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The Official Organ of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York.

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NEW YORK STATE CONFERENCE OF CHARITIES although the State Board of Chari

AND CORRECTION.

At the opening session of the State Conference of Charities and Correction, the Senate Chamber at Albany was crowded by an audience which was eminently representative of the various interests which the conference is intended to embrace. There were present workers in public and private charitable agencies, in reform bodies and in correctional institutions. There were professional workers and volunteers, state and city officials, and private citizens. The Governor of New York, the President of the National Conference of Charities and Correction, the President and members of the State Board of Charities, the Secretary and members of Lunacy Commission, and the Mayor of Albany were in attendance. And the writer noticed at least seventy-five well known representatives of the charities of New York city, though the actual number was doubtless still greater. There were everywhere evidences of the thorough preparation made for

ties had initiated this conference it was not with the desire or intention that the conference should hereafter have any official connection with the board.

Gov. Roosevelt, who was received with enthusiasm dwelt upon the value of the aid given to public officials by those who work at civic and social problems as a labor of love. Referring to the correctional side of the conference, the Governor emphasized the mischief resulting from such sentimentality as prompts. a community to allow criminals to escape just punishment. With equal emphasis the Governor congratulated the societies engaged in charitable work which keep themselves free from harmful forms of philanthropy, the effect of which is to pauperize and degrade.

Hon. Bird S. Coler was prevented from attending the conference by illness in his family, but he sent a brief paper containing suggestive statistics of the finances of public charities in New York city, and asking for suggestions regarding the

further improvement of the system of granting subsidies to private charities. On this subject Mr. John M. Glenn of Baltimore made some pertinent suggestions based on recent experiences of the Maryland Legislature. Mr. Glenn also pointed out the advantages of conferences of this kind, and extended a cordial invitation to the national conference in Washington next May.

The meeting closed with a few witty remarks from Rev. T. A. Hendrick of Rochester, who is one of the vice presidents of the conference and who alluded especially to the state industrial school of Rochester.

The Wednesday morning session of the conference was devoted to the consideration of the subject: "The Care and Relief of Needy Families in Their Own Homes." After the report of the committee upon this subject a paper, "The Need and Value of Settlement Work," was read by Mr. James B. Reynolds, head worker of the University Settlement, New York.

Mr. Reynolds said that settlement work is susceptible of three divisions: First, social investigation; second, the provision of various kinds of opportunity in the settlement house; and, third, co-operative work with. and for the community in which the settlement is located.

The settlement, from the point of view of general social conditions, has become a necessity. In all our cities there is a rich quarter and a poor quarter. From this separation has arisen misunderstandings, mutual distrust and mutual suspicion. Such sentiments are dangerous to progress and destructive to democracy.

The settlement comes as a counterplay to relieve the dangers of the separation of classes which has developed during this century, and as

a protest in behalf of the solidarity of society. It has almost universally sought to meet the independent poor, and hence it has not considered it has a direct work for the pauper class. It seeks to alter conditions which seem to be pauperizing.

In conclusion, Mr. Reynolds said: "You, as non-residents, come, perhaps, with a certain freshness of enthusiasm and keenness of observation to the consideration of social problems which we do not possess. We, living in the midst of our quarter, by daily contact, come to appreciate some minute elements of environment which the occasional observer could not perceive. We are led to feel constantly the overpowering influence of environment and the terrible suction downwards. In this close contact, day and night, summer and winter, we believe that our work is unique. is immensely needed, and that it has a value of its own."

The discussion of Mr. Reynolds's paper was opened by Mr. J. Graham Phelps Stokes, of New York, who spoke upon "The Relation of Settlement Work to the Evils of Poverty." Mr. Stokes spoke in part as follows:

"We are often told that poverty is due to three chief causes, lack of employment, vice and crime. Undoubtedly these are determining causes, but are they, or is any one of them fundamental? I wish to emphasize the fact of the existence of an underlying, predisposing cause, responsible for the vast majority of the suffering that is ascribed to poverty, and to point out the appropriateness and importance of settlement work as an effective remedial agency. Undeveloped or defective personality is the prime cause of all poverty. No measures directed to the reduction of the world's poverty

will ever prove successful unless so devised as to reach and develop the characters of those in poverty or on its verge, and of those through whose greed, neglect or ignorance poverty has come to others.

Awakening the personality, and its development along lines of intelligence and honesty and unselfishness and thrift, is the prime essential to the overcoming of the evils of poverty, and to the lessening of its extent. The fundamental aim of the settlement is to help prepare children and young people for lives of self-respecting, self-sustaining, useful, social citizenship, and the success of its efforts in this direction is chiefly due to the operation of that fundamental principle.

A paper, "The Breaking Up of Families," was presented by Mr. Edward T. Devine, General Secretary of the Charity Organization Society of the city of New York.

Mr. Devine spoke at length of the removal of the aged and sick from their homes to charitable institutions, and the proper care of such dependents.

Referring to the removal of children because of destitution, ungovernable conduct, and improper guardianship, he spoke, in part, as follows:

From the maze of complications and difficulties in which the whole question of the care of dependent children is involved a few principles emerge:

1. Children should remain with their parents if the latter are of good character and have sufficient income for their support.

2. Parents who are of good character, and who with a reasonable amount of private assistance can support their children at home. should, as a rule, receive such assistance, and the breaking up of the

family should thus be averted. The experience of the Charity Organization Society of the city of New York demonstrates, beyond possible controversy, the fact that there are many such families and that assistance for them can be provided.

3. If children are removed because their parents are morally unfit guardians for them, this removal should be absolute.

4. If children are removed because of their own incorrigible conduct the expense of their maintenance in a disciplinary institution should be borne by their parents, and the period of their detention should be as short as is consistent with the objects in view when commitment is made.

