UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY " *fcj=i ; ,T. fo/each non-returned or bs item n" All When renewing by phone, write new due date below previous due date. TKe Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 57 Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago. April. 1901. Robert A Wood's Review of Settle- ment Achievement. The most notable current contribution to set- tlement literature is Mr. Robert A. Woods' long and beautifully illustrated article on "The Social Settlement Movement After Six- teen Years," in the Christian World number of The Congregationalist of Feb. 2 (Boston, House, Boston; the roof garden of the Philadelphia settlement and, the design of the new Chicago Commons, together with the like- ness of Arnold Toynbee. PRIORITY OP TOYNBEE HALL AMONG ENGLISH SET- TLEMENTS. Mr. Woods accords to Toynbee Hall its pri- ority in having set the type of settlement TOYNBEE HALL, LONDON. Mass.). The fine cuts illustrating different types of settlement architecture include the buildings of Toynbee Hall, Mansfield House, and Browning Hall, in London; the University Settlement House, New York City; Kingsley House, Fittsburg; Goodrich House, Cleveland; work "in the number and variety of university men whom it has attracted to its service and in the high standard of good taste and enlight- ened devotion which it has set for itself and imparted directly or indirectly in greater or less degree to other settlements. THE COMMONS CO/A It has been the contribution of 'Canon Bar- nelt to make the service of the poor Interest; ing aud romantic. He brought to ftass- , Ibe*^ idea of having university men living as ; rreigh- ' burs to working people. He originated, tJt srccessfully developed, those unique effeAs in; '. the way of imparting the finest results of QiiU- . urc to the common people which are espevjiaJtjv , associated with settlement work wherever it' is found. In these ways Toynbee Hall, as pioneer, has probably contributed to the world more than the total value of the work of all other settlements combined. CONTRAST BETWEEN OXFORD AND MANSFIELD HOUSES IN THEIR RELIGIOUS WORK. There has been an interesting contrast be- tween these two settlements in their religious work. The Oxford House has undertaken to combat the old secularism of the working classes in England, which was acquired from Charles Bradlaugh and his gospel of individ- ualism and atheism. During the summer open- air meetings have been conducted in the parks aud during the winter there have been large Sunday evening gatherings in University Hall, located near the Oxford House in Bethnal Green. At these meetings the talk has been mainly along the somewhat conventional line of apologetics in rebuttal of all that secularist orators might say about difficulties in the Bible narrative. There cannot be any question that this sort of work has brought good results, but these results have come rather from the cheery, courageous faith of the Oxford House men than from their argumentative strategy. At Mansfield House the method has been much wiser and vastly more suggestive. The Mansfield House Sunday afternoon meeting is, for this day of the world, the most realistic and stimulating popular religious service which I have ever attended. Here, instead of com- bating, and so galvanizing into life, a mori- bund secularism, the new and rising social hopes of the people are caught up and lifted in their true interpretation by enforcing some of 1lie neglected, but vital, human motives of the gospel. SETTLEMENT INITIATIVE IN AMERICA. The University Settlement in New York. which grew out - of the Neighborhood Guild established by Dr. Stanton Coit in 1887, has in its new Eldrige street location the finest and best equipped building yet erected for settle- ment purposes, ' The College Settlement in New York and Hull House in Chicago were I'stablislied so nearly at the same time that ihc matter of priority is an amiably mooted question. Through their loyalty to tlrr three . . ..woman's 'settlements in New York, riiiludel- : *MM. business man he clearly saw the need of au increasing body of people who should refuse to be classified and should make the common cause their own. A quiet, simple, successful, manly man has gone from us. To our citizenship, church membership and social fellowship his departure is a loss which it may take many another man's sacrifice and service to maKe good in the causes he unostentatiously served. Who follows in his train? &he Building Season without Funds for Building. Another building season has begun and we are yet without even the subscription of a dol- lar toward the erection of the residence wing of the new building so desperately needed by early autumn. This is due, we believe, less to the indisposition of many to contribute the $25,000 required to build it than to the war- den's inability to command the time to per- sonally solicit the co-operation of the increas- ing friends of the Chicago 'Commons' work. Meanwhile, we are clinging to the old Union street house, hoping against hope that the roof that has so long sheltered us will not be taken away until the new roof is spread over us eighteen unprovided for workers who are still standing by the old ship. And somehow, we "feel in our bones" that even, when the new building is completed, the work down here among the neediest of our people will not be left shelterless. But who knows how these things can be? .Perhaps some who read these very lines can tell better than we who are ever under the heat and burden of this long work- a-day! 'She First Number of our Sixth Volume. With this number The Commons enters upon the sixth year of its publication. The struggle and sacrifice that have gone into the five years of effort to maintain the paper, wholly without capital, have never seemed better worth while than now. For the grateful recognition of the service to the social cause which Chicago Commons is trying to render liv assuming the heavy personal and financial responsibility of publishing this monthly is heartier and more widespread than ever before. Its 3,000 sub- scribers and many more readers can co-operate THE COMMONS 15 with us in bringing the paper to self-support in three ways: By sending us the addresses of those whose att'.'ntion they call to its value, so that sample copies may be sent them; by suggesting advertising that may be secured, and by contributing to its columns personal ob- servations of social conditions or of the ways n which they are b^-ing bettered. Irv Rebuttal. To the testimony of our own investigation of the social function of the saloon in Chicago, presented by Mr. R. I.. Melendy, in The Com- mons for November, we add in this issue the corroborating evidence gathered by Goodrich House. Cleveland, and reported by its head res- ident. In rebuttal to the violent or hysterical criticism of our effort to account for the existence of the saloon and to suggest how the people may be saved from its baneful evils by substituting better agencies for rendering its social service, we simply restate the same stub- born facts from another point of view. With this we rest the case of The Faithful Observ- ers of the Facts of the Situation vs. The Ram- pant Ranters, whose zeal is worthy of broader intelligence. New Hope in our Wai d Politics. The most significant political event in all our settlement experience and in many years of Seventeenth Ward history was the nomination of John F. Smulski as Republican candidate for alderman. He neither sought the nomina- tion himself nor was sought for it by the party leaders. It was successfully urged upon him :is its unanimous ratification by acclama- tion was upon the convention at the demand of an aroused public sentiment voiced by the Municipal Club a non-partisan organ- ization initiated by and meeting at Chi- cago Commons. The advantage of being first in the field with a positive program was tin's again demonstrated. For the Municipal club was the first to line up its forces behind an affirmatively formulated demand, within the new and greatly enlarged ward boundaries. Accepting the leader of the annexed Polish and German population upon his honorable and able record for the past two years as repre- sentative of the adjoining ward in the city council, the club, aided by the daily Scandi- navian and the Municipal Voters' League, ral- lied the influential sentiment among the Nor- wegian and other nationalities to such an ex- tent that he was recognized to be the candidate who would have the best chance of election over any other nominee of either party. The Municipal club scores its greatest success and the Seventeenth Ward lias the opportunity to elect the best alderman it ever had. T5he Month at Chicago Commons. MUNICIPAL CLUB TRIUMPH. The best news of the mouth, if not of all our seven years, is the nomination, through the in- fluence of our Municipal club of John F. Snail- ski, as the candidate of the Republican party for alderman of the Seventeenth Ward. The influence which this non-partisan club has fair- ly won among the people at large, entitles it to wield more effectively than it has more than once before, the balance of power in ward elections. The residents have already had the pleasure of having our new Polish leader and his wife as their guests, and the Municipal club has the honor of presenting him to his new constituency at the old end of the ward, in the auditorium of our new building; thus opening his campaign. LOOM AT WORK. Thanks to the co-operation of many friends, singly and in groups, the carpet-rug-loom is at last merrily at work, and the cooking school kitchen has all of its equipment, excepting the complement of utensils for each demon- stration table. P. S. A. The pleasant Sunday afternoons continue to draw large and appreciative family gatherings to the new auditorium. Groups of delighted people follow the residents who are on receiv- ing service through the building and new friends for the old work are won at every turn. The programs for the afternoon culminate and close with the month of March, giving way to special work with smaller groups through the spring and summer. FOR NEXT SUMMER'S OUTINGS. The outing work for next summer begins to demand our attention as it should the support of its friends everywhere. Last summer we were obliged to carry a deficit of $238 into this overburdened winter from our outing account. This year we seek support in advance of our assumption of financial responsibility. Will not friends of fresh air and of those who need it plan beforehand to give as well as take it next summer? 16 THE COMMONS OUR GYMNASIUM EQUIPPED. Our gymnasium floor has not waited long for its equipment. A more complete and expensive outfit of apparatus than we could have hoped to secure in many a year was all ready in waiting for us amongst our friends in Oak Park. It had been contributed years ago to the Scoville Institute by citizens of that little city of homes. But the library building in which it was installed proved unadapted to gymnasium purposes. For many months the disposition of the apparatus has been held in abeyance, until the trustees of the institute de- cided to put it to the widest and neediest use by completely equipping with it the gymnasium of the new Chicago Commons building. If its donors could hear the enthusiastic applause which greets every announcement of the gift they would heartily ratify the liberal action of their trustees. The clubs of young men, young women, girls and boys using the gym- nasium will hasten to express their lasting ap- preciation by placing upon its walls a tablet acknowledging their grateful indebtedness to their friends of the Scoville Institute, Oak Park. OLD FREE FLOOR SAFELY UNDER NEW ROOF. The transference of our Tuesday evening free floor discussions to the bright, large audi- torium in the new building, from the dingy, catacomb-like basement of the old house, was not attempted without solicitude. The men seemed somewhat indifferent to the offer of the better accommodations and the residents were reluctant to risk the effect of the change upon the free and home-like spirit of this most unique occasion. So we postponed the transi- tion from week to week until the second Tues- day in March. To our great gratification this first meeting under the new roof was one of the best ever held on our free floor. The at- tendance, which was more representative than ever, rose from an average of eighty to one hundred and thirty. The spirit was as free as ever, and yet somewhat more diginified, and seriously practical. The occasion was signal- ized by giving more of a progressively educa- tional turn to the programs in providing for a consecutive series of topics on the history of industrial progress, and by the initiation of study classes. The latter will be organized on the basis and under the charge of the Ruskin Hall labor college, the management of which in England has been officially assumed by the Trades Unions and Co-operative Societies. The American Federation of Labor, at its last Na- tional convention, favorably entertained a prop- osition to give its official sanction, and referred it to the friendly consideration of the executive board to recommend what action should be taken by the next convention. Meanwhile, we hope to have an extensive branch of Ruskin Hall in practical operation at Chicago Com- mons this spring. In the next number of The Commons we will have -a description of the English success and American prospects of the movement by its founder, Mr. Walter Vroo- man. CHURCH SHARES SETTLEMENT'S SUCCESS. The old Tabernacle shows many signs of new life month after month. The Bible school grows steadily in numbers and efficiency under its graded organization and instruction. The La- dies' Aid and Missionary Society are increas- ing their numbers and helpful activities. Un- der their auspices a City Mission Social was given at which representatives of the society which so long assisted the church were hon- ored guests. On Sunday evenings Prof. Taylor is giving "Live Answers to Every-day Ques- tions," assisted in turn by a doctor, lawyer, business man, employe and other representa- tives of various occupations and common rela- tionships. The smallest audiences rarely fall below the largest average congregation in the old church building. The death of Major D. W. Whittle, formerly superintendent of the Sunday school, was the occasion of grateful tributes to the "Master of Sacrifice," and the singing of many of the hymns he wrote. ADVERTISEMENTS IN T5he COMMONS DURING 1901. $15.00 One Page Quarter Page 25.00 Half Page 8.00 One inch For each insertion. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point of view. It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at 140 North Union Street, Chicago, 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postoffice as mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. TKe Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2.50 francs, French foreignstamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for S2.50. Send check, draft. P. O. money order, cash or stamps, not above 5~cent denomination . ^ at our risk. CKanges of Address. Please notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify us at once if for any reason you desire your subscription discontinued. In accord- ance with custom, and the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers, we continue THE COMMONS to each addressuritilnotified to the contrary. TKe Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 58-Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago. Ma.y. 1901. The Williams' Residence Hall. Completion of the Grand Ave- Wing Assured. GIFT OF |12,000 IN MEMORY OF JOHN MARSHALL WILLIAMS, INVOLVING THE RAISING OF $13,000 TO COMPLETE AND EQUIP THE TWO WINGS. In filial regard for their father's memory and in token of sharing his interests in the per- manent establishment of the work of Chicago Commons, the family of the late John Marshall Williams have given $12,000 to assure the com- pletion of the Grand avenue' wing of our new- building as a memorial to their parents. To this end his six sons and daughters Lucian M. Williams, Mrs. Isabella Williams Blaney, Mrs. Helen Williams Husser, Mrs. Jessie Williams Simmons, Mr. Nathan W. Williams and Mrs. Edith Williams Kirkwood contribute $2,000 each, on condition that the $8,000 previously given by their father toward the erection of the Morgan street wing be added to their gift and that with the $20,000 thus assured the "Williams Residence Hall" be erected. The trustees of the Chicago Commons Asso- ciation, in gratefully accepting this sponta- neous and generous gift, by the action reported John Marshall WUIi&ms William's Residence Hall. Main Wing. Proposed Men's Club House. THE COMMONS below, decided to make an immediate effort to raise, by subscriptions, payable within one year, not only $8,000 to replace what must thus be transferred from the fund for the Morgan street wing, but $5,000 additional to complete the payments on the latter and to equip it for its fullest service. The $13,000 thus to be secured, together with the $12,000 given by the Williams family and the $29,217.71 already paid on account of the Morgan street wing and toward the purchase of the additional lot to the south of it, will put the Chicago Commons Association in possession of a building equipment costing, with its fur- nishing, fully $56,000, which by the terms of the land lease can never be alienated from the settlement work and the use of the Tabernacle church, for both of which it is held in trust. Mr. Williams' initial contributions toward the building, together with those of other early friends, have thus secured for Chicago Com- mons permanent foothold in the city, and in so doing have also assured the perpetuity of the important typical work of the Tabernacle church, which is organically independent of but closely associated with it. The memory of the man who, in his old age, caught this new vision of the city's social need and began to try to realize it, deserves to have a living memorial among the masses of its people. Of Connecti- cut antecedents, he was born at Morrisville, New York, in 1821, where he improved such educational advantages as the common schools of the village and neighboring academies af- forded. Beginning his business career in a country store, he came to Chicago in 1848 and formed the lumber firm of Lull & Williams, with yards at Randolph aiid Jefferson streets, only a dozen blocks away from the site of the new building which will bear his name. Later he entered the firm of Ryerson, Williams & Co., located in the same neighborhood, at Ful- ton and Canal streets. His loyalty to the dis- trict, in whose soil his business life first struck root, is characterictic of the strong sense of justice he had. Believing in the future of Chi- cago, he invested his savings in its real estate, from which, together with his lumber and min- ing interests, his property was accumulated. He was president of the village of Evanston in 1879, where for thirty-two years he made his home. For all these fifty-three years of his Chicago career he was actively identified with the Congregational fellowship, earlier at the First Church of this city, and later with the First Church in Evanston. His largest public donation was that of $25,000, made several years ago, to the endowment of the Chicago Theological Seminary. Since, iu a recent codi- cil to his will, he referred to his deceased wife as the one "by whose frugality and watchful- ness over the affairs of my household for many years, it has been made easier and possible for me to have accumulated the property I now possess," it is most appropriate that their chil- dren should inscribe the erection of the Wil- liams Residence Hall to the memory of their parents, John Marshall and Elizabeth C. Wil- liams. Minxite of o\ir Boa^rd of Trustees Accepting the Gift. The trustees of the Chicago Commons Asso- ciation, having received from the family of the late John Marshall Williams the assurance of the gift of $12,000 to the building fund of Chi- cago Commons, gratefully accept the contribu- tion. In accordance with the wish of the don- ors, they agree to add to it the $8,000 which Mr. Williams personally contributed to the fund and with the $20,000 thus assured erect "The Williams Residence Hall" at Chicago Commons. In so doing they hereby place upon their records their grateful appreciation of the initiative and confidence given by Mr. Williams to the work of Chicago Commons when it was in its more experimental stage of development, thus assuring the permanency and equipment now well secured. This last act of his generos- ity was a fitting expression of his half cen- tury's faith in Chicago and his deepening de- sire to promote the industrial peace, social unity and the moral and religious uplift of all its citizens. To his sons and daughters, Lucian M. Wil- liams, Mrs. Isabella Williams Blaney, Mrs. Helen Williams Husser, Mrs. Jessie Williams Simmons, Mr. Nathan W. Williams and Mrs. Edith Williams Kirkwood, the trustees give this token of gratitude for the generous share of their father's spirit which they have shown in giving $2,000 each for the completion of the residence hall bearing their family name and perpetuating their parents' memory. To Mrs. John Marshall Williams they extend their heartfelt thanks for sharing her hus- band's interest in the establishment of Chicago Commons and for assuring the continuance of his annual contribution toward the support of its work for the current vear. THE COMMONS 3 The Religious Opportunity of the Public School Teacher. BY PROF. H. W. THURSTON, CHICAGO NORMAL SCHOOL. From the point of view of society, and from the point of view of the child himself, what is the task of the public school teacher? First, from the point of view of society. A comparison may be helpful to us. We think ourselves a civilized and progressive nation and China the opposite partly because in the United States we aim to discover and develop for the use of man all the natural resources of our great domain, while in China similar re- sources have remained for ages undeveloped. It is our national ambition to discover the lo- cation of all our treasures of soil, forest, mine, river, lake and climate, and to develop these resources to the utmost. Everything in nature must be so utilized as to contribute its maxi- mum to human welfare. A worthy ideal, is it not? TWENTY MILLION SCHOOL CHILDREN OtJR UNDE- VELOPED RESOURCE. But the resources of this country are not confined to our so-called natural resources, Our 20,000,000 and more of children and young people are a part of our undeveloped resources also. And is it not here, as in the case of our natural resources, plainly to our social advan- tage to discover and develop every capability of heart, hand and head of every child? From the social point of view nothing less than this can satisfy us as an ideal for our educational system. Our nation needs the maximum power of service that now lies potential in every child. From the point of view of the children them- selves likewise comes the appeal for help that each individual may develop and outer-utter, express all there is of latent possibility in him. One child cannot realize and express himself with the same freedom through spoken and written language as another. The hammer and saw, the loom, the chisel, the brush, the needle, the clay, are media through which the soul of the child may often realize and express itself more genuinely than by the tongue or the pen. At bottom the need of each child is the same, it is "more life and fuller" that he wants. THEIR RIGHT TO FULLER SELF EXPRESSION. It is because of late that we are coming more and more clearly to see that many of our city children are living undeveloped lives, as well as that society is losing the services of its undeveloped human resources, that sewing, woodwork, domestic science, drawing, mould- ing and music are being introduced into the schools. No one who has even the glimmer of what these means of development and expres- sion mean to the child himself can make the mistake of calling them "fads and frills." As an illustration of the meaning of hand- work to a child, allow me to quote from the daily diary of one of the kindergarteners of last summer's Vacation Schools. "We have planned along the children's life this year and toward this end have begun on doll-houses. Result: Absorption in work and ecstatic de- light when work is over; no one wants to play with his ho.use; it is enough to behold it and satisfy the ego: 'I have done this'." Are you not reminded by this account of the ecstacy of kindergarten children over the 'work of their own hands, of the Biblical account of creation which ascribes a similar feeling to the Creator of the universe? "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." MORE ABUNDANT LIFE A RELIGIOUS IDEAL. From the two points of view that of society as a whole, and that of the child himself be he street gamin or the petted darling of a luxurious home I have tried to say enough to make it clear that the ideal of our educational leaders in trying to discover and develop all the potential resources of every child's nature is, at bottom, a religious ideal; in fact, the same ideal that the Great Teacher used to de- scribe the purpose of His own life when He said: "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." Surely, nothing less than this adequately ex- presses the religious opportunity of our public schools. RESPECTABILITY OF ALL SERVICE. A special phase of the social relation of man to man was emphasized in the Vacation Schools last summer. For some reason, due in part, surely, to the use made in the city press and by popular cartoonists of such words as "farmer" and "hay seed," most children in the Vacation Schools have a genuine contempt for the farmer and his work. Invariably upon the early excursions, at sight of men upon market wagons or at work in the fields, a chorus of children would shout: "Oh, see the hayseed! Look at the hayseed! look at "em!" In one school the nature study teacher based the work of the summer upon the farmer, his work, and the services he rendered to the THE COMMONS people in the cities. One result was that be- fore the summer was over some of the boys who at first despised the farmer were heard boasting to their companions that their parents used to live upon a farm. BEGETTING HONEST PRIDE IN PARENTS' OCCUPATION. In another room in the same school, the teacher of drawing found that the pupils were in general from homes where the parents were engaged in useful occupations, but occupations of doubtful social respectability. For example, rag-dealers, stokers, shoemakers, washer- women, street laborers, barbers, peddlers, cooks, etc. Accordingly these occupations were chosen for drawing. One member of the class would pose in the attitude of a worker at some sketch. Incidentally the service of each occu- pation to society was discussed and approved. The tendency of such work is shown by the fact that instead of a reluctance to tell the occupations of parents, as is very often the case, one little boy upon handing in his draw- ing of a shoemaker at his bench, straightened himself up to his full height and said, with pride, "My father is a cobbler." Now, the attitude of these children of the city towards the work of the farmer, and the ideas of most of us which lead us to class cer- tain occupations as menial and others as of doubtful respectability are for the most part purely conventioal. and in the main inherited from a former economic and political period when the occupation a man followed brought the man himself into a position of superiority or subordination to others. They have no place in a democracy. In a democracy the only question to ask about a man's occupation is: What is its social significance? Is it socially helpful or harmful, and to what degree? The only person who needs to blush because of his occupation is he whether tramp or millionaire who in his own person, as distinct from the property to which he has a legal title, is doing nothing with hand or brain, of service to his fellow men. Is there any inherent reason why the occupation of the person who renders us service in the kitchen should be despised, while that of him who renders us service from the pulpit is honored? Is the occupation of a garbage collector, by which the waste material of a great city is eliminated and the health of thousands maintained, of itself any less honorable than that of a physician who helps ns to keep the physiological processes of elim- ination in working order? INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SPIRITUAL AT BOTTOM. Our industrial system in all its complexity of production and exchange of commodities and services, with its marvelous development of machines, motive power and consolidations of corporations is at bottom a spiritual thing, and can ultimately be justified only by demon- strating that it exists for the sole purpose of aiding men the more efficiently to render each other service. Any man or institution who cannot abide this test is condemned already. On the other hand, so far as any man or insti- tution is rendering service to his fellow men, he should have the support of his own self- respect and the encouragement of a cordial recognition by those whom he serves. A good example of the development both of self-respect and social appreciation is found in Colonel Waring's experience with the street sweepers of New York. It will be remembered that he uniformed his men, organized them, in- spired them to efficiency, and cleaned the city, with the result that the death rate of the city was distinctly lowered. Colonel Waring made it an honor to' be a street sweeper in New York and taught New Yorkers for the first time to appreciate their service. THE DIGGER AND THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT. There was recently on exhibition in the Art Institute of Chicago a statue by a Chicago sculptor which breathes the spirit of what I am trying to say. The figure is that of a man bareheaded and naked to the waist, clad only in a pair of belted overalls and heavy boots, his right hand clasping the handle of a spade and his left hand holding his crumpled soft hat behind his left hip. And yet the figure is that of a self-respecting man, ready to look any man in the eye, conscious that with his spade he has helped to dig the Drainage Canal, whichi now draws off the insidious poison of typhoid fever from the drinking water of two millions of people. In another room at the Institute is a statue of John Harvard, the founder of Harvard Col- lege. As I stood befote the statue of the "Digger," I thought, here is a figure worthy to be placed beside that of the founder of a col- lege, for they stand upon the same platform of service to their fellow men. Booker T. Washington is teaching the whole negro race of the United States, and. in spite of ourselves, a part of the white race, too, that "no race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem." THE COMMONS Again, for the highest expression of the ideal in this matter of our opinions about occu- pations, for the truest expression of the re- ligious opportunity of ttie public school in its economic teaching, we must go to the words of the Nazarene, "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant." So far as the public school teacher in connec- tion with geography, drawing, economic dis- cussion and his own treatment of persons en- gaged in various occupations can develop in his pupils the habit of looking upon any of those occupations which are of service to man as worthy of any man's best efforts, and that the only disgrace in connection with a choice of occupations is to do nothing or something harmful to our fellow men, just so far is that teacher making use of a genuine religious as well as educational opportunity. OVERCOMING THE EVIL OF BACE ANTIPATHY WITH THE GOOD IN EACH NATIONALITY. Drawing once more upon my experience in the Vacation Schools, I wish to call attention to one more religious opportunity of the pub- lic schools, especially of large cities. Although the number of different nationalities in a single school went as high as eighteen, yet there were certain nationalities dominant in one school and other. nationalities dominant in an- other school. This difference In nationality, especially between the members of different schools, was the cause of antagonism at times. It was impossible, for example, to take the Foster school, which had a large number of Russian Jews in it, on an excursion past a group of colored or It^-.nu children without the words "sheeny," "nigger," "dago," and "coon" being hurled back and forth with all the venom and sting in them that emphasis and intonation are capable of giving to words. One was constantly reminded of ancient Pales- tine, where the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans; and of our own North and South during the slavery agitation when the words "Xank" and "Rebel" 'were as effective nearly in the contest as infantry and artillery. Only when these words began to lose their sting could North and South begin to feel their unity and their common destiny. The attitude of these children towards each other is but the reflection of the feeling of their parents of most of us. There are at least thirty different national- ities in Chicago, and the feeling of many of these nationalities for each other is, at best, one of difference and misunderstanding. In no other place as in the public schools can these nationalities be made to feel that their differences are but sources of richer life to- gether, and that their likenesses are far more fundamental than their differences. Each na- tionality has brought with it for the possible enrichment of all social life in Chicago much that is lovely in the home, of economic worth in occupation, enjoyable in song, dance and game, beautiful in art, inspiring in tradition, poetry and history. An encouraging and appreciative receptivity for the best each nationality has to give to America should be developed in all national- ities, and, on the other hand, a self-respecting and generous rivalry in giving the best each has to all the others ,is equally necessary if municipal life is to be as rich, homogeneous and genuinely social as it ought to be. No American city can act as a unit in the great constructive work yet before it in building up a clean, healthy, cultured, beautiful and right- eous municipality unless all our nationalities feel their likenesses, their unity, more strongly than their differences. Every school in which several nationalities are found can do much to bring this about. This can be done by the personality of the teacher who shows by every word and aet that all nationalities are alike to her, and sec- ondly, by encouraging each nationality to con- tribute the best it has of song, story, game, home customs and occupations to the life of the school. By these means both the self-re- spect of the giver and the appreciation of the receiver may be developed and a feeling of unity gradually substituted for one of antag- onism, jealousy and difference. By so doing the public school teacher will once more take advantage of a truly religious opportunity. What any city of diverse nationalities needs in order to work out a common municipal des- tiny is just what Paul said was necessary for a religious purpose: "For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free." "THE MAN-NESS OP MEN VERSUS THE MEANNESS OF ME-ISM." The same thought has been quaintly and forcibly expressed by a recent speaker before an assembly of workingmen, whom he was urging to lay aside race prejudices and work together for the accomplishment of high social purposes. "Boys, we must forget the 'sheeny'- THE COMMONS ness of the Hebrew and the 'dago'-ness of the Italian, yea, even the Irishness of the police- man must be forgotten In the man-ness of men. The meanness of me-ism must give place to the allness of we-ism, for only so can the Son of Man come to reign in righteousness." The R.ura.1 Problem- HY KENYON L. BUTTEHFIELD. The purpose of this article is to summarize those forces and agencies that are now at work for the upbuilding of rural life, and that seem to be peculiarly adapted to the solution of the farm problem. It may not be out of place to suggest, at the outset, that the farm problem has a somewhat distinctive character. In the first place, the city problem is one of congestion; the farm problem is one of Isolation. This is putting the matter rather broadly, but it emphasizes the fundamental difference between the urban social need and the rural social need. There- fore, social theories and social institutions in- tended to apply to the rural situation must be constructed with reference to a need quite dif- ferent from the necessities that give rise to the well-known social movements of moderu city life. Another peculiarity of the farm problem is that the farming class is to a large degree so- cially separate from other classes; this fact is largely due to physical causes, but causes rather difficult to eradicate. Moreover, while among farmers themselves there are mai>y grades in respect to wealth, education, culture and capacity, these distinctions do not seem to produce equivalent social castes. Whether this fact is a cause for congratulation or not it is not necessary to discuss here, but it has no small importance to the student of rural social life. These suggestions have been thrown in merely to call attention to the peculiar char- acter of the farm problem, and we may now consider very briefly some of those movements that are apparently working toward the solu- tion of this rural problem. EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCES. Just, now the most interesting, because the most marked, movement along this line is the educational movement. It has its center of operation in the land-grant colleges, although they are by no means its sole exponents. Each state and territory has one of these colleges, either as a separate institution or as a part of the state university. A type of the separate college is the Michigan Agricultural College, the organic law of which provides that the college shall admit pupils from the rural schools. This college graduates students from its agricultural course who are admitted to the junior or possibly the senior class in the uni- versity. The College of Agriculture in Cornell University is a type of the second class of ag- ricultural colleges, and advertises a course all the requirements of which are on a full uni- versity standard. Up to date the separate col- leges have graduated far more students than have the other class of institutions that Is, from agricultural courses. The total number of graduates from the agricultural courses in all the land-grant colleges approximates 3.SOO. Of these, many are farmers and farm man- agers, a good many have become teachers nnd experimenters in agricultural colleges and ex- periment stations, agricultural editors, etc., and are thus seeking to solve some phase of the farm problem. The chief criticism of these colleges is that they have not sent out as many practical farmers as they should have; and it certainly is desirable that more colloge-trainad men may be found on our farms. But the col- leges have begun a good work In this direction. The agricultural courses are usually strong on the scientific and vocational side, fairly good on the cultural side, but weak on the social science side. The elements of political econ- omy are usually taught, and in the universities opportunity is given to elect advanced courses in this subject, as well as in sociology and edu- cation. But so far as I can discover, no col- lege or university in America, except perhaps Chicago University, offers thorough-going courses iu rural economies or rural sociology. The failure of the agricultural departments of the universities to attract students lend these institutions to establish special winter- courses for young farmers courses usually very technical in character and addressed to those who wish to prepare themselves In a short time for better work in dairying, stock- breeding, etc. The plan has met with uotablo success, and is now in vogue in nearly all the land-grant institutions. Minnesota went a stop further and established a school of agriculture, in connection with the university. Tha educa- tional standard of the school is of a secondary grade, although chief attention is paid to tech- nical lines. Several hundred students are in attendance, and It seems to demonstrate the possibilities of secondary education in agricul- ture. In Alabama there is in each congres- sional district an agricultural school. Uoiijrhly THE COMMONS speaking, all this work may be grouped under the head of secondary agricultural education. So far as purely high-school work is con- cerned, there is little to report. Very few high schools in America offer any subjects, much less any courses, that supply work proper for special training for the farm, and as a matter of fact few high-school graduates do go to the farm. Township high-schools have been estab- lished in some states, notably in Indiana and Wisconsin. Similar in character are central schools, that have been tried in Ohio, the "Kingville plan" having acquired considerable reputation. For many years the transporta- tion of pupils to a central school has been practiced in Massachusetts, and not less than eighteen states now have laws permitting this plan. All these tendencies are in the directiou of centralizing the rural schools, doing away with weak and small schools, enabling pupils to have the privileges of better teachers, more complete apparatus, and the inspiration of numbers. But so far as solving the farm problem is con- cerned, it seems clear enough that this move- ment will retard rather than promote rural ad- vancement, unless especial attention is paid in these central schools to a form of education suited to the boys and girls who are to find their life-work in agriculture. The spirit of rural life must permeate the schools sufficiently to show the youths the possibilities for a full life upon the farm. PRIMARY INSTRUCTION. In primary school work the most significant movement in rural districts is the attempt to introduce nature-study. New York, through Cornell University, has easily taken the lead In this work so far as enterprise and quantity of effort are concerned. Teachers are reached by means of regular bulletins on nature-study topics, by personal correspondence, by expert Instructors sent to teachers' Institutes and summer schools, by a summer school for teach- ers at the university, and by home reading courses. The children themselves are reached through illustrated leaflets, the formation of junior naturalists' clubs composed of children, by circular and personal letters; they are also encouraged to make little gardens and to col- lect specimens. The purpose is to develop the powers of observation and the love of country life. Missouri has put nature-study and the elements of agriculture Into the course of study for rural schools. Pennsylvania. Indi- ana, Illinois and Michigan have also accom- plished something along this line, while prac- tically every province in Canada makes this work a part of the school system. COLLEGE INSTITUTES. One of the most interesting phases of the agricultural educational movement comes under the head of college extension work. It had its rise thirty years ago in farmers' insti- tutes, which are meetings of practical farmers and experts for the purpose of discussing topics relating to technical agriculture and farm life. At present nearly every state in the Union has these institutes, and many states make liberal appropriations from the state treasury for their support. New York, for in- stance, appropriates $20,000, and holds perhaps 400 institutes each year, while the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois. Wisconsin and Minnesota each appropriate sums exceeding $10,000 per year for institutes. It is estimated that in 1898 not less than 2.000 institutes were held in this country, with a cost to the various states of $170.000. A more recent expression of this desire to carry some of the benefits of the college to the mass of the people is found in the establish- ment of reading courses for farmers. Pennsyl- vania began the movement in 1893. on the Chautauqua plan. At present New York has the most popular course. It is elementary work, the reading matter being prepared at Cornell and sent out from there to some 10,000 farmers, who seem much pleased with this new opportunity for acquiring information. Penn- sylvania now offers some seventeen courses. Connecticut. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Michigan and West Virginia have courses of this character more or less well de- veloped. The Federal government, by means of the De- partment of Agriculture, and the experiment station placed in every state and territory, is rendering a magnificent service to the Ameri- can farmer through careful scientific experi- ment, as well as through an elaborate and widely extended system of publications de- signed to distribute the best attainable inform- ation of interest and value to the man who farms for a living. The bulletin mailing list of the experiment stations in the great agricul- tural states not infrequently reaches 30,000 or 40,000, and ten or a dozen bulletins a year may be issued. So much for the forces of agricul- tural education. 8 THE COMMONS FAIBS AND ASSOCIATIONS. We now come to another movement which is usually without state aid of any kind agricultural organizations. The earliest forms of these organizations were horticultural societies and agricultural fair associations. These still persist, and in some cases have some financial assistance from the state. Asso- ciations for business ends have become quite prominent during recent years. In the middle west at least there is in nearly every county a farmers' mutual fire insurance company. Co-operative creameries are found in all the dairy states. Fruit growers, notably in the Chautauqua, New York, grape district and in California, have formed powerful and well- managed associations to attend to the sale of fruit. The breeders of improved live stock have grouped themselves into a multitude of associations whose centers of interest are par- ticular breeds of sheep, or cattle, or other stock. THE GRANGE. Rut perhaps the farmers' organizations that are most significant are those of a general character, with obiects not so much financial and technical as educational and social. Pre- eminent among these is the Grange, organized in 1867. The Grange acquired large prestige in the middle seventies, embracing at one time three-quarters of a million members. After a period of decline it has again revived, and is to-day the strongest single farmers' organiza- tion in the country, and practically the only one of national character. Education is its chief aim, and it works through the social, political, moral, intellectual and financial instincts of men and women. The local granges are com- posed of families, and offer an outlet and stim- ulus to the social desires. Public affairs are debated, legislation Is urged upon congress and legislatures, parliamentary drill is practiced, and the political sentiment thrives though everything of a partisan nature is strictly ta- booed. Subjects of general 'interfest are on the program, and afford a mental stimulus. Morals are inculcated. Farm topics are con- sidered, and co-operative buying and fire in- surance are money-savers. The Grange is to- day a powerful factor in the rural situation, though strongest in the states east of Chicago and north of the Potomac. There are nearly 5,000 subordinate granges in the country, with meetings usually twice a month. Other farmers' organizations have had a large influence in shaping opinion and in culti- vating both individual initiative and the spirit of collective activity, such as the Farmers' Clubs, the Farmers' National Congress, the Pa- trons of Industry, the Farmers' Alliance, etc. FACILITIES FOB COMMUNICATION. The material improvement going on in the couutry districts must not be overlooked, for it is having a most powerful influence upon the social and intellectual character of farm life and is tending to greatly simplify the farm problem. Rural free mail delivery, with its daily mail even now at the doors of several million farmers, induces the daily paper, the magazine, prompt and free letter writing. The electric car line, soon to be a network in many states, solve to some extent the road question. Telephones, now in ordinary use in thousands of farm houses, are perhaps there even more useful socially than in town. The farm press must, of course, come in for large acknowledg- ments ,of its influence upon the farm and the farmers. It would be distinctly unfair to the churches to omit them from this list, thought it does seem to be no more than the simple fact that they are in the country conserving elements rather than progressive factors. In the above category I have, however, tried to summarize with the utmost brevity those forces that now seem to be the dominant phenomena in the rural social situation. This brevity has com- pelled so light a treatment of each factor that I fear the real significance of the present movement may not be grasped. But it is some- thing more than mere hopefulness, I trust, that leads me to assert that these forces are pro- ducing the profoundest results upon farm life. SUMMARY OF NEXT STEPS. May I close by suggesting some of the greater needs of the present rural situation? They seem to me to be as follows: 1. There is need for a better trained leader- ship. This is no reflection upon the many strong, earnest men and women who are un- selfishly giving of their best thought and time for the help of their fellow-farmers, but refers rather to the fact that well-trained men and women, as leaders in farmers' organizations, in school work, in church work, have an especially inviting field in the country. 2. The farmers must be better organized. This is a supreme need, for it is only by their own efforts that our farmers are to work out their problem. Other agencies are important helps, but associated endeavor is the real test of power as well as its best training ground. 3. Our entire system of agricultural educa- tion needs co-ordinating, not only in its mech- anism, but pre-eminently in its spirit and aim. THE COMMONS There must be in it all a distinct recognition of the actual need of the situation, less insist- ence upon accepted standards, and less aping of city courees. The vocational side of educa- tion will need larger emphasis not only teach- ing the art and science of agriculture, but teaching how, through the knowledge of the science and the intelligent practice of the art. the "complete life" may be lived upon the farm. In addition to conforming primary and sec- ondary education to this ideal, there ought to be a recognition of college extension work as a legitimate and necessary phase of the educa- tional plan of the land-grant colleges. Cornell 1ms established a Department of University Extension in Agriculture, and is but doing what must be done in every state. Then, too, the social sciences must be given vastly more attention in these land-grant col- leges, so far as such sciences may apply to the rural problem. It is not surprising that the application of natural science to farming should have taken precedence, in these institu- tions, of the application of social science to the farmers, but the time has come for the second great movement to begin. 4. And as a force binding together all these agencies inspiring them to new effort, broad- ening their scope, focusing their energies there is needed some simple form of federated effort, so that the intelligent men and women of the farm, the country clergymen, the rural school-teachers, the country doctors, the agri- cultural educators and editors, and all other people really interested, may unite their ener- gies for a widespread, well-directed and per- sistent attempt to solve the American rural problem. First edition exhausted. Send $1.00 for new and enlarged edition. Ghe BOY PROBLEM. A STUDY IN SOCIAL PEDAGOGY. BY THE Rev. William Byron Forbvish, PH. D., Lilt. D. With an Introduction by President G. STANLEY HALL. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Boy-Life; a summary of the recent scat- tered literature of the child-study of adolescence. CHAPTER II. Ways iu Which Boys Spontaneously Organize Socially; a study of the "gang" and child -societies. CHAPTER III. Ways in Which Adults Organize in Behalf of Boys; a critique of boys' clubs and church work for boys. CHAPTER IV. Suggestions as to How to Help Boys; a constructive stdy. 15he New Fourth Edition of College. Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. Mr. Lex. By Catherine W&ugn McCuIloch. Of the Chicago Bar. The legal status of mother and child stated in story form, with full citations of statutes and decisions. Published by Fleming H. Revell Co. The American Journal of Sociology says of it: "The book is well written and will un- doubtedly find many readers who do not otherwise care for legal literature." Price cloth 350. Address the author, Room 1104, 135 Adams St., Chicago. Biblical Sociology. By Gr&Kam Taylor. A syllabus of lectures on the social teachings of the Bible. Printed for use in the class-room. A limited number can be obtained for 500 of THE COMMONS. 15he Church in Socia 1 Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for 15he Handbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FR.OEBEL, Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA HOPER HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave.. Chicago. ADVERTISEMENTS IN T5he COMMONS DVRING 1901. One Page - 25.00 Half Page - $15.00 Quarter Page 25.00 Half Page 8.00 One inch For each insertion. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point of view, It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at 140 North Union Street. Chicago, 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postofficeas mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. The Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2.50 francs, French foreign stamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for $2.50. Send check, draft. P. 0. money order, cash or stamps, not aboves-cent denomination., at our risk. CKsvnges of Address. 'Please notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. ers, we continue THE COMMONS to each address untilnotified to the contrary. 10 THE COMMONS A Word of Warning. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Answer, now, You who at ease sit with uncalloused palms. Shall you with naught his meager days endow, But the mean measure of close counted alms? Without the giver (so the. Poet saith) The gift is valueless, whate'er it cost. Go down Into his lanes of dust and death Read in his face the message of the lost. And dare forget it as you leave him there, Slave of the cruel greed of humankind, Of his own degradation scarce aware. Numb from the shackle-weight on soul and mind. His faults untrelllsed by your moral height, A cumberer of the earth who knows no Heaven, Factor of hidden Ills that breed to blight, A speck despised, yet of throne toppling leaven. Beware lest with fool's courage you deny His right to sow beside you. Give him seed, Or you and yours, anhungered, by and by, Shall reap the harvest of his poison weed! -Lulu W. Mitchell. The Hea.rt of Life- In the rear of a crowded wooden building in the most populous river-ward of Chicago, hard by a scavenger box, is the garden of a tenement child. Some short sticks, supporting a single strand of rusty wire, serve to protect the spot from the careless passer-by. Within this tiny enclosure were to be seen two living plants. One is yellow and sad appearing, and reminds us of the faces of the "old" young children that look down upon us rather terribly from the fac- tory windows across the way. The other is a beautiful rich green, radiant with the spring- tide of life. Both are common onions! .... A little thin-faced girl comes slowly down the rickety back stairs of the tenement and glanc- ing shyly at the intruder, bends over the plants and works the ground about them with a short stick. She is a fragile child and civilization seems to bear heavily upon her slight frame. A ray of sunlight struggling through the dark mass of buildings falls lovingly upon the gar- den and the child. She looks up and smiles a wonderful welcome. Behold! a vision of Para- dise in the heart of a manufacturing Hell! That vision lingers in memory eloquent with a strange pathos arid a certain surging hope. Another child's garden is before me, and in the distance sweeps the blue grass woodland about the old Kentucky home. "Ole black mammy" is seated in the arbor nodding in the shadow of the cherry tree. A lusty boy, with a mina- ture spade, is digging eagerly in a bed of bloom- ing pansies. Why must the tenement child be starved for lack of sunlight and green fields and grow to womanhood as feeble and rickety as the back stairs she climbs to her dark and squalid home? Why must the planter's child have more sun- light and fields and flowers than a thousand children could possibly use? What foolish ques- tions grown children ask when they think! SociaJ Movements in the Church Our readers who were impressed, as so many have been, with Mr. Royal Loren Melendy's re- port of his saloon investigation in Chicago, will share our interest in the fruit his experience is bearing at New Castle, the Colorado mining town, where he is succeeding remarkably In his pastoral work. We reprint his appeal for its own sake and in hope of helping him and encouraging others: "Wide interest is being awakened among the Christian people of Colorado in an attempt that is being made to apply the social teachings of Jesus to the conditions of a small western min- ing camp. "It Is in one sense an adaption of social set- tlement methods that have proved so success- ful among the industrial classes of our large cities to the needs of the mining camps. "The degrading social customs, the lack of home life, the spirit of reckless abandon which characterizes the youth and the irresponsible 'each man for himself and the devil take the hindmost' attitude of the older men, are factors in the environment of our young men. To rise above this environment, to develop out of it manly Christian lives, demands a type of hero- ism unknown to the average Christian youth. "The preaching of the gospel which is the 'power of God unto salvation' must be accom- panied by an effort to better the social condi- tions. Individual regeneration should not be separated from social regeneration. Even though our little church is filled, yet the mass of the people will receive the gospel only when it is precipitated in the social solution. "The young man of the camp spends the hours of the day within the bowels of the earth. After his evening meal, he leaves his small, usually very unattractive, boarding house, and joins his fellows in the one center of their social life, the saloon. The "hall-fel- lowship-well met' is there. 'Club house,' for such the saloons really are, are the one bright feature of his day. "Our plan is to provide a club house which shall be the center of a wholesome, uplifting so- cial life. Enclosed is the plan of the building THE COMMONS 11 which we had hoped to enter by January 1, 1901. The ground floor will serve both for a gymnasium and an auditorium. It will be the best ventilated and largest auditorium in our community. The second floor, as the diagram indicates, will contain a reading, billiard and pool room, bath rooms and a general club room. There is no public library in our com- munity, either Sunday School, public school or town library. "These rooms must needs be cheery and at- tractive to become an effectual substitute for the social function of the saloon. Not only is there a club room In which men may play pool and billiards, a game room for the boys, a read- ing room in which the more intellectually in- clined may find mental recreation, but every effort will be made to occupy their time profit- ably. Experienced teachers will give instruc- tions in the following classes, some of which are now in successful operation: "Adults' Class in English Literature, Young Men's Class in Athletics, Young Women's Class in Athletics, Girls' Classes in Sewing and Cook- ing, Young Women's Class in Basket Weaving and Fancy Work, Boys' Class in Civil Govern- ment. "A National Holiday lecture course has been instituted. "A graduate of the Chicago Commons Pesta- lozzi-Froebel Kindergarten Training School, former resident of Chicago Commons Social Settlement, has offered to open a kindergarten for us if her mere living expenses are paid. "To make this work possible $1,500 will be necessary. At the last annual meeting of the Colorado Congregational Association a resolu- tion was passed commending this plan and $530 was pledged by the ministers present. The building is an old hotel building partially do- nated by a business man of Denver. The $530 pledged will only purchase the building and re- model it, not equip it with the necessary gygm- nastic apparatus and reading matter. The cur- rent expenses will be met by the people of New Castle. "We appeal to you and all Christian men, be- lieving the experiment to be of far more than local importance. It is considered by the min- istry of Colorado to be a sort of 'experimental station' for the development of some practical method of Christian work among miners. We are in urgent need of funds, lest the winter sea- son pass and with it the host of magnificent op- portunities. A prompt as well as liberal return is earnestly sought." The Central Young Men's Christian Associa- tion of Chicago is devoting three of its Mon- day noon lectures to "A Program of Practical Social Work for Christian Leaders," which is presented by Prof. Charles R. Henderson, of the University of Chicago, under the following suggestive headings: PERSONAL SERVICE. Biblical ideas of collective life Aims and limitations of this course Hints for a social programme of Christian leaders Necessity of united thought and action Futility of divided, individualistic effort Utopian schemes avoided Practical suggestions: 1. Plans for offering our religion to all the inhabitants of Chicago as the supreme end of social effort. 2. Personal ministry to the neglected; savings routes, home libraries, trained visitors. 3. A municipal or- ganization for rational and efficient co-opera- tion. PROBLEMS OF LIFE AND BETTERMENT. Personal service leads to community service. 1. Concerted plans for promoting health Chris- tian doctrine of the body Co-operation with existing organs Public baths and public com- fort stations Small parks and playgrounds. 2. Housing of the people. The house a spiritual factor failure of individualism voluntary as- sociationlegal aids municipal agency. 3. Child-saving methods and co-operation with re- ligious organizations. THE RISE OF THE WORKING MAN. The Christian church and the aspirations of wage earners. Causes of alienation and hope of better understanding. Principles of the movement. 1. Necessity of fair understand- ing and true representation. 2. Emergencies in the lives of workingmen Causes of anxiety. 3. Forms of community insurance. 4. Attitude of moral teachers to collective bargaining. 5. Le- gal enactment and the interest of the commun- ity. 6. Municipal government and administra- tion in relation to the spiritual progress of the people. Gleanings from the Settlements. INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN UNION AT HULL HOUSE. The meeting of the International Kindergar- ten Union, at Hull House, on Saturday morn- ing, April 13th, was an inspiring close of the series of meetings which the union held in Chi- cago. The auditorium was crowded, so that a large overflow meeting had to be provided for downstairs. Miss Jane Addams gave the first address, in which, after acknowledging the 12 THE COMMONS. part which the kindergarten had always played at Hull House, she said that the ' charge of the settlements to kindergartners is not to lim- it their work to the few years of kindergarten life, but to let the influence of the kindergarten reach through all life, and especially through industrial life, which to-day has so little joy in it. This she emphasized by comparing the gayety and delight in one's work expressed in the folk industrial songs with the hopelessness in modern songs such as the "Song of the Sweat-shop," by Moritz Rosenfeld. She thought Froebel would agree with her that a system of education which developed and made happy only two or three years of life, was a poor sys- tem. She was followed by Miss McDowell, of the University of Chicago settlement, who told about her experience as kindergartner at Hull House, and then her larger work in the settle- ment where she was kindergartner to ths whole community. She also spoke of the importance of the growing of the kindergarten idea into all life. Her mothers' meetings, where her po- sition would naturally be one of leadership, she has successfully turned into a woman's club, which has, through the suggestion of one of its members, been able to provide public baths for the neighborhood, and has initiated a move- ment for improvement in many lines. The meeting closed with some songs by the pupils of the Hull House music school, who sang several early labor songs, and by way of contrast, the song of the sweat-shop as it has been set to music by Miss Eleanor Smith. THE HARTFORD SETTLEMENT, AS SEEN BY A GIHI, NEIGHBOR. The following extracts are from a paper which won the prize in a competition among the neighboring children for the best descrtp- tion of the social settlement iu Hartford, Conn. It was written by a girl of twelve years and is interesting as a report of the work the set- tlement is doing as well as for the idea it gives as to how this settlement is regarded by the children who come to it. The Settlement is at No. 6 North street. It is quite a large building, and it contains many rooms. Miss Jones is the head lady. It is called the Social Settlement. Miss Jones is very kind to us. She likes to have children belong to clubs. A new building was added to the old one, which contains five bedrooms, one dining- room, and a kitchen which is very large. The rooms of the old building are used for clubs. The names of the rooms of the old building are, play-room, library, reading room and parlor. The playroom is up one flight of stairs on the left hand side, the library is on the right hand side of the playroom, the reading room is on the right hand side and the parlor is on the right hiiiul side as soon as you come in. The clubroom is on the left hand side. There are many clubs going on evenings. Some young men joined a club, which was named Charter Oak. They are very polite to the little ones, and therefore they ought to thank them very much. Some of the clubs that go on evenings are Merry Twenty, Debating, and many others which I cannot name. The Merry Twenty, con- taining twenty girls, is in the front room. It is a very nice club, and is ruled by Miss Den- ham. They play games, bring some work to sew on, and do many other things. Last year Miss Jones gave them a piece to act, called Cinderella drill. They practiced it, and when they acted, they did it very nice. Many people were invited, and they thought they acted fine. The gymnasium is a room which the boys are very fond of. It is arranged very nice. There is a punching bag which the boys enjoy very much. There are different boys which join the same kind of club, but they have it different nights. Miss Jones invites men to keep them in company while they play. Miss Brigham is our cooking teacher. The girls have made many things in cooking. Some of them are apple sauce, baked apples, mash potatoes, potato soup, sponge and ginger cakes, orange shortcake and many other things. We will have twelve lessons altogether. We thought we would not like to take lessons for nothing, so we pay 10 cents each. We all liked Miss Brigham very much and we thank Miss Brigham for teaching us the way to cook. We thank Mr. Thomson very much for giving the cooking, and we also thank Miss Jones for giving us her lovely large kitchen and stove to cook on. Last year Miss Jones took about forty girls and boys out to Buckland. She spent the sum- mer there with the children she invited: five or six children would stay out there for a week at a time. As soon as we came we were brought in to the grocer to see how much we weighed. We all had lovely times out there. We used to blow bubbles, go out rowing, and do many other things. We went out to the Laurel Park, and we saw all kinds of animals and went on the merry-go-round. One day Miss Jones went into Hartford from Happy Cottage. A conductor who was on the THECOMMONS 13 car with Miss Jones was very kind and gave her a dollar. He gave the dollar so that the children who were out there that week and the ones that came later could go out to the Laurel Park. The children were pleased and they all wrote letters to him, and he passed by on his car. Miss Jones and all the children thanked him very much. When our week was up and we had to go home, we went to the grocer's to weigh our- selves, to see the number of pounds we gained. All had separate rooms which had different names. One was "red room," in which most of the things are red, another was blue and most of the things are blue, and the other is yellow and most of the things in that are yellow. We each had separate beds which we liked very much. We were sorry to leave, for we liked it very much. It is a lovely place. I will now tell you about the new bath tub which is going to be put in where the dolls and dolls' dishes used to be kept. One day Miss Jones told some ladies how lovely it would be if a bath tub could be put in, so that the peo- ple who have no bath tub at home could come and bathe themselves, because no families have bath tubs and when they go to take a bath it costs fifteen cents for each person, which makes a great deal if the family !s large. Miss Burr started it by writing about It In The Hartford Times, and she gave the first money, and the King's Daughters also sent some money. One day an old gentleman came in and banded Miss Jones twenty dollars and would not tell her his name, because he thought she might put it in the papers and he did not like to have it in. Miss Jones has almost enough money. She wishes to have the water heated by gas, so that the hot water may be used whenever it is needed and they can have as many baths as they want. Dear friends, I am telling you about the Set- tlement to give you an idea how lovely it Is to belong to clubs and come to the Settlement. Dora Levine. The New York University Settlement fur-- nished one of its best trained residents, Mr. Francis H. McLean, to head the charity or- ganization movement in Montreal, Canada. The strong start given the society in this conserva- tive city has been due not only to the remark- ably influential initiative it received a year ago, but quite as much to the level-headed, tactful and business-like administration of its first sec- retary. Hull House, Chicago, has had the deserved distinction of entertaining Peter Kropotkin, formerly Prince of the Russian nobility, sec- retary of the Royal Geographical Society of Russia, and now exiled from all that a man holds dear for the sake of his political convic- tions. Thus again the calm, courageous spirit of this justice-loving group has commanded a respectful hearing for an unpopular, perse- cuted, misunderstood, yet "visionary" social ideal, whose misnomer is as unfortunate as its idealism is high. WESTMINSTER HOUSE AND THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. A meeting of the Western New York Branch of College Women will be held at Westminster House, Buffalo, in May. The aim is to excite a deeper interest and more hearty co-operation in settlement work among college women. Prominent settlement workers will address the meeting. Miss Louise Montgomery, head work- er of Welcome Hall, and Mrs. Marion Otis Por- ter, resident of Westminster House, are in charge of the meeting. The Westminster House Men's Club have purchased and fitted up a very commodious Club House near the settlement, which prom- ises to be a very strong influence in the com- munity. Westminster House Social Settlements, at 424 Adams street, Buffalo, N. Y., will be open from May first to November first, for the accommo- dation of settlement workers, men and women, and their friends, visiting the Pan-American Exposition. A list of other accommodations of varied prices will be kept for the convenience of thoise arriving at the settlement when the rooms are occupied. Street care, two blocks from the residence, running without transfer directly to the exposition; a telephone and a messenger call-bell will facilitate transporta- tion and communication. Lodging and breakfast will be furnished for one dollar. A reference will be required from guests. Street car lines from stations to Westminster House: N. Y. Central Jefferson street cars. Erie Jefferson street cars. Lehigh Valley Sycamore street cars. Lackawanna Main street cars, transferring to Broadway cars. All communications should be addressed to Emily S. Holmes, Buffalo, N. Y. 424 Adams street. 