Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/98

 86 division are conducting investigations of the sweat-shop evil, the child-labor problem, and complaints of the waiters' union; they are also trying to break up a system which permits saloon-keepers to dictate the employment of waiters in restaurants.

The most important work of the philanthropic division was the organization of the Central Relief Association, or charity clearing house, the purpose of which was to systematize the charities of Chicago and prevent duplication of work. The charities of Chicago are so numerous, and they have disbursed yearly such large sums of money, that an attempt to supplement their operations has, to large numbers of citizens, seemed altogether superfluous. But, as will be explained presently, the emergency which existed in the fall of 1893 was one with which existing agencies were unprepared to deal. It was necessary to extemporize agencies for meeting the extraordinary and appalling demand for special relief. The energies of the people who afterwards composed the Federation were accordingly devoted almost exclusively to the organization which has since become the Chicago Bureau of Charities. Some of the most important parts of the work of this bureau were performed by prominent officers of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and the United Hebrew Charities. Such cooperation furnished sufficient evidence that the new agency was not an aspirant for the place of the older charitable organizations, but that it was a necessary complement of their work. During the winter of 1893-4, the association thus formed collected and applied, partly through the existing charitable organizations, the sum of $135,000. This, however, but partially indicates the importance of the work accomplished. The registration of persons receiving charity was at once begun, and 36,000 names are now catalogued.

The bureau is completing its organization, and by the coming winter will be so organized that no part of the city will be neglected.

The report of the committee on morals contains the following: Last August public gambling was notorious throughout the city. Agents and cappers for houses brazenly and openly solicited victims