-begging2     
against selling liquor and tobacco to   
minors2 against the employment of       
children as pedlers1 public singers1    
dancers1 etc42 against the employment of
 children under a certain age for more  
than a specified number of hours 7or    
prohibiting their employment entirely72 
and against the abduction or harboring  

of female minors for immoral purposes4  
,what1 above the mastery of all these   
details1 #ib should be the visitor's    
clear aim8  ,to see to it that the      
children are better off than their      
parents were1 and are saved from the    
pitfalls into which the latter have     
fallen2 that the boys are better        
equipped to become breadwinners1 and the
 girls to become homemakers4  ,the      
training given in our public schools    
will often seem very inadequate1 and    
some of us look forward to the day when 
every boy and girl between the ages of  
six and sixteen shall be trained to use 
hand and brain1 when manual training    
shall be part of the daily instruction  
of every school course4 ,until this day 
comes1 the visitor must make use of such
 aids as evening classes in boys' and   
girls' clubs1 people's institutes1 and  
,christian associations4  ,a child's    
capabilities should be studied and every
 encouragement given to his small       
ambitions4  ,but the best help1 after   

all1 is in the personal influence that  
the visitor can acquire over the growing
 child4  ,when we think what personal   
influence has done in our own lives1 how
 it has moulded our convictions1 our    
tastes1 our very manner of speech1 even1
 we should not despair of the children1 
if we can #ic attach them to us and give
 them a new and better outlook upon     
life4  ,the time when we can be of the  
greatest help to them is during the     
disorganized period that comes between  
the school days and the settling down in
 life4  ,many a young life has gone to  
wreck for lack of a guiding hand at this
 time1 for lack of a friend to make     
suggestions about employment1           
companions1 amusements1 and home        
relations4  ,the failure of philanthropy
 to make any adequate provision for this
 critical period accounts1 in part1 for 
the large number of married vagabonds in
 our great cities4    ,collateral       
,readings3 ,on care of infants see      
leaflets of local ,boards of ,health4   

,the ,working ,child1 ,florence ,kelley 
in ,proceedings of ,twenty-third        
,national ,conference of ,charities1 pp4
 #afa sq4  ,the ,working ,boy1 the same 
in ,american ,journal of ,sociology1    
,vol4 ,,ii1 ,no4 #c4  ,child ,labor1 ,w4
 ,f4 ,willoughby and ,clare de          
,graffenreid in publications of         
,american ,economic ,association4       
,influence of ,manual ,training on      
,character1 ,felix ,adler in            
,proceedings of ,fifteenth ,national    
,conference of ,charities1 pp4 #bgb sq4 
,children of the ,road1 ,josiah ,flynt  
in ,atlantic1 ,january1 #ahif4  ,family 
,life for ,dependent and ,wayward       
,children1 ,homer ,folks1 volume on     
,care of ,children in ,proceedings of   
,international ,congress of ,charities  
at ,chicago1 pp4 #fi sq4  ,story of ,the
 ,child's #id ,mother1 in ,mrs4         
,margaret ,deland's ,old ,chester       
,tales4  ,the ,wisdom of ,fools1 ,mrs4  
,margaret ,deland 7see1 for difficulties
 in reclaiming girls1 the story entitled

 ,the ,law and the ,gospel74  ,reports  
of ,conventions of ,working ,girls'     
,societies at ,boston1 #ahid1 and       
,philadelphia1 #ahig4  ,for pamphlets on
 ,school ,savings ,banks apply to ,j4   
,h4 ,thiry1 ,long ,island ,city1 ,n4,y4 
#a ,proceedings of ,fifteenth ,national 
,conference of ,charities1 #ahhg1 p4    
#aeb4  #b ,miss ,z4 ,d4 ,smith4  #c     
,proceedings of ,international ,congress
 of ,charities1 ,chicago1 #ahic4 ,volume
 on ,care of ,children1 p4 #g4  #d      
,proceedings of ,twenty-third ,national 
,conference of ,charities1 #ahif1 p4    
#afd4  #e ,charities ,review1 ,vol4     
,,vi1 pp4 #dcc sq4  #f pp4 #ac sq4      
#ie  ,,chapter ,,vi  ,,health  ,about   
one-fourth of all the poverty that has  
come within the scope of charitable     
investigation is directly caused by     
sickness4  ,in both ,american and       
,english experience1 writes ,warner1 the
 percentage attributable to this cause  
sinks but once slightly below fifteen   
and never quite reaches thirty4  ,the   

average is between twenty and           
twenty-five4  ,this is one of the most  
significant facts brought out by these  
tables of the statistical causes of     
poverty4  ,it is not one which the      
author anticipated when the collection  
of statistics began2 and yet it has been
 confirmed and reconfirmed in so many   
ways that the conclusion seems          
inevitable that the figures set forth   
real and important facts4  ,personal    
acquaintance with the destitute classes 
has further convinced him that most of  
the #if causes of poverty result from or
 result in a weakened physical and      
mental constitution1 often merging into 
actual disease4 #a  ,this fact gives    
added importance to all the efforts of  
modern charity to secure improved       
dwellings1 open spaces1 cheap baths1 and
 better municipal sanitation for the    
poor4  ,but improvement in these matters
 cannot come entirely from without2 the 
model tenement implies a model tenant4  
,as a ,london authority puts it3 ,the   

condition of the house may degrade its  
occupants4  ,the careless life and      
habits of the occupants will spoil the  
house1 and make it filthy and unhealthy4
  ,the friendly visitor should try to   
make the family healthily discontented  
with unsanitary surroundings1 and so    
prepare them for better quarters4       
,removing families from unfit tenements 
is not enough1 however1 if these        
tenements are almost immediately        
reoccupied4  ,their condition should be 
reported to the ,board of ,health1 and1 
if condemned1 we should see that no one 
else is permitted to move into them4  ,i
 have often noticed that charity agents1
 #ig who work habitually in poor        
neighborhoods1 get so accustomed to bad 
sanitary conditions that they hardly    
notice them4  ,volunteer workers are not
 so likely to fall into this error1     
though it is possible for volunteers to 
be very unobservant4  ,they often feel  
that things are all wrong1 without being
 able to state the specific             

difficulties4  ,an observant visitor    
will learn the condition of the cellar1 
walls1 yard1 plumbing1 and outhouses2   
will learn to take the cubic contents of
 a room in order to find out the air    
space for each sleeper2 will learn the  
family method of garbage disposal2 will 
see how the rooms are ventilated2 and   
will learn all these things without     
asking many questions4  ,dampness is a  
very common cause of sickness2 when the 
children cough it is a very simple      
matter to ask about the cellar1 and even
 get permission to see it4  ,the        
prejudice against fresh air1 especially 
night air1 is a difficult one to        
overcome4  ,one mother1 who kept her    
children scrupulously clean1 could never
 understand the value of fresh air until
 a visitor explained to her how air was 
polluted by the soiled air that we #ih  
breathed out1 just as water was polluted
 when we washed our hands in it4  ,when 
the children breathed this soiled air in
 again it made them dirty inside2 and   

this homely statement left such an      
unpleasant picture in the mother's mind 
that her rooms were always well         
ventilated afterward4  ,it is difficult 
to ventilate a small room without making
 a draft1 but1 next to the chimney1 the 
upper sash is the simplest ventilator1  
and should not be immovable1 as it is in
 many small houses4  ,a board about five
 inches wide under the lower sash will  
make a current of air between the upper 
and lower sashes1 and1 better still1 two
 pieces of elbow pipe with dampers1     
fixed in the board1 will throw a good   
current of air upward into the room4    
,another ventilator can be made by      
tacking a strip of loosely woven        
material to the upper sash and to the   
top of the window-frame4  ,when the     
upper sash is dropped1 the stuff is     
drawn taut over the opening1 and1 while 
permitting air to pass through1 breaks  
the current4  ,equal in importance with 
fresh air inside the house is exercise  
out of doors4  ,i was #ii shocked some  

years ago to find that1 of six          
,sunday-school boys who went with me on 
a little trip to our largest city park1 
five had never been there before4  ,this
 had not been due to lack of time or    
money1 though they had very little of   
either2 but its sole cause had been lack
 of enterprise4  ,there is an impatient 
and popular saying that soap and water  
are cheap2 like many other popular      
sayings1 it is only half true4          
,personal cleanliness is rather         
expensive when one takes into account   
the time1 energy1 and frequent changes  
of clothing required to keep the body   
daintily clean4  ,visitors should       
realize this in any effort to introduce 
a higher standard of personal neatness1 
and should not be impatient when they do
 not immediately succeed4  ,cleanliness 
and health are so nearly related1       
however1 that the effort is very well   
worth making4  ,a visitor who hesitated 
to complain to a mother about her little
 girl's neglected condition1 borrowed   

the child to spend the day1 and brought 
her home at night sweet1 clean1 and     
rosy1 with her hair well brushed and    
curled4  ,the hint was taken4  #ajj  ,it
 would be very unfortunate for the      
visitor to be an alarmist1 for there are
 imaginary invalids among the poor as   
well as elsewhere1 but more frequently  
the poor neglect the earlier symptoms of
 sickness altogether1 or else dose      
themselves with patent medicines4  ,the 
quack doctors who advertise in the daily
 papers draw much of their custom from  
the very poor1 who are also large       
consumers of cure-alls and proprietary  
medicines4  ,we have seen how children's
 physical defects can pass unnoticed at 
home1 and this is the case in a less    
degree with the defects and ailments of 
adults4  ,the very cheap grade of       
medical service that is sometimes given 
by regular practitioners in poor        
neighborhoods has a tendency to         
discourage the poor from taking sickness
 in time4  ,the visitor can help them to

 procure better medical service at      
reasonable charges or1 when necessary1  
without charge4  ,the grade of service  
in dispensaries varies greatly1 but the 
medical advice and directions given     
there with the medicines can be made far
 more useful if the visitor will go with
 the patient and see that the directions
 are understood and carried #aja out4   
,often no adult in the family can spare 
the time to go with a sick child to the 
dispensary4 ,here1 too1 the visitor's   
service will be helpful4  ,in cases of  
contagious disease1 see that the ,board 
of ,health is notified promptly4  ,other
 things being equal1 an acute case of   
illness can usually be better and more  
economically cared for in a hospital    
than in a poor home4  ,in fact1 although
 hospitals were intended originally for 
the destitute sick1 the practice of     
sending well-to-do patients there is    
rapidly spreading4  ,the prejudice      
against hospitals1 still so general     
among the poor1 is a survival from a    

time when hospital care was far less    
humane than now4  ,if the visitor has   
ever been a patient in a hospital1 and  
can tell his own experience or the      
experiences of friends1 or if he happens
 to know some of the doctors or nurses1 
and promises to see them about his poor 
friend1 the prejudice can often be      
overcome4  ,the dread of the untried and
 the unknown is natural enough1 and yet 
it will happen now and then that        
hospital care is so clearly the best    
thing that nothing can take the place   
#ajb of it1 and suffering and loss will 
be entailed upon the family by their    
refusal to let the sick member go4  ,in 
such cases charitable people may be     
justified in helping the family to a    
right decision by withholding all       
relief4  ,the prejudice against         
hospitals is strong in the negro race4  
,in the first family ,i ever visited the
 mother1 a colored woman1 had been      
bedridden for thirteen months4          
,according to her own account she had   

been conjured1 and at first the mention 
of a hospital made her hysterical4  ,she
 consented to let a doctor1 who was a   
friend of mine1 see her1 and he         
pronounced her disease sciatic          
rheumatism4  ,he said she could never   
get well at home with four small1 noisy 
children1 and1 besides1 the walls of her
 house were damp4  ,after two months of 
persuading1 ,i got the mother into a    
hospital and the family moved into a dry
 house4  ,among the arguments that won  
her were my own acquaintance with the   
hospital nurses1 and my promise to visit
 her frequently while there2 and my     
further promise to see that the children
 were well cared for while she was away4
  ,but the argument that tipped the     
scale was the #ajc promise to take her  
away to the hospital in a carriage with 
two horses4  ,among the cases in which  
hospital care is not practicable are    
those of chronic invalids1 of patients  
too sick to be moved1 and of patients   
able to be treated as out-patients in   

the dispensaries4  ,confinement cases1  
where there are children in the family  
who must be placed temporarily in       
institutions if the mother leaves home1 
are best treated in the home4  ,there   
are societies that provide a nurse and  
baby-linen at such times4  ,some        
families are so degraded that they look 
forward to times of confinement as times
 of plenty 7see family cited on p4 #ee71
 and in these cases nothing but hospital
 care should be offered1 while we place 
the children temporarily in institutions
 or with neighbors4 ,for the destitute  
sick outside of hospitals1 district     
nurses are now provided in many cities4 
,when these nurses are careful to       
instruct well members of the household  
in the care of the sick1 their influence
 is especially helpful1 and they are    
often able not only to relieve          
suffering1 but to raise the standard of 
living in the home4  ,diet kitchens1    
supplying food specially #ajd prepared  
for the sick either free or at a nominal

 cost1 are also found in many of our    
cities4  ,with all the charities        
provided for the sick1 there is still   
need of better provision in this country
 for convalescents1 who are sent from   
the hospitals too weak to resume work1  
and still needing rest1 good food1 and  
pure air to effect a complete cure4     
,two classes of invalids remain to be   
mentioned in this condensed summary4    
,first1 accident cases1 in which the    
visitor must be careful to see that     
legal redress is obtained when the case 
is one for damages1 and must1 at the    
same time1 protect the victim from      
lawyers who are glad to take a sure case
 for half the proceeds4  ,second1       
incurables1 for whom homes are provided 
requiring an entrance fee1 or for whom1 
more often1 nothing remains but the     
almshouse4  ,the visitor can sometimes  
secure the coperation of friends and    
charities interested1 and so raise      
enough money to provide the fee for such
 an invalid1 when1 without coperation1  

as much money and more would be spent   
and the patient remain in the end       
unprovided for4  ,charitable people     
often #aje get tired2 they will do a    
great deal for a while1 and will then   
get interested elsewhere1 and grudge the
 help that is still needed4  ,in view of
 this failing1 it is much better1 in    
making plans for incurables1 to secure a
 lump sum that will make adequate       
provision1 than to depend upon the      
continued interest of a number of       
people4  ,the migration of invalids is  
the last point upon which ,i shall      
attempt to touch under this head4  ,any 
one who has visited ,california1        
,florida1 ,colorado1 or any other part  
of our country where climatic conditions
 are supposed to be favorable for       
invalids1 will realize the irresponsible
 way in which charitable people are     
accustomed to send the sick where they  
do not belong4  ,the worst of it is that
 the sudden change of climate and the   
impossibility of securing proper care1  

so far from effecting a cure1 in many   
cases hasten death4  ,the saddest thing 
about the life of a ,denver minister1   
writes ,rev4 ,samuel ,a4 ,eliot1 is the 
number of lonely funerals that he is    
called upon to attend4  ,often ,i have  
been hastily summoned to say a prayer   
over some poor body at the undertaker's 
#ajf shop1 where there would be present 
just the undertaker and the minister1   
with perhaps the keeper of the          
boarding-house where the lad died or an 
officer of the ,charity ,organization   
,society4  ,i look at the youthful      
victim of ignorant good-will borne to   
his neglected grave1 ,i imagine the     
mother and sisters in the farmhouse on  
the ,new ,england hillside1 whose       
tenderness might have soothed his last  
hours1 and ,i think with bitterness of  
the well-meant but misdirected charity  
which condemned him to a miserable exile
 and a forlorn death4 #b  ,it must be   
remembered that change of climate is    
helpful only in the earlier stages of   

disease1 and only then when the patient 
is able to live in comparative comfort1 
free from worry and anxiety4  ,to send  
invalids to a strange place in the name 
of charity1 without providing them with 
the means of subsistence1 is the        
refinement of cruelty4    ,collateral   
,readings3 ,publications of local ,board
 of ,health4 ,proceedings of            
,international ,congress of ,charities1 
,chicago1 #ahic1 volume on ,hospitals1  
,dispensaries1 #ajg and ,nursing4       
,instructive ,district ,nursing1 ,m4 ,k4
 ,sedgewick in ,forum1 ,vol4 ,,xxii1 pp4
 #big sq4 ,the ,feeble-minded1 ,dr4     
,george ,h4 ,knight in ,proceedings of  
,twenty-second ,national ,conference of 
,charities1 pp4 #aej sq4  ,see also     
discussion in same volume1 pp4 #dfj sq4 
,the ,care of ,epileptics1 ,william ,p4 
,letchworth in ,proceedings of          
,twenty-third ,national ,conference of  
,charities1 pp4 #aii sq4  ,industrial   
,education of ,epileptics1 ,dr4 ,william
 ,p4 ,spratling in ,proceedings of      

,twenty-fourth ,national ,conference of 
,charities1 pp4 #fi sq4  ,destitute     
,convalescents3 ,after ,care of the     
,insane1 ,dr4 ,richard ,dewey in the    
same1 pp4 #gf sq4  ,see also discussion 
on pp4 #dfd sq4    #a ,american         
,charities1 p4 #dj4  #b ,proceedings of 
the ,nineteenth ,conference of          
,charities1 ,denver1 #ahib1 pp4 #ia sq4 
#ajh  ,,chapter ,,vii  ,,spending ,,and 
,,saving  ,there is a new school of     
philanthropists that are inclined to    
make light of thrift1 and to class both 
industry and thrift among the merely    
economic virtues4  ,to this school must 
belong the settlement worker who spoke  
of thrift as ordinarily rather          
demoralizing4 #a  ,but another objection
 to thrift which has been made by       
settlement workers is that it was only  
good for the working classes until their
 employers discovered that there was a  
margin to their employees' wages4  ,is  
it true that industry and thrift are    
merely economic virtues8  ,we           

instinctively feel that they are        
something more4  ,one has only to think 
of a lazy man to get an impression of   
something essentially contemptible and  
#aji cowardly4  ,on the other hand the  
man that loves work and throws himself  
into it with energy is winning more than
 material rewards4  ,the thriftless and 
the extravagant1 whether rich or poor1  
are often mean and self-indulgent1      
lacking the first quality of the        
unselfish in lacking self-control4  ,in 
teaching industry and thrift1           
therefore1--though these virtues1 like  
others1 have an unlovely side1--we may  
feel that we are dealing with two of the
 elements out of which not only         
character but all the social virtues are
 built4  ,nor will the pessimistic      
theory that the worker must spend as    
much as possible on indifferent food and
 housing in order to keep up the rate of
 wages1 bear the light of common sense4 
,it is true that the man who merely     
hoards for the sake of hoarding1        

developing no new and higher wants1 no  
clearly defined aims1 will still be     
almost as helpless as the most          
thriftless4  ,but no one is more        
helpless against the encroachments of   
employers than the man who lives from   
hand to mouth1 whose necessities press  
ever hard upon him1 crippling him and   
crippling those #aaj with whom he       
competes in the open market4  ,then     
again1 successful coperation is         
impossible to the thriftless4  ,the lack
 of self-control1 the lack of power to  
defer their pleasures1 unfits them for  
combined effort and makes it more       
difficult for them to be loyal to their 
fellow-workmen4  ,visitors can advocate 
thrift1 therefore1 for both economic and
 moral reasons4  ,there is a use of the 
word thrift that may help us to realize 
its best meaning4  ,gardeners call a    
plant of vigorous growth a thrifty      
plant4  ,let us bear this in mind in our
 charitable work1 and remember that     
anything that hinders vigorous growth is