14 THE COMMONS The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects o/ Life and LaboirJErornJheJ!oclaJJ5ettlerne^ GRAHAM TAYLOR. Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at 140 North Union Street, Ch.cago. 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. The noble gift of the Williams Residence Hall is even more encouraging in coming from those whose filial devotion prompts them to seek the perpetuation of their parents' memory than it would have been as the bequest of him whose name it is to bear. His far-sighted faith in the work had already borne its first fruits in the co-operation of those who joined him in starting the building fund. His children's con- fidence in the permanency and value of Chi- cago Commons, betokened in their memorial gift, will go far toward giving it an estab- lished place among the vital causes which Chi- cago will do more to maintain and develop. The faith and sacrifice to initiate and sustain the Commons work in the trying experimental stage of its first five years were even more gen- ,,~..,B]V invited by those outside of the city t!-;n by tnose who were near enough its com- pi>x problems to be overwhelmed by the multi- pi'^ty of their demands. By thus broadly re- si*.'!, an interesting ac- count of their, beliefs and mode of life was written. This has recently been republished and the description is fairly applicable to them at present. The cardinal principle now, as then, on which all their life and relations are founded is God's Law of Love. This rules their relations with God and man. It affects their individual and communal life and the way in which they regard every other living creature. They know no creed but say "they are of the faith of Jesus." Their conception of Christ is based on the gospel and they hold that belief in God, the Father, and Christ, the Son, is the only hope of salvation. But faith without works is considered useless. Sins are confessed to God in prayer; and if they have wronged their brethren, they ask forgiveness, before all. To deny one's sin when one is re- minded of it is counted a great wrong, and they also severely condemn the "practice of calling oneself a great sinner in sham meekness, or as a sort of boast, to excuse oneself from trying to correct one's errors." Their lack of marriage regulations has frequently brought them into conflict with the authorities. The simplest sort of ceremony suffices. In the presence of parents and elders the young couple merely agree to live together as husband and wife. Divorce is correspondingly easy. This, how- ever, is only rarely taken advantage of. The home life is very pure and the family tie strong. They regard death as a change "our brother has changed," is the common way of referring to one who has died. The Future does not particularly concern thfem. They leave it and all questions relating to it in the care of God, trusting implicitly in His justice and mercy. The Church* according to them, is wherever two or three are gathered together in His name. Their religious services are held in no building set apart for the purpose and on no special days, for they see no sanctity in locality and hold that each day is as sacred as any other. Meetings are held in each others' homes on any day that seems best to the host, although the national or orthodox holy days are generally selected for conven- ience. All present take part and the reciting of scripture from memory is considered im- portant. The prominence given to the latter exercise is perhaps due to their illiteracy, In which they have been kept by years of oppres- sion and hardship. THEIR COMMUNAL ASSOCIATION. Most of the property is held in coiurnoii. THE COMMONS 3 Each one takes an occupation, most of them preferring agriculture. State taxes are regularly and promptly paid. Drunkenness and idleness are practically unknown among them, and they are always neat and tidy. Even the govern- ment officials who have had anything to do with them testify to these characteristics. They have no organization, written regulations, nor provision for punishment. Instead of the lat- ter they merely remind one another in a broth- erly way of their faults. DOUKIIOBOR REFUGEES EN ROUTE TO CANADA.* THEIR HISTORY. The years of comparative peace which began in the reign of Alexander I. came to an end when, under Nicholas I., persecution again fell to their lot. The steadfast refusal of the Doukhobors to bear arms suggested a new method of dealing with them. The government of course realized that the young men whom they had forced to serve in the army would be of little use In actual warfare. But the maintenance of their decree and the assertion of their prerogative and authority seemed necessary to the government officials. So the shrewd plan was devised to send all the Doukhobors to a rough and hilly country, sparsely settled and containing wild beasts and warlike mountaineers. It was thought that the necessities of self-preservation and defence would compel them to use arms and eventually make them learn warfare. Accordingly in the early forties they were sent to the Caucasus. Not only did the plan fail to accomplish the results expected, but, on the other hand, the Doukhobors won the respect of their rough neighbors by their gentle spirit and trans- formed the barren country Into flourishing colonies. Again, in 1879, the government banished them to the region but lately acquired from Turkey. Here, in addition to the desired quali- fications of a country inhabited by ferocious men and animals, were hostile people still bit- ter after a cruel war. But again the hopes of the oppressors were disappointed and the Doukhobors continued to live the same Chris- tian and industrious lives. Notwithstanding the rigorous nature of the climate for this part of southern Russia has a very high ele- vationtheir material welfare increased and soon they were possessed of considerable prop- erty. The effect of this was that, little by little, they began to depart from their cus- toms, so that, in 1887, when universal military service was introduced into all the Caucasus, they were taken unawares and outwardly sub- mitted to the regulations, although in their consciences they still clung to the belief that war was a great sin. THEIR "CRIME" AND PERSECUTIONS. It was not long, however, before the faith of their fathers began to reassert itself. They grew more and more discontented with their failure to put it into practice and soon decided to demonstrate the sincerity of their belief. In 1895 those who had arms belonging to the government returned them. Even those in the membership of the reserve force of the Rus- sian army (which corresponds to our militia) gave back their certificates of enrollment. And besides this, in three different places the Douk- hobors assembled and, as before stated, de- stroyed in huge bonfires the weapons which belonged to them personally. In one of the places the event passed without notice: in nn- other, forty Doukhobors were imprisoned. In the third instance, the governor of the province was informed by a few Doukhobors (who had basely obtained possession of a large part of the public property of the community through a corrupt decision of the government officials) that the gathering was for the purpose of revolt. The local authorities, without verify- ing the truth of this information, ordered Cos- sacks and infantry to proceed to the scene of the supposed insurrection.. On arriving at the place they made two cavalry attacks with shameful cruelty and the Doukhobors were driven to prison. MARTYRDOM IN EXILE. A whole series of persecutions was now directed against these people, whose only of- fense was that they tried to live up to the dic- tates of conscience who regarded Christ's teaching as applicable to daily life. Their property was plundered. They were visited with every sort of insult and abuse. Men and women were inhumanly flogged and some of the latter were violated. The men who had refused military service were thrown into prisons or sent to penal battalions where they suffered dreadful punishment from which, in some instances, they were left to die alone their friends being refused permission to see them. Some were sentenced to periods of soli- tary confinement on bread and water. In fact, their life became a slow martyrdom. Some four hundred families were driven from their prosperous and well-cultivated lands, and scat- tered among the Georgian villages two or three families to a village. To prevent them from reuniting, they were commanded not to leave the villages to which they had been ex- THE COMMONS iled. From a cold mountain climate they had been sent to hot and low-lying valleys where disease soon began to spread among them and mortality increased at an alarming rate. Starvation claimed many of them, for they had scanty means of procuring food, and labor was not in immediate demand. In short, their con- dition grew almost hopeless and the whole sect seemed doomed to perish unless succor came soon. THEIR EMIGRATION. At this juncture an appeal was made for help. Of the three who signed it, two were banished to small towns and one was given his choice between the same sentence and exile alto- NEW PILGRIM FATHERS IN MANITOBA. After investigation, Canada seemed to be a country well adapted to their mode of life, and Mr. Aylmer Maude, an Englishman who had lived in Russia and sympathized with the Doukhobors, left England to negotiate with the Canadian government concerning immigration. With him went Prince Hilkoff, a Russian well acquainted with the conditions necessary for a successful colony. Manitoba was decided upon as a desirable place and satisfactory ar- rangements with both the government and the railroad company were made. Friends in Eng- land helped toward the great undertaking, and Tolstoy, who had always been interested in the DOUKHOBOR REFUGEES EN ROUTE TO CANADA. gether from Russia. He chose the latter, thinking that it would give him a better chance to help the sufferers. The interest which this gentleman, Mr. Vladimir Tchertkoff, stirred up in England finally resulted in the deliverance of the oppressed people. Friends went among them with plans for. emigration. The consent of the Russian government was obtained, and, with the assistance of people in England, those of the Doukhobors who were in most imme- diate need were transported to Cyprus. But the warm climate of the island proved little better than that from which they had so thankfully escaped. Sickness appeared among them, and it was soon made evident that another place must be selected for permanent settlement. persecuted people, devoted the proceeds derived from the sale of several novels toward the necessary expense. When one considers that it was to a country absolutely unknown to them and that for years they had experienced only harsh treatment from strangers and those in authority, the implicit trust which the Douk- hobors put in their English friends and the simple faith they had that all was being done solely fur their welfare are very touching. LEFT THEIR'ABODES READY FOR NEXT OCCUPANTS. A characteristic incident was the fact that when they abandoned their humble cottages and huts in Russia, each one was left in a neat and tidy condition, and in each were arranged a table, two chairs, two loaves of bread, and a jug of water, so that any one who might THE COMMONS come to them hungry would not go away un- satisfied. Those who had been in Cyprus were, of course, added to one of the first parties to set out for the new settlement. With little regret at leaving the country of their oppres- sion and with high hopes at the chance to start anew and in freedom a Doukhobor community, they arrived in Canada. Their reasonableness in adapting themselves to the new conditions was noted by Maude, who wrote: "I found them, on the whole, remarkably amenable to reason, considering how very difficult and con- fusing everything must seem to them in such novel surroundings. Still they are men with human limitations and deficiencies, and not the plaster saints that I had supposed, after read- relations as well, will not at any rate receive discouragement at the hands of the nominally Christian nations, who find it so convenient to make use of force and increasing armaments in extending the kingdom of the Prince of Peace. But although the sincerity of these people may command our admiration and re- spect, it may be enquired if there is any real significance in the history and attitude of these "Christians of the Universal Brotherhood." The inquiry may best be answered by quoting, in conclusion, the words which Tolstoy wrote at the time of the oppression in the Caucasus. TOLSTOY'S OPINION OF THE DOTJKHOBOKS. "A Roman Emperor enters Rome in noisy, pompous triumph how important this seems; IN QUARANTINE GROSSE ISLE, QUEBEC. ing the literature published about them. Being men, they are much more interesting, and bet- ter worth helping. Had they been saints, It would have seemed almost a pity to prevent their being martyrs also." It is said that the captains of the ships declared their admiration for the cleanliness and orderly conduct of the emigrants, and also for their readiness to help in any way those in charge of the ships. In all, about 7,500 of them in four steamship loads arrived in Canada after long voyages the port of departure being Batoum, at the easternmost end of the Black Sea. Let us hope that these long-suffering people, who try to practice Christian love and justice in their private life not only, but in their social JUST AFTER THE MIDDAY MEAL. and how insignificant it then seemed, that a Galilean was preaching a new doctrine, and was executed therefor, just as hundreds of others were executed for similar, as it seemed, crimes. And so now, too, how Important, in the eyes of refined members of rival parties of the English, French, and Italian Parliaments or of the Austrian and German Diets, and in the eyes of all the business men in the city and of the bankers of the whole world, and their press organs, are the questions as to who shall occupy the Bosphorus, who shall sieze some patch of land in Africa or Asia, who shall triumph in the question of bimetallism, and so on; and how, not only unimportant, but even so insignificant that they are not worth 6 THE COMMONS speaking about, seem the stories which tell that somewhere in the Caucasus the Russian Government has taken measures for crushing certain half-savage fanatics, who deny the obli- gation to submit to the authorities. And yet, in reality, how not merely insignificant, but comic, beside the phenomena of such immense importance as are now taking place in the Cau- casus, is the strange anxiety of people, full grown, educated, and Illuminated by the teach- ing of Christ (or at least acquainted with this teaching, and capable of being illuminated by it), as to which country shall have this or that patch of land, and what words were uttered by this or that erring, stumbling mortal, who is merely a production of the surrounding con- ditions." "Pilate and Herod, indeed, might not under- stand the importance of that for which the Galilean, who had disturbed their province, was brought before them for judgment; they did not even think it worth while learning wherein consisted his teaching; but as for us, we can- not but know the teaching itself, as well as the fact that it has not disappeared in the course of eighteen hundred years, and will not disappear until it is realized. And if we know this, then, notwithstanding the insignificance, illiterateuess, and obscurity of the Spirit- Wrestlers, we cannot but see the whole im- portance of that which is taking place among them. Christ's disciples were just such insig- nificant, unrefined, unknown people, and other than such the followers of Christ cannot be. Among the Spirit-Wrestlers, or rather, the 'Christians of the Universal Brotherhood,' as they now call themselves, nothing new is tak- ing place, but merely the germinating of that seed which was sown by Christ eighteen hun- dred years ago, the resurrection of Christ Him- self." "This resurrection must take place, cannot but take place, and it is impossible to shut one's eyes to the fact that it is taking place, merely because it is occurring without the fir- ing of guns, parade of troops, planting of flags, bell-ringing, and the solemn speeches and the cries of people decorated with gold-lace and ribbons. Only savages judge of the importance of phenomena by the outward splendor with which they are accompanied. ... It is gen- erally said that such attempts at the realiza- tion of the Christian life have been made more than once already; there have been the Quakers, the Menonites, and others, all of whom have weakened and degenerated into ordinary people, living the general life under the State. And, therefore, it is said such at- tempts at the realization of the Christian life are not of importance." "To say so is like saying that the pains of labour, which have not yet ended in birth, that the warm rains and the sun rays which have not as yet brought spring, are of no impor- tance. . . . The fact that these pains of labour continue and increase does not prove that there will be no birth, but, on the con- trary, that the birth is near at hand. People say that this will happen, but not in that way in some other way, by books, newspapers, universities, theaters, speeches, meetings, con- gresses. But even if it be admitted that all these newspapers and books and meetings and universities help to the realization of trie Chris- tian life, yet, after all, the realization must be accomplished by living men. with a Christian spirit, ready for righteous common life. There- fore the main condition for the realization is the existence and gathering together of such people who shall even now realize that toward which we are all striving. And behold, these people exist!" "It may be, although I doubt it, that the movement of the 'Christian Universal Brother- hood' will also be stamped out, especially if society itself does not understand all the im- portance of what is taking place, and does not help them with brotherly aid; but that which this movement represents, that which lias been expressed in it, will certainly not die, cannot die, and sooner or later will burst forth to the light, will destroy all that is now crushing it, and will take possession of the world. It is only a question of time." First edition exhausted. Send $1.00 for new 'and enlarged edition. 66e BOY PROBLEM. A STUDY IN SOCIAL PEDAGOGY. BY THE Rev. William Byron Forbush, Ph. D.. Lilt. D. With an Introduction by President G. STANLEY HALL. The second edition of Forbush's "Boy Prob- lem" has not yet been published. We will fur- nish it to those who order it through MS as soon as it is issued. THE COMMONS Three Months in the West London Mission. By Miss Finley, of Montreal. The problems of modern life seem to reach their intensest point of complicity in the great city which is not only the metropolis of the British Empire but which does far more than merely represent the life of the British nation. To its importance as the great center of trade London adds a thousand other interests. It is a world in itself. It is expected that the next census will declare its population to be 8,000,- 000, and that population represents every na- tion under heaven, every talent and every am- bition, every sorrow and every form of gayety. It possesses a strange centripetal power this little world. To it come the young and ambi- tious to find the niche that they think is wait- ing for them in the temple of fame, and most of them find unceasing toil and a reward for the fortunate few. THE WEST END. And yet among this great human family is found the most utter loneliness. Many are thrown among uncongenial people, and because of some limitation in themselves or their sur- roundings, or perhaps because their ideal of life is too high for them to find companionship among the selfish and worldly minded, or be- cause their pride and poverty hold them aloof, they suffer from that bitter desolation which exists in its worst form in great cities where there are many to see, none to know and love. The poverty and squalor of East London have long been a bye word, but that the beautiful West End should shelter within itself some of the most miserable of Londons' poor may be new to some. A year ago s'ome startling facts were brought before the public iu the "No Room to Live" article published by the Daily Xews. Such books as Sherwell's have informed many who were ignorant before of the terrible conditions under which so many Londoners live. That there should be 900,000 people who are living in overcrowded conditions without the minimum air space of 400 cubic feet which is allowed by law is almost incredible, but that nearly 400.000 people should occupy one-room dwellings is even worse. It means that people are herded together like animals and that even childhood cannot possess its birthright of purity. In these rooms the dwellers not only eat and sleep, but frequently carry on a trade. THE LOT OF WOMAN. The hardest burden falls upon the women. To the miseries of their habitations and the pains of incessant child-bearing they must add the night and day drudgery of their stifling little homes. Cooking one day, they fill the house with fumes from bad ovens, for the ovens are generally worthless in the one- roomed homes. Washing the next day, in saucepans and basins, they scatter soapsuds everywhere and fill the place with steam, after- wards stretching the wet linen in double rows from wall to wall. There may be a child ill in bed; there are certain to be children crawl- ing about too young to go to school; yet the women must do all the work in their single rooms just the same. When death comes it brings some sort of distinction to the slum home, and they will not be hurried in the last respect they can show. For days the corpse may remain in the room which is all the family have for every purpose, until the relatives have got the mourn- ing in which the insurance is often spent aiid made their preparations. A "ham and jam funeral" is the correct one, and it is a sad matter if they are only able to afford a "cake and tea" repast. It is in this great, gay, rich and intolerably wretched neighborhood that the West London Mission works. And as it was my privilege to spend three months with the Sisters during the past summer, it might seem as if I should have gained an intimate knowledge of its work. But at the end of three months I must confess that time all too short to become familiar with all of a work that is conducted on such large lines and which includes many and varied activities to meet the varied conditions around it; Thirteen years ago Mr. Hugh Price Hughes, realizing that the Wesleyan Church was doing little or nothing in West London, inaugurated the West London Mission. It has become, not only an influence for good in London, but an example which has led to the establishment of similar missions in cities of Great Britain and in other lands. HEGENEHATION OF THE WHOLE LIFE. The mission believes in the regeneration that changes the life, and so to preaching it adds every practical activity that can benefit the people. While it is a Wesleyau mission, it is not conducted on sectarian lines. Among the Sisters who carry on much of its work are An.slicans, Congregatioualists, Presbyterians; in fact, though I lived among them, it is only by accident that I know which is the chosen denomination of any one, for all work loyally THE COMMONS in the interests of the Mission church. Serv- ices are held in various halls, and from these centers the "Sisters," who have played such an important part in the Mission from the be- ginning, and the workers go out. St. James' Hall is the center for the fashionable West' End. There, during the week, concerts and minstrel shows are held, but on Sunday it assumes a new character, and as the cosmo- politan crowds of Piccadilly pass its doors many drift in and hear a gospel that falls with compelling sweetness on world-weary hearts. The St. James' Hall services have also come to be a Methodist Mecca, and after the morn- ing service, as Mr. Pearse stands at the door of the hall, it seems as if representatives from all the nations pass by and claim his kindly greeting and friendly handshake. Before the preacher passes on to the plat- form, the stewards, sisters and choir join in earnest prayer that God's blessing may rest upon the service, and that custom may never make them enter upon it carelessly or prayer- lessly. > The evening service is distinctly evangelistic. The orchestral band begins to play half an hour before the service, at which time there is not a vacant seat in the hall, and it leads the singing during the service, which is conducted by Mr. Hughes. With intense earnestness and burning words he delivers his message. At these services one is instantly impressed by the fact that the object of Mr. Pearse and Mr. Hughes is not to deliver eloquent sermons, but that each one is a lover of humanity, and under a Divine compulsion must urge men and women to seek and flud a Savior who will save them from sin and selfishness aud make them in turn work for the salvation of their fellows. The atmosphere is full of kindly human sym- pathy. Mr. Pearse said in homely similie one day: "No one can go to heaven in a sulk it must be in a sociable. You can't be saved yourself without wanting to take your brother with you." There Is a beautiful story of a "Social-Demo- crat," as he called himself, who became a member of the Mission. Relating his expe- rience, he told of the bitterness that had pos- sessed his heart as he had compared the lot of the poor with that of the rich, "and I used to say," he said, "down with all that's hup! But now," he continued, "as I goes about the streets, my heart is just full of pity for the poor women and the white-faced children, and I says, 'Hup with all that's down!'" After the evening service an invitation is given to all to remain to a short after-meeting when those who wish to may go into the en- quiry rooms aud get any help that Sisters and workers may give. This service interested me much, for it is a modern adaptation of the kind of service we are sometimes inclined to think out of date, and yet, judged by its results, 'it receives an ample justification, for a Sunday never passes that some one is not led to the service of Christ through its agency. Those who come in this way are visited and drafted into one of the Mission classes. SISTER LILY AND HER CLASS. I shall always look back with pleasure on my attendance at Sister Lily's class. It is a splendid example of a Mission class. It num- bers over two hundred women, and has been largely recruited from the St. James Hall serv- ice. Its members are taken from all grades of society, but unconsciously they have caught Sister Lily's genial spirit and count it a privi- lege "in love" to "serve one another" and to give the Mission their enthusiastic support. Their givings are simply wonderful, and shame those who are more largely possessed of this world's goods, but who are not so beautifully rich toward God. They are all simply devoted to their leader, and many of them are bound to her by very special ties. She has been the spiritual mother of most and a friend and sometimes the only friend to many. Her splendid judgment and strong common sense and loving sympathy have not to be deserved or to be asked. She lives to help, and whether by deliberate plan or by the outflow of her generous nature, she enriches the lives of those whom she touches. She has a healthy interest in life, which en- larges her scope and possesses a large share of the very blessed quality of humor which is fortunately somewhat prevalent In the Mis- sion. THE SISTERHOOD. The Sisterhood, under Mrs. Price Hughes, was started at the same time as the Mission, and it is not too much to say that the Mission could not be carried on without it. IN THE DEEPEST SLUMS. Somers Town Hall is in the slummiest and most difficult part of 'the Mission. It was built by Lady Henry Somerset, and there is a resi- dence for three Sisters beside it. The Sister in charge, Sister Agatha, is a woman of great spiritual power and splendid courage, and she THE COMMONS and her helpers have made themselves a power in the neighborhood. Their hall door opens into a slum passage, and there, day by day, and often making night hideous and sleep im- possible, are heard the coarse voices and sounds of slum life. The people are very poor. It is pathetic to think that they never own a new garment, but always the "cast offs," which can be got cheap. The Mission old clothes sales are greatly ap- preciated, and Sister Agatha's ready wit calls forth much merriment. It is surprising how sh has quickened these people mentally as well as spiritually. I shall not soon forget the open air service I attended at Somers Town Hall.. It was a Sunday school anniversary, and they had asked for flowers so that they might have a flower service. Friends and teachers, some of them young people in the big business houses, had gone afield and sent of the riches of field and garden a gorgeous show! We made them into bunches, buttonholes for men and boquets for the women. These we piled into baskets which the children proudly took in charge. In front of the hall the road was taken possession of by the Mission people. A picturesque group they made. Cleveland and Craven Halls are centers for work, each in their own particular district, and each hall in addition to its minister has a group of Sisters and Nursing Sisters, who work in the neighborhood and at the hall. They visit the people, have mothers' meetings, classes, boys' and girls' clubs, coal clubs and Provident clubs. A large creche is carried on, while the Sister in charge of it also succeeds in getting the mothers to her mothers' meetings. THE GUILD OF POOR BHAVE THINGS. It was suggested by Mrs. Ewing's "Story of a Short Life." The members all suffer from some physical disability, but in entering the Guild they determine with Gods help to make the motto a rule of life, "Laetus sorte mea," and a spirit of martial courage is developed. The Guild hymn is "The Son of Man Goes Forth to War." It is a pathetic sight to see young and old, crippled and blind, gather as their strength permits at the Guild meetings and teas, and, decorated with scarlet badges, show themselves brave soldiers. There is a story of a little girl, who was seen disconsolately hanging on the palings outside the hall while a Guild tea was in progress. A sympathetic passer-by stopped and said: "Well, my little girl, and what is the matter with you?" "Please, sir, that's just the trouble; there ain't nothing the matter with me!" But the Guild of Play is open to other chil- dren. Poor little mortals! I think of the atmosphere in which a child's play centers round "drunks" and "funerals," and how little opportunity for the development of healthy child life, while childish innocence can hardly e"xist in the presence of the sights they must constantly see. So they learn pretty childish games in the Guild of Play. Another of the beautiful charities of the Mission is St. Luke's House, a home for the respectable dying poor. Surely the fact that every patient is a "hopeless case" is enough to make an atmosphere of gloom, you think? But no; the wards are bright and cosy and there is an air of cheerfulness, for love is there, constantly watching and caring for these af- flicted ones. As one goes from bed to bed a clearer vision comes from converse with these patient sufferers. My friend Gordon, a bright fellow of twenty-six, full of interest in life, says: "It's a pity they couldn't send out a lot of us useless fellows to the war!" And yet he is engaged in as real a warfare and will come out more than conqueror. OUTINGS FOR THE POOR. A large number of the poor have holidays and outings during the summer through the Mission. One day, while a number of mothers were taking their places in the brakes that were to take them into the country for a day, I overheard two men passing down the street say with grim humor glancing up at Lincoln House, "West London Mission, and all tlu> 'usbands at work." There was more pathos than humor in the ignorance of the small boy, who looking from the railway carriage on a Sunday school ex- cursion, thought a solemn old cow was a stag, the horns quite convincing him of the fact! One of the Sisters works among the "Tom- mies." The St. James' Hall evening service lias the largest congregation of soldiers in London, and a splendid bit of color they make in the gallery, where seats are reserved for them; also for policemen and nurses. Lord Roseberry wa.3 very much impressed by their numbers on an occasion when he went to the service and inquired if their attendance was voluntary. There were some two hundred present that evening. 10 THE COMMONS LOVE NEVER FAILETH. In the glare of midnight Picadilly. Among that throng whose gay exterior is a poor mock- ery of happiness, there walk the quiet figures of two women, Sisters of the West London Mis- sion. A flower may make an opportunity for the kindly word and fhe invitation. They carry cards on which are written: ''Sister Margaret and Sister Faith invite you to visit them at Westbonne Terrace." "Won't you have a flower?'' proffers the Sis- ter. Such daisies grew in different but well- remembered scenes! The girl stands hesitating and then bursts out: "Xo, Sister; take them away! They are far too pure for me. You are far too pure. You are too good to come among us.'' Another girl won't take one because she has had "no luck'' since she took the last. "Be cause it made her think and she couldn't be as gay," the Sister explained. But others ac- cept them, and others have been won by the gentle, pleading, why not these in thine? For the Sisters can point to many whose feet no longer tread the pathway of shame but have been guided into ways of peace, and the har- bor of the Rescue Home, lit by Divine love and compassion, sends its gleam across the tossing sea of life to the drifting, lost souls. Among those who are "fnterested in the poor" one often hears of the "hopelessness of uplift- ing the masses." I am so glad that such words do not come from those who are actually engaged in the work. One does not hear much of those pet phrases "submerged tenth," "masses," etc. in the Mission. The Mission workers do not look upon the people as a "mass." They are individuals, with just as much individuality as the rich and in need of just as tender treatment. That they have their 'sore disappointments, the workers would be last to deny, but they are too busy to brood over failure and too grateful to God for the miracles in life and character that He is work- ing among them to be discouraged. Not alone In London do 1,899 members testify to the success of the Mission, but all over the world are scattered those who thank God for what the West London Mission has been to them. Cottage to Ktnt at Macatawa, Mich. Lake Front. Seven Rooms. Accommodation for Seven or Eight. Address "Cottage," care Chicago Commons, Chicago, 111 Settlement Notes. The Orange Valley (X. J.) Social Settlement adds its testimony to the volume from expe- rience and observation, pronouncing affirma- tively upon the social functions of the saloon. Quoting from its Annual (1900) under the title of "The Place of the Saloon in the Xeighbor- hood," the writer affirms: "In this working district the saloon generally takes the place of a men's club. . . . They turn there to spend a social evening and to enjoy congenial companionship. ... To condemn the saloon without providing something else is no solution of the problem." "Our one thought and purpose neighborli- ness has been applied to every detail of daily life, and as the days have gone by our con- victions have deepened, that this is possibly the best thing we could teach or live." (Head Worker in St. Louis Social Settlement Annual.) During the brief and wonderful ministry of Jesus in the flesh, He deemed it worth while to magnify by His concern and illuminate by His teaching this idea of neighborliness. We be- lieve its application by residents everywhere will be found the Open Sesame to the hearts of many men and women that seem so indif- ferent to all other pleas. In far-away Japan, deep in the shadow dis- trict of the capital city of Tokyo, the social movement has found expression in the Social Settlement of Kiugsley Hall, and the publica- tion of "The Labor World." Monthly at Kings- ley Hall is held a workingmen's social. The report of the February meeting recites: "Work- ingment expressed their opinions freely. One spoke on the Parliamentary reforms of 1832 in England and some told experiences from their factory life." We are encouraged and inspired by these echoes from distant lands proclaiming the unity of human interests and the necessity for a larger social vision including all the la- borers of the earth. Toynbee Hall may justly feel proud of the endorsement its work has received from the electors of the East End. From "The Toynbee Record" (April) we quote: "The residents are now represented on all the principal governing bodies of London the School Board (one), the County Council (one), the Borough Council (three), and the Board of Guardians (one). The English elector may be slow, but he holds no prejudice against either the church or phi- THE COMMONS 11 lauthropy when individuals prove themselves helpful to human needs in either name. The future historian will note as one of the unique and powerful factors in the social awakening of our time the service of obscure persons in the patient study and careful com- pilation of data upon the facts and forces of life in the great centers of population. Generalizations of the utmost consequence to the social interests of the race will be found to rest upon these unostentatious yet firm foundations. While the press, platform, and pulpit, are giving vent to crafty, crass, and stupid utterances upon subjects such as the saloon, Tenement House and Juvenile Delin- quentsunknown yet earnest and thoughtful men and women are preparing the dynamics for intelligent social action upon these prob- lems of the great city. Such persons living under the shadow of these evils, gathering facts and testing conclusions in the laboratory of life, reach that sane view from the study of things as they are that no great mind nor benevolent disposition can yield to the most vivid imagination misled by a few exceptional facts. One of these contributions of practical social value is an article by Miss Edna Sheldrake of the Northwestern University Settlement in the April issue of "The World Review." The facts here set forth demand action and point the next step. Adequate school facilities groups led by Christian men and women that dare to prac- tice the religion they preach, and legislation enforced against child labor. What are you going to do about it? Wa.ymBLrks of Socia.1 Progress. FREE SCHOOL BOOKS. While discussing the free text-book law in a recent article. Ethelbert Stewart says the two resolutions concerning free text-book laws which were adopted by the Louisville conven- tion of the American Federation of Labor may be fairly considered as representative of the views of the industrial masses. One read: "Resolved, That the American Federation of Labor instruct its state federations and cen- tral bodies to work for the establishment of the free text-book system in the public schools, where such does not already exist, in the differ- ent states and cities where they are located." The other affirmed that "all books used in the public schools of the country should be fur- nished by the state" School authorities are practically unanimous in their support of the free text-book system because it enables schools to begin the term's work without the delay of waiting for parents to buy the needed books, a ad puts enough books into the school so that each pupil has one. The fact that the opposition comes from pub- lishers, who admit that fewer books are sold where free text-books laws prevail, confirms the position of the friends of the law that rnouey is saved for the community. "That it is economical, viewed from the community stand- point, to furnish free text-books, cannot be dis- puted." Eleven states now have compulsory text- book laws. Delaware. Idaho, Maine, Maryland. Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island an.l Vermont, all of which, excepting Delaware, Maine and Maryland, include in the free list all school supplies of whatever nature. There are thirteen states having a local option text- book law. The only states which have no text- book legislation of any sort are Kansas. Ala- bama, Florida and Illinois, and in Florida the county officials got together in 1883 aid adopted uniform series of text-books, with five year contracts, all of the counties but three joining the agreement; these three adopted free text-books. Michigan finds the cost of furnishing free books is 47 cents per pupil for the state. Ne- braska finds an average cost of 45 cents per pupil. This includes not only books but paper, pencils, slates and maps, entailing a tax of sev- en-tenths of a mill on taxable property of the state. After seventeen years' trial of the law, the state superintendent of the state of Massa- chusetts said in his report of 1899: "There is no question but that the schools are more promptly, fully and satisfactorily, as well as more cheaply equipped with text-books and supplies under the free text-book law, than they could be without such a law. Philadelphia introduced free books in 1818 when its public schools were established. New York has furnished all school books free for 68 years, and many other cities have done so from 20 to 60 years "without suffering from bac- teria, bankruptcy, or any other of the promised calamities that are supposed to wait on this 'dangerous experiment'." ''No where does it appear that any state or district has once adopted free text-books, and after giving the system a fair trial, abandoned it." 12 THE COMMONS. PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS TO LABOR. In connection with the Ministry of Commerce, Austria has just created a Technical Commit sion for the Prevention of Accidents to Labor, for the purpose of the government, with infor- mation and data on all questions concerning the protection and health of laborers. This Commission comprises the Inspector-General of the Labor Department of Austria and from six- teen to twenty members named by the Minister of Commerce of that country from the engin- eers and hygienists in establishments where there is an insurance against accidents, and from employers and workmen in manufactories where insurance is compulsory. The Commission gives its opinions and de- cides questions submitted to it by the Minister, and can also formulate proposals on any sub- ject coming within its scope; and has power to appoint sub committees for the technical ex animation of special matters. American Social Democrats are now voting for two members of the International Social- istic Committee which will have its headquar- ters in Brussels and which is designed to keep socialists of all countries informed of the prin- cipal occurrences and to draw them closer in- to a compact world's union. Committeemen have been selected from France, Germany, England, Austria-Poland and Italy. Ex. INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION IN FRANCE. The "Moniteur," a Paris Republican jour- nal, in behalf of the workingmen of Prance, calls attention to the proposal of the govern- ment to enact a law by which differences and difficulties between employer and employee must be settled, by arbitration. "The necessity for arbitration is becoming more and more apparent," says the "Moniteur." "The organizations of workingmen are becom- ing stronger and more powerful. It were well for employers to recognize this, and to do of their own will what the government proposes to have done for them. It is a mistake to- sup- pose that the interest of the employers and the workingmen are opposed. It is true that the claims of the workingmeu are sometimes exor- bitant, but they are often just." And the "Mon- iteur" believes that "If employers would adopt this method many of the so-called difficulties would vanish, to the mutual satisfaction of both parties." Nearly 14 per cent of the total number of wage earners in Minnesota are women, accord- ing to the report of the State Labor Depart- ment. The Cigar Makers' Union, since its organiza- tion in 1879, has seen an increase of nearly 50 per cent in the average wage paid in the trade, with a shortening of the average day more than one-third. While these results may not in entire fairness be attributed to the Cigar Makers' Union, the fact remains that no in- dustry in the country is more thoroughly or- ganized, and none has shown such a remark- able betterment of the condition of the workers in a corresponding period of time. A bill has been introduced in the present Illinois General Assembly to amend the present garnishment law; raising the amount of the weekly wage exempt from garnishment to fif- teen dollars per week. As the law now stands the exemption is eight dollars per week. The present law has been the source of more injustice and oppression to laboring men than almost any other law on the statute books. It has enabled the loan shark to fatten on the misfortune of the wage earner and many times, drive him from employment. It is a common 1 , practice with business houses to discharge em- ployees promptly on the commencement of garnishment proceedings against them, as the trouble and expense of the proceedings are greater than the evils of the loss of a good employee. The exemption from garnishment of eight dollars per week only is entirely too low. The present law is a source of annoyance to both employer and employee and benefits only the, loan sharks and collection agencies. The amendment should have the hearty support of all workingmen. Japan now boasts of a daily paper called the "Commons." It is published in Tokio and de- voted to the socialistic propaganda. Public Play Grounds. IN NEW YORK CITY New York City has four tenement house playgrounds, all of which have been estab- lished through the persistency of the Outdoor Recreation League. This league has also per- suaded the board of education to provide sum mer recreation grounds in sixty school district!- where the children who cannot be taken out of town for the summer can spend the days in sunshine, with piles of sand to play in, swings, balls and bats and other simple forms of T H ECOMMONS 13 amusements, with kindergarten outfits for the little ones. In this way the tired mothers work- ing in hot rooms are relieved of the care of fretting children, and the children at least get fresh air. The amount of good that has been done in this simple way is great. The Recrea- tion League has received valuable assistance from guilds of girls who have showed a benev- olent activity in other directions quite as val- uable. In many places school yards have been uti- lized as temporary playgrounds. In some cases owners of vacant lots available for such pur- poses have given use of them free, and In a few instances a rent has been paid. The at- tendance at these playgrounds last summer was over 180,000 children. The total expense paid by the board of education was $28,000. IN CHICAGO. The committee for the Chicago Woman's Club on Permanent Schools and Playgrounds has published a voluminous report in a 72-page pamphlet with a series of seventeen half-tone pictures representative of the subject. This cogent appeal and interesting exhibit is designed to do duty wherever it goes. The school house must be given back to the public, the playground must be made a public park available to the public when not in use by the school children, whose first right it is. How- ever, much of the play in the city, especially of smaller children, must necessarily be near home, and "to a great extent this playground," says Joseph Lee, in the March issue of The Charities Review, "will probably always be the street. * * * It is therefore a matter of enormous importance which, however, has so far attracted no attention to make the streets a good playground, by having asphalt or some other smooth surface, as has been done in the crowued districts of New York and in some other cities. (See Bulletin of Department of Labor, Sept. 1900, table VIII.) And by regu- lating the play and traffic in such a manner as to secure the greatest freedom consistent with safety to life and reasonable safety to proo- erty. "In towns near Boston it is not uncommon to see such a sign as "Coasting allowed on this street between 3 and 8 p. m." This is an ad- mirable beginning and the most intelligent thing which our municipal authorities have done in their dealings with children, but the same idea ought to be carried further. Why, for instance, should children have to wait till a house is being built in order to find sand to play in?" 15he New Fourth Edition f College. Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. Mr. Lex. By Catherine Wsvugh McCvilloch. Of the Chicago Bar. The legal status of mother and child stated in story form, with full citations of statutes and decisions. Published by Fleming H. Revell Co. The American Journal of Sociology says of it: "The book is well written and will un- doubtedly find many readers who do not otherwise care for legal literature." Price cloth 35C. Address the author, Room 1104, 135 Adams St., Chicago. Biblical Sociology. By Gro.hB.rn Taylor. A syllabus of lectures on the social teachings of the Bible. Printed for use in the class-room. A limited number can be obtained for soc of THE COMMONS. 15he Church in Social Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for T5he Handbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FR.OEBEL. Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA HO! KR HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave., Chicago. ADVERTISEMENTS IN E*e COMMONS DURING I9O1. One Page - .25.00 Half Page - (15.00 Quarter Page 8.00 One inch 2.00 For each insertion. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects rf Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point ol view. It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at 140 North Onion Street. Chicago, 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postoffice as mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. The Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2 50 francs, French -foreign stamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for S2.50. Send check, draft, P. p. money order, cash or stamps, not above s-cent denomination., at our risk. Changes of Address. Please notify the publisher of any ^change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify us at once if for any reason you desire your subscription discontinued. In accord- ance with custom, and the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers, we continue THE COMMONS to each address untilnotified to the contrary. 14 THE COMMONS The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects af Life and Labor from the Social Settlement Point o/.View. GRAHAM TAYLOR Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at 140 North Union Street, Chicago, 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. The poor Doukhobors, to whose pathetic story our leading article is devoted, have be- come the shuttlecock between the party battle- doors in the Canadian Parliament. They are already contemplating "moving on" from their new home in the Northwest Territory to Mexico for liberty's sake once more. T5he Destroyers of Young Girls Punished. We owe our readers, especially those who re- sponded to our editorial appeal last month to "help punish destroyers of young girls," in- formation regarding the issue of our desper- ate struggle. Against the money, social influ- ence and legal talent used to shield the fugi- tive business man most seriously involved and still "wanted" by the police to end the case, though ostensibly to defend his criminal fe- male accomplice, we had the hearty and able support of the State's Attorney's office. Against the menace of violence, with which the safety of the innocent victim of this foul conspiracy and some of us who were trying to protect her were threatened, only our own ceaseless vigi- lanc prevented a second tragedy. No one knows the difficulties and dangers of 'such a prosecution until he actually encounters them. After a desperately contested trial in the crim- inal court, lasting three days and a half, the jury, though largely composed of young men, returned within half an hour a verdict of guilty after their first formal ballot. Instead of further comment we prefer to add the editorial which appeared in The Chicago Tribune for May 17th: "A PROCURESS SENTENCED." "The trial which was concluded yesterday by the sentence of 'Mother' Lyons to the peni- tentiary for procuring, detaining, and all but delivering a 17-year-old girl to be the mistress of 'Bert Brown' opened a window into the realm of events which one would gladly believe never occur. That they do occur, however, is no less true than it is that their frequency is by no means indicated by the convictions therefor in court. "Indeed, the rescue of the young girl in this case, which was accomplished through a bold combination of strategy and force, took place only an hour before she was actually to have been delivered to the man for whom she had been procured, and all the circumstances of the case indicate how subtly and successfully the game of the procuress can be played even against virtuous girls who are of course her chosen victims. "The details of this case the original trap of an advertisement for a woman's companion the gradual disclosure to the unsuspecting ap- plicant of her 'employer's' real designs, her in- troduction to the proposed purchaser, her close confinement, the cry for help sent to her friends by the cook, the instant discharge of the lat- ter, the entrance of the rescuer through a door momentarily opened to let the expressman take away the cook's trunk, the actual force re- quired even then to release the proposed vic- tim, the final whispered plea to her not to 'tell about Bert Brown,' the immediate disappear- ance of this individual, the menacing demon- strations made against the girl and her pro- tectors prior to the trial, and the fact that the procuress was well known to the police and is alleged to have caused the downfall of many other girls, though she has never before beeu convicted all these details should serve at least to make young girls more wary against such pitfalls and to deepen the public indig- nation against men willing to buy such crimes. "Credit is due to Professor Graham Taylor, who has taken the financial and other risks of this prosecution; to the State's Attorney, who aided it; and to his assistant, Mr. Olson, who conducted it with energy." Standing in tne Brea.cn with Vs. While we were standing "between the lines" in the severest stress of the building trades lockout winter before last, an incident oc- curred which fell like a ray of sunshine upon the deep shadow. Xow that the man has passed away, whose spirit is illuminated by his act, others should share the encourage- ment he gave us to stand by the right re- gardless of consequences. As an eastern man- ufacturer and large employer of labor, he was interested in the critical situation in which he found the building trades when he came to Chicago on business. Meeting the editor of THE COMMONS by chance in the lobby of a hotel, he assured him of the justice and tern- perateness of the positions taken in his speech THE COMMONS 15 before the trades union convention. In token of his appreciation, as an employer, of the stand we had taken and to tide over our work, while in some quarters its support was being temporarily withheld, lie sent us his check from New York for one thousand dol- lars. That vote of confidence, by so strong and calm a man, far enough removed to es cape the heat of our controversy, not only helped us to keep our foothold in a hard plai-e. but also illuminated the breadth and depth of Christian principle which character- ized Thomas Duncan, President of the Hud- son River Water Power and Paper Company, whose recent death we deeply deplore. The regret with which we part from the Rev. Henry J. Condit, who for six years lias served with conspicuous fidelity as associate pastor of our neighborhood Tabernacle Church, is equaled only by the warmth with which we welcome Rev. Dwight Goddard as his tempo- rary successor. Mr. Goddard comes with the training of experience on the foreign mission- ary, home pastorate and local settlement fields, having been a temporary resident at Mansfield House. ITEMS. Our kindergarten infantry led the procession of picnics in the first march to the suburbs. Flowers from God's country have begun to arrive. If friends sending them will kindly accompany them with the name and address of the sender, we will be glad to acknowledge their kindness. The Commons Camp for boys and girls at Klgin will be pitched the middle of June on the old camp ground in the Penny meadow, which has generously been, placed at our dis- posal again. The registration of applicants for camp is fast rolling up toward our limit. To enlarge the accommodations even a little we iic'"il at least $100 at once with which to pur- chase fifty blankets, erect the cook house and add two smaller tents and a large dining tent, for the lack of which the camp suffered much inconvenience last year. Even then we will have room only for the children between ten and fourteen years of age, and will be com- pelled to disappoint all over this age limit and many within these years. For their sakes we appeal to our friends in the suburbs and out- lying towns to provide places, and if possible transportation, for as many of the disappointed boys and girls as they can. Last year we gave 1285 outings at an expense of less than But somehow we failed to secure only a little more than half of this amount for the purpose and were obliged to carry the deficit of $250 over the winter. This year we must all try to meet the entire expense during the outing season. The number of those who at most will get less than their share of God's fresh air, golden sunlight and green earth will be limited only by the means entrusted to us by those who have all or a large part of their full share of the "open." Our Progressive Club of young women, who so successfully secured, managed and used the outing cottage they rented at Michigan City last summer, are moving this season to secure shelter on this side of the Lake. The expense of reaching the place, even at such short re- move, proved too great for not a few of the girls to take advantage of what the Club had collectively provided for its members If their efforts succeed, we hope our outing fund will allow us to provide transportation, or part of the food expense, for those of them who, while needing the rest and change the most, are least likely to be able to avail themselves of this opportunity The expense of maintenance for a week will not exceed $2.50 for each girl and the transportation will be well within half a dollar for the round trip, The Progressive Club May Entertainment netted enough to warrant them in renting a house in Glencoe for the summer, where the club members and their friends will spend their vacations during June, July and August. SUMMER KINDEBGABTEN AND PLAYGROUND. All the arrangements for the summer kinder- garten, which will be held this season at the new building, have been satisfactorily made. Two or three kindergartners will be in, charge at the cost only of their bare maintenance, five dollars per week. They should have a share in the outing fund sufficient to give their little ones frequent holidays in the parks and suburbs. The scanty little playground on the strip of land twenty feet wide surrounding the old Commons is opened and thronged again this season. There is no sadder feature of our leav- ing the premises than shutting these poor little children of the streets from a "privilege" which God knows is less than the least right which should be claimed for. every human being by all the rest of us. We are trying to find a lot for a new playground. 16 THE COMMONS 15he Month at Chico.go Commons- OPENING RECEPTION AT THE NEW BUILDING. We have been "opening" the new building for four months to our whole great neighbor- hood. An endless series of opportunities to inspect and use every nook and corner of it have been eagerly taken advantage of by smaller and larger groups during all this time. Last month we began inviting friends outsidi' of the district to take their turn. In response to the invitation of the trustees and residents of Chicago Commons fully five hundred guests spent the afternoon or evening with us on May llth and hundreds more sent us their kindly greeting in letters of regret. At the request of the Alumni of the Chicago Theological Seminary we threw open the set- tlement auditorium to one of the sessions of the annual meeting of their Association, held in connection with the Seminary anniversary. For the first time in its thirty-five years' his- tory the old Tabernacle entertained the Asso- ciation of Chicago Congregational churches. Two hundred and fifty representatives of fifty- seven churches were entertained at lunch by our church ladies and hundreds more attended the sessions. One of the first women,, outside of their membership, who volunteered her co-operation in providing and serving this hos- pitality was a Catholic member of the Chicago Commons Woman's Club, who thus beautifully demonstrated her catholicity of spirit. Upon these three occasions over a thousand guests shared the social cheer of our new home with every evidence of satisfaction and pleasure in what they saw and sensed. GROUND BROKEN FOR THE WILLIAMS RESIDENCE HALL. As we go to press the foundations of the Williams Residence Hall are being laid. The contracts have been favorably let to the con- tractors who built the Morgan street wing so satisfactorily. The time limit for the comple- tion of the work is fixed at September 15th. It will be most fortunate for the whole work of the settlement if the new wing can be fin- ished and furnished at that date, so as to be ill readiness for the opening of the winter sea- son work upon the first of October. To this end not less than $13,000 must be provided by our friends, all of it payable not later than tho first of December. Co-operation is urgently solicited both in giving and in influencing gifts. LEAVING THE OLD UNION STREET HOUSE. It is not without many sincere regrets that we expect to leave the "Old Commons" on July 1st. It costs us not only the sacrifice of not a little justifiable sentiment, which has grown up with the home cheer pervading the old homestead, but also that larger equipment for service which we hoped against hope to use for the neediest people of our district among whom we have obtained a hard-earned foot- hold these seven years past. However, we are determined to maintain it by renting for next winter smaller and cheaper quarters for kinder- garten, mothers' meeting and boys' and girls' clubs at least, as near the old residence as we can secure them. Who will help us to do so? The balance of the work at the old center is being surely and safely, though gradually, transferred to the new building, five blocks west. But the work for the little children and the care-restricted mothers cannot transfer its constituency even so short a distance. The removal of even the reduced force of residents and of the belongings of the settle- ment to the temporarily contracted quarters under the new roof is an undertaking, the task and fun of which can only be appreciated by those who have been in residence. The Tuesday evening Free Floor Discus sions for May have been marked by a series of lectures and discussions upon The Function of Competition in Modern Industry of excep- tional ability and interest. Editor A. M. Simons of the International So- cialist Review, Dr. Lewis of the Anthropologi- cal Society, Louis F. Post, editor of The Pub- lic, Thomas J. Morgan, Esq., and Prof. W. Douglas Mackenzie of the Chicago Theological Seminary, have contributed toward the eluci- dation and comprehending of this theme. The latter ably presented the evolutionary aspects of the subject. One of the expert manual trainers at work in one of Chicago's best manual training schools offers to reside at Chicago Commons and gratuitously supervise this needed depart- ment of our Social service on one condition, viz., that we equip it as well as our Cooking School. Only $500 is thus needed for an equip- ment which secures its best use without cost. Who will invest this capital for dividends in trained eyes, skilled touch and disciplined char- acter before fall? The camera for which we asked in December was given by a good reader of THE COMMONS in May, and has been put to work in ways which will enrich our pages and lantern slides with pictures of real life. TKe Commons A MorvtKly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Poirvt of View Number 60 Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago. July. 1901. Brotherhood. BY E. S. MAUTIX. That plenty but reproaches me Which leaves my brother bare. Not wholly giacl my heart can be While his is bowed with care. If I go free, and sound and stout While his poor fetters clank, L'nsated still, I'll cry out, And plead with Whom I thank. Almighty: Thou who Father be Of him, of me, of all, Draw us together, him and me, That whichsoever fall, The other's hand may fail him not, The other's strength decline No task of succor that his lot May claim from son of Thine. I would be fed. I would be clad. I would be housed and dry. But if so be my brave heart is sad, What benefit have I? Best he whose shoulders best endure The load that brings relief, .And best shall be his joy secure Who shares that joy with grief. Scribner's Magazine, May, 1891. Hea.d of Oxford Hovise ma.de Bishop of London. SKETCH OF DK. WINXIXGTOX IXGRAM. BY PROF. WILLIAM DOUGLAS MACKENZIE. All event recently occurred in London which has deeply interested social workers every- where. It was the appointment of the Head of Oxford House, one of the greatest social set- tlements in that city, to be the Bishop of Lon- don. The present prime minister, the Marquis of Salisbury, once said that the Bishop of Lon- don is "the hardest worked man in the world." It is certainly a position of enormous influence, and lurch depends upon both the character and ability of the man who holds it. The new Bishop nf 1. ndon is Dr. Wilmington Ingrain, a man of over forty-three years of age. He has not passed through the usual steps to that throne of power, but by a way much more worthy of the spirit of Jesus than those which some of his predecessors trod. About thirteen years ago, Mr. W T iuuington Ingram decided to go down to the weary and downtrodden region where the Oxford Settle- ment does its work and live there. He found that organization in a very poor condition and the field of work around it immense. But he set himself to the stern task without flinching. He succeeded in attracting the interest of pow- erful friends, among them the great and ancient house of the Cecils, of which Lord Salisbury is the head. His enthusiasm and self-sacrifice drew a noble band of workers around him. His splendid combination of gifts as a popular speaker and a thorough organizer won the ad- miration and confidence of the people among whom he worked. He seems to have concen- trated attention upon two aims, viz., to win the working classes around him to the religious life and to make life, as far as he could, sweet- ter and happier for those who were in poverty and misery. In 1895 the burden. and the op- portunity of Mr. Winnington Ingram was great- ly increased by his appointment as Rector of the Parish of Bethnal Green, in which Oxford House is situated. The large parsonage he sim- ply used, to the indignation of many, as an ad- junct to the Oxford House, and filled it with his settlement workers. Then he was made Bishop Suffragan or assistant to the Bishop of London for that district. As these offices added to his work he essayed still to be diligent in personally relieving and visiting the poorest of the poor. The result was that in ten years he made himself the most beloved man in that part of the large metropolis. The workingmen with whom he discussed the evidences of Chris- tianity so skilfully and courteously knew that he loved them, and that he would toil for their good, night and day. without any parade or pretence, for the mere love of doing good. It is said that on one occasion, when a great crowd, looking like a mob, had gathered around him and made movement almost impossible, the police were foolishly summoned. This was an insult to their love of him, and the crowd cried out: "We will not have our Bishop interfered witli. We will see you safe home." THE COMMONS This good "toiler of the deep" has published Ills favorite motto, which is as follows: "So might I, striving from morn till eve, Some purpose in my life fulfill, And ere I pass away some work achieve To live aud move when I am still. I ask not, with that work combined, My name shall down the ages move; But that my toll some end may find, That men may see and God approve." The- books which the new Bishop of London has written are not, like his predecessors', in- quires into the life and work of past genera- tions but direct, practical utterances for the history that is being made today. They con- sist largely of sermons aud addresses. But one of them is of another kind and is much read by those who would lead in such work as his has been. It is entitled "Work in Great Cities." The elevation of a man like this to the great see of London is indeed a most significant event. It surely means that the leaders of the Angli- can Church see where and how the greatest work of the church is to be done and are de- termined to do it. Apa-thy of Miners BV BERT M. HOOEN. To one at all observant of conditions of society and labor the situation in the mining camps in the great inter-mountain district is, to say the least, striking. The laborer of the East is alert. He feels the dignity of his posi- tion and is wont to assert the same, on the whole, in a dignified manner. Discussion, sym- pathy, union in the interests of labor are the order of the day. Much in this way is ac- complished in checking encroachments upon the interests of the laboring man. Very different is the attitude of thousands of the miners of the West. To be sure there are labor unions, but in some districts their actions are extreme and violent; in others their existence is merely nominal. In many places they are entirely defunct. And this is not evidence that there is no place for such organ- izations. Existing statutes are violated fla- grantly. Boarding houses are operated by mining companies at enormous profits the Jews' "vone perzent" is not a comparison. The miners "rest not day and night." Sunday rest for man or beast is unknown. Many conditions under which the miner works present occasion for great improvement. Not that nothing has been accomplished; whether it can be credited to the efforts of organized labor, however, may fairly be ques- tioned. In Utah, five years ago, the Eight Hour Law for miners and mill men was en- acted, aud this year the Boarding House Bill was passed by the Utah legislature and the Eight Hour Law by Montana. But in Utah the Eight Hour Law has been constantly and openly violated never, however, in case of "men' underground" aud the Boarding House Bill is already fast becoming a dead letter. The reason for this want of alertness is not hard to find. It lies not ill the want of energy and ability. To be sure there has entered the mining industry in many districts a class of men who intellectually are not up to the grade of the miner of a quarter of a century or even of a decade ago. But the latter class are still here. The reason for this inaction lies in the gro ing apathy of the miner. Work is plentiful; wages, on the whole, are high. The men simply settle down contented, or, if not contented, willing to appear so. But for this appalling apathy much could be accomplished. Herein lies the problem and those whose interests are greatest are least interested in the solution of it. How shall this apatny be dispelled? A Laboratory Experiment in Domestic Science. "The Evangel" for April, gives us, under this caption, a picture of the solution of the domes- tic problem as a "broad-minded woman in the quiet of her own home is practically solving it in lier daily life." The main points gathered from this article as to the treatment of the domestic in this household are, first, the servant is not spoken of as a servant. She is called the housekeeper, and really carries the responsibility of the household to a very large extent. Second, she is allowed to plan her own work, because she is expected to take as much interest in the home as though it were her own. The mistress will plan the meals, though often receiving aud approving the suggestions made by the house- keeper, but all the other work of the house- hold is arranged to suit the housekeeper's ideas of convenience. Thus it is that she is able to arrange for a morning down town, the mistress knowing that, in spite of her temporary ab- sence, the meals and all other important mat- ters will be properly attended to. Third, she is never spoken of or to by her first name. THE COMMONS She is always "Miss - ," thus retaining her personality and her dignity before children, and guests to whom she is introduced. This gives her a standing as a member of the family. In this particular instance the housekeeper is the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, has had a common school education, and is not without refinement, which many would say make it possible for such plans to be pursued. But would not such consideration tend to raise the standard and bring into domestic service mure girls of this type? Often this housekeeper is invited to take tea with the family and to sit with the mistress during an evening, joining in the conversation and games. Once her cousin came to attend a convention in the city in which this family lives. She was given the use of the horse and sleigh with which to entertain her cousin, and when she brought him "home" to tea with her, expecting that he and she would eat when the family were through, the mistress invited them both to eat with the family, though there were other guests. On Sunday, work is' arranged so that she can attend morning service at church, and nothing is expected of her after the dinner is over. Do not these many little things cause much of the discontent and annoyance that complicate this problem, and would not this practical application of the golden rule mean the solution of it? The Students' Association at Vassar College is trying this summer to raise $20,000 with which to erect a club houso for the maids who serve them in the many capacities required i'.v their great household. A site will be pro- vided on the campus by the college trustees, who have hitherto made little or no provision for the social necessities of their large force of helpers. The club house will contain social liai-lors, class and club rooms. The students . belonging to the -Coll,-,. Settlement Association will co-operate with the maids in putting the building to the largest use. These students re- cently entertained a party of New York City tenement house children sent up the Hudson I'.v the Kivington street Settlement. Richard r. Rothwell as a memorial to Sophia Braeunlich, contributed $25,000 to start a fund the object of which is to remove friendless lit- tle girls from dangerous and demoralizing sur- roundings and place them in desirable private families, and, where possible, to have them adopted. Not limited as to residents and non- sectarian. Loving My Neighbor. "Who is my neighbor?" "If I should see ^ brother languishing In Bore dlstreHS, wten* X %% ""* ^ """ A messenger of hope and happiness- How con,d I ask to have what I d enl ed In my own hour of bitterness supped? "If I might sing "And so I know That day is lost wherein I tall t, __ Bradt. South End House Fellowships. One of the most notable of the year's gains at South End House, Boston, has been he es tab hs 1IU t of fellowships at nouth and Amherst. In the ninth annual re- foTows: SettleMent ' Mr ' W ds S " eaks "The holders of the South End House fel- Iowsh.ps that have been established at Har- vard, Dartmouth and Amherst colleges during the past year, came into residence at the use last autumn, and are making gratifviu- Progress with their work. The Dartmouth fel owshlp-through the influence of President Tucker, the founder of this settlement-ha been provided for as part of the scheme of a iew g r a duate school of economics and politics inch has been opened at that college For Harvard and Amherst the fellowships' have been guaranteed for two years by groups of """"I "ving in Boston. The conditL in a i these cases is that the incumbent, while still under the direction of his faculty and reg ! tered as a gra(Jua te 8tudeilt> shal , g deuce at the South End House. Appointments nie made on the basis of special distinction in socio ogicnl study, and the time spent by the appomtee* at the South End House may count toward an advanced academic degree. The siec fl!? r reSt f eaCh f theSe men is ia s peciflC l, ne of social investigation and analy- sis, but they all take active share in the prac- tical round of settlement interests. THE COMMONS 'This plan, wliose success already seems to insure its permanence, means tbat the House will have continuously, as part of its force, picked representatives from among the recent graduates of these three colleges. As time goes on, therefore, the House will be able to send forth young men of special capacity, combined with practical training and experi- ence, along those new lines of social service in which there is an ever-growing need of prop- erly equipped men." In the following statements, published in the same settlement report, the holders of the fel- lowships have described their work: WORK UNDER THE HARVARD FELLOWSHIP. Associating daily with other residents who are active workers and students, engaging in practical researches in the fruitful social labo- ratory such as the South End affords, and profiting by the counsel and direction of mem- bers of the House and of the Economic De- partment of Harvard Fniversitf, I feel that I enjoy ail vantages which a student of social science should prize very highly. In the course of an investigation such as that upon which I am at present engaged "the causes of congestion of population in factory districts'' many interesting facts present themselves which a theoretical student would hardly anticipate. In theoretical discussion one is inclined to single out certain particular facts from which to draw general conclusions, but in practice one is surprised to find how intimately correlated are the social problems, and to see how comprehensive a view of all social factors must be taken before one can arrive at a true conclusion upon even a small theme. One great difficulty in carrying on my investigations has been just this inseparable- M( ss of correlated problems. But these discov- eries of new relations, although complicating the problem interest because of their nov- elty and unexpectedness. At present, although I have arrived at no definite conclusions as to the causes of con- gested population in factory districts indeed, my present ideas on that subject are held less confidently than my preconceived opinions my work seems not to have been entirely fruit- less, because eperience has taught me better methods, and developed in me some tact in gathering information tact which was sadly lacking in my first attempts. 