PUBLIC OUTDOOR RELIEF IOI
NOTE. In a paper on " Outdoor Public Relief in Massachusetts," N. C. C., 1895, pp. 6 1 -6, Mr. Thomas F. Ring agrees in substance with Mr. Sanborn. He says: "If honestly and carefully administered, I am decidedly in favor of continuing outdoor relief as it is carried on in Boston and the state of Massa- chusetts."
ISAAC P. WRIGHT.
All relief afforded the poor should be public and dispensed under the authority of the people through their representatives elected or appointed. The funds for relief should be gathered by assessment or taxation, thus making the burden equal among rich and poor. Private relief should not be given. Whenever anyone applies to a private citizen for aid, he should be sent to the one place where, after his case has been thoroughly investi- gated, proper action would be taken. Thus there can be no such thing as imposing upon charitably disposed persons, as is often the case. Public aid cannot be refused in cases of sick- ness, where all means of the family are exhausted, and the children left to suffer the pangs of hunger. Neither can widows with many children be expected to be entirely self-supporting. Women with large families are deserted by their husbands : how can they get along without public aid ? I do not believe in bestowing public relief with a lavish hand. On the contrary, it should be given only after a searching inquiry in all matters pertaining to the case, and then only temporarily. Continued aid would only encourage pauperism. So the applicants are informed that the relief given is only temporary, and that every effort must be made by them to find employment. Outdoor relief is justified, not only as the most economical, but likewise in the interest of public and private morals. To dispense with public outdoor relief, properly administered, would be a calam- ity in any community. There can be no adequate remedy to take its place, and the poor would be obliged from sheer neces- sity to resort to crime. 1
GEORGE E. M'GONEGAL.
The people to whom outdoor relief is mostly administered may be divided into four classes ; and for convenience we will
1 "Symposium on Public Outdoor Relief," N. C. C., 1891, pp. 28-49.