 essentially unthrifty4 ,thrift means   
something more than the hoarding of     
small savings4  ,in fact1 saving at the 
expense of health1 or training1 or some 
other necessary preparation for         
successful living1 is always unthrifty4 
,it is unthrifty to live in damp rooms  
to secure cheaper rent2 it is unthrifty 
to put aside money for burial insurance 
when the children are underfed2 it is   
unthrifty either to buy patent medicines
 or to neglect early symptoms of disease
 in order to save a doctor's bill2 above
 all1 it #aaa is unthrifty to take young
 children away from school and force    
them to become breadwinners4  ,thrift1  
therefore1 includes spending as well as 
saving4  ,charity workers often complain
 that1 in the poor families known to    
them1 thrift is impossible1 because     
there is nothing to save4  ,more often  
than not this means that their relations
 with the poor have ceased as soon as   
acute distress is past1 and that they   
have stopped visiting at the very time  

when improved material conditions have  
made the best friendly services         
possible4  ,any attempt to divide the   
poor into classes is to be deprecated1  
because human beings are not easily     
classified4  ,but1 speaking roughly1 and
 using the classification merely as a   
temporary convenience1 charity workers  
will find that the thrift habit divides 
the poor into three classes4  ,first1   
those who are very thrifty1 and this is 
a large class4 ,misfortune may overtake 
the most provident during long periods  
of industrial depression1 or they may   
become temporarily dependent through    
sickness or some unforeseen accident4   
,the second class includes #aab those   
who are willing to work when work is    
plentiful1 but who have little          
persistence or resourcefulness in       
procuring work4  ,in the busy season    
they spend lavishly on cheap pleasures  
and soon become applicants for relief in
 troubled times4  ,debt has no terrors  
for them1 and1 from their point of view1

 it is useless to save because they     
cannot save enough to make it seem worth
 while4  ,in the third class we find the
 lazy and vicious1 who shirk work1 and1 
living by their wits1 are better off in 
bad times than in good4  ,it is with the
 second class that the charitable may   
work lasting harm or lasting good4  ,to 
let them feel that no responsibility    
rests with them during the busy season1 
and that all the responsibility rests   
with us to relieve their needs when the 
busy season is over1 rapidly pushes them
 into the third class4  ,to teach them1 
on the other hand1 the power and        
cumulative value of the saving habit1   
and so get them beforehand with the     
world1 is to place them in the first    
class and soon render them independent  
of our material help4 #b  #aac  ,a      
characteristic of the second class is   
the habit of buying on credit4 ,the book
 at the corner grocery not only tempts  
the purchaser into buying unnecessary   
things1 but the prices are higher than  

the market rate for inferior goods4  ,a 
student in a university laboratory1 who 
is also a friendly visitor1 had occasion
 to use some sugar in one of his        
experiments1 and1 being hurried1        
purchased it from the nearest corner    
grocery1 paying more than the usual     
price4  ,it proved to be badly          
adulterated1 and the user has been more 
careful since in advising his poor      
friends about purchasing provisions4    
,the credit system is the natural       
outcome of uncertain income1 and for    
that reason is hard to avoid1 but in a  
number of instances it is continued long
 after the necessity that caused the    
buyer to ask credit has ceased to exist4
  ,another and less excusable form of   
the credit system is buying household   
goods on the instalment plan4  ,the poor
 are often teased into this by glib     
agents4  ,an old woman1 whose income was
 not sufficient to keep her alive1      
contracted to buy a clock on the        
instalment plan for #h4jj because she   

needed one when she #aad occasionally   
had a day's job of cleaning4  ,when her 
visitor remonstrated that a dollar clock
 would have done quite as well1 she     
replied triumphantly1 ,yes1 but this one
 is only #be cents a week6  ,when       
payments cannot be made1 and the        
purchaser is threatened with the loss of
 the goods1 it is possible to be too    
hasty in rushing to the rescue4  ,the   
,fifteenth ,report of the ,boston       
,associated ,charities records such an  
experience4  ,a family had purchased    
furniture upon the instalment plan1 when
 the husband was suddenly deprived of   
his job4  ,the furniture was about to be
 seized1 when generous sympathizers came
 to the rescue1 and redeemed the        
articles4  ,scarcely had the donors time
 to realize what a financial relief they
 had been able to give to the troubled  
family before the same bit of folly was 
repeated1 and 'parlor furniture' was    
added to the inventory of goods and     
chattels to be paid for by the week4 #c 

,when instalment men threaten seizure1  
it is well to find out whether they are 
acting within the law4  ,they have been 
known to take advantage of ignorant     
clients4  ,but the system #aae itself is
 bad in that it encourages the purchase 
of unnecessary things1 and at a great   
advance upon cash prices4  ,when the    
poor man would borrow1 he is often      
exposed to the impositions of a class of
 unscrupulous money lenders1 who violate
 the laws against usury1 but hope to    
escape punishment or loss through the   
ignorance of their customers4  ,the     
pitiful part of it is that the          
self-respecting poor often fall into    
their traps4  ,a family in pecuniary    
straits for the first time is naturally 
attracted by the specious advertisements
 of the chattel-mortgage companies1     
which offer to lend money on goods that 
the borrower keeps in his possession1   
and promise that all negotiations shall 
be strictly confidential4  ,this seems  
an easy way out of present difficulties 

without loss of self-respect or any     
painful publicity4 ,but the terms of the
 contract are far from easy in reality4 
,through a system of bonuses1 extra     
fees1 or monthly payments for           
guaranteeing the loan1 interest         
amounting to from #ajj per cent to #bjj 
per cent a year is wrung from the       
borrowers4  ,bled dry at last1 and      
unable to pay #aaf such extortionate    
interest and the principal too1 their   
goods are seized1 and the members of the
 household become objects of charity4   
,whereever these chattel-mortgage       
companies gain any foothold1 many of    
their victims are applicants for relief4
  ,the law usually furnishes ample      
protection1 but the companies flourish  
through the poor man's ignorance of the 
law4  ,as soon as a visitor learns that 
the goods of a poor family are          
mortgaged1 he should1 at once1 whether  
the company is pressing for payment or  
not1 learn the terms of the contract1   
and get an opinion as to its validity   

from some friend who is a lawyer4  ,the 
usual form of contract in ,maryland is a
 six months' mortgage1 bearing #f per   
cent interest1 with the legal charge for
 recording deducted from the amount     
advanced to the borrower4  ,but1 in     
addition to this1 notes for from #b4jj  
upward1 according to the size of the    
loan1 are made payable monthly to some  
third party who is supposed to guarantee
 the loan4 ,lawyers advise no payments  
on these notes1 and that principal and  
legal interest be offered at the        
expiration of the mortgage4  ,if this   
offer #aag is refused1 the company      
renders itself liable to damage         
proceedings in seizing the furniture4   
,in each case1 however1 it is better to 
have a lawyer's advice1 as the contracts
 vary1 and ignorant men1 who thought    
they were signing a six months'         
mortgage1 have been known to sign a one 
month's mortgage instead4  ,the law     
against usury can protect those who know
 enough to apply it1 but the poor man   

remains unprovided with any satisfactory
 means of negotiating a loan4  ,the     
legal rate of interest is too low to    
make loans on chattels profitable4  ,the
 organization1 by public-spirited       
business men1 of companies that will be 
careful in taking risks1 and will secure
 special legislation enabling them to   
charge not more than a reasonable rate  
of interest1 is the only remedy4        
,companies like these have been         
organized successfully in ,boston and   
,buffalo by philanthropists who were    
also business men and wise enough to    
realize the importance of placing such  
loan agencies on an equitable business  
basis4  ,several advantages are apparent
 from the working of these equitable    
loan companies4  ,those who cannot #aah 
properly negotiate a loan are           
discouraged from applying1 because the  
loans are made with great care4  ,those 
who get the loans are fairly dealt with1
 and are helped at the right time in a  
way that saves them from becoming       

applicants for charity4  ,best of all1  
the other loan companies are forced to  
reduce their rate of interest1 and offer
 fairer terms4  ,the habit of pawning   
goods has never become general among our
 native population1 but among the       
foreign poor of our large cities it is  
the common practice2 and here1 too1 the 
philanthropic pawnshop1 started at the  
instance of the ,new ,york ,charity     
,organization ,society1 has reduced the 
percentage charged by other pawnshops in
 ,new ,york4  ,this new interest taken  
by philanthropy in the poor man as      
borrower is still in the tentative and  
experimental stage1 but there is an     
encouraging analogy between its         
beginnings and the early history of the 
savings banks4  ,it is seldom           
remembered1 says ,mrs4 ,lowell1 that the
 great scheme of savings banks was      
originally conceived and put into       
operation as a means of helping the     
poor4  ,the two first #aai savings banks
 were started in ,hamburg in #aggh1 and 

in ,berne in #aghg1 and both were more  
or less closely restricted to the use of
 domestic servants1 handicraftsmen and  
the like4  ,the ,hamburg bank was part  
of the general administration of the    
poor funds4 #d  ,when the poor man      
attempts to save1 what inducements have 
greatest weight with him8  ,first of    
all1 he is likely to save for some      
definite and immediate object1 because  
he cannot spend in any effective way    
until he has saved4  ,in teaching       
shiftless families to put by small sums1
 therefore1 it is well to keep some     
definite object in view4  ,for instance1
 persuade the children to save to buy   
needed clothing1 or the parents to save 
to buy proper clothing1 bedding1 etc41  
for the children4  ,this strengthens    
family affection and leads the way to a 
bank account later1 by showing what     
money can do4#e  ,next to such immediate
 inducements to thrift comes the dread  
of pauper burial1 which is a far more   
influential motive with the poor than   

the dread of either dependence or       
privation4  #abj ,respectability is     
measured in poor neighborhoods by       
funerals1 and1 whether the neighborhood 
standards of morality and respectability
 are ours or not1 we cannot afford1 in  
our charity work1 to ignore them4       
,extravagant funerals are an evil1 and  
we should use our influence to          
discourage extravagance1 even where it  
is rooted quite as much in affection as 
in vanity2 but an unsympathetic attitude
 on the part of the charitable1 an      
inability to understand the neighborhood
 point of view1 has helped to encourage 
an extravagant form of saving1 namely1  
burial and child insurance4  ,to enter  
into a discussion of the merits of      
industrial insurance1 as furnished in   
this country to the poor1 is outside the
 scope of this book1 and the matter is  
treated quite fully1 moreover1 in       
another volume of this series 7,the     
,development of ,thrift1 by ,mary       
,willcox ,brown71 but the most          

enthusiastic advocates of industrial    
insurance can hardly claim for it that  
it is an inexpensive form of saving4  ,a
 very large percentage of industrial    
policies lapse1 and it is a common thing
 to find that those who have kept up    
their payments and have #aba become     
beneficiaries1 spend everything on the  
funeral of the insured4 ,of #bjj4jj     
insurance received by one widow1 #ahj4jj
 was given to the undertaker1 and the   
remaining #bj4jj was expended for a     
mourning outfit for herself4  ,the      
family were being aided by the          
,emergency ,society at that time4 #f    
,in ,new ,york1 the agents of the       
,charity ,organization ,society regard  
the following as a typical instance3 ,a 
woman's husband was insured for #acf4jj4
  ,when he died1 she called the same    
undertaker that had buried a child for  
them4  ,his charges on the former       
occasion had been moderate4  ,the woman 
told him that she wanted a very         
inexpensive funeral with only one       

carriage4  ,this was the only           
instruction that she gave4  ,the        
undertaker asked whether the deceased   
was insured1 and was told that he was1  
whereupon he offered to collect the     
insurance and to pay over to the widow  
what was left4  ,his bill amounted to   
#ajb4ej4  ,these instances do not       
indicate any collusion1 of course1      
between the undertakers and the         
insurance companies4  #abb  ,we have    
seen in another chapter that sickness is
 one of the most persistent causes of   
distress1 and only in rare instances    
does a death occur that has not been    
preceded by weeks and often months of   
sickness4 ,the poor man needs sick      
benefits more than burial or life       
insurance1 and the children of the poor 
stand in need of many other things      
besides decent burial4  ,in fact1 the   
money spent in child insurance1 which   
can be of no possible benefit to the    
child1 is often needed to protect the   
child's health or provide for its       

education4  ,these should be a parent's 
first care from no sordid motive1 and   
yet it is a legitimate view to regard   
children as an investment4  ,the poor   
man has a right to expect support from  
his children when he is no longer able  
to work1 and to neglect their best      
interests is to cripple his own future4 
,the beneficial societies and fraternal 
orders furnish a means of saving for    
sick benefits1 but they are of such     
varying degrees of merit and            
trustworthiness that it is impossible to
 recommend them without qualification4  
,they have not gained the same position 
that the #abc friendly societies hold in
 ,england1 partly1 perhaps1 because they
 are not subject in ,america to the same
 legal restrictions and official        
inspection4  ,though the savings banks  
are open to the objection that money is 
too easily withdrawn from them1 and is  
not1 therefore1 always available at the 
time of greatest need1 yet1 after making
 every allowance for this1 the savings  

banks remain one of the safest and best 
means of putting by small savings4      
,another way of saving1 which is not    
open to the objection of too easy       
withdrawals1 is the purchase of shares  
in a good building and loan association4
  ,some banks provide facilities for    
small savings by selling special stamps 
of small denominations1 and1 in several 
cities1 charities have established stamp
 saving societies to promote the saving 
habit1 especially among children4  ,when
 #e4jj has been saved in this way1 a    
bank account should be opened4  ,one    
visitor has found that1 in getting      
children to save1 it helps to have a    
stamp-saving card of one's own1 and show
 it4  ,as a means of teaching children  
to save1 visitors should encourage the  
#abd introduction of stamp savings into 
our public schools4  ,another way to    
promote small savings is to send        
volunteer collectors among the poor1 who
 will visit certain families weekly1 and
 collect the five and ten cent pieces   

until enough has been saved to open a   
bank account4  ,this work may be        
combined with friendly visiting1 though 
the collector must visit at regular     
intervals1 and in many cases it is      
better for the friendly visitor to visit
 at irregular intervals4  ,one visitor  
always leaves a small bank with her     
family when she goes away in summer1 and
 the unlocking of this on her return has
 become a family ceremony4  ,saving for 
fuel becomes an admirable object lesson1
 when it is used to establish the saving
 habit and not allowed to stop with the 
mere purchase4  ,during the summer1     
families can be encouraged to put by    
small sums weekly1 and1 instead of      
buying coal in small quantities at very 
high prices during the winter1 can save 
more than half the cost by buying a ton 
or more early in the season4  ,in       
teaching thrift in a careless and       
shiftless #abe home1 we can get many    
valuable suggestions from more thrifty  
families in the same neighborhood1 or   

with the same income4  ,to effectively  
advise about expenditure1 one must know 
the family budget of receipts and       
expenditures1 and often this is more    
than the family knows4  ,learning to    
take note of the items is the first     
lesson in thrift4  ,the most important  
thing1 however1 is our own attitude of  
mind4  ,we must not get into the habit  
of saying1 ',poor things2 they can do   
nothing4'  ,we should rid ourselves of  
the habit of treating them1 not as men  
and women1 people who can look after    
themselves with strength in their       
muscles and brain-power in their heads1 
but as animals whom we allow to live in 
society along with ourselves1 taking for
 granted that they are deprived of1 or  
cannot exert1 those faculties which go  
to make up the strength and fibre of men
 and women4  ,i assure you1 those who   
are inclined to take a sentimental turn 
have great temptations put before them  
to treat the poor as if they were       
dependent animals4 #g  #abf  ,collateral

 ,readings3 ,the ,development of        
,thrift1 ,miss ,mary ,willcox ,brown4   
,the ,standard of ,life1 ,mrs4 ,bernard 
,bosanquet1 especially the essay on ,the
 ,burden of ,small ,debts4  ,annual     
,reports of the ,workingmen's ,loan     
,association1 ,boston2 the ,provident   
,loan ,association1 ,new ,york2 and the 
,provident ,loan ,company1 ,buffalo4    
,for stamp savings1 see reports of ,new 
,york ,charity ,organization ,society   
7,committee on ,penny ,provident ,fund74
    #a ,see ,report on the ,questions   
drawn up by ,present ,residents in our  
,college ,settlements1 p4 #ag4          
,published by the ,church ,social       
,union1 ,boston4  #b ,leaflet on ,summer
 ,savings1 published by the ,baltimore  
,charity ,organization ,society4  #c p4 
#be4  #d ,public ,relief and ,private   
,charity1 p4 #aji4  #e ,see ,fourth     
,report of ,boston ,associated          
,charities1 p4 #ch4  #f ,eighteenth     
,report of ,boston ,associated          
,charities1 p4 #bg4  #g ,c4 ,s4 ,loch in

 ,fifteenth ,report of ,baltimore       
,charity ,organization ,society4        
#abg  ,,chapter ,,viii  ,,recreation  ,i
 have said that the power to defer our  
pleasures is a mark of civilization4    
,there is another mark which1 in this   
busy ,america of ours1 is often denied  
to the well-to-do as much as to the     
poor1 and that is the power to enjoy our
 pleasures after we have earned them4   
,charity workers still underestimate the
 value of the power to enjoy4 ,they are 
likely to regard mere contentment as a  
model virtue in the poor1 whereas that  
discontent which has its root in more   
varied and higher wants is a splendid   
spur to progress4  ,professor ,f4 ,g4   
,peabody quotes ,lasalle in naming as   
one of the greatest obstructions to     
progress among the poor1 ,the cursed    
habit of not wanting anything4 ,the     
power of enjoyment seems dead in many a 
down-trodden1 sordid life1 while in many
 others it wastes itself upon unworthy  
and degrading pleasures4  #abh  ,there  

is a passage in one of ,miss ,octavia   
,hill's essays that throws a flood of   
light on this question4  ,she says that 
the love of adventure1 the restlessness 
so characteristic of the ,anglo-,saxon1 
makes him1 under certain conditions1 the
 greatest of explorers and colonizers1  
and that this same energy1 under other  
conditions1 helps to brutalize him4     
,dissatisfied with the dull round of    
duties that poverty enforces upon him1  
he seeks artificial excitement in the   
saloon and the gambling den4 ,it is     
useless to preach contentment to such a 
man4  ,we must substitute healthier     
excitements1 other and better wants1 or 
society will fail to reform him4  ,in   
all the forms of play1 all the          
amusements of the people1 though some of
 them may seem to us coarse and         
degrading1 there is this same restless  
seeking to express what is highest and  
best in man2 not only to express his    
love of adventure1 but his love of      
social intercourse and his love of      

beauty4  ,when we once realize that     
certain vices are merely a perversion of
 good instincts1 we have taken the first
 step toward finding their cure4  #abi  
,it has been said that a man's pleasures
 give us his true measure1 and that to  
change the measure is to change the man4
  ,from this point of view1 the subject 
of recreation is very near the heart of 
the friendly visitor's relation with the
 poor4  ,we may have made a             
conscientious study of the family       
expenses and income1 of the sanitary    
surroundings1 of the work record and    
diet1 but we shall not know the family  
until we know what gives them pleasure4 
,one visitor says that she never feels  
acquainted with a poor family until she 
has had a good laugh with them4 ,a      
defective sense of humor in the visitor 
is a great hindrance to successful work3
 poor people are no fonder of dismal    
folk than the rest of us4  ,when we come
 to recreations1 friendly visiting not  
only makes large demands upon what we   

know1 but upon what we are4  ,our       
pleasures measure us quite as much as   
they measure our poor friends1 and1     
unless we have kept fresh our own power 
of enjoyment1 we cannot hope to impart  
this power to the poor1 or to give them 
new and better wants4  ,granting that we
 have them ourselves1 what #acj are some
 of the healthy wants that we should try
 to pass on to the poor8  ,taking the   
simplest first1 we should try to        
introduce simple games and a love of    
pure fun into the family circle4  ,i am 
indebted to ,miss ,beale of the ,boston 
,children's ,aid ,society for the       
following list of simple games1 so      
arranged as to include standing and     
sitting games for each evening3         
,,first ,,evening4                      
,,second ,,evening4    #a4  ,hiding the 
thimble4        #a4  ,stage coach4   #b4
  ,bean bag4                  #b4       
,buzz4   #c4  ,dominoes4                
#c4  ,elements4    ,,third ,,evening4   
,,fourth ,,evening4    #a4  ,hot butter 