5Iy investigation has led me into examination of municipal reports, statistics and wage lists into (/(inference with municipal officers and wilh managers of various industrial enter- prises, and into personal relations with em- loyes in a large number of manufacturing industries. To ascertain even approximately the proportion of laborers in the South End residing in the district where they work has made necessary an extensive canvass of facto- ries and workshops in order to obtain lists of employes and their addresses. Such informa- tion, it carefully determined, represents a large amount of investigation. One of the most interesting results of my researches so far, while but indirectly related to the main question at hand, resulted from the examination of the wage list -of city em- ployes. These lists, giving the addresses of alll city employes, showed an undue proportion of laborers from certain wards which are espe- cially prominent in city politics. Whether this fact is due to abuse of political power by cer- tain politicians in those wards, or to other causes, is a matter for future consideration. It is a great privilege to be permitted to engage also in the active work of the House. Associated with one of the residents, I feel in part responsible for the success of the .Men's Free Reading Room on Harrison Avenue. It is my purpose to come into friendly relations with the men who frequent the room, that mutual good may result. In conversations with them, and by observation of their industrial and so- cial life, I receive many valuable impressions of aid to me in gaining a knowledge of indus- trial conditions. Thursday evenings I meet with a club of a dozen boys, who average about fourteen years of age. It is my desire to influence these boys rather as an associate member than as an appointed leader, and to encourage them to make of themselves not only a permanent, but a self-managing and self-supporting club, and to prepare themselves for membership in a club of older boys, which has been very suc- cessfully conducted on this plan. It has been my object to state briefly a few of the privileges which I enjoy as a resident here: further, I wish to express my apprecia- tion of them, and my gratitude for the kindness of those who have made my residence here possible. ROSWELL F. PHELPS. WORK UNDER THE DARTMOUTH FELLOWSHIP. The college man, as he takes his place among the residents of a social settlement, endeavors to make the whole scope of settlement work amenable to the problems which he purposes THE COMMONS to solve. The boy's clubs, men's reading-room, home libraries, and the other larger interests of the House offer, if used aright, fruitful fields for practical investigation. In the case of juvenile employment, the prob- lem which I am studying, all these different agencies co-operate to a greater or less degree in making the investigation of real value. My work with boys' clubs, while its real end is to promote a genuine interest among the boys in the more wholesome things of life, yet by its opportunity for personal friendship enables nie to get some information in regard to the juven- ile as a wage-earner from the earner himself. In obtaining data for the solution of such a problem it is very necessary to mingle freely, and be very frank with those whom the prob- lem especially concerns. And to this end the Newsboys' Reading Room on Howard street is a very good field, for here from one to two hundred newsboys and bootblacks gather each evening to read and play games. One can drop in there of an evening and play games with the boys, and so get to know many of them inti- mately. In studying the newsboy as a juvenile wage- earner, it is well to' obtain some idea of him from the school principal's point of view. Al- though results gained in this way are only approximate, yet much light is thrown upon newsboys as a class, and some results which follow from the traffic of newspapers on the streets and the violations of the license law are shown very well. If the number of newsboys is desired and other interesting facts concei'n- ing them personally, one can go to the office of the Superintendent of Licenses, where all license duplicates are filed away. The newsboys, while they form an important division of wage-earners, yet In point of num- bers are few compared with the great mass of juveniles found in our large department stores and in factories. Boys or girls as soon as they pass the limit of school age or are graduated from the grammar school invariably apply for work. In order to work, a child, provided he or she is under sixteen years old, is required by law to obtain a certificate from the Super- intendent of Schools. A duplicate of this cer- tificate containing a large amount of informa- tion in regard to the children is kept on file, and so here is most reliable data for the stu- dent of the problem. Another source of information about this class of juvenile is the records kept by the large mercantile firms. These will frequently verify the data obtained from the certificates of employment filed in the office of the SUJHT- iutendent of Schools. Then the investigator, through the clubs and other agencies of the Settlement, has personal friends among this class of wage-earners. And last of all, the records kept of families by the Associated Charities and the knowledge of families one gets as a friendly visitor for a district conference add a new source from which valuable information may be obtained. All these agencies shed a great deal of light on the problem, and allow the investigator to obtain important data, but after all the worker goes in and out of the homes as a friendly vis- itor and engages in boy's club work not that he may get data solely, but that he may aid in the uplifting of human lives. EVERETT W. GOODHUE. WORK UNDER THE AMHEBST FELLOWSHIP. The activities made possible by my fellow- ship have taken shape as an attempt to appre- ciate the workiugman's standard of life; what are the habits, the likes and dislikes, the ambi- tions which most powerfully mould his life? And on the other hand, in what does it most need modification, and how can the change be most successfully accomplished? The complex- ity of such a problem necessitates approaching it from many different sides at once. Of the ways chosen, two are in connection with a working people's organization, the Wells Memorial Institute. A prominent feature of the Institute's work is' a series of educational evening classes; those for the men are in elec- tricity, steam engineering and mechanical drawing. The members of these classes attend for the most part either because their work is already such as to demand that sort of knowl- edge, or because through the training they gain tl-ere they hope to get better places. The latter class, especially, I try to assist. A young fellow who goes to work immediately on leav- ing the grammar school often finds himself in a place which affords him no opportunity for advancement. If he remains there, he will be- fore long lose ground before the constant ac- cession of younger energy; but if ill an effort to fit himself for some more skilled trade he meets with encouragement, the result may be his permanent elevation to a higher industrial level. It is not easy for him, however, even when he has attended these classes for some time, to discover a place such as he is seeking; he often needs the help of somebody with a wider acquaintance among employers. There is also under consideration the estab- 6 THE COMMONS lishment of a department at the Institute with the purpose of rendering legal services avail- able to workingmen at a minimum expense. The operation of such a device would be, so far as successful, to remedy numerous minor injustices that might otherwise persist. Other phases present themselves through as- sociation with a club of young men just reach- ing the age when serious, steady work is expected of them; through participation in the routine of the Associated Charities, which deals with the failures in the struggle for livelihood; and, finally, in the trade union world, an un- derstanding of whose spirit, present policy and future possibilities I try to gain by regularly attending the Central Labor Union meetings, and by acquaintance with individual members. Such work is supplemented on the theoretical side by the acquaintance with literature, both permanent and transient, which comes from the care of the House library. This is now being enlarged and reclassified. Groups of books on general sociology, democracy, social- ism, municipal questions, economics pure and applied, labor problems, co-operation, and other more special subjects indicate our effort to make the library broadly representative of cur- rent issues. Until this year our collection has been composed chiefly of the older, standard works; but we now hope to add from time to time, as we have already twice done, the newer publications in each of these subjects. Besides this formal literature, a systematic filing of government reports and' bulletins, reports of commissions, other settlements, etc., and even of clippings, is carried on. Publications of the House, for which there is constant request, are kept at hand. All of these resources are at the service not only of residents but of associate workers and others who may find them of value. RUFUS E. MILES. College Settlements Association Fellowship The College Settlements Association has es- tablished a Fellowship of $400 for the year 1901-1902, and invite application therefor. The object of this Fellowship is to open to a well-qualified person the opportunity afforded by settlement life for investigation of social conditions or for training in philanthropic and civic work or for both. No requirements are made beyond residence in a settlement during the academic year and the pursuit of some clearly defined line of work, scientific or practical, under the general guidance of the undersigned committee of this Association and of the Headworker of the Set- tlement selected. The choice of residence should depend on opportunities for the work to be undertaken, and need not be limited to the houses belonging to this Association. The time may, with the approval of the committee, be divided between different settlements. The basis of award will be solely promise of future usefulness. A college education is re- garded as desirable but not essential if some compensating form of intellectual discipline has been enjoyed. Applicants should preferably have had some experience, and very recent college graduates would be eligible only in ex- ceptional cases. Applications shoujd be sent before July fif- teenth, to Miss E. G. Balch, Prince street, Jamaica Plains, Mass. These should include all data that might be of use to the committee. Applicants should give age, some account of previous education, and state the future work to which they are looking forward. They should also describe as specifically as possible what topic or line of work they have in mind for their fellowship year. Applications should be accompanied by credentials bearing on character, on ability, practical and scholarly, and on health. It will be regarded as a service if those to whom this notice comes will bring it to the attention of persons who might care to apply. Chairman, Miss E. G. BALCH, Wellesley College. DR. S. M. LINDSAY, University of Pennsylvania. MRS. HERBERT PARSONS, 112 East 35th St., New York City. Committee on Fellowship College Settlements Association. The Manufacturers' Association of New York has contributed $2,000 for an industrial schol- arship. Applicants must be residents of New York and at least seventeen years of age, who have spent three years at a high school, or have an equivalent education. It will be grant- ed only to those who are unable to pay their own expenses. The candidate can have his choice of college from an approved list. In nothing do men approach so nearly to the gods as in doing good to men. Cicero. To cure is the voice of the past; to prevent is the divine whisper of today. THE COMMONS A Noble City Take heart. Have faitli. Our blood is red and strong; The spring is early and the year is long. I see a Maytide rich in gentle hearts; A June made glad by sweet, unselfish arts; A month of Julius bright with bird and bee And honey-sweet with dear tranquility; An August blest with herds and yellowing corn, Hands quick to aid and hearts exempt of scorn; A noble city, as the days Increase, Plash like a gem upon the brow of Peace; And when the year shall whiten to its rest, A happy people gazing on the West. A kindly power prevails; the god of morn, Free from a touch of horror or of scorn, On park and slum, on ditch and lake and lea, On tramp and kin, with sweet amenity, His golden shafts and glittering diamonds flings; From blackest soils to the tallest corn upsprings. The Inlander. Some Ways Settlements a.re Taking SETTLEMENT CONTRIBUTION'S TO LEGISLATION. The investigation of social, industrial and educational data having a bearing on legisla- tion, is a form of settlement service which is receiving more and more official recognition. The New York City University Settlement has distinguished itself time and again by contrib- uting to the results of important legislative commissions which have been incorporated into the law of the state. It obtained much data, for the Tenement House Commission of 1894; for the Reinhard committee it investi- gated the condition of working women in New York, and made special study of sanitary con- ditions of the lower East Side tenement houses. Residents' testimony was given at the hear- ing of Legislative committees on the Mercan- tile Inspection Bill, the bill for the abolishment of school trustees, various tenement house measures, the Drug Clerk's Bill, and many others relating to social reform. THe Settlement is in close co-operative rela- tions with the Factory Inspector's department, and recommendations to the Governor by the Head Worker of the Settlement, Mr. James B. Reynolds, were subsequently incorporated into the factory law. The South End House, Boston, has rendered continuous and invaluable service to the munic- ipality along these lines. The warden reports, "In several instances during the past year, use- ful measures before the city government and the Legislature have been aided in their prog- ress through conference and joint action with local, political, and trade-union leaders. The Dover Street Bath House, in which this settlement lias been so deeply interested from its first inception up to the present time, has closed its second year with another phenom- enal record of nearly 300,000 baths taken dur- ing the year. The Ward Nine Gymnasium, with which the House is also specially concerned, has opened its career of service very satisfac- torily, amid great enthusiasm on the part of the children and young people of the neighbor- hood. Two days in the week are reserved for women and girls. The instruction is in skilled hands, and there is painstaking expert medical supervision. The instant effect of the gymna- sium in improving the order and morale of the streets about it has been more obvious and striking than one would have dared to predict. Two other municipal enterprises have for some years been strongly urged by residents of the House an adequate playground and ail institution somewhat of the character of the London polytechnics or people's palaces. The appropriation for the playground is not yet in sight, but the pressure for it grows stronger year by year, both among the people of this part of the South End and among public-spir- ited citizens throughout the city." Hull House, Chicago, has achieved its most marked success in promoting the enactment and enforcement of legal provision for the in- spection and betterment of factory conditions, especially with reference to child labor and woman's work. The service rendered the state by Mrs. Florence Kelley's factory inspec- torship abides in the better laws and conditions effected by her. The late Mrs. Alvina P. Ste- vens gave her life to the parental school law and Chicago has given her name to the school provided for by the act. In February, Prof. Graham Taylor, of Chi- cago Commons, testified before the Congres- sional Industrial Commission on the building trades lockout in Chicago. He was among the very few witnesses whose testimony was not ex parte. It covered these four points: (1) The probable effect upon the Building Trades Council of the agreement between the carpen- ter contractors and unions, if ratified by the latter; (2) the right of the public to interfere for the prompt settlement of such differences, including the efforts made to arbitrate the dif- ferences at issue in the building trades lockout; (3) some causes of the disturbance of the in- dustrial relations in Chicago; (4) the encourag- THE COMMONS ing efforts being made by employers, labor imions, social settlements and other movements to bet- ter the relationship of the industrial classes, and promote the social unification of the peo- ple. The last point was coveivil by special re- quest of the commission. HULL HOUSE SUMMER SCHOOL. July 6-26, 1901. For nine years a summer school has been held at Rockford College, which is situated oil twenty acres of ground on the banks of the Rock River at Rockford, ill. It has been pos- sible to combine the pleasures of a vacation with a slight routine of morning study and afternoon reading. Stress is laid upon the out- door study of botany and birds, but the college collections and laboratories are open to the students, and lectures take the place of excur- sions on rainy days. Tennis, picnics and row- ing upon the river occupy the summer even- ings, varied by dancing, charades, tableaux and other entertainments in the large gymnasium. Good country roads in the vicinity give oppor- tunity for pleasant bicycle trips and parties are frequently arranged for half-day or all- day excursions. In addition to the courses in nature study, classes will be formed in the following sub- jects: History of Education, Chaucer and Early English, Argument and Theme Writing, Biology, Readings in French and German Lit- erature, Drawing and Sketching, Needlework, Embroidery, Gymnastics and Choral Work. Lectures will lie given by Mr. T. H. Briggs, of the University of Chicago, on "The Develop- ment of the Drama," and "Signs of Social Un- rest in Recent Verse," and by Miss Addams, on "The Play at Ober-Ammergau," and "Social Ideals and Social Ethics." RIVINGTOS STREET, NEW YORK. Miss Elizabeth S. Williams, the present Head- worker of the New York College Settlement, says in regard to the growth of the work: "So far as numbers are concerned we have reached our limit, for our house is filled to overflowing; we cannot accommodate any more clubs or classes. Every available spot is used all of the time, and we are obliged continually to turn away those eager for the privileges." The summer work of the Settlement is carried on at Mount Ivy, m Rockland county, N. Y. At this home 200 children and working girls spend a delightful vacation during the heated term. And through the Flower and Fruit Guild a breath of the country is brought to many others. The Nurses Settlement is one of the most unique settlement households in New York City. While its chief duties consist of profes- sional nursing in the neighborhood, there is also a marked activity in numerous lines of outreach in the community, including clubs, classes, kindergarten, and a reference library. Miss Lillian Wald, the founder and present Headworker, and Miss Mary Brewster secured Board of Health badges, explored the li'iic- meuts to find the sick and offered their aid in a natural, friendly way. From this beginning the work has grown. Two auxiliary branches are now in successful operation, and 'sixteen trained nurses comprise the residential staff. Service is usually free, but in cases where patients are able to pay, a small charge is made. Visits to the sick are made daily, at- tendance not being constant except in serious cases, when nurses from the outside are called and paid from the emergency fund. At South Nyack a country house is open all the year, where the hospitality of the settlement is ex- tended to the ailing and convalescent, to whom a few weeks in the country might be a restor- ative. M. Seigfried of the Universite Populaire (Belleville, Paris) gave an interesting report on tlie aim, methods and progress of the Social Settlement idea in France to the residents of the Commons on the afternoon of May 12th. In 1898 Social Settlements were unknown in France; today there is hardly an industrial center without its Universite Populaire. M. Seigfried graphically described the interest of the workingmeu of Belleville in the various subjects of the winter course of lectures In this Peoples University. Each evening of the week had its appointed subject for study and discussion, and an interesting trait of the French mind is disclosed in the fact that philosophy, among the many subjects consid- ered, was by far the most popular. M. Sieg- fried commented regretfully upon the indiffer- ence of the French workiugman to the practical questions of even his most immediate social concerns. The Universite Populaire resembles more closely University Extension Lectures with free discussion, for working people under friendly social auspices, than the distinctive social set- tlements of England and the United States. Nevertheless the principle of sympathetic inter- course between the Knight of Learning and the THE COMMONS Knight of Labor, the meeting oil equal social terms to learn and teach, of men nurtured in the house of Have with men reared in the house of Want, is the chief characteristic in the service of the Universlte Populaire as in that of the social settlement. This is something new under the sun, a fact of modern social evolution big with promise of the coming of that better day when mutual sympathy and service, if not entire understanding, will re- place the pride and bitterness that in all the yesterdays has divided the brotherhood of man. Sharing a Private Libra.ry with a. Neighborhood- In "Summer Idyl of City Life," which ap- peared in the September number of THE COM- MONS, it is shown what one family is doing in a way rare as It is beautiful, to make its home the social center of the neighborhood. During the summer months bevies of little children were invited to gather each Wednes- day in the garden and lawn surrounding Mr. Chas. A. Joslyn's home on South Troy street, where he distributed his flowers among them. But not alone to the beauties of the garden were they invited. They were shown into the fine library and lent suitable books. An hour of story and song followed, and when the merry little visitors left for their homes each carried a card bearing a cordial invitation to the grown members of the families to come and freely enjoy "Joslyn's Golden Rule Park." "Seats are in shady places, the flowers are in bloom, the grass is green, and the latch string is always out. * * * Come and enjoy the fruits of my labor." That was the spirit of the message, and it needs not the eye of u seer to discern in such the thought and plan of One who taught the doctrine of love and service. In November Mr. Joslyn issued a catalogue of the Golden Rule Park Library, on the first page of which is the following greeting: FOREWORD: TO NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS GREETING. In order to make our world happier each of us should live our lives in the spirit of that immortal precept of the Master: "Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you." In this spirit of good fellowship this little cata- logue is presented. I want my books to be useful. It will be a very great pleasure to me to loan any book appearing in the catalogue, under certain com- mon-sense rules that have been established. To friends who were supplied with a lormer catalogue, and who may note the large increase in the stock since then, I will say, aside from the natural increase by purchase, the library is indebted to the kindness of a friend for some sixty odd volumes. The catalogue is compiled and arranged in such a way that additions can be made from time to time. Please occasionally bring it for completion to date. To quote once more from invitations of sea- sons past, which I wish to stand as long as my life shall last: "Golden Rule Park and Library is open at all times to friends, seats are in shady spots, the grass is green, the flowers are in bloom, the library is stocked with good reading and the latch-string is always on the outside." Come and pull the latch-string. Very truly your friend, CHARLES A. JOSLYN, JR. November, 1900. Our California correspondent writes : "Every- where hearts are breaking for lack of human sympathy. Some months ago, when helpless in bed, a tramp came to my screen-door. He was so hungry and dirty, but human. I said: 'You see I am helpless and alone. Sit down and let me think. I talked then of his mother, his childhood, of Jesus who had no where to lay his head. His heart was touched, and tears were free. I sent him to my pantry; told him to light a lamp and make coffee, to find bread and butter, cold meat and milk; gave him towel and soap and comb, and let him take of his full meal what he left. I believe he took counsel how to earn a home and make himself a useful citizen. Never have I had such a one take any advantage of me, and many have said: 'Your words made me feel as if I could be somebody.' It rains tonight. The gentle rain calls to the lilies all over the land, bids the poppies marshal ,,heir hosts, coaxes the buds of ten thousand flowers to show their banners of rose and gold from the high terraces of the desert sands." The charitable women of Cleveland have formed a Society for the Relief of Crippled Children which furnishes practical surgical as- sistance to crippled children of the poor. The society has a surgeon and a private hospital under contract, sustained by private donations. 10 THE COMMONS Bettering Conditions of Labor THE CONSUMERS' LEAGUE. BY MBS. CHARLES HENBOTIN, PRESIDENT OF THE ILLINOIS BRANCH. Tliis comparatively modern movement has re- cently made great advance in the Eastern States and is rapidly becoming one of the in- dustrial and ethical forces which is forming public opinion. The visit of Miss Pauline Goldmark, Secre- tary of the New York Branch, has aroused a great interest in those members of the Illinois League who have been so fortunate as to hear ' her account of the work accomplished on these lines in New York. The New York Branch was organized about ten years ago. Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell was the first president, and was succeeded by Mvs. Frederick Nathan, who still holds the po- sition. The 'secretary gives her entire time to furthering the Interests of the League and the active propaganda of the League has resulted in encouraging progress in bettering the condi- tions of employment in stores 'and factories. The principles which underlie the work of this association may be condensed into the follow- ing statements: first, that the consumer, or *myer, is practically the producer; second, that the consumer has therefore an ethical respon- sibility for the conditions under which the ar- ticles are made which he purchases and that to recognize this responsibility is a part of his civic duty. The New York City League con- fined its first efforts to bettering the condi- tions of working women and children, with the result, after long continued investigation, that the League is now able to publish a "White List" of forty-four recommended retail stores. The movement has spread all over the coun- try and a National League has been organized, with Prof. John Graham Brooks as president, and Mrs. Florence Kelley as secretary. Affili- ated with the National organization are thirty local leagues. The headquarters are in New York, in the United Charities Building, East 23d street. Anyone desiring information on the work of the National or New York City Branch can obtain it by writing to the above address. New Y'ork is the stronghold of the sweating system, whose products are bought and dis- tributed all over the country. In order to enable purchasers to discriminate against gar- ments made under these bad conditions, the Consumers' League label was adopted, which is- attached only 'to garments made in factories approved by the League. No factory is allowed the use of this label unless the State Factory Laws are obeyed; overtime not worked; chil- dren under sixteen are not employed. Twenty-eight factories are now authorized to use this label, and several manufacturers have frankly admitted that they find it commercially advantageous to them. It is used for women's and children's underwear alone, as the League Is careful not to invade the domain of any union which has its own label in the Held. The public exhibition of garments bearing the label which was recently held in New York disclosed the interesting result that goods of all grades and prices can now be produced un- der fair conditions. A few weeks ago fifty- cent nightgowns bearing the Consumers' League label were offered for sale at a leading store in New York City, thus disproving the idea that only high-priced goods can be man- ufactured in model factories. This movement has had a perceptible effect in furthering the early closing of stores. In several Wisconsin, towns, where leagues have been formed, the agitation has resulted in se- curing the Saturday half-holiday during the two summer mouths for about 5,000 employees in retail stores. While the principal sweating trade center is New Y'ork City, Chicago perhaps ranks second as a producer of sweated goods. It is -esti- mated by the Factory Inspector that 25,000 people in Chicago, including men, women and children, are engaged in the garment trades. Many of these people are working under sani- tary conditions quite as bad as anything that New York can show. The League has therefore a large field of work right in this city. The Illinois Branch was organized about two years ago and has conducted a propaganda of the principles underlying the League so that near- ly everyone has some conception of what the League stands for, but the active membership has been disproportionately small. Its adher- ents have determined no longer to content themselves with mere applause. In the com- ing autumn active work will be inaugurated. With the aid of the Womens Clubs it is hoped that local leagues will be formed all over the state, of which Chicago is the great shopping center, for it is only by the combined efforts of a large body of members that merchants can lie induced to carry goods made in factories recommended by the League. Literature on the subject of the League can be obtained at Hull House and the Commons. The annual membership fee is $1.00, which may be sent to Miss Juliet Wall, Secretary, Greenwood avenue, Evanston. THE COMMONS 11 LOCAL OPTION IN TAXATION. The Buckliii tax amendment which authorizes "any county in the state, at any general elec- tion, not ofteuer than once in four years, on petition of 100 tax payers, to vote on the ques- tion of exempting personal property and landed improvements from local taxation, and deriv- ing all local revenue from laud values irrespect- ive of Improvement," has passed the Colorado lower house anil senate, and has gone to the governor for his signature, which it is certain to obtain, since he recommended its adoption in his inaugural message. It then must be voted upon by the people. This will be a great advance in Colorado to- ward the adoption of a sound fiscal and social system. The system of local option has been adopted in New Zealand and some other parts of Australasia, and a home rule amendment, similar to that which the Colorado legislature has just passed, is pending before the Texas legislature. New York in the Elsberg bill, Il- linois in the Crafts bill, also Delaware and Kansas and other states in similar bills pend- ing, give promise of the establishment in this country of the local option principle of taxa- tion, and the consequent speedy exemption from tax burden of Industry, enterprise and thrift, and th taxation exclusively of land monopoly values. "The Associations of Workingmen and Em- ployers." In calling attention to a recent publi- cation under the above title by Monsieur P. Hubert Valleroux, of Paris Social Service, says: "According to M. Lyon-Caen, this Is one of the aliU st presentations of the subject which has appeared. The author has divided his material into three parts. The first deals with those as- sociations which have for their object the in- crease of gain, such as Co-operative Societies for Production, Industrial Syndicates, Associa- tions for Buying and Selling. The second per- tains to Consumption and to Construction of Cheap Dwellings, while the third deals with provision against illness, pensions, associations for the prevention of accidents from work. Each part contains a short historical sketch, a statement of the present situation and of the methods of legislaion employed by each asso- ciation. Throughout, the author has had a practical end constantly in mind. He has not tried to make a complete history of the movement, but simply to show clearly what methods have, in the past, been successful, and which have been unsuccessful. The International Labor Bureau opened its office doors on the first day of May at Bazel, Switzerland. It will publish a code of existing labor laws in the English. French and (ierman languages, an international bulletin and an in- ternational Annual of labor movements and measures throughout the world. This signifi- cant step has been taken by the little Swiss Republic that appropriates 8,000 francs an- nually for this world-embracing cause. Will not the Bureau of Labor of the first industrial nation of the world co-operate in this noble and beneficent service? SIGNS OF THE NEW ORDER. New Zealand is divided into "Industrial Dis- tricts." The day of Barony, Lordship, Earl- dom, Dukedom, Kingdom and the like is draw- Ing to its close. Our fathers had outgrown the delusion of hereditary right to the powers of government, and we are rapidly outgrowing the no less delusion that mere artificial lines of township, county, and state, shall interpose barriers to the rights and obligations, the in- dustry and sympathy of men. It requires no prophet to foretell the end of this beginning in the little island in the South Pacific Sea. New Zealand has planted a mustard seed and the weary toilers of the world shall yet rest beneath its generous shade in the four corners of the earth. "Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand." Victor Emmanuel III., King of Italy; has done more for human freedom in this new year of a new century, than Napoleon accomplished in the name of Liberty by fifty battles whose thunders shook the world. This boy ruler has given royal recognition and the title and in- signia of office, to an order of nobility more ancient than the Manetho Dynasty and more glorious than the House of David. Most hon- orable of all titles yet bestowed by human hands, it is to be conferred (so the kingly edict ran) only upon persons distinguished for their knowledge and service in the art and theory of Industry, and any man in Italy may enter the lists for this exalted honor, from peasants of the hill country to princes of the realm. These are indeed stirring times. Is Labor, after waiting (5,000 years or so, to have its day in court? An international Order of the Knights of Industry would do more to realize "the Parliament of man and the Federation of the world" than all the benevolent despots iu Christendom, with their Hague Conferences and Programs of Peace. 12 THE COMMONS. The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Socia.1 Settlement Point of Vie\v. GRAHAM TAYLOR, - - - - - Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.& Morgan St., Chicago, 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. A dramatic incident took place at our Free Floor Discussion recently. An able address on Competition had been delivered in which was emphasized the supreme value of the individ- ual and his right to free competition, limited only by the social adjustment of common rights. The most prominent Socialist in the city asked the speaker, "What place do you give to the teachings and example of the Mas- ter?" adding that he did not ask the question as an orthodox believer. The rejoinder was made, that if he did not ask honestly, it was a moot question not worthy of a serious answer. Instantly the reply flashed back, "Then I ask it as an orthodox, for I believe that Christ was the best and the wisest man of all time and that all that is good and unselfish in the world, since his time, has come through those who have been moved by his spirit. What place, I ask, do you give to the teachings aud example of the Master?" College Training for Social Service. The College Settlement Association has in- stituted a most significant inquiry into the best ways to provide training for social service. Every college graduate is said to find herself "confronted by social problems, either in the organized work of a community, or in the myriad personal phases of such problems." It is admitted, however, that "the average col- lege graduate has almost no knowledge of the proper means of rendering useful service to so- ciety." The college thus fails, in the estimation of these investigators, if it does not fulfil its function In meeting "this scientific necessity to the welfare of the country." On the other hand it is said that "it certainly would not seem advisable or desirable, either to turn our colleges into training schools for social work, or to convert our settlements and charity or- ganizations into nothing but laboratories for such work." "To discover the attitude of authorities, on both sides, and form plans for mutual benefit," is tiie helpful purpose of this inquiry. Tha most significant answer to the questions of deniund and supply thus raised are the an- nouncements by the Universities of Pennsyl- vania and Wisconsin of the opening of courses of training for social work, with laboratory practice in the surrounding city field work. The University of Chicago has for some time had in contemplation the establishment of a more or less detached school to fit men and women, with academic thoroughness, for effective so- cial service in every needed line. Divinity schools, notably the Chicago Theological Sem- inary, are beginning to supplement their cur- ricula with such courses for lay-workers, aimed to train them especially for the educa- tional and institutional work of the churches. The Young Men's Christian Association Train- ing Schools, at Springfield, Mass., and Chicago, have long led the way to this end by provid- ing their secretaries with technical training for their work. The Bible Normal College, at Springfield, Mass., is in its work in religious pedagogy, perhaps the most advance'! of these pioneer schools. Among them all, of course, the Pratt Institute, of Brooklyn, X. Y., easily leads in the highly specialized training it offers within its chosen sphere of splendid popular service. The Settlements, being in reality edu- cational agencies more than anything else, can render no higher service than by continuing to co-operate, to the full extent of their oppor- tunity, yet strictly within the limits of their own legitimate scope, with these academic in- stitutions in their new outreachiug toward more practically democratic influence and effective- ness. T5he End of our Beginning. The Williams Residence Hall is rising at the rate of a story each week. At this pace of progress it will reach the roof line the middle of July and may, without unforeseen delay, be ready to receive our household life by the early fall. The entire cost of this Grand ave- nue section of the new building, $20,000, has been provided, as announced in our May num- ber, by the Williams family, the sons and daughters having offered to add $12,000 to the $8,000 already given by their father, on condition that the whole amount be devoted to the erection of the Residence Hall, which is to bear his name. To replace the $8,000, which had been expended in erecting the Morgan street wing, and to meet the final payments for THECOMMONS completing and equipping it, require $15,000. Of this sum $5,000 have been subscribed since receiving (lie offer of the Williams gift. It now remains to secure the subscription of $10,- 000 in order to fulfill the conditions upon which this generous contribution of over one-third of the entire cost of the building was made. When this sum is in hand, Chicago Commons will hold in trust for the whole cosmopolitan popu- lation of the most populous ward in Chicago this unencumbered, well adapted building equipment for the educational, social, civic and religions service of the common life. The end of our beginning will then be reached. It is with great relief that we hail at least the beginning of the end of the long, hnrd struggle for foothold and shelter. The su- preme satisfaction of *he retrospect and the prospect is the fact that the load has been lifted once for all. Whatever additional build- ing we may need, we can wait for until indi- vidual friends of the work are prompted to pro- vide for its future growth. What has been so well done by the many makes surer find easier what still remains for all cf us together to do in helping support and develop the work. By relieving us of the ex- <-.^sjve rental of the old building and by divert- ing the outgo of what the residents pay for their accommodations to the income for the settle- ment work, the new building will at once prove to be the beginning of an endowment for the perpetual maintenance of the social and re- ligious service of this ever-increasing and- In- creasingly needy community. To this income from the building is to lie added the growing share of maintenance expenses which is being cheerfully offered by all the settlement clubs and classes, and al) the church organizations using its privileges. Our readers who have shared so patiently with us the tension of this prolonged appeal will help us heave a sigh of relief in the pros- pect of giving ourselves and them a rest from the burden of living under the stress of a per- petual financial crisis. It will, however, never lie possible, as it ought not to be, either to maintain or, much more, initiate such sacrificial service without an expenditure of money and of manhood and womanhood that will be felt by all whose privilege and duty it is to make it. If the settlement service ever offers privi- leges without obligations, pleasure without pains, opportunity without burden-bearing, a "soft-snap" instead of strenuous struggle, it will lose its soul. 15he New Fourth Edition f College, Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. Mr. Lex. By Catherine We-vigh McCvitloch." Of the Chicago Bar. The legal status of mother and child stated in story form, with full citations of statutes and decisions. Published by Fleming H. Revell Co. The American Journal of Socinloay says of it: "The book is well written and will un- doubtedly find many readers who do not otherwise care for legal literature." Price cloth 35c. Address the author, Room 1104, 135 Adams St., Chicago. Biblical Sociology, By Graham Taylor. A syllabus of lectures on the social teachings of the Bible. Printed for use in the class-room. A limited number can be obtained for 500 of THE COMMONS. (5he Church in Socia.1 Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for 'She Handbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FR.OEBEL. Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA HOFER HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave., t Chicago. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects < f Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point ol view, ]t is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.* Morgan St., Chicago. 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postoffice as mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. cash or stamps, not aborc j-cciit d nomina'ion.. at our risk. Advertisements in tKe Commons During 1901. One Paere. ,"2500; Half r'age. *i: 00; Quarter Page, SS.OO;One Inch. -2 00. For each insertion Special Rates for Special Numbers of the Commons Any number under twenty-five copies five cents each; over twenty-five- and under one hundred, three cents each; over one hundred, two and one-half cents each. CKevngos of Address. Pleas; notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify us at once if for PHV reason you desirt.- your subscription discontinued. In accord- ance wittl custom, a IK! the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers, we continue THE COMMON:- to each address until notified to the contrary. 14 THE COMMONS 15he Month at Chicago Commons- From the happy indoor work of the winter we turn to the happier outdoor work of the summer. Camp Commons, in the Penny meadow near Elgin, is in successful operation. To see the joyous groups of boys or girls start from our front door for their fortnight's outing, is one of the keenest delights of settlement ex- perience. To keep a boy or girl a week at Camp costs only ?2.00, including transportation, in addition to the fifty cents which each of them pays toward the expense. Should not the "summer" girl and boy share their vacation pleasures with the less fortunate children of their own age by providing one or more of them with an outing of at least a week? KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION. The Pestalozzi-Froebel Kindergarten Training School, at Chicago Commons, happily closed its . fourth year this mouth. The settlement audi- torium was beautifully decorated with wild flowers, gathered by the young ladies, five of whom were graduated. An appreciative au- dience of friends enjoyed the songs, games and handiwork of the school and the speaking of its teachers, who were most happily supple- mented by Miss Amalie Hofer, editor of the Kindergarten Magazine, and sister of the prin- cipal, Mrs. Bertha Hofer Hegner. Mrs. Heg- ner's success as a distinctive kindergarten con- ductor and trahier has received deserved and generous recognition from the other training schools, with which ours is happy to be on terms of friendliest fellowship. More appli- cants for admission have been registered al- ready for next year than have ever been re- ceived at this season. The kindergarten at the new building is supported financially and in service by the tuition of the training school. Two of its students will conduct the summer kindergarten there, opening its session the sec- ond week in July. OUB BOYS AND GIRLS CELEBRATE. The close of the club season was enthusiasti- cally celebrated by the members of our boys' and girls' clubs in mass meeting assembled. Supplemented by the Chicago 'Commons Or- chestra, the "home talent" of the clubs proved entirely adequate for the program, which was well received by a large audience of parents and friends. Although only a small admission fee was charged the proceeds provided $50.00 toward the expenses of Camp Commons. PROGRESSIVE CLUB'S COUNTRY HOUSE. The young women of our Progressive Club have rented for the season a beautifully lo- cated and well adapted house of seven rooms at Glencoe, on the north shore of the lake. The shorter distance and less expensive transporta- tion will place an outing within the reach of a far larger proportion of the club members and their friends than could possibly take ad- vantage of the Michigan City cottage last year. We are glad to co-operate again with our neighboring Northwestern University Settle- ment in furnishing for the use of babies and invalids sterilized milk, at two and a half cents for a two-ounce bottle. The settlements meet the cost of sterilizing and bottling and the consumers pay only a trifle more than the milk dealers charge for the ordinary supply.. A CLEAN CITY RALLY. The Men's Community Club and our Woman's Club contributed their members and their in- fluence to a Clean City Rally, at which an ani- mated discussion of street paving and cleaning and of garbage collecting methods was partici- pated in by several neighbors. Our new alder- man was most helpfully encouraging in his view of the situation. Our streets are being cleared of the unsightfully and ill-savored old wooden boxes by the ward superin- tendent. Cans, in accordance with the new regulations, are replacing them. But where, in- side the building lines, to keep these separate receptacles for ashes and garbage be- tween the calls of the collector, which are made only twice each week, is a- se- rious question for the owners and occupants of tenement houses. With no frontage space and all too little back yard, many tenants may be obliged to resort to the unsanitary neces- sity of utilizing hallways and cellars for the storage of waste. Fatally defective are build- ing ordinances, which make no compulsory pro- vision for such dire necessities. The hope of better thins."* lies wholly in just such friendly conferences of neighbors and co-operation with the city officials in their very seriously difficult duties. OUR MUSICAL INTERESTS. Our Chicago Commons Choral Club, under the direction of its conductor, Miss Marl Ruef Hofer, achieved its greatest triumph in the smooth and spirited rendering of the opera "Pinafore." It means much to this great com- munity to have its own capacity developed to THE COMMONS 15 the point of providing innocent and attractive recreation to its heavy-laden people. In addition to adult and children's choruses, and the Chicago Commons orchestra, we are glad to report considerable work in violin, mandolin and piano. The demand has been stronger and readier for violin and mandolin and the interest in these instruments steadier than in the piano. The causes may be as fol- lows: necessity for several changes in teachers in the piano department; few families can af- ford pianos, practicing in such cases having to be done on the Commons piano at" odd times between classes, the comparative cheapness of mandolins and violins; an evident preference for stringed instruments among Italian people. The violin and mandolin work has been con- ducted by Mrs. Gordon, a pupil of the Kelso School of Musical and Dramatic Art. One of her pupils of special talent has been trans- ferred to Mr. Gordon, head of the violin de- partment of this school. In all these classes the charge has been the same as that of our neighborhood teachers in order to avoid the es- tablishment of unjust competition. Found: A Trainer- Wanted: A Manua.1 Training Equipment An expert teacher in one of the best of our city manual training schools offers his gratui- tous service to Chicago Commons as resident in charge of our manual training department on only one condition, namely, that we equip it as well as the Cooking School is equipped for its work. The cost of this manual training equip- ment he estimates at not more than five hun- dred dollars. The shop room stands ready. A capable volunteer trainer is at hand. Young men and women in many lines of educational and religious effort seek to combine the advan- tage of manual training with the Social Settle- ment spirit and service. Boys and girls by the score await the sense culture and character value of this training. The following plan of action, suggested by the trainer who offers his time and skill to carry it out, should tempt one or more of our friends to supply tools and benches to work with. One hundred dollars have already been offered. Who will secure the other four hundred.? l-KOPOSED PLAN FOU NORMAL AND CLASS WORK The plan is to start first a normal depart- ment, in which teachers will be trained in all forms of manual work suitable for children and young people from six to eighteen years of age. A one year course is contemplated for the present, but opportunity for further study will be offered to those who desire to continue, and we shall encourage all who can to do so. We hope to interest the students of this de- partment in our settlement work so that they will assist us in our efforts for the neighbor- hood. If any preference is shown it will be to those who promise thus to further our work. We shall equip this department for fifteen stu- dents, attempting only so much as can be done well, and will endeavor to add inspiration by having lectures given from time to time by some of the most successful specialists in man- ual training. When our normal work is fairly started we will turn our attention to the children of the neighborhood. We intend to form classes of sixty, divided into three sections of twenty each. Instruction will be given in drawing, clay-modeling and carving. The sections will follow one another in rotation through the three departments, and later, the shop of the normal department will be opened to tne young peo- ple of the neighborhood. After the plant is once installed, we hope to make it self-support- ing. The students in the normal department will always pay a small tuition fee and we hope to secure a slight revenue from the sale of some of the articles made. It seems hardly necessary to speak of the great value in some form of rudimentary manual training among the children of the poor, who get little of it in the public schools and to whom the higher grade manual schools are out of reach. We do not expect any very astounding re- sults to follow upon our efforts. We do feel, however, that no one can draw well, or model in clay, or cut a design in wood, or make a box, while his mind is wandering at large; all of these forms of work require the attention of the worker. Again, in all but the first, there is some resistance to be overcoine. It requires persistency and self-control to continue the work until finished; l\o one can carve a design in wood' or make a joint without coming to know that design or that joint as never before. At the same time it opens the eyes of the worker to a world of beauty and interest never before seen. Manual Training thus creates a new interest in life, quickens the imagination, develops self-control and the habit of attention, gives a new knowledge of the dignity of labor and a very real sense of power and self-reliance which comes from the mere ability to use the hands as the mind directs. 16 THE COMMONS Fa.rewell to the Old Commons b\it not to Its Neighborhood- To be in the last mortal acts of moving for the best part of a whole month is the experi- ence of a lifetime! The "Old Commons" fully shared in the desolation of the dissolution. Our lingering sentimental regrets at leaving the hospitably spacious and homestead-like old house have been somewhat rudely disillusion- ized by the dilapidation into which it is sud- denly falling. When the pictures came down from the walls and even the plain furnishing left room after room bare, the untenableness of the mournfully decadent old mansion in its present state became all too manifest. And yet there is, to us at least, and we fain would hope to many of our friends and neighbors, more than a touch of pathos in abandoning the old Commons to its lonesome, if not direful fate. The neighborhood, and even the home- ward-bound thousands who sweep past it every evening, cannot fail to miss the life-light from its open door, the happy throngs of playful children ever on porch or steps, the merry young life flowing in and ebbing out with every eventide, the groups of brotherly laboring men and the flock of hard-working women, to say nothing of the incoming and outgoing of the residents on their neighborhood errands, and the strain of the vesper hymns floating over the clang and clamour of the street. While almost all of these groups have already followed us to the new building, only five blocks west- ward, yet our hearts yearn over the littlest children and their careworn mothers, who can- not wander even so short a distance from what, by a license hardly poetic, may be called their "home." Where can they center when the only bit of ground common to them all no longer extends to them a welcome? Where else can they look for the scant privileges with which we enabled them, these seven years, to sup- plement the all too little equipment and cheer of their dreary tenements? Where can' these little children be childlike and play, If not on their play-ground in our side yard? It has never been in our hearts to deny the needy neighborhood of the old Commons any com- fort or privilege that we could afford it. Hop- ing against hope we have pleaded for means to retain and repair the home-like old mansion. In which a group of our residents would glad- ly have remained to serve their old neighbors. But this hope, it seems, was not to be real- iz>'d. So we present for the last time the pic- ture of our dear old home, where we have hap- pily lived between a buzz-saw and a sausage factory these seven years and around which cluster so ninny associations, tender and tragic, far-reaching and intense, lightsome and deep- toned, shadowed with disappointment and de- spair, yet sunlit with a far more exceeding success and an ever-abounding hope. It must go, but we must not. Neither the more invit- ing accommodations, nor the equally needy neighborhood of the new building must be al- lowed to allure us to leave the long struggled for and hard earned foothold we possess amidst the harder conditions surrounding the old Union street house. May its familiar front, as it faces some readers for the last time, prompt some compassionate hearts and glad hands to spread another, even though a smaller roof, at least over our kindergarten, mothers' meet- ings and junior clubs, which otherwise we must leave behind us. Only fifty dollars a month will be required to rent, light, heat, and care for quarters adequate for this purpose in the immediate vicinity of the old Commons. Where will such an investment yield larger or surer returns in civic, social, moral and religious bet- terment? Can the city afford the improvident waste involved in abandoning such a costly vant.-ige point of all that makes for righteous- ness, peace and patriotism? Who will buy up this opportunity to serve God and the city in the persons and the homes of the poorest of tht poor? One man stands for half the kinder- partner's support. Who will supply shelter- ing roof and walls? , Since 1883 the brotherhood of carpenters and joiners has expended over a million dollars for charitable and benevolent purposes. TKe Commons A Montnly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 61 Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago. August. 1901. Teachings of a Da.y. MOHXIXG. What's th text today for reading Nature and its being by? There is effort all the morning Through the sea and windy sky. All. intent in earnest grapple, That the All may let it be; Force, in unity, at variance With its own diversity. Force, prevailing nnto action: Force, persistent to restrain: In a twofold, one-souled wrestle, Forging Being's freedom-chain. Frolic! say you, when the billow Tosses back a mane of spray? No: but haste of earnest effort; Nature works in guise of play. Till the balance shall be even Swings the to and fro of strife; Till an awful equilibrium Stills it, beats the Heart of Life. What's the text today for reading Nature and its being liy? Effort, effort, all the morning Through the sea and windy sky. AFTERXOOX. Purple headland over yonder Fleecy, sun-extinguished moon I am here alone, and ponder On the theme of afternoon. Past has made a groove for Present, And what fits it, is: no more. Waves before the wind are weighty; Strongest sea-beats shape the shore. Just what is is just what can be, And the Possible is free; "Pis by being, not by effort, That the firm cliff juts to sea. With an uncoiitentious calmness Drifts the Fact before the "Law" So we name the ordered sequence We, remembering, foresaw. And a law is mere procession Of the forcible and fit; Calm of uncontested Being, And our thought that comes of it. In the mellow, shining daylight Lies the afternoon at ease, Little willing ripples answer To a drift of casual breeze. Purple headland to the westward! Ebbing tide and fleecy moon! In the "line of least resistance" Flows the life of Afternoon. TWILIGHT. Gray the sky, and growing dimmer', And the twilight lulls the sea; Half in vagueness, half in glimmer, Nature shrouds her mystery. What have all the hours been spent for? Why the on and on of things? Why Eternity's procession Of the days and evenings? Hours of sunshine, hours of gloaming, Wing their unexplaining flight With a measured punctuation Of unconsciousness, at night. Just at sunset was translucence, When the west was all aflame; So I asked the sea a question And an answer nearly came. Is there nothing but occurrence? Through each detail, sum and Act, Is this whole we deem so pregnant But unemphasized Fact? Or. when dusk is in the hollows Of the hillside and the wave, Are things just so much in earnest That they cannot but be grave? THE COMMONS Nay, the lesson of the Twilight Is as simple as 'tis deep. Acquiescence, acquiescence, Aud the coming on of sleep. MIDNIGHT. There are sea and sky about rue, Aud yet nothing sense can mark; For a mist fills all the midnight, Adding blindness to its dark. There is not the faintest echo From the life of yesterday: Not the vaguest 'stir foretelling Of a morrow on the way. 'Tis negation's hour of triumph, In the absence of the sun; 'Tis the hour of endings, finished, Of beginnings unbegun. Yet the voice of awful silence Bids my waiting spirit hark; There is action in the stillness, There is progress in the dark. In the drift of things and forces, Comes the better from the worse, Swings the whole of, Nature upward Wakes and thinks a Universe. There will be more life tomorrow, And of life more life that knows; Though the sum of force be constant, Yet the Living ever grows. So we sing of Evolution, And step strongly on our ways, Aud we live through nights in patience, And we learn the worth of days. In the silence of murk midnight Is revealed to me this thing: Nothing hinders; all enables Nature's vast awakening. 