Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/332

 320 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

One field for the adoption of a standardized minimum remains to be cultivated that of adequate outdoor relief to needy fami- lies in their homes. The stupid complacency with which only too many public officials and private benevolent societies pretend to relieve the destitute, while leaving many of them still partly to depend on begging, theft, or vice, is a sad commentary on the state of knowledge in this region. One result of this unscientific guess- work, where measurement is already possible, is that much public money is spent on the burial of pauper children which should have gone to feed and nourish them into vigorous producers of wealth.

Charity, in American cities, is far behind its task. It does not even have knowledge of those who need its aid. Under the " Elberfeld system " there are friends of the dependent in every small district of the city, and the individuals on the border of suffering can easily find their way to a helper. In America the public funds are frequently accessible only in one central office, and even when there is outdoor relief it is limited in amount.

There are many people in comfortable circumstances, and many charity workers, who think that our American charity is very nearly adequate. This optimism, I believe, is not based on facts, and is positively a barrier to necessary improvements. My own conviction is based on long personal observation and on cer- tain professional testimonies and statistical data. For example: Physicians who practice among the poor frequently report sick- ness and mortality which arise from "starvation diseases." Teachers of public schools in poor quarters make similar state- ments. The London and Chicago measurements of children in reformatory schools show an enormous ratio of dwarfed, under- fed children. The reports of boards of health in American cities contain evidence of the same conditions.

A very common answer of some charity societies to this charge is that they are able to give relief to all applicants. But, with these facts before us, the answer is not decisive. People by the tens of thousands are trying to exist and bring up children in homes which are unfit for human habitation, and on food which is insufficient to meet the minimum require- ments of growth. They do this because they either do itot know