blue beans4     #a4  ,how1 when1 and    
where4   #b4  ,jack straws4             
#b4  ,counting buzz4   #c4  ,fruit      
basket4              #c4  ,magical      
spelling4    ,,fifth ,,evening4         
,,sixth ,,evening4    #a4  ,go-bang4    
#a4  ,tea-kettle4   #b4  ,spot on the   
carpet4        #b4  ,musical chairs4    
#c4  ,throwing lights4           #c4    
,logomachy4    ,,seventh ,,evening4     
,,eighth ,,evening4    #a4  ,telling a  
story4           #a4  ,pigs in clover4  
#b4  ,blowing the feather4       #b4  ,i
 have a rooster to sell4   #c4          
,authors4                   #c4         
,courtesying4   ,in teaching such games 
it is best to begin with the children1  
but the parents can #aca sometimes be   
induced to join in4  ,story-telling is  
also an unfailing resource in our       
efforts to amuse the children4  ,but1   
during a good part of the year1 there   
are many outdoor games in which the     
children can be interested1 and1 now    
that the trolley cars have brought the  

country so much nearer1 country trips   
for the whole family should be planned  
at frequent intervals4  ,there are few  
things more pathetic than the dread with
 which many of our city poor think of   
the country1 and to teach them country  
pleasures is to restore to them a       
birthright of which they have been      
robbed4  ,a love of plants and          
window-gardening is another healthful   
pleasure4  ,mignonette1 geranium1       
wandering ,jew1 and saxifrage grow well 
in small spaces4  ,to one family1 living
 in tenement rooms where there was no   
sun1 a visitor gave a pot of geranium4  
,later1 the woman said3 ,we have taken  
it out on the roof every day when it was
 pleasant to let the sun shine on it    
,when ,i couldn't take it1 ,mary did2   
and1 for fear it should get stolen1 we  
stay and sit by it4  ,i take the baby   
with me too1 #acb and the baby likes the
 sun as well as the flower does4  ,with 
all the added interest in outdoor       
exercise1 and the freer1 healthier life 

of our time1 we are slow to pass such   
advantages on to the poor4  ,the women  
of the family need much urging1         
sometimes1 to get them to take any      
outdoor exercise4  ,bicycles are        
becoming cheaper1 and a bicycle would be
 a good investment in any family where  
all the adults are working at indoor    
occupations4  ,if the visitor find a    
gymnasium not too far away1 the boys and
 their father should be induced to go to
 it4 ,with these added interests1 a     
holiday will no longer be a thing to be 
dreaded by the wife and mother1 for     
there will be interesting things to do1 
instead of mere loafing on the corner or
 at the saloon4  ,one visitor helped to 
cure a man of drinking by getting him an
 accordion--a fact that has a touch of  
pathos1 as indicating the poverty of    
interests in the poor fellow's life4    
,the pleasures of books1 music1 and     
pictures ought to touch every life at   
some point4  ,some aesthetic pleasures1 
it is true1 are won only #acc after long

 study and preparation1 but the best art
 is universal in its appeal4  ,so far as
 books are concerned1 our free libraries
 have made us familiar with this view4  
,the visitor should know the rules of   
the nearest library1 and should be ready
 to go there with some member of the    
family1 in case it is unknown to them4  
,the saloon-keepers in ,ward #aj1       
,boston1 complain that the new branch of
 the ,public ,library opened there has  
interfered with their business4  ,beside
 encouraging the use of a lending       
library1 the visitor should be ready to 
lend books1 newspapers1 and magazines1  
and should be glad to borrow a book from
 the family1 when this will help to     
strengthen friendly relations4  ,the    
refining influence of good pictures is  
just beginning to be recognized by the  
charitable4  ,friendly visitors cannot  
always organize large loan exhibitions1 
such as are given in the poorer         
neighborhoods of ,london1 ,new ,york1   
and ,boston1 but they can lend a good   

photograph or engraving1 when they are  
going away1 and can replace it1 from    
time to time1 by another picture4  ,such
 loans have #acd been known1 like the   
,eastlake screen in ,stockton's story1  
to revolutionize the arrangement of the 
household4  ,then1 too1 a picture often 
conveys a lesson more effectively than a
 sermon can4  ,mrs4 ,barnett tells1 in  
,practicable ,socialism1 #a of a loan   
exhibition in ,whitechapel1 where       
,oxford students acted as guides and    
explained the pictures4  ,mr4 ,schmalz's
 picture of ',forever' had one evening  
been beautifully explained1 the room    
being crowded by some of the humblest   
people1 who received the explanation    
with interest1 but in silence4  ,the    
picture represented a dying girl to whom
 her lover had been playing his lute1   
until1 dropping it1 he seemed to be     
telling her with impassioned words that 
his love is stronger than death1 and    
that1 in spite of the grave and         
separation1 he will love her forever4   

,i was standing outside the exhibition  
in the half-darkness1 when two girls1   
hatless1 with one shawl between them    
thrown round both their shoulders1 came 
out4  ,they might not be living the     
worst life1 but1 if not1 they were low  
down enough to be familiar with it1 and 
to see #ace in it only the relation     
between men and women4  ,the idea of    
love lasting beyond this life1 making   
eternity real1 a spiritual bond between 
man and woman1 had not occurred to them 
until the picture with the simple story 
was shown them4  ',real beautiful1 ain't
 it all8' said one4  ',ay1 fine1 but    
that ,forever ,i did take on with that1'
 was the answer4  ,i have lived nearly  
all my life in a community where1 during
 the last twenty-five years1 there has  
been a great change in musical taste4   
,george ,peabody left money to found a  
,conservatory of ,music1 and a few music
 lovers spent time and money to keep    
alive an ,oratorio ,society4 ,later1 the
 visits of ,thomas' ,orchestra and of   

the ,boston ,symphony ,orchestra added  
to the strength of these local musical  
centres2 but for many years the ,peabody
 ,conservatory was ridiculed and        
misunderstood1 and the ,oratorio        
,society was usually in financial       
straits4  ,i mention these facts1       
because persons who are dependent upon  
the ,conservatory and the visiting      
orchestras for all the good music they  
know have said to me that it must be    
impossible for poor people ever to      
appreciate good #acf music4  ,but for   
the benefactions of ,george ,peabody1   
and of ,mr4 ,higginson 7who made the    
,boston ,orchestra possible71 and of a  
few others1 they themselves could never 
have known the pleasure of enjoying     
great and noble music1 and1 to this     
extent1 at least1 they are as dependent 
as the poorest2 but they are quite sure 
that the great composers have no message
 for the poor4  ,there is difficult     
music1 of course1 which only the        
scholarly musician can appreciate2 but  

much of the very best music1 if we once 
have a chance to become familiar with   
it1 appeals to all of us4  ,then the    
artistic temperament is not a matter of 
either condition or race1 as one of our 
young ,american musicians has pointed   
out4  ,lecturing with musical           
illustrations to audiences on the ,east 
,side in ,new ,york1 and to audiences of
 negroes in ,philadelphia1 he is        
convinced that if good music were       
accessible to the masses1 it would be   
appreciated1 and go far to elevate them4
  ,my boy1 wailed a poor mother1 was    
that fond of music it took him straight 
to the bad6  ,and no wonder1 for        
music--apart from the tawdriest of      
gospel hymn tunes--meant for #acg him   
the saloon and the low concert hall4    
,we need1 to counteract such influences1
 plenty of cheap concerts of good music2
 concerts following the plan of         
,theodore ,thomas with his well-to-do   
audiences1 who were given first the best
 that they liked1 and then were taught  

gradually to like better and better     
selections4  ,all the higher recreations
 encroach upon the field of education1  
and ,i am tempted to mention1 in        
passing1 some of the most promising     
educational efforts for encouraging     
study among the people4  ,the ,american 
,society for the ,extension of          
,university ,teaching1 which has its    
headquarters at ,philadelphia1 has      
conducted very successful courses of    
lectures in poor neighborhoods4  ,the   
enormous attendance upon the free       
evening lectures given by the           
,department of ,education in ,new ,york 
school buildings is also significant4   
,the popularity of the educational      
classes in working girls' clubs1        
,christian associations1 and people's   
institutes is another good sign4  ,but  
,i mention these here merely to         
emphasize their importance as tools for 
the visitor4  ,in families where an     
ambition has been aroused1 the visitor  
#ach should foster it by making         

connection with some such educational   
agencies4  ,there is a very obvious form
 of snobbery that we are quick enough to
 detect1 the snobbery that looks down on
 people who have to work hard and wear  
shabby clothes4  ,but an even more      
dangerous form of snobbery1 because not 
so obvious1 is the intellectual form1   
which claims an exclusive right to      
culture1 and looks down upon the simple 
and unsophisticated4  ,the fact is1     
that1 save for a very gifted few1 we are
 all of us dependent upon the gifts of  
others for what we know and what we     
enjoy4  ,probably there never was a     
neighborhood so exclusive but many were 
there upon whom education1 refinements1 
and beautiful things were quite wasted2 
and there never was a neighborhood so   
poor but some were there who longed for 
beauty1 education1 and a larger and     
fuller life4  ,it will be seen in the   
next chapter that1 when we attempt to   
supply the poor with the necessities of 
life1 our path is beset with            

difficulties4 ,but when we give them    
those things which1 though not necessary
 to life1 yet refine #aci and elevate   
it1 we can do them only unmixed good4   
,gifts of books1 flowers1 growing       
plants1 pictures1 and simple            
decorations1 or1 as in one instance     
known to me1 the present of several     
rolls of light-colored wall-paper to    
brighten a dark room--these help to     
express our friendliness1 and have an   
added value as coming from a friend4    
,above all1 however1 we should not      
hesitate to share with the poor our     
delight in healthful and refining       
pleasures1 and should find it natural to
 talk freely with them about our own    
interests4    ,collateral ,readings3    
,parlor ,games for the ,wise and        
,otherwise1 ,h4 ,e4 ,h4  ,faggots for   
the ,fireside1 ,mrs4 ,l4 ,p4 ,hale4     
,american ,girls' ,own ,book of ,work   
and ,play1 ,mrs4 ,helen ,campbell4      
,gymnastic ,games1 published by ,boston 
,normal ,school of ,gymnastics4         

,methods of ,social ,reform1 ,w4 ,s4    
,jevons4  ,picture ,exhibitions in      
,lower ,new ,york1 ,a4 ,c4 ,bernheimer  
in ,forum1 ,vol4 ,,xix1 pp4 #faj sq4    
#a pp4 #aai sq4     #adj  ,,chapter ,,ix
  ,,relief  ,i have been very           
unfortunate if1 in the foregoing        
chapters1 ,i have failed to make it     
clear that there are many ways of       
assisting the poor in their homes       
besides the one way usually implied by  
the word assistance4  ,to one who knows 
the real needs of the poor1 the relief  
of suffering by gifts of food and fuel  
seems only a small part of the work of  
charity2 but the fact remains that the  
majority of mankind are still little    
moved by any needs that are not closely 
associated with hunger and cold4  ,their
 imaginations are sluggish1 and the     
whole problem of poverty appears to them
 simpler than it really is4  ,it seems  
to them no more than a sum in           
arithmetic1--one beggar1 one loaf2 ten  
thousand beggars1 ten thousand loaves2  

and the charitable loaf is supposed to  
have moral and #ada healing qualities   
that are denied to other loaves4  ,the  
truth is that charitable cash and       
commodities have no moral qualities in  
themselves2 not even the good intentions
 of the giver can endow them with       
peculiar virtues4  ,like all other      
commodities1 however1 they may become   
agents of either good or evil4 ,the way 
in which we handle commodities tests us 
at every turn2 tests our sincerity1 our 
honor1 our sense of spiritual things4   
,material relief tests us too4  ,if we  
give it believing that1 in itself1 it   
can carry any blessing to the poor1 we  
are taking a grossly material view of   
human life4  ,if1 on the other hand1 our
 knowledge of the mischief done by      
reckless giving makes us morbidly       
sceptical of all material assistance1 we
 are losing a valuable tool2 for relief 
at the right time1 and given in the     
right way1 may be made an incentive to  
renewed exertion1 and a help to a higher

 standard of living4  ,when the         
visitor's ingenuity in developing       
resources within the family renders     
material relief from outside            
unnecessary1 the family is fortunate2   
but often relief from outside is a      
necessity1 and the question then arises1
 ,how #adb shall it be given8           
,everything depends upon the how4       
,first of all--and this is a lesson that
 visitors are slow to learn--it is very 
unwise1 especially in the first months  
of acquaintance1 for friendly visitors  
to give money or commodities to the     
families they visit1 though they may    
find it necessary to see that relief is 
sent from some other source4  ,if one of
 our visitors finds her family in dire  
distress1 and there is no time to go to 
the office and have aid secured in some 
other way1 she of course1 like any one  
else1 furnishes it at once from her own 
pocket4  ,but except in these rare      
emergencies1 our visitors do not        
themselves give relief to those they    

visit4  ,we believe this is a wise rule1
 and after eight years' experience we   
would not change it4  ,if a stranger    
offered you a gift1 you would feel      
insulted and refuse it  ,suppose you    
were constrained by necessity to accept 
it--would it not make a certain bar     
between you and that stranger very      
difficult to break down8  ,imagine      
yourself of a different temper1 that you
 wanted all you could get4  ,would you  
#adc not be likely to talk more freely  
or truthfully to one who you knew would 
give you nothing than to one from whom  
you hoped a plausible tale would draw a 
dollar8  ,for the visitor's sake also   
the rule is a good one4  ,we are apt to 
think our duty done if we have given    
money1 and if we cannot do that1 we are 
forced to use our ingenuity to find     
other and better ways of helping4 #a    
,it is eleven years since the foregoing 
passage was written1 but the experience 
of almost every practical worker in     
charity will confirm it4 ,friendly      

visitors are human1 and their task1 as  
it has been described in this book1 is  
not an easy one4  ,it is so much easier 
to give4  ,but the history of many      
volunteers in charity is that1 starting 
out with excellent intentions1 they were
 tempted to give relief to the families 
they visited4  ,first it was clothing   
for the children1 then the rent1 then   
groceries1 then more clothing1 and the  
family's needs1 strange to say1 seemed  
to increase1 until1 finding their       
suggestions unheeded1 and #add the      
people no better off1 the volunteers    
deserted their post1 and1 still worse1  
carried away a false1 distorted idea of 
what poor people are like4  ,the poor1  
too1 learn to distrust a charitable     
interest that is not continuous4  ,a    
little self-restraint1 a little more    
determination to keep their purpose     
clearly in mind1 would save the         
charitable and the poor from an         
experience that is hardening to both4   
,when the friendly visitor has known a  

family for years1 and the friendship is 
thoroughly established1 it is           
conceivable that he may be the best     
possible source of relief2 but the      
attitude that we must guard             
against--creeping1 as it does1 into all 
our relations with the poor as an       
inheritance1 an outworn tradition--is   
the attitude of the ,london church      
visitor1 who said that she could not    
possibly administer spiritual           
consolation without a grocery ticket in 
her bag4  ,it is good for the poor and  
good for us to learn that other and more
 natural relations are possible than the
 relations of giver and receiver1 of    
patron and patronized4  ,nothing that   
has been said1 however1 against #ade    
permitting the visitor to become the    
source of supplies should be interpreted
 as meaning that the visitor is not to  
concern himself with the way in which   
relief enters the home1 and its effect  
upon the welfare of the family4         
,everything that concerns the welfare of

 its members concerns him1 and that     
their energies should be paralyzed by a 
too plentiful supply of relief1 or that 
the lack of it should cause unnecessary 
suffering1 is a matter that concerns him
 vitally4  ,to administer relief wisely 
one needs special training1 and an      
inexperienced visitor should seek the   
advice of one who knows the charitable  
resources of his own particular         
community and the standard of living of 
the family's particular neighborhood4   
,there are certain general relief       
principles that common sense and        
experience have found to be applicable  
everywhere1 however1 and1 avoiding the  
technical language of charitable        
experts1 ,i shall try to state these    
principles as briefly and clearly as    
possible1 under six heads4  ,i4  ,when  
relief is needed in a poor home1 it     
should be given in the home without any 
#adf publicity1 and after conference    
with the head of the family1 who1 if    
unable to provide the means of          

subsistence himself1 is still           
responsible for procuring it4  ,the man 
of the family1 unless disabled1 should  
do all the asking4  ,this means1 of     
course1 that wives should not be sent to
 charity offices and private families to
 ask assistance1 and that every         
charitable agency1 public and private1  
and every church worker and every       
teacher should positively refuse to     
receive any message or appeal for relief
 sent by a child1 except in those rare  
cases where all the adult members of the
 family are disabled4  ,the neglect of  
this simple precaution has often kept   
children away from school1 and has      
tempted parents to use them to excite   
sympathy4  ,one sensational item in a   
,baltimore daily1 headed ,barefooted    
through the ,snow1 was the account of   
thinly clad children sent to the police 
station for relief4  ,their father1 upon
 investigation1 was found to have taken 
their shoes off1 and sent them out to do
 the begging for the family1 after      

refusing a good offer of work4  #adg    
,this newspaper item illustrates the    
danger of giving publicity to individual
 cases of need4  ,the poor read the     
papers1 and when they find that sympathy
 is excited by sending children for     
relief1 they are tempted to use their   
children in the same way4  ,few worse   
things can happen to a poor family than 
for their distress to excite the        
interest of an enterprising journalist1 
who publishes an account of the         
circumstances with name and address4    
,it brings them an avalanche of relief  
sometimes1 but the visits from          
sentimental strangers1 the envy of their
 worst neighbors and the disapproval of 
their best1 the excitement and          
uncertainty1 the repeating over and over
 the tale of their trouble1 and the     
destruction of all the natural          
conditions of family life1 leave behind 
a train of demoralization that lasts    
long after the relief has been          
exhausted4  ,in a less degree1 the      

congregating of the poor in any place   
for a relief distribution is to be      
deplored1 whether the relief is given   
out upon presentation of an order or    
not4  ,the standing in line1 the        
jostling and waiting1 the gregariousness
 and publicity1 are demoralizing4  #adh 
,missions1 ,i regret to say1 sometimes  
treat such free distributions as an     
advertising spectacle2 but it is of the 
very essence of charity that it should  
be private1 and advertising1 on the     
other hand1 presupposes publicity4  ,i  
have often had opportunities to give the
 poor tickets for ,christmas dinners1   
free treats1 and general charitable     
distributions1 but1 as ,i have come to  
know the poor better1 and to care more  
for their welfare1 ,i have learned to   
resent a charity that would help them in
 droves1 as if they were cattle4  ,a    
form of charitable relief that appeals  
to many good people in cold weather is  
the free-soup kitchen1 where the poor   
come with their kettles1 and no         

questions are asked4  ,the hot1 steaming
 soup and the cold1 shivering applicants
 make a striking contrast1 and the      
kind-hearted citizen is very likely to  
think of such charity as practical1 and 
denounce the people who object to it as 
theorists4  ,there is nothing practical 
about a free-soup kitchen4  ,it is the  
cheapest of cheap charity4  ,if the     
weather is cold1 people must have fires 
at home to keep them from freezing1 and 
the gift of cooked food is #adi         
unnecessary4  ,soup is not the most     
nourishing food to give1 moreover1 and  
the no questions asked means that those 
who need most will get least1 and that  
the crowd of sturdy beggars always      
attracted by such distributions will    
drive away the shrinking poor1 who need 
help the most4  ,the first relief       
principle is that relief should be given
 individually and privately in the home1
 and that the head of the family should 
be conferred with on all questions of   
relief4  ,,ii4  ,a due regard for the   

self-respect of the poor prompts us1    
when relief is needed1 to secure it from
 the most natural source or sources4 ,a 
family that still has credit does not   
need relief at all1 and it is better for
 them to run in debt to those who still 
consider them a fair business risk than 
to receive charity instead4  ,next to   
credit1 as a natural resource1 come     
relatives4  ,charity weakens natural    
ties by stepping in1 unless it is       
certain that relatives have done all    
that they can1 or unless it has brought 
pressure to bear1 at least1 to induce   
them to do their part4  ,sometimes      
relatives have good reasons1 which the  
charitable should #aej know and heed1   
for withholding relief4  ,the next      
source of relief is friends1 including  
neighbors and former employers1 and a   
visitor who is seeking aid for a family 
may often discover better ways of       
helping by consulting with these4  ,the 
tendency of indiscriminate charity is to
 destroy neighborliness4  7,see p4 #bg47