15he Chxirch and the Laboring Ma.n- BY AUTHl'R E. HOLDER, PRESIDENT OF THE IOWA TRADES AND LABOR FEDERATION. My definition of our subjects are these: The Church It is the House of the Lord, a con- gregation of people who collectively worship God, most generally termed 'Christians, and .without a doubt the most beneficient and influ- ential institution on earth, no multiplication of words cau make it clearer or more em- phatic. The Laboring Man: It is lie, who by any exertion of mind or body produces wealth, adds to the sum of human knowledge, or who satisfies human desires, whether he be a phil- osopher, merchant, teacher, preacher, or poet, or whether he be a man with a hoe, hammer or machine, lie is, in the full meaning of the term, a laboring man doing honest work and earning honest wages. If, on the other hand, any niau who does nothing to make mankind richer, happier, or wiser, but lives on the toil of others, he, if you analyse him far enough, will be found to be a beggar man or a thief, no matter under what spurious name he may be existing. Under natural conditions, the Church and the laboring man should be one, united, happy, and devoted to the interests of each other, and every member of the human family. For the first 300 years after the birth of its great foun- der this was so, absolutely, but during the last sixteen centuries a division has gradually grown, wider and ever wider, between them. The Church now, through its officials, charges the laboring man with being too materialistic and indifferent to spirituality, and the labor- ing man counter-charges that the Church lacks practicability and is inclined by word and deed to class consciousness, favoring special inter- ests, to the detriment of the material and spir- itual welfare of humanity. No subtle compromise will settle such grave charges; they must be examined closely, fear- lessly, prayerfully, also remembering that we are living in an age when ridicule is the cheap weapon of offense and defense, and that any radical proposition advanced for the true In- terests of. either the church or the laboring man will immediately be assailed by the time- worn epithet Utopian. Let us here take a hurried review of the greatest issue ever drawn on earth; with rever- ence and adoration, we picture the scene in the judgment hall in Palestine. Two men stood face to face, one was Pontius Pilate, official representative of Tiberius Caesar, harsh, se- vere, implacable; his position meant just one thing, and that was bald brute force: he ad- ministered justice, but only at such times when it appeared plausible for the further projec- tion of Caesarism. The other man was Jesus, a poor man, the sou of a poor man; he was on trial for sedition, he was a prophet with hardly a following, a preacher without a church, a man without a country, a mere fleck THE COMMONS in the current of Roman supremacy. His per- sonal appearance lias never been recorded, either, except as a meek, humble workingman. My Ideal of .Icsus pictures liim as a splendidly developed physical creation, supreme ill bis magnificence, not of the character that induces fear 01 awe, bin of that superb magnetism which says on first sight,. I am your friend, be you my friend. What was the charge against him? Conspir- acy'.' No! Perjury V No! Abuse of others for his own gain? .No! Had he taken th fruit of others' toil'/ No! What, then, was his crime'.' Why he had taught a new command- ment and advocated other rules for the reform- ation of human conduct. Said lie: "Seek ye Hist the kingdom of (iod and his righteousness, and all other tilings shall be added unto you." "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them." "A new commandment give 1 unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that" ye are my dis- ciples if ye have love one to another." Here, then, was the issue between Jesus ;\nd Pilate, for the first time directly drawn in this woild. Love versus Force. Outlined with perfect accuracy and glittering distinction. Against this grand personality and this beau- tiful doctrine of the undying law of love, what position did Pilate assume'/ Said he i with all the Intolerance and injustice that Caesarism stood for "Speakest thou not to me! Knowest thou not, that I have the power to erucify tliee and the power to release tuee!" Absolutism was seemingly secure in its posi- tion and wasted no words; arguments were not weighed, principles were not measured. This lone Nazarene was one man against a vast empire which said, you are helpless in my hands; to live on this earth you must gain the good will of Caesar, in his hands hangs your destiny. Love oil trial, with Brute Force occupying the throne of judge. This is the eternal significance of Jesus before Pilate; and, glory to God, Love that day came out con- queror, although for the time being delayed. From the lips of Jesus came the chiding re- buke: "You, Pilate, have no power at all. ex- cept what is allowed you from above." But what did the Jewish-Roman world think, a few hours afterwards the bleeding, mangled body of the humble Nazarone hung lifeless on the cross, the world of terror and force cried out in triumph: "Caesar is King, Jesus is vanquished; Force is sovereign; Love is dead." But under the directing influence of an all- wise God, the crusade of extermination was doomed to failure, the whole army of the Ro- man empire was not large enough to crush out the growing multitude that in some meas- ure, small though it may have been, repro- duced the life and spirit of the teachings of Jesus and his new commandments. This brief glance at the scene enacted in Jerusalem, 1900 years ago, and the results, are of little importance unless we discover that in that scene we have only a glimpse of a con- flict which then commenced, and which will continue until the divine law of Love is posi- tively established. Is Christianity, with Love as its foundation, supreme in our modern church, or does Pagan- ism still exercise its baneful influence and dic- tate by act, deed, and insinuation, what men shall think and what men shall do'/ From statements which come from many pastors, and evidence which forces itself upon our attention, we must in candor admit that it does, but let us hope, and pray, and work to force it to a closing issue, and instead of al- lowing the church to be an instrument of sup- port for a class conscious element it must be brought back to its old moorings and set upon a strictly social conscious basis. The great issue of the rights of man is still an unsettled one in practice; the question is now more actively discussed than ever before; it will not down: the date for a positive de- cision cannot be much longer delayed. We must see our position clearly and decide where we propose to stand; with Jesus or with Cae- sar, with Love or with Greed. Now. let us take up the position of the la- boring man. But right here we must diverge from our former description of him and leave that portion composed of the professional ele- ment that, up to date, have been a little bet- ter able to take care of themselves, and re- fer specifically to those whom everybody recog- nizes as the laboring men the manual toilers, those who handle the hoe, wield the hammer and direct the machines, the great conservative force of humanity what of them? Are they an ideal element of society? Far from it. But, we add, are they thinking and uniting, and have they faith in the omnipotent love of God to humanity? That question can be joyfully answered in the affirmative and with empha- sis, yes and it can be safely added that the manual toiler is by far a more religious mem- ber of society to-day than he was twenty-live years ago. Not as a church-going person, how- THE COMMONS ever, for the laboring man, especially he who spends his living moments in the great indus- trial hives of to-day, called factories, is, as you are fairly well aware, separated from the church. The idea that the church had used its influence against his fathers came upon him suddenly, and he resolved to have nothing more to do with it, practically speaking, a boy- cott, and as a consequence, what effect is it having upon his children? Words fail me to tell you. Who knows what is its effect better than you? To those servants of Christ who administer .spiritual blessings in the busy marts of life it is a question of grave import: to you, who are blessed with a residence .in fair Iowa, these conditions are not yet found to exist so apparently; you do not know and scarcely will you be made to believe that such a serious situation confronts you. But laboring men are thinking to-day as they never thought before, earnestly, courageously, piously; they revere the name of Jesus and a newer and larger con- ception of practical Christianity is taking hold of their minds like leaven hidden in the meal. A golden opportunity is open to the church to work for the glory of the new command- ments which Jesus laid down, and make them the motto of life for all. Will the chasm be crossed or will pride and greed and technical ecclesiasticism stand as a formidable barrier between these mighty forces for good? The Christian church aud the trade union must unite in establishing that Christianity which has for its object the right relation of man to man in his pursuit of a living. Rituals, creeds, ceremonies, holy days, and fast days will not save us either from misery in this world or the anxieties of what we are to meet in the next, if we do not love our neighbors as our- selves in the great struggle of the battle for bread. Every church which honors the name of Jesus must bear its part and must seriously grapple with our industrial problems, must measure the practice of men with men without favor, by the simple words of Him who gave us the Golden Rule, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and His precious life, and while the laboring man is not inclined to scold or sim- ply be a faultfinder, it still will be supposed that the church which fails to do this, stands in the position of a caricature of Christianity and can make no reasonable excuse for exist- ence, or ask for the attendance and support of thoughtful, earnest men. To those who are inclined to think pessimis- tiially and who fear that religion is in dan.yi-r, let us say it is not so; a few churches mny get empty, but that does not signify that the human heart is empty and does not long for peace and the joy which passeth the under- standing of man. The Tradegy of Education. It was in January, 1897. The dread silence of a frozen world brooded over the Yukon and the long Arctic night wrapped the earth in gloom. Two weary Argonauts, snow-shoiug over the trail to the Klondike, stopped at an Indian village near the bank of the "great river." The simple natives received with kind- ness the tired travellers, and the chief of the tribe welcomed them to his royal dug-out. Af- ter a dinner of dried salmon, tea and flapjacks, the Argonauts and the Indians formed in a circle around the generous fire of sputtering pine and rich birch coals and forgot in its genial warmth the bitter winds and the hard- ships of a thousand miles over ice and snow. Choosing one of tho Argonauts as story -teller, after the custom of the Northland, he began a wonderful tale of the world across the moun- tains and beyond the big water, where villages are great and white men are many as salmon in the Yukon in the spring. As the marvelous story unfolded, an Indian maiden drew closet to the group about the flickering embers and gazed into the eyes of the pale-faced story tel- ler so intently that he paused to ask what she would have. She answered in excellent English "nothing," and withdrew half frightened into the shad- ows of the wall. Later in the evening the story-teller sought out this maiden, aud by kindness, mixed with tobacco and tea, drew forth her story. After this manner it ran: "I am Ingrahamute, daughter of the chief of Koserefsky. My mission name is Koserefsky Mary and I was taught the white man's speech and ways at the Mission of the Holy Cross. After a blessed time with the good sisters of St. Ann, my father came and brought me back to my native village. I do not love my peo- ple any longer. I am not happy in my father's home. I have seen pictures of a great village; it was called San Francisco, and the dug-outs are very tall and big as steamboats and white men are so many you cannot tell their num- ber. The trails are wide between the great dug-outs and strange sleds fi:.td with many people go up and down these trails. I love best the music the sisters made and I am al- THE COMMONS ways sorry until I hear the mission music and see the beautiful village. The sisters say there is no long night and awful cold in that great village. Is it true?" And the Argonaut an- swered: "It is true." Tears came to the eyes of the Indian maiden, and after the manner of the blind that Argonaut tried to comfort her by telling tales of the great village for he knew it fairly well. So passed the evening, and when the Argon- aut made known he must sleep the maiden drew forth from her fur parka a pair of moc- casins, wrought with consummate art and dec- orated after the manner of her people, saying, "I give them to you," turned and was lost in the night. On the morrow the Argonauts went on their way over the wind-swept tundra toward the rainbow's end. The second night out from that village the Argonauts were awakened by howl- ing dogs. Hastily crawling from sleeping bags and fastening snow-shoes, they are startled in that wilderness of ice and snow by the sound of a human voice. A fur-clad figure approaches and by the faint gleam of the dying aurora is distinguished the face* of Koserefsky Mary. To the query: "Why have you come," she an- swred: "Squaw help white man; Squaw make lire; make white man good chi; white man take squaw see big village, hear music like sister made at Holy Cross." Back to the camp they walked in silence. Into their sleeping bags crawled the Argonauts, for the night was bit- terly cold. In the morning after breakfast the Argon- auts tell the maiden she cannot go with them, but must return to her home. Then she un- folds her heart's tragedy. As she tells her se- cret with the abandon of fearless simplicity, you hear again the story of Eden and witness the universal allegory symbolized by the for- bidden fruit. Educated out of sympathy with her tribal life, charmed by cleanliness, en- tranced by music, her childish heart vibrating with wonder and the love of beauty, she is tak- en back by the old chieftain to the hut in the mountains and to-morrow was to have been her wedding day. She loathes the young Indian buck that has bought her from her father for a squirrel parka, fifty marten skins and some liils of ivory. To the appeal of duty she an- swers with the riddle of the universe. In re- spouse to the mandate of her Christian teach- ings, this same teaching seems rather vague, the heart-hunger real and consuming. She asked for bread and received a stone. [Beware good wise men in your condemnation of those Argonauts' poverty in holy writ lest thou shouldst also come to judgment.] That day the maid and the Argonauts travelled together merrily over the boundless snow. Late in the eventide another village is reached. Here the Argonauts tell Koserefsky Mary, kindly but firmly, that for her to go further with them is impossible. The agony of that heart-break in the little village amid the Alaskan hills typi- fies in the memory of one man the extreme of human woe. Seventeen months passed rapidly away. It was midsummer, the glorious, swift passing summer of the far north. Down the mighty Yukon comes a> passenger steamer and on her deck are our Argonauts of the overland jour- ney in the inafl rush of '97. The vessel stopped at an Indian village for wood. It is the vil- lage of Koserefsky Mary. Eagerly the Argon- auts question the old chieftain for news of his daughter. He points blankly toward a little grave on the mountain-side above the strag- gling huts. There a mound of earth tells the old story of the suffering and the labor and the ending in nothing. A rude birch cross marks the head of the grave. How did it happen? The old chieftain was taciturn, doubtless because he had to give back the squirrel parka, the marten skins and the bits of ivory. Her little 'sister told the Argonauts a strange talo. After they left the Indian maiden that winter morn- ing many moons ago, she waited in silence, weaving baskets, until her father and lover came in search for the truant bride. They bound her with thongs and carried her back through the biting cold. When they reached the village, she could not stand. They laid her, wrapped in fur robes, by the fire. That night she called to her little sister and, half rising from the floor, bade her listen to the mu- sic, the mission music, and, swaying to and fro, sang the weird chant of her tribe to the meas- ure of strains heard by no mortal ear. In this ecstacy she fell forward and died. When the good father from the mission came that way in the springtime, he ordered a cross put at the head of her grave. The irony of that cross cannot be spoken in words. Think you that only in Alaska, among the children of the forest, education takes such tragic form. This is the story of many an artisan's home. Wise men wonder at the so- cial ferment, at the discontent of men. Yet they endow free universities and advocate com- pulsory education. Children educated to hun- ger for the melody of the Messiah, and to en- 6 THE COMMONS joy the symmetry of the Apollo Belvidere are sent home to be happy in a crowded tenement, amid hand-organ music and bill poster art. Thousands of men and women are being edu- CM red to the tastes that only wealth and lei- sure can satisfy with an income of nothing a month. This is the tragedy of education, not only in the Koserefsky chieftain's dug-out in far-away Alaska, but in the homes of the working poor in the city of Chicago. Suicides, socialism and Dayton strikes are but the many voiced ex- pression of this conflict between democracy in education and aristocracy in industry. Eco- nomically, as politically, the nation cannot en- dure half slave half free. Adjustment in the distribution of wealth to the ever-increasing desires of the working people is inevitable. By evolution, if we will, by revolution, if it must. R. R. Don't Do for Others tha.t which Others Should Do for Themselves. The model factory has gone the way of the model town. Neither Pullman in Illinois nor Patterson in Ohio have solved the labor prob- lem. This is as it should be. The failure of the National Cash Register Company, to avert a strike by paternalistic treatment of its employes is a triumph for hu- man freedom. Liberty, not ease, private rights rather than institutional benefits is the desire of the human heart. We are not unmindful of the service and worth of much that has been done in the model factory at Dayton for the comfort of the operatives. Neither are we in- different to the arrogance and unreason of some of the demands of union labor. Reviewing this matter impartially we believe that in this instance the labor leaders were in fault and that this strike was unwarranted. However the truth of this matter be, the strike at the N. C. R. emphasizes a great social fact often obscured. This fact is the individualistic character of private life. Any effort to substitute for the privations of a poverty-stricken home the Taene- fits of a public institution is foredoomed to failure. It is safe to say that there is not a working man in Chicago who does not value the half dozen books upon his home table more than his right to the use of the public library. A little garden about the home is more deeply related to his life and hope than the most spa- cious public park. A good meal is an excellent thing, but we would prefer beans and brown bread in our own home with those we love than stuffed capon and eight courses among strangers or from the hand of those that would "help the poor". This is the difference, between the spirit of a man and the desire of a brute. One of the employes of the X. C. R. is reported to have said: "You know the allusion to the Dead Sea apples fair to the eye, ashes to the tongue? Well, that's the 'model factory of the world' situation summed up. AVe couldn't eat the beautiful flowers, we couldn't wear the fine books, we hated to have it understood we were so dirty we needed signs reading, 'This way to the bath-rooms,' in front of our work- benches; we hated to be expected to go to the religious services willy nilly. We are almost all of us born and bred Americans sober, de- cent, and industrious, as our late employers will tell you, but we are not inmates of an institution, even if it is the model one of the sort in the world. AVe. are sick of cant." This sounds as an echo from the ancient prayer of Agur, ''remove far from me vanity and lies, feed me with food convenient for me." The ground of a man's pleasure is often hard to hit. Difficult as it seems, we must learn the reason of individual liberty. Men persist in taking their recreation even as their salvation in their own peculiar way. It is hard to think that we cannot make brand new human desires from our ideals, backed with cash, but it is even so. To the excellent people of the earth who would write charity in the place of justice we recommend the history of the rise and fall of the model town of Pullman and the model factory of the N. C. R. R. R. Ameteur Journalism a.s a.n Educator. JAMES F. MORTOX, JR. The great aim of life may be said to be a rounded development of the whole nature. The axiom that all growth must be from within out, as evidenced everywhere in organic life, lias become an accepted commonplace in the- ory, but is still mainly ignored in actually ex- isting methods of education. Our schools and colleges teach a large body of facts, and fill the minds of pupils with the received opinions; but their main tendency is not, as it should be, THE COMMONS to stimulate original thought to create merely well-informed men and women, but vigorous and independent thinkers. Uosseau, Froebel, I'estalozzi, Spencer, an: still as voices crying in the wilderness. DEVELOPS THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION. If the youth of our country are to become more than memory machines, it is plain that the ordinary processes of school education re- quire to be thoroughly supplanted by influ- ences which will call into activity the dormant faculties of thought and expression. The de- bating society, for instance, is worth more to many a student, In a fundamental sense, than ni'.y university course. The best results in any department are gained when the student learns by doing, not by being taught by another. Hence it is that the results of amateur jour- nalism have been such as to entitle it to the attention of all who are concerned in the de- velopment of the mind of the young. It is an exceedingly interesting institution, in its evo- lution from a boyish pastime to a journalistic school and literary inspiration. The beauty of it is that it is spontaneous and voluntary from the very start. No red tape, no conventional routine, no officious control by superiors, come in to check the natural play of youthful en- thusiasm. It may be taken up or dropped at pleasure, casually dabbled in or followed with absorbing interest. It is fun, work, companion- ship, education, self-expression, all combined, in a sense and to a degree that is true of no other youthful occupation. The essence of amateur journalism is the publication by young people of small periodi- cals, for the entertainment of themselves and their friends. There is no mystery about the process. Any boy or girl with a printing press, or a little spare cash to pay for hiring a printer, can issue an amateur paper. It may be of any si/.e. shape, or number of pages. I have seen four-page papers no bigger than a postage stamp, blanket sheets of the size of a daily newspaper, and magazines as large as Harper's or .Scri liner's. The most common size, how- ever, is a paper of four or eight pages, of or- dinary magazine size and shape of page. The paper may appear as an occasional issue, at the whim of its editor, or at regular intervals. Monthly publications are most favored, al- though a few appear more frequently, while many are issued bi-monthly, and some quar- terly. To obtain second-class postal rates, the issuance must be regular. Otherwise, the size and frequency of issuance depend entirely on the taste and pocket book of the editor. SIMPLE AND INEXPENSIVE. The contents of these publications are varied. They may contain whatever the editor pleases to publish editorials, discussions of amateur or public affairs, sketches, stories, poem.-, es- says, reviews, criticisms, special departments, and the like, either written by the editor him- self, or secured from others. Some editors pay their expenses by means of advertisers ami subscribers, whil ' others reject both, and re- gard the pleasures and benelits of amateur journalism as full compensation for the finan- cial outlay. Of course, there are many of the young with whom pocket money is too scarce to allow of the publication of even the smallest paper. But nobody is elbowed out of amateur journalism on account of poverty. To make the papers interesting, many contributors are required; and the amateur author is in great requisition. Those who write for the amateur press share the privileges of their comrades who publish the papers. Each editor makes out his own mailing list, placing on it his subscribers, if any, his ex- changes, in which he endeavors to include all amateur papers published, the amateur auth- ors known to him, and such of his personal friends as he chooses to remember. Thus, ama- . teur journalism forms a little social and lit- erary world of its own. The quality of its product is exceedingly crude in many in- stances, but there is a constant tendency to im- provement, stimulated by practice, comparison, and friendly criticism. Honorary titles are an- nually awarded by the National Amateur Press Association for the best edited papers and the best written articles of the year. There are many sectional and local organi- zations, which have grown up in connection with amateur jouinalism. The oldest and most important body, however, is that just men- tioned. Membership in the N. A. P. A. is nom- inal, but every true amateur soon learns the desirability of connecting himself with it. The annual fee is only a dollar, including a sub- scription to its official organ. It tends to pro- mote the closer intimacy of members, and to further in a systematic way the interests and purposes of amateur journalism. Its annual convention, held by turn in different cities of the country, are occasions of great jollity and sociability, as well as of serious discussion and parliamentary training. A lively skirmish for the offices often lends spice to the occasion. Absent members participate in the elections, by sending proxy ballots. THE COMMONS A FUKE FIELD. There is no age. limit in amateur journalism. Boys and girls of ten or twelve often enter it, while men and women of thirty-five or forty not infrequently linger within its charmed pre- cincts. The majority of its devotees, however, range between the ages of sixteen and twenty- fivs. Many enter it when young, drift out of it for a time, and then return to the ranks, more enthusiastic than ever. Its beneficial results are of various kinds. It develops skill in "writing, without becoming burdensome or pedantic. The youth is work- ing out his crudities of style, and having a good time while doing so. It fits for many of the larger duties of life, and inculcates a sense of responsibility, which proves of the great- est value. It is humanizing, and of incalcul- able service in developing the social instinct. It cultivates breadth of view, and an extreme- ly wide range of thought. It stimulates all the Intellectual faculties, and quickens the imagination. It makes for character-building, in the largest sense of the word. I am firm- ly convinced that parents and educators, and' all who have the interests of the young at heart, will do well to bring amateur journal- ism to the attention of the youth under their care, and to encourage them to try their hand At it. It will prove an auxiliary of incalculable value to the other methods for advancing the highest welfare of the young people of Amer- ica. And it will do all this, without ceasing for an instant to appeal to the boys and girls as a delightful recreation, and a means of spon- taneous self-expression. The Instinct of Workmanship. The analysis of instincts from a purely physi- ological point of view will ultimately furnish the data for a scientific ethics. Human hap- piness is based upon the possibility of a natural and harmonious satisfaction of the instincts. One of "the most important instincts is usually not even recognized as such, namely, the in- stinct of workmanship. Lawyers, crimiuolog- ists and philosophers frequently imagine that only want makes man work. This is an er- roneous view. We are instinctively forced to be active in the same way as ants or bees. The instinct of workmanship would be the greatest source of happiness, if it were not for the fact that our present social and economic organization allows only a few to satisfy Ihis instinct. Robert Mayer has pointed out that any successful display or setting free of energy is a source of pleasure to us. This is the reason why the satisfaction of the instinct of workmanship is of such importance in the economy of life, for the play and learning of the child as well as for the scientific or commercial work of the man. It is rather remarkable that we should still be under the influence of an ethics which con- siders the human instincts in themselves low and their gratification vicious. That such an ethics must have had a comforting effect upon the Orientals, whose instincts were inhibited or warped through the combined effects of an enervating climate, despotism, and miserable economic conditions, is intelligible, and it is perhaps due to a continuation of the unsatis- factory economic conditions that this ethics still prevails to some extent. The greatest happiness in life can be obtained only if all the instincts that of workmanship included can be maintained at a certain opti- mal intensity. But while it is certain that the individual can ruin or diminish the value of its life by a one-sided development of its instincts e. g., dissipation, it is at the same time true that the ecomonic and social con- ditions can ruin or diminish the value of life for a great number of individuals. It is no doubt true that in our present social and economic condition more than ninety per cent of human beings lead an existence whose value is far below what it should be. They are compelled by want to sacrifice a number of instincts, especially the most valuable among them, that of workmanship, in order to save the lowest and most imperative, that of eat- ing. If those who amass immense fortunes could possibly intensify their own lives with their abundance, it might perhaps be rational to let many suffer in order to have a few eases of true happiness. But for an increase of hap- piness only that amount of money is of service which can be used for the harmonious develop- ment and satisfaction of inherited instincts. For this comparatively little is necessary. The rest is of no more use to a man than the sur- plus of oxygen in the atmosphere. As a mat- ter of fact, the only true satisfaction a multi- millionaire can possibly get from increasing his fortune, is the satisfaction of the instinct of workmanship, or the pleasure that is con- nected with a successful display of energy. The scientist gets this satisfaction without diminishing the value of life of his fellow- beings, and the same should be true for the business man. Prof. Jacques Loeb in "The Physiology of the Brain." THE COMMONS 9 of Socia.1 Progress. DEMOCRACY AND UNIVERSITIES. No thoughtful person cau read the many able baccalaureate addresses of the commence- ment season, just closed, without being deeply impressed by the remarkable harmony iu their central thought. All the varied lines of ap- proach, from the extreme radical to the ultra- conservative, converge to this common center the necessity for social service. Utilitarian and idealist unite in justifying the individual life only as it reacts by "the struggle for the life of others" upon the life of a coin- muni ly. The second note in this season's baccalaur- eate wisdom is Democracy. The old spirit of the Republic dammed up by the autocratic power of commercialism in the government, the church and the press, has broken out with augmented strength in the uni- versities of America. Not without reason do the privileged classes of Russia and Spain re- gard the universities as culture beds of social ferment, religious heresy and political revolu- tion. To those excellent, though sometimes violent, IMTSIPIIS. that discover in the founding of great institutions of learning by the capitalist class, :i shrewd and selfish move to perpetuate their power, we recommend the reading of the mes- sage from the presidents for the commence- ment season of 1901. Every dollar Mr. Rocke- feller plants in universities and Mr. Carnegie in libraries, even were it admitted ill-gotten seed, and sown with a malevolent purpose, is destined to feed the brains of men that will sweep their empires from the map of indus- try. In the lecture hall and the library men do get training and some facts, their original power comes into action, the professor, for revenue only, loses his authority; the student take-i his trained intellect and his facts and in- terprets them in his own way. And this is in the nature of a cosmical necessity, as far be- yond the help or hindering of millionaries as the procession of the equinoxes or the sweep of the last comet. BOY CULTURE. This long-neglected, but most fertile of all the fields of human endeavor, is at last go- ing under the plow and harrow of scientific method. The recent International Convention of the Y. M. C. A. that was a veritable jubilee, adopted this resolution: ''That all possible endeavors be made to fos- ter and stimulate the work among boys in recog- nition of the fact that there is no more import- ant work before the associations. The work among boys was never so strong and so prom- ising, and the convention, heartily approves the engagement of a special secretary for the boys' work." Dr. Oanfield touched the heart of this matter and of the convention also in these words: "There has come to be a very geperal recogni- tion, and a more intelligent recognition of the value and power of youth. That recognition has come to us in all undertakings and along all the departments of life. The kindergarten, for instance, has come within the last few years into the prominence which it deserves, and as yet is not fully recognized to the limit of its power. We are coming to understand in the church that there is something more for the boy to do than to blow the organ and hang up greens on Christmas. We have reached the point in temperance, for instance, when we know that in a certain sense it does not pay very large revenues to spend our time with the older men who are set in their habits of intemper- ance, but we begin with the boys. This work has come to the association as so much of its work has come, rather experimen- tally. In a certain sense it is true that the at- tention of the association has 4ieen forced to boys' work. The child age is one in which the soti! finds itself. An American boy is a prince, and should be treated as the young princes of Europe are trained and- reared. The Amer- ican boy has a noble heritage. And only as he recognizes this vast heritage of responsibility that lies in front of him, is he going to bring himself to the full measure and stature of the man, which in this country at least is a kingly citizen and the citizen king." Already the use of fertilizers in barren spots and the destruction of noxious weeds has giv- en good earnest of a bountiful harvest in re- deemed and righteous manhood that awaits the wise husbandman in this great field. This is the most significant forward move- ment the Y. M. C. A. has taken in its honorable history of conservative advance from a mere gospel mission to a wide-reaching plan of con- structive social service. SOCIALISM IN JAPAN". Of late it has been observable that socialis- tic ideas have bcfii slowly but steadily gaining foothold in a section of the rising generation. as shown by the favorable reception of the 10 THE COMMONS translations of Bellamy's Looking Backward, Kidd's Social Evolution and some other publica- tions of the same character, The propagation and study of socialistic theories have been earnestly taken in hand by a number of young thinkers, among whom we notice not a few men of respectable characters and excellent education. They have hitherto confined them- selves to the holding of lecture meetings and the occasional discussion of their favorite top- ics through newspapers and magazines. But encouraged by the apparent success their efforts in these lines have met with, they recently de- cided upon carrying their campaign into the domain of practical politics by organizing a political party under the name of Shakai Min- slni-to (Social Democratic Party). But their manifesto embodied a formidable list of politi- cal, social and economic reforms of so radi- cal a character that the Imperial Authorities have thought it necessary not only to prohibit the publication of the document but to order the dissolution of the newly formed pary. This measure may appear rather hasty and unnec- essarily severe in view of the peaceable and orderly manner in which the organizers of the dissolved party have thus far conducted them- selves. We reprint the above translation from an editorial appearing recently in the Japan Times, a conservative paper of Tokyo. We place it In this rolunm advisedly. No better evidence of social progress in Japan could exist. Have these Japanese censors never heard that a band of Social Democrats in Germany, perse- cuted by Bismarck, grew into a great party even under his iron hand? Are they ignorant of the fact that with complete immunity for their persons and doctrines in England and America, Social Democrats fight each other to the death and split their party into diverse and perverse factions'.' The stupidity of rulers seems perennial. The Social Democratic Party may become a great power in Japan. DIRECT LEGISLATION. The referendum is one of the big, forward slops of political betterment throughout the world. Without display, with little noise and shouting, it is slowly being adopted as the bul- wark of Democratic government. Firmly es- tablished in South Dakota, its thin edge has entered into the legislation of many other states and in most civilized countries. The last legis- lature of Wisconsin provided for the applica- tion of the referendum to determine the grant- ing of franchises in every city of that state. Several city charters have adopted this prin- ciple in municipal legislation and an amend- ment of the Constitution making direct legisla- tion a part of the fundamental law, is pending in the state of Oregon. The history of the referendum, since its adop- tion by the Swiss Republic, lias been the re- cord of a triumphant progress. The mere ex- istence of this right of appeal to the people has in practice proven sufficient to cut the roots of vicious legislation. So potent is its power for prevention that it is seldom needed as a cure. The boodler goes out of business, when his corrupt schemes are subject to cancellation by the people. That far-heralded condition of prosperity, "the confidence OL' business men," is a very real part of the boodlers' capital, and business men lose confidence even in bood- lers when they cannot deliver the goods. The referendum is .lust, scientific and practi- cal, and its application gives the only possible test of the wisdom or folly of Democracy as a system of government.* Social Literature The Practice of Charity, Individual, Asso- ciated and Organized, by Edward Thomas De- vine, P. H. D., New York. Lentilhon and Co., 60 ceoits. The general secretary of the Charity Organ- ization Society of the city of New York, has furnished practical workers with a hand-book worthy of the position from which he writes, and of his reputation for scholarly and practic- ally efficient work. In short compass but in a very thorough way, the author grapples with such fundamental problems as underlie the in- telligent practice of charity in the definition, defense and elementary- principles of its aim and method. In defense of charity, he justi- fies its necessity and value, on the one hand against the denial of its right to be, by the radi- cal reformers who demand "not charity but justice", and on the other hand against the claim of those who insist that relief should be furnished not as a charity but as a business. With reference to the former he does not deny tin' validity of their ideal, but stoutly maintains that with the right spirit and administration charity may promote the realization of this very ideal. "Social progress would be eiior- mouslv advanced bv the transformation of all *"The Direct Legislation Record" is the offi- cial publication of this movement in the United States. Kit weed I'omery Editor, 44 Hill St., Newark, N. J. Yearly subscription, 25 cents. THE COMMONS 11 of the improvident and inefficient members of society into persons who provide for their own future and share in the product which they have helped to create." For HI his view, "charity is more than a palliative. It is the means by which a countless number of indi- viduals are rescued from ignorance, destitution and crime. It is the means by which an insup- portable burden is lifted from the shoulders of the weak and incapable. It is the means by which education and industrial training are put within the reach of many who would other- wise miss them. Without charity, competition and natural selection might eliminate the un- fit but it would be with enormous waste of human life and energy which through intelli- gent charity may be saved and utilized. Char- ity reasonably bestowed does not perpetuate but does transform the unfit into that which may profitably survive. The absence of char- . ity, which is brutality, perpetuates not only the unfit but the environment in which the un- fit flourishes." In the same thorough-going way he treats the complaint against the secularizing of char- ity. While giving full recognition to the nec- essary function of the religious motive and the indispensible agency of the churches in prac- tical charity, he clearly and firmly shows the inadequacy and limitation of church-charity, and conclusively argues for the larger co-oper- ation between public and private instrumen- talities, promoted by the principle of associa- tion, which alone is adequate to meet the de- mand. The emphasis which the author's wide experience has led him to place upon thorough organization and the most business-like method does not minimize his appreciation of spon- taneity of personal service, which he regards as the very soul of charity. Moreover his re- cognition of the charity of the poor as ranking "first of all among the means for the allevia- tion of distress," and as being the most gener- ous "in proportion to what they have" is note- worthy in this connection. Settlement workers, teachers and all whose spirit or callings bring them into contact with the problems of relief, restorative and preventive effort, will find this little volume not only corrective, but illuminat- ing and inspiring. The friendly visitor and the paid charity worker can hardly fail by the use of this hand-book, to realize the qualifica- tions which its brotherly author, in the dedica- tion of his book, attributes to his fellow work- . ers "who. in the discharge of their daily duties, add to sympathy, knowledge; to zeal, common sense; and to humility, courage." Dependents, Defectives and Delinquents, by Cluirles Richmond Henderson. D. C. Heath and Co. The fact that the first edition of this pioneer work has for some time been out of print is evidence of the widely felt want which it is aimed to fill, as well as the satisfactory way In which it has met the need. The author has taken occasion, in publishing a second edition, to revise, enlarge and virtually rewrite, the volume, making it almost entirely a new book. If for no other of the many reasons which might be cited to prove the value of Prof. Henderson's work, his references to the reports of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections make the volume invaluable to all who would find readier access to those volum- inous sources of original information. For its very careful bibliographical references and summaries of the conclusions of eminent au- thorities, the book is uniquely serviceable. There is not only no better introduction to the study of the dependent, defective and delin- quent classes and of their social treatment, but none that even claims the comprehensive scope which this volume fulfills with a con- ciseness which is as remarkable as its thor- oughness is satisfactory. A Book of Common Worship, Prepared under direction of the New York State Conference of Religion by a Committee on the possibilities of Common Worship. G. P. Putman's Sons. As an aftermath of the Parliament of Re- ligions, held in connection with the Columbian Exposition, this volume is worthy of its origin and the catholic purpose and spirit which find expression in its pages. In its compilation, Dr. R. Heber Newton represented the fellow- ship of Christian churches, Rabbi Gustav Gott- heil, the Semitic spirit and the Rev. Thomas R. Slicer, the liberal faiths. Ample use is made alike of the Ethnic scriptures, the ancient Jew- ish ritual, the early liturgies of the Eastern and Roman churches, and the contributions which modern religious affiliations have made to the sacred writings and devotional expres- sion of the world. As a book of common wor- ship it amply fulfills its purpose not only In such conferences of religion as that which in- spired its preparation but also in the daily use of social settlement, university and such other circles of diverse religious constituency as de- pend upon their own spiritual unification in order to promote social unification of the com- munity. 12 THE COMMONS. The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Settlement Point of View. GRAHAM TAYLOR Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.i Morgan St., Chicago, 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. In the sorrow of their bereavement over the loss of their youngest little boy, Mr. and Mrs. John Palmer Gavit have the heartfelt sym- pathy, not only of their former fellow resi- dents at Chicago Commons, but of very many friends in the constituency of this and other settlement and- social circles. Through the col- umns of this journal many readers have had their heart hunger fed by the heart qualities of Mr. Gavit's writing and editorship. They will know, with us who knew him better, the ca- pacity of pain which this bereavement has filled. He and his wife know the better the cup which their fellows have drunk and can better share and help their sorrows. Into the larger responsibilities and inspiring work of his new position as private secretary to the Works' Manager of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, at Wilmerding, Penn., up- on the duties and opportunities of which he en- tered only last month, many will follow him with keen interest and quickened hope. For the socal aspect of such an important post in the industrial world cannot fail to be seen by him or to become apparent to others in the re- sults of his influential relationships and his practical achievements. Our Loss In President Fisk's Death. In the death of Dr. Franklin W. Fisk, always professor and for the last of his four decades of service the presiding officer in Chicago The- ological Seminary, Chicago Commons loses one of its very first and most loyal friends. With all the enthusiasm which he ever had for every interest of the Seminary, lie hailed the propo- sition to establish the Settlement as a most valuably desirable adjunct to the advantages offered by the Seminary not only to its stu- dents but to the churches of its constituency, and to the city which he desired it to serve. Although the settlement methods and ideals must have been very novel to him in his old age, yet he hospitably took them into his roomy heart, scarcely ever, failed to include the Commons among the objects for which he fervently prayed in chapel prayers, and fre- quently inquired at faculty meeting how its burdens were being borne and its objects were being accomplished. When he heard of the misinterpretation of its aims and the misunder- standing of its methods, he not only never wav- ered in the support which he publicly and priv- ately gave, but rathev increased the assurances of his personal sympathy and co-operation. His last words to his faithful wife, who has ever shared his interest and helpfulness in the work of Chicago Commons, strike the key-note at once of his own fraternal spirit and of the set- tlement service. When asked by her what more she could do for him, he cheerily replied, "Only stand by me and love me." This is what he himself did for us all, what each of us needs at least one other to do, and what the settle- ment service tries to give to all within its reach, someone to stand by and love every hungry-hearted one. An Irreparable Loss to the Philosophy of American History. To lose full twenty years of such work as John Fiske might yet hare done in the social philosophy of American history and the theis- tic evolution of the evolutionary philosophy, is an irreparable national loss, in which the whole world's Republic of Letters shares. In writ- ing our history he bore present problems in mind, and in discussing our present problems he never failed to view them in their historical and philosophical perspective. He was the foremost interpreter of the evolutionary phil- osophy to the American, if not also to the Eng- lish mind. A better synthesis of the Synthetic Philosophy Is to be found in the pages of John Fiske than in those of Herbert Spencer him- self. As the first to lay emphasis upon the so- cial significance of the length of human in- fancy, he demonstrated his capacity to make the most original and profoundly suggestive contributions to sociological literature. In fearlessly applying the principle of evolution in the study of the philosophy of religion he steadily evolved the substantiation of his own and very many others' faith in the everlast- ing reality of the religion of Theism. While reaching up to the highest range of thinking, he touched and profoundly influenced more and more readers of average mind. We deem it not an incongruity but rather a tribute to his memory to add, that one of our settlement THECOMMONS boys' clubs, when given the privilege of nam- ing the volume, duplicate copies of which a Iriend offered to contribute to their library, freely chose John Fiske's school History of the United States. Sue -esj, of \ - Demonstrated. Ti" 'C^'jok-" in Chi- ,it of many i .e means char- itably , , i( .s greatly needed work, stani.w .ontrast with the quick and wide -*u for it which the offer of its advantages prompts. The appeal of the woman's clubs scarcely elicited $5,000, with which only two schools could be opened. Cards of admission were issued only to the poorest of the pupils in these poorest districts. When the enrollment of 1,500 boys and girls filled the capacity of the buildings, seven hundred appli- cants had to be refused admission. Prece- dence was given to the crippled, deaf and blind. One of the questions which each applicant answered inquired, "Why do you wish to at- tend the vacation school?" The replies furnish high endorsement, both of its purpose and method. "Because I want to see the lake," wrote a nine-year-old tenement-house boy, thus L'iving the endorsement of his own need to the outings which are given three days each week to four hundred children at a time. "I have no way to play," replied a cripple boy of twelve, emphasizing the value of teaching the children how to play in the recreation hour. "I like to ride in the bus," another cripple boy of fourteen made answer. "I want to hammer," was the appeal of empty hands for tools and training. "I have no mamma and papa's away all day," is just one sentence which measures the length of the vacation day, not only to the child but to the parent in the home with- out equipment and the neighborhood without a playground. Parents and children to whom the summer vacation means joyous freedom under the open sky, by shore, in the woods, or on the mountains, should share with their less favored but more needy neighbors such sum- mer privileges as these bookless nature schools benignly afford. The practical demonstration of the need for and success of the vacation schools should not need to proceed any further to warrant the Board of Education to provid" for and manage them wherever needed throughout the city. Institutions and men that live in their past have passed the time that they ought to live. Help Educate the intended Victim of Conspiracy. The over-ruling by Judge Tuley of the mo- tion for a new trial brings the "Mother Lyons" case to a just conclusion by her commitment to the penitentiaray. Her co-conspirator against the innocent and unwary is still a fugitive, and escapes the punishment which would surely have been meted out to him had be been apprehended. The penalty from which nothing. can shield him has, however, been al- ready long since inflicted in the pitiful loss of reputation and business position. It has, more- over, unfortunately in large part been borne in silent agony by innocent hearts of hitherto untarnished name for whom nothing but the sincerest sympathy has been felt, and the ut- most consideration possible under the circum- stances has been shown by us throughout this terrible tragedy. It remains for us to make only one more suggestion to those who have extended their sympathy and co-operation in this sternest and most painful experience of our whole settle- ment service. Happily, it is a suggestion which appeals only to the tender and gentler motives, by way of grateful contrast. If one hundred and fifty dollars are offered for the purpose during the year we propose to give the intended victim of this dreadful conspiracy, from the toils of which she was rescued by a remarkable combination of strenuous efforts, the advantages of a more liberal education, which she is very desirous and fully capable of improving. If the expense of her first year is thus provided, the excellent school which of- fers to receive her will probably be able to furnish her opportunity to work her way through the remainder of the course. Let all of us who have been interested in her deliver- ' ance now give her the chance for development. We weathered the extreme heat, even under the burden of moving, safely and happily, by the grace of good humor and the forethought of considerate management. But when the toils of the day were well over the residents' roof-garden parties, five stories above the dust and clamor of the crowded streets, afforded grateful relief during the late evenings. The new building proves to be airy, comfort- able and convenient and home-like withal for residence purposes, despite the many tempor- ary makeshifts necessary until the new wing is ready for occupancy. Hazen S. Pingree of Detroit is dead, but Tom L. Johnson of Cleveland still lives. 14 THE COMMONS "She Month at Chicago Commons- OVll NEIGHBORHOOD FOURTH OF JULY RALLY. The possession of our new auditorium gave us our first opportunity to rally the neighbor- hood for the patriotic observance of Fourth of July. Whether the people would devote any part of their only mid-summer holiday to an indoor occasion was a question. But 11 a. m. found the hall filled by an audience, princi- pally composed of adults and representatives of many nationalities, sects and parties. The program represented the unification of as many elements as the audience. Our Protestant choir-master, Theodore Falk, who suggested the celebration, furnished and directed the mus- ical parts. The Reverend Father Thomas E. Cox. assistant pastor of St. Jarlath's Roman Catholic Church, roused the patriotic fervor alike of native and foreign born citizens, of Protestant and Catholic creed. Wisely and wittily, he emphasized two reasons for patriot- Ism. As a physical reason he argued, worthily of genuine Irish wit, that since each particle of one's body is changed every seven years no one who has lived in the country that length of time has anything in him that he did not de- rive from it, and therefore owes everything he is and has back again to it as his only real Fatherland. The point and humor of this un- expected appeal met with much laughter and applause. The spiritual reason was urged with great moral earnestness and religious. enthus- iasm. Since God's will is to be seen in the will of the whole people, the Flag stands for every man's equal right to manifest the will of God. Nothing is worse than to fall under the do- minion of the few. No national curse could be greater than to divide the people into two classes, those who do nothing and take every- thing, and those who do everything and take nothing. It is a question whether he who works injustice upon another is worse than he who lets him do it. Only when the citizen is free can the individual reach what God in- tended him to be, and only when the individual has this equality of opportunity to reach his ideal can the country fulfil what it stands for. Patriotism aims higher than to make one's country a restaurant keeper to feed the peo- ple, or a tailor to clothe them. It is the serv- ice of God as it realizes the divine ideal of man. Through the co-operation of the principals and pupils of our two neighborhood public schools, some of the most interesting features of the program were furnished. Four little sirls, dressed in the costume of the Norseland, sajig a' Norwegian song. The prize essayists in each of the schools read their essays on pa- triotism. Recitations, songs, and a beautiful "Flag Drill" by sixteen little girls, together with the rousing singing of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" rounded out *'' ioyons and inspir- ing occasion. Camp Common. .,11 forty boys, who a, neresting time. The Fourth 01 celebrated by a flag raising in the- early iiiu.. ng, a ball game with the Elgin boys in the afternoon, fireworks in I lie evening and best of all to the boys, a big dinner with lemonade and ice cream. The Elgin people are more than ever inter- ested in the Cam]). The different churches are giving support, though our fund is yet too small, and many boys whom we cannot take to camp must be disappointed. The plea of the boys, "Can I stay the next two weeks V" must necessarily be met with the reply, "No, others must have their turn," and it is even more sad to be obliged to say to so many boys with eager faces and dwarfed lives, "There is no room for you." There should be two camps, one for boys and one for girls, our ap- , plications being double the number we are able to accommodate. As it Is now, on Au- gust 9th the boys must give way to the girls. THE PIOXIC SEASON. The Noyes Street Mothers' Club of Evanston, gave their annual picnic to about one hundred of our mothers and children Friday, July 12th. The excellent management by the women, to- gether with the perfect weather, made it a day long to be remembered by all for its rest and happiness. The new feature in this year's pic- nic was the entertainment of the Evanston mothers' children as well as our children, their idea being to initiate their' boys and girls into the sharing of their privileges. This was done with rare spirit and the games and inarches were thoroughly enjoyed by all. When we left the train, at the end of the day, each was given a bunch of flowers a climax to a happy, happy day. We are placing at the disposal of our children our kindergarten bath tub, and we anticipate many a happy ami much needed splash this hot weather. THE COMMONS 15 FOR THE LITTLE PRISONERS. The summer kindergarten opened its session Monday, July 15th, with two kindergartners of our own training school in charge, and a goodly group of children happy to l>e back. It will continue for six weeks until the first of Sep- tember. ECHOES FROM THE GIKI.s' CI.fi! AT Till'. GLEXCOE COTTAGE. Wednesday night I was out buggy riding with a lady and her husband. This lady came over here to our cottage and asked if one of the girls wanted to go out riding with her. They made a motion that I should go, so I went. We rode up four miles, so Unit was a very nice, long ride. Such a pleasant evening we had. The moon rose and the stars shone out very nicely. I went in the water yesterday for the first time. It was flue. While we were sitting nicely on the raft a big wave came in and washed our faces." "Our cottage is about eight blocks from the lake and we go down there two times most every day. I cannot swim but am trying to learn to, and think that I shall soon be able to swim across to you. When we sit on the edge of the walk we can see the lake from our cottage. The woods are close to our cottage, too, in which we find berries and flowers of every sort. The water is warm sometimes and sometimes it is cooler, but we use it just the same. A little matter Hke that wouldn't both- er us. for we are here for fun and not to look for the faults of the water. We were sitting on a raft yesterday and the waves dashed up and splashed all over our faces, which made us laugh so heartily that we almost fell off. The waves were high yesterday and we certainly did have fun. Yes, we keep going from one end of the day to the other, tud besides no- ing we lie in the hammock, too." "I suppose you art- thinking that we do not care for you because we did not answer your letter sooner. You must excuse us be- cause we are so busy having a good time that we forget to answer our letters." FOR THE UNION STREET KINDERGARTEN. The promise of half the support of one of the two kindergarteners whom we hope to place in charge of the school, mothers' meeting and other settlement work in the old Union Street neighborhood goes far toward assuring the continuance of our work for the neediest of onr old neighbors who cannot follow us to the new building. The warm-hearted manu- facturer, who is the tirst to step into the breach between them and their deprivation of these seamy privileges, was met more than half way by the two kindergarteners, who offered to risk their support in volunteering this service among the most destitute of the city's poor. There must be others to join them in this labor of love for the little ones by providing at least $100 a month for the rental and maintenance of the most modest shelter for the school and for the balance of the kindergarteners' sup- port. FOB THE MANUAL TRAINING EQUIPMENT. To secure the gratuitous services of the ex- pert manual trainer who offers to head up our manual training department we need the sub- scription of $400 to equip with benches and tools the shop room which awaits this practical use. Normal courses for the training of club leaders, charity workers, teachers, church helpers, and students for the ministry are pro- posed to meet a very marked demand that has all along been made upon us. By putting to service those who are willing to pay something to acquire this teaching art, the expense of supplying manual training to our settlement classes will soon be met and the whole depart- ment will speedily become self-supporting. Here is a chance to make an investment once for all which will return a perpetual dividend. The Progressive Club cottage at Glencoe not only affords a pleasant vacation home to the young women within its membership, but gives a pleasant outing to not a few older women and younger girls with whom the club gener- ously shares its spare space. Copies of the Ladies' Home Journal, the Youth's Companion, or the illustratetd weeklies, together with in- door and outdoor games are needed to com- plete the equipment of the cottage. Address, "Progressive Club Cottage," Park Av. and Bluff St., (ileucoe, 111. A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION. We gladly welcome to our club rooms the meetings of the "Montifiore Social Club," the new organization composed not only of the alumni of our neighboring public school, but also very wisely of all its scholars who have left school after entering seventh grade. The club is purposed to promote the intellectual and social development of its members after leav- ing school as well as their loyalty and co-oper- ation with their Alma Mater. 16 THE COMMONS Notes from the Settlements. T In- Robert Browning Hall settlement in s.nitli London makes a special feature each year of celebrating the American Fourth of July, a description of which we have invited the warden, Rev. Herbert Stead, to write for an early number of The Commons. NEW BUILDINGS FOR THE CHICAGO SETTLEMENTS. The confidence which the Chicago Settle- ments have inspired in the need and perma- nence of their work is being attested by the funds which tlie community is investing in their building equipment. At Hull House the completion of the new coffee-house and theatre is followed by the remodelling of the gymna- sium. On Ewing Street, which the Municipal Art League is beautifying with curbstone gar- dens, a $50,000 tenement building is being erected by a generous West Side manufacturer, to accommodate scores of women with their fatherless children for whom special nursery and playground provision is to be made. While the ownership of the building is not to be vested in Hull House, its management is to be entrusted to the hands of the residents. An- other building is soon to be erected near by, in which one of the resourceful friends of Hull House will provide a flat for her own resi- dence a part of each year. The University of Chicago settlement came into the possession of its new gymnasium and assembly hall, cost- ing about $8,000, only a year ago. The North- western University settlement is erecting on a new site several blocks northwest from its present location a building which will provide accommodations for fifteen residents and its neighborhood work at a cost of $50,000, more than half of which sum has already been pro- vided. Gad's Hill settlement is succeeding in its ef- fort to raise at least $25.000 for a building equipment near the McCormick Harvesting Works. Dr. Gunsaulus and members of Cen- tral Church, together with manufacturers on the field, are co-operating in the development, of this settlement. The Forward Movement settlement has se- cured for $32,000 a site for its proposed build- ings on Van Buren Street, between Morgan and Aberdeen, upon which a beautifully designed series of buildings facing three sides of a court open to the street are planned to cost $100,000. 15he New Fourth Edition S College. Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. Mr. Lex. By Catherine Wavi s l> McCviIloch. Of the Chicago Bar. The legal status of mother and child stated in story form, with full citations of statutes and decisions. Published by Fleming H. Revell Co. The American Journal of Sociology says of it: "The book is well written and will un- doubtedly find many readers who do not otherwise care for legal literature. " Price cloth 350. Address the author, Room 1104, 135 Adams St., Chicago. Biblical Sociology, By Graha/n Taylor. A syllabus of lectures on the social teachings of the Bible. Printed for use in the class-room. A limited number can be obtained for soc of THE COMMONS. T5he Church in Social Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for T5he Handbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FR.OEBEL. Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA MOFER HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave., Chicago. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point pt view. It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at Grar-d Ave. A Morgan St.. Chicago, 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postofficeas mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. The Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. cash or stamps, not above 5-cent denomination. , at our risk, Advert isements in tKo Commons During 1901. One Page. *2YOO: Half Page. 515 00; Quarter Page. n- tirely under local management. THE COMMONS Tenement House Reform. At the third monthly conference held under the auspices of the New York Charity Organ- ization Society, the evils of pauperism and the possibility of their amelioration by religious and charitable organizations, was the general topic for consideration. Mr. de Forest, presi- dent of the society, discussed the topic "Can earners of low wages be comfortably housed in New York City tenement houses?" He said, "Society owes to the wage earners the, duty to surround them with such conditions that, by their own effort they may secure for themselves a reasonable degree of comfort. In no other way can permanent improvement be secured, for such results depend primarily on self-inter- est and self help. There is a further duty to make conditions such that the wage earners may be able to maintain their health, and that disease and contagion shall not be spread abroad in the community." In respect to the draft for a new law present- ed by the Tenement-House Commission, he says, "It aims to secure the proper sanitary construction of tenement-houses in the future, and to remedy so far as possible, existing evils by the improvement of such tenements as can be made habitable, and the destruction of those that are beyond repair. To secure enforcement of this law, proyision is made therein for a separate tenement-house department in the city government. The object of this change is to secure the centralization of municipal duties relating to tenement-house construction and in- spection as well as the centralization of re- , sponsibility. It is not intended that the new department shall usurp the functions of the Building Department, but that it shall have supervision of the sanitary features of the building particularly of light and ventilation, as well as the power to issue certificates that the buildings are built in compliance with the law before they can be occupied." Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for 15he Handbook of Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FR.OEBEL, Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA HOFER HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave., Chicago. LAWN SWINGS MAY POLES W. S. TOTHILL Manufacturer Play Ground, Park, Gymnasium and Athletic Field Equipments. Write for anything you want. 126=i28 West Webster Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. Orders for New Edition of FORBUSH'S BOY PROBLEM will be filled on receipt of the boks early in September AT 75 CENTS PER COPY Order of "THE COMMONS." Grand Ave. and Morgan Street, Chicago. Mr. Lex. By Catherine Wa-vigh McCulIoch. Of the Chicago Bar. The legal status of mother and child stated in story form, with full citations of statutes and decisions. Published by Fleming H. Revell Co. The American Journal of Sociology says of it: "The book is well written and will un doubtedly find many readers who do not otherwise care for legal literature." Price cloth 350. Address the author, Room 1104, 135 Adams St., Chicago. Biblical Sociology, By Graham Ttvylor. A syllabus of lectures on the social teachings of the Bible. Printed for use in the class-room. A limited number can be obtained for 500 of THE COMMONS. 15he Church in Socia.1 Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. 15f>e New Fourth Edition f College, Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point of view, It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.& Morgan St., Chicago, 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postoffice as mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. THe Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2.50 francs, French foreign stamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for S2.50. Send check, draft. P. O. money order, cash or stamps, not above s-cent denomination. , at our risk. Advertisements in the Commons During 19OI. One Page. ,<25.00: Half Page, $15.00; Quarter Page. SS.OO; One Inch, $2 00. For each insertion. Special Rates for Special Numbers of the Commons Any number under twenty-five copies, five cents each; over twenty-five and under one hundred, three cents each; over one hundred, two and one-half cents each. CKanges of Address. Please notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify us at once if for any reason you desire your subscription discontinued. In accord- ance with custom, and the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers, we continue THE COMMONS to each address until notified to the contrary. THE COMMONS From the Settlements. T5he Road Side Settlement of Des Moines. Iowa. The Roadside Settlement of Des Moiues, Iowa, is now entering oil its fifth year. It has had the usual vicissitudes and discouragements incident to all new work, but it has particu- larly felt, the need of more resident workers, it having seldom had more than one or two at a time. and sincerity. The burden coupled with ill health, however, proved too great, and she was obliged to take up work elsewhere. lu the discouragement over losing her the Road- side board was tempted, at first, to place a "Hie jacet" over that which was once an ac- tive though very small settlement, but fortu- nately, as in most things worth while, new workers have come to take the place of the old, ROAD SIDE HOUSE, DES MOINES, IOWA. The resignation of Miss Clara L. Adams, in Hay last, who was the head, and in fact, with the exception of the nurse of the day nursery, the sole resident, was a serious disappointment to those interested in the development of the work. That there is today so large a group of neighbors who feel, as some have expressed it. that "the Roadside is just like another I'ome. only larger and more sociable", is due almost entirely to her untiring devotion, simplicity. and there is promise now of larger development for the Roadside House. Mr. and Mrs. X. I!. Weeks, for several years residents at Chicago Commons, are to be head residents at Des Moines and there will be as- sociated with them in the house Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Lynde and Mr. Lynde's mother, Mrs. M. V. Lynde. The former, now president of tl'.e settlement board, was also for t\.