Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/710

 694 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

renders the participation of the citizen in the public relief so valuable is, on the other hand, a hindrance to the development of private charities ; while the very circumstances which have impeded the growth of public relief in America have quickened private charities in a most unusual degree. The activity of the German citizen in relief work is a voluntary contribution toward the burdens of the commune ; the American makes his contribu- tion in the form of direct private charity. While the German demands that the portion of the public funds to be devoted to poor relief be turned over to him, and expended by him as he shall judge best, the well-to-do American provides himself with a some- what larger income, and also expends it according to his own judgment. The only difference is, that in Germany the burdens of the public relief are borne by all taxpayers equally, while in America the beneficent and philanthropic man bears a greater share than the egotist, and the latter is relieved at the expense of the former. And yet I do not hesitate to say that the Amer- ican custom in this matter is worthy of imitation. The very fact that the public funds are at the disposal of the visitor and helper, without restrictions, goes far toward discouraging private charity, and makes a limitation rather than an extension of public relief seem desirable in Germany. In this connection it should be borne in mind that, as already pointed out above, the work of the public relief does not differ in the least from that of private charities, so far as the nature of the work is concerned ; the dol- lar of the one looks exactly like the dollar of the other. The difference lies not in the gift, but in the motive of the giver and in the attendant circumstances. For the commune, poor relief is a legal duty, the exercise of which readily leads the pauper to think he has a right to claim assistance, although the law expressly denies any such right. The recipient of a charity feels no debt of gratitude for the help he receives (except as he may be grateful for the manner in which the aid is given) and that because the gift comes from the public fund. Moreover, the visitor is likely to be more lavish in the expenditure of pub- lic moneys than he would be with his own, or with those