  ,the next source is the church to     
which members of the family belong1 or  
fraternal societies of which they may   
have been members4 ,only when all these 
sources fail1 and it is not possible to 
get adequate relief from charitable     
individuals whom we can interest1 should
 we turn to societies organized for the 
purpose of giving relief to the poor1   
and1 even then1 special societies1 like 
the ,st4 ,andrew's ,society for ,scots1 
,st4 ,george's ,society for ,englishmen1
 and ,hebrew ,benevolent ,society for   
,hebrews1 should take precedence of     
general relief societies1 which were not
 intended to assume other people's      
charitable burdens1 but exist to care   
for the unbefriended families that      
cannot be relieved from any more natural
 source4  ,there remains one more source
 of relief for the poor in their own    
homes4  ,many ,american #aea cities     
still give public outdoor relief4 ,this 
relief is called public because it is   
voted from funds collected by taxation1 

and it is called outdoor to distinguish 
it from indoor or institutional relief4 
,there are several reasons for regarding
 this as the least desirable form of    
relief4  ,in the first place1 it is     
often administered by politicians1 and  
becomes a source of political           
corruption4  ,but1 what is even more    
important1 it is official and therefore 
not easily adaptable to varying needs4  
,private charities can undertake a large
 expenditure for one family1 when a     
large expenditure will put the family   
beyond the need of charity2 but official
 relief must always be hampered by the  
fear of establishing a precedent1 and   
inadequate relief is often the result of
 this fear4  ,moreover1 public relief   
comes from what is regarded as a        
practically inexhaustible source1 and   
people who once receive it are likely to
 regard it as a right1 as a permanent   
pension1 implying no obligation on their
 part4 ,even where it is well and       
honestly administered1 as in ,boston1   

the most experienced charity workers    
regard it as a source of demoralization 
both to the poor #aeb and the           
charitable4  ,no public agency can      
supply the devoted1 friendly1 and       
intensely personal relation so necessary
 in charity4  ,it can supply the gift1  
but it cannot supply the giver1 for the 
giver is a compulsory tax rate4  ,some  
of the sources of information on this   
subject are noted at the end of the     
chapter4  ,it is impossible to give the 
question any adequate consideration     
here1 but it will be noticed that a     
large majority of those who have worked 
as volunteers in the homes of the poor1 
and have watched the effects of outdoor 
relief in these homes1 are anxious to   
see it abolished in all our large       
cities1 believing that private and      
voluntary charity can more than replace 
it4  ,on the other hand1 those who know 
the poor in another way--in public      
offices and from the point of view of   
the public official--are often stanch   

advocates of outdoor relief4  ,the fewer
 sources of relief for any one family   
the better1 though it is often          
impossible to get adequate relief from  
one source4  ,the difficulty in giving  
judiciously is great1 even where one    
person or society does the whole4  ,but 
when the applicant goes from one to #aec
 another1 undergoing repeated           
temptations to deceive and getting from 
no one what is sufficient to meet the   
full need1 each giver feeling but a     
partial responsibility in the matter1   
one giving when another has desired that
 relief ought to be withheld1 and thus  
destroying the effect of the other's    
action1 we believe that the difficulties
 in the way of judicious aid are greatly
 increased4 4 4 4  ,we earnestly hope   
that the various relief-giving agencies 
may adopt the plan1 so far as possible1 
of a division of labor1 each doing all  
the relief-giving needed by those within
 its care and leaving others to do the  
relief-giving in other cases4 #b  ,when1

 however1 relief must come from a number
 of sources1 it does most good if given 
through one channel4  ,the second relief
 principle is that we should seek the   
most natural and least official sources 
of relief1 bearing in mind the ties of  
kinship1 friendship1 and neighborliness1
 and that we should avoid the           
multiplication of sources4  ,,iii4  ,in 
deciding to give or to withhold relief1 
we should be guided by its probable     
effect upon the future of the applicant4
  ,when it is #aed conceded that we     
should discriminate at all in giving1   
the popular notion is that we should    
give to the worthy poor1 and refuse aid 
to the unworthy4  ,the words worthy and 
unworthy mean very little2 they are mere
 catchwords to save us from thinking4   
,when we say that people are worthy1 we 
mean1 ,i suppose1 that they are worthy  
of material relief1 but no one is so    
worthy as to be absolutely relief-proof4
  ,if relief is given without plan or   
purpose1 it will injure the worthiest   

recipient4 ,on the other hand1 an       
intelligent visitor can often see his   
way clear to effect very great          
improvement in what are called unworthy 
cases1 and may find material relief a   
necessary means to this end4  ,better   
than any hard and fast classification1  
is the principle that our relief should 
always have a future to it1 should be   
given as part of a carefully devised    
plan for making the recipient           
permanently better off4 ,the only excuse
 for giving relief without a plan is    
that it is sometimes necessary to give  
what is called interim relief1 to       
prevent present suffering1 until we can 
learn all the facts and a plan can be   
devised4  ,in this1 relief work is very 
much like doctoring a sick #aee patient4
  ,we have very little use for a doctor 
who does not alleviate suffering        
promptly1 but1 on the other hand1 we    
naturally mistrust the doctor who does  
not ask a great many questions1 or who  
fails to make a plan for getting his    

patient beyond the need of medicine as  
soon as possible4  ,our relief work is  
often nothing but aimless dosing4  ,like
 the doctor1 too1 we should stand ready 
to change our plan of treatment when    
conditions change4  ,in one family1     
where a pension was given on account of 
the breadwinner's illness1 and continued
 for six weeks after his death1 the     
daughters have been unwilling to take   
work offered at wages they thought too  
low1 because they were not thrown upon  
their own resources at once4 #c  ,a plan
 that is not based upon the actual facts
 is1 of course1 worse than useless4     
,sometimes a charitable person will call
 at a home for the first time1 will see 
miserable surroundings1 and will feel   
that the circumstances are all made     
plain to him in one visit4  ,calling at 
a relief office1 he will urge immediate 
relief1 adding1 ,i have investigated the
 case myself4 #aef ,the word            
investigation means very different      
things to different people4  ,here are  

some of the questions that1 according to
 the ,london ,charity ,organization     
,review1 #d an almoner should ask       
himself about any given case3  #a4 ,can 
anything be done to increase the family 
income8  ,can the number of wage-earners
 be added to8  ,can those doing badly   
paid work be taught better-paid work8   
,can they be put in the way of getting  
better tools or appliances8  #b4 ,can   
anything be done to make the existing   
income go farther than it goes now8     
e4g4  7a7 ,is too much money paid away  
in rent8  ,could as good accommodations 
be obtained in the district elsewhere   
for less8  ,or could the family do with 
less accommodation4  7b7 ,is money      
wasted8 e4g4 on medicine1 or in habitual
 pawning1 or in purchasing from         
tallymen1 or in buying things not       
wanted8  ,do husband and children keep  
back an undue share of their earnings8  
7c7 ,is too much money spent in         
travelling #aeg backwards and forwards  
to place of employment8  ,if so1 could  

the family move nearer to their work    
without increasing their rent8  ,these  
are but a few of the questions which the
 almoner must put if he wishes to be    
thorough4  ,in every case he must think 
about the problem with which he is      
dealing1 and he must try to make those  
who are applying for help think also4   
,the best arguments for giving relief   
upon a definite plan are the results of 
haphazard benevolence that are all      
around us--feeble-minded women with     
illegitimate offspring1 children        
crippled by drunken fathers1 juvenile   
offenders who began as child-beggars1   
aged parents neglected by their         
children4  ,every form of human weakness
 and depravity is intensified by the    
charity that asks no questions4  ,the   
third relief principle is that relief   
should look not only to the alleviation 
of present suffering1 but to promoting  
the future welfare of the recipient4    
,,iv4  ,it follows from the foregoing   
that when we relieve at all we should   

relieve adequately4  ,can any one really
 approve of inadequate #aeh relief8     
,can any one really approve of giving   
#ej cents to a man who must have #e4jj1 
trusting that some one else will give   
the #d4ej1 and knowing that1 to get it1 
the person in distress must spend not   
only precious strength and time1 but    
more precious independence and          
self-respect8 4 4 4  ,there are many    
families in every city who get relief   
7only a little to be sure1 but enough to
 do harm7 who ought never to have one   
cent1--families where the man can work1 
but will not work4  ,the little given   
out of pity for his poor wife and       
children really intensifies and prolongs
 their suffering1 and only prevents the 
man from doing his duty by making him   
believe that1 if he does not take care  
of them1 some one else will4  ,on the   
other hand1 there are many families who 
ought to have their whole support given 
to them for a few years1--widows1 for   
instance1 who cannot both take care of  

and support their children1 and yet who 
ought not to have to give them up into  
the blighting care of an institution2   
and these families get nothing1 or get  
so little that it does them no good at  
all1 only serving to #aei keep them also
 in misery and to raise false hopes1 or 
else to teach them to beg to make up    
what they must have4  ,ought not        
charitable people to manage in some way 
to remedy these two opposite evils8--to 
do more for those who should have more1 
and to do nothing for those who should  
have nothing1 saving money by           
discriminating1 and thus having enough  
to give adequate relief in all cases4 #e
  ,by adequate relief charity workers do
 not mean that all apparent needs should
 be met4  ,there are often resources    
that are hidden from the inexperienced  
eye1 and by ignoring these we destroy   
them4  ,the fourth relief principle is  
that1 instead of trying to give a little
 to very many1 we should help adequately
 those that we help at all4  ,v4  ,we   

should make the poor our partners in any
 effort to improve their condition1 and 
relief should be made dependent upon    
their doing what they can for           
themselves4  ,whether we give or do not 
give1 our reasons should be #afj clearly
 stated1 and we should avoid driving any
 sordid bargain with them4  ,for        
instance1 it may be wise sometimes to   
make relief conditional1 among other    
things1 upon attending church1 but to   
require attendance upon a church to     
which they do not belong because it is  
our church1 or to let them regard relief
 as in any way associated with making   
converts to our way of thinking1 is to  
weaken our influence and tempt the poor 
to deceive us4  ,the fifth relief       
principle is that we should help the    
poor to understand the right relations  
of things by stating clearly our reasons
 for giving or withholding relief1 and  
by requiring their hearty coperation in 
all efforts for their improvement4      
,,vi4  ,the form of relief must vary    

with individual circumstances and needs4
  ,work that is real work is better1 of 
course1 than any relief2 but there      
should be a prejudice among charity     
workers against sham work1 for which    
there is no demand in the market4       
,unless such work is educational1 or is 
used to test the applicant's willingness
 to work1 it is often better to give    
material relief4  #afa  ,a charitable   
superstition that we should outgrow is  
the notion that it saves us from        
pauperizing the poor to call our gifts  
loans4  ,we may know that they cannot   
repay1 and they may know that we know   
it1 but this juggling with words is     
still undeservedly popular4  ,when the  
chances of their being able to repay are
 reasonably good1 and a loan is made1 we
 should be as careful to collect the    
debt as in any business transaction4    
,another charitable superstition is the 
prejudice in favor of relief in kind    
rather than in money4  ,we think that   
bundles of groceries and clothes1 and   

small allowances of fuel1 can do no     
harm1 but the fact is that1 where it    
would be unsafe to give money1 it is    
usually unsafe to give money's          
equivalent4  ,large relief societies    
find it more economical to buy          
commodities in quantities1 and so get   
the advantage of wholesale prices2 but1 
so far as the poor themselves are       
concerned1 there is no reason for giving
 goods rather than cash4  ,on the       
contrary1 many poor people can make the 
money go farther than we can4  ,money   
intended for temporary relief should not
 be used #afb for rent1 however1 except 
in cases where ejectment would seriously
 endanger the welfare of the family4    
,back rent is like any other back debt2 
landlords should take their chances of  
loss with other creditors4  ,nor should 
charitable relief be used to enable     
people to move from place to place in   
order to avoid the payment of rent4#f   
,when institutional care is clearly not 
only the most economical but the most   

adequate form of relief1 we are         
sometimes justified in refusing all     
other forms4  ,in cases where           
institutional care is not practicable1  
and relief will be needed for a long    
period1 it is best to organize a private
 pension1 letting all the natural       
sources of relief combine and give      
through one medium an adequate amount4  
,the sixth relief principle is that we  
must find that form of relief which will
 best fit the particular need4  ,though 
the foregoing six relief principles     
could easily be extended to twenty1 yet 
a #afc bookful of such generalizations  
would be of no value to the almoner     
without a detailed knowledge of the     
neighborhood into which relief is to go1
 and an intimate acquaintance with the  
lives of the poor4  ,it is evident1     
therefore1 that a beginner in charity   
should not decide relief questions      
except in consultation with an          
experienced worker4  ,for instance1 a   
new visitor going to the house of a     

widow supporting her aged mother and two
 children1 may find the woman sick1 and 
receiving only a small pittance in sick 
benefits from the society to which she  
belongs4  ,there is no apparent         
suffering1 but the visitor at once      
concludes that the income is            
insufficient1 and applies to the nearest
 relief agency1 asking that coal be     
sent4  ,as a matter of fact1 the family 
income is as large as the average income
 of the neighborhood1 and the woman has 
never thought of asking relief2 if fuel 
is sent1 the neighbors all know it1 and1
 immediately1 there is a certain        
expectancy aroused1 a certain spirit of 
speculation takes the place of the habit
 of thrift4  ,there seem1 to the simple 
imaginations of these people1 to be     
exhaustless stores of relief1 which #afd
 are somehow at the command of visiting 
ladies4  ,take another instance of a    
more difficult kind4  ,a family has long
 passed the stage of receiving relief   
for the first time2 the man is a heavy  

drinker1 the household filthy1 the      
children neglected4  ,they appeal at    
once for assistance4 ,the children need 
shoes to go to ,sunday-school1 the rent 
is overdue1 the coal is out4            
,confronted with such misery1 the       
beginner is very likely to give1 and to 
compound with his conscience by giving a
 little4  ,this is the very treatment   
that has brought them to their present  
pass1 and only an experienced and       
intelligent almoner can tell how far it 
is wise to let the forces of nature work
 a cure1 and how far it is wise to      
prevent extreme suffering by            
interference4  ,one trouble in the past 
has been that the agents employed by    
relief societies have not always been   
intelligent1 but there have been great  
advances made in this regard1 and now1  
in many communities1 the agents of      
charitable societies are active1        
intelligent men and women1 who have     
received special training for the work4 
,these agents are often in communication

 with #afe many sources of relief1 and  
can save us from duplicating relief to  
the same persons--from sending it1 that 
is1 where others are meeting the same   
need already4  ,there are many reasons1 
therefore1 for doing our charitable work
 in consultation with an experienced    
almoner1 and friendly visiting1 where it
 has failed1 has usually failed through 
the visitor's unwarranted assumption    
that the giving of material relief was a
 simple and easy matter1 about which    
charity workers made an unnecessary lot 
of trouble4    ,collateral ,readings3   
,the ,english ,poor ,law1 ,rev4 ,t4     
,fowle4  ,the ,beggars of ,paris1       
translated from the ,french of ,m4      
,paulian by ,lady ,herschell4  ,outdoor 
,relief1 see ,warner's ,american        
,charities1 pp4 #afb sq4  ,economic and 
,moral ,effect of ,outdoor ,relief1     
,mrs4 ,josephine ,shaw ,lowell in       
,proceedings of ,seventeenth ,national  
,conference of ,charities1 pp4 #ha sq4  
,outdoor ,relief3 ,arguments for and    

against1 in ,proceedings of ,eighteenth 
,national ,conference of ,charities1 pp4
 #bh sq4  ,relief in ,work1 ,p4 ,w4     
,ayres in ,proceedings of ,nineteenth   
,national ,conference of ,charities1 pp4
 #dcf sq4  ,is ,emergency ,relief by    
,work ,wise8 the same in ,proceedings of
 ,twenty-second ,national ,conference of
 ,charities1 pp4 #if sq4    #a ,miss ,z4
 ,d4 ,smith in ,report of ,union ,relief
 ,association of ,springfield1 ,mass41  
#ahhg1 p4 #ab4  #b ,fifth ,report of    
,boston ,associated ,charities1 pp4 #ca 
sq4  #c ,eighth ,report of ,boston      
,associated ,charities1 p4 #be4  #d     
,vol4 ,,ii1 ,new ,series1 p4 #bbd4  #e  
,mrs4 ,josephine ,shaw ,lowell in       
,proceedings of ,twenty-third ,national 
,conference of ,charities1 ,new ,haven1 
#ahie1 p4 #di4  #f ,see ,fifteenth      
,annual ,report of the ,new ,york       
,charity ,organization ,society1 pp4 #dd
 sq41 and p4 #ee4     #aff  ,,chapter ,x
  ,,the ,,church  ,relief agents working
 in our great cities usually find that1 

in answer to direct questions1 the poor 
are likely to claim connection with some
 one of the large denominations1 though 
further acquaintance will often reveal  
the fact that this connection is merely 
nominal4  ,there are1 of course1 many   
poor people that are active church      
members1 but in spite of the wonderful  
activity of all branches of the         
,christian church during the last fifty 
years1 in spite of the multiplication of
 missions and the devotion of many good 
men and women to their upbuilding1 the  
fact remains that many of the very poor 
are still outside the churches4 ,in     
trying to explain this1 we have to take 
into account certain external           
conditions1 such as the natural         
shrinking of the less fortunate from    
social contact1 and the migratory habits
 of the poor2 #afg but another very     
important factor in this alienation is1 
,i believe1 the preoccupation of the    
church with material relief and with    
those who clamor for it4  ,some of the  

very poor are ready enough to connect   
themselves with the church1 but1        
attending its services and receiving its
 ministrations with the one idea of     
getting assistance1 it is not too much  
to say of them that they are pious for  
revenue only4  ,and yet1 in saying this1
 it is necessary to qualify it at once  
by the statement that the fault rests   
not so much with the ignorant poor as   
with the multiplied and rival church    
agencies that tempt them to hypocrisy   
and deceit4  ,if the church could only  
have a good1 wholesome1 terrifying      
vision1 and see itself as the poor see  
it6  ,a friend of mine1 writes a ,london
 charity worker1 heard two very         
respectable women talking4  ,one said1  
',well1 ,mrs4 ,smith1 how have you fared
 this ,christmas8'  ',oh1 very badly2 ,i
 had very little relief4' ,the other    
replied3 ',well1 ,mrs4 ,smith1 it is all
 your own fault2 you will go and sit in 
the side aisle of the church1 where     
nobody ever sees you4  ,if #afh you     