<> years associated with the work of Chicago THE COMMONS g Commons, during one of which he was a resi- dent. In addition to this family of live there will be the uurse from the day nursery and a resident nurse who will visit aud care for the sick in the neighborhood. Already there are some 120 members en- rolled in clubs and classes including women, young men and children, while fully five hun- dred persons at least come in direct contact with settlement activities. There is the usual combination of social and educational features in the work. There are cooking and sewing classes. There Is the penny provident savings bank, most largely patronized by the news- boys. In the women's club, music, history and art jostle in democratic fashion the more hum- ble topics of how to make a good dinner out of uninviting scraps, the care of children or the proper management of a husband. But aside from all this the workers have always felt the most essential fact of the settlement to be the genuine spirit of comradeship found among all those who gather there, whether to give or receive. Not in vain will The Road- side have lived, if in the future as in the past, the residents aim to carry out the tribute to Homer, chosen as the motto for the house, "He was a friend to man. And he lived in a house by the side of the road." All the friends of. Roadside House will be glad to share these excerpts from a private letter written by Miss Clara L. Adams, former Head-Resident: "I am glad to feel that I am not to be forgotten as a settlement worker, for I never intend to drop the work even if I am not connected with it in its institutional form. I shall conduct this coming year a domestic science school, teaching cooking, sewing, and various other lines of work. Associated with me will be two or three ladies who will fol- low out their own individual work, but to-, gether we will form a home life and do work among the people. I already have my hands full of work, having taken a class of sixty young men and women in Sunday School, who need faithful help as much as any class of people I ever worked among. I shall never forget dear old Roadside and the plensant asso- ciations I enjoyed there, and shall always en- deavor to keep in touch with it as a member of the association. I am so glad Mr. and Mrs. Weeks could go there. I remember having met them while I was n.t the Pommoi <." The article in another column by the new Head-Resident. Mr. Nathan II. Weeks, will be read with inteest. Playground Work at Hiram House, Cleveland. O. BY GEO. A. BELLAMY, HEAD RESIDENT. A valuable and successful feature of the work at Hiraui House is the playground. In this district, as in all such districts, the street life educates with fatal precision. The loose life of the gangs and cliques allows all kinds of rowdyism. The jokes, the games, the ten- dency to ridicule and make light of every- thing, results in disrespect, lawlessness, cruelty and the development of the destructive spirit. It means a wrecked conscience, a shiftless la- borer and an irresponsible citizen. The prob- lem of substituting a constructive, responsible, law-abiding spirit for the destructive, irre- sponsible, lawless life of the streets is most pressing. The clubs, classes and industrial training furnish a good substitute, but only to a limited extent. To find the best and most effective remedy we must enter the play of the children. On the playground there are a few rules which are obeyed. Leaders of gangs are in responsible places, and all are given an opportunity to surpass in skill. The play time is tilled with constructive games. Rowdyism and loose jokes are gone, while the straggle for victory inspires the whole group. The boys' pride makes them banish their lazy, shift- less feeling, and substitute an active energy, developing accuracy, precision, endurance, courage and many of the nobler virtues. The playground means better morals, better hearts, better bodies, fewer arrests, less stealing, gambling, and mischief. Our neighborhood policeman remarked the other day that the Hiram House playground was as good as 'ten policeman. Since it was opened he said he had not been called down once to drive the boys from the opposite corners, while former- ly it was his daily task. During vacation the grounds are open from S:::i a. in. to 9:00 p. in. except during meal hours. On school days from 4:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m. They are well lighted at night with electricity. There are three directors. A lady resident has the morning work, carrying on chiefly creative work. The children have not only had their usual playtime, but have also made from raffia hats, boxes aud mats. They are now planning to make door-mats from corn husks a very practical and original idea. Two men residents have charge of the afternoon and (>vening work. Field day contests are held every Friday night, and as much interest as possible is aroused in the group games. Each week an effort is made to give a concert. Dif- 10 THE COMMONS ferent brass bands are requested to spend one evening with us during the summer. It is a happy picture to see the old folks listening to the music while the little children are frolicing running and dancing around. The spirit of cheer and pleasure manifested by the crowd is one of real inspiration. In winter time, when the weather is favor- able, the place is used for skating. Every day but one during last February found a most good natured crowd, averaging from 100 to 1,000 daily. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Mather, of Cleveland, have met all the expenses of this work. By the end of the year the ground, equipment, and directors will have cost about $11,000, but it has been a good, paying investment. It is now used as a model for other play grounds in the city, and has resulted in the establishment of three under private control, and three under city control. As yet politics have not entered into this city activity. That the mayor might keep these from political influence, he request- ed the head residents of Goodrich House and Hiram House to appoint the directors. The playgrounds in Cleveland have been so well started and are managed with such suc- cess that they are given an important place in our city equipment and are a real benefit in developing a higher expression of civic life. Settlement Rats. Ralph Waldo Emerson's apotheosis of the rat in the following poem will certainly appeal to aU who have resided at the Old Commons, and perhaps to residents of some other settlements. The contention of at least one of the former group that rats have some rights that residents are bound to respect thus finds justification upon unexpectedly high authority. LIMITS. BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON. Who knows this or that? Hark in the wall to the rat; Since the world was, he has gnawed; Of his wisdom, of his fraud What dost thou know? In the wretched little beast Is life and heart, Child and parent, Not without relation To fruitful field and sun and moon. What art thou? His wicked eye Is cruel to thy cruelty. The Fourth of July a.t Browning He.ll. From Report of First Year: The unity of all who speak the English tongue as a great step to the eventual unity of mankind is sedu- lously advocated. The "Glorious Fourth" of July was commemorated by a great "Dem- onstration of Desire for the Unity of the Eng- lish-speaking world" the first of the kind it seems ever held in this country at which Mr. W. T. Stead presided, and speeches were made by Miss Willard (United States), Rev. C. . S. Pedley (Canada), and Rev. L. M. Isitt (Aus- tralasia). Letters were read from the Ameri- can Ambassador (then the Hon. Mr. Bayard) and Charge d' Affaires, and from the Imperial High Commissioner of Canada. From Report of Second Year: The Interna- tional celebration of the 4th of July which was commenced in Browning Hall in 1895, set a precedent followed this year by the Rt. Hon. James Bryce, M. P., at the American banquet, and once more in Browning Hall, where Mr. W. T. Stead presided, and addresses expres- sive of a common desire for the unity of the English-speaking world were delivered by Sir Walter Besant, Dr. Simeon Gilbert of Chi- cago, Dr. Bentley ( Calif ornia), Dr. Duncan (Toronto), Hon. W. P. Reeves, Agent General for New Zealand, and the Bishop of Rock- hampton (Queensland). A letter was read from Mr. Samuel Helm (Cape Colony) and a telegram from Miss Willard. Mrs. Lawrence Briant sang Russell Lowell's "The True Man's Fatherland" to music specially composed for the occasion, by Mr. Lawrence Briant. The meeting joined in singing Prof. Huntingdon's international anthem, "Two Empires by the Sea," to the music common both to American and British national anthems. The celebra- tion was very widely reported, a lengthy ac- . count appearing in a Hindu newspaper. From Report of Third Year: The anniver- sary of American Independence falling on a Sunday, our annual "Demonstration of Desire for the Unity of the English-speaking world" took the place of the ordinary PSA. Mr. W. T. Stead again presided. The Hon. W. P. Reeves spoke on behalf of our colonies. The United States were represented by the Rev. Dr. Milburn, the blind chaplain of their Senate, whose prayer for peace after President Cleve- land's bellicose message anent Venezuela fell like the storm-stilling voice of the Christ upon the troubled waters. His rapt oration at the hall, in which he glorified the Christ as the One Hope of the world's peace, will probably THE COMMONS 11 never tie forgotten by those who heard it. At the evening service Miss Krout and Mis Brodligue presented on behalf of the Chicago Woman's Press League, portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, which Mr. Bryan accepted in the name of the Settlement. In these various ways the Settlement en- deavors to promote that unity of nations a ad churches which is a principal feature of the Evangelic Kingdom of God. On the 13th of June the Browning Garden was opened by Miss Hay, Col. John Hay at- tending and speaking in the warmest terms of the sympathy between United States and Great Britain. From Report of Fourth Year: The anniver- sary of American Independence was again duly honored. July 3rd was kept as Anglo-Ameri- can Sunday, Mrs. Ormiston Chant speaking on the story of Cuban wrongs. The "annual Demonstration of Desire for the Unity of the English-speaking world" on the 4th was ren- dered jubilant by the news of the American naval triumph of the day before. The speak- ers were Henry George, Jun., (United States), Dr. Duncan (Canada), Arthur Clayden (New Zealand), and the Hon. Ananda M. Bose, presi- dent of the Sadharan Brahmo-Somaj (Eng- lish-speaking India). Important letters were read from W. T. Stead and Justin McCarthy, both absent through ill. health. This British celebration, derided as a "fad" four years ago, was now felt to touch on the supremely Im- portant international question of the hour. From Report of Fifth Year: The programme of British and American music which the band gave at the garden party (in Browning Gar- den) on the 4th of July formed, with the Warden's address at the PSA, our only cele- bration of English-speaking unity on Indepen- dence Day. (The Countess of Aberdeen, who promised to come, being detained.) In 1900 the' ill health of Charles Sheldon, who promised to speak at the hall on the 4th of July, caused the celebration to be no more than a selection of American and British airs by the band in Browning Garden. In 1901 the Warden's absence through ill health prevented more than the same sort of musical celebration in the Garden. Mr. F. Herbert Stead adds to the above re- port, which we requested him to send, the fol- lowing personal note: "25 Grosvenor Park. SE. "July 25, 1901. "We have been less careful to maintain the celebration in recent years because the pio- neer work has been done and what we v, ,-re mocked at for setting up six years ago has now become almost a general national festi- val. So far as I am aw.are there never was a British Minister or eminent public personage on the British side invited to your Ambassa- dor's banquet on the Fourth, until the year after our meeting had set the precedent. Now the Fourth is widely an Anglo-American cele- bration from highest to lowest. "I am delighted to see that you are building on the basis of common Christian citizen- ship a true Catholic fellowship. "With cordial greetings, yours heartily, "F. Herbert Stead." Prof. Thaddeus P. Stevens of the Woman's College, Baltimore, is preparing a bibliography of settlement literature on hygiene, temper- ance, social purity and civic purity, for the use of social workers. The following story, which is going the rounds of the English press, will be recognized as true "for substance of doctrine" by settle- ment workers, without criticism of the allega- tion as to the fact from which it is said to be based: A little girl from the slums was invited with others to a charity dinner at a great house. In the course of the meal she startled her hostess by asking: "Does your husband drink?" "Why, no." "How much coal do you burn? What is your husband's salary? Has he any bad habits?" By this time the astonished hostess found breath to inquire how her little guest came to ask such strange questions. "Well," was the innocent reply, "mother told me to behave like a lady, and when ladies call at our house they always ask mother those questions." MARRIED. HILL-ANDERSON At Neighborhood House. Louisville, Kentucky, Aug. 15, by the Rev. Dr. Hemphill. Archibald A. Hill, Head Resident of the Settlement House, Tenth Ave. and Fif- tieth St., New York City, and Miss Mary D. Anderson, Head Resident Neighborhood House, Louisville, Kentucky. SWOPE-HILL At Mackinaw. Mich., Aug. 20, Gerard Swope and Miss Mary D. Hill, recently of Hull House. 12 THE COMMONS. The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Settlement Point of View. GRAHAM TAYLOR Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.i- Morgan St., Chicago, HI. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. Final Issue of the Steel Workers' Strike. The easy-going assumption is on its rounds again that the very existence of trades union- ism, at least in the steel industry, depends upon the issue of the present strike. It is very wide of the mark which past experience has set for us to judge by. From what industry in which trades unionism has once become well in- trenched has it ever been permanently ban- ished? Strikes fail, they almost always do when the single issue on which they seek to justify themselves is not the immediate, con- crete concern of every unionist in the trade. But unionism, as a matter of fact, has a way of rising, later if not sooner, into a new life out of the very ashes of such failures. Should !'(>: its persistence and steady development through what Prof. Alfred Marshall calls its "brilliant though checkered career," raise the question of its right to be and its legitimate function among its foes, as well as among all thoughtful observers of current life? Should it not occur to such to inquire, "What would rise in the place of trades unionism if its en- emies succeeded in destroying it?'' There is but one answer given by experience. Wherever trades unionism weakens, jit least at the larger centers of industry, the ever present and alert appeal of Radicalism receives imme- diate response in increased adherence to the ranks of either an extreme socialism or a dogged anarchism. Capital will surely have to reckon with these more formidable and less compromising forces if it succeeds in seriously . impairing the force of the really conservative influence of trades unionism in the workers' world. Villari, in describing the downfall of riorence, accounts for the difficulty in organiz- ing a new government in a way which should warn us against a too hasty judgment averse to the organization of labor. "The ancient trade associations or guilds, once the centers of industrial and political life, whose work- shops had supplied the enormous wealth ex- pended on long and difficult wars, and which had formed the Arena wherein artisans had been trained in politics by their struggles among themselves and learnt the art of giving good counsel and brave service to the State all these ancient associations now existed only in name." Anything that threatens the disruption of these great craft brotherhoods, despite all their class divisiveness and the frequent abuse of their great power, menaces one of the element- al forces upon which the hope of social unifica- tion and progress must depend. Back to the "good old times" when "every man did what was right in his own eyes," on both sides of the line of industrial cleavage, it is impossible to go. Surely Labor cannot be driven out of its right to associate the workers in united ac- tion for "collective bargaining," while Capital is forced by its own interest to combine in or- der to bargain collectively. Neither can af- ford to disband, not only because one is afraid of the other, but because in each the instinct of self-interest forbids. By their very existence both the Steel Trust and the Amalgamated As- sociation proclaim the fact that co-operation is the life of their trade. For the trust to com- pel the members of the unions to compete with each other in the labor market is to deny the application to them of the very instinct of its own self preservation whereby competition has become to its investors the death of trade. Wisconsin University's Settlement Fellowship In maintaining for the past five years their social settlement fellowship at Chicago Com- mons, the students and faculty of the Univer- sity of Michigan have set a type of service which Bother institutions are beginning to fol- low. In the last number of The Commons we printed the reports which the im-umbents of the Harvard, Dartmouth and Amherst fellow- ships at South End House, Boston, gave of their first year's work. We are now happy to note that the University of Wisconsin has es- tablished at the Northwestern University set- tlement in Chicago an annual fellowship of three hundred dollars, which will be awarded by the department of Economics. The man or woman receiving the award will reside one year at this settlement to engage in its general activities and at the same time prosecute such original personal investigation as will be of academic grade and of practical worth. In commenting editorially upon the signifi- cance of this movement, the Chicago Tribune s.-iys: THECOMMONS 13 -It has long been felt that the colleges and universities situated iu the country were un- fortunate in being deprived of the opportunity to support social -set dements. It would be un- wise for a university at a distance from the city to attempt to establish a settlement of its own,, but by uniting with some one that is already established the same results can be se- cured. The University of Wisconsin will have the benefit of the experience of the Northwest- ern Settlement Association, and it will have the benefit of the moral and financial support of the University of Wisconsin in general and in particular will derive considerable additional strength from its connection with the admir- able department of economics, of which Pro- fessor Richard T. Ely is the head. This idea of bringing surrounding colleges into contact with the social reform movements of Chicago is worthy of further development. If the other colleges near by were to take sim- ilar action the result would be a vast increase of strength and energy in the social settle- ments of the city. Tl)e University of Illinois, Knox, Beloit, Illinois Wesleyan, Purdue, De Pauw, the University of Indiana, the Univer- sity of Michigan all these institutions could take their fair *hare of settlement work by uniting with some of the settlements that are already in operation. They might choose to direct their attention to other cities Detroit, perhaps, or Indianapolis but the principle would be the same, and the same beneficent re- sults would flow from their enterprise. The Northwestern-Wisconsin alliance is in- dicative of the prosperity that at present reigns among the settlements of Chicago. Next win- ter ought to be the most successful in the his- tory of social settlements in Chicago." The success of the pioneer university fel- lowship experiment at Chicago Commons is developing a desire at the University of Michi- gan to establish or adopt a settlement of its own in Detroit, which being less than forty miles away from Ann Arbor, is well within manageable distance of the university. Shall Public Charities be Partisan Spoils? Among the many humiliations which the self-respecting citizens of Illinois have suffered at the rude hand of a succession of Governors, none is more mortifying and disheartening than the reasons for the resignation of Miss Julia C. Lathrop from the Board of Public Charities. For more than eight years, not only her leisure but the best of her marked exec utive abilities aud the untiring toil of her quietly energetic life, have been, with rare intelligence and rarer devotion, entirely at the service of the State. Of the responsibilities involved in this great public trust, which she has all along so selt- exactlngly interpreted to herself, she thus re- minds the Executive: "The control of the ex- penditure of $2,500,000 yearly and of thousands of appointments would be a responsible task in any purely commercial undertaking. But when the money is to be spent and the people hired for the great function of humanely, wisely and economically caring for 10,000 sick and help- less human beings, it is certainly worthy of skilled and disinterested attention." It is as marked an evidence of her almost in- dispensable value to the legitimate and neces- sary work of the Board, as it is of its ruthless subordination to mean little partisanly person- al ends by successive Executives, that she has served under no less than three administrations. With their partisan exploitations she firmly faces the Governor in these words: "Since my first appointment on this Board, rather more than eight years ago, there have been two ad- ministrations in this State, one of each political party. During all that period the institutions have been used for party ends, although the growth of political control has never been so apparent as now, when there is another change of administration without a change of party." In view of the explicit provision of the law creating the Board, which guarantees the free- dom of its members from political interference with their own acts or with the choice of their subordinates, she pertinently asks the Execu- tive who presumes to dictate the selection of its secretary, "Why should the members of an unsalaried Board be asked to place their per- sonal reputations in the keeping of any officer whom they have no voice in choosing?" While this over-riding interference is the spe- cific occasion of the resignation of both Dr. Emil Hirsch and Miss Lathrop, there is yet a deeper reason why she could no longer serve under such conditions. For all these years she has not only officially participated in the management of the greater institutions for the care of the defective classes, but has also per- sonally visited each one of the ninety alms- houses maintained by the widely scattered counties of the State. In this steadily prose- cuted visitation she has not only come in to helpful, sympathetic contact with the keepers mid managers of these county poor-houses, but also in to more or less confidential relations 14 THE COMMONS with both their inmates and the family or friends of these unfortunates. There is, there- fore, the protest of the heart underlying her words in the closing paragraphs of her letter of resignation: "The Board has no significance unless it serves as a safeguard and guarantee to the public that the institutions are well man- care. On the assumption of this guarantee aged and that the patients are receiving proper friends of patients constantly appeal to me as a member of the Board. Upon the helpless patients and inmates comes the final weight of every unnecessary expense or extravagance of every counterbalancing effort to economize unduly. ..I am not willing longer to appear to the public, and far less to the anxious friends of patients, to give an assurance which no members of such a Board, however far they may exceed me in capacity, can give under' the present system." It is nothing less than a tragedy that such chivalrous relations and such universally ac- knowledged efficiency in the service of the State should count for so little with the small man in whose hands such great interests have been entrusted. In strange contrast with his pettifogging partisanship, as well as with his grotesque play at gallantry in refusing to enter into controversy with Miss Lathrop, or make reply to her stinging letter of resignation, be- cause "she is a lady," stand her own closing words: "The work of the Board has become a matter of the warmest personal interest to we, and I leave it with pronounced regret, and only under a conviction that it is my plain duty at this time to make such protest as I may against the continuance of a system which, from the Board of Charities to the last servant of the smallest institution, leaves no one free to do his task regardless of all save its faith- ful performance." HELP THE GIRL TO SELF-HELP. In faith and hope that $150 will be forthcom- ing to give a year's schooling to the young girl rescued from the toils of her infamous old cap- tor now a prison convict application has been made and accepted for her admission to the school which affords her the best opportunity. Surely among the many who were interested in the criminal prosecution and swift punishment of those long guilty of such infamy, enough will respond to this appeal to help the innocent child to a life-long self-help, and thus warrant this further venture of confidence in following up what was well begun. Mid-Summer a.t Chicago Commons. We have averaged fifteen in residence all summer, eight women and seven men. In ad- dition, six have been in charge at Camp and two at the Glencoe Cottage, twenty-two in all, at work. Summer life at the settlement, tho busy, is less strenuous than in winter. The groups are smaller. Individual contacts ripen into more in- timate personal relationships, both within the settlement group and in the neighborhood. There is more time to cultivate the amenities and rec- iprocities of life. Out-of-door leisure brings the neighbors out from behind closed doors, in family and neighborly door-step or side- walk groups, wide open to acquaintanceship or fellowship. The summer affords a unique op- portunity for service which no settlement can afford to lose. INDOORS. Indoor occasions, while fewer and smaller in attendance, are successfully maintained. Some of the clubs continue their regular meetings. The gymnasium has not been deserted. The bathing facilities, while far from being com- pleted or in good working order, have been used as fully as was expected. The religious occasions have been sustained without break, fully as well as those of a so- cial or educational nature. The Tabernacle Sunday School has been well maintained in number and regularity of teachers and schol- ars. The Sunday services and weekly Fellow- ship meeting have weathered the extreme heat encouragingly. A group of Armenians, averaging thirty or more, mostly men, meet for worship and re- ligious fellowship at Chicago Commons every Sunday afternoon. OtJT-OF-DOOBS. The out-of-door occasions have the right of way. Every morning little groups of children gather to pass muster in person and clothing, to wash up, and get a clean bill of health be- fore starting for their outing. Under the es- cort of a resident they soon are off to the rail- road station, some for the Elgin camp, others for the Glencoe Cottage, still other groups for the suburbs or the friendly homes awaiting their arrival in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana towns and villages. It is the girls' turn at Camp in August. Fifty of them nt a time gather under tho canvas .-mil around the camp-fire for a fortnight. How much it THE COMMONS 15 means, only we, who watch through the year the difference it makes in their lives, realize. The policy of Chicago Commons to 'confine it- self to only so many outings as can be well managed and made the most of in each indi- vidual's case is amply justified. The two weeks of such continuous influence as is exerted by the natural and personal surroundings of the camp often seem to make more for character culture than a whole winter of once-a-week club work. . The picnic of the Tabernacle Church and Sunday School to the Pottawattomie Park, on the Great Western Railway, rallied 525 from the neighborhood, fully half of whom were adults. A delightfully cool, bright, long sum- mer day was quietly and joyously passed un- der the trees aud on the river, in family lunch parties and frolicsome games. Such a picnic takes on more important aspects when middle- aged people tell you that they have never been out of the city in all their lives, excepting a day at a time on some such excursion. The low charge of twenty-five cents paid all but $15 of the expenses Incurred. For the Eighth Winter's Work of Chicago Commons- TOOLS FOB MANUAL TRAINING $340 STILL LACKING. Of the $500 needed to supply our manual training equipment, and thus secure the gratuitous, service and residence of a compe- tent trainer, three friends have subscribed $160. This leaves $340 still to be provided in order to fulfill the condition upon which de- pends the establishment of this much needed department of work. While the work with the classes will be as rudimentary as the demand calls for, the normal training proposed will fit settlement workers and club leaders to teach in the several lines of work most practicable and valuable in similar classes anywhere. No further reaching investment of such a small sum can be made. It is an opportunity for service that ought to be bought up without delay. FIFTY DOLLARS I'EK MONTH SUSTAINS THE WHOLE COOKINO SCHOOL. An experienced cooking-school teacher, at the sacrifice of one-half the salary offered her elsewhere, Is to enter residence aud service at Chicago Commons in the autumn. She is a graduate of Mrs. Rorer's school in Philadelphia, in which she also taught. Fifty dollars per month will lay the foundation of home-making and housekeeping in scores of eager young people. Boys, as well as girls, apply to be taught the arts of living. Such prepossession of lives with good is not only the best way of overcoming evil, but the surest means of es- tablishing home virtues and developing success- ful family life among the people. OPENING THE FIFTH YEAH OF THE KINDERGARTEN TRAINING SCHOOL. The Pestalozzi-Froebel Kindergarten Train- ing School at Chicago Commons has assumed permanent proportions and new importance in the perspective of our settlement work. It was started primarily with the purpose of training the assistants for the Kindergarten at the Commons, and of sharing the settlement out- look and spirit with those who came to us to be trained for this fundamental social service. Ever since it started, four years ago, it has not only been self-supporting, but has supported one of our kindergartens. The co-operation of the parents of the kindergarten children has been sufficient to provide the material used by them. Upon the achievement of this result, and the establishment of the school upon stand- ards which have commanded not only the re- spect, but also the cordial fellowship of the older training schools in the city, Mrs. Bertha Hofer Hegner is gratefully congratulated by the residents and all the friends of Chicago Commons. For seven years she has wrought out with untiring energy, tactful skill, and the sweetest spirit her beautiful work with and for the children of our needy and cosmopolitan neighborhood. Skilled service, for which she trained at home and abroad, and which would have commanded its own price if offered to the highest bidder, she has lavished with moth- erly devotion and sacrifice upon the children of the poor. As the training school enters up- on its fifth season's work, the prospects for attendance and quality of work were' never better. The convenient and attractive quarters provided for the sehQol in the new Chicago Commons building have greatly increased the facilities and efficiency of its work. This first educational venture In the enterprise of our settlement faith has already been followed by important developments and promises to lead to still wider pedagogical relationships. WANTED A position as Head Worker, Treasurer, or Secretary of a Social Settlement. Charity Organization. Children's Aid, or kin- dred organization, by an American aged thirty- nine years, educated, experienced, devoted. Best of references. Position in the East pre- ferred. Address D. G.. Chicago Commons. Chicago. 16 THE COMMONS Last Lift on the New Building. WILLIAMS RESIDENCE HALL TO BE FINISHED NEXT MONTH. As we go to press the exterior of the Wil- liams Resideuce Hall stands completed. The steam and gas fitters, and electricians have all their pipes and wires laid, the lathing and plastering have been in progress a fortnight, and the woodworkers only await the drying of the. walls to put up the casings and make the finishing touches. So that by the middle of October the new home of Chicago Commons will be all ready for its house-warming. $10,000 NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE PLANT FREE OP DEBT. The gift of the Williams family has made the rapid progress on the building possible. To fulfill the condition upon which their gen- erous erection of the residence wing was made, and to leave the entire plant unencumbered, two things remain to be done before the close of the year: First, the $8,000 given by the late John Marshall Williams to the building fund, which was expended on the Morgan St. wing and was afterwards added to the $12,000 given by his children for the erection of the Residence Hall, must be replaced by the sub- scription of other friends. Second, at least $2,000 additional is needed to cover supple- mental contracts for fire escapes and necessary interior equipment in both wings. Even this does not provide for the elevator much needed by the residents, decoration of walls, the organ for the auditorium, and the Men's Club House, which it is hoped will be subsequently pro- vided by single individual donations. The contribution of $10,000 before the close of the year will, however, practically" complete this effective building equipment for the wide, varied", and far-reaching work awaiting it, not in its great neighborhood only, but also wherever its successful experiment will demon- strate the practicability of similar agencies adapted to differing surroundings, NEW PLAYGROUNDS FOR THE NEW BUILDING. While awaiting the Men's Club House, the lot adjoining the new building south on Mor- gan Street can be put to better use than to be rented for tenement purposes. The two small, frame houses on this lot are not nearly up to the standard which the settlement insists upon as fit for habitation. Their demolition will be both consistent with settlement principles and will be something of a protest against the in- creasing tendency in our district to make more money out of tenement house property in pro- portion as its condition is allowed to de- teriorate, and helplessly poor or careless ten- ants can be crowded into it. Our use of even this little strip of land, 20 feet wide by 160 in length, as a playground for the children who have nowhere else to play than the dusty streets, will be appreciated by the neighbor- hood. Many will be grateful for the relief it will afford the street life in the increased quiet and gentleness which the organization of play, and the offer of playthings never fail to ef- fect. More will be thankful for some place to send their children where they will have, a right to play. The fifty dollars received for the salvage from the wreckage of the old houses will drain and enclose the lot. We need at least $150 added to this sum with which to equip the play- ground with swings, see-saws, sand-piles and ont-of-door games and gymnasium apparatus. The investment of $250 immediately in even this scanty concession to the liberty of child- life will yield ample returns. The children who come back from the freedom of camp-life will have at least something to take its place. The pathetic enjoyment which our little neighbors have had in playing on the builders' sand, and with the bricks, and around the lumber pile, during the erection of the building, will not be suddenly taken from them with the completion of the work. If any of our friends could real- ize with us what a God-send these building materials have been to scores of little children for nearly two years, they would not be slow to join ns in providing them with this tem- porary place to play, and thereby hasten the provision by the Small Parks Commission of a permanent Public Play-Ground for our neigh- borhood. To SAVE OUR OLD KINDERGARTEN. The continuance of the kindergarten in the neighborhood of the old Commons ought to be assured. The thoroughly competent leadership which has been volunteered should guarantee the balance of the support still needed to main- tain the school. Miss Anna MoClaury, former- ly director of the Elm street Settlement kin- dergarten, and Miss Myrtle Wallace, who was trained in the Union Street school and was its director last year, have taken all the risks of their own support in offering to lead the branch work in the old neighborhood. For rent, light, heat and service. $100 per month remain to be assured. Who will step into this breach with us to save the neediest of our little ones from being deprived of their one privilege and highest hope? TKe Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View Number 63-Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago. October 1901. From Ma-rtyr Lips. "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and children to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Closing words of Lincoln's second inaugural. "God reigns and the government at Washing- ton still lives." Garfield when Lincoln died. "I have faith." "It is leaving you that hurts most." "If it is God's will, so be it." President Garfield's last words. "Good-bye, all ; good-bye. It is God's way. His will be done." President McKinley's last words. "Let no one hurt him." President McKinley's protest against the attempt to lynch his assassin. Issues at Stake in Legislating Against Ana.rchism. By GRAHAM TAYLOR. To hedge the lives of our public officials with what protecting divinity the law can provide, is the duty of the nation not only to them but to itself. For su.-.h a blow as has fallen upon all our hearts is struck at the sovereignty of The People. Between this duty of the hour and the "Lese majeste" which is making German Im- perialism oppressive at home and ridiculous abroad, American common sense ought to be suf- ficient to discriminate. President Roosevelt has al- ready shown enough of it, in any event, not to place such dependence upon the efficacy of legis- lation to this end, as would lend his influ- ence to the manifest tendency to carry it to ex- tremes. To have lost by assassination three such presidents as Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley vithin the life-time of a single generation is a national experience that is sure to make it more justly dangerous to attack, or conspire against, the life of a public official. To reaffirm and vindicate the supremacy of law is the second issue ,at stake. But this lies less within the province of legislation than with the spirit of the people. "The recovery of Law" was not long ago affirmed to be "the task of the twen- tieth century," by an eminent educator and pub- licist. To recover it from the fanatical attacks of its few avowed enemies, may prove to be a less serious task than to defend it from the wounds it is receiving in the house of very many of its most loudly professing friends. Who can meas- ure the effect of the widespread contempt for the rights of life under the law, shown by the 2,516 illegal executions by the most atrocious mob violence, which, during the past sixteen years, have stained the soil of every one of the United States, except five? The law-breakers share their treasonableness with the law-makers. For the open, defiant viola- tions of the law are self-corrective when justly punished. But incalculably more aggressive upon the law abiding spirit of the vast majority of our people, is the perversion of the law-making power to serve the interest of " the few at the expense of the many. Special class legislation has been so freely "sown to the wind" by many a state legis- lature and city or town council that it was sure to "reap the whirlwind." The notoriously cor- rupt practices of the justices of the peace and the police courts in all our greater and many o? our smaller cities, have placed the whole process of law at a fearful disadvantage just where the common people h;ive their only personal point cf contact with it. Indeed their almost unbroken loyalty to law, in spite of these heavy strains upon it, is the wonder of those who best know the facts. Naturally now in this hour of the nations' righteous indignation not only are hot-headed bids made for lynch law, but cooler demands come, from more responsible quarters, to supercede the civil law by the "Military Code." To suggest this at such a time is like moving a vote of lack of confidence in the common law itself, or in the ability of government to execute it. All such re- course to extra legal measures may be extenuated by the justly agitated state of public opinion. But the calm reliance upon the majesty of the law and the stern front against anarchistic meth- ods of dealing with Anarchism will shortly be re- garded simply as sanity, however, for the time being it is branded as "social sentimentality," if not "apologetic" for heinous crime, by those who ought, and, in the judgement of charity, will yet THE COMMONS be ashamed of themselves for such reckless ac- cusations. To conserve the people's hard earned, long awaited liberty of thought and freedom of speech in the face of the too passionate, panic-stricken demand for the most drastic legislation against anarchism, will tax the vigilance and power of the really conservative element in every legislative body and in the constituency of every legislator. Any special class legislation is dangerous enough to the community, in its liability to be applied at random to general interests after the specific needs that call it into existence have been met. The very freedom of the English working classes was imperiled for half a century by such a per- version of the "Conspiracy" laws to apply to the "restraint of trade." There is graver danger that the impending legislation, aimed to silence the in- cendiary utterance of the infinitesimally small faction of fanatics among the American people, may constitute a precedent, if it does not itself ever prove applicable, for the abridgement of that "right of private judgment" and that free- dom of speech upon which more than upon any- thing else our religious and civil liberties and social progress depend. While therefore the Anarchists may justly be required to choose be- tween respecting the rights of the great majori- ties who choose to live under law, or to betake themselves where law does not obtain, yet the people should be on guard lest the liberties dearly bought by the best blood and treasure of the An- glo-Saxon race after a thousand years of struggle should be imperiled by the power invoked at the awful deed of a crazy fanatic, and applicable at most to a few scores of sympathizers, and a few hundred more who dream of "voluntary associa- tion" as a substitute for coercive law in the ulti- mate ideal society. The Attitude of Settlements Toward Radicalism- [Editorial] The severe strictures of one of the Chicago pa- pers upon Hull House and Chicago Commons for having had anything whatever to do with any one claiming to be an "Anarchist," is based upon such a manifest misapprehension of facts that it calls for a word of explanation. In the report of the "Committee of Fifteen" upon the moral condition and social needs of New York City, it is shown that much harm to the common welfare and not a little menace to pub- lic safety come from the lack of provision for social centers, where all classes of the people may freely meet and mingle to learn how to live and act together. In summarizing the most ex- haustive reports that have ever been made of tire actual provision for the social necessities of the people in ten of the principal American cities, Dr. Raymond Calkins affirms that the Social Set- tlements "possess a knowledge of the field not possessed or obtainable by any others than actual residents and trained observers." They have he adds "a habit of mind which precludes the pos- sibility of any taint of patronage in their several undertakings." And he sums up his recognition of their very real and unique service by attribu- ting their influence to the fact that "the settle- ment no matter of what name or kind, realizes the ideal of a social democracy." Now to attempt to promote the social unifica- tion of the cosmopolitan, and often seriously di- vided population of our great cities, the settle- ments must have a broad enough basis and a tol- ' erant enough spirit to bring about the confidence and co-operation of all the people, regardless of nationality, sect, party and social or economic distinction. The frank and practical recognition of social equality has been found to be an indis- pensable prerequisite. All have been welcomed. None have been ostracised or slighted. Among the many people of many minds who share this all too rare hospitality a very few are so extreme in their individualism as to avow Anarchism as their ideal of social order. But in meeting and comparing views with many of widely differing theories on industrial, economic, political, social, ethical and religious interests, these people who have been dreaming alone or only with each other, find their "voluntary association" often for the first time, to be only one of many competing social ideals. They are confronted by the Socialists with their opposite ideal for the extension of the sovereignty of the State. They are laughed at as visionaries by the trades unionists who have lit- tle sympathy with either of these opposite ex- tremes. They are taken seriously by those who have studied their history and philosophy, and reasoned with personally. If, as only rarely hap- pens, one of them privately defends the use of violence the wrong and folly of it are urged upon him. In six years of "free-floor discussions" held weekly at Chicago Commons, appeals to vio- lence have never been publicly offered. When ever casual allusion has been made to it, the crowd has never taken the speaker seriously and laughed, or argued it away. Not a few anarchists have denounced the resort to force, among them some of the men recently arrested as "suspects." In the give and take of this unfettered fellow- THE COMMONS ship the conservative has the same right and opportunity to maintain his convictions as the radical, the lawyer as the anarchist, the manu- facturer as the trades unionist, the churchman as the secularist. Only twice during these six years has the chairman had any occasion to ap- peal to the house against the interruption of the speaker. Perfect order has been maintained, un- failing good nature has held sway. Now, it is confidently submitted, that no harm and very much good comes from such a wisely tolerant freedom of intercourse, and that it would be a very great blunder to deprive of it just those who need it most. To drive them behind their own closed doors either by social ostracism or drastic legislation would put a premium upon secrecy; would magnify their ego-mania which is minimized by contact with other and opposing views ; would tend to compact their organization, which is otherwise very loose ; and would tend to drive their intense individualism into conspir- acy. In supplying this safety-valve, the settle- ments risk being misunderstood and misinter- preted. Some of them have not escaped the abuse inflicted by those who editorially attributed the interpretation of radical opinion, drawn out by their own interviewer, to be the personal belief of the interpreter. For merely gaining access to the accused in order to offer to help them obtain legal counsel, two settlement workers were ac- cused of being "Apologists for Anarchists." Against the charge of the prisoners' friends that they were being deprived of their rights, was it not loyalty to Law to assure them "all the law allows?" Until proven at least probably guilty of the awful charge of which they were accused, had they forfeited all claims upon those who knew them as men, even though avowed oppo- nents to their views? (See Note at conclusion.) Unless human nature has ceased to react and the Christian spirit is false, we submit this to be "the more excellent way" to supplement the re- straints of law and obviate the resort to force, to say nothing of it as the only way of really counteracting the ever active propaganda. A simi- lar friendly conference was publicly maintained for a winter or more several years ago by Lyman J. Gage and other public spirited citizens of the great value of which to very many people of differing views there is still much evidence. This liberty cti discussion should never be allowed to run into license. The best preventive is to avoid organizing the free-floor meeting, if any such feature is maintained. Let it start and continue as a simple conference of friends. The settlement should supply its share of topics and speakers and keep the chairmanship in its own hands. The chair should be filled by a firm, toler- ant, brotherly spirited man, who personally knows the men participating. Parliamentary pro- cedure should be freely followed. If such con- ditions of success are not at hand the settlement should not initiate, or should abandon such a gathering. Such an occasion, if it exists, is how- ever only an incident in the attitude of the settle- ment toward radical or other views of life. Its group of residents, however diverse their indi- vidual opinions, should serve as a social "clearing house," through whom all classes may meet, min- gle, exchange values and learn the art of living and working together. Note *Since writing the above an unexpectedly com- plete and final vindication has been given to these views and efforts by the solemn judgment of the Superior Court of Cook County. In the hearing that has just finished (as we go to press) before Judge Chetlain on a suit of habeas corpus, all the citizens of Chicago arrest- ed as suspect conspirators have been uncondi- tionally released. And this upon the motion of the City Attorney setting forth that no legal evi- dence existed against the Anarchists of Chicago that would point toward their complicity in the frightful crime committed at Buffalo. When it is remembered that only a few years ago Chicago was noted as the hotbed of terrorist anarchy in the United States, the ameliorating influence of fellowship and free discussion such as Chicago Commons and Hull House have pro- vided, can be in some measure estimated. If the intelligent citizens of Cleveland will meet with freedom, reason, and the spirit of a manly fellowship, their anarchistic fellow-citizens, they will save their fair city from the morbid type expressed in the dangerous personality of Czol- gosz. Repression followed by a brooding bitter- ness over fancied injuries is the mother of terror- ist anarchists. We unite with all intelligent citi- zens and officials of Chicago in a common satis- faction over this vindication of our city's name and fame. St. Petersburg, Sept. 9. The pupils of a young women's school, near Count Tolstoi's residence, at Yasnaia, who, with their teacher and other young persons of the neighborhood, called upon him and presented the Count with flowers, have been arrested and their teacher has been dis- missed. THE COMMONS An Effort for Incurable Poor. By Mother M. Alphonsa Lathrop, Oblate St. Dominic, Rosary Hill Home. I do not know that charity is ever looked upon as a pleasant pastime. It is usually taken with a large amount of seasoning, such as fairs, sewing-bees, church suppers, and all that sort some of us would be very apt to say, that there were not certain conditions of sin which a long life brings to notice. The subject about which I write, and which I would gladly make interesting to the general public, is one that can hardly be made agree- able; but, nevertheless, I can testify that such a life as I lead with a few companions in a poor St. Rose Free Home for Incurable Cancer. of thing; and even then the real work is done by persons at the seat of war, so to speak. When the idea is suggested, to people -who. do not even attend sewing-bees or affairs in aid of the poor, that one should diligently labor for the destitute in the worst condition of disease and want known, the response is one of gen- uine horror. It is sometimes said that there is no such condition of things, just as I fancy district, among the sick, has many agreeable points. NO DANGER TO HEALTH OB SAFETY. There is absolutely no stifled air or loss of all particularly fine outlooks in going to work' for the poor on the East Side of New York. The melancholy notion that in living among the poor one is in constant danger as to life and property has given place in our minds to considerable THE COMMONS doubt as to whether there is any really danger- ous place where people can live. I pass through the streets all around here, some of them with murderous reputations, and were I not alone I would laughingly discuss the wonderful neatness and quiet, and sufficiently patroled condition, of these alarming streets. One house in which I lived, a tumble-down tenement, has its front dour always ajar, and the windows of our rooms on the first floor were not locked until a nervous patient came to us. Ill MAN .NOISES THE MOST TRYING FEATURE. There is, of course, some difficulty to the nurses in exchanging a style of living which is orderly and comparatively quiet for the turmoil of a pauper district. I rank my sufferings in regard to noises with the other two trials of sleepiness not indulged in and weariness not rested. I really thought at one time that I should not be able to bear the constant uproar of the children and the midnight revels of the drunkards, but I must confess that I scarcely perceive now, after four years of what is called the noisest street in New York, the rollicking or brawling racket always going on. It would seem that the human frame is really a slave whom it is possible to subject at every point and that the strength of the slave is herculean when once the creature is fully conquered. THE YOKE WHICH IS EASY. Somehow the determination to carry the work of charity on with completeness and adequate help to the poor is the dearest aim for any one who has once tasted the nectar of a self-denial which does not limit itself in idea, however weakly human nature cringes at some steps to be taken. I doubt if any district nurse, or nurse in a hospital in a poor district, who has laid out for herself a plan at all in keeping with ths commands of the New Testament, would feel so much at ease in her old surroundings of rest and amusement as under the yoke of char- itable labor. TOKENS OF REMEMBRANCE FROM THE BRIGHTER WORLD. Nevertheless, the glimpses of friends which she gets, through their generous pilgrim- ages over unfamiliar streets in order to see her and cheer her, are like refreshing draughts on a long journey afoot. The post- man's budget of letters is beautiful with hand- writing that is precious, and the words of en- couragement brought by mail or spoken during a rapid call are found simply indispensable to her courage. It must also be noted that the humble appreciation and cordiality of the poor, sometimes awkward, sometimes refined and beautiful because of the naturally gentle nature of many of the poor, are a very sweet daily ele- ment in district work. ROOM FOR NEW CHARITY. In regard to starting a new charity, there Is an opinion prevalent that nothing will be met with but discouragement from those who are expected to be charitable. A very rich man has not only his city and country house, per- haps somewhat multiplied also, but he will be sure to tell you that he has two hospitals on his hands. In short, an Egyptian hieroglyphic of one of the Pharaohs is the only thing that could illustrate hie hampered condition. You are told that the well-to-do have spent their pin money upon the foreign missions, and that in a year's time you will cease to exist as a new charity. The fact is, that a new charity which Is as much needed as that dealing with orphans, a charity dealing with women destitute of care and unable to support themselves, yet in the grasp of a terrible disease, is responded to with the depth of cordiality which greets a call to arms if one's country is in danger, supposing the responder to be capable of nobility. The methods of securing aid and manipulating re- sources in charity are by no means as exquis- itely finished and effective as those used in national defense, but let me prophesy that they will be one of these days. WHO BEST MAY WITHDRAW TO SERVE. The first thing to do, In my opinion, is for those who can best afford the time to give themselves to the labor of so perfecting the science of charity that it may become adequate, instead of being as it is at present, often ridic- ulously defective. Who are these members of the race who have the most time to give, and who will least be- missed in withdrawing them- selves from "the world," so called? They are women who have no indissoluble ties, and who have the good sense to realize that the life of an earnest woman, wherever she Is, is one of suffering. They are the women who choose to do with less of the ameliorations of life to this good end of nursing destitute women, which I have stated to be, in my opinion, of equal importance with patriotism. APPEAL OF INCURABLE CANCER SUFFERERS. I was informed about a French charity which takes care in a number of hospitals, both in France and England, of incurable cancer pa- tients. I was told that in America these in- curable cases, when destitute, are terribly neg- lected; and, if attended to at all, are dismissed from hospitals after six months, whether death 6 THE COMMONS soon steps in as a relief or years of suffering must ensue. I felt that, as I had time to give to charity, this was the charity I would take up, in the hope of assisting to repeat here the success of the charity in France. Doctors told me that there was great need of the work, as a large number of cases existed among the poor and were increasing constantly. Most of my friends begged me not to enter into such a loathsome occupation. I persisted; took a few SHARING THE CONDITIONS OF POVERTY. Our peculiar trait will be, that we dwell close- ly among the poor, sharing as much as possible, if the expression can be permitted, their de- privations, and also their cold and heat, their laborious effort to exist, and their old-fashioned harshness of conveniences, in order that these things may be remembered and done away with. We trust that our own laborious effort will help to elucidate the difficult question of Relief Room rooms in the poorest district; immediately found myself appealed to by persons afflicted with the disease; soon had several patients liv- ing with me in my little rooms, and was joined by a few women as interested as myself in the scheme. AFTER FIVE YEARS. At the end of five years I find myself more strenuously encouraged by the sym- pathy of others than at the beginning of my work. Once in awhile I fortify my finances by appeals in the daily press for money, clothing and medicines for the sick we care for, and immediately there is a moderate response from charitable persons. Cherry Street House. how a charity hospital may be a kindly home. As soon as a woman is incapacitated for self support she should be given a home by those who are capable of giving it to her; and that home should not be a travesty, but worthy of the sacred name. We have no object in life but to supply this need, in one line of its outreaching growth from the central root of destitution; and as women never turn aside from misery without assist- ing it, and as we have hundreds of letters from men and women which express entire enthusi- asm for our budding endeavor, we believe that both women's work and men's money will en- rich this charity for the immediate help of des- titute souls. THE COMMONS ST. ROSE'S FREE HOME IN THE HEART OF THE CITY. We have been able to secure and entirely pay for a nice house, St. Rose's Free Home, at 426 Cherry street, New York, and when the last payment was made we instantly proceeded to secure another home, into which male patients could also be received. This second piece of property had to be found in the country, as city property required a large immediate consign- ment towards the full purchase. ROSARY HILL HOME IN THE COUNTRY. Sherman Park, Westchester County, N. Y., contained a wooden monastery, which French Dominicans desired to sell, and this building has been bought, after that fabulous fashion which is sanctioned by a heavy mortgage. In very brief time our first group of patients for the second home were collected, a male patient being among them, and we are now cheerfully carrying on a farm hospital, in a superb region of hills and bracing air, with fourteen poor, de- lighted, cancerous sick people to nurse, and seven of us nurses detached from the little city home to work in this big branch from a very young tree. SONG OF CONTENT. If we were not now Dominican religious we should be singing like birds in the foliage, but our contented hearts are satisfied with a few peals of laughter during "recreation," and with the countless beloved Paters and Aves, which we say either in unison, or in a whisper, as we work. We have spread out into two homes, to be sure, and hope for fifty patients at a time during the winter, but we have al- most no money. SHADOW OP THE BRIGHT LIGHT. That side of the problem is its perpetual shadow, nor can a bright light be free from it. We are willing to bear the anxiety if the pub- lic will bear the expense, and we think they will. Our work in our home and outside of it has cost us about $5,000 a year, with the real estate purchase. Now we shall need $10,- 000.00 a year for both homes, though they are carried on with entire simplicity, since our pa- tients are principally of the destitute class, and all are destitute in present circumstances. No money comes to us from them, but they pray for us, that it may come. Neperau P. O., Sherman Park, N. Y. Mr- Gossivrd a.nd His Work. By FRANCIS W. WHEELER. A large bare room in one of the crowded dis- tricts of Chicago, half filled with the sauntering, bent, frowsy figures of saloon habitues; lists of places where work may be obtained pasted upon the wall ; and at one end of the room a small table at which is seated a young man, well- dressed, keen, aggressive, business to his finger tips. To him one by one come the men, each with his story, each seeking help. Woe to the man who tells a fable rather than the truth, for a few searching questions demolish his sand founded structure; but to him who needs work, work will be given, and if he has no place to sleep a room is provided free until he is able to pay, and meals are likewise given, always with the condition that self support must come within a few days. A strange picture? Utopian, perhaps? Some prophecy ? No ! An assured fact, a living reality, a sociological feature of Chicago life which is pregnant with future greatness. If, as Leigh Hunt has voiced, the tribe of Abou Ben Adhem may be desired to increase, surely in this stalwart champion of work "as one who loves his fellow men," the race will receive a new impetus. So MUCH FOR THE PICTURE. NOW FOR THE MAN. Mr. J. W. Gossard is a wealthy importer of Chicago who has earned for himself a place among the successful business men of the great metropolis. Entering life with no other capital than a keen American commercial spirit he is already, though quite a young man, sufficiently possessed of this world's goods not to greatly miss the expenditure of several thousand dollars, in purposes which he refuses to call either chari- table or philanthropic but which are the best cf both. Having attained this desirable position. Mr. Gos- sard next undertook to solve the problem which has puzzled the world's greatest thinkers in all cycles of history. This is the problem how to manipulate the affairs of modern life that there need not be any men unemployed, and that every man employed may earn sufficient to keep himself and an average family. It is a large question, and its solution is only to be found by experi- ment. The first great desideratum for the solution of this complex problem was, evidently, the time needed for its consideration. With keen insight. and withal such a touch of the common sense which has made all his ventures throughout so successful, Mr. Gossard decided that no man could d.o two things at the same time, and do both well. His business was flourishing, and therefore he decided in taking up the work of helping those who had been less successful than himself, to give one day a week to that work, and that alone, and that upon this certain day he would not THE COMMONS even consider the affairs of his mercantile busi- ness no matter how dire the need. ONE SEVENTH OF His TIME. Here then was the first step. A man, competent to handle a large business, of marked ability in the reading of character, wealthy enough to be able to sink a little money in the furtherance of his designs, was willing to give absolutely one seventh of his time to aiding others. The First Ward of the city, which contains the levee, one 01 the worst districts, and which, by the way, W. J. Gossard. was the section taken by W. T. Stead in his no- torious work as an example of what Chicago at its worst could be, was chosen for the beginning of work. The first two or three weeks were given to visiting the saloons and the dives in the dis- trict, and wherever Mr. Gossard saw a man drunk or ?oing to the dogs who appeared to have some manhood left in him he went up to the man per- sonally and by careful talking led him along the desired lines. Before a month had passed there were a number of these men well on the way to self respect. Soon the number of men grew too large to be handled personally and the inevitable result was that a hall was hired and the personal talks developed into a course of lectures. These were upon the most simple and needful subjects, such for instance as "How to take a bath," "How to get a job and hold it," "Food values," "What is a lady and a gentleman in the American sense of the term" and so forth. These were addresses by Mr. Gossard and generally also by some expert upon the topic under discussion. Nearly a dozen of the mose eminent medical men in Chicago gave their services in the form of these lectures, and the hall was crowded every Thursday evening. The movement grew. At the close of these lessons more men came up and announced their readiness to leave the old ways if they could be helped to obtain employment. This evident need that the men after being reclaimed from sodden ways should be set to work, was the cause of the institution of a free employment agency, which has already been the means of providing a large number of men with positions. THE H. P. E. SOCIETY. So far the movement had been gradual. One other feature was introduced during the course of the lectures, and that was that every man taken in hand and set upon his feet again, should be required to become a member of the Higher Prac- tical Education Society, known as the H. P. E. Society, and to that end must sign the pledge. This pledge was peculiar in that it needed two to sign it, firstly the man who was reforming, and secondly either an officer of the society or after- wards another member. Thus it happened that every man became responsible for someone else and the thought of the responsibility was a great aid in keeping the pledge inviolate. The close of the lecture course marked the end of the second cycle. A number of men had be- come members of the society, had taken the pledge, and were being kept and provided for by their patron until a position should be ready for them through the employment agency. THE FIRST SET-BACK. Then came the first serious set-back. It was tolerably easy if a cook sought employment and there was employment for a cook to put the two together, but often it happened that the man who had been reclaimed either had no trade, or he was so out of touch with the work that he was almost useless, or else his trade was one in which few vacancies occurred. How TO FIND EMPLOYMENT. Work must be found for these men. The so- ciety must not be allowed to die because its own weight and strength was crippling it. Here was a force which should be able to keep in motion if only it could once be started in the right direction. But how to start it. The answer was not far to seek. If the society was responsible for these men the society must find employment, and if the agency was not sufficient for this purpose it THE COMMONS 9 must give them work itself. The Salvation Army wood camps solved this question many years ago. But the founder of the society was a business man who knew nothing of wood camps, or in- deed of ought save commerce and its methods, and the line of development the society took un- der his hand was to form it into a company, the H. P. E. Company, which bought articles from the manufacturers and disposed of them direct to the consumer thus making the middlemen and the merchant's profit at the same time. The brighter men handled the work of disposing of lines of goods to the trade, the men of lesser ability went from house to house with samples of the goods canvassing and delivering. Thus, theoretically, svery man who sought employment could be given it, and the profits of the goods sold would reim- burse the society for the original money spent on each man and thus it became self supporting in some degree. A DIFFICULTY NOT YET SOLVED. But a difficulty arose, which to the present time has not yet been solved, and the solution of which means the final success or failure of the whole. This is the difficulty that every man is not a sale.3mar by nature. It has been found to be a mistake that every man can go from house to house and sell goods, for less than half the men who need the work are so fitted. Many have not a sufficiently good appearance or address, others lack the commercial instinct, and others again have a feeling of personal pride which galls them every time they go to the back door. It is to be deplored, but facts which are to be de- plored are the very things which most constantly confront the sociologist. Then the men began to be dissatisfied. They found the work progressing but slowly, they found that the money they earned for the society was expended almost as much upon the bad sales- man as upon the good and though like the hus- bandmen in the parable, they each acknowledged the justice of "every man a penny" they grumbled amongst themselves, and viewing human nature as it is rather than as it ought to be, they cannot be blamed. There is not the slightest doubt but that the movement will profe an overwhelming success if sufficient perseverance, time and capital be given. A commercial business, equipped \vi!h ?11 the most modern methods and the most efficient help, i? a difficult thing to srt going successfully, to which let the wrecks of small merchants testify, and in this day of competition it is the man with large ideas who goes to the front. It is easy to prophesy great things, and it is even easier to plan them, but to work the small details of small things is beyond the power, very often, of the Napoleon of commerce. EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES. It is the intention of Mr. Gossard to open an employment agency in every ward of this city and in every ward of every city in the United States. It is designed to let the ministers of the cities be in close touch with the movement to the end that they may send all cases of need to these employment agencies. It is intended to purchase factories for the manufacture of the goods which are sold by the H. P. E. Company. It is then the intention to publish a large and well equipped magazine which shall not only deal with the work of the society and company but- which shall be the organ of the Social Settlement work of the world. But these must wait. Mr. Gossard has laid this fact down as a foundation, "That each branch and each root of the society must be self support- ing and that no steps onward will be made, until each is so determined." Such is the brief history, briefly told, of the work of the H. P. E. Society of Chicago, and its work, such still more briefly sketched, is the personnel of the man at its head. Far more pleas- ant would have been the task simply to have told of all the good accomplished, to have painted glowing pictures of the future, to have described a winter at hand when every man would be labor- ing with satisfaction to himself and all the world, and to have ended in a pean of triumph, but much more important is it to know the exact con- dition and to show the difficulties as well as the golden deeds. But under and above and through it all, whether the society rise to greater heights or share the doom of many another worthy movement, is the living growing, vital fact, that out of Chicago has arisen a young man of wealth, in whom it is a passion to do for others that which he would wish done for himself. THE GOOD OF IT ALL. Can any good come out of Nazareth? An old question, and the answer to it is yet the greatest force in the world to-day. Can any good come out of Chicago? A new question, and the answer to it is just beginning to appear. It may be that this is the dawn of some vast crystallization of the unused force of the unemployed reaching out and enfolding all its predecessors in its giant grasp, it may be that it will live its homely, useful life in its own little district acting as a beacon to guide others. Final results, which can only be seen by the test of centuries of time, can perhaps decide which is the greater, Protestantism or the mother of 10 THE COMMONS the first Reformer, the Sociological movement or its humblest disciple, and by this test alone shall it be seen what is the place that J. W. Gossard, and the members of his society bear in the scheme of the industrial salvation of the world. Not to the most successful is the greatest honor, but in the world of men equal honor must be given to every man and woman, who, standing for the principles of Godhood, Womanhood, and Man- hood, lives, works and dies consecrated to their support. Impressions of the Grea.t Steel Strike. BY ONE STANDING NEAR BY. In the fiirst place, it puts to a severe test one's sense of the ridiculous to attempt to dis- cuss the relations of the Billion-Dollar Steel Trust with anybody or anything from the standpoint of "right" or "merit." The genesis and record of that mighty solution of steel and water its very existence, in fact precludes the possibility of raising with any enthusiasm the question of morals in any of its bearings. So let us abandon buncombe about the matter. Between the United States Steel Corporation and its employes thus far no issue has been joined the discussion of which calls for the use of any vocabulary of abstract right or justice. To an unusual degree the bat- tle is cleared of involved issues, and becomes largely one of brute force and dogged endurance which can win? It was foreordained, so to speak, that such a battle should ensue. The erection of a vast structure of capital under private ownership, the abolition practically of competition from a com- plete branch of industry, the removal of waste- ful duplication of machinery, material and effort and the systematization of production and sale with reference to visible demand, made it inevit- able that sooner or later there would be an attack upon the citadel of capitalism thus exposed. Rightly timed, shrewdly managed, and adequately supported by public sentiment through the exist- ence of an issue clear and conclusive, it would seem that a strike against a single, closely-unified organization of an industry requiring so large a degree of skill on the part of so large a propor- tion of its force as does the manufacture of steel, must win at last. But the strike that will win must have several sure characteristics. It must represent a prin- ciple which is not only right, but clear; and not only clear, but right. Public sympathy is notori- ously fickle and capricious, and can be held for a long struggle only by a firm and sustained ap- peal to what the average man's imagination and intelligence can readily grasp, his emotions cling to, and his self-interest recognize as in the last analysis his affair. Sympathy in large measure awaited the first great assault upon any of the great Trusts. Whether rightly or not, the people increasingly feel that these vast concentrations of power in private hands involve menace to the rights, ?nd even to the fundamental liberties of the common people. They were ready to accept I lie first issue that should be raised. In the present battle thus far at least, the Trust has made rather the best appearance in the field, has succeeded in occupying (albeit by factitious means) the position of injured innocence, and the average man is still asking in bewilderment, after all this time of palaver and counter-claims, What is it all about? The genius of fair play is still in the Ameri- can shrine, though somewhat battered and shame- faced by reason of happenings connected with the conversion of the corners of the earth to thir- teen-inch, breech-loading Christianity and strenu- ous civilization. And an appeal which is based upon a question of fair play will always command sympathy. It is a pity that the question of fair play, or some aspect of it, can hardly be found in the present contest. There is no question of wages, at least none immediately involved; nor of hours, nor of individual rights. There is no fundamental human appeal from wrong. There is no clearly-defined assault upon the Trust a> a principle or an institution. The rallying-cries in this contest are those in which the average American never had interest, or if so, long since lost what he had. Few things are clearer than that the single issue of "organized labor," however loudly shout- ed, will never again rally enthusiasm, even so much as it has rallied, in this country. Organiza- tion of labor, as an abstraction, needs no de- fense. In the self-consciousness of the laboring class, and in its action for its own recognized interests, and in large measure for the interests of all of us, to a great degree lie the hope and progress of the future. But no intensity of public interest responds, or will respond, to the effort to compel the Steel Trust or any other corporation to enforce unionism upon its employes. And it is not true that the Steel Corporation is attempt- ing to overthrow the organization of labor in any THE COMMONS 11 large sense. It is highly probable as a matter of fact, that Mr. Morgan, Mr. Schwab and their confreres would much prefer to deal with a re- sponsible body representing their employes. They have indeed all but said so. But the trouble is that there is no such responsible body in exist- ence. And the one juncture in which that re- sponsibility might have appeared was the junc- ture which the organization selected as an oppor- tune time to declare that agreements with this corporation were void as- compared with their pledge to their organization. The margin of unemployment, vast and in- creasing, on the whole, is too great to make pos- sible an enforcement of any particular brand of unionism upon any large class of labor. The un- employed or casually employed laborer, holds the balance of power, and the battle against the "scab" by organized labor is the cutting of its own throat. The movement of labor in this coun- try, and in the world, must be a Movement of Labor, and not a self-interested agitation by the Amalgamated This or the Federation of That or the Brotherhood of the Other. These organiza- tions and their like have never been truly class organizations. Most of them have been more effective in behalf of the employer than of the men. They have kept Cerberus comparatively quiet with relatively insignificant sops while great issues slipped through from time to time between suspiciously greasy fingers. It will take some time, yet, and much suffering, too, to teach the workingmen of the world that their interests are one and the same, and the present issue to this writer at least, involves no opportunity to make clear the common cause of Man against Property. The final issue will demand well-laid plans, vast resources of loyalty and enthusiasm, and un- paralleled leadership. None of them appear in the present conflict. Here is one who, passion- ately sympathetic with the wrongs and the as- pirations of the laboring class, yet sees in this conjuncture no one of the characteristics which must be discoverable in the Great Struggle which yet shall come. It this strike "succeeds", why, well and good, though at best no point will have been gained worth what it will have cost. If it fails, it will have been a crime, A strike is civil war, and for civil war there must be for its justi- fication a clear issue of right and lasting principle, the right time, and reasonable assurance of vic- tory. To one sitting close by, with opportunities of hearing both sides and to some degree knowing the issues at first hand, all of these essentials seem to be lacking. Pittsburg. Pa., September 10. 