THE RESIGNATION OF DR. LOGE.
LT. res Eorrox Or 787. 413113OLATOL, Sin,—Perhaps you will be willing, even at a time when the war occupies all our thoughts, to give space for mention of a domestic event which marks an epoch in the history of social and charitable reform, and which is causing widespread regret amongst all those interested in these matters. I refer to the resignation, owing to ill-health, by Dr. Loch of the secretary. ship of the Charity Organisation Society after service of close upon half a century. The gap that he leaves will be appre- ciated from the following notice of him that appeared in the Oxford Magazine when he received the degree of D.O.L. in 1905
"Mr. Charles Stewart Loch is one of the most surprising facts of the present day. Here is a man with no official position, no letters after his name, not even a ribbon, whose name is known everywhere, whose influence is felt everywhere. That he was educated at Glenalmond and Sallie' means comparatively little; his life begum with his appointment as secretary to the Charity
Organization Society, and, even more, the life of the Society dates from his appointment. He has formulated a principle and created a typo. The Society, when he joined it, represented a praise- worthy if somewhat Utopian effort to bring about co-operation in the charitable world and unity amongst its workers. It has singe become the repository of wise counsels in all matters concerning the relief of the poor. It is widely disliked and universally trusted. Its friends are few and they are seem is duarto, but they win a hearing. That independence is among the meet valuable of the goods and chattels that a man possesses; that to wound independence is to do grievous harm ; that to foster independence is true charity ; that character is nine-tenths of life ; that the State shares with indiscriminate charity the distinction of beim, a mighty engine for evil—theme and kindred precepts are summed up under the Charity Organization Society principles. Now, the fount and source of all these is Mr. Loch. He resembles the oracle at Delphi more than any modern institution, inasmuch as to him come all those who are in doubt about their charitable conduct and the effect of action. To all such from his shrine at Denison Home he give. appropriate answers. More than that, the world outside, or at least the wiser part of it, postpones decision till Mr. Loch has spoken out. Year by year the public debt to him is rolling up. The Univeraity of Oxford is to be congratulated that it is among the first to recognise the debt and to do some- thing to discharge it."
Dr. Loch's reputation at a constructive social reformer is firmly established not only in his own country, but also throughout Europe and in the United States, where his name is a household word with charitable reformers of the hest sort. Many expressions of regret for hie retirement have already been received from societies and prominent individuals, both at home and abroad. For example, Mr. J. F. L. Blankenburg, of Amsterdam, the well-known editor of the Tijdschrift zoos Armensorg, who has taken a leading part in a recent drastic reform of public and private poor relief in Holland, writes on November 20th,— "I am exceedingly sorry to hear from your letter of the 14th inst. that my good old friend Mr. Loch has now resigned. He was a pioneer for sensible organized charity and one of the men of mark in the field of charity reform. So he stands as a prominent leader not only in your country but all over the civilized world in every country that is aware that the proper way of giving poor relief is only to be discovered by thought, science, and economical culture."
But though Dr. Loch has retired he has, like all true leaders, left behind him a number of men and women who are pledged to carry on his work in his spirit.—I am, Sir, &e.,
W. A. BAILWARD. [We desire to endorse Mr. Bailward'e tribute to Dr. Loch. His resignation is bound, we fear, to be a severe loss to that best of philanthropic institutions, the Charity Organization Society.—ED. Spectator.]
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