would sit in front1 you would be helped 
as we all are4'  ,writing of conditions 
too common in ,america1 ,rev4 ,george   
,b4 afford says3 ,families transfer     
their connection from one church to     
another1 or1 with an impartiality rare  
in other relations1 distribute their    
representatives among several           
,sunday-schools or churches1 gaining by 
pseudo-devout arts what they can from   
each3 ,methodist clothing2 ,baptist     
groceries2 ,presbyterian meat2          
,episcopalian potatoes2 ,roman ,catholic
 rent2 ,universalist cash1 available for
 'sundries1'--all are acceptable to the 
mendicant pensioner of religious        
charity4  ,one family1 now at last well 
advertised1 in an eastern city found its
 numerous youthful progeny effective    
leeches as applied to the several       
,sunday-schools among which they were   
distributed4  ,the 'widowed' mother     
underwent frequent conversion2 the      
children enjoyed the benefit of as      
frequent baptism4  ,on a certain        

gathering of clergymen of different     
churches1 when one after another had    
told the story of his discomfiture1 all 
joined to congratulate the single       
representative of the ,baptist          
denomination present on his happy escape
 #afi from the imposture1 under which   
several others had in turn baptized the 
children4  ,but from him came the sad   
confession that he had baptized the     
woman herself4 #a  ,in my own city1 a   
family made a small child not their own 
a source of income by having it baptized
 frequently in different churches1 so   
that three charitable members of three  
,episcopal churches were astonished to  
find1 on comparing notes1 that they     
shared the responsibility of being the  
child's godmothers4  ,but it is needless
 to multiply illustrations2 almost every
 church has a collection of such        
experiences1 and the bad effects of     
successful deception upon the deceivers 
are apparent enough4  ,i pass to the    
important fact that this class of the   

poor1 though numerically insignificant  
by comparison with the poor in general1 
are yet so much in evidence as the      
objects of ,christian zeal1 and the     
church wastes so much time in coddling  
them1 that the self-respecting poor     
often hold aloof4  ,it is a common thing
 to hear a poor man say that he is not  
going to attend church1 and be suspected
 of #agj trying to get something4  ,it  
does not increase his respect for       
,christians to find them easily         
deceived1 and it outrages his sense of  
justice to see that laziness1           
drunkenness1 and vice are rewarded by   
church workers4  ,even among tramps1 the
 variety known as the mission bum is    
looked down upon by his fellows1 and    
there is a lesson for the mission worker
 in this simple fact4  ,in writing thus 
frankly of home missionary work1 ,i am  
not unmindful of all the difficulties   
with which ,christian ministers have to 
contend4 ,many of them are as much alive
 to the dangers of indiscriminate relief

 as any one can be1 and many of them    
have risked unpopularity and            
misunderstanding to lift their churches 
out of the tread-mill of ineffectual1   
dole-dispensing charities into vital    
contact with the needs of the poor4     
,the difficulties of ,christian         
ministers are twofold4  ,their first    
duty is to develop the charitable       
instincts of church members1 to overcome
 the selfishness and inertia of the     
natural man4  ,when they have succeeded 
in arousing a desire to do something for
 somebody else1 they must also furnish  
ample opportunity for #aga the exercise 
of this newly awakened impulse4  ,now   
the charitable development of the       
individual follows the development of   
the race2 the individual outgrows       
slowly1 if at all1 the sentimental and  
patronizing view of poverty4  ,to carry 
church members beyond this phase and    
make them effective workers1 genuine    
powers of leadership are needed1 and it 
is much easier to let them follow their 

own devices4  ,we have seen in the last 
chapter that relief work1 if well done1 
is the most difficult of all charitable 
work1 but nine inexperienced workers out
 of every ten will think it the best and
 easiest means of helping the poor--the 
only means1 in fact4  ,a difficulty to  
be reckoned with1 and yet one with which
 it is hard to have any patience1 is the
 rank materialism that regards relief as
 a legitimate means of attracting people
 to the church4  ,relief as a gospel    
agency has done far more harm than good3
 you cannot buy a ,christian without    
getting a bad bargain1 and yet1         
competition among rival churches working
 in the same poor neighborhood is so    
sharp that even now1 in these days of   
coperative #agb effort1 we find that the
 sordid appeal is made4  ,i call it     
waste1 wrote the late ,archbishop of    
,canterbury1 when money is laid out upon
 instinct which ought to be laid out    
upon principle1 and waste of the worst  
possible kind when two or three         

religious bodies are working with one   
eye to the improvement of the condition 
of those whom they help1 and with       
another eye directed to getting them    
within the circle of their own          
organization4  ,when each of those      
religious bodies does so work1 say upon 
a single large family1 and1 feeling     
quite sure of one member of the family1 
nourishes great hopes of the rest of the
 members of the family that they will   
become true and orthodox members of     
their own community1 ,i call that not   
only waste--,i call it demoralization of
 the worst conceivable kind1 for a      
reason which the poet puts thus1 ',what 
shall bless when holy water banes8'     
,the demoralization produced is the     
worst possible1 because the highest     
possible thoughts are used as mere      
instruments for low ends4 #b  #agc  ,one
 result of using relief as a bribe is   
that the gift no longer has for its sole
 object the relief of distress1 or the  
restoration of the receiver to          

independence1 and is likely1 therefore1 
to be inadequate4 ,one clergyman with   
whom ,i remonstrated on the uselessness 
of giving #as4 when #bjs4 was needed1   
said it was impossible for him to do as 
we did and give adequate relief1 as it  
would cause jealousy amongst both       
district visitors and parishioners if he
 gave more to one case than to another1 
so #bs4 #f;d4 was generally the limit4  
#c  ,in enumerating the natural sources 
of relief1 ,i have mentioned the church 
after relatives1 friends1 and neighbors4
  ,the church is not a natural source of
 relief when it becomes a general relief
 agency1 giving inadequate doles to     
large numbers of dependents4  ,it is a  
natural source of relief for those who  
have sought its ministrations from      
religious motives2 when these become    
dependent1 it is the church's privilege 
to aid them privately1 #agd tenderly1   
and adequately4  ,even beyond its own   
membership1 the church can safely       
undertake the giving of material relief1

 when this is incidental to the carrying
 out of other plans for the benefit of  
the poor2 incidental1 for instance1 to  
the work of friendly visiting1 with a   
view to furthering a visitor's plans for
 improving a family's condition4  ,but  
the gift must be free from the suspicion
 of proselytizing4  ,protestants often  
criticise the ,roman ,catholic church   
for expecting the very poor to pay      
toward the support of the church4  ,they
 criticise1 in their ignorance1 one of  
the wisest measures taken by the ,church
 of ,rome for strengthening its hold    
upon the people4  ,poor ,roman          
,catholics are far more likely than poor
 ,protestants to think of the church as 
belonging to them1 as a power which     
exists not only for them but through    
them4  ,wherever the ,protestant church 
has gained an equally strong hold upon  
the poor1 it has made equal demands upon
 their loyalty and self-sacrifice4      
,after all has been said in objection to
 past #age and present methods of church

 charity1 we must realize that1 if the  
poor are to be effectually helped by    
charity1 the inspiration must come from 
the church4  ,the church has always been
 and will continue to be the chief      
source of charitable energy2 and ,i     
believe that1 to an increasing degree1  
the church will be the leader in        
charitable experiment and in the        
extension of the scope of charitable    
endeavor4  ,in the church or nowhere we 
must find acceptance for the methods    
advocated in this book4 ,in the church  
or nowhere we must seek the organized   
devotion that shall protect the children
 of the poor from greed and neglect1    
that shall advance sanitary and         
educational reforms1 that shall supply  
purer and higher amusements for the     
people1 and shall bring to them more and
 more1 as time goes on1 of the          
advantages of modern life4  ,the church 
has already been the pioneer in such    
work4  ,in cities where kindergartens   
are now a part of the public school     

system1 the first free kindergartens    
were supported by the churches1 and     
large charities1 now secularized1 were  
supported by #agf churches until they   
had passed the stage of experiment4     
,secular agencies are still dependent   
upon the churches for workers that can  
bring the right spirit to charitable    
work4  ,instead of multiplying agencies 
needlessly1 the city churches will find 
it to the advantage of their spiritual  
work to keep up vital connection with   
city charities4  ,a clergyman who has an
 active church in one of our eastern    
cities1 has abandoned the plan of       
starting separate church schools1       
societies1 or institutions1 realizing   
that many of these are unnecessary1 and 
that many others1 necessary in          
themselves1 are inadequately supported4 
,his people are sent instead1 according 
to their aptitudes1 to hospitals1       
children's charities1 societies for     
visiting the needy1 alms-houses1 and    
homes for the aged4  ,it may be objected

 that the shoulder-to-shoulder contact1 
the strength of concentration1 is       
lacking in such a plan4  ,but the church
 holds frequent congregational meetings1
 where all who have been detailed to    
serve as friendly visitors1 hospital    
workers1 etc41 report to the church and 
to the minister4  ,each one learns in   
#agg this way from the work of the      
others2 weak points in the city's plans 
for dealing with the poor are made      
apparent2 and the church is able by     
united effort to obtain needed reforms4 
,the work is understood to be a         
practical application of the gospel as  
taught from the church pulpit1 and there
 is a natural and vital connection      
between the spiritual and social life of
 the church community4  ,two other      
advantages are apparent4  ,the          
elasticity of the plan makes it possible
 to find work adapted to many varying   
capacities1 and all denominational      
rivalry1 all petty jealousy is avoided4 
,the friendly visitor from such a church

 will not visit the poor with a view to 
winning them away from other churches to
 his own4  ,on the other hand1 he will  
see the importance of some church       
connection1 and will strive to restore  
church relations1 if they have been     
severed1 by urging attendance upon the  
services of the church and              
,sunday-school to which the family      
naturally belongs4  ,he will seek the   
help of this church's minister in any   
plans he may make for furthering the    
family #agh welfare1 and1 in this way1 a
 spirit of coperation between churches  
of different denominations will be      
encouraged4  ,i cannot leave this part  
of my subject without mentioning one    
other matter1 though it is only         
indirectly connected with friendly      
visiting4 ,the training of ministers in 
our theological seminaries should       
include a thorough course of instruction
 in charitable work4  ,this would enable
 ministers to guide the work of their   
people in the best channels1 and it     

would save them1 moreover1 from the     
discouragements of the conscientious    
worker who is striving to improve social
 conditions without any clear conception
 of the scope and limitations of such   
service4  ,there are many clergymen     
whose experience and opportunities for  
study fit them for leadership in an     
attempt to establish systematic         
training1 in the seminaries4  ,a demand 
from the laity for more experienced     
direction in church charity would also  
help to hasten the introduction of      
regular seminary courses in applied     
philanthropy4    #a ,charities ,review1 
,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4 #bf sq4  #b ,occasional 
,papers of the ,london ,charity         
,organization ,society1 p4 #ce4  #c     
,miss ,pickton in ,london ,charity      
,organization ,review1 ,vol4 ,x1 p4     
#ech4     #agi  ,,chapter ,,xi  ,,the   
,,friendly ,,visitor  ,i have tried to  
make a number of specific suggestions in
 the foregoing pages1 but it is needless
 to say that only a few of these are    

likely to be useful to any one visitor1 
and it would be fatal to apply them all 
to one family4  ,in the effort to be    
specific1 ,i fear that ,i may have been 
as exasperating as the cook-books1      
which1 in a similar effort1 will        
suggest1 take a salamander1 or take a   
slip of endive1 when neither is         
obtainable4  ,cook-books have their     
modest uses1 however1 and the cooks who 
are most skilful in skipping recipes not
 intended for them will turn the others 
to the best account4  ,in avoiding the  
danger of representing friendly visiting
 as a pleasant diversion1 ,i may have   
gone to the other extreme1 and          
represented it rather as an arduous and 
#ahj exacting profession4  ,it is so far
 from being this1 that professional     
visiting can never be friendly4  ,in    
fact1 friendly visiting is not any of   
the things already described in this    
book4  ,it is not wise measures of      
relief2 it is not finding employment2 it
 is not getting the children in school  

or training them for work2 it is not    
improving sanitary arrangements and     
caring for the sick2 it is not teaching 
cleanliness or economical cooking or    
buying2 it is not enforcing habits of   
thrift or encouraging healthful         
recreations4  ,it may be a few of these 
things1 or all of them1 but it is always
 something more4  ,friendly visiting    
means intimate and continuous knowledge 
of and sympathy with a poor family's    
joys1 sorrows1 opinions1 feelings1 and  
entire outlook upon life4  ,the visitor 
that has this is unlikely to blunder    
either about relief or any detail2      
without it1 he is almost certain1 in any
 charitable relations with members of   
the family1 to blunder seriously4       
,visitors have said to me that they     
could not see that they had been of any 
special service1 though their friendly  
feeling for certain families made it    
impossible to stop visiting4  ,these    
visitors #aha who have no story to tell 
have often done the greatest good4  ,one

 of the women we had not seen since she 
first came to us some four years before1
 writes ,miss ,frances ,smith1 and we   
remembered her distinctly as quite      
ordinary then4  ,imagine our surprise in
 finding that a certain dignity and     
earnestness1 akin to that of the        
visitor1 had crept into this woman's    
life1 and found expression in her face  
and bearing4  ,such transfigurations    
cannot take place in a few weeks or     
months2 they are of slow growth1 but    
they are the best rewards of friendship4
 #a  ,the rewards of friendly visiting  
and the best results of such work are   
obviously not dependent upon the        
suggestions of a handbook4  ,as ,miss   
,octavia ,hill has said1 success in this
 depends no more on rules than does that
 of a young lady who begins             
housekeeping4  ,certain things she      
should indeed know2 but whether she     
manages well or ill depends mainly upon 
what she is4  ,life1 therefore1 is the  
best school4 ,meddlesomeness1 #ahb lack 

of tact1 impatience for results1        
carelessness in keeping engagements and 
promises1 will be as fatal here as      
anywhere4  ,when we are depressed by a  
family's troubles and are striving      
earnestly to find a way out1 theirs seem
 quite unlike any other troubles4  ,in a
 sense1 it is true that they are unlike2
 but there are certain resemblances     
between human beings1 even when a       
continent divides them2 and1 unsafe     
though it may be to administer charity  
by rule1 it is more unsafe to administer
 it without reference to certain general
 principles4  ,many of the suggestions  
of this book are not of universal       
application1 but1 in bringing it to a   
close1 ,i shall endeavor to state a few 
principles that apply quite universally 
to friendly visiting4  #a4  ,the        
friendly visitor should get well        
acquainted with all the members of the  
family without trying to force their    
confidence4  ,a fault of beginners is   
that they are unwilling to wait for the 

natural development of trust and        
friendliness4  ,they expect to make a   
half dozen visits on a poor family      
inside of a month1 says ,miss ,birtwell1
 and see them #ahc helped4  ,now1 which 
one of us ever had our lives strongly   
influenced by a friendship of a month's 
standing8 4 4 4  ,i once heard a sermon 
which made an impression on my mind that
 has remained with me for years4  ,one  
of its main ideas was to get your       
influence before you used it4  ,many    
people seem to think that if they can   
visit a poor family1 by virtue of their 
superior education and culture1 they    
must immediately have a very strong     
influence4  ,they do not get it that    
way4  ,they must get it just as our     
friends get an influence over us1 by    
long1 patient contact1 and by the slow1 
natural growth of friendship4 #b        
,patience is difficult where we see so  
many things to be done1 and it is       
particularly difficult where there is   
actual need2 but the visitor does not go

 to act as a substitute for the forces1 
charitable or other1 that have kept the 
family alive so far4  ,he must confer   
with sources of relief that are or can  
be interested1 but beyond this he must  
have the courage to #ahd do nothing     
until he knows what is the right thing  
to do4  ,it is not possible to visit    
many families1 but there are definite   
advantages in visiting more than        
one--the usual limit should be not less 
than two nor more than four4  ,an       
advantage in visiting two families is   
that the visitor is less likely to be   
feverishly active during the earlier    
stages of acquaintance1 and the         
contrasts and resemblances between the  
two give the visitor a better grasp of  
principles4  ,not only is a new visitor 
liable to err in overvisiting a family1 
but some families have too many         
charitable visitors4  ,the ,new ,york   
visitor1 who refused to go to a family  
on whom three charity workers had lately
 called1 was wise4  ,there are families 

so clearly overvisited that all who are 
charitably interested in them should be 
persuaded to let them alone for a while4
  ,it ought to be unnecessary to add    
that the winter is not the only time for
 charitable work4  ,our poor friends    
need us quite as much in summer1 though 
many charities are less active then4    
,when we are away in summer we can #ahe 
write1 and when we are in town for a    
short while we can often find time for a
 visit4  ,charitable work suffers from  
the tradition that the only time to be  
charitable is when it is cold4  ,next to
 uninterrupted visiting as a means of   
getting acquainted1 comes the power of  
taking our own interests with us when we
 visit4  ,in our contact with poor      
people we do not always give ourselves  
as generously as we might4  ,intent upon
 finding out about them1 we forget that 
they might be interested to hear about  
us4  ,would it not be well if1 instead  
of always giving sympathy1 we sometimes 
asked it8  ,it is often striking1 if we 

tell them about the joys and sorrows of 
our friends1 to note how they respond1  
often inquiring about them afterward4   
,such mutual relationship broadens their
 meagre lives1 and makes our contact    
with them more human4  ,a visitor1 who  
has undertaken during the summer the    
families of another too far away to     
visit1 wrote3 ',i want to tell you what 
a matter of interest and pleasure it has
 been to me1 in visiting your families1 
to find that what they #ahf really      
seemed to value was your personal       
friendship for them1 and how they       
treasured any little incident you had   
told them of yourself and your travels4'
 #c  ,one who visits in this spirit     
always wins more of pleasure and of     
profit from the work4  ,in fact1 it is  
never the visited only that are         
benefited4  #b4  ,in getting acquainted1
 the visitor has the definite object of 
trying to improve the condition of the  
family4  ,this is impossible unless he  
has a fairly accurate knowledge of the  

main facts of the family history4       
,charity workers often come to me for   
advice about individual families1 and   
reveal in a few minutes' conversation   
that they have no knowledge of the      
condition of those they would help4     
,the head of the family is sick1 it may 
be1 and they expect prompt advice as to 
the best way to help him2 but they have 
not taken the trouble to see the        
dispensary doctor who attends him1 or to
 find out in some other way the nature  
of his disease2 or perhaps the boy is   
out of work1 but they have not seen his 
#ahg former employer and know nothing of
 his earning capacity or references4    
,charitable skill is not a sort of      
benevolent magic2 it is based on common 
sense1 and must work in close contact   
with the facts of life4  ,in other      
friendly relations we recognize this1   
and in our charity work too1 whether by 
investigation of a trained agent or by  
our own inquiries1 we must have the     
facts before we can find out the best   

way to help4  ,one advantage of visiting
 under the guidance of a charity        
organization society is that a thorough 
investigation has been made of the      
family circumstances before the visitor 
is sent4  ,the following is a brief     
outline of the facts that should be     
known1 if a plan is to be made for the  
family's benefit3  7a7 ,social          
,history4--,names2 ages2 birthplaces2   
marriage2 number of rooms occupied2     
education2 children's school2 names1    
addresses1 and condition of relatives   
and friends2 church2 previous           
residences4  7b7 ,physical              
,history4--,health of each member of the
 family2 name of doctor2 habits4  7c7   
,work ,history4--,occupations2 names    
#ahh and addresses of present and former
 employers2 how long and at what seasons
 usually in work2 how long out of work  
now2 earning capacity of each worker4   
7d7 ,financial ,history4--,rent2        
landlord2 debts1 including instalment   
purchases2 beneficial societies2        

