Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/443

REVIEWS 427 ourselves. It also gives us the benefit of the differing points of view of others engaged upon problems similar to ours.

Perhaps no writer has done more than Dr. Henderson in gathering up the scattered and unarticulated results of experience in charity, and placing them before us in concise, simple form. Several years ago appeared his admirable book, Dependents, Defectives and Delinquents, which has become a widely used textbook. Later was published his summary of the writings of Dr. Thomas Chalmers, in which is given the gist of that eminent man's conclusions after many years of study and work among the poor. This in turn was followed by Modern Prison Systems. But the task which Dr. Henderson has undertaken in Modern Methods of Charity far surpasses that involved in the preparation of any of his books previously published. The work is monumental, both in the vast amount of labor required in collecting, sifting, and condensing material, and in the magnitude of the object intended to be accomplished. This object is nothing less than the description, in convenient form, of the methods and organization of public and private charity today in the more important countries of Europe and America. To each country is devoted a chapter, introduced by a brief historical sketch, showing the successive steps which have marked the development of charity, as general intelligence has increased and industrial and social conditions have changed. This prepares us to understand the present-day laws, methods, and point of view.

The book is encyclopedic, concrete. It is not a discussion of principles, but a record of experiences and a statement of methods based on lessons of experience. It is not philosophy, it is not theory; but it is a foundation upon which theory and philosophy may be erected. It is the product of the hardest and most tedious delving, searching, translating, comparing, and verifying. As it is a pioneer, it has lacked the help which predecessors, however incomplete, would have given. It has broken new paths which will not have to be broken again. The courage and patient industry which the book represents compel admiration.

Naturally there are errors. It is scarce conceivable that the reducing, sorting, and editing of the huge volume of material drawn from hundreds of widely scattered sources could produce a flawless result. That the work was performed by several persons, differing in experience, point of view, and judgment, accounts for some unevenness in clearness and in the value of examples selected as