Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/801

 CHARITY-ORGANIZATION AND RELIEF SOCIETIES 787

Their real duty consists in impressing upon the minds of the public the fact that material relief is only the preliminary step in the process of regenerating the individual, a step that under some circumstances need not be taken at all ; that constructive work which shall develop the individual beyond the need of alms is the supreme aim. It is in the emphasis of the latter rather than in the denial of the former function that the charity- organization society will fulfill its true mission.

That part of the inquiry which pertained to the relations that exist between charity-organization societies and relief societies shows that their cooperation involves the performance on the part of the relief societies of the following things: (i) report to the charity-organization society the names of the people aided; (2) refer applicants to the charity-organization society for investigation; (3) grant no relief upon the recommendation of other societies or individuals without the indorsement of the charity-organization society; (4) give immediate relief in emer- gencies upon the recommendation of the charity-organization society without reinvestigation ; (5) be guided or controlled by the charity-organization^society in the amount, kinds, and dura- tion of relief to families or individuals recommended by it.

Nine societies reported that their relations with relief societies included all five of these points, by which they were given exclusive control of the work of the relief societies. Fourteen others reported that the relief societies observed only the first, fourth, and fifth, which gave them complete control of the relief to families recommended by them. Eight more were willing to cooperate to the extent of granting relief in emergencies before making an independent investigation.

Almost without exception the expressions of satisfaction with the existing relations became the more marked as the cooperation involved the larger number of the five points enumerated above, so that it would seem that exclusive control by the charity-organization society is the ideal relation. Exclusive control does not imply coercion, but a relation entered into willingly by both societies, the relief society reserving the right of independent judgment if necessary. The relation approaches