PUBLIC CHARITY AND PRIVA TE PHILANTHROPY 599
with a great deal of well-deserved admiration. It was based on entirely similar principles.
The fundamental principle of the Elberfeld system might also be expressed thus : thorough examination of each individual dependent, continued careful guardianship during the period of dependence, and constant effort to help him regain economic independence. But these requirements can be fulfilled only through the assistance and co6peration of a sufficient number of well-qualified persons. And the great results the Elberfeld sys- tem has attained must be attributed largely to its success in regulating and keeping alive this cooperation. The first experi- ments along this line were made at the beginning of this century in the form of an organization of municipal charities, including all religious denominations ; its purpose was in the first place to check indiscriminate almsgiving, thus relieving the great evil of mendicity, and at the same time to take the place of ecclesias- tical poor relief, which no longer sufficed. Here, already, the principle of thorough examination, careful guardianship, and continued assistance was established. But in practical admin- istration the greatest difficulty was experienced because of the small number of helpers at command and their insufficient organ- ization. Then the number of helpers was increased, they were divided among the local districts, and their duties defined as those we have indicated. But the successful working of this arrangement was again curtailed and hampered by the fact that thehelpersjemained mere^investigatorsand reporters, the decision as to manner and amount of the aid to be granted still remain- ing in the hands of the supervising board. The evils which it was intended to combat were not remedied, the poor taxes increased, the number of beggars was on the increase, and the ideas of the poor regulations were not carried out. It remained for a citizen of Elberfeld to discover the proper method, estab- lishing the personal responsibility of the helpers. Thus a great advance was made toward the solution of one of the most impor- tant problems of poor relief, viz., the proper relation between donor and recipient. In this spirit the reorganization was