1901. T5he Men of To-morrow. DR. FORBUSH'S CALL FOR BOY CONFERENCE. The fifth General Conference about Boys under the auspices of the General Alliance of Workers With Boys, known as "The Men of To-morrow," will be held in Boston, Oct. 29 and 30. The special theme will be "The Boy and the Home." Among the topics and speakers will be: The Street Boy and his Home, by Jacob A. Riis; the Working Boy and his home, by a Y. M. C. A. leader; the School Boy and his home by Principal Endicott Peabody ; The Kind of Home to Make the Right Sort of a Boy, by Prof. Francis G. Peabody of Harvard ; The Home as a Factor in Social Work, by S. W. Dike, LL. D. ; Child Saving Agencies and the Home by Hugh F Fox, President of the N. J. Board of Children's Guardians; The Pas- tor and Boys by Rev. >/. H. Culver, Boys' Pas- tor of the Jefferson Ave. Pres. Church, Detroit; The Neighborhood as a Center for Work with Boys by Ambrose Page of Haverhill, Mass. ; and topics dealing with the village life, the recreations, the reading, etc., of boys by speakers to be an- nounced later. Perhaps the most useful portion of the Conference will be the -free forum for question, answer and discussion on the rationale and method of work with boys. The moving spirit of the Conference is Dr. William Byron Forbush of Winthrop Church, Boston, president of the Alliance and author of "The Boy Problem," to whom should be addressed inquiries. The Conference is open to all. It is conducted on the self-entertaining plan. The sessions will be held in the Winthrop Church and the Bunker Hill Boys' Club Building in the Charlestown dis- trict, which are on adjoining streets and both very accessible from the hotels and railroads. All the Improvement Societies of Cook County are invited to hold an all day public conference in Fullerton Hall, Art Institute, Chicago, to dis- cuss civic improvements by private initiative in the morning and improvement by corporate action in the afternoon. In the evening Public School extension is to be considered and urged. Oct. 5. ENFORCE THE TENEMENT LAWS. Has every settlement in this city copies of the codified tenement legislation of Chicago? Are residents and sanitary inspectors informed and do they endeavor t.o enforce the provisions of the statutes regarding old dwellings, rear tenements, and new flat buildings? There is probably no more important service the settlements can ren- der humanity than in standing between ignorance and greed and the rights of the Home in the housing of this city's poor. 12 THE COMMONS. The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Settlement Point of View. GRAHAM TAYLOR, Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.& Morgan St., Chicago, 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. The comradeship betokened by President Mc- Kinley's "Good bye all, good bye," is as exalted as the faith expressed in his reverential recogni- tion, "It is God's way," and the uncomplaining, nnrevengeful courage of his soldierly obedience. "His will be done." What a pitiful parody on the term it is that the awful crime should have been committed by one who claims to be a "comrade !" The interesting and unique experiment in help to self help by a Chicago business man enthusi- astically reported in another column, has met with a surprising success, which however, time is yet to test. But even Time will have to reckon with the perseverance of a determined man who seems entirely willing to learn by experience and prof- it by his losses in his philanthropy as well as in his business. But in any event the significant fact in this and other enterprises of Social faith, is that such men are undertaking them. Beneath her religious title readers of The Commons will recognize Rose Hawthorn Lath- rop. It may be with surprise, or even shock, that some will discover Nathanial Hawthorn's daughter to be devoting herself to what may seem to be the menial service of the helpless- ly poor, and repellently afflicted under the garb of the Dominican Order. If so, can they fail to see, gleaning all through her words, the light of her father's own idealism, which transfigured not only the most common experi- ences of ordinary life, but also its most ostra- cized disabilities and defaults with the glory that excelleth. Her ministry to the "incurable poor" reminds one of the call to trie lepers which Francis, that Saint of Saints, who belongs to us all, ut- tered in behalf of his Brothers Minor: "We are come to live among you and be your ser- vants, and wash your sores, and make your lot less hard than it is. We only want to do as Christ bids us do. We are beggars, too, and we, too, have not where to lay our heads. Christ sent us to you! Yes, Christ crucified, whose we are and whose you are. Be not wroth with us. We will help you if we can." Surely those who do not go to such, should help send those who have gone never to re- turn from their service. Legal Responsibility of Trade Unions. The complaint made in the article on the steel- workers strike, which we publish in this number, that there is no responsible body representing the employes with which the Steel Company may deal, raises a crucial question regarding the whole labor movement. How may labor organizations be made legally, as well as morally, responsible for the acts of their officers and members? It is not the exception, but the rule we believe that the unions keep their formal agreements with their employers. Such a spirit is, of course, a better guarantee than any legal sanction and penalty. JJeverthe- less combinations of capital exact of each other forfeiture to bind their bargains and are begin- ning to extend the exaction to the organizations of labor with which they consent to deal. The recent Taffe-Vale decision of the House of Lords, holding labor unions legally responsible for the acts of their members and officers and making their funds liable to suit for damages is deeply agitating English Trades Unionism. Already suits for damages against the unions for losses entailed by "picketing" in time of strike, threaten their reserve funds. The British Labor Congress at Swansea, Wales, has just decided to test the legal definition of "picketing" and the extent to which it could be carried on without rendering the funds of the unions liable for damages. Without pre- suming upon the very imperfect knowledge of this decision yet obtainable in this country, or anticipating the full interpretation of it by a com- petent English authority which we expect soon to publish, we venture the opinion that some just and well-guarded legal responsibility must be ac- cepted by Trades Unionism, if it is to be a party to that collective bargaining, which is the primary reason and value of its existence. Is there Anv Competition with tKc Saloon as a Means of Socially 7 The Committee of Fifty for the Investigation of the Liquor Problem, is nearing the end of its long preliminary inquiry. During the eight years of its labors three of its four sub-commit- tees have reported the results of their patient, painstaking search for facts. First "The Liquor Problem in its Legislative Aspects," was pre-^ sented in 1897 by Frederick H. Wines and John Keren, two of the most experienced and able statisticians of the country, under the auspices THECOMMONS 13 of a committee headed by Presidents Eliot of Harvard and Seth Low of Columbia Universi- ties. Then John Koren, in 1899, finished his investi- gation of the "Economic Aspects of the Liquor Problem," and it was published with the author- ization of Carroll D. Wright, Prof. Henry W. Farnam, \v arden Z. R. Brockway of Elmira Re- formatory. Prof. John Graham Brooks, Dr. E. R. L. Gould and Prof. J. F. Jones. Now comes the third volume, which is of the most direct interest and value to those engaged in social service. It is to be followed soon by a fourth on the results of the chemical analyses and pathological researches of the sub-committee on Physiological aspects. On the bases of these four reports, setting forth "a body of verifiable truth," the sub-committee on Ethical aspects promises a fifth volume in which they will attempt to formulate some brief and general summary of the conclusions of the Committee of Fifty. This third volume of the series on "Substitutes for the Saloon," is issued under the direction of the last named sub-commit- tee, consisting of Francis G. Peabody, professor of Ethics at Harvard, Dr. Gould, formerly of Johns Hopkin's, now president of the City Homes Association, of New York, and Prof. William M. Sloane. The late Charles Dudley Warner served on its membership from the beginning, until his death deprived the general committee and this group of one of their wisest and most actively interested associates. No one man, or even as many men as com- posed the sub-committee, could have furnished the contents of this remarkable volume. For to it were contributed the personal observations of twenty-two investigators in sixteen of the prin- cipal American cities, while fifteen special con- tributions were added by men who had first-hand knowledge of the phases of the subject assigned them. Chicago Commons was gratified to be able to contribute Mr. Royal L. Melendy's report of his five months' investigation at Chicago, which was published in full in the American Journal of Sociology for November, 1900, and January, 1901, and was summarized in THE COMMONS for No- vember 1900. It is copiously quoted in the text and appendix of the volume. The very difficult work of superintending these widely scattered in T vestigations and of reducing their vast mass of data to readable form and practical inductions, has been extraordinarly well done by the Rev. Ray- mond Calkins, of Pittsfield, Mass., in the won- derfully brief compass of 300 pages. With the special contributions to the valuable appendices, this remarkably comprehensive yet de- tailed volume is of encyclopedic value upon the unique social data it presents. There is not only no source of information on the subjects which it covers that can compare with it, but there can be none, in the nature of the case, with- out an equal, if not greater outlay of expert toil and expense in gathering similar or additional facts. The liquor problem cannot be understood or stated, much less intelligently treated, by legis- lator, police, prohibitionist, moral suasion re- former, or personal worker for individuals, with- out squarely facing the facts and the substitu- tionary principles and methods exploited by this volume. It deserves to be numbered among the very few -volumes which may serve as hand-books for Social Settlement workers. To other lines of church, or social service, its use and suggestive- ness will be found to be most helpfully adapted. Even experts in such problems as the housing of the industrial classes, popular education, the amusements and recreations of the people, and the social unification of our cosmopolitan popula- tions, will find uniquely valuable discussions of such phases of these questions as are not present- ed elsewhere. These five volumes will rank high not only among the original sources for the study of de- scriptive sociology, but as practical hand-books of reformatory, .or, better still, formatory effort. Hotighton, Mifflin and Co. publish the series in the best form and at reasonable price. $1.30. T5he Elements Needed to Create a Social Center ''The absence of any time limit, some stimulus to self-expression, and a kind of personal feel- ing toward those into whose company one is thrown, which tempts one to put away reserve and enjoy their society. Where these three ele- ments coexist, however imperfectly, they create a social center, a situation, that is, in which the social instincts find their natural expression. Tne leisure problems equals in importance the labor problem, and surpasses it in difficulty. If the enormous profit from the drink traffic could be diverted into the legitimate work of establishing centers of recreation for the peo- ple, an immense progress would be made towards social reform. Men will not largely patronize a place where \he feeling prevails that some one is doing some- thing for them." RAYMOND CALKINS in Substi- tutes for the Saloon. Kindness a language which the dumb can speak, and the deaf can understand. Bovee. 14 THE COMMONS T5he Month at Chicago Commons NEIGHBORHOOD MEMORIAL SERVICE. The flag at half-mast, the mourning draperies and furled national colors, a large transparency and hand-bills scattered on the streets and in the houses, through the stores and the saloons were the invitations issued to the neighborhood to ral- ly at Chicago Commons to pay the last tribute of patriotic loyalty to the memory of President McKinley. No assembly which ever gathered un- der the new roof has been as representative of all elements of our population as that which ral- lied by common consent and filled our auditorium. All nationalities, sects, parties, classes and con- ditions of the people were represented in the silent, serious, united throng. Voices of many tongues joined as best they could in singing the Christian hymns which the lamented President loved. The warden convened the assembly by reading President Roosevelt's proclamation. The story of William McKinley's life was simply told by Dwight Goddard of Massachusetts, who ap- plied its lessons to the lives of all of us. Royal Loren Melendy of Colorado showed how the blow of the assassin was struck at the heart of the nation, chosen of God to establish democracy among men. Raymond Robins, recent- ly of Alaska, now of Chicago Commons, gave no- table expressed to the loyalty to law, for which the common people, here as everywhere, are noted The sympathy of foreign nations and the patriot- ism of the foreign elements of our country's citi- zenship was manfully voiced by Rev. James Mul- lenbach, new associate pastor of the Tabernacle. Words from the lips of the martyr presidents, Lin- coln, Garfield and McKinley were read by the chairman. All joined in "America," and each one went his own way a better American and more of a Christian. A LAST LIFT NEEDED. The long stress and strain under which our Chicago Commons finances have struggled, ever since the double demand for building equipment and maintenance has taxed its generous constit- uency, will continue to embarrass the settlement work until the building is paid for. We need $10,000 to enable us to enter the completed build- ing without encumbrance upon it. We shall make every effort to achieve this result before the close of the year. Meanwhile the problem of providing for the maintenance of the work during the last three months of every year is one of the hardest we ever meet. This year it is obviously doubly difficult. Will not our friends, who have already given to the support of the work this year, remember its final exigencies and help us meet it by additional gifts ? The force of workers is more efficient than we have ever had. The response of the surrounding community is greater than ever before. The promise of reality and use- fulness in the human service to be directly ren- dered the people about us and to influence reflexive- ly other workers, far and wide, is such as has never before greeted the opening season's work. If those who are co-operating with Chicago Com- mons by supplying its financial support could share the satisfaction of those of us who are giv- ing our lives, as well as our money, to it, they would believe with us that all it costs is well in- vested. The annual illustrated survey of the progress and prospects of Chicago Commons will be pre- sented in the December issue of The Commons. Friends will render valuable service, not only to this -settlement but to the cause which all settle- ments serve, by helping us circulate the Chicago Commons Number of this journal among those who may thus be enlisted or made more efficient in social service. They will confer a favor by sending us in advance orders for as many copies as they can gratuitously circulate to advantage. WINTER'S SCHEDULE TO OPEN IN THE COMPLETED BUILDING. Owing to the confusion incident to building operations and the consequent overcrowding of the finished wing, the complete winter's schedule of work cannot be put into operation until Nov. I, when the new Residence Wing will be ready for use. The Kindergartens, Training School, many clubs and other settlement functions how- ever open Oct. i. QUARTERS FOR OLD COMMONS KINDERGARTEN. We are so fortunate as to find just the quar- ters we need for continuing our kindergarten and other settlement work in the neighborhood of the Old Commons. Only a block away from the Union Street house, on the sunny side of the street, in the heart of the most densely crowd- ed, poorest population of the river districts of our ward, we have leased for a year a double store on the first floor of 73 and 75 Grand Ave. The build- ing is being thoroughly renovated, with new plas- ter, paint, plumbing and cement side-walk. The floor contains one large room about thirty-five feet square and two smaller rooms. The rental is $24 per month, which with the expense of light- ing, heating and care, and the cost of maintaining THE COMMONS 15 the Kindergartners and supplying their material, will bring the amount needed to support our work there up to about $125 per month. In this ven- ture of faith for our old neighborhood, we de- pend upon the support of the friends of the need- iest, and therefore re-open the work there Sep- tember 30. OUR MANUAL TRAINING EQUIPMENT ASSURED. An old friend of Chicago Commons responded to our appeal last month by authorizing us to equip our manual training department without waiting for further subscriptions. This assures the opening of this branch of our work when the completion of the building permits us to start all our winter's work on Nov. 18. While this generous assurance of the balance needed equips us with tools and benches, and fulfils the con- dition upon which the competent trainer offered his services and residence gratuitously, we need the contribution of between $25 and $50 per month toward material that the poorest pupils may not be able to pay for and also to provide some instruction in the arts for which the girls are best adapted. OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCH. The Tabernacle Church has had the privilege, the pleasure of which the residents of Chicago Commons have shared with its members, of the , ministry and fellowship of Rev. Dwight God- dard all summer. His brotherly spirit, earnest words and manly ways of real service among us have left their mark for good on each and all. To his eastern home and work he carries hearts' full of friendship and God-speed. His work in the Associate pastorate has already been taken up by Rev. James Mullenbach, who has just re- turned from two years of study in the University of Berlin, Germany, on the fellowship awarded him at his graduation from the Chicago Theolog- ical Seminary. Of his cordial welcome by the people of the church and the residents of the settlement he has already received abundant as- surance. Professor E. T. Harper, of the Semi- nary has been elected Superintendent of the Tab- ernacle Sunday-school and assumed its leadership upon his return from his summer's study abroad. GREETINGS TO THE OPENING SCHOOL YEAR. Chicago Commons greets with heartfelt joy and the right hand of goodliest fellowship, the teachers of the Montifiori and Washington Schools as they return, with their troops of neigh- borhood children to brighten and better the life of our ward. We look upon them as our associ- ates in the service of the people and extend to them whatever privilege or use our new building may afford them. To the new president, the professors and the students of the Chicago Theological Seminary we extend our greetings as they come back to their halls of learning and to the fraternal fellowship and service which they have ever extended both to the Tabernacle Church and Chicago Commons. To this and all the other professional schools and universities the settlement extends all its courtesies and whatever advantages it has to offer. The Chicago Veterans of the War with Spain are making their headquarters at the Auditorium of Chicago Commons. The gladdest happening of the past month at the Commons was the opening of the playground. Into the little yard provided with swings, teeter boards, horizontal bar, quoit and bean bag games, the little ones have gathered, some days two hun- dred strong. Their joyous shouts and happy faces repay with interest compounded for the cost and labor of its preparation and superintendence. To make glad the life of little children surely this is a commerce that makes all parties to it rich. Mrs. Simkhovitch on City Noises To the Editor of the Chicago Commons, Dear Sir: Since you have been so kind as to open the columns of your paper to any stray Settlement contributor, I should like very much to write just a few words in regard to the noise of our great cities. I live on the corner of Second Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, one of the noisiest places, I suppose, in the world. At all events, I have never been in a noisier place, except at a recent visit to a girls' college dining hall. Two lines of elevated roads cross at right angles, and three lines of trolley cars meet at the corner. Thirty-fourth Street, is moreover a general thoroughfare for all the Long Island railroad traffic, as well as the highway for all the Island market produce that lumbers in at early morning hours. A big milk concern is situated opposite the House with ad- joining stables, and if the market garden teams should cease for a moment, the milk carts allow of no pause in the procession. A piano factory directly behind the house keeps up an untuneful wail in the morning hours, an excellent alarm clock to wake up any stray sleepy residents. In winter we can sacrifice hygiene, and shut the windows and get what one of the minor poets calls a "hissing silence" but in the summer time, 16 THE COMMONS we open the windows, shout, and grow deaf. The worst of it is that although we fancy we live at an especially noisy corner, there are many other places in New York quite as noisy if not more so. The fact is, big cities get noisier and noisier all the time. Some of us think we don't mind it, but does it seem irrational to believe that shouting to kinder- garten children doesn't fit in with the rest of the kindergarten theory and practice? If the thing we regret most among tenement house children is the increasing nervousness oc- casioned by the complex conditions of tenement house life, is not noise a very considerable fac- tor? What I want to ask is why should we not all unite and see if there are not some practical steps that can be taken to mitigate to some ex- tent at least the horrors of city noises. Would it not be a good idea if in each great city where there are Settlements in Chicago, in New York, in Boston, in San Francisco some one Settlement should make it one of its duties this winter to investigate the matter thoroughly? The Boards of Health have as a general thing large discretionary powers to abate public nuisances and there are special city ordinances that cover special nuisances such as the carriage of heavy steel girders on the public highways, etc. The cries of hucksters, proper pavements, regulations in regard to steam whistles, rubber tires, oiling of tracks all these suggest that it would really be a useful thing to bring together all the information there is about city noises and their remedies. We shall be glad at our House to investigate the question for New York this coming season. Perhaps Chicago, Boston and San Francisco are so quiet they^ don't need to be worried about! Yours sincerely, Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch. Friendly Aid Settlement, 248 East Thirty-fourth St., New York City. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for 'Ghe Handbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FR.OEBEL, Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA HOFER HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave., Chicago. LAWN SWINGS MAY POLES W. S. TOTHILL Manufacturer Play Ground, Park, Gymnasium and Athletic Field Equipments. Write for anything you want. I2o-i2s West Webster Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. Orders for New Edition of FORBUSH'S BOY PROBLEM will be filled on receipt of the boks early in September AT 75 CENTS PER COPY Order of "THE COMMONS." Grand Ave. and Morgan Street, Chicago. Mr. Lex. By Catherine WaugK McCulloch. Of the Chicago Bar. The legal status of mother and child stated in story form, with full citations of statutes and decisions. Published by Fleming H. Revell Co. The American Journal of Sociology says of it: "The book is well written and will un doubtedly find many readers who do not otherwise care for legal literature." Price cloth 35C. Address the author,. Room 1104, 135 A'dams St., Chicago. Biblical Sociology. By Graham Tsxylor. A syllabus of lectures on the social teachings of the Bible. Printed for use in the class-room. A limited number can be obtained for soc of THE COMMONS. t3he Church in Socia.1 Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. "She New Fourth Edition f College, Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point of view, It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.* Morgan St.. Chicago, 111., and rs entered at the Chicago Postoffice as mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. TKe Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2.50 francs, French foreign stamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for 5*2.50. Send check, draft, P. O. money order, cash or stamps, not above 5-cent denomination., at our risk. Advertisements in tKe Commons During 1901. One Page, $25.00: Half Page, $15.00; Quarter Page. ?S.OO; One Inch, S2.00. For each insertion. Special Rates for Special Numbers of the Commons Any number under twenty-five copies, five cents each; over twenty-five and under one hundred, three cents each; over one hundred, two and one-half cents each. CKa^nges of Address. Please notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify u's at once if for any reason you desire your subscription discontinued. Inaccord- ance with custom, and the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers, we continue THE COMMONS to each address until notified to the contrary. UHlVtKSlllf ,1 ll-l " TKe Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 64 Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago. November 1901. God's Requirement. We live by faith, but faith is not the slave Of text and legend. Reason's voice and God's, Nature's and duty's, never are at odds. What asks our Father of His children save Justice and mercy and humility, A reasonable service of good deeds, Pure living, tenderness to human needs, Reverence and trust and prayer for light to see The Master's footprints in our daily ways? No knotted scourge or sacrificial knife, But the calm beauty of an ordered life, Whose very breathing is unworded praise, A life that stands, as all true lives have, stood, Firm rooted in the faith that God is good. John G. Whittier. Civic Betterment in, Chicago. ALL-DAY CONFERENCE OF COUNTY IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES. The awakening social conscience of this city has never before spoken with each comprehensive in- telligence as marked the many important papers and addresses delivered at the Fullerton Hall con- ference of the Improvement Societies of Cook County. Saturday. October $lh will long be re- membered as a red letter day in the forward movement toward a better educated, better gov- erned and more beautiful Chicago. The morning session devoted to civic im- provement through private local initiative was rich in testimony for the past help- fulness and future promise of this field as a primary cause of intelligent social ac- tion. The service rendered Chicago by the pa- '.r-iotic action of such organizations as the Mer- chants' club, the Civic Federation and the Muni- cipal Voters League, was ably discussed by Presi- dent La Verne W. Noyes. After urging speciali- zation and federation among the many societies and clubs engaged in civic betterment Mr. Noyes said, "The Merchants Club of Chicago has given us our system of bookkeeping, the Civic Federa- tion a civil service system and the Municipal . Voters League an honest majority in the city council. Every social club should take up some phase of civic improvement and would be better and stronger for accomplishing some such task. Political clubs should realize that the greatest service they can render their party is to advocate the most needed public improvement." SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS. That most unique and vital of the many forms of private initiative manifested by the Social movement throughout the world the Social Set- tlement was represented by Prof. Graham Tay- lor of Chicago Commons. Setting forth the three chief functions of the settlement as, first a social centre for the unification of neighborhood life, secondly as a laboratory for the study and ana- lysis of social and industrial problems and thirdly as a common meeting place for mutual interpre- tation between men of widely differing ideals eco- nomic conditions and standards of living, he con- tinued : "Improvement societies and social settlements are born of the same spirit. Both are indicative of an awakening social and civic conscience. These two lines of effort may cordially and help- fully co-operate. Districts that should be fore- most in the representation of these improvement societies need initiative given them in order to see the opportunity and seize the chance of self- betterment. It is not in any lack of confidence in the spirit of the people that we say private in- itiative must be given to secure public improve- ments. There is need in this country for that by which England has profited so much an in- telligent and patriotic leisure class devoted to pub- lic progress and social unification people that have time to think consecutively, time t6 act in- telligently not so much for others as with others, and will operate as the something to bind together upon more or less common ground, those that otherwise would not be likely to meet, mingle and co-operate. There is also pressing need for origi- nal investigation and some scientific tabulation of the great body of facts, the product of our mod- ern industrial life that are new forces in Sociology. In all these social centers there are persons of more or less trained capacity for observation and co-operation in lines of civic improvement. In London, Boston, New York and Chicago, investi- gations of specific social problems have been care- fully and intelligently made and data of the high- est scientific and practical value has been collected and tabulated. Wood's "The City Wilderness," "Hull House Maps and Papers," Melendy's "Sub- stitutes for the Saloon" and many tenement house, THE COMMONS sweatshop and sanitation reports afford original sources of information upon questions of immedi- ate civic concern. These little groups that can com- mand more time than those engaged in, the com- petitive world should be responsible for practical literature upon such subjects. As they gain in resources these centers will surely supply these investigators and literature. We cordially invite our friends of the improvement associations to make all the use they can of the plants or the per- sonnel of these centers called social settlements. We will supply literature, invite correspondence give information regarding books or public docu- ments or other sources of information or inspira- tion. We also pledge that we will make all these centers in congested districts just so far as we can, self-improvement associations of the people surrounding us, who work with us, and with whom it is our high and happy privilege to work. It seems as though this was the birth of a new era in Chicago. I congratulate the National League of Improvement Associations upon the fine initiative they have taken and I bespeak for them a hearty co-operation in their broad work throughout the country. There could be lio bet- ter national leader for this movement than our . own Prof. Zeublin." THE CITY BEAUTIFUL. Speaking 1 to the topic of "Municipal Art," Mr. Dwight Perkins said "It is a common mistake to think that art is something we can take off or put on as one's coat. Let us understand positively and definitely that art is the manner in which we do the things that we must do. We should culti- vate the sense of including in our judgments and exacting in all work the' artistic element. Princi- ples apply to communities exactly the .same as to individuals. As a community in the furtherance of our community needs it depends upon us wheth- er .there Will exist or will not exist the artistic element. The first work in order to bring alxjut some realization of our dreams is the work of the iconoclast. The smoke nuisance is the first move. Until smoke is done away with nothing can be beautiful. Then we come to the evils of our political system. The evils of city govern- ment are our evils. A greater necessity than for private initiative demands that we go into city politics. We cannot bring an artistic city out of this mudhole until we educate even aldermen to some sense of decency and beauty. Art is funda- mental, ethical, and if anywhere must be every- where. We must work through political channels. Now let us take the positive side. What shall we do to make Chicago beautiful. First must come a knowledge of conditions. Nothing would be more interesting than to take the people in this room around Chicago. Doubtless not more than three persons here have been in every ward of this city. When we know our city as k stands then let us get an idea of the situation of Chi- cago in its worldwide relations. First Chicago's position in regard to nature's supply of beauty. Next the industries that cause us to live here. Chicago is fast becoming* the largest iron and steel centre in the world. It is known to Euro- pean investors that as a distributing centre we have but begun. Having an adequate knowledge of our city as it is and an appreciation of its rea- sonable future the next step is a plan. No in- telligent and consecutive effort can be made with- out carefully prearranged, thoroughly studied con- stantly revised plan. No artistic elevation can come out of a poorly arranged plan. This plan should consider greater Chicago and a complete dock system for Chicago harbor. South Chicago should take from our Chicago river the heavy freighting. This plan would change the river wards, include lighter and permanent bridges and make of this neglected district the most beau- tiful part of our city. Intramural transportation must finally be underground. The top of the streets must be eventually clear for pedestrians and driving. Recreation parks, baths and public buildings should be provided for in a compre- hensive and related scheme. The cities of Wash- ington and Paris present the models for this plan." Mr. Perkins concluded with a sympathetic re- view of the work done by private efforts in se- curing small parks and playgrounds in the con- gested districts of Chicago. ORGANIZED CHARITY Superintendent Ernest P. Bickn'ell of the Chi- cago Bureau of Charities said: "There should be specialization on one hand and co-operation on the other. Eight years ago the Bureau of Charities was organized. Its processes are to assist in es- tablishing organized effort to take the place of disorganized efforts, and to give each charitable society a clear field in its district and a chance to do that thing it can do Ix-st. There are in Chi- cago some five hundred or more organized agen- cies that work in friendly relations with each other through this common centre known as the Bureau of Charities. The Bureau serves as a sort of general agency or instrument in getting the sense of charitable opinion in the city and it gath- ers together and concentrates public sentiment. When this general Bureau was established it was found that there were many bare spots and much overlapping. This has practically ceased through the general oversight of a central related agency. By concentrating 1 in the hands of the Bureau, the outing work this summer was done in a much SUPPLEMENT The Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of and Labor from the Settlement Point of View Number 64 Vol. VI. Annual Meeting of Chicago Federation. Around the great cheery fire-place in the But- ler Building at Hull House, sixty or more resi- dents, representing all but two of Chicago's twelve settlements, gathered for the annual meeting of their Federation Oct. 2. The chairmanship went to Miss Nicholes, of Neighborhood. House; the secretaryship to Miss Clawson of Chicago Com- mons, and treasureship to Mr. Price of Gad's Hill Settlement. The feature of the delightful evening was the share which Miss Mary Mc- Dowell gave her fellow-residents in the impres- sions she received during her summer abroad of social movements in England and France. With Toynbee Hall she was impressed "as a bit of the University" in the Whitechapel wilder- ness. Its "Guild of Compassion," through which students lend a helping hand to young children and the aged, together with the fine art exhibit Toynbee Hall offers to the overwhelming pat- ronage of the neighborhood, were the most marked features of the work in this mother settlement. Passmore Edwards House seemed "so attrac- tive that one would never have dreamed it could be a settlement." Mrs. Humphrey Ward talked only of its school for crippled children, so deeply was she interested in it. The Woman's University Settlement has be- come a great training school for charity work- ers. The Church settlements, headed by the Church of England work at Oxford House and well seconded by the Wesleyan settle- ment made an effective showing of progress in practically helpful work. Mansfield House seemed to be nearest the people, among whose little houses and shops its buildings are scattered. There was a 'very deep depression among so- cial workers over the South African war expe- riences, which have lowered the tone and lessened the interest in all the higher and better move- ments. In. Hyde Park there was free speech on every subject, except the Boer war. Yet Canon Barnett at Toynbee and Percy Alden at Mans- field, by voice and pen, are braving the tyranny of public sentiment in their advocacy of peace. At the Universite Populaire in Paris she found a group of working men listening to a paper on "Machiavelli." Sixth Yetxr Chicago. November 1901. In Glasgow, Miss McDowell was one of a party of guests who were officially conducted through the municipal tenements and then hand- somely entertained at a "municipal luncheon." More Scotchmen than Englishmen abstained from drinking liquor on this occasion. Thirty-four of a group of seventy-six Scotch politicians were said to be total abstainers. The attitude of settlements toward radicalism was briefly discussed by the Federation and was chosen as the subject of the next meeting. Conference on Rural Conditions. The growing social consciousness, in which the hope of the world lies, is illustrated by the in- creasing emphasis upon the first hand knowledge of rural conditions. In connection with the beautiful custom of rallying the former and pres- ent residents of the town of Morris, Connecticut, for the observance of "Old Home Week," an informal conference on Rural Conditions was held there last August. Its purpose was to consider the industrial, educational and religious aspects of rural conditions, to prosecute the comparative, thorough study of them and to focus more effec- tive co-operation for their betterment. Among the subjects upon which opinions were sought, were these: Can industrial conditions in the country be improved and if so how? How may rural industry be more intelligently directed? How secure better facilities of communication and transporation and how will this help to solve the problem? Are taxes heavier in the country than the city? How may the inertia of, rural life be overcome? What changes are needed in our educational system? Is the concentration of the religious life of many country towns into fewer churches desirable and how can it be secured? The opportunity of the country minifter. How may efficient men be secured and retained in country churches? The interdependence and in- terpenetration of city and country. Is there a disposition on the part of the city church to ignore the country church, and what facts in your ob- servation show this? We hope to have a report of the best sugges- tions offered in answer to these inquires by the convener of the conference in an early number of THE COMMONS. THE COMMONS The .Month at Chirn^o Common*. If "culture" imagines it has the monopoly of ca- pacity for appreciating the beautiful in art, the illusion might have been graciously dispelled by even a casual glimpse at a quiet scene in the Art Institute the other afternoon. In the galleries might have been seen a group of thirty-five mem- bers of the Chicago Commons Woman's Club, eagerly following one of the city's best interpre- ters of art, as she gave verbal expression to the ideals of beauty which awaited interpretation not more truly in the artists' pictures than in the wo/nens's capacity to appreciate them. PATRIOTIC RALLIES. Camp McKinley is rallying to our auditorium not only the Spanish War Veterans of the city, but many other men every week. A patriotism, not less enthusiastic for being more intelligent, is being promoted by their public meetings, at which the social, civic and industrial aspects of American politics, as well as the world-view of our country's relationships, are being discussed by capable speakers. FOR Civic IMPROVEMENT. The Men's Community Club opened its sea- son's work by inviting the neighborhood and many other guests to share the suggestion and en- couragement given by the finely illustrated stere- opticon lecture on "Civic and Industrial Better- ment," furnished by the League for Social Serv- ice in the highly capable service of Mr. William Howe Tolman, its national lecturer. OUR FREE-SPEECH POLICY. The Free Floor Economic Discussions begin their seventh winter's session Nov. nth. The only restriction upon the liberty of speed which has been held in reserve all these years and never yet has had to be enforced is the advocacy of violence and the defense of assassination. Only twice in six years has the chairman been obliged to ap- peal to the house against even the interruption of speakers, which was instantly suppressed by the unanimous support given to the maintenance of parliamentary order. Never have these discussions been interrupted by any one under the influence of liquor, although admission has been absolutely unrestricted, and a more or less shifting crowd of men has always been in attendance. While re- cent events -have presented no reason for changing our free speech policy, yet they have impressed upon even the more radical participants a marked- ly increased sense of responsibility for a construc- tive and educational use of the great opportunity afforded by this unique occasion. A GREAT ACCESION TO OUR WORKING FORCE. Our neighborhood Tabernacle Church is happy in its entirely unanimous choice of Rev. James Mullenbnch as its associate pastor. His hearty acceptance of hi> inspiring opportunity for per- manent and growing usefulness is the very best fortune not only for the encouraging church work, but for the continuance of the reciprocally advantageous relationships between the organic- ally independent efforts of the settlment and the church. The ordination service on Nov. nth will be made the occasion for as wide a fellowship and as deep an inspiration as possible. "AND LEND A HAND.'' Wo have just begun our last effort to meet the final obligations incurred in completing and equipping our nearly finished building and in car- rying our greatly increased work through these hardest three months, closing our fiscal year. 1 We residents, who are not only giving our time and home life to the work, but are freely risking all our financial resources in its support through this supreme crisis, feel warranted in personally ap- pealing to every friend ot Chicago Commons to join us in making the sacrifices necessary to carry this enterprise of common faith through to the as- sured permanency and success, which now at last are at hand. Any one who can give anything to the support of the work or any special feature of it, to the building fund or the final payment upon any spe- cific part of the plant and equipment will help most by acting quickly. Since the tenure of the property prevents mortgaging either the ground or the building, friendly loans are our last de- pendence in case at least $10,000 cannot be secured by subscription within the next two months, and So.ooo more by April 1st. In the event of this necessity there may be friends who are willing to lend collateral on which loans can be negotiated, a risk which residents have taken over and over again, so far without loss. The somewhat unex- pected embarrassment, caused by not being able to mortgage the property, is more than offset by the guarantee it gives for the perpetuity and solv- ency of the work of Chicago Commons. SPECIAL FEATURES of the NEXT NUMBER "THE ISOLATION OF OUR PUBLIC CHARITIES." , BY Miss JULIA C. LATHROP. Miss Lathrop, for many years the most active member of the Illinois State Board of Charities, and a resident of Hull House, furnishes a most illuminating article on a subject of fundamental importance to public and personal interests, which hu~ received all too little attention. The Boston Conference on the Boy Problem, fully and critically reported by representatives both of the Conference and Chicago Commons. The new department, edited by Mrs. Caroline Williamson Montgomery for the College Settle- ment Association. THE COMMONS better and less expensive way and upon a greatly larger scale. With the co-operation of many agencies nine thousand mothers and children were given outings this season." LOCAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS. Mrs. Gertrude Blackwelder spoke of the his- tory of the movement and told of the first Im- provement Society organized at Stockbridge. Mass.. fifty years ago. Over five hundred societies are now registered with the National League. The story of the work done by the Morgan Park So- ciety was typical of this field of endeavor. First a pretty park was made of the grounds about the railway station, next the streets were cleaned and sidewalks improved, and even the hideous posters were replaced by three public bulletin boards in the most frequented parts of the town. A Mor- gan Park Day has been established as the an- nual muster of the forces of civic progress in that community. PUBLICITY. The afternoon session devoted to "Improve- ment through Citizenship" was marked by several notable addresses. Mr. Wiliam Kent of the Muni- cipal Voters League described the uses and power of "publicity" in removing social evils and purify- ing municipal administration. He contended that the chief source of the corrupt politician's power lay in the ignorance of the facts of venality, on the part of rile mass of the people and their conse- quent seeming indifference to social and political wrongs. The keynote of this able paper was "turn on the light." TAXATION. The problem of taxation is the common root to which an analysis of all municipal wrongs and remedies inevitably leads. This is the source of our civic anoemia. Insufficent school accommo- dations, lack of parks, playgrounds, and baths, filthy streets and alleys festering with garbage and disease, have a common excuse in the chro- nic depletion of the city treasury. This is not because we are poor. Chicago is a city of vast wealth. Neither is it because we have no remedy under the law. Shortsighted and unscientific as is our revenue system it would if enforced, give ample funds for the present needs of our city. The simple fact is that dishonest corporations, in- dividuals and public servants perjure themselves annually and corrupt with one hand the heart of our civic life, and with the other rob little chil- dren of their birthright. Margaret Haley of the Teachers Federation that most aggressive and effective enemy of the tax thieves yet developed said in part "For twenty-eight years there has been no enforcement of the law taxing the fran- chises of public service corporations. Two hun- dred millions of dollars have been lost to the city treasury within that period from this neg- lect alone. Five corporations holding franchises granted by the city of Chicago annually steal three million dollars from die public schools. Until the tax laws are enforced we will have corrupt pub- lic servants and we will not have parks, play- grounds or baths. The co-operation and organ- ized attack by all the Improvement Societies of Chicago upon this central abuse, would stamp it out. educate our children, and change the face of our city." WlNNETKA TOWN MEETING. The return by the citizens of Winnetka to the old custom of New England towns in the matter of public meetings of all citizens in the interest of public affairs was interestingly told by Mr. Frederick Greeley. In 1890 Henry D. Lloyd and Rev. Q. L. Dowel began this movement. Schools, parks, and all matters of public concern are dis- cussed by all the people and a civic conscience has been developed fruitful in good works. The town meeting is now an established and powerful feature of Winnetka's social and political life. PUBLIC BATHS AND GYMNASIUMS. Miss Mary McDowell of the University of Chi- cago settlement whose untiring' zeal in the cause of vacation schools, playgrounds and free baths has won for her the respect of indifferent alder- men, the esteem of all patriotic citizens and the love of hundreds of little children, said in part : "At the small public bath in our neighborhood with only twelve showers for a population of thirty thousand, fourteen thousand baths were taken in the month of July. There are no bath rooms in houses in our com- munity. Swimming pools are educational and social and mean something more than just a chance to keep clean. There are two in- stincts given to all of us. The instinct of associ- ation and the instinct of play. Within walk- ing distance of the settlement .there are twelve lx>ys clubs. The influence of some of these clubs is demoralizing because of their location and sur- roundings. We need local centers, and there should be a People's Palace in every neighbor- hood." PUBLIC SCHOOL EXTENSION. The evening session devoted to consideration of ways and means for social and civic service through the public schools, was the most largely attended meeting' of this inspiring conference. Superintendent Orvillc T. Bright speaking upon the question of free text books said "An order was given this year by our Board for the pur- chase of $40,000. worth of books for the supply of the first four grades in the public schools. XL, THE COMMONS one ever gave this subject much thought who did not come to believe in free text books. There was a time when I thought I was ppposed to the city furnishing books free. But that was before I had studied this question. I was then an ig- norant opponent. I am now an intelligent advo- cate for free text books. What is the sense of furnishing the schools with the apparatus maps, reference books, supplementary books and equip- ment of all kinds and their draw the line at the text books? Our schools cost- aK^ni- piirht million dollars a year or forty thousand dollars a day. The delay in getting books always means a loss of from one to three days at the beginning of each term. The text books only cost about forty thousand dollars. The conclusion is obvious. If free school are good, free text books are simply common sense and business principles in their administration. Chicago is the only first class city in 'the United States to-day that has not free text books." ART IN THE SCHOOL. Miss Ellen Gates- Starr of Hull House spoke of that work in which she was a pioneer for many years the bringing in and bringing out of the artistic element in the public schools. The sense and power of beauty in color and form to shape ideals and habits of thought for these she plead- ed with the deep persuasion of an abiding faith. SCHOOLS AS NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS. Miss Jane Addams spoke briefly for a larger use of the public schools for clubs, lectures and neigh- borhood entertainments. "These wider functions should not mean more work for the school teach- ers. There would be a large body of volunteer workers to help supply every district. The public school is the typical democratic institution and it should be made the center of our collective life." PROGRESS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL EXTENSION. Prof. Zeublin, President of the National League of Improvement Associations provided a fitting and inspiring close to the proceedings of this re- markable conference. His illustrated lecture upon Public School Extension throughout the United States, with striking pictures of model kindergar- tens, manual training and cooking schools, lec- ture halls and playgrounds, carried us into the van of the world's progress and crystalized into definite aims the growing purpose of the day. "Co-operation can go on in America, Great Britain and on the continent only by the help of men of means, culture, and good will." "What co-operation needs here, as elsewhere, is not philanthropy, but leadership; not en- dowment, but initiative." Friedrich Naumann. LEADER OF THE NATIONAL SOCIAL UNION OF GER- MANY. BY PROF. CASPAR RENE GREGORY. South of Leipzig, on the rolling ground rising from the North German plain towards the Ore Mountains of Saxony, is a little village Storm- thai, that lies quite at one side from the great roads and is never seen by the passing traveler. In this village Friedrich Naumann was born as the son of the pastor. His maternal grandfather was the famous Leipzig preacher Ahlfeld, the cen- tre of a large and intelligent circle of Christians, some twenty-five years ago. Naumann went to the old Fuerstenschule at Grimma; it will be remem- bered that Saxony counted three such schools, at Meissen, Grimma, and Pforta, of which Pforta now belongs to the Prussian province Saxony. These schools with a large number of boys, many of them picked fellows, are celebrated for the wonderfully good training which they give. No less are they celebrated for the friendships that arise between the boys within their walls and for the results of these friendships in the after lives of the men. Naumann here became warmly attached to Paul Gcehre and Martin Wenck, and many an impulse started there that continued its influence in after years. At the university of Leipzig Naumann devel- oped more clearly his unusual powers. He fell in With the great current that started the "Union of German Students" (Verein Deutscher Stu- denten) and he became one of the leading spirits in it. This drew him out beyond the university of his home and attached him to the Prussian preacher Adolf Stcecker by ties of friendship and of devotion to the patriotic movement. In the first years this movement was unfortunately large- ly anti-semitic in its aim. As Stacker went on with his great plans and descended to the working classes to lift, and to help them socially, the young pastor Friedrich Naumann, now in the hills of Saxony, in the first district that the Social Democrats had secured for their party for the Imperial Parliament, entered into his ideas with youthful fire. One of the results of Stcecker's efforts was the Evangelical Social Congress, begun at Berlin in the year 1890. Naumann was asked to read an essay at the first meeting but he suggested a postponement. His friend Goehre became the first General Secretary of the Congress. Nearly at the same time the Evangelical Work- men's Unions were started, of course under the active participation of Stoecker, Naumann, Goehre, and Wenck. In the sequence, year after year, the Evangelical Social Congress and the Evangelical THE COMMONS Workmen's Unions met usually at Easter in Ber- lin or in some other large city, and year after year Stacker and Naumann, backed up by Gcehre and Wenck, drew great crowds of enthusiastic hearers. Naumann became the pastor of the Un- ion for Inner Mission at Frankfurt on the Main, Wenck the pastor of the same Union atDarmstadt, and Goehre pastor at Frankfurt on the Oder. Stcecker started a political party, the Christian Social Party, and in consequence was asked to lay down the presidency of the Evangelical Social Congress, which after some hesitation he did, but he at the same time left the Congress. Naumann on the contrary stayed in the congress. Naumann had gathered a group of friends and helpers about him by means of a small weekly paper called "The Help" (Die Hilfe.) His own contributions to this paper centered in a weekly short sermon and these sermons attained such renown that they were year by year printed afresh in a separate volume. To the Naumann Group, as we may now call the friends gathering around him, the action of Stcecker did not seem to come so far down to the needs of the workmen as was to be wished. Stcecker allowed his feelings as a former member of the Conservative Party to influence him to such an extent as to prevent his entering into the very core of the workmen's difficulties. Naumann, Goehre, and Wenck thought that the only way to get hold of the workmen and to help the workmen, was to go straight into the discussion of their condition from their side and with them as helpers. The Friends of "The Help," those who read and agreed with Naumann's paper had long since begun to hold meetings in various towns, and they now spread more and more and made it a point to confer with him. It was thought best to or- ganize the groups and to combine them. After a meeting or two of a more intimate kind at Erfurt, in which men from different parts of Ger- many talked over the whole situation, it was de- termined to summon a number of delegates to a general meeting at that city. It seems to me that the first meeting was in 1896. This meeting dis- cussed at length the question of the union of re- ligion with politics. Professor Sohm pleading for the union, others, like the undersigned, against it, and finally it was agreed that religion was not to be made a part of the new party programme. An- other subject of discussion was whether the move- ment should remain a Union or try at once to be a political party. It was decide'd to remain a Union, and the undersigned's suggestion, to call it the "National Social Union," was agreed to. The elections for the Imperial Parliament in the year 1898 found the young Union really still too weak for a decisive political action, since there was neither enough money at, command nor were public speakers for election purposes to be had to the extent that was necessary. However, it was determined to try in several districts to gain some experience in election technics and to see how far the general public might be relied upon for sym- pathy. The result of the election in eleven dis- tricts was so far encouraging as to count up twenty-seven thousand votes. But no candidate was elected. Humanly speaking it seemed as if Naumann would have been elected in one dis- trict, had not the National-Liberals of that dis- trict, Jena, spread false reports about him in a per- fiidious manner on the eve of the election, a trick that in Germany is considered very low. The National Social Union sustained for a short time a daily paper at Berlin called "The Time" (Die Zeit. ) It is remarkable what a high reputation this journal secured for itself within the brief space of its existence. One thing it made a regular business of, and that was always to print as fully as possible the attacks made up- on it by its enemies. But aside from that the little sheet was recognized on all sides as an un- usual contribution to pure journalism. The ques- tion of its resuscitation has again and again been mooted but thus far the financial difficulties have seemed to be insurmountable. Perhaps a maga- zine may this fall be started that will help further the aims of the Union. The greatest loss that the Union sustained was early in the year 1899 when Gcehre decided to go over to the Social Democratic party. His friends feel sure that this step was a mistaken one and that it was due to misconceptions and misappre- hensions, the consequences of a severe nervous prostration of that year, during which he had com- pletely forgotten what he had done during the election of the year 1898. He had then accepted two candidacies and had stumped for them till his throat gave out, whereas he declared in the year 1899 that he had accepted no candidacy in 1898 because he was out of sympathy with the other leaders of the movement. It is a question whether he and the Social Democrats will long continue to agree to disagree with each other under the flag of the one party. The Union had from the first the invaluable services of Martin Wenck as its Secretary. Now it has been possible to find a younger man for that place, and Wenck takes up the editorship of one of the journals of the party at Marburg. In this position he will be able to place more freely at the service of the Union his unusual powers as an ora'.or and especially as a dialectic orator. The young man who succeeds to Wenck as Sec- 6 THE COMMONS retary is Dr. Max Maurenbrecher, one of the most talented writers and orators of his ag : e. He has passed through an apprenticeship in the edi- torship of the "Hilfe" under Naumann, and it is now intended so to reorganize the Secretaryship, that the more mechanical work shall be given to an assistant, the higher, organizing work falls to Maurenbrecher. The purpose is to make him like a General- Adjutant to Naumann. What the action of the fall meeting of the delegates at Frankfurt on the Main may be, I cannot at this distance learn till later. Beginning with Naumann's person we have passed to a view of his work as a social reformer. Let us return to him. He is a tall man, extremely stout, with a persuasive and farreaching voice. One of the opposing journals, a Hamburg organ of the imperial government, said a short time ago that he was the most talented political speak- er of the day. It was right. Naumann speaks as if he had each of his hearers by the button and his quiet sentences enter their ears with unusual force. He has not been satisfied to ac( as an agitator, to speak and not to learn. He has entered upon studies in political eco- nomy and in social science. He has visited for- eign cities, for example Vienna and Paris, for the purposes of studying social problems there. He journeyed to the Holy Land and wrote a fas- cinating book on "Asia" about his travels, every- where trying to delve into the reason for the so- cial phenomena ; in a parenthesis we may add that the illustrations in that book are largely from his pencil. One of the most valuable contributions from his pen is his took "Democracy and Imperialism," the most masterly political treatise of the day. This book brings us to his main point in all his work. He insists upon it, that Imperialism and Democracy can unite, that the German emperor might find in the German workman a firm ally, and the German workman find in the emperor a fast friend. Naumann yields in care for the workman to no man of any party and he insists upon it in contradiction to the Social Democratic party, that the betterment of the workman is to be sought at once, under the present conditions, under the present government. The Social Demo- crats concede that they are not prepared at this moment to assume the reins of government, even supposing that the nation should place these reins in their hands. Nevertheless they refuse to unite with other parties and with the present govern- ment in measures for alleviating social distress. They delay their participation in such measures until that uncertain future in which they shall attain unto power. Naumann declares this un- practical and false. A politician is a man of his day. He must think of the moment as well as of the future. We have no part in the discussions at the end of the twentieth century. We have to look out for our day. Therefore Naumann calls upon the workmen to follow him, to give up the thought of warring upon the government and to join with the government in social measures which shall take effect at once and be the earnest of further relief in the future. On the other hand Naumann knows well that the educated part of the community must be en- listed to join with the workman and help them get their dues. In many of the universities of Germany important men are openly or in a quiet way showing that they agree with Naumann or at least sympathize with him in his main views. A number of Naumann's writings have aimed es- pecially to enlighten the educated and to draw them to his side in the contest. Thus far he has met with much success on the one side and on the other, in spite of all bitter opposition. May he finally achieve his ends to the weal of the whole nation. Settlement Service An Apprecia- tion. By DwiGHT GoDDARD. All summer I spent in the heart of Chicago. I had stood on Milwaukee Avenue and watched the crowds, at early morning, go hurrying city- ward and at even-tide stream homeward, tired and dispirited. I had trodden the interminable streets that branch north and south and east and west from this great artery, each walled in by three and four deckers and every corner guarded by a saloon. Here and there great six storied factories made the streets more repulsive and their towering chimneys belched forth clouds of soft coal smoke. Not far away the vast railroads with their incessant traffic added their quota of soot and noise. The fresh winds from Lake Michigan were all too quickly loaded with smoke and dust and soot and only made more grimy these dun colored blocks that crowded each other street beyond street. There were no parks, no greensward, no trees ! Only here and there a lit- tle patch of starved, spindling flowers, where some brave attempt had been made to transform the barrenness of it all and had failed. Nothing to cheer ! simply a monotony of dreary, uninviting streets, a wilderness of irregular roofs, and dirty chimneys. Then the noise ! the dull, heavy roar of the city. Shrill cries of children, the banging of heavy drays on the pavements, the screech of the trolley cars, the roar of the elevated roads, all mingling into one distracting, deafening, inde- scribable clangor. THE COMMONS That was last summer ! Now in the beautiful, early fall, I am spending a few days in dear, old New England. The early frosts have glorified the forests that border the still, smilling meadows and pastures. The horizon is limited by the si- lent grandeur of the eternal hills. Here the still- ness is very restful, the little sounds that come and go only serving to add to its charm. The rustle of wind in the trees, the twitter of birds, the chatter of a sociable squirrel, the call of crows and the voices of men mellowed by the distance. How attractive life seems in these surroundings ! How delightful ! Under its benign influence how naturally one wants to be a better man, to be more patient, happy and helpful ; to be more grate- ful to the good God who has made it all so beau- tiful and so fruitful. I am ashamed when I think how unworthy I am compared with many of the people I met last summer in the crowded Seven- teenth Ward of Chicago. Day after day I entered the homes of my people and found so many of them cheerful and hopeful in spite of their dreary surroundings. The closing of the hall door so often shut me in to the cheeriest of homes. Of- ten in the homes of those I thought to be the very poor, I found a little cottage organ and the walls made bright with pictures hoarded from the Sunday newspapers. So often. I found the bravest facing of life's struggle by the ones most handicapped by a drunken father, dependant rela- tives, or a long drawn-out sickness. There always seemed to be something to inspire me, even in the homes of the deepest poverty, a dear little child, the brave helpfulness of a son or daughter, the self sacrifice of some mother. There were all too many scenes of brutality, pathetic pictures of earthly sorrow, but in those narrow flats I found so many and it made me thankful to God so many who were happy and contented, undis- mayed by the obstacles and limitations that hedged them in, unconquered by the grinding poverty and endless, relentless round of the years. Ah, that is the secret of the noblest living! To be brave, cheerful, triumphant, wherever our lines are cast, and if there is given to us a richer measure of strength or opportunity, to use it in kindly service .for our -fellow men. Settlements In Philadelphia. ANNA F. DAVIES, HEADWORKER, COLLEGE SETTLEMENT. The small number of Settlements in Philadel- phia may be suggestive of various ideas. The fact has been used as an argument that the city's need of such agencies is comparatively slight, and it has been offered on the other hand as proof of the general slowness of the place. The indubita- ble fact that settbrnuU. , interests seem to be "looking up" at present 35 never before, may seem to justify the letter,' view. To find the settlement stock rising is gre.tjfyiiig, /o^ ;6n some accounts Philadelphia offers .especially' -Satisfactory ground for the working, oiit". of; jthe.'