ASSOCIATED WORK.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIB,—There was perhaps never so much interest in the " people of England question" as there is at the present time. Books about it abound, large and small, and there is some fear that the question may be judged too much from the literary point of view, too little from the actual. Work deals with the actual, and it tests the sufficiency of theory and generalisation. We would ask your readers and their friends to help us in this work.
The work of associated charity is most various. Any- thing that may have to be done to help the distressed may come within the compass of it. We try to learn the lives of others, their thoughts, their resources, and their troubles, that we may help them. We accept general principles of assistance,—the outcome of past experience and the indicator of ever better methods. We try to turn to the utmost account the means that are available in the community by way of poor relief, if there be any need of it, and by way of charity, so that as far as possible the particular needs of those who are in distress may be met in a suitable and effectual manner, carefully and personally. Work of this kind we ask others to share with us. For those who will help, it is available in all parts of London. In it there is play for many diverse faculties. Some may visit in connexion with general relief in order to ensure that a good plan of assistance is carried out; some may help in visiting in cases of sickness ; some may take thrift work ; some may undertake the registration of the cases dealt with by the various local agencies ; some may help to bear the brunt of the work of the office, in the seeing of applicants, in the letter-writing, in calls on friendly helpers and agencies, in accounts, and in all the little business of detail that has to be done, though at times it may seem as exacting as the necessary scrubbing and cleaning of a well-kept home.
In all this we want the help of both men and women. We ask them to do responsible work which is worthy of their faculties, and will give large scope for the worthy use of good abilities and the satisfaction of a sincere enthusiasm. We are dealing in a direct and persistent manner with what in books and deliberative discussions people call " problems." We can see how human nature acts, what impedes it, what heartens and makes it succeed in spite of drawbacks that might seem insuperable. The work makes a demand on friendliness, geniality, and sympathy. In return it gives back a fresh view of life, a new insight into it, a great desire for unity of effort, an enlarged conception of the delicacy of social relations, of their variety, their interdependence, and
their possibilities. In this work, which may be judged by its fruits, and by its fruits will justify itself, we ask others to share. We do not pretend that it is easy work, to be lightly taken up and lightly dropped ; but it is real, and it is worth the giving and the spending of body and soul. May I ask any of your readers who are willing to join in this work to communicate with me P-1 am, Sir, &c., C. S. Low', Secretary.
Charity Organisation $oeiety, Denison House, Vauxhall Bridge Road, S.W.
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