trade-union2 life insurance2 pawn       
tickets2 has family ever saved and how  
much82 present savings2 income2 present 
means of subsistence other than wages2  
pensions2 relief1 sources1 and amount2  
charities interested4  ,in addition to  
these detached facts1 there is also     
needed whatever other facts will make a 
fairly complete brief biography of the  
heads of the family1 including a        
knowledge of their hopes and plans4     
,the statements of relatives and        
friends1 their theory as to the best    
method of aiding1 together with some    
definite promise as to what they        
themselves will do2 the statements of   
pastor or ,sunday-school teacher1 of    
doctor1 former employers1 and former    
landlords2 and the statements and       
experiences also of others charitably   
interested may be needed before an      
effective plan can be made4  #ahi       
,inquiries of present employers and     
landlords should be made with extreme   
care1 if at all1 as they might create   

prejudice against those we would help4  
,the outline here given of the facts    
needed is best filled in by a competent 
trained agent1 rather than by the       
friendly visitor1 whose relations with  
the family render searching inquiry     
difficult and often undesirable4  ,but  
the mercifulness of a thorough          
investigation is that1 once well done1  
it need not be repeated1 and by saving  
endless blundering it also saves a      
family from much charitable meddling4   
,its seemingly inquisitorial features   
are justified by the fact that it is not
 made with any purpose of finding people
 out1 but with the sole purpose of      
finding out how to help them4  #c4      
,gathering facts about the poor without 
making any effort to use these facts for
 their good has been compared to        
harrowing the ground without sowing the 
seed4  ,the facts should be made the    
basis of a well-considered plan4  ,it   
may be necessary to modify our plans    
often1 as circumstances change or new   

facts are discovered2 but a plan of     
treatment #aij is as indispensable to   
the charity worker as to the physician4 
,our plans must not ignore the family   
resources for self-help4  ,the best     
charity work develops these resources4  
,if outside help is needed1 it should be
 made conditional upon renewed efforts  
at work or in school1 upon willingness  
to receive training1 upon cleanliness1  
or upon some other development within   
the family that will aid in their       
uplifting4  ,all this is suggested1 not 
with a view to making the conditions of 
relief difficult1 but with a view to    
using relief as a lever2 or1 as some one
 has put it1 we should make our help a  
ladder rather than a crutch1 and every  
sensible1 reasonable condition is a     
round in the ladder4  ,our plans for the
 benefit of one family must not ignore  
the possible effects of our action upon 
other families4  ,this is a hard lesson 
to learn1 but a plan that might be kind 
and effective1 if there were only one   

poor family in the city1 is often unfair
 and even cruel1 because it rouses hopes
 in others which can never be fulfilled4
  ,in other words1 we must be just as   
well as merciful4  ,a #aia knowledge of 
the neighborhood and of the             
circumstances of other poor families is 
necessary in judging of the justice of a
 plan1 and here the criticism and advice
 of an experienced charity worker will  
be very helpful4  ,it is necessary also 
to guard against making our plans with  
reference to nothing but the present    
emergency4  ,we must have a view to the 
future of the family1 and must think not
 only of what will put them out of      
immediate need1 but of what is most     
likely to make them permanently         
self-supporting1 if this be possible4   
,there are1 of course1 families that can
 never be made entirely self-supporting4
  ,these1 if we consider only the cases 
for which it is thought best to provide 
outside of institutions1 will be the    
exceptions2 but in making plans for the 

welfare of such families we must try to 
organize help that shall be as regular  
and systematic as possible4  ,next to   
having to depend upon charitable        
resources at all1 the most demoralizing 
thing is to be dependent upon uncertain 
and spasmodic charity4  #d4  ,in plans  
looking to the removal of the causes of 
distress1 the greatest patience is #aib 
needed1 and we must learn also1 if we   
would succeed1 to win the coperation of 
others charitably interested4  ,if our  
plan with regard to a family is likely  
to prove permanently helpful1 and we are
 able to persuade others to work with us
 in carrying it out1 we are not only    
helping the family1 but we are educating
 others in common-sense methods4  ,in   
persuading to an important step1 the    
value of coperation is illustrated by an
 instance taken from the ,fourteenth    
,report of the ,boston ,associated      
,charities3#d ,a respectable woman1 who 
had struggled for a year to keep her    
insane husband with her and the little  

girls1 at great risk to them and the    
neighborhood1 was persuaded in but a few
 days to let him go to the lunatic      
hospital4  ,of course1 as strangers1 our
 opinions were entitled to little       
weight2 but by collecting the doctor's  
opinions and those of her own friends1  
all of which she had heard singly1 she  
was sufficiently impressed to take the  
long necessary step4  #e4  ,though we   
must make plans looking toward          
self-support1 these are not the only    
plans #aic within the scope of friendly 
visiting4  ,some of the best visiting   
can be done after families are no longer
 in need4 ,the entry                    
dismissed--self-sustaining on charitable
 records has a very unsatisfactory sound
 to those who realize the further       
possibilities of friendly help4  ,after 
a family has learned to live without    
charitable aid1 there is a better chance
 of introducing its members to thrifty  
ways of spending and saving1 to better  
recreations1 and to healthier and more  

cleanly surroundings4  #f4  ,our work as
 friendly visitors is an intensely      
personal work1 and1 unlike other        
charity1 it is best done alone4  ,we    
cannot visit in companies of two or     
three1 nor can we talk very much about  
our poor friends1 except to those       
charitably interested1 without spoiling 
our relations with them4  ,the district 
system of visiting among the poor1 which
 is still the system of ,german towns   
and of ,english parishes1 assigns a     
certain geographical boundary to each   
visitor4  ,it has been called the space 
system in contrast to the case system of
 friendly visiting4  ,the main objection
 to it is that it is not personal       
enough4 #aid ,one who is a friend to a  
whole street is not felt by the members 
of any particular family to belong      
peculiarly to them1 and there is danger1
 moreover1 of more official relations   
and of small jealousies and neighborhood
 entanglements that are avoided by the  
friendly visiting plan4  ,the district  

visitor is the ancestor of the friendly 
visitor4  ,brewing a bit of broth for an
 aged cottager1 reading beside some     
sick-bed1 sewing a warm garment for     
,peggy or ,nancy--it is thus that our   
ancestors lightly skimmed the surface of
 social conditions4  ,it would ill      
become us to speak slightingly of the   
work of those who have handed down to us
 a precious freight of human sympathy   
and tenderness4  ,if heavier burdens of 
responsibility1 more serious problems   
and more strenuous ideals are now       
imposed upon us1 we have also many      
advantages that were undreamed of a     
hundred years ago4  ,now1 if we would be
 charitable1 and possess any power of   
using the forces at our command1 there  
are hundreds of avenues of usefulness   
open to us where formerly there was only
 one1 and there are hundreds of #aie    
agencies ready to help4  ,we must know  
how to work with others1 and we must    
know how to work with the forces that   
make for progress2 friendly visiting1   

rightly understood1 turns all these     
forces to account1 working with the     
democratic spirit of the age to forward 
the advance of the plain and common     
people into a better and larger life4   
,collateral ,readings3 ,friendly or     
,volunteer ,visiting1 ,miss ,zilpha ,d4 
,smith in ,proceedings of ,eleventh     
,national ,conference of ,charities1 pp4
 #fi sq4  ,friendly ,visiting1 ,mrs4    
,marian ,c4 ,putnam in ,proceedings of  
,fourteenth ,national ,conference of    
,charities1 pp4 #adi sq4  ,class for the
 ,study of ,friendly ,visiting1 ,mrs4   
,s4 ,e4 ,tenney in ,proceedings of      
,nineteenth ,national ,conference of    
,charities1 pp4 #dee sq4  ,the          
,education of the ,friendly ,visitor1   
,miss ,z4 ,d4 ,smith in ,proceedings of 
,nineteenth ,national ,conference of    
,charities1 pp4 #dde sq4  ,friendly     
,visiting1 ,mrs4 ,roger ,wolcott in     
,proceedings of ,international ,congress
 of ,charities1 #ahic1 volume on        
,organization of ,charities1 pp4 #ajh   

sq4  ,also ,miss ,f4 ,c4 ,prideaux in   
same volume1 pp4 #cfi sq4 and           
discussion1 pp4 #ae sq4  ,continued     
,care of ,families1 ,frances ,a4 ,smith 
in ,proceedings of ,twenty-second       
,national ,conference of ,charities1 pp4
 #hg sq4  ,friendly ,visiting as a      
,social ,force1 ,charles ,f4 ,weller in 
,proceedings of ,twenty-fourth ,national
 ,conference of ,charities1 pp4 #aii sq4
  ,company ,manners1 ,florence ,converse
 in ,atlantic1 ,january1 #ahih4  7,this 
story is not a fair picture of          
associated charity methods1 but points  
out one of the dangers of spasmodic     
visiting47    #a ,proceedings of        
,twenty-second ,conference of           
,charities1 #ahie1 p4 #hh4  #b          
,proceedings of ,international ,congress
 of ,charities1 volume on ,organization 
of ,charities1 p4 #ba4  #c ,eleventh    
,report of ,boston ,associated          
,charities1 p4 #ca4  #d p4 #bg4     #aig
  ,,appendix  ,the illustrations of     
friendly visiting in the preceding pages

 have been given with a view to         
elucidating some particular part of     
visiting work4 ,some of the following   
instances show the possibilities and    
discouragements of continuous visiting1 
and the last illustration emphasizes an 
important fact in the life of poor      
neighborhoods2 namely1 the unconscious  
but restraining and uplifting influence 
of good neighbors4  ,on this same phase 
of the subject1 see ,charles ,booth's   
,life and ,labor of the ,people1 ,vol4  
,i1 p4 #aei4   ,home ,libraries and the 
,visitor4--,a visitor reports that a    
library has been established in the room
 of ,mrs4 ----1 where the boys of the   
tenement house meet every ,saturday     
afternoon to receive or exchange their  
books1 discuss with the visitor the     
books they have read1 listen to stories 
as they are read or narrated1 and to    
play games4  ,this little gathering     
seems to have improved the moral and    
social atmosphere of the entire tenement
 house4  ,the woman who has charge of   

the library first became known to this  
same visitor over four years ago1 #aih  
when she was struggling upon the verge  
of starvation1 and almost giving up in  
despair from the effort to support      
herself and her two children4  ,through 
the efforts of the visitor she is now   
comfortable and practically             
self-supporting4  ,she has been made    
librarian for the tenement house by the 
visitor1 and is proud of the            
distinction4  ,the following are the    
exact words of the visitor3 ,she        
welcomes the children into her room1    
made scrupulously clean and attractive2 
and as she sits at her work and listens 
to their games and readings1 in which   
she frequently participates1 her        
depressed spirits rise1 and she seems to
 gain courage1 and to feel that there is
 after all something bright in her      
life4--,sixteenth ,report of ,cincinnati
 ,associated ,charities1 p4 #ac4        
,after ,five ,years4--,the ,c4          
family--father1 mother1 and eight       

children--were in a very depressed      
condition when ,i first made their      
acquaintance1 five years ago4  ,the     
father1 who was a consumptive1 had lost 
his position of travelling postman2 the 
mother was ill2 and the only source of  
income was a monthly pension of #h4jj   
and about #h4jj a week earned by the    
three eldest girls1 who were saleswomen4
  ,the rent was #ae4jj a month1 and the 
family heavily in debt4  ,i succeeded in
 finding them a house for #i4jj a month1
 and found assistance in flour1 coal1   
and clothing4  ,an unknown friend       
undertook to add #a4jj a month to #aii  
,mr4 ,c4's pension1 and this paid the   
rent4  ,twice1 when the girls were ill1 
the ,golden ,book ,fund came to the     
rescue and made up the temporary        
deficiency4  ,i tried to represent to   
them the dignity of keeping a roof over 
their heads by their own efforts4       
,first1 it became possible to dispense  
with the monthly gift of #a4jj4  ,later1
 when the girls' wages were raised1     

,mrs4 ,c4 told me ,i need not provide   
fuel1--they would now try to do that    
themselves4  ,one summer1 whilst ,i was 
away1 the youngest child died1 and the  
funeral expenses were paid by the       
family1 through much self-denial4       
,every year the girls have been sent to 
their friends in the country by the     
,fresh ,air ,fund of the ,y4,w4,c4,a41  
and once the younger children were sent 
to the ,children's ,country ,home4  ,the
 parents continued in wretched health2  
but as the girls' wages gradually       
increased1 ,i was asked by ,mrs4 ,c4 not
 to provide further aid1 except in case 
of sickness4 ,in #ahia1 ,mr4 ,c4's      
pension was more than doubled1 but they 
continued in their poor and unattractive
 neighborhood until every debt was paid1
 not forgetting the doctor4  ,last      
summer they moved into a larger house on
 a pleasant street1 and have enough     
lodgers to pay more than half the rent4 
,mr4 ,c4's health has improved1 and he  
has a light position at #be4jj a month  

and his meals4  ,the oldest girl has    
married well1 the two other girls are   
good workers1 and my old friends sure   
now well on their feet4 ,during absence 
we have #bjj corresponded regularly4    
,mrs4 ,c4 has learned to come to me in  
every difficulty1 and knows how gladly  
,i share her encouragements4--,charities
 ,record1 ,baltimore1 ,vol4 ,i1 ,no4 #a4
   ,persevering under                   
,difficulties4--,we are each year more  
strongly impressed with the importance  
and value of patient and careful        
visiting1 even in the face of great     
discouragement1 believing that sincere  
and judicious friendliness is invariably
 helpful1 although it may be long before
 any apparent result is produced4       
,proofs of this are constantly coming to
 us1 as in a ,german family which has   
been for the last six years under the   
care of one of our visitors4  ,the      
family consists of father1 mother1 and  
five children1 and1 when first visited1 
they were found almost destitute1--the  

woman earning a little by picking       
berries in the summer and selling them1 
and the man by picking coal1--though    
they were well able to work4  ,the      
visitor was received very ungraciously  
at first1 and it was only after finding 
some work for the man1 and showing a    
real interest in the children1 that she 
gained any hold upon them4  ,no really  
marked improvement took place until the 
children went to the ,industrial        
,school4  ,then the girls taught their  
mother how her work should be done1 and 
it was with great pride that they showed
 the visitor how neat they had made     
their rooms4  ,work was obtained for the
 man as #bja night-watchman at #ab4jj a 
week1 and1 after a while1 he was able to
 pay off all his back debts4  ,he is now
 always glad to see the visitor4  ,three
 of the girls are at work1 and they seem
 a happy and prosperous family4--,tenth 
,report of ,boston ,associated          
,charities1 p4 #ee4   ,widow with       
,children4--,a typical case of chronic  

dependence is that of a widow with six  
children4  ,when she was referred to us1
 nearly four years ago1 her children    
were very young1 and she1 though        
well-meaning1 was stupid and            
inefficient4  ,the problem was not      
whether aid should be given1--that was  
clearly necessary1 for the woman could  
not earn anything with her little       
children to care for1--but if the aid   
could be given in such a way as to      
really benefit them4  ,relief was       
procured from the proper                
sources1--#bj4jj a quarter from the     
,shaw ,fund for ,mariners' ,children1   
#b4jj a month in groceries from the     
city1 and at times #a4jj a week from the
 ,st4 ,vincent de ,paul ,society4  ,the 
visitor who first interested himself in 
the family1 and who has been their      
friend and counsellor ever since1       
received the quarterly #bj4jj for them1 
paid the rent with #ac4jj of it1 and    
gave the rest to the woman1 who knew    
just what she had to depend upon1 and   

learned to use it properly4  ,as the    
children grew older1 the boy went into a
 district telegraph office2 and the     
girl1 wishing to go into a store1 asked 
the visitor to find her a place4  ,he   
thought1 however1 #bjb that it was wiser
 to teach her how to find one1 and1     
after suggesting some good              
establishments to which to apply1 told  
her to get references from her          
schoolteacher and others1 and go herself
 to ask for work4  ,this she did with   
some difficulty1 and got a place2 and   
when1 after a time1 she gave it up1 she 
knew what to do1 and had no difficulty  
in finding another4  ,the boy refused to
 be apprenticed to a joiner1 as the     
visitor wished1 but is working hard in a
 place he found himself4  ,the second   
boy goes to school1 and sells papers4   
,in summer1 the visitor1 with the       
consent of the ,conference1 has sent the
 younger children into the country to   
board for a month4  ,he has taken pains 
to have the family live in a healthy    

tenement1 and in many ways has insured  
their well-being4  ,they are now        
partially self-supporting2 and the older
 children are respectable and           
industrious1 which we feel is greatly   
due to the influence that the visitor   
has exerted over them and their mother  
for four years4--,fourth ,report of     
,boston ,associated ,charities1 p4 #dj4 
,a ,failure4--,gamma made his first     
application to the ,charity             
,organization ,society seven years ago1 
at a time when it was even more         
difficult than now to find volunteer    
visitors who were intelligent and       
faithful enough to make a careful study 
of the needs of families placed under   
their charge1 or courageous enough to   
carry out any thorough plan of treatment
 in these #bjc families4  ,the man was a
 ,german cobbler who had married an     
,american domestic1 and at that time    
there were three children1 one of them  
an imbecile with destructive tendencies4
  ,the man said he was discouraged1 that

 he got work with difficulty and had no 
tools with which to do it4  ,materials  
were furnished and members of the       
,society found work for him1 but1 this  
form of assistance not being very much  
to his mind1 they soon lost sight of    
him1 and it was not till several years  
later that the ,society again           
encountered the family in a different   
part of the city1 and a friendly visitor
 was secured to study their condition   
and try and improve it4  ,the visitor   
reported that the man was discouraged1  
the house filthy beyond description1 and
 that the life of the fourth child1 then
 nine months old1 was endangered by the 
imbecile boy1 who was violent at times4 
,aid was given1 and1 the man's own      
theory being that he could do better in 
another neighborhood1 the family was    
moved and otherwise aided by money      
secured from benevolent individuals4    
,it soon became apparent that the man   
lacked energy4  ,he was given to pious  
phrases1 and was a good talker1 but all 

efforts to inculcate industry or        
cleanliness were met both by man and    
wife with the excuse that the imbecile  
boy interfered with all their efforts4  
,at the family's own solicitation1 the  
,society tried to find a home for the   
boy2 after months of negotiations #bjd  
he was placed in the ,school for        
,feeble-minded at ,owing's ,mills4      
,this burden removed1 the visitor       
redoubled her efforts to make the home a
 decent one for the remaining children1 
but without success4  ,the beds were not
 made until they were to be slept in1   
the dishes not washed until they must be
 used again1 and soiled clothing was    
allowed to stand in soak a week at a    
time in hot weather1 until a heavy scum 
gathered on the top and the air was     
poisoned by the stench4  ,the remaining 
children were unkempt and untrained1 and
 the woman quite indifferent about their
 condition4  ,the imbecile had improved 
at ,owing's ,mills1 but1 owing to a     
half-expressed wish of the mother's to  

see the boy1 ,gamma brought him home and
 refused to take him back again4  ,the  
man's good intentions always seemed to  
evaporate in fine phrases4  ,he was     
reported by the neighbors to be         
drinking1 though not heavily1 and one   
morning the visitor received a letter   
from him saying that she must take care 
of his family--he could stand it no     
longer and had left them4  ,one thing   
greatly handicapped the visitor at this 
time and later3 the squalor of this     
family strongly appealed to chance      
charitable visitors1 who helped them    
liberally because they looked           
miserable--helped them without knowledge
 and without plan4  ,it used to be said 
that every ,american thinks he can make 
an after-dinner speech1 and it might    
have been added that every ,american1 or
 nearly every ,american1 thinks #bje he 
can administer his own charities        
judiciously4  ,when we are mistaken in  
our speech-making ability1 we ourselves 
are the sufferers1 but the saddest thing