.seUleinent Torms of life. It has not the oveforowdijig, .the insuffer- able high tenements, the abno'rma! speed and "smartness" that to its temperamental citizen seem symptoms of acute social disease in New York and Chicago. One feels in Philadelphia that the processes of civilization are killing people less rapidly than elsewhere, if not less surely, and that it may prove more rewarding in the long run to be a live man in a "dead city" than a dead man in a "live city." It seems natural here for Settlement living to have a domestically so- cial flavor that is more difficult in other places. This gives a definite charm, and, to many visitors and residents, has seemed characteristic and some- what unique. The College Settlement, under the College Set- tlement Association, is the oldest of the Philadel- phia Settlements. A new house opened by the Episcopalian deaconesses within the past month is the youngest. The Lighthouse, the Eighth Ward Settlement, and the University Christian Settlement undo- the management of the Y. M. C. A. of the University of Pennsylvania, fill in the years between. The different houses touch widely differing neighborhoods. THE EIGHTH WARD SETTLEMENT. The Eighth Ward Settlement attracts especial attention because it has the rare distinction of adapting itself to a negro population, and sec- ondarily because it has a fine new building. Not a great deal of money has as yet come into Settle- ment use in our city, but 'this buil'ding, while not large, has been planned for its present use, and is a fine example of what ought to be done in many needy localities. It has baths, laundry, gym- nasium, club rooms, and appartments for resi- dents on the top floor. The head of the house once said they issued no reports because they had so many discouragements they could not make them read well. After four years' experience, however, confidence has increased, and progress is plainly visible not only in the development of individual lives but in the condition of the neighborhood to eye and nose. A certain area has been deeply reformed in the sanitary sense. The curse of surface drainage has been largely subdued. The broom brigade sweeps the alleys. What was dirty has been made clean, and is kept so by devoted visitation and all kinds of care. Up to this time the work has been almost ex- clusively with children, but this winter is to in- THE COMMONS auguratc a campaign for organization among the women. One of the- trying experiences of the days in i,h 'pld boose wii* . in the musical line. Rooms were occupied in a bi^ikiing,. used in part as a mission of the. Orthodox F-riends. No music was the .,-ule;, and 'that rule, inflicted on colored children,- went far towards. Destroying the beauty of many days. ,;-.,,- ^ ,A SOCIAL LIGHT HOUSE. The Lighthouse and the interests associated with it have never called themselves a Settle- ment, and they have no place* in "the Biblio- graphy." They have grown from the simplest beginnings to be an important factor in the life of Kensington, "that district of Philadelphia which is the center of the textile industry in this country." During the past six years a more than self-supporting restaurant has developed, a large men's club has been organized which has a fine and strong 1 social life, a library has been main- tained, lectures, concerts, debates, etc., have en- livened the winter nights, and recently a roof garden has provided a resource for the summer. THE BOYS' CLUB. The Boys' Club of the Church Club of Phila- delphia has been under the charge of Miss Kelly. who has lived in the district for some time, and last year moved into a beautifully appointed building erected for its special use. From the stamp savings center has grown a full fledged Savings Bank. The Visiting Nurse Society has sent resident nurses to the district, who work under Miss Kelly's direction. "The work is be- coming more and more important as its influ- ence steadily intensifies. The constant testimony of the men themselves is that even apart from the benefit to those who are directly dentified with it, no other measure of equal value to the neighborhood could well be adopted by those who are interested in the problems of workingmen's lives." In short the Lighthouse is genuinely a settlement in spirit and work. It has come to a point where it must establish a wider basis of support, since the funds of the Union Benevolent Society, which has been its main financial sup- port, are no longer available. It is no great amount that is needed from year to year to as- sure the permanence and growth of its work, and there can be little doubt that the interest of the community will be more than sufficient to meet the impending need. THE UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT. The University Christian Settlement has taken a house in an Irish and American neighborhood within easy distance of the University. As yet no continuous resident force has developed. A considerable work has been done in a boys' club, a summer camp has been opened, and last winter corresponding work for girls was undertaken. This beginning is good and the house will doubt- less grow into an all-around settlement in the near future. The early days with the Irish gangs tested the mettle of the students. The athletes were the most potent factor in the conquest of the street. One of the leaders in the movement for the settlement, who was strong on the theory of religious influence, does not hesitate to say that his present steady pull with the boys was secured by playing the foot ball heroes as lead- ing attractions for many weeks. The necessity of moving two years ago be- cause of the opening of the Starr Garden Park lost the College Settlement some of the advan- tages of age. It has gained in other ways, how- ever, more than enough to offset the loss. The larger and better house has made possible a greater number of residents, and has increased greatly the opportunities of social -intercourse. The organized activities of the house are fairly covered by the following enumera'tion. Stamp Savings' Bank. Childrens' Clubs and public meetings for chil- dren, especially the clubs using various manual occupations, stories, games, music, dancing, and gymnastics. Study rooms for "home study" especially de- signed to supplement the work of the public schools among foreigners. Small neighborhood Library. Circluating Picture Library of the Civic Club. Literary, Social, and Dramatic Clubs among the young people. Classes in almost any subject demanded, pro- vided other agencies do not already offer satis- factory opportunities. Lectures, musical and dramatic entertainments, etc., during the winter months. A tiny roof garden is constantly in use through i he summer. A Country Club, for the last two years almost self-supporting, is managed by settlement resi- dents whenever a suitable house can be obtained. A permanent country house is a crying need. A SCHOLARSHIP. A scholarship of three hundred dollars per year is maintained by general subscriptions, on the plan of a College Scholarship, for the training of social workers in both theory and practice. Volunteer Sanitary Inspection within a limited area. Co-operation with Juvenile Court by supplying one Probation Officer, who resides in the Settle- ment. The Settlement carries on its work at two cen- THE COMMONS ters, 433 Christian street, and 502 South Front street. The latter house is managed by the Set- tlment, part of the rooms being retained I snci.-i! work, the rest rented as tenements. It is picposed to establish residents in this house, and to increase considerably its usefulness to the river front population. The overwhelming need of the College Settle- ment is an extension of its plant. Within a month it could easily use twice its present space. Nearly everything it is doing in the way of neighborhood organization is being done in miniature as com- pared with the possibilities. Many demands are made upon it which it is entirely unable to meet, and vliich suggest a thoroughly modern buildv.g and an athletic field as the logical next step. May it be taken at an early date ! While Philadelphia Settlements are strong on the side of a full and genuine social life, the side of civic work seems weak. Possibly, if more men would apply themselves to social service of the Settlement type, this line of effort coulci be strengthened. Possibly the deadly miasm of indifference and inertia so prevalent in state and city politics may be too pervasive to counteract, belonging to the climate and in a sense a normal local evil. If this be true Heaven help Philadel phia, for it promises to become a sort of civic Campagna, politically uninhabitable except at the inevitable sacrifice of moral health. Philadelphia, October 10, 1901. College Settlement Association. EDITED BY MRS. CAROLINE WILLIAMSON MONTGOMERY. Over G6e Open Hearth at Denison House. Burn, Fire, burn ! Flicker, flicker, flame ! Whose hand above this blaze is lifted Shall be with touch of magic gifted, To warm the heart of chilly mortals Who stand without these open portals. The touch shall draw them to this fire, Nigher, nigher, By Desire. Whoso shall stand On this hearth-stone, Flame- fanned, Shall never, never stand alone. Whose home is dark and drear and old, Whose hearth is cold, This is his own. Flicker, flicker, flicker, flame! Burn fire, burn ! Florence Converse, Oct. MDCCCXCVI. ANNUAL MEETING AT BOSTON. The College Settlement Association held its eleventh annual meeting at Denison House, 93 Tyler Street, Boston on Saturday, October twelfth. Miss {Catherine Coman presided over the sessions of the Electoral Board. Among the items of public interest was the re- port upon the exhibit of the College Settlement Association at the Pan American Exposition, which took the form of an album of settlement photographs that at the close of the Exposition will be on exhibition in turn, at each of the three settlements under the cafe of the association, in New York, Philadelphia and Boston. In response to the offer of the settlement monthly, THE COMMONS, to add a department to be devoted to the interest of the College Settle- ment Association, the Electoral Board voted to ap- point an editor .to have charge of it, and also appropriated the sum of fifty dollars toward the maintenance and development of the paper. Mrs. Caroline Williamson Montgomery has accepted this appointment and enters upon the editorship of this deparment of THE COMMONS at once. THE COPLEY HALL MEETING. The public session of the Association in Copley Hall was very well attended by the residents and constituencies of the several settlements. Welles- ley College students served as ushers. Miss Katherine Coman, professor of Economics and Sociology in Wellesley College and president of the Association, was chairman of the meeting. In her introductory remarks she traced the influence of residence upon those who had during the past decade constituted the three settlemnt households under the care of the Association. Forty-seven per cent, of their three hundred residents re- mained actively identified with varied lines of philanthropic' work after leaving the settlements. Twenty-three had become Head Workers. So pervasive have the settlement spirit and way of working come to be, that under the general recog- nition and adoption given the movement in many influential quarters, it has ceased to be a new evan- gel and become an accepted method on many and varied lines of social service. Fifteen col- leges are very actively represented in the Associa- tion. The Rivington street settlement in New York was represented by its Head-Worker, Miss Wil- liams. With discriminating comparison, she showed the marked advance made in the recent tenement house legislation, which was initiated by the Char- ity Organization Society committee on the regu- lation of such buildings and was formulated by the legislative Commission of the New York state 10 THE COMMONS legislature. The law abolished the prevailing twen- ty-eight inch "air-shaft," which almost always proved a conduit for foul air, instead of a fresh- air ventilator and substituted the peremptorily re- quired court, twenty-four feet square. Not more than seventy per cent, of the city lot may be cov- ered by the building, and at least twelve feet rear space must be kept clear. Tenement houses over five stories high must be fire-proof in construction. Every room must include 70 feet of air space and one room in each suite must contain 120 square feet. In addition to exacting provisions for super- vision and certificates of inspection, a card cata- logue record of the deaths, diseases and arrests in each tenement is to be' statedly made and filed for public reference. While the law is being opposed and some of its impracticable features may be modified by the building contractors, yet forty-one permits have been issued already under the law as it stands, which is encouraging in view of the fact that 1,100 had been issued just previous to the supercedure of the former lax regulations. The improved tenements will be at a premium so that the poorer people must long continue to live under the old conditions. To test their danger and dis- comfort, four residents lived in two three-room apartments for seven months. So dark and either dangerously drafty or close were the rooms that they were abandoned as unfit for habitation. Miss Davies. Head-Worker of the Christian St. Settlement. Philadelphia, incisively argued for the non-scholastic educational opportunities, agencies and results emphasized by the settlements. lu their constituencies, as in the school of life, re- sults are neither exclusively mental nor the prod- uct of books. As in the economic and industrial organization of the day, so in the settlement edu- cational effort with working-people, the agency of association is chiefly depended upon 'for practical effectiveness. The philosophy underlying this as- sociative method to which our educational work with adults is in large part restricted, demands conscious effort to define and develop it. Denison House, on Tyler St., Boston, was spo- ken for by its Head- Worker, Miss Dudley. Briefly reviewing the past two years, she regarded their greatest advance to have been made in industrial work. The older boys had raised $365 by their very creditable rendering of "The Merchant of Venice" $200 of which they had contributed toward manual training for the younger boys. A wom- en's study club had given $00 toward the equip- ment of the gymnasium the conduct of which had been turned over to the city. The registration of women to vote on educational interests had been furthered by the settlement. Much encouragement in promoting an enlightened civic conscience among the well-to-do was experienced in the in- creasing recognition of unjust conditions and co- operation in improving them. Professor Graham Taylor of the Sociological department in Chicago Theological Seminary and Resident Warden of Chicago Commons spoke, as the guest of the Association, upon "The appeal of the social ideal for an intelligent plan of action." A quarter century has passed since the fore-run- ner of the settlement movement went from Oxford University to the city wilderness of White Chapel. Sixteen years have elapsed since the first settlement was established to com- memorate and carry on the prophetic labor of Arnold Toynbee's luminous life. We may well inquire what accounts for the persistence and. progress of the groups centering their serv- ice around his formative motive. When arousing himself and others to pay the obligation which academic ' culture owes to common capacity and the honest debt which privilege and leisure owe to labor, he wrote : "Languor can be conquered only by enthusiasm and enthusiasm can be kindled only by two things. an ideal which carries the imag- ination by storm and a definite intelligent plan of action to carry it out." Plato's imagination was stormed by "The Re-' public." that of St. John and Augustine by "The City of God." Sir Thomas More's by his dream of "Utopia." John Ruskin's by the priesthood of an Art which will join together conscience and craft. Ireauty aVid duty so that no man can put them asunder. But it remained for The Son of Man to invest his vision of "The Kingdom of The Father" with a social faith adequate to inspire undying sacrifical struggle to realize it on earth. It was by his spirit that Arnold Toynbee was moved. By his social faith in the ideal and in the duty and privilege of carry- ing it into action, Toynbee H^ill and every settle- ment, worthy to be in the succession, came to its birth and success. The Sppeal of the social ideal to the imagination, which is closely akin to faith, accounts for the settlement movement and is the dynamic of its method, the soul of. its service. The ideal of equality of opportunity, of a co-op- erative commonwealth, of the Association of the Peoples, of "the union of all who love in the serv- ice of all who suffer" should never fail to carry the imagination of settlement people by storm. That granted, the dirty of this second decade of the movement is the intelligent plan and scientific method of social action. Exactness of our knowl- edge of conditions and thoroughness in what we undertake toward improving them are demanded, to justify the avowed purpose and all the personal and pecuniary cost of the settlements. THE COMMONS 11 NOTES FROM THE COLLEGE SETTLEMENTS. The friends of Miss Carol Dresser, who has been in residence in both Denison House and the Rivington street settlement, and latterly has 'icon headworker at the Elizabeth Peabody House, a Kindergarten Settlement in Boston, will be in- terested to hear of her marriage August ist to Dr. Witheile of Portland, Maine. Address, 77 Park street. Each of the three settlements of the C. S. A. is now fortunate in having a valuable assistant headworker. Miss Machintosh has assisted Miss Dudley at Denison House, Boston, for a year. Miss Hubbard, who was last year with Miss Davies in Philadelphia, has now gone to 93 Rivington street, New York, to assist Miss Wil- liams, and Mrs. Bates of the Unity Social Set- tlement in Minneapolis is assisting Miss Da- Last spring the college settlement association offered a fellowship for the two-fold purpose of giving opportunity to some person to live in a settlement, share its life and to investigate settle- ment problems. The committee of award, having also direction of the work of the Fellow, consists of Miss Emily Green Balch, of Wellesley College, Prof. Samuel McCune Lindsay of the LTniversity of Pennsylva- nia and Mrs. Elsie Clews Parson, of Barnard Col- lege. About thirty candidates applied, both men and women, and the fellowship has been awarded to Miss Mary B. Sayles, Smith College, 1900, who will live at Whittier House in Jersey City, N. J. Her subject will be the investigation of tene- ment house conditions in that city, a subject which needs immediate attention. Christodora. House Settlement. FRTEDA E. LIPPERT, HOUSE PHYSICIAN. Christodora House was opened in 1897 as a Social Settlement, in one of the most crowded districts on the east side of New York. With i he idea of meeting the needs, social, educational, and spiritual, of the overcrowded homes of its neighborhood, it has grown year by year, steadily supplying these needs. Until it existed, the dance hall, the saloon and the street corner, were the only rendezvous for the boys and girls, young men and young women of an immense tenement population. Now, these young people not only spend their own evenings in the homelike rooms of Christodora House but others in their families, their mothers and fathers are easily persuaded to spend their other- wise prosaic moments in the new atmosphere of an evening "At Home" with their friends, the residents and workers of the settlement. THE SOCIAL BOND. Even more easily are the mothers lured by the desire to see the place where their wee ones have their own delightful times, for the children of the neighborhood are well provided for, by "bank" and library, by club and class and play room, at Christodora. EDUCATIONAL WORK. The educational needs of these young people, most of whom being in business, have had to leave the public schools too soon, have been met by evening classes. The public night school with its obvious lack of adaptability to individual needs, is not an ideal arrangement, in its place. The small groups or classes possible in the Set- tlement, offer an attractive and practical means by which many a hardworking sales-girl and factory worker, may continue her interrupted studies, or may fit herself for other lines of busi- ness. THE RELIGIOUS SANCTION. The spiritual needs "of the multitude," finding its way to Christodora House, are remembered and are provided for as they would be in any ideal family life. The educational curriculum al- ways includes special opportunity for Bible study; moreover the boys and girls, the young men and women, even the children, gather Sunday after Sunday in the bright, cheerful rooms of the House, for their devotional meetings. This feature of the work is more and more faith- fully recognized by the people of the neighbor- hood as the true foundation of all the happy success of Christodora House. They come to it from all classes of belief Hebrews, Roman Catholics and Protestants mingle here ; foreign born and native American touch hands ; yet they are all learning one language, that born of the simple, steadfast, loving desire to obey and fol- low the One in whose name Christodora House has "set up its banners." THE SPIRIT AND METHOD. Let me quote a description by Mrs. Margaret Sangster, the President of its Board of Man- agers. "Four years ago, two young women rented an ordinary five-roomed flat, a cellar and a little room back of a delicatessen shop, and went there to live. Their only furniture was at first, an iron bedstead, a mattress, without pil- lows, a common kitchen table and a few wooden chairs. A^ter paying the first month's rent they had only fifteen dollars in their purse, but with 12 THE COMMONS. calm confidence, they began their work. "They looked unto Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed." To-day Christodora House owns its home a commodious one, (not of five rooms) of five floors, and pays all of its salaries. It employs a resident physician, thus trying to reach the starved soul through the too often starved body. It stands for all that is of practical help to its neighborhood. Many a mother comes, not al- ways to borrow clothes for the last new baby, but to tell simply of the burden of its advent and to explain why the next older small girl has not attended "club" regularly during the eventful fortnight. WORK DONE. For the year ended in December, 1900, there was a club attendance at the House, (n clubs meeting each, once a week) of over fifteen thou- sand. The devotional meetings brought an at- tendance of nearly nine thousand. There were made twenty-five hundred neighborhood calls (those paid to the homes of the people). By one way and another, through all the instrumen- talities of the House, there came in personal touch with it, through the year, more than seven- ty-three thousand individuals. An Old Social Shrine Burned- The destruction by fire on Oct. 12, of the old Stepney parish church in London, removed not only an old land mark of the fifteenth century but a historic memorial marking the initiation of the social settlement movement. It was to the help of John Richard Green, then the young rector of this old church, that Edward Denison came from Oxford in 1860. From the same parish the Rev. A. F. Winington Ingram, also Warden of Ox- ford House, was elevated by King Edward to be Lord Bishop of London. To the Boston Tran- script we are indebted for this charming bit of description. The East End of London is dull, and unpicturesque even in its poverty; but it has many surprises for those who do not know it well. No more commoplace section can be found than Commercial road, opening out of Whitechapel near Oldgate, and piercing a swarming Jewish quarter; yet at its far end is Stepney Green, the strangest surprise of this benighted section. It is a beautiful old church-yard, eight acres in extent, in the heart of the Hebrew quarter. A gray church tower, among sycamores and surrounded with leafy verdure, was old Stepney Church, with its sweet chime of bells. Flanking the Green are rows of rusty, red-brick houses built as long ago as the time of the Georges and Queen Anne. This oasis of verdure in the centre of the dull and unpicturesque East End is a strange survival of village life. Stepney, with its ancient church and quaint mansions facing the Green, was once a rus- tic village, tenanted by rich men and people of quality. Now its church is the centre of religious effort in a vast area swarming with dense popula- tion. View-Points A-Field- The Social trend of the legendary embellish- ments wrought into the architecture of the Pan- American Exposition buildings at Buffalo may be indicated by these from the exterior friezes of the Hall of Ethnology: "The Weakest among us has a gift," "Speak to the earth and it shall teach thee," "All are needed by each one," "What a piece of work is man." The mayoralty campaign in New York City is significantly hopeful of better things even in the picturesqueness of % its political devices. Even Tammany has been forced to claim and promise the municipal promotion of the higher life of the people. On every elevated railway station and many banners and stereopticon slides are in- scribed: "What Andrew Carnegie said" about the management of public libraries and parks; and "What Andrew Carnegie did" in giving $5,- 500,000 for the Public Library "under the present administration." The conclusion to this syllo- gism" to vote for the Democratic party," is some- what impaired by the fact that it was to the Pub- lic Library Trustees that he gave the money, tak- ing good care to see that the "present administra- tion" would have nothing to say or do about it, except to appropriate a further sum to be expend- ed by the aforesaid trustees. Meanwhile the citizen's union and Mr. Low ex- plicitly promise an administration chiefly devoted to civic improvement, and make rejoinder to the Tammany boast by this "What" placard of their own : WHAT SHEPARD SAID: "The most burning and disgraceful blot on the municipal history of the county is the career of Tammany Hall. * * * If you put Tammany into power, Tammany will give you the same kind of government it gave you in 1894 and the years preceding the Lexow investigation. That is the sole recommendation which Tammany Hall and the Tammany orators give for their ticket. They are the same men, the same bosses. WHAT SHEPARD DID : He accepted the Tammany nomination for May- THECOMMONS 13 The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Settlement Point of View. GRAHAM TAYLOR Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.* Morgan St., Chicago, 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. The adoption of The Commons by the College Settlement Association, as a medium of its com- munication with its own constituencies and the public, is gratefully recorded in the report of its proceedings in another column. This official ac- tion is the first formal recognition which The Commons has received that it is fulfilling the broader purpose for which it was started. Without any capital except credit at the printer's, it has been maintained these six years, not without se- vere exactions upon the very restricted settle- ment income and the still more limited time of an overcrowded life. But in this service to the whole settlement cause, which has been far costlier than would have subserved the local interests of our own settlement work, we have been sustained in heart and hand by the sympathy and gratuitous co-operation of some of the busiest women and men in other settlements at home and abroad. Despite its many limitations, its frequently morti- fying evidences of extreme, though unavoidable haste, its necessary devotion of an undue propor- tion of its sparse enough space to the struggle of the Chicago Commons settlement for foothold on the earth, The Commons circulates a monthly average of 4,000 copies, 3,000 of which are sub- scribed and paid for by those enlisted or inter- ested in settlement or kindred lines of social service, all over the English speaking world. The remarkably wide diffusion of its circulation en- hances its influence, but hinders its self-support through advertising, which would sustain it if even half of its subscribers lived in one locality. So the Chicago Commons settlement has thus far borne the burden of the slowly, but surely decreas- ing deficit in this paper's accounts as a part of its contribution to the cause for which all 'the set- tlements stand. This has been done in the hope which at last seems about to be realized, that The Commons will receive the additional co- operation in contributions to its columns and ef- forts to extend its circulation, which will enable it to serve the whole settlement contstituency, better perhaps than any other single journal has the opportunity to do. The informal expression of opinion by neighborhood workers in New York City, alluded to elsewhere, gives reason to hope that at the next meeting of their Conference they may take essentially the same action as the Col- lege Settlement Association, in furnishing another page or so of information, comment and criticism, written from their own point of view and circu- lated also among their own constituency. The friendly co-operation of these two most power- ful centers of social activity, with the al- ready enlisted groups at Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, San Francisco and London, England promise the prompt and steady progress of The Commons in serving its enlarged constituency. It is the earnest desire and hope of all imme- diately connected with the management of The Commons to receive the freest suggestion and friendliest criticism regarding the conduct of the paper. For the sole motive and aspiration of our gratuitous effort are to make The Commons ren- der the truest and best service it may to the cause for which all interested in it alike stand the ad- vancement of the social condition and unification of the common life. A Great ScKolar's Championship of the Rights of Labor. Technical scholarship and . special intelligence regarding the workingman's world are not often found under the same hat. A university profes- sor and a labor politician are seldom seated in the same chair. Professor Caspar Rene Gregory of the University of Leipsic, Germany, is doubly distinguished as the only American holding a full professorship in a German University, and in being actively at work with the National Social Party promoting the most practical politics of the Fatherland. It is the highest honor to his Ameri- can birth and spirit to have become the successor of the great Tischendorf as the foremost textual critic among New Testament scholars, and to be the fearless associate of the bold Pastor Nauman in the industrial politics of the Empire and the democratic movement for economic justice and social peace. This University freedom, as it is publicly recog- nized and personally exercised in Germany, has been inspiringly exemplified at just this crisis in American liberty by Prof. Gregory's free- spoken championship of the rights of labor at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Theolog- ical Seminary. In his notable lecture before the Seminary on "The Social Movement in Germany" he signifi- cantly affirmed that workingmen are the first to move. This fact he attributed to their dis- tress, not only by reason of long hours, low 14 THE COMMONS wages and dangerous occupations, but because they fail to receive the recognition due them as men, whose character and achievement deserve to be recognized. They want to be taken for the men they are. neither as slaves nor half-slaves. This foremost movement of the industrial crafts is due to their superior intelligence. Formerly they were too tired to think. Going now from the national schools to their work, German working people feel powerful to end the bad conditions under which they needlessly suffer. They know what progress has been made, is being made, and may be made. They are moving together, by single shops and by trades unions, some of which are in the Social Democratic party, others are in- dependent, and still others avow a distinctively Christian affiliation. Their movements are often more intelligent than those of the employing class. Employers. . too. are moving. some of them to repress the labor movement, which compels them to act. others to realize the unity of interests avowedly recognized by them. Professors of economics and those in other uni- versity departments are also moving. That these profoundest students of the facts, as well as those devoted to higher social ideals, very gener- ally substantiate the claims of the Trades Uni- ons and defend the rights of labor was taken by Prof. Gregory to he of the greatest signifi- cance. His summary characterization of the social . bearings of the political parties in Germany was illuminating. To the Conservatives, who are mostly agrarian employers, there is no social ques- tion. The Ultramontane party is deeply affected by the social movement among the working peo- ple within the Roman Catholic Church. It has spoken more freely and has entered more active- ly into social politics than. Protestant constitu- encies. The Social Democrats, as the opposition party, will not unite with other movements, vote against the legislative efforts of the government or other parties to better conditions, and have so persistently repelled the advances of the Emperor that he has finally withdrawn his efforts to enlist their co-operation. The Free Thinkers, or ir- reconcilables, are led by Eugene Richter. The National Liberals comprise the industrial employ- ers and are as unsocial as the Conservatives. The Christian Social Party movement, initiated by Dr. Stocker. former Court Preacher, is being su- perceded by the more radical "National Social Party, led by Pastor Friedricli Nauman. His political and social leadership has cost him his pastoral standing, 'and while the most active Christian leader of his people, he is ecclesiastical- ly designated as "out of charge." His party, to which Prof. Gregory and many other Protestant ministers and teachers belong, believes in see- ing the working people's rights through now by national action. The social movement in Germany becomes more and more reformatory, less and less revolution- ary. The duty of the hour in America, as in Germany, the eminent lecturer declared, is to help labor organize, as the one possibility of so- cial progress. Comte's Social Vision Aftr Fifty Yosvrs. It is fifty years ago this very year since August Comte added to his "Positive Philosophy" the section devoted to "Social Physics, coining, as the single alternative title, the term "Sociology." which was thus introduced to the language of learning. In its original usage it was as specula- tive, as it was "barbarous" in the judgment of the first Encyclopedia which defined it. It may still well be reserved to designate the- theory and philo- sophy of society and those facts and forces in- volved in the statics and dynamics of the whole social aggregate. Even in that realm of postu- lates and ultimatcs however, it should never in- clude, much less chierly deal in the transcendental, to which some of its theorists >eem inclined to confine it. Although Sociology is not the sum of the social sciences, lint rather the frame-work and basis for their study, yet it is as practically barren and useless without their practical arts of living and working together, as is a foundation or a scaffolding without a superstructure to live and work in. The scientific progress of these arts of interre- lationship through the past half century, amply justify the claim of Sociology itself to have status among the real "Hierarchy of the Sciences," to which its foster father so pedantically introduced it. Fortunately for itself as well as for the Hu- manity it was christened to serve. Sociology has proven to belong less to the realm of "Social Physics" than to that of social psychology and so- cial ethics. Far as we may yet be from an all comprehen- sive social synthesis, yet the development of the science of Sociology , has been attended by the evolution of a social consciousness, which fur- nished both foundation and ideal sufficient for reducing to an art our efforts to live and work- together. In the reduction of common life to the beauty, precision and efficiency of the arts, with- out the loss of that spontaneity in which life it- self, as well as its liberty, consist, the settlement-;. THE COMMONS 16 with all the other hand-maids of spiritual prog- ress, find their exacting and inspiring task. In rounding out the first quarter centuryof their history the settlements should lead the practical development of the sociological sciences in the conquests they are destined -to achieve in this sec- ond half century of their progress. The Commons congratulates the London Echo upon securing the editorship of Percy Alden. Its support of the London County Council policy and its advocacy of all the live progressive movements among the people will be greatly strengthened by Mr. Alden's social spirit, practical grasp of public questions, personal knowledge of the peo- ple's need, incisive style and high courage. \Ye hope, however, that the gain to the press will not cost Mansfield House and the settlement movement the loss of his leadership. From the Settlements- SOUTH END HOUSE. Boston, is about to move from Rollins St. to 20 Union Park, two blocks South and two West. The extraordinary noise of the new elevated railway will thus be escaped and an additional center of influence occupied. The club house is located in the more densely crowded neighborhood on Harrison Ave., where one of the resident's rooms. The inadequate tene- ment house now used for this purpose is soon to be superseded by a new building near by and in close proximity to the municipal gymnasium. It will contain an assembly hall, club and class rooms and a restaurant. The Women's Residence is situated in still another neighborhood at 43 E. Canton St. In co-operation with the Arts and Crafts Society, hand-made lace industry is pro- moted. The Penny-Provident Savings books are being placed among a large number of girls work- ing in neighboring factories and shops. The in- vestigations by South End House residents, which have been publisned in "The City Wilderness" and other briefer monographs are being supple- mented by other researches which will be report- ed in another volume. "The Labcir World" edited by S. Kalayama warden of Kingsley House, Tokyo, has been ac- quitted of the charge of violating the Press Law of Japan in publishing the recent manifesto of the Japanese Socialists. This is a most welcome vic- tory for free speech in the island empire of the Orient. Continued on Page 16. LAWN SWINGS MAY POLES W. S. TOTHILL Manufacturer Play Ground, Park, Gymnasium and Athletic Field Equipments. Write for anything you want. 126-128 West Webster Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. Orders for New Edition of FORBUSH'S BOY PROBLEM will be filled on receipt of the boks early in September AT 75 CENTS PER COPY Order of "THE COMMONS." Grand Ave. and Morgan Street, Chicago. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for 'She Handbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FROEBEL. Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA MOFER HEdNER, 363 No. Winchester Av. Chicago 15he Church in Social Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. New Fourth Edition S College. Social and University Settlements Bibliography- Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point ot view. It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.* Morgan St., Chicago, 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postoffice as mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. TKe Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2 50 francs, French-foreignstamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for 82.50. Send check, draft, P. p. money order, cash or stamps, not above j-cent denomination,, at our risk. Advertisements in the Commons During 1901. One Page. $25.00; Half Page, $15.00; Quarter Page, 58.00; One Inch, $2 00. For each insertion . Special Rates for Special Numbers of the Commons Any number under twenty-five copies, five cents each; over twenty-five and under one hundred, three cents each; over one hundred, two and one-half cents each. CKanges of Address. Please notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify us at once if for rny reason you desire your subscription discontinued. In accord- ance with custom, and the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers, we continue THE COMMONS to each address until notified to the contrary. 16 THE COMMONS Two INTERESTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES. At Denison House, Boston. Guests of the Col- lege Settlement Association, sixty or more repre- sentatives of the Boston Settlement. Students of Wellesley and other colleges, and representa- tives of kindred lines of social service gathered in the homelike settlement parlors for an informal conference, Oct. 13. Training for social service in settlements and educational institutions was presented by Professor Graham Taylor for discussion. The value of guiding the new residents' reading and the educational op- portunity of a half hour house-hold vespers were emphasized. The courses for social workers of- fered by the universities of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were described, as were still larger plans for a more elaborate curriculum in other institutions. Classes for training club work- ers in hand-crafts, supplemented by conferences, lectures and reports were reported by Lincoln House. Co-operative effort to establish in Boston a thorough school for training in social service was suggested as feasible. Robert A. Woods of South End House discussed the attitude of set- tlements toward city politics and municipal im- provements. He thought their influence could be only indirectly exerted where the party organi- zations were so thorough and strong as in some eastern cities. If the need of some centralizing personality creates the "Boss," then the settlement should seek to develop a better type of Boss by making the movements for municipal improvement an object lesson in democratic city government. The policy in New York has been for the several groups of social workers to devote themselves to the development of specific departments of the city administration. Thus the Public Education ' Association has promoted the extension of pub- lic school work. The Out-door Recreation League has furthered play-grounds, recreation piers and parks, not of the "keep off the grass" type. The discussion of the attitude of the settle- ments toward Radicalism turned on the distinc- tion between maintaining free-speech and offering a free platform. In rejoinder to those who thought it no part of settlement service to pro- vide the free-platform for either propagandism or the modifying effect of discussion, the educative value of the "Men's Smoker" conference at Toyn- bee Hall and the Free Floor discussions at Chi- cago Commons were urged. Co-operation with THE COMMONS to make it more representative of the whole field of settle- ment operations was helpfully suggested. AT FRIENDLY AID HOUSE, NEW YORK. A delightful lunch party of twenty-five or more guests from the settlements and other groups of neighborhood workers re- sponded to Mrs. Simkhovitch's invitation to meet Professor Taylor. The conversation turned into inquiry concerning political, civic and social prog- ress in Chicago, and ended in conferring over the development of THE COMMONS as the medium of intercommunication, criticism and suggestion be- tween the social service groups widely scattered in the cities of this country and abroad. The Conferences of Neighborhood workers may soon reach some practical conclusion upon this matter which was referred to its next session. LINCOLN HOUSE, Boston is to lose its Direc- tor in Charge, Mr. William A. Clark, who goes to the work of the Settlement at Seventeenth Street and Eighth Ave., New York City. He will continue his work upon the monographs on social service, the publication of which will be announced in these columns as they are issued. WEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD House, at Fiftieth St. and Tenth Ave., New York City announces the opening of its fine new building on Tuesday evening, Oct. 29, with addresses by Dr. W. H. P. Faunce, President of Brown University and Rev. R. P. Johnston, Pastor of the Fifth Ave. Baptist Church. A description of the thoroughly equipped buildings and a report of the opening occasion will be furnished by the Head-Worker, Mr. Archi- bald A. Hill, for the next number of The Com- mons. "The most weak-headed men are always the most headstrong." THE NATIONAL Civic IMPROVEMENT LEAGUE. A movement to federate the improvement asso- ciations which are becoming increasingly effective in the betterment of municipal conditions through- out the United States, is a pleasing incident of the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. "The Na- tional Civic Improvement League was initiated and did its cause both the honor and the service of electing Professor Charles Zeublin of the Uni- versity of Chicago as its first president. No man has done more to prompt interest in and promote intelligent study of civic conditions in American cities than he, by his university ex- tension work throughout many states. We anticipate with pleasure his own account of the scope and methods of the League in these col- umns. It is already 'endeavoring to secure at the St. Louis Exposition a department exhibit of municipal art and the science of modern city- making. But every community stands in need of per- sonalities living exclusively for its ends. Adolf Harnack. TKe Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 65-Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago, December 1901. Then ? BY HERBERT NEWTON CASSON. When the mind is mapped as streets are row on row ; When the heart is tamed, from Love's unreason- ing throe; When the poet's winged fancy Is an outgrown necromancy ; When the rain of inspiration turns to snow : What then? When all doubts and fears are backward cast ; When the dream of world-wide Brotherhood is past.; When the prophet's radiant vision Is too futile for derision ; When the soul is but a formula at last What then? When the fierce machine has conquered flesh and blood; When the labor-power is belt and wheel and rod ; When the unfit nations wonder At the gold we stagger under ; When the world is but an economic clod : What then? In The Outlook. 15he Isolation of our Public Charities. BY JULIA C. LATHROP. FOR EIGHT YEARS A MEMBER OF THE ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES. Some years ago it chanced to be my duty to visit the po*or-house of a remote but prosperous country. The house was on the high-road within a mile of the county seat, yet the Zulus were as near neighbors as were the intelligent popula- tion of the pretty town. It was a typical ex- pression of public inattention. In the first place the care of the poor was let out to the lowest cash bidder, an unfailing sign of poor care. The buildings were miserable, hardly protecting from the elements, the filth and vermin beyond decent description. The food was such that there was a case or two of scurvy, the inmates were badly clothed and a general air of lawlessness and neg- lect pervaded the place. Among those present was a decent widow and her little children, who had been recently left with a bit of land but no money. When they all fell sick, a county super- visor had summarily brought them to this reek- ing place as the economical way to take care of the family. Here was a feeble-minded child un- taught, here the keeper's own children no better taught or cared for, here a respectable old wo- man on a tiny island of cleanliness from which she labored hard to sweep back the swelling tide of surrounding dirt; freely mingling with the other inmates were dissolute wrecks of humanity who could only contaminate those about them. Members of the local committee of the State Board were with me and were much shocked at what we saw in this "surprise visit" when every- day conditions were revealed. One of the party, a lady, active in good work, said, "Well, I have been here before, our Society comes at Christ- mas and we give out cards; but we have always sent word we were coming and it was scrubbed up and the children all looked real nice. I never thought it could be like this." It would be most untruthful to offer this as a fair specimen of all country charity, yet it is typi- cal of too numerous a class of country institutions large and small, throughout Illinois and through- out the country. THE PERSONNEL OF THE POOR HOUSE. The poor house receives a multitude of beings who are made helpless by their own or some- body's sins ; and unfortunately they constitute the least interesting and the most hopeless of social groups in the usual view. It is impossible to restore the lives of these ruined individuals, their fate is sealed, this is felt so universally that the public turns away after providing shel- ter out of common funds, sickened, pitying at first, but soon forgetful. Perhaps this is not entirely deplorable ; sometimes we have in pri- vate charity a complacent belief that by furnish- ing artificial backbones to feeble invertebrates we enable them to evade that law of evolution which forbids an invertebrate to get on in the race with his betters even if furnished a skillfully constructed back-bone by some philanthropist. There is a grim wisdom in the public recognition of the finality of the poor-house. SEPARATENESS OF STATE CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. If the country poorhouses are isolated, state charitable institutions suffer from separateness THE COMMONS yet more. We do not find in the State institu- tions the ill-assorted fragments of human wast- age which fill the porhouses, we find for the most part people either sick with the sadly dis- abling disease which we have named insanity, or suffering from some deficiency of sense. In either case they need the best medical care, in varying degrees it is true, but always the best. They need not only physicians and internes with- in the institution, but they need the highest medical and scientific authorities from outside to come in and rescue the institution from routine, to direct investigation and to maintain a scien- tific spirit, as a fine visiting staff serves to do in a general hospital. A young physician just home from graduate study in a foreign university, a vigorous, eager, well-balanced person of unusual cultivation and sympathy, a man who knew loco- motor ataxia from clinics and from Matthew Ar- nold's Heine as well, just the type of personality needed in a public institution, had obtained with some difficulty a position on the staff of an institution offering specially interesting possibili- ties of research. His naive disappointment that his duties in making the rounds on the wards left him no time nor strength for research was in itself a significant criticism. It is unhappily true that as at present adminis- tered, state institutions for the insane with few exceptions offer little to patients except safe- keeping, and this has become so exaggerated that the lock and key rather than the physician's heal- ing balm are the true emblem for the hospital for the insane. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN FOREIGN LANDS. In foreign hospitals for the insane the general average! of bodily comfort or luxury is far lower than here, the buildings and equipment far sim- pler, and many features of the administration, especially the social gradations of inmates and of officials, would not be tolerated here, yet the necessity of a fine medical spirit and the value of research is far more emphasized. In Scot- land, in Belgium, France and other countries on the continent there is a growing recognition of the fact that a large proportion of the insane can be cared for more economically, more humanely and pleasantly, in a colony or village life or by boarding in families, than is possible in great institutions. The mere discussion of allowing free life for quiet, chronic patients has scarcely begun here as yet. Perhaps like other imperfections in our meth- ods and manners, it is as well that this one re- garding the conduct of this great branch of pub- lic activity should exist until there is a popular demand for improvement, and a popular knowl- edge that insists on the most enlightened care for the public wards, rather than that improvement should come because a professional class reaches down to supply, however well, a popular need. To say that there is little care of patients as individuals; that here is little ingenuity as to their occupations; that the whole system is ad- ministered en bloc; that the attendants are over- worked and underpaid, that the physicians be- come disheartened by drudgery; that there is no adequate system of internes or of training schools for nurses ; that there is too much me- chanical restraint and too little hospital equip- ment for acute cases; these sound like techni- cal criticism far removed from popular interest; yet it is necessary to gain that interest if they are to be changed. It is easy also to say "Oh these patients and inmates live much better than they did at home for the most part and they can't be cured, so what's the use?" This is said in effect all the time; and if the speakers are social reformers rather than children of darkness they probably add "Let us do something vital and constructive." CLAIM OF PUBLIC CHARITIES UPON PEOPLE OF IN- TELLIGENCE. Now here are a few considerations as to the claim of public charity upon intelligent people: First, on the score of kindliness, plain, unscien- tific good-will. It is surprising how many of the hardships of the poorhouse can be softened by a little neighborly attention. I know of a woman who has been an inmate of the Cook County In- firmary at Dunning, 111., sixteen years, she is just that type of person, more or less feeble in mind and body who cannot make a living; but in common with many persons of the highest ability she is capable of becoming infinitely bored with her life. The other day a friend invited her out for a few days' vacation. She is known to have ordered fried oysters in a little restaurant where she luxuriated, and is believed to have derived the same sort of benefit from her holi- day that some gain from a journey to Paris. Now if such a treat were taken seriously by the giver, if he fancied the management and spirit of the institution changed because of the individual pleasuring, this would be a most dangerous ex- pression of amiability. If, however, as was the result in the case mentioned, it only makes the giver realize more fully the stupid monotony and needless hardships of the life at Dunning, and determines him to work for a better state of af- fairs there, it may become a highly useful and constructive act. I know of a little poor-house where conditions were as hateful as those sug- gested at the beginning of this paper which en- THE COMMONS 3 joyed a substantial reformation through the de- termined efforts of one fearless, largehearted per- son. It is not impossible that people may be found good and wise and persistent enough to make over a great poor-house. APPEAL FOR PERSONAL HUMAN SERVICE. There is scarcely a poorhouse in the land where there are not cases which properly appeal to the sympathetic for some little personal service, which even those bent on constructive work may afford to aid as a means of gaining information, or even as an excursion into the realm of pure sentiment. I shall never forget an insane woman whose room was kept beautifully clean and whose piety was touchingly shown in various little shrines adorned with wonderfully cut papers, as well as in her belief that by her prayers she rescued from punishment many thousand souls daily. She complained that she was kept locked in her room and when I tried to comfort her by saying that it must make her happy to set at rest so many poor souls, she said, "But I could do twice as much good if I were only out." I asked her if she would like to see the priest, and she very eagerly answered, "Yes;" so I sent a rather reproachful note to the parish priest, whom I could not find before leaving the town and later received an answer, in quaint German-En- glish thanking me for writing, saying the wo- ma was a "much respected lady" that he had not known of her presence in the poorhouse, but that he had been to visit her and from now on would "minister to her as well as he could." The church, of all communions, might well look more carefully to these poor lambs who are beyond the shepherding of this world's wisdom. KINDERGARTEN FOR ADULT PATIENTS IN AN IN- SANE ASYLUM. A few years ago a company of particularly sane women often visited the insane asylum at Dun- ning 1 ; seeing the dullness of the women patients who sit idle in long rows in the dark wards, yet with all the work of the place so unorganized that the dresses they wear are never ironed; the visitors raised the money for the kindergarten for some of these poor castaways. The backing of the best medical authorities was given as to the usefulness to these minds become childish, of the stimulus to which little children respond in the kindergarten. There was space available in the institution and all was ready. A teacher was procured, when the committee was suddenly met with the absolute refusal of the superintendent to allow a kindergarten. That ended thel matter. He undoubtedly felt a certain timidity at any change or improvement and also that dread which officials in a politically managed institution al- ways feel, of the presence of the sort of dis- criminating 'outsiders," who should be able to co-operate with them and to translate to the pub- lic the legitimate needs of the institution. GREAT EXPENSE DEMANDS BEST MANAGEMENT. Again, there is the consideration of immediate public policy. There should be an intelligent popular demand for a more highly organized and scientific management of the whole system of public institutions, especially those for dependents and deliquents. In Illinois as elsewhere, the cost of the public charities alone has long been the largest item in the State's budget ; it is now near- ly a third of the whole state tax and increases with successive legislative appropriation. In New York the State cares for more than 20,000 insane alone. In Illinois the county houses and the State institutions together shelter about 19,000 persons of whom more than half are insane. The question of their humane and economical care is one of organization, which must enlist popular interest to be accomplished. The average man- agement everywhere is lavish in matters that show, but niggardly in the pay of attendants, in the equipment for acute cases and toward the medical staff. Yet the public can afford to pay much for treatment which will cure, or point out possibilities of cure. Above all, the public is in- terested in having medical students taught by clin- ics and through interneship, something of the premonitory symptoms of mental breakdown. It is the general practitioner who after all is the only medical man with a chance to prevent in- sanity and the medical schools as a rule teach little or nothing of it. CO-OPERATION BETWEEN STATE CHARITABLE AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. In this view we are led at once to consider why there is no co-operation between the State charitable institutions and the State educational institutons. The State pays great sums for the care of its dependents and of its deliquents who must be considered with them at this point. Vol- umes have been written on the enormity of the county jail system for instance, and doubtless many more will be written before jails cease to maintain their classic reputation as "schools of crime." Public opinion alone can demand that the conduct of the jail be separated from that of the Sheriff's office and placed in charge of persons of fitness and training. The State also pays great sums for free higher education. Why is it that the State medical school, the State School of Economics and soci- ology, have no relation to the State hospitals and institutions for delinquents? Why do we THE COMMONS not have internes from the schools of economics and sociology in all the institutions? To go further, why does not the State train up educa- ted persons who shall find an honored and satis- factory calling in the actual care of prisoners and dependents ? The State raises up large numbers of normal schools to fit young persons for public school teachers. No one is bold enough to suggest that these be superseded and the teaching done by political appointees. Why is it any more for the public interest that the thousands of per- sons engaged in the care of delinquents and de- pendents should be hired and dismissed, as they are over a great part of America, because they or their friends are Democrats or are Republi- cans or are of any political complexion? Why do we give the teacher, the physician, the farm- er, the butter-maker, the druggist a special educa- tion at public cost and make no, provision to in- struct those intrusted with duties equally special- ized and of great public value? PLEA FOR TRAINING IN INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE. Think what opportunities for sound useful work and study, would be open if every poor- house, every jail, every state institution, chari- table and penal, were conducted by persons de- voted to their work and properly qualified for it. Far more, think how much easing comfort or help might be given to multitude of helpless beings. Finally, all this work if well done has con- structive value: In the first place its function is to clear the normal stream of life of clogging and poisonous matter, plainly an essential work. Again if done intelligently, with a sense of con- nection, with the co-operation of other agencies, it offers certain opportunities of research and for discovering causes which are of the highest con- structive importance. It comes to have a vital bearing not only on special preventive measures, but on the great question of race progress. Does it not seem as well worth doing by those whose abilities may be suited to it as any other honest task? Rightly considered, is it not as full of in- terest? We shall not need much longer to argue that it is time that public institutions were removed from the irrelevant control of political organiza- tions ; but is it not time to urge a further devel- opment possible as soon as the institutions are not "in politics" but no sooner, namely, that the work of caring for dependents and delinquents should be rescued from its isolation, and since it must long be a necessary public service that it should become a dignified and adequate service? There are of course good signs to be found even in the dismal regions where the untranslated shades of pauperism and misery and of what we call crime are pent. I know of no more cheering 1 indication than the action of the trustees of the New York Re- formatory for Women, when that institution was to be opened last year. Notice of the examina- tions under the State civil service law was sent widely throughout the United States among college women, and every effort was made to secure for all the officers from superintendent and physician to care-takers or matrons ; women who expressed all the cultivation which the schools can impart. The examinations themselves were most discrim- inating not academic, but ably framed to bring out the applicants adaption or lack of it, for the work proposed. This unusual and reasonable inquiry may well serve to emphasize the value of a still closer co- operation between the state schools and the other state insitutions, such as has been suggested above, especially may it lead us to consider the reasonableness of state training schools for this service. If genuine culture keeps the soul sensitive to impressions and preserves it from the torpor of isolation and the callous of rountine, where do we need it more than in our public institutions? Workers with American High- landers in Mountain Conference. BY MRS. MARY ANDERSON HILL. A unique series of meetings was held last June at Tusculum, Tenn. There, under the shadow of the Great Smokies, gathered the workers sent out by, the North Presbyterian Church to the moun- tains of North Carolina, West Virginia, Ken- tucky, and Tennessee. The conference was marked by the desire of these men and women to carry back with them not only fresh inspiration for evangelical work, their first duty, but also wider knowledge of practical methods. The lat- ter they sought especially through the Social Set- tlement. At the suggestion of Miss Mary E. McDowell, who had visited some parts of this country and recognized its needs, half the time of the confer- ence was given to discussion of the Social Set- tlement and the applicability of its idea and plans to mountain work. The church hopes to estab- lish in each district a home for its teacher and Bible reader. Wherever these homes have been built, they serve already as social centres and the women who live in them are veritable "settlers." They told how their neighbors would stop to din- THE COMMONS ner on the way to the "store" and would carry away marvelous new notions of household thrift and cleanliness. Prayer-meetings held in the little parlors were followed by social games that truly enriched the lives of women who had never been "yan" side of the mountains and who had spent their days in the drudgery of field and living-room. Best of all perhaps, the young men and women were won to pass their evenings, or at least some of them, in a sweet, pure atmosphere. In so brief a space it is not possible to give an idea of the atmosphere of these meetings. Held, many of them, in the open air under great forest trees, they seemed full of the devotion and broth- erhood of early Christianity. Whatever may have been contributed by those in charge of the Social Settlement division, they had a sense of person- al gain ; gain through a new realization of the natural and inevitable growth of the social idea and of the oneness of this idea with Christian brotherhood. Mr. Reynolds on the Victory over Ta.nt\matny. In writing of the election of Seth Low as Mayor of New York City and William T. Jer- ome as district attorney, Mr. James B. Reynolds, head-worker of the University Settlement So- ciety of New York, says, in The Independent, "Another qualification which I believe to' be es- sential in a mayor and which Mr. Low possesses to an eminent degree is a knowldge of social conditions. As president of the University Set- tlement Society. Mr. Low has constantly encour- aged its important work of social investigation and has co-operated in the application of the re- sults of its investigations for the welfare of those concerned. He deeply realizes the existing in- equality of social classes, the harm done by hasty and ill advised measures of reform, and has al- ways been ready to aid such remedial efforts as would permanently improve the conditions of the dependent classes and would more successfully open the door of opportunity to those who are limited by their poverty." In The Congregationalist he characterizes Mr. William T. Jerome as the representative of good citizenship in opposition to Tammany's whole- sale encouragement of crime and vice. Of this graduate of Amherst College, while Judge of the Court of Special Sessions, he gives this interest- ing incident "Finding last spring that warrants of arrest issued by him angainst gambling dens and other evil resorts 'tipped off,' that is, the parties to be arrested were warned of their dan- ger, he promptly and courageously took the serv- ice of the warrants into his own hands and per- sonally served them, thereby catching the crimi- nals 'red-handed' and proving the collusion of the police officals with the law breakers." "One of his campaign headquarters was established over a saloon on Canal Street and another near the Bowery in the tenement house district. His campaign \\as vigorously and ably conducted by a body of- 'men who admired his courage and aggressiveness. I asked one young man whom I found working night and day for him and who is not usually interested in a reform campaign why he was with Jerome, he replied. 