Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/106

 92 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

mainly with facts, and these facts are very largely gleaned from the administration of outdoor relief in large cities.

"On the whole, it must be admitted that the advisability of giving outdoor relief is a question of administration. Under the Elberfeld system, in Germany, and with the great care exercised by the Bureaux de Bienfaisance of France, it has been successful. But it must be remembered that the people of the United States have a larger share of administrative awkwardness than any other civilized population. Nearly all the experiences in this country indicate that outdoor relief is a source of corruption to politics, of expense to the community, and of degradation and increased pauperization to the poor. Whether at its worst or at its best, it has not been found a satisfactory method of relieving distress. In the new communities of the West it has seemed to be almost necessary ; it is always, however, to be watched with care, to be kept at a minimum, and in large cities to be defini- tively prohibited." (Pp. 166-8, 174-5.)

NOTE. For an admirable summary of English opinion and arguments, both for and against public outdoor relief, see Miss Gertrude Lubbock's book on Some Poor Relief Questions, chap. i.

II.

TYPICAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST PUBLIC OUTDOOR RELIEF. MRS. CHARLES RUSSEL LOWELL.

Public relief is money paid by the bulk of the community to certain members of the community ; not, however, paid volun- tarily or spontaneously by those interested in the individuals receiving it, but paid by public officers from money raised by taxation.

The only justification for the expenditure of public money is that it is necessary for the public good. Before public outdoor relief can rightly be given, therefore, it is necessary to prove that it is necessary for the community at large. Now every dollar raised by taxation comes out of the pocket of some indi- vidual, usually a poor individual, and makes him so much the poorer, and therefore the question is between the man who earned the dollar by hard work, and needs it to buy himself and