LETTERS TO TIIE EDITOR.
CHARITY ORG.INISATION.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOIL*1
Sta,—Permit me to express the sincere gratification your article on the Organisation of' Charity, in last week's Spectator, has
given me and very many more of your nnmerous readers. It has evidently been written with thorough knowledge and true appreciation of the principles, aims, and work of the Society. Having been an almoner in the East End for more than thirty years, and still acting in that capacity, I can bear testimony to the excellent results effected by the Society in the relief of real distress, and the discouragement of mendicant habits amongst the poor and the labouring classes. Church and chapel-going for sake of "the loaves and fishes" has, to a great extent, ceased ; the giving of mere doles, that do no permanent good, has greatly lessened ; while means are used to call out the energies and utilise the skill of applicants for relief, so as to put them in the way of self-support, as far as possible. For some twelve years I have acted with and used the Society for these ends, and found it most useful and effective as a charitable agency.
I wish specially, however, to supplement your article, and direct your attention and that of your readers to a most valuable subsidiary Society, that for some few years has been successfully conducting an experiment of far more than local importance; I refer to the "Tower Hamlets Pension Society," the object of which is to provide small pensions for the thrifty poor who are excluded from obtaining out-door relief, in three East-end parishes—viz., Whitechapel, Stepney. and St. George's-in-the-East. The Guardians in these parishes, stimulated and guided in great part by leading members of the local Organisations of Charity, have for some years resolved to abolish out-door relief, by taking on no fresh cases. The Pension Society has been founded to meet the emergency and transition, so that the better class of the quiet, respectable poor shall be able to maintain their social status without having to take refuge in the "House." The case of every applicant for such pension is first thoroughly sifted by the local Organisation of Charity, and the relatives and friends are induced to contri- bute a sufficient amount to supplement each pension, and render it adequate for the applicant's support. The Committee of the Pension Society are all members of the Organisation of Charity, and give their services to both voluntarily. I believe that the Local Government Board is watching the experiment with keen interest, for it is obvious that if outdoor relief can be dispensed with in three of the poorest of the London parishes, it can be dispensed with in all others in the metropolis and in the great towns throughout the kingdom. I can bear personal testimony that hitherto the stringent refusal to continue outdoor relief in the above parishes has not been attended by any special suffering on the part of the poor, but has led to the development and exercise of an unusual amount of relative and personal energy on their part, to provide for their necessities other than by the workhouse.
Let me add one word more. Attending two of the East-end organisations every week, and devoting several hours with my excellent colleagues to the investigation of the cases that come before us, I can say for them, as for myself, that we give both head and heart to our work, purely with a view to do what is best for each applicant. We often hesitate before, and it is always with sincere regret that, we dismiss cases as " ineligible "
Previous page