 about our charitable blunders is that  
not we but the poor people are the      
sufferers4  ,the friendly visitor to the
 ,gammas was a woman of unusual         
intelligence and devotion4  ,her failure
 may be traced to two causes3 to the    
fact that she was not called in earlier1
 and to the willingness of many good    
church people to help quite             
indiscriminately for the asking4  ,they 
went and looked at the home1 saw that it
 was wretched indeed1 and called this an
 investigation4  ,yes1 ,i've helped the 
,gammas1 they used to say4  ,i've       
investigated their condition myself4    
,the way in which ,gamma was in the     
habit of talking about the ,bible as his
 best friend made a great impression on 
them4  ,the man's desertion of his      
family was a mere ruse4  ,he was soon   
back again1 and ready to profit by the  
help they had obtained4  ,moving from   
place to place to avoid rent1 they were 
at last ejected1 and the man1 wife1 and 
children1 including the imbecile1 found 

refuge in the stable of a kind-hearted  
man who took pity on them4  ,the owner  
was alarmed1 however1 when he found the 
family making no effort to find other   
quarters1 and fearing the imbecile might
 set fire to the place at any time1 he  
applied to the ,charity ,organization   
,society to know what could be done4    
,we offered the woman and children      
shelter at the ,electric ,sewing #bjf   
,machine ,rooms1 until the boy could be 
sent back to ,owing's ,mills and the    
other children committed to the ,henry  
,watson ,children's ,aid ,society1 and  
advised that the man saw wood at the    
,friendly ,inn until he could get work4 
,the man refused to go1 but the woman   
and children came to the ,electric      
,rooms1 and with the coperation of the  
,society for the ,protection of         
,children1 the imbecile was returned to 
,owing's ,mills4  ,at this juncture the 
daily papers interfered with our plans  
for the children by publishing a        
sensational account of ,gamma as a most 

industrious shoemaker1 who had always   
supported his family until the hard     
times of the last year had thrown him   
out of work4  ,money was sent to the    
papers for the family4  ,gamma1 who had 
consented to have two of the children   
placed in good country homes by the     
,henry ,watson ,aid ,society1 changed   
his mind1 and the old story of          
indiscriminate charity and              
indiscriminate filth and neglect began  
all over again4  ,the gentleman who had 
given them shelter thought they ought to
 have another trial4  ,they had had six 
years' trial already1 but this last one 
was of short duration4  ,in four months 
their champion returned to say that the 
,charity ,organization ,society was     
right and he was wrong2 that he had     
found ,gamma drunken1 lazy1 and         
insolent2 and that the children raised  
under his influence must become paupers 
and criminals4  ,again the family were  
ejected1 and this #bjg time1 before     
public sympathy could interfere1 the two

 older children were committed to the   
,henry ,watson ,aid ,society1 and only  
the baby left with ,mrs4 ,gamma4  ,our  
advice to ,mrs4 ,gamma was to return to 
her mother1 who offered her a home4     
,but the advice was not taken4          
,established in another part of         
,baltimore1 ,gamma renewed his attack on
 the clergy1 and told one minister that 
he was a hardened criminal who had      
served a term in the ,penitentiary1 but1
 after hearing one of his sermons1 he   
desired earnestly to reform4  ,the      
latest news about the ,gammas is a bit  
of information in which the charitable  
public will have to take an interest1   
however reluctantly1 before very        
long1--there is a new baby4--,charities 
,record1 ,baltimore1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 ,no4   
#h4   ,a ,success4--,the second family  
consisted of a respectable1 middle-aged 
woman who had been twice married1 four  
children of the first marriage1 and the 
second husband4  ,the eldest daughter   
had married1 and with her husband       

occupied part of the house in which her 
mother lived4  ,the other three children
 were young4  ,the second husband was a 
drunken fellow1 who did little for his  
wife's support and abused her badly4    
,she had been to the hospital to have a 
serious operation performed2 and1       
although the operation had been         
successful1 her health was still poor4  
,when first known by the ,conference the
 family were #bjh in great destitution4 
,the husband brought home very little1  
the wife could not work1 and one of the 
children earned a mere trifle4  ,the    
rent was unpaid1 and almost the only    
food the family had was oatmeal4  ,the  
married daughter and her husband said   
the family had been long enough         
quartered on them1 and refused to help  
them any more4  ,the only work the woman
 thought she could do was sewing1 and   
some of this was found for her4  ,diet  
,kitchen order was obtained for one of  
the children who was ill1 and shoes were
 given to the others4  ,later1 the      

,provident ,association gave groceries4 
,at this time the first visitor left the
 city1 and a new one took charge of the 
family4 ,she writes3 ,on first calling  
on ,mrs4 ,x41 ,i found a tidy1          
respectable-looking woman1 apparently in
 delicate health4  ,her face was almost 
that of a lady1 and her manners were    
polite2 but she did not make me very    
welcome4  ,she spoke with affection of  
her former visitor1 who1 she said1 had  
been very kind2 but she presently       
remarked that she could not see why 'all
 these other people' had come prying    
into her affairs4 ,on inquiry it was    
learned that after the former visitor   
had left town representatives of several
 charitable societies had called1 and   
that one had hurt the woman's feelings  
by asking all kinds of questions without
 giving any explanation of his so doing4
  ,the visitor explained that she knew  
the former visitor1 and had been asked  
to call in her place2 and1 after #bji   
some sympathetic explanation1 the woman 

seemed a little cheered4  ,however1 she 
resented the grocery orders she was     
receiving1 saying that she did not wish 
charity--that she was willing to earn   
her living by sewing4  ,why could she   
not have that instead of grocery orders8
  ,as to sewing for the shops1 she said 
she could not do that2 for shop-work was
 too low paid1 and she could not work on
 the machine4  ,plain hand-sewing was   
the only thing she could do4  ,when told
 that certain sewing to which she       
referred was charity sewing1 and was    
only given out in winter1 she exclaimed1
 ,then it is not work at all1 but       
charity1 just like the grocery orders4  
,when the visitor said good-by1 she was 
invited to call again4  ,she did so     
repeatedly1 seeing the family once a    
week or oftener4  ,on account of the    
drunken husband1 some question was      
raised as to whether the groceries      
should be given regularly1 but ,mrs4 ,x4
 stated that her husband never shared   
the food4  ,he was away from home most  

of the time4  ,sometimes he would come  
home ,saturday night and bring some     
money1 and then he would take his meals 
at home2 but1 when the money was gone1  
he would go out for his meals1 never    
asking how his wife and children fared  
in his absence4  ,it did not appear that
 his disregard was due to his thinking  
that others would care for the family4  
,the wife insisted that he did not think
 or care how they fared4  ,he had       
sometimes left her for weeks1 when #baj 
she was ill in bed1 and had never asked 
or known how she had been kept alive4   
,he appeared to be so utterly           
irresponsible that he could not be made 
more so4  ,at the visitor's suggestion1 
it was soon decided that the younger    
daughter should take a place at service1
 where she could earn something and yet 
go home every night4  ,such a place the 
visitor found for her1 and the girl was 
eager to save money to buy herself a    
coat for the following winter4  ,the    
needs of the family1 however1 made it   

necessary to take the earnings for      
living expenses2 but the visitor        
promised that somehow a coat for the    
winter should be forthcoming4  ,when the
 employer closed her house in ,july1 the
 visitor found a situation for the girl 
for the summer in one of the country    
towns4  ,of this time the visitor       
writes3 ,all the time ,i felt that the  
family were suffering more than was     
right4  ,the children were fatherless   
and with a sick mother1 and little ,a4  
was constantly ill1 first one thing and 
then another1 the doctors saying that he
 was under-nourished4  ,mrs4 ,x4 did    
jobs of washing and scrubbing as she    
could get them or was able1 and the two 
children of thirteen both worked4 ,so a 
benevolent person consented to take     
entire charge of the family1 giving just
 what ,i should think proper4           
,accordingly1 from that date to ,october
 #aj an average of #b4fe a week was     
given1 besides #ac4jj for clothes and   
other things4  ,also1 #baa ,mrs4 ,x4 and

 the two boys were sent to the country  
for one week4  ,notwithstanding this1   
,mrs4 ,x4 felt the summer a hard one4   
,she was not a brisk or cheerful woman4 
,she had suffered a great deal from the 
heat1 and ,a4 had diphtheria and other  
illnesses4  ,in the fall it was arranged
 that the girl should again go to       
school2 and the married sister finally  
offered1 in order to make this possible1
 to board her and provide her with boots
 until ,christmas4  ,the ,provident     
,association1 after considering the case
 carefully1 offered to give #b4jj a week
 and coal and clothing4  ,the friend who
 had been giving all the help stood     
ready to give if more than this was     
needed4  ,two months later ,mrs4 ,x4 had
 her husband arrested1 and sent to the  
,island for a month4  ,in the winter    
,mrs4 ,x4 consulted her visitor as to   
the possibility of her giving up the    
,provident help and supporting herself  
by taking boarders4 ,she had friends all
 ready to come1 and could arrange to    

hire additional rooms4  ,all she needed 
was extra bedding4  ,she felt confident 
of success4 ,her health was better than 
it had been for a long time1 and she was
 improved in energy and courage4  ,by   
dint of great persuasion1 the ,provident
 consented to give the bedding4  ,they  
also promised to continue giving coal2  
but the other help1 it was arranged1    
should stop4  ,they had little hope1    
however1 that the experiment would      
succeed4  ,but the experiment did       
succeed1 and better #bab than ,i had    
anticipated4  ,mrs4 ,x4 proved a good   
manager4  ,she made a comfortable home1 
clothed the children1 and provided many 
little comforts of which they had long  
been deprived4  ,she became cheerful and
 hopeful for the future4  ,she seemed   
like a different person from the sick1  
discouraged woman ,i had known nine     
months before4  ,when her husband came  
home from the ,island1 ,i feared he     
might disturb this prosperity1 for he   
acted worse than ever2 but in ,january  

he attacked her with a knife1 so she had
 him again arrested1 and sent to the    
,island for four months4  ,she then told
 me she wished to take steps for a      
separation4  ,i encouraged her in this  
decision1 but was careful not to urge   
her1 for ,i felt that such a step to be 
successful must be taken by her own     
desire4  ,so1 as spring approached1 ,i  
hoped that better days had really come  
for this family4  ,unfortunately1       
however1 in ,march a sad accident       
brought this prosperous state of things 
to a sudden end4  ,on the morning of    
,march #aj1 ,n4 brought me word that his
 mother had fallen downstairs and broken
 her arm1 and asked me to call as soon  
as possible4  ,i found the poor woman in
 bed1 with her right wrist broken1 and  
her face and body badly bruised4  ,she  
was in great pain1 and so discouraged   
that it was pitiful4 ,her boarders had  
gone1 and she found herself once more   
dependent on charity2 but ,i felt ,i    
could say #bac from a full heart that   

the help she now needed would not be    
grudged to her4  ,for1 surely1 no one   
could help respecting her endeavor for  
self-support or could regard her effort 
as a failure2 and1 when her accident    
reduced her once more to dependence1 her
 rent was paid for the rest of the      
month1 she had a bag of flour and other 
groceries in the house1 and #h4jj in    
money with which to pay the doctor for  
setting her wrist4  ,the visitor adds3  
,i think that during this year's        
visiting ,mrs4 ,x4 had really learned to
 regard me as a friend4  ,at first ,i do
 not think she liked me very well1 and  
,i also found it hard cordially to like 
her4  ,we were not naturally            
sympathetic4  ,i am afraid that she     
often thought me hard2 and she had a    
dreary1 complaining way that tried me a 
great deal4  ,but her good qualities    
commanded my respect and her misfortunes
 my pity2 and on her my evident desire  
to befriend her gradually had its       
effect4  ,her first expression of real  

feeling was when she consulted me about 
her plan for taking boarders1 and that  
was after nine months of constant       
visiting4  ,she then said that ,i was   
the only friend that she had in the     
world2 and later1 when the plan was in  
successful operation1 she told me that  
she attributed all her prosperity to me1
 and that she was a star in my crown4   
,that she owed all her prosperity to me 
was of course an exaggeration4  ,i could
 not have helped her had she not been   
the essentially decent woman she was4   
,but1 at the same #bad time1 it was true
 that1 had she not been helped and      
encouraged when her destitution was so  
great1 she would probably have lacked   
both the physical and moral strength1 as
 well as the opportunity later1 to stand
 upon her own feet4  ,and1 when her bad 
fortune again overtook her1 it was much 
for her that she had a friendly visitor 
to turn to4  ,she felt it so herself2   
and1 as she lay moaning with pain1 she  
sobbed out that ,i was the only comfort 

she had on earth4  ,after the breaking  
of her wrist1 ,mrs4 ,x4 was dependent   
for a long time1 since the wrist did not
 knit properly1 and her right hand was  
almost disabled4  ,it did not seem as if
 she could ever get on her feet again4  
,but after a time she wished to move to 
one of the country towns where she had  
acquaintances4  ,the visitor went to the
 place herself to examine the chances1  
and decided that the plan was worth     
trying4  ,the ,provident ,association   
gave #aj4jj for moving and #aj4jj more  
for a start4  ,after that the visitor   
gave a little from time to time2 but1   
for the most part1 the family were      
self-supporting4  ,the boy worked in a  
factory1 the girl was employed by a     
neighbor1 and the mother raised hens and
 vegetables4 ,at last accounts the      
daughter was married4  ,her husband is  
of good character and prosperous4  ,both
 the brothers are earning good wages1   
the younger one having grown from a     
sickly child to a strong and hearty boy4

 ,the mother is successful with her     
poultry1 and gets high prices for #bae  
the eggs4  ,the husband comes and goes  
as formerly1 contributing nothing to the
 family income1 but doing no special    
harm to any but himself4 ,certainly1 the
 present condition of the family is a   
very happy contrast to that in which    
they were first found2 and certainly1   
also1 these changed conditions are in no
 small degree due to the earnest and    
devoted efforts of the                  
visitor4--,sixteenth ,report of ,boston 
,associated ,charities1 pp4 #de sq4     
,unconscious ,influence of ,good        
,neighbors4--,i would venture to say    
that there is not an immoral man or     
woman in neighborhoods known as         
disreputable1 however completely he or  
she may have cast off self-restraint and
 regard for character1 who has not daily
 examples of persons1 close to such     
homes and haunts of vice1 living honest 
and morally clean lives1 and who is not1
 to a degree not consciously known1     

restrained and influenced by the        
contact4 4 4 4  ,space will not permit  
many instances to be stated1 but1 as    
illustrating what ,i am wishful to make 
clear1 ,i give two4  ,in a court behind 
a street well known as bearing almost   
the worst character in ,manchester lives
 a man1 paralyzed1 unable to leave an   
old sofa which has been his bed for     
months4  ,he was in the ,royal          
,infirmary1 and there pronounced        
incurable1 but likely to live years with
 ordinary care4  ,he could have been    
taken to the workhouse hospital at      
,crumpsall1 where he would have #baf had
 careful nursing and suitable food4  ,he
 has no dread of the workhouse hospital1
 and would gladly go if he had any hope 
of cure4  ,he speaks most gratefully of 
his treatment at the ,royal ,infirmary4 
,but there is no hope of cure1 and his  
wife and he have determined to keep     
together while he lives1 and he refuses 
the comforts of the hospital1 and she   
refuses to let him go from her4  ,she   

has made her home in this court1 working
 in the room in which he lies1 with only
 another room for their four children4  
,she earns an average of #es4 weekly2   
her eldest boy earns at a situation #es4
 more1 and on what is left out of #ajs41
 after paying #bs4 #f;d4 rent1 and      
buying coal and light1 the six live4    
7,the condition of things is now        
improved by the guardians deciding to   
take two of the children into ,swinton  
,schools47  ,this is a simple and very  
ordinary story4  ,but what is the effect
 of the woman's work8  ,she says little 
to her neighbors4  ,her high purpose and
 her complete devotion to her husband   
and children have made other women      
ashamed of sin1 and made men wish       
themselves worthy of women like her4    
,she has no thought that she is doing   
anything but giving her life for her    
husband and children1 has no knowledge  
of what the words unconscious influence 
mean--but none the less she is a light  
shining in a dark place4  ,another      

illustration4  ,an old man1 for forty   
years a laborer1 never earning more than
 a weekly wage of #bag #bjs41 who had   
brought up three sons 7now decent       
working men1 married1 with families71   
became unable to work longer1 and is    
allowed #es4 weekly by his last         
employer2 the rent is paid by his sons1 
who also give an occasional shilling    
when they visit him4  ,this is the whole
 income for himself and his wife4  ,some
 time ago when in the street he met a   
young woman whom he recognized as the   
daughter of a man who used to work with 
him4  ,he saw that she was out for      
immoral purposes and spoke to her1      
telling her how sorry he was to find her
 leading such a life4  ,as she appeared 
sorry and repentant1 he took her home to
 his wife to take care of her until he  
could see her father4 ,he found that the
 father had moved to ,bury1 having left 
his work in ,manchester from shame at   
his daughter's disgrace4  ,on the       
,sunday1 when he could expect to find   

the father at home1 the old man walked  
the seven miles to ,bury and found his  
former mate1 but could not prevail on   
him to take his daughter home4  ,in     
fact1 the father was very angry at being
 asked1 and refused to listen4  ,the old
 man walked back and told his wife that 
the girl must stay with them until the  
next ,sunday1 when he would try again4  
,the next ,sunday the old man walked to 
,bury and saw the father1 who was       
somewhat softened1 but still refused to 
see his daughter4 ,a walk home again1   
and the old man and his wife settled    
that the girl should remain with them   
for another try to be made1 and on the  
next ,sunday he set out on the #bah     
road1 hopeful to succeed4  ,the father  
this time gave way1 and on the following
 ,monday the daughter went home1 and has
 since lived at home working regularly4 
,the old man and his wife don't know    
that they have done anything out of     
common1 or anything more than ought to  
be done1 for a poor lass4--,drink and   

,poverty1 by ,councillor ,alexander     
,m',dougall1 pp4 #g sq4     #bai        
,,index    ,accident1 damages for1 #bc1 
#ajd4   ,addams1 ,miss ,jane1 #gb4      
,adequate relief1 #aeg-aei4             
,adulteration of food supplies1 #aac4   
,advertising1 philanthropic1 #adh4      
,american ,society for the ,extension of
 ,university ,teaching1 #acg4           
,associated charities4  ,see ,charity   
organization societies4    ,babies1 care
 of1 #gg-gh4   ,bad temper as a cause of
 unemployment1 #cg4   ,barnato1 ,barney1
 #aj4   ,barnett1 ,mrs4 ,samuel1        
#acd-ace4   ,baths1 cheap1 #if4         
,beale1 ,miss ,j4 ,f41 #acj4   ,beggars1
 #be-bg2 child1 #hh-hi2 and free soup1  
#adi4   ,beneficial and fraternal       
societies1 #abb-abc2 as a source of     
relief1 #aej4   ,birtwell1 ,miss ,m4    
,l41 #ahb4   ,boarding-out dependent    
children1 #ij4   ,books1 lending1 #acc4 
,booth1 ,charles1 #aig4   ,bosanquet1   
,mrs4 ,bernard1 #ah1 #bi1 #dh1 #di4     
,boston ,symphony ,orchestra1 #ace4     