5. Orphans, abandoned children, when the whereabouts of the parents are unknown, and others who for any exceptional reason may be treated without regard to their parents or other relatives, may be cared for by whatever method is best for themselves.

6. Children of destitute parents, for whom no adequate private assistance is forthcoming, should be cared for without transfer of legal guardianship from the parents.

The breaking up of the family by the removal of children for insufficient reasons, the accompanying loss of a sense of responsibility on the part of the parents, the failure to make even reasonable efforts to care for offspring, the desertion of families in order to secure commitment of children, the refusal of near relatives other than parents to play their part in the carrying of burdens. of this kind, and the easy-going com-. plaisance of public officials in accepting as public charges those for whom other provision should be madethese are serious evils constituting at public menace of increasing rather than diminishing intensity. Fortu

nately there are many forces upon which we may rely to combat it. An increased sense of responsibility on the part of many officials, and ultimately an increased interest in the real welfare of children and clearer appreciation of the social value of the family, may be counted as allies in the struggle.

The afternoon session, Wednesday, was devoted to the consideration of "The Institutional Care of Destitute Adults." The report of the committee was presented by Mr. Byron M. Child, Superintendent of State and Alien Poor. Among other things, the report considered the growth of philanthropy in this state, especially since the organization of the state board made it possible to gather the statistics of public and private charities, and thus gauge. philanthropic effort. It showed an increase of annual expenditures for all purposes from about $6,000,000 in 1870, to nearly $30,000,000 in 1899. Besides the almshouses and other public charities having such inmates under care, there are now about one hundred and ten institutions under private control which receive destitute adults. There are also a number of others under private management which take charge of certain of the defective classes, others for the reception of discharged prisoners, while many are devoted to the sick. These institutions in 1895, cared for 4,786 persons, while the public almshouses had 14,758 inmates. In 1899, 82,974 persons received relief in almshouses, and 6,853 in the other state institutions.

The present year opened with the figures as follows: In homes for aged and friendless persons there were 7,392. In almshouses, exclusive of those classified below, there were 11,251; blind, in almshouses, 341; deaf, in almshouses, 94; epileptics,

in almshouses, 316; 316; idiotic and feeble-minded, in almshouses, 1,153; a total of 13,155 in almshouses. Disabled soldiers and sailors numbered 1,911; hospital patients, 8,223; reformatory inmates (females) 1,868.

The institutions devoted to the defective classes have largely removed a former grave cause of complaint, and the adult dependents have now better care, are better housed, and receive better treatment than at any other time in our history. One thing seems to stand out prominently-it is not so much additional legislation that is needed from this. time on, as character, intelligence and permanence in the administrative staffs of our institutions.

Indigence in this country usually springs from one of two causes— improvidence or overwhelming misfortune.

The various homes for destitute. adults draw the larger proportion of their inmates from the improvident class. This is especially true of the public institutions, for those to whom misfortune comes somewhat late in life may have friends able to find them places in homes under private control. This saves the pride, although it does not lessen the ultimate burden to be borne by the public, for it is none the less a requisition on public wealth.

The expenditure for maintenance of the destitute ought to be kept within the narrowest limits consistent with proper care. Those able to work, but unwilling, and others of vicious character who may seek a home in the almshouse should be refused admission. The state should send those who will not work voluntarily for their own support to a penal institution, and therein by forced labor compel them to con

tribute toward their own maintenance, and thus decrease the public burden.

In the administration of institutions for the care of destitute adults the points essential to success were stated to be, among others:

1. Competent officials. Character is of the first importance. No person capable of abusing an inmate should be able to secure place in any institution.

2. Good buildings, and attention. to the vital matters of ventilation, sunlight, and general sanitation.

3. Discipline. The proper management of the daily routine, and suitable employment for inmates.

4. Clássification has worked many changes for the better, and the more completely the inmates are classified, the more the institution is benefited.

5. When voluntary dependency among the able-bodied becomes incorrigible, it should be deemed a form of radical depravity, capable of transmission, to prevent which the aid of the surgeon should be invoked.

Following the report of the committee, Dr. J. T. Duryea, superintendent of the Kings County Almshouse and of the Kings County Hospital, read a paper on "Classification."

institution whose inmates are not carefully classified.

A classification to be of reliable result must be so defined that the understanding and practical application of it will be universal.

Another most important consideration is in the study of the cause of dependency. Intemperance, direct or indirect, is one of the principal causes of dependency; if it be direct intemperance, the subject is probably a temporary dependent, if indirect, the dependency is probably permanent.

The separate classification of temporary and permanent dependents is important, because it is required for statistical purposes, and because as complete a separation and distinction as possible should be made in their management and care. The opportunities for cure, by educational methods, among the temporary class are comparatively great, and any mixing of the two classes in one institution can not but be harmful to those who are only temporarily and occasionally brought in contact with the atmosphere of de pendency.

A proper classification more nearly guarantees proper care for the various classes of dependents than anyAmong the points in this paper thing else, and it provides a means we note the following:

Careful classification tends bring each individual condition within the observation of those interested, and the more thoroughly this is accomplished, the fewer dependents there will be, because many adult dependents could be made self-supporting if their conditions received individual thought and direction.

Reliable statistics are impossible, unless one general classification is adopted by all institutions. It is impossible to judge accurately of the financial management of an

of more justly comparing the work of the various institutions.

If the almshouses of this state contained only those rightly belonging to them (the aged and infirm) there would be ample room for all of that class for the next twenty-five years, and no additional buildings would be required short of that time. The feeble-minded should be placed in the special institutions. already provided for their care. The Epileptic Colony should care for all epileptics, whether promising cases or not. The workers, or those dependent because of idleness, should

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