,breadwinner1 the1 as head of family1   
#ag-ai1 #dd-eg2 as citizen1 #ai-bc2     
as employee1 #bh-da2 intemperate habits 
of1 #eg-fc2 woman as1 #gb-gd2     child 
as1 #ha-hc4   ,brown1 ,miss ,mary       
,willcox1 #abj4   ,building and loan    
associations1 #abc4   ,burial insurance1
 #aaj1 #aai-aba4    ,canterbury1        
,archbishop of1 #agb4   ,catholic versus
 ,protestant attitude toward the poor1  
#agd4   ,causes of poverty1 #g-i2       
intemperance as a cause1 #eh2 sickness1 
#ie-if4   ,character1 #i4   ,charitable 
agencies1 multiplication of1 #agf-agg4  
,charity organization societies1 #ac1   
#ca1 #ch1 #ee1 #fj1 #fb1 #ahg1 #ahi1    
#bjb4   ,chattel mortgages1 #aae-aah4   
,child insurance1 #abb4   ,child labor1 
#ha-hc1 #aaa4   ,children1 of immoral   
parents1 #di-ea2 of widows1 #gc-gd1     
#aeh-aei1     #bja-bjb2 diet of small1  
#gg2 as breadwinners1 #ha-hc2 wayward   
and dull1 #hc-he2 reading of1 #hf-hg2   
training in citizenship1     #hg2       
begging1 #hh-hi2 protection from cruelty

 and immorality1     #hi-ij2            
boarding-out1 placing-out1 and          
institutional care of1     #ij-ia2      
cleanliness for1 #ii2 sick1 #aja2       
insuring1 #abb2 as an     investment1   
#abb2 and stamp savings1 #abc2 games    
for1 #acj-aca2     and relief1 #adf4    
,children's ,aid societies1 #he-hf4     
,children's charities1 #gf-gg4          
,church1 the1 and municipal reform1 #ba2
 and relief1 #afj1 #afg-agd2     and    
poverty1 #aff-afg2 multiplying relations
 with1 #afh1 #afi2     charities of1    
#agj-agh2 competition in1 #aga-agb2 as a
 natural     source of relief1 #agc-agd2
 the chief source of the charitable     
impulse1 #age-agf2 and secular agencies1
 #agf-agg4   ,church workers1 who ignore
 the breadwinner1 #ah2 ignore           
neighborhood     ties1 #be1 #bg2 ignore 
the fundamental conditions of family    
life1 #dd-de2 ignore the claims of      
children to educational     advantages1 
#ha2 allow children to be sent with     
begging messages1 #hh2     prefer to    

administer spiritual consolation mixed  
with material     relief1 #add4         
,citizenship1 #ai-bc1 #hg4   ,city life 
versus country1 #dj1 #hb4               
,cleanliness1 household1 #fi-gj2        
personal1 #ii4   ,clergymen1            
difficulties of1 in guiding church      
charities1 #agj-aga2     training of1   
for charitable work1 #agh4   ,collection
 of small savings1 #abd4   ,commodities1
 relief in1 versus relief in cash1 #afa4
   ,common sense1 charitable skill based
 upon1 #ahg4   ,compulsory education1   
#hj4   ,conditions1 reasonable1 in      
granting relief1 #aij4   ,confinement   
cases1 #dh1 #ajc4   ,consumptives1      
change of climate for1 #aje-ajf4        
,contagious diseases1 #aja4             
,contentment not always a virtue1       
#abg-abh4   ,convalescents1 #ajd4       
,coperation1 between churches and       
secular charities1 #agf-agg2     of the 
visitor with school-teachers1 #gi-hj2   
with ,sunday-school     teachers1 #hg2  
with children's aid society1 #he2 with  

society for protection of children1     
#hi-ij2 with board of     health1       
#if-aja2 with dispensaries1 #ajj-aja2   
with hospitals1     #aja-ajc2 with      
district nurses1 and diet kitchens1     
#ajc2 with     educational agencies1    
#acg2 with relief agencies1 #afd1       
#bja-bjb2     with churches1 #agg-agh2  
with charity organization society1      
#ahg-ahi2 with others charitably        
interested in family1 #aib4             
,correspondence with families1 #ahd-ahe1
 #aii4   ,country life for families1    
#da1 #hb4   ,credit1 buying on1 #aac2   
better than relief1 #adi4    ,damage and
 accident cases1 #bc1 #ajd4   ,dampness1
 #ig1 #ajb1 #aaj4   ,day nurseries1 #gg4
   ,de ,graffenreid1 ,clare1 #be4       
,deserted wives1 #dh1 #gc-gd4           
,deserters1 chronic1 #dh1 #bje4         
,dickens1 #b4   ,diet1 #fg2 of small    
children1 #gg4   ,diet kitchens1 #ajc4  
,dietaries1 scientific1 #ff-fg4         
,discontent1 social value of1 #abg-abh4 
,dispensaries1 #ajj-aja4   ,district    

nurses1 #ajc4   ,district visiting1     
#aic-aid4   ,doctoring1 relief work     
compared to1 #aed-aee4   ,dress and     
manners1 taste in1 #fh4   ,duplication  
of relief1 #afe4    ,edgeworth1 ,miss1  
#b4   ,education1 #hj-hd1 #ib1 #acg-ach4
   ,educational classes1 #acg4   ,eliot1
 ,george1 #b1 #aj1 #cd4   ,eliot1 ,rev4 
,samuel ,a41 #aje4   ,employees1 #bh-da4
   ,employer1 as source of relief1 #aej2
 caution in making inquiries of1 #ahi4  
,employment1 #bh-da2 fluctuating1 #ce2  
equalization of1 #ce-cf1 cautions     in
 finding1 #dj-da1 #bja-bjb2 facts needed
 in finding1 #ahf-ahh4   ,exceptional   
cases1 #g4   ,exercise1 outdoor1 #ih-ii1
 #acb4   ,experience1 need of1 in relief
 work1 #afc-afd4    ,facts1 necessary in
 relief1 #aef-aeg2 in treatment1        
#ahf-ahh4   ,family1 the1 head of1      
#ag-ai1 #dd-eg2 essential elements of1  
#de-df2     breaking up1 #ed-eg2        
over-visiting1 #ahd2 brief biography    
of heads of1 #ahh4   ,family budgets1   
#abe4   ,financial history of family1   

facts in1 #ahh4   ,fluctuating work1    
#ce4   ,food1 buying and preparing1     
#fe-fg2 adulteration of1 #aac4   ,forms 
of relief1 #afj-afb4   ,fraternal       
societies1 #abb-abc2 as a source of     
relief1 #aej4   ,fresh air charities1   
#gh-gi4   ,fresh air1 prejudice against1
 #ig-ih4   ,friendly visiting1 and      
social service1 #e2 need of1 #ac2       
introduction     to1 #ac2 qualifications
 for1 #ad2 and economic problems1       
#bi2 and employment1 #cf-da2 men and    
women in1 #da-dc2     and household     
economy1 #fe-fi2 and school-teachers1   
#gi2     and home libraries1 #hg2 and   
the children1 #ia-ic2 and               
sanitation1 #ig-aja2 and sickness1      
#aja-ajf2 and thrift1 #aaa2 and         
savings1 #abd2 and chattel mortgages1   
#aaf2 and recreations1     #abi2 and    
relief1 #adb-ade1 #ahc2 and relief      
agencies1 #afd-afe2     and churches1   
#agg-agh2 what it is not1 #ahj2 results 
of1 #aha2     principles of1 #ahb-aie2  
patience in1 #ahb-ahc2 number of        

families     in1 #ahb2 by               
correspondence1 #ahd-ahe2 mutual        
relations in1 #ahe2     and charity     
organization societies1 #ahg-ahi2 and   
others charitably     interested1 #aib2 
best done alone1 #aic2 distinguished    
from     district visiting1 #aic-aid2   
illustrations of continuous1 #aig-bae4  
,fuel1 #fh-fi2 saving for1 #acd4        
,funerals1 #aai-aba4    ,games1         
#acj-aca4   ,godkin1 ,e4 ,l41 #ba4      
,gymnasiums1 #acb4    ,health1 #ie-ajf2 
saving at expense of1 #aaj4   ,hill1    
,miss ,octavia1 #ce1 #abh1 #aha4        
,home1 the1 the unit of society1 #dd2   
relief should be given in1 #ade-adf4    
,home libraries1 #hf-hg1 #aig-aih4      
,hospital care1 #aja2 prejudice against1
 #aja-ajc4   ,howells1 ,w4 ,d41 #gj4    
,humor1 sense of1 necessary in charity1 
#abi4    ,ignorance of ,english as a    
cause of unemployment1 #ci4             
,imposture1 #afh-agj4   ,improvident    
poor1 #aab4   ,inadequate relief1       
#aeg-aei1 #agc4   ,incapacity as a cause

 of unemployment1 #cd4   ,incurables1   
#ajd-aje4   ,indiscriminate giving1 #d1 
#f2 by the poor1 #be-bg2 weakens        
neighborhood ties1 #bg2 weakens family  
ties1 #de-dg2 to     children1 #hh-hi2  
materialism of1 #ada2 results of1 #aeg1 
#bjd-bje4   ,individual service1 and    
social service1 #e-f2 dangers of1 #g4   
,industrial insurance1 #abj-aba4        
,influence1 power of personal1 #ib-ic2  
patience in gaining1 #ahb-ahc2     of   
good neighbors1 #aig1 #bae-bah4         
,instalment purchases1 #bd1 #aac-aae4   
,institutional care1 #afb2 of children1 
#ij-ia2 for chronic cases1 #aia4        
,insurance1 industrial1 #abj-aba4       
,intemperance1 #g1 #dh-di1 #ed1 #eg-fc2 
recreations as a cure of1 #acb-acc4     
,interference with individual rights1   
#ab4   ,interim relief1 #aed4           
,invalids1 chronic1 #ajc-ajd2 migration 
of1 #aje-ajf4   ,investigation1         
#aee-aeg1 #ahf-ahi2 caution concerning  
inquiries of     landlords and          
employers1 #ahi4    ,jewett1 ,sarah     

,orne1 #c4   ,juvenile offenders1 #he1  
#hh-hi4    ,kelley1 ,mrs4 ,florence1    
#hb4   ,kindergartens1 #gi2 first       
supported by churches1 #age-agf4        
,krohn1 ,professor ,william ,o41 #hc4   
,landlords who sub-let1 #bd2 as         
creditors1 #afb2 caution concerning     
inquiries of1 #ahi4   ,laws for         
protection of children1 #ia4            
,lectures1 free1 #acg4   ,legal         
extortions1 #bc4   ,libraries1 free1    
#acc4   ,loan companies1 #aae-aah2      
philanthropic1 #aag2 building and1 #abc4
   ,loan exhibitions1 #acc-ace4         
,loans1 #afa4   ,loch1 ,c4 ,s41 #abe4   
,lowell1 ,mrs4 ,josephine ,shaw1 #ed1   
#gc1 #aah1 #aeg-aei4    ,man of the     
family1 often overlooked1 #ag2 should   
apply for relief1 #ade4   ,manual       
training1 #ib4   ,married vagabonds1    
#dg-eg1 #ic1 #adf1 #aeh1 #afd1 #bjb-bae4
   ,mason1 ,miss1 #ij4   ,materialism of
 the charitable1 #ada1 #aga4   ,medical 
service1 cheap grade of1 #ajj4   ,men as
 friendly visitors1 #da4   ,migration of

 invalids1 #aje4   ,money1 relief in1   
#afa4   ,mothers' meetings1 #gd-ge4     
,municipal reform1 #f1 #ba4   ,music1   
#ace-acg4    ,negro prejudice against   
hospitals1 #ajb-ajc4   ,neighborhood    
standard1 and relief-giving1 #afc-afd2  
and plans     for permanent improvement1
 #aia4   ,neighbors1 #bd-be1 #bg2 as a  
source of relief1 #aej2 effects of      
relief     upon1 #afc1 #aij2 influence  
of good1 #bae-bah4   ,newspaper appeals 
for individual cases of need1 #adg1     
#bjf4   ,non-support laws1 #ec4         
,novels1 poverty in1 #b2 sociological1  
#c4    ,odd jobs1 #cf4   ,open spaces1  
#if4   ,outdoor relief1 public1         
#aea-aeb4   ,outings1 #gh-gi1 #aca4     
,over-visited families1 #ahd4           
,parasites1 #aa4   ,partnership1 with   
the poor in relief1 #aei2 in plans for  
their     welfare1 #aij4   ,patent      
medicines1 #ajj1 #aaj4   ,patronage1    
#aj1 #ge4   ,pauper burial1 #aah-aai4   
,pauperism not poverty1 #aa4   ,pawning1
 #aah4   ,peabody1 ,professor ,f4 ,g41  

#abg4   ,peabody1 ,george1 #acc4        
,pensions1 for widows with children1    
#gd2 continued after need     has       
ceased1 #aee2 to supplement natural     
resources1 #afb4   ,physical defects as 
a cause of unemployment1 #ch2 as a cause
     of juvenile delinquency1 #hc-he4   
,physical history of family1 facts in1  
#ahg4   ,pickton1 ,miss1 #agc4          
,pictures1 lending1 #acc-ace4           
,placing-out dependent children1 #ij4   
,plans for relief1 #aed-aeg2 changed    
with changing conditions1 #aee2         
based on facts1 #aee-aef2 for permanent 
improvement1 #ahi-aib4   ,pleasures the 
measure of a man1 #abi4   ,pledges1     
temperance1 #fa4   ,policemen as        
distributors of relief1 #ai4            
,political corruption1 #ba-bc2 and      
public relief1 #aea4   ,poor1 the1 not a
 social class1 #aj-ab2 charity of1      
#be-bg2 treated     as dependent        
animals1 #abe2 partnership with1 in     
plans of     relief1 #aei-afj4          
,poverty1 phases in our treatment of1   

#e2 cure of1 #bi2 problems of     not so
 simple as they seem1 #adj4             
,principles of relief-giving1 #ade-afb4 
,probation system for juvenile          
offenders1 #he-hf4   ,protection of     
children from cruelty and immorality1   
#hi-ij2     societies for1 #hi2 laws    
for1 #ia4   ,provident poor1 #aaa4      
,public distributions of relief1 #adg4  
,publicity in charity1 demoralization   
of1 #adf-adh4   ,putnam1 ,mrs4 ,james1  
#gf4    ,quack doctors1 #ajj4           
,reading1 #acc2 of children1 #hf-hg4    
,recreation1 #abg-aci4   ,references1   
lack of1 as a cause of unemployment1    
#cg4   ,relatives as a source of relief1
 #adi-aej4   ,relief1 policemen as      
distributors of1 #ai2 of married        
vagabond's     family1 #ej-ed2 of       
drunkard's family1 #fa2 of children1    
#gf-gg2     and hospital care1 #ajb2 of 
thriftless families1 #aab2 and          
recreation1 #ach-aci2 a valuable tool1  
#adj-ada2 friendly visitors as          
dispensers of1 #adb-ade2 six principles 

of1 #ade-afb2 with a future1            
#aec-aed2 societies for1 #aec2 interim1 
#aed2 compared with     doctoring1      
#aed-aee2 with a plan1 #aee-aeg2        
adequate1 #aeg-aei2 in     work1 #afj2  
in kind1 #afa2 duplication of1 #afe2    
church1 #afg-agd2     as a gospel       
agency1 #aga-agc2 with conditions1 #aij4
   ,relief in work1 #afj4   ,relief     
societies1 #aec4   ,rent1 #aef1 #afb4   
,richardson1 #b4    ,saloon1 the1 #eg1  
#abh1 #acc4   ,sanitation1 improved1    
#if4   ,saving1 #ce1 #aaa1 #aai-abe2    
unthrifty forms of1 #aaj-aaa2 savings   
banks1 #aah-aai1 #abc2 beginnings of1   
#aai2 for burial1 #aai-aba2     for     
sickness1 #abb2 stamp1 #abc-abd2        
collections1 #abd2 for fuel1 #abd4      
,school-teachers1 #gi-hj   ,scott1 #b4  
,seasonal occupations1 #cf4             
,self-help1 resources for1 #aij4        
,self-sustaining families1 #aic4        
,sentimental charity1 #d4               
,settlements1 #e1 #h1 #ajh4             
,shaftesbury1 ,lord1 #aj4   ,sham homes1

 #df4   ,sick benefits1 #abb4           
,sickness1 as a cause of poverty1       
#ie-if2 outside hospitals1 #ajc-ajd2    
facts needed in helping1 #ahf-ahh4      
,smith1 ,miss ,frances1 #aha4   ,smith1 
,miss ,zilpha ,d41 #cf1 #eh1 #gi1 #adb4 
,social classes1 #aj-ab4   ,social      
history of family1 facts needed in1     
#ahg4   ,social service1 #e4   ,soup    
kitchens1 #adh-adi4   ,sources of       
relief1 natural1 #adi-aej2 relief       
societies1 #aej2 public     outdoor     
relief1 #aea2 multiplication of1        
#aeb-aec4   ,spasmodic charity1 #aia1   
,spencer1 ,mrs4 ,anna ,garlin1 #ha4     
,spending1 #aaa1 #aab1 #abe1   ,stamp   
savings1 #abc-abd4   ,strikes1 #ca-cb4  
,study1 supplementary to experience1    
#ae2 of charity in theological          
seminaries1 #agh4   ,suggestion1 power  
of1 #ah1 #ga-gb4   ,suggestions about   
visiting not all applicable to one      
family1 #agi4   ,summer visiting1 #ahe4 
,sunday-schools1 multiplication of1     
#hg-hh1 #afh1 #agg4   ,sympathy and     

sentimentality1 #ga4    ,tact1 #ad4     
,tammany ,hall's charity1 #bj4          
,tenements1 unsanitary1 #if4   ,thanet1 
,octave1 #c4   ,theological seminaries1 
course of charitable instruction in1    
#agh4   ,thomas1 ,theodore1 #ace-acg4   
,thrift1 #ajh-aab2 and wages1 #aji2     
includes spending1 #aaj-aaa2     divides
 the poor into three classes1 #aaa-aab4 
,thriftless1 the1 #aji-aaj1 #aef4       
,trade-unions1 #cj1 #cb4   ,training of 
charity workers1 life the best school   
for the1 #ad1 #ade1     #aha-ahb2 common
 sense in1 #ahg2 economic questions in1 
#bi4    ,undertakers and industrial     
insurance1 #aba4   ,unemployed1 in place
 of strikers1 #ca-cb2 number of1 #cc2   
treatment     of1 #cd4   ,unemployment1 
causes of1 #cc-dj4   ,university        
extension1 #acg4   ,unsanitary          
surroundings1 #if-ig2 tenements1 #if4   
,unthrifty forms of saving1 #aaj-aaa4   
,unworthy not a descriptive term as     
applied to the poor1 #aed4   ,usury1    
#aae-aah4    ,vagabonds1 married1       

#dg-eg1 #ic1 #adf1 #aeh1 #afd1 #bjb-bae4
   ,ventilation1 #ig-ih4   ,visiting1   
continuous1 #ahb-ahe2 illustrations of  
continuous1 #aig-bae2     patience in1  
#ahb-ahc1 #bjj2 illustrations of        
successful1 #aig-bjb1     #bjg-bae2 in  
summer1 #ahe4  ,see also ,friendly      
visiting4    ,wants1 social value of    
varied1 #abg4   ,warner1 ,a4 ,g41 #cc1  
#ie4   ,wayward children1 #hc-hf2 girls1
 #baf-bah4   ,widows with children1     
#gc-gd1 #aeh-aei1 #bja-bjb4             
,window-gardening1 #aca-acb4   ,winter  
not the only season for charitable work1
 #ahd4   ,wolcott1 ,mrs4 ,roger1 #gj4   
,women as homemakers1 #fd-ge2 as        
breadwinners1 #gb-gd4   ,work history of
 family1 facts needed in1 #ahg-ahh4     
,worthy and unworthy1 #aed4