'I like a fighter and one who has no shams.' The Tam- many criminals struggled to defeat Jerome even more energetically than to defeat any one else on the ticket. In the last week in the campaign they openly offered votes for Low in exchange for votes for their candidate for district attor- ney, who was a man after their own hearts." "The Ten Commandments are once more in good and regular standing in New York city, and it will be possible to refer to the command- ment, 'Thou shalt not. steal', in the presence of our newly elected city officials without being thought impolitely personal." TShe. Boston Conference a-bout Boys. BY A BOSTON OBSERVER. There were several remarkable things about the Fifth Conference of The Men of Tomorrow, the General Alliance of Workers with Boys, which was held in Boston, October 29 and 30. One of these was commented upon the next week by the Congregationalist : "It gives one a thrill of pleas- ure when one comes in touch with a body of workers trying to deal with the boy before he has erred or fallen, trying to save him from any need later of the remedial agencies." It was surely re- markable, though it ought not to be, that men and women should find a section of humanity, not rendered picturesque by misery or desperate by sin, interesting 1 enough to travel from Baltimore and Chicago and intervening places to Boston, to study it and try to keep it pure and strong. Representatives of remedial agencies were pres- ent and were heard, but the emphasis was upon the hopefulness of boyhood and the readiness of boyhood's response to opportunity and the helping hand. ITS REPRESENTATIVE PERSONNEL. The personnel of the Conference was interest- ing from its variety. Here persons engaged in work bearing very different names and apparent- THE COMMONS ly quite distinct in purpose found how much they had in common. Protestant, Catholic and He- brew could join hands about the boy, and men well known everywhere were glad to learn from obscure but devoted social workers. At a section- al symposium of clubs working outside churches, Mr. John W. Glenn, late president of the Na- tional Conference of Charities, the Rev. Dr. G. M. Murray of Baltimore, Miss Mary Hall of the Good Will street boys' club of Hartford and Mr. Hugh F. Fox, president of the New Jersey Board of Children's Guardians entered into the same animated discussion. The fact that this was no gathering of faddists, and the proof that the boy has called forth the most sacrificing enthusiasm was seen in the presence of Mr. Hinckley of Maine, whose Good Will Homes, founded in faith and conducted by prayer, are now a mighty institution beside the Kennebec, of Mr. Meyer Bloomfield, a child of Mulberry Bend, now the head of the Civic Service House in the Hebrew quarter of Boston, of Mr. Henry F. Burt of Chicago Commons who left the farm and Theo- logical Seminary for boys' work, of Superintend- ent Hunt of Bunker Hill Club, and "Boys' Pas- tor," W. H. Culver of Detroit, who forsook preaching to live with boys, and of Mr. Frank S. Mason, secretary of the Alliance, who in early manhood gave up all to found the Bunker Hill Club. These facts gave a hutnanness to the whole Conference. DISCUSSIONS CENTER ON THE BOY AND THE HOME. The theme of the Conference, "The Boy and the Home," approached on every side by the pa- pers, was significant, as Dr. Samuel W. Dike pointed out in his paper on "The Home as a Fac- tor in Social Work," as the inevitable return from the secondary institutions to the primary, from organization back to the cell. It was heart- ening to see how even those who are in the con- duct of boys' clubs with a thousand members recognized the necessity of making the home bet- ter, of relating all club work to it and of re- manding much that is now done outside to its care and development. For the convenience of the speakers the logical order of topics was not followed, but there was a convenient notation of the programs which showed how carefully a constructive and cumu- lative plan had been followed. Considering these addresses in their proper arrangement, a word or two may be said about those which were most fresh in thought and outlook. The conditions of the different classes of boy-life were studied as the basis for means of aid. Of these the street boy and the school boy, and the boy reached by the church, the Y. M. C. A. and the social set- tlement were discussed. It is hoped to give an entire convention soon to the working boy. The paper prepared to be read upon the country boy was omitted from lack of time. Mr. Jacob A. Riis' lecture upon "Tony," the street boy, had been eagerly awaited and abundantly rewarded the large audience who listened to him. Behind his vivid words lurked ever his gracious personality and his own heroic labors for the slums. He por- trayed Tony's lack of a chance in life, the absence of privacy, reverence and leisure in his home, his contempt for law through seeing it broken around him, his loss of all opportunity of self-expres- sion through play. He spoke of a brightening day which was at hand and told with glee of the changes which the approaching New York City election would prophesy, an augury which the following Tuesday ratified. Principal Endicott Peabody of Groton, in an address suffused with a warm evangelical spirit, depicted the relation of the preparatory school to the home. He deplored . the lack of intimacy between parents and children and of the old priestly conception of fatherhood. He declared that a reversion to savagery in the younger generation could only be stayed by a genu- inely Christian home life. Mr. Burt portrayed briefly but graphically the good home, the poor home, the poverty home and the homeless home, each of which the settlement touches, and then stated that the chief ways the settlement helps the home, are by affording opportunity for play in game room and gymnasium, by utilizing the gang instinct harmlessly, by creating self respect in encouraging cleanliness and hope, by insist- ing upon order, by providing a place for the ex- pression of "the true-boy-vitality," by culture and by personality. THE BOY AS AN IDEALIST. A study of the boy as an idealist by Prof. Henry M. Burr of th^ Y. M. C. A. Training School was most fresh and suggestive. He de- clared that the boy is an idealist, that his ideals are immediate in their influence upon him, that the growing boy should be fed upon ideals suited to his age and temperament. He showed that a boy's ideals follow approximately in order the development of race ideals, and that stories em- bracing these lines of development are their mutual vehicle to the boy. With such impetus must come practical and related activities. Pro- fessor Burr made a very sensible suggestion that it is a boy's ideal of womanhood and of his own manhood more than instructions about matters of purity which will preserve him from sexual sins. CHURCH WORK FOR BOYS. Two lively sectional conferences were held in THE COMMONS the afternoon session. At the meeting of those interested in church work a terse, strong, search- ing 'and kindly critique of the Endeavor move- ment as applied to boys was read by the Rev. Ozora S. Davis of Newton. The main thesis was that while all the Christian virtues are implicit in one expression of the Christian Endeavor pledge, so explicit are Bible reading, prayer and vocal testimony that to the boys the society seems to encourage a feminine rather than a masculine type of piety. The result has been to alienate growing boys from the movement. Recognizing heartily the broader fellowship offered of late by the United Society, Dr. Davis urged that plans for self-expression and service be added or sub- stituted, and that pastors endeavor to retain sym- pathy with the movement while adapting it more closely to the natural instincts of boy-life. This position seemed to find a hearty echo from the church workers present. THE SMALL GROUP VERSUS THE MASS METHOD. At the conference of those interested in work other than that in churches a hot battle raged, as last year, between the advocates of group and mass club work. The discussion from its very warmth was encouraging to thought and if any mass club leader present had been doing a super- ficial work or any group club man or woman had fallen a prey to the knitting work style of helping boys, each must have had conviction of sin pressed vigorously upon him. Mr. Charles W. Birtwell of the Children's Aid Society worked as a harmonizer by impressing the group with the fact that boys may need a large assembly room before they get courage to enter the con- finement and restraint of a small class room. He advised the mass club leaders to resolve that each man of them should visit every home repre- sented in his club during the coming year. EDWARD EVERETT HALE AND "LEND A HAND." The crown of the convention came at its close. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, the patriarchal Bri- areus of goodness, presided and shed the benedic- tion of his presence and approval over all. He reminisced delightfully of the days when definite work for boys was unknown, told of his efforts to establish the Lend a Hand movement, which was perhaps the first boys' club movement in America and which has been the fruitful parent of so many others, and described the incredulity with which the city fathers of Boston had de- clined a munificent proposed gift for establish- ing in that city not many years ago an industrial institution for boys. That men should actually give money, time and lives to help our future men no longer is incredible. THE RIGHT KIND OF A HOME TO MAKE THE RIGHT SORT OF A BOY. Dr. Francis G. Peabody of Harvard spoke what was, by common consent, the greatest word of the day. His theme was "The Right Kind of a Home to Make the Right Sort of a Boy." In his quiet, perfect English and yet with Christian passion he plead for homes that should be rich in ideal and in opportunity rather than in pleas- ures and wealth, for homes that should under- stand and enfold the developing, fickle, impres- sible child, for homes where the thing which the obsolete word "piety" stood for should no more be obsolete. EXHIBIT OF GAMES AND HAND CRAFT. A small but instructive exhibit of the wide variety of work being done with boys was brought by those who attended. Special features were the set of games used in a mass club, a few samples of handicraft, a beautifully mounted set of pictures showing the work of the Boston Y. M. C. A., and the Bible illuminating done by the children at Winthrop Church. The most viv- id exhibit was the Bunker Hill Boys' Club Building, where part of the sessions were held. To see the rough old dwelling house jammed full of street boys, with gymnasium, game rooms, baths, reading rooms and industrial classes in operation, was most encouraging as showing how much good can be done to a great many im- poverished lives with a meagre equipment and little money. Thirty men and women engaged in work for street boys alone dined together in the club, a larger number than had probably ever met in one place. MEMBERSHIP IN THE ALLIANCE OF WORKERS FOR BOYS. Although the place for the next Conference has not been settled, it is hoped that a hearty invitation from New York or Chicago may give the privilege of meeting this great company of specialists to a larger audience. The full report of the Conference is in press and will be sent for fifty cents by application to Mr. Frank S. Mason, Charlestown, Boston, or to THE COMMONS. The president of the Alliance in his annual report showed what a startlingly large demand had been made upon his time and counsel and that of his associates, who beginning as a group of students have been forced to become without salary a bureau of information upon the whole subject. It may be well to repeat the statement made at the meetings that while no fees are charged for advice or help to any work- er with boys, it is desired that all who receive help should take their turn in offering help by 8 THE COMMONS paying a life membership fee in the Alliance of one dollar. The Conference regarded not only the present but the future of work with boys. In his re- port the president gave abundant indications of the unrest and dissatisfaction with the condition of present agencies in churches and communities, which must portend new methods and more ener- getic efforts. He commented upon the estab- lishment of local centres of those interested in this one topic in the cities of New York and Boston as suggesting the possibility of economy of forces in the great centres and of furnishing smaller groups of men who will give help and thus relieve the burdened central office of the Alliance. The Alliance itself passed two reso- lutions unanimously and without discussion, which themselves indicate the growing import- ance of the movement in behalf of adolescence. They were as follows : "That the President in behalf of the Alliance communicate to the President of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to be held at St. Louis the recommendation that suitable provision be made for the representation of a separate department of Charities and Correction." This resolution was intended to head off any private scheme for a so-called boy's building and aid in an endeavor to have all philanthropies, including those for boys, adequately presented. "That it is the sentiment of this association that influence be used with Boards of Education and teachers in public schools toward extending the use of public school buildings for such so- cial efforts as boys' clubs." The whole meeting was one of the most cheer- ing illustrations of wise, generous minded union of care and thought in taking hold of a definite branch of service and pressing for its more gen- eral and vigorous prosecution. Impression from the Boy Conference. BY HENRY F. BURT, DIRECTOR OF BOYS' WORK, CHICAGO COMMONS. Just as all workers with boys emphasize the per- sonality of leaders so does the personality of men and women take hold of our lives. Jacob A. Riis, in his story of New York street life, made us feel, and when we feel we are very likely to act. His characteristic wit and the intensity of his enthusiasm gave a good spirit to the beginning of the conference, and revealed to his auditors that we were in Boston on import- ant business. Such men as Francis G. Peabody, Chas. W. Birtwcll, Hugh F. Fox, and Henry M. Burr, with their depth of character and sweetness of spirit, aroused a missionary fervor that permeated the whole conference. We all felt by their presence that triteness of character, gentleness of manner, and firmness of conviction, are! the essentials for leadership in boy's work. The success of the conference depended on the president and secretary. Dr. Forbush and Mr. Mason are to be congratulated on their efforts. The program excepting one paper was carried out completely, and it was carried out on time. MASS OR GROUP CLUBS, WHICH? In the "Conference of Settlement Workers, Street Boys' Clubs Superintendents, and Boys' Y. M. C. A. Secretaries," Mr. C. H. Warner, from the Neighborhood House in New York City, gave enthusiasm to the meeting. There were some lively discussions, the most interesting of which was of the relative value of the mass and group clubs. One gratifying feature of the conference was the fact that the gathering was representative of boys' work. On the program were represen- tatives of the National Society for the Protection of the Family, the Public Library, the Children's Aid Society, the Y. M. C. A., the Social Settle- ment, the Preparatory School, the Mass Club, and the Church. This is important because the boys' club cannot do the best work alone, in fact they can do little work without the co-operation of all other child saving agencies. If any of us have the idea that we are "the whole thing," the quicker we relieve our minds of that burden the better. The writer in his own work has had occasion to call on no less than five different child saving agencies for aid. This conference stood for co-operation. Y. M. C. A. BOYS' WORK. We are all glad to hear of the great stride forward the Y. M. C. A. has taken in the boys' department. Because of the Association's gym- nasium equipment, it is better adapted for boys' work to-day than any other institution. Mr. Ambrose Page of the Haverhill, Mass., Y. M. C. A. has struck the right plan, and in his paper he told how he had, with the Y. M. C. A. as a center, founded boys' clubs over the city. Every Associ- ation could do this and should do it. They could form a boys' club in different! locations and give the boys the use of the gymnasium and baths, on condition that they attend the club regularly. Young men can be found in every Y. M. C. A. who would give one evening a week to the boys in some club room, or better still, in their own home. The Y. M. C. A. should not be turned into a boys' club house. It is not adapted for that THE COMMONS purpose and boys and young men will not mix. But in dealing with young men alone, the As- sociation is dealing with the small end of a big proposition. The small end, because it is impos- sible to bring back the great mass of young men, who because of neglect in boyhood have drifted away. Save the boys and the Y. M. C. A. will save itself. This Mr. Page is doing in Haver- hill. BOYS' CLUBS AND THE HOME. The conference stood for the boy in the Home. We all agree that unless we reach the home, we have not struck a solid foundation for our work. It was this idea of reaching the home that created a lively discussion between the supporters of the mass and group clubs. It was urged by the group club leaders that the leader of the mass club could not know so many boys, and that it de- stroyed the home to invite a boy every night into a club. On the other hand, the mass club lead- ers said, very good, but we cannot get the lead- ers for small clubs, and besides many of our boys are on the street every night if they are not in the club. Both plans have advantages and -disadvantages. But, while a believer in the small group plan, I am not ready to condemn the mass clubs. If it were possible to reconstruct the home of the typical street boy, and make it a place of interest and sympathy, we would abolish the mass club. We do, however, firmly believe in the club as a supplement to the home. THE BUNKER HILL BOYS' CLUB. Club workers will be interested to hear some- thing of the "Bunker Hill Boys' Club," whose guests we were while in Boston. The building is an old three story frame house. Mr. Mason -organized the club and was its superintendent un- til recently, when Mr. E. L. Hunt succeeded him. The fall work is just beginning, and already over 300 boys are enrolled in the membership. On the first floor is the superintendent's office, and a reading room well supplied with papers and magazines. On the second floor are the game and manual training rooms, while on the third floor is the gymnasium. The club has also a printing outfit and the boys do all the club printing. The old house is always full of boys, and as Mr. Ma- son said, it shows how much can be done even with a meager equipment. The boys are proud of the old house and doubtless it is a place where many a young lad is saved. A pleasant feature of the conference was the banquet tendered the club leaders by Dr. Forbush, Mr. Mason, and the "Bunker Hill Boys' Club," in the latter's club house. This enabled us to become acquainted and to exchange ideas at close range. A JERSEY CITY BOYS' CLUB. A very interesting boys' club is conducted by the Whittier House, in Jersey City. The leader, a young lawyer, found that his boys about six- teen years of age did not remain at home in the evening, but that they were spending their leisure time around the billiard tables in the saloons. He called the boys together for a con- ference and as the result a basement room was fitted up with a billiard table, several small games, and a punching bag. Here the boys are allowed perfect freedom, and are free from any harmful influences. This is a living demonstration of the fact that men, as a rule, do not seek the sa- loon except as it supplies their needs. Give the boys and young men the good things freely offered them by the saloon and you will surely strip the saloon of its power. This club room is full of young men every night. The leader pro- poses to form as an adjunct to the club a literary class and a musical band. BOYS' CLUES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. One of the most interesting and progressive features of boys' work in New York City, is the fact that the public schools are being opened for evening classes and clubs. In a visit to the Ghetto, in the densely populated Jewish quarter of New York, we found that the upper floors were being used for night classes composed chiefly of young working men and women. On the ground floor in the large play-room, for New York cannot afford a play ground except it places a "sky-scraper" over it, a boys' club was in pro- gress, numbering about one hundred boys, all playing good, wholesome games. In other rooms the group plan was being carried out. One group of particular interest was conducted by a resi- dent of the University Settlement. These boys, averaging fourteen years of age, were doing good literary work in debating, and writing essays and verse. In another part of the school building a free gymnasium was in progress, well equipped, and the classes were led by a Yale man. In the basement were free shower baths. The public schools belong to the people and should be used for any social service not in conflict with their special educational work. Chicago's Awa.kenirvg to her Boy Problem. The awakening of Chicago to the conscious- ness of herself is nowhere more happily manifest than in the intelligent interest and effort being bestowed upon the educational, social and reform- atory treatment of her boy problem. Until with- in five or six years the distinctive interests of boys were strangely ignored, not only by the pub- 10 THE COMMONS lie officials and institutions to whose custody mul- titudes of juvenile delinquents were committed, but also by private philanthrophy and public spir- ited individuals, as well as by the) boys own par- ents. The city police stations and House of Cor- rection, to which thousands of these little fellows were confined, were nothing less than hotbeds of crime in the fertile soil of which their lives were literally seeded down. The dawn of the new day came two years ago, with the enactment of the Juvenile Court Law, through the strenu- ous labor and influence of a very few intelligent and determined people, chiefly two or three moth- erly women. The appointment of the eminently well qualified judge and the selection of his efficient corps of probation officers made the enactment immediately effective. Still some of the old abuses lingered, though constantly miti- gated. At last the passionate appeal of Judge Tuthill for a rural detention home for juvenile delinquents, where the boys can be completely re- moved from the present contaminating influence of the city prison within whose outer walls they are still confined, has met with popular response and a subscription is well started toward provid- ing the city with this much needed addition to its reformatory equipment. It is a good sign that even with their better organization and agencies, these public officials are feeling their comparative helplessness with- out the co-operation of the parents and friends of the boys. The encouragement with which they met in trying to arouse the conscience and pride of the Italian population to co-operate with the efforts of the Court in behalf of their own children, will be read with interest in the follow- ing report of a conference held for this purpose. A PLEA FOR THE ITALIAN CHILDREN. "In the interest of the poor and neglected Italian children of our city," Judge Tuthill of the Juvenile Court issued a call for a meeting at Hull House, Sunday afternoon, Nov. loth. The meeting was well attended and besides represen- tatives of the Court, the Aid Societies and Set- tlements,) the Italian people themselves were well represented, and in the audience were several of our foremost American citizens. Judge Tuthill presided over the meeting. He gave his reasons for calling the meeting by briefly setting forth the condition of the Italian people. He said the Italian comes to Chicago, unable to speak our language and unskilled in labor. As a result he must take the poorest positions. He finds that, with a large family, he cannot support it on $1.25 a day, but he learns that his little boy or girl can earn good wages by selling papers or gum on the streets. The child goes to work, sometimes when he is not over three years old. He is on the street all day and far into the night. In a short time he does not go home at night, but lives on the streets and in the alleys. Soon he is caught up by the police and brought to the Court. Many more children are sent to beg 1 on the streets. This is a good business, for the bright-eyed Italian child is loved by all, and he brings home many nickels and pennies. If these conditions go unchecked, inevitably the child be- comes a criminal. The homes must be reached. We must explain the conditions to the parents. They are so absorbed in the struggle for life that they do not give enough thought to their chil- dren. We must have Italian probation officers to look up the parents of the needy children and point out their dangers. The number of the Italian children that come into the Juvenile Court is out of proportion to other nationalities. The Court wants not to punish, but to help. The chief probation officer said that one dol- lar a month from all the Italian organizations of the city would pay for the services of the three probation officers needed. The superintendent of the Bureau of Charities described an interesting investigation carried on by that Society. Twenty little street girls were followed home late at night, and the next day their parents were visited. A wealthy man offered to supply the money the child could earn, if necessary to keep her from the street, but not in one case was it necessary to call on him. The parents only needed to under- stand the conditions and the dangers. The clerk of the Juvenile Court emphasized the plea of the other speakers for an understanding of the Italian people and their readiness to re- spond to an appeal to their pride. An Italian physician said ignorance was the cause of the present condition. He advocated a license for newsboys and bootblacks and the appointment of an inspector who should see that no child received a license without a certificate ' from his teacher of attendance at school. Play- ing dice makes the boy bad. If these boys play dice, take away their licenses. "We must do the work ourselves," said another Italian, "an Ameri- can cannot do business with an Italian ignorant of the American language." Several Italian men volunteered their services as assistant probation officers. The meeting moved that he chairman appoint a committee of fifteen Italians to consider ways and means to meet the need. The opening of the public schools as social centers for neighborhood work is another move- ment which will have a very direct bearing upon the solution of the boy problem. THE COMMONS 11 Savona.rola*s Bov Problem. The misery that loves the company which suffers the same troubles and attempts the same solutions will rind unexpected fellowship in Flor- ence of Savonarola's day. In attempting the ref- ormation of that fickle city, the great Friar found his civic ideals and patriotic purposes seriously withstood by the carnival festivities in which un- der the Medici the Florentines had indulged to an unlimited and almost incredible extent. The whole city is described to have been a scene of wild revelry, in the worst features of which the boys of Florence, of course, took special delight. Villari in Jiis great story of the "Life and Times, of Savonarola" vouches for the habits of their medieval gangs after this fashion : "They were accustomed, during those days, to continually stop people in the streets by barring the road with long poles, and refusing to remove them until they had extorted enough money to pay for their mad feastings by night. After these carousals, they made bonfires in the squares, round which they danced and sang, and finally pelted one another with stones in so brutal a fashion that no year passed without some of the combatants being left dead on the ground." "THIS MAD AND BESTIAL GAME OF STONES." As the chroniclers style it, was "so inverterarte and ancient a custom, that even the severe and terrifying edicts of the magistrates had never been able to repress, much less root it out." For "by nightfall the boys were so excited with the revels of the day that no penalty availed to keep them in check." Having achieved such brilliant results in the reformation of politics and morals, Savonarola at last attempted what he styled "the reform of the children." With his rare insight m- to human nature he foresaw how difficult it would be to entirely abolish the old customs. So he decided to transform them by substituting re- ligious for carnival gaieties. "Accordingly at the same street corners where the children formerly assembled to demand money for their banquets, he caused small altars to be erected, before which they were to take their stand and beg contributions, not, however, for the purposes of self indulgence but for alms to the poor. Sing as much as ye will, he said to the boys, but sing hymns and sacred lauds instead of indecent songs." He not only wrote hymns for them himself, but commis- sioned a popular poet to compose other verses for their use. Obtaining the sanction of the city government, the boys of Florence undertook the transformation of its carnival. "Qn the last day of the festivities a grand procession was ar- ranged, in which, attracted by the novelty of the thing, the whole population took part. The chil- dren went through the city singing hymns and entering all the principal churches, after which they handed over the sums collected, with all their old importunity, for distribution among the modest poor." A little later this laudable pro- cessional was diverted to the far more question- able purpose of demanding the surrender of all indecent books, and pictures, carnival masks and costumes. For this purpose bands of boys were sent about the city, knocking at the doors of rich and poor, to demand all such "vanities or anathemae." Upon receiving them they re- pealed a special prayer of Savonarola's composi- tion, and, passing on from house to house to the Piazza, they piled the confiscated articles upon old king carnival's monstrous funeral pyre, and sang devotional songs and invectives against the carnival while the flames ascended, the trumpets sounded, the bells pealed, and the multitude shouted. The good monk took a pardonable pride in the fact "that these children who used to go about begging in order to buy staves and burn brooms and feast and drink, now have collected more money for the poor, than thou with all thy wisdom wouldst ever be able to obtain ;" and that "the evil custom of throwing stones, which neith- er the power of the magistrates nor prohibitions and penalties ever succeeded in putting out, a poor friar by a few words and prayers hath put an end to." Thus the chronicler attests "in the year 1496 the game of stones was suppressed for the first time, there was no more gluttonous feasting and three hundred ducats were collected for the poor." Nevertheless "some objections were raised by those who always murmured against every good work that proceeded from Savonarola, but the greater part of the citizens and all worthy men declared that the Friar had again achieved a task in which everyone else in Florence had failed." Superintendent Torrance of the Illinois State Reformatory at Pontiac, before the National Prison Congress last summer declared: "I have no hesitation in asserting that at least 85 per cent of all young men and boys who have committed crimes, If taken charge of in time and subjected to proper treatment, will become good citizens. Ninety per cent of the young convicted of crimes would not be- come criminals with proper surroundings, proper companions and proper attention. "If I were king of the world I should have an examination of teachers as to their ability to tell a good story." 12 THE COMMONS West Side Neighborhood House and Armitage Cha.pel New York City. BY ARCHIBALD A. HILL, HEAD-WORKER. For some years the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church has conducted for the West Side a work known as Armitage House. Sunday-schools, re- ligious services, a day nursery, kindergarten and a few clubs of a social nature were held in the building. From the earliest days it was felt that the work must not be conducted solely as a mis- The services of a settlement worker were se- cured and for nearly three years he maintained his home in a tenement on the corner of Fiftieth Street and Tenth Avenue. The result of his in- vestigations and work was from time to time re- ported to the church. The following plan of action was then adopted : To have one commit- tee in charge of its work on the West side, but to have this work consist of two departments, namely, the West Side Neighborhood House, a social Settlement, and Armitage Chapel. The Settlement is not to he used as a bait to lure Nt\v West Side sion. The formally religious work was called a branch of the parent church. And more than that it was soon found that the religious services were not all that residents of the neighborhood needed. Gradually a desire for a larger expres- sion of religious motives grew in the minds of the directors, and this desire caused the creation of a committee to examine into the needs of the neighborhood and to find the best methods of meeting' them. This committee unanimously re- ported that a settlement would serve the neighbor- hood best. Neighborhood House. any one to the chapel. It exists to do that which in itself is worth the doing and hence has no 'motive back of the deed. The form of orga- nization in the chapel will be left to the future, but it is hoped that some sort of democratic bond will grow out of the work and be suggested by those who attend. HOUSE-WARM ixc BY NEIGHBORS. To house these two departments of its work, the church lias erected two buildings, entirely separate. On Friday evening, October 25th, the Settlement opened its doors to its neighbors. The THE COMMONS residents had prepared to receive about six hun- dred of their friends, but were overwhelmed by more than fifteen hundred. It was an especial delight to see that very many of the workingmen on the building came with their families, and to see the pride they took in the solidity and worth of their own work. Often one or another was lief in the wholesomeness of man's life, and as a concrete attempt to express the brotherhood of man. Dr. Johnston showed how all our work is but the flowering of work done in the past by this particular church and that it was the bring- ing together under one management of all the interests and aspirations of the church. The Kindergarten in Full Operation. heard to say, "Look at that, you can't beat work like that!" They had been well and justly treated and they in turn had rendered good and faithful work. As far as possible the neighbors were given preference in filling positions. ADDRESSES AT THE FORMAL OPENING. On October 2O.th was held the formal opening of the building to the general public outside of the neighborhood. Dr. W. H. P. Faunce, the former pastor of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, in whose term of service the work was begun, and Dr. R. P. Johnston, the present pas- tor, made the addresses. Dr. Faunce spoke of this Settlement as representing faith in God and be- lief that all life is religious, faith in man and be- HOME FEATURES AND PUBLIC USES IN COMBINA- TION. The Settlement building is situated on the northwest corner of Tenth Avenue and Fiftieth Street and the chapel is two doors north on Tenth Avenue. Both- buildings are of red Har- vard brick, laid in Flemish bond, with greenish- black leaders, and are very harmonious in color. The design of the settlement building was drawn with a view to secure public rooms without mak- ing the building a bare, unattractive institution. The main floor is an illustration. The wide hospitable entrance opens into a square hall from which the steps and elevator lead to the floors above. On the left is the auditorium where con- 14 THE COMMONS certs, lectures, receptions and general meetings will be held. The New York Board of Education uses this Hall for its lecture courses. On the right of the entrance hall is the office of the Head Worker, so arranged that every one who enters the building passes under his notice. Also on this side are the dining and, sitting rooms of the residents and a neighborhood reception room, where friends of the house may meet one another and feel really at home. It is an attempt to sup- ply a homelike feature to an unhomelike neigh- borhood. These rooms are fitted up as little like an institution as possible and this is true through- out the building. The basement contains the men's club rooms and bowling alleys, public baths, boiler and engine rooms, household kitchen, laundry and janitor's rooms. For the men a separate entrance is provided in order that they may feel more at ease. There are fourteen shower baths and two tubs in the pub- light and air on all four sides, a feature so far as known, not parallelled in New York. Over the stage of the auditorium and adjoining the kindergarten room is a small enclosed roof en- tirely for the use of the little ones. Here they can have flowers, sand-piles, and enjoy light and air unmolested. Within a few weeks there will be three large kindergartens in the house, one occupying the auditorium, one the regular kinder- garten rooms, and one the club rooms on the third floor. RESIDENTS' LIVING-ROOMS NEAR THE CLUB-ROOMS. The third floor is the general floor. Carrying out the idea of keeping together the public and domestic sides of the work, the suites of rooms for residents and the public rooms for clubs and classes have been put on this floor. But this has not been done at the expense of the necessary pri- vacy of the residents, as by an ingenious arrange- ment of entrance and closet space, each room is separated from the public hall by two walls and Spacious Gymnasium and Running Track. lie bath loom. All of the power for the heating, lighting and machinery comes from the plant in the basement. CHILDREN'S FLOOR. The second floor is given over entirely to the little children and contains club room, kinder- garten, Day Nursery, crib and dining rooms. These rooms are large, bright and sunny and some have an air space. These rooms are arranged so that they can be used either singly or en suite. The circulating library, club and class rooms are so arranged that they also can be used singly or thrown together for receptions and neighborhood parties. These rooms also are bright and sunny and varying in size in order to accommodate many kinds and sizes of clubs and classes. THE COMMONS 15 The fourth floor is the one which contains the rooms -specifically prepared for the work to be done in them. Here are the gymnasium, gymnasium bath, locker rooms, manual training rooms and cooking school. The gymnasium ceiling is twenty-four feet high and has light and air on all four sides, and also has an elevated running track. There is only one entrance to all the gymnasium the kindergarten has used it on all the warm, clear days. The New York Board of Education promises to place two Vacation Schools on the roof in the coming summer. The response of the neighborhood has been ready and cordial. The policy of the management has been simply to supply the demands that have been made known to them and thus the work done rooms and thus the teacher knows exactly who is in them. The locker and bath rooms contain every thing- wanted by the person who is exercis- ing, thus there is no excuse for any one's being in the public halls in gymnasium clothes. The cooking school is supplied with individual stoves and with all modern essentials, but not with such things as would tend to discourage the pupil when she returns to the limited equipment of her own home. The manual training room contains the usual equipment. The fifth and last floor contains rooms for five more residents and for the serv- ants and a large room for quiet educational work. The latter is so situated that no one passes it save the residents who live on this floor. ROOF GARDEN FOR SETTLEMENT AND VACATION SCHOOL USE. The entire roof is a roof garden and will be covered with awnings in the summer. This fall is genuinely meeting the needs of the neighbors. So far the largest demand has been for purely social clubs and classes that have practical bear- ing, such as cooking, dress-making and millinery. This is natural in a manufacturing neighborhood. ARMITAGE CHAPEL FOR RELIGIOUS WORK. The Armitage Chapel will have a seating capac- ity on the main floor of three hundred people and a gallery for a primary room which can be opened into the main auditorium, thus giving a total seat- ing capacity of four hundred and fifty. There are two secretaries' rooms and a pastor's office and three private class rooms. In the rear of the chapel is a large open space, entered from the Settlement, which will be used as a playground. Great is he who enjoys his earthenware as If It were plate, and not less great Is the man to whom all his plate is no more than his earthen- ware. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 16 THE COMMONS. The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Settlement Point of View. GRAHAM TAYLOR, Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.i Morgan St., Chicago, 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. The uniquely considerate article by Miss Julia 0. Lathrop, which we a*re gratified to publish in this number, will be read with special interest by those who deplore the loss of her invaluable ff.rvices from the Illinois State Board of Chan- ties. Her resignation, with that of Dr. Hirsch. in protest against making partisan spoils of the secretaryship of the Board, has aroused so much criticism of the s/tate administration that it bids fair to become a vital issue in political dis- cussion. Already the Cook County Infirmary at Dunning is undergoing an investigation of the treatment too long and too patiently endured by the hundreds of helpless poor and insane people and their friends. We heartily welcome to editorial co-operation Mrs. Caroline Williamson Montgomery, who, in this number, begins to edit the department devo- ted to the interests of the College Settlement As- sociation. The capacity and constituency added to THE COMMONS through this department, cannot fail to increase the intrinsic value and helpful inPiuence of this journal of the settlement movement. 'She Public School as . Social Center. The opening of public school buildings as cen- ters for neighborhood social service, in which New York has led the other great American cities, is full of inspiring possibilities. Without any suspicion of being patronized or in any way merely permitted, the people of all classes, races, faiths, and conditions, will more spontaneously respond to any offer which their Board of Edu- cation may extend to put the schools to social use, than they will take advantage of any privi- lege provided through private or philanthropic auspices. For a very real sense and pride, of ownership in the schools is growing up among all the people. The common schools seem to the people to belong to all of them, as nothing else does or can. Even the streets and parks give them less of a sense of ownership, for they must rightfully "move on" in the highway, and too few of them can linger long enough in their pleasure grounds to feel that the parks belong to them. But between the schools and almost every home the child is a living link. The school ground is the one patch of mother earth owned by the whole people. The school building is the one house which we all have the right to enter. Why should not all be made at home there, where, if anywhere, the American people have set up housekeeping together? Through what may be attempted in these public school-centers, there is boundless hope of promoting adult educa- tion, the moral elevation and enrichment of fam- ily life, the betterment of industrial relationship, the development of a civic and national patriotism, and the social unification of our cosmopolitan city populations. At the first neighborhood reception to be held in Chicago under this open-school policy, five hundred parents gathered at an occasion, which was instinctively called the "Social Center." The officials of the city Board of Education were as hopeful of the advantage which would accrue to the schools by this use of the buildings as the people were of the help which these occasions would give to their neighborhood. A new en- thusiasm for the public school system, will be sure to be awakened by its social service ex- tension. The practical and public value of this new use to which the schools are being put, may be indicated by the first applications to be filed for their hitherto unused provision for the peo- ple's needs. The Norwegian National League asked for the auditorium of one school for a series of weekly lectures. A Woman's Club ap- plied for the use of another school building for the purpose of instructing girls and women in sewing. Twelve teachers asked for the gym- nasium of a high school one night each week that they might hold classes in manual and physical training. Members of an Improvement Association desired accommodations for their lecture course on municipal affairs. Twenty pe- titioners asked accommodations for social and lit- erary occasions twice each week. The influential Merchants Club, composed of the more promi- nent young men in commercial and manufacturing circles, proposed to the Board of Education to take charge of the entire social use to which one of the largest high school buildings could be put this winter. These are only the first fruits of the more libe- ral view taken of the social trust, committed by the people to their Boards of Education, in the custody of these great neighborhood houses, which our school buildings are thus recognized to be. Care should be taken to safeguard their THECOMMONS 17 social use from any abuse which might provoke a reaction against this most hopeful movement. Perhaps the appointment of an assistant superin- tendent in each city or town, to have supervision of the social extension department of the public school, may conserve both the safety and the de- velopment of this new and sensible policy. Why not Open School Building to Labor Vnlons? One of the greatest drawbacks to the legitimate *rades union movement is the lack of any proper place for the unions to meet. When too poor to rent quarters for themselves, the liquor trade is always enterprising enough to offer them a beer hall for their headquarters. Even when self-re- spect prompts them to decline this hospitality, which however hospitable is never without an eye to business, the unions are too often shut up to a choice of halls under the control of some saloon or brewery by the lower rate of rental, which puts only such places within their reach. The demoralizing influences under which the un- ions are thus forced to exist are not mqre obvi- ous to outsiders than -they are deplored by all the better men within their own membership. A railway employee in one of our Free Floor dis- cussions stated the situation of his craft, with fine balance between the righteous indignation and the sense of personal honor, which it in- volved. He said his group were obliged to ac- cept the* hospitality of the saloon so often that he and other fellow workmen felt more and more ashamed to pass the bar with so little patron- age in going out from their meeting. So that many a time he and other men, who werel not in the habit of drinking, felt in honor bound to pay for drinks in discharge of! their social obligation. Even when not so intimately connected with the liquor interests, the "labor halls" are so ill adapted, so unattractive and so depressing as to deteriorate the moral tone and ideal of any in- dividual or body of men frequenting 1 them. Such rough, crude, uncleanly, material surroundings cannot fail to lower the ideal of the proceedings and take off the fine edge of a chivalrous public spirit, which struggle to exist against such odds. It is not Utopian but simply in accord with hu- man experience to hope that a new sense of pub- lic responsibility for utterance and for action would gradually follow the public recognition and status which would be given the trade unions by granting them school halls for their regular weekly meeting. If in addition to this privilege the< unions could have the use of a smaller room for club purposes every evening, they would be fairly emancipated from many of the demoral- izing influences, which not only inevitably deteri- orate the manhood of their membership, but com- plicate seriously their own and public interests in every crisis of industrial relationships. By this human service, as well as, by popular, lecture courses on industrial history and the ethics of industry, the public schools may promote the pub- lic peace and progress, more practically and effect- ively than any other agency. It is most encourag- ing to the hope of better relationships in industry, that many large employers of labor, both in manufacturing and mercantile business, are openly and urgently advocating the opening of the public school buildings to labor unions. From the Settlements. NEW RESIDENCE AT KINGSLEY HOUSE. Kingsley House, Pittsburg, Pa., is to be con- gratulated upon the opening, Nov. nth, of their new residence. It is thus described by the Kings- ley House Record : "Just back of Union Station rises a high bluff upon which, at he corner of Bedford and Ful- ton Streets, stands a spacious mansion, surround- ed by nearly an acre of ground. The front door opens into a wide and beautiful hall, on one side of which are the library and parlor, faced on the other side of the hall by the assembly-rooms. At the rear of the house are the billiard room, the dining-room, kitchen and pantries ; the kindergar- ten rooms, Doctor's offices, gymnasium, room for mechanical drawing, and laundry, are in the base- ment. On the second floor are the residents' quarters and the Men's club room, which com- municates with the gymnasium by a private stair. Part of the third floor has been equipped for the reception of men residents. The expense of all repairs and necessary alter- ations was borne solely by Mr. Frick who has thus placed Pittsburg high in the list of cities possessing well equipped settlements." EAST SIDE HOUSE SETTLEMENT. 76th. STREET AND EAST RIVER, NEW YORK CITY. Ground has been broken for the erection of an additional building at the East Side House, 70x40 feet, three stories high to cost $60,000. When the settlement was established in 1894, the neighbor- hood was reported to be "somewhat renowned for lawlessness. Its people were hostile to the settlement attempt and occupied our premises sim- ply to get what they could without part in or understanding of any settlement idea. Now, not only is our community co-operative and friendly with the work of the East Side House, but there is alive and active a spirit of municipal reform. 18 THE COMMONS Tammany is no longer supreme and unquestioned. Socially, the manners and ideals of the people with whom we live and move and have our being, have so improved that we are working now with orderly, courteous, self-respecting associates, helpful as intelligent partners, in almost all our endeavors. We have refused to take partisan action in city politics, for which we are criticised. The settlement as a settlement stands for no party, but we do labor as a settlement and as individuals for politics. So, too, there is no teaching of any one form or principle of religious practice, but the whole spirit and influence of our residents in the neighorhood is, we trust, for Christian righteousness. We fear and work against insdtutionalism and the success we aspire to is that it shall make East Side House a neigh- borhood home center." ALTA SOCIAL SETTLEMENT, MAYFIELD ROAD CLEVELAND, OHIO. From the head-worker of Altai House we have the following interesting information of the prog- ress of its work: "I am making an analysis of our Italian colo- ny using the national statistical blank issued by the Charity Organization Society in New York, tpgether with a map of the Italian district, hop- ing that with these statistics the city may be prevailed upon to back our efforts. We are fight- ing the garbage nuisance, truancy and child-labor, child insurance and poor lighting of the streets, which taken together with the Italian custom of "laying off" during the winter months breeds more crime than almost any other condition. We are almost never without contagious disease amongst us, due probably to the bad condition of the sewers and the over-crowding in the small houses, which fact makes our dispensary and trained nurse, necessities. The beer sold to chil- dren and carried into vacant lots, where they treat all round, is getting beyond endurance. An- other fundamental evil in the colony is the spirit of indifference among the unskilled laborers to American customs and institutions and even the so-called necessities of life. They prefer dis- comfort, dirt and short rations that they may save money to "go home and buy a farm. They send all of their money to Italy, except enough to provide the bare necessities of life. They have sent drafts to Italy through one foreign exchange from our colony to the amount of $48.260.62 in the last sixteen months. This fact speaks for it- self. They make no better citizens in many ways than the Chinese." College Settlement Association. Standing Committee. Prtsident: KATHARINE COMAN, Wellesley, Mass. Vict-President : MARY K. SIMKHOVITCH, (Mrs. Vladimir G. Simkhovitch.) 248 East S4th St., New York City. Stcrctaty: MABEL GAIR CURTIS, 829 Boylston St., Boston. Treasurer: ELSIE CLEWS PARSONS, (Mrs Herbert Parsons.) 112 East 35th Street, New York City. Fifth Member: HELEN ANNAN SCRIBNRR, (Mrs. Arthur H. Scribner,) 10 West 43d Street, New York City. EDITED BY CAROLINE WILLIAMSON MONTGOMERY. It is peculiarly fitting that one of the first ar- ticles in this section devoted to the College Set- tlements Association, should come from the pen of Miss Coman, who has been interested in the work of the association from its inception, and who from her position as professor of Econom- ics and Sociology, at Wellesley College, is es- pecially able to have accurate and scholarly knowledge of social movements. THE RISE OF THE C. S. A. BY KATHERINE COMAN, PRESIDENT. In the spring of 1886, Dr. Stanton Coit, then a young man and quite unknown, returned to this country from a sojourn in England during which he had seen much of Dr. Samuel A. Barnett and Samuel Hall. He was full of en- thusiasm for the new method in philanthropy, and eager to introduce the settlement idea in America. He visited some of the eastern univer- sities, but met with slight encouragement. The students were so much engrossed with their plans for professional or business success, that they seemed little likely to give themselves to social service, and Dr. Coit turned to the women's colleges. His visit to Wellesley is one of my vivid memories. It was a lovely June day, and we took him for a row on Lake Waban. The environment was a fitting one in which to plead for noblesse oblige. Dr. Coit urged that in America, women must take the lead in the set- tlement movement. His account of what univer- sity men were doing in East London, roused in us a great yearning to set about similar work in the neglected districts of our own cities, but the dream seemed far from realization. BEGINNING WORK. In the folowing June, a group of Smith alum- nae, brought tpgether by a class reunion, talked of the new gospel of fellowship. They were Vi- da D. Scudder, Clara French, Helen Rand and Jean G. Fine. Two of these young women had just returned from a visit to Toynbee Hall and THE COMMONS 19 brought with them a freshly kindled enthusi- asm. Other college women, visiting England that year, had come under the influence of the same inspiration. Discussion, conference, and the quickening contact of mind with mind, soon bore fruit in deeds. Miss Fine went to live in lower New York, in the vicinity of Dr. Coit's Neighbor- hood Guild, purposing to give herself to work among the people. Her report of how much was needed and how much might be done if only there were help at hand, strengthened in us the desire to establish a Toynbee Hall in America. RIVINGTON STREET OCCUPIED. In the year following, the project of a college settlement was brought before the students of Vassar, Smith, and Wellesley. An appeal for funds with which to open a house in New York met with so encouraging a response that 95 Riv- ington street was secured, fitted up and opened as a woman's settlement in September, 1889. Miss Fine, whose experience and knowledge of the neighborhood gave her pre-eminent fitness for the position, was chosen head-worker. The fact that Hull House was opened that same month by two college women quite unknown to us of the east- ern colleges is very suggestive. It is one of those coincidences that are not accidental but prophetic. ORGANIZATION. The necessity for establishing permanent rela- tions with the college constituencies mainly to be relied upon for service and for funds, soon sug- gested the organizing of the College Settlement Association. Many people who loved the work protested aganist this step as involving too much of form and red-tape, but the plans were laid. In the hope of bringing "all college women within the scope of a common purpose and a common work," speakers were sent to the vari- ous educational centers, and settlement clubs or chapters organized. Every college where the membership fees amount to $100 annually is rep- represented by two members on the Electoral Board, one elected by the undergraduate constituency and one by the alumnae. The Board meets twice a year to receive the reports of the executive committee and head workers, to appoint the local committees responsible for the work of the several settlements, and to trans- act general business. SUCCESS AND ITS CoST. In the twelve years of its existence, the work of the Association has never flagged for lack of funds or workers. Thirteen colleges are now af- filiated in the Association ; Wellesley, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, Barnard, Parker, Elmira, Wells, Cornell, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Bucknell, and ' the Woman's College of Baltimore. The college constituency is an ever changing one and must be renewed from year to year. This necessitates a constant propaganda. Biit the members of the under-graduate chapters are very apt to retain their connection with the Association after leav- ing college, and to carry the settlement gospel to their homes. So it comes about that the As- sociation has a wider basis than can be secured by the settlement that must rely on its immediate locality for support. C. S. A. SETTLEMENTS AND WORKERS. Three college settements have been founded in these twelve years, the original house in New York now under the direction of Elizabeth S. Williams, the Philadelphia Settlement at 431 Chris- tian street opened in 1892, head-worker Anna Freeman Davies, and Denison House, 93 Tyler Street, Boston, opened in the same year with Helena S. Dudley in charge. Three hundred wom- en have been in residence at one or another of the three settlements for longer or shorter periods. Few of the original settlers are now in residence, having been called to other fields of usefulness, but their settlement experience has borne fruit in deepening devotion to the service of mankind. A recent inquiry into the present occupations of past residents showed that 47 per cent were at present engaged in some form of philanthropic work. From the ranks of our settlement workers, twen- ty-three women have been appointed to the re- sponsible post of head-workers, as in Pittsburg, Hartford, and other centers outside of our own organization. REPORTS AND LITERATURE. The annual reports of the Association contain, besides various business statements, an account of the year's work at each settlement, written by the head-worker in charge, and, not infre- quently, contributions of a more general nature. Monographs have been issued by the Associa- tion from time to time, embodying results of soci- ological investigations carried on by settlement "fellows." The Association has, moreover, un- dertaken the compilation and printing of a Bib- liography of Settlements. The rapid extension of the settlement movement necessitates frequent re- vision of the lists. Three editions have been is- sued. The last brought out in 1900 by the editor Mrs. Montgomery, gives reliable information con- cerning the one hundred settlements now at work in this country, together with all that could be as- certained in regard to the fifty or more established in Great Britain, France, Holland, Germany, In- dia, Japan, and New South Wales. In this publi- cation, the College Settlements Association aims to serve not its own membership merely, but the settlement constituency throughout the world. 20 THE COMMONS 15he Fellowship of the College Settlement Association. BY EMILY G. BALCH, CHAIRMAN, . Last spring at its meeting in New York the College Settlements Association voted to estab- lish a fellowship, of the value of four hundred dollars, for the current year. There was some discussion as to the" work of the future fellow, whether the time should he spent in investigation and preparation of material for a sociological pub- lication or in. training for settlement or allied forms of practical work. The offer as finally made was open to candidates desiring the op- portunity of a. year's settlement residence for eith- er purpose. The emphasis was laid on personal- ity, and on the "promise of future usefulness." A college education was not made a requisite, but intellectual training and experience and especially a. clear idea of the work desired and a definite purpose in doing it, were regarded as of great importance. Health too, as largely affecting pow- 'er of work, was given decided weight. . No. requirements were made beyond residence in a settlement during the academic year and "Ihe pursuit of some clearly defined line of work, scientific or practical," under the general guid- ance of the committee and of the Headworker of the settlement. The place of residence was not restricted to the houses maintained by the Association but was to depend on opportunities for the work to be un- dertaken. The time might, if it seemed best be divided between different houses. The offer was not limited to women. The time for receiving applications expired July 15. Before that time twenty-seven applica- tions, eight of them from men, were received, be- side some too late to be considered. Some candi- dates were very obviously ineligible but it was encouraging .to see -how many young men and women in every way promising were eager to use such an opportunity as was offered. The painful part .was to refuse all but one. The committee did, however, at last agree unanimously on Miss Mary B. Sayles of Montclair New Jersey. Miss Sayles' plan was to study tenement house con- ditions in Jersey City from Whittier House, where she then was, as a basis. Her work will be under the direction of the New York member of the committee Mrs. Herbert Parsons, (Mrs. Elsie Clews Parsons) of Columbia University. Miss Sayles had done excellent work at Smith College of which she is a graduate, and was at- tending at the time of her application the Sum- mer School of Philanthropy maintained by the Charity Organization Society in New York. Miss Sayles subject is so timely and her field of work so strategic that it may be hoped that her years' work will be of considerable value. "Anyone that wants to work in Jersey City ought to be encouraged" said one friend and the re- mark if frivolous means that her work, and much more is needed. SUPPLY OF SPEAKERS FOR COLLEGE CHAPTERS. The committee to supply speakers to the various colleges, have taken upon themselves the new task of working up chapters in new colleges. Any college/ that would like any address may com- municate with them. The Association has ap- propriated $100.00 for the use of this committee. The committee are Miss Katharine Coman, Wellesley. Mass., Mrs. V. G. Simkovitch, 248 E. 34th St., New York City, Mrs. E. Kent Hubbard. Jr.. Middletown, Conn., and Miss Pauline D. Goldmark. 270 VV. Q4th St., New York City. C. S. A. CHAPTERS IN BOSTON PRIVATE SCHOOLS. A conference was held in Boston Nov. 2nd, called by the Denison House committee of the C. S. A. on sub-chapters and for the purpose of conferring with teachers of private schools on the practicability of trying to form chapters. Heads of six schools were present and of thesei five ex- pressed a desire to have a speaker sent to them to stir up the girls. In some of these schools it will not be advisable to start any organization, although the girls will probably give money and perhaps some entertainment to raise money. And in some cases they will go to help at play-hour at the settlement. While some of the women seemed a little afraid that parents might object, others feel that the girls need to be made to realize that there are those who need more than their money. THE WELLESLEY CHAPTER. Sunday night, Oct. 2Oth, a meeting of the Wellesley Chapter of the C. S. A., was held in Houghton Memorial Chapel, Prof. W. Allan Wil- son, a man of much experience in College Set- tlement work was the speaker. The Wellesley Chapter of the C. S. A. held its elections in Wednesday, Oct. 23d. The result of the elections was as follows : Vice-presidents, faculty, Miss Balch : senior. Charlotte Faber ; junior, Henrietta Page; sophomore, Sophia Brown; freshman, Blanche Wenner; secretary and treasurer, Mary D. Snyder ; librarian, Mary Crombie; Advisory Board, Constance Draper and Annie B. McClure. Miss Katharine Coman visited Smith, and Mt. Holyoke, the i6th and i8th of November, in the interests of the Association. At Mt. Holyoke Miss Jeanette Marks is teaching who was under- graduate elector at Wellesley for three years. TKe Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 65-Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago, December 1901. Chica.gr> Commons Eigntn Annual Retrospect and Prospect. Reminiscence may well be the starting point of this eighth annual review of the work of Chicago Commons. For the flames have left nothing of the Old Commons residence but a memory and its well started work, safely transferred to the new and well equipped building's, which now seem, to have arisen phoenix-like from the ashes of the old home and its neighborhood. A RISK OF SOCIAL FAITH. "Your references are all right, but we cannot understand what is in our building for you. What can you get out of it ?" So answered the land- lords of our old Union street house before con- senting to rent it to us. Our rejoinder that there was nothing in it for us, but everything for the neighborhood, that we meant to put everything into the enterprise and take no money out of it, only drew from one brother the naive remark, accompanying a half-pitying, half-contemptuous look at us. "there arc such people !" '.OMMOH3 At no small personal risk the lease was signed which called for a rental, rising from $75.00 to $160 per month, as we gradually took possession Williams Residence Hall. Proposed Men's Club House. THE COMMONS of the forty-four rooms in the entire structure, and our growing work was known to be help- lessly dependent upon their occupancy. This risk was taken, however, as an act of social faith, that what ought to be done, could be achieved and should be attempted. The sanction which has all along been the reassurance of the whole enter- THE OLD HOME AFTER THE FIRE, FROM THE SOUTH. prise, was the conviction that personal and finan- cial resource, would rally to any one who could and would, stand in the breach long enough to demonstrate the need and practicability of the social settlement movement, and that the help to self-help, which it offered the community, would create the demand for its service, and would meet with all tlje response we could provide for. In both respects our faith has been amply justified. In evidence of this claim, we need only point to the contrast between our arrival upon the field with only bare hands and a heart-full of purpose, and the seven years' growth of the work of Chi- cago Commons in manifold neighborhood cooper- ation, effective building and other equipment, and in the even more inspiring reflex influence which' this enterprise of social faith is exerting far .and wide in our own country and abroad. RESTDENT-WORKERS READY AS SOON AS THE RESI- DENCE. No rooner had we spread the old roof over the prospective work, than the original group of twelve residents stood ready to take possession of the mournfully -dilapidated old mansion on the first of October, 1894. Three of them had taken up their residence on the field in May, and brought" with 4hem the advantage of their sum- mer's acquaintance and experience. Within three or four years, all of this original group had scat- tered as far as Oklahoma to South Africa. But the warden and his family, who entered upon their residence in June, 1895, have been at home at Chicago Commons through these seven years, and other residents have been in the settlement household as long as from three to six years. The resident-workers, averaging twenty in num- ber, devote either all or a large part of their time and energy to the settlement work, half of them gratuitously and at their own expense, the others receiving for long hours and full work, far less pecuniary compensation than their expert service could command elsewhere now, when the demand for trained social workers so greatly ex- ceeds the supply. As the permanent group makes the work of the more temporary residents pos- sible, so the settlement household attracts and gives efficiency to the cooperation of non-resident workers from the suburbs and elsewhere, upon SECOND FLOOR FRONT HALL. whose gratuitous and self-exacting service most of the club and class work is dependent and some of the door-service. THE HOME LIFE AND THE VESPER SERVICE. The soul of the settlement is its home life,- the spirit of which permeates all it attempts to be and do. To have a home life with which to work, it must really be lived. To this end two condi- tions are essential. There must be reasonable THE COMMONS space and equipment to make our household life possible and to provide each of its members with his or her own place to live, which shall be homelike in its comfort and privacy. Then there must be a free, bouyant, purpose-possessed, and vitally unified family life, to fill the home and overflow through all the work. About the family board and around the vesper circle, the residents will find their center of household unity, if any- where. Our hospitable dining-hall. with its ad- KlNDERGARTEN AT THE NEW COMMONS. '-, joining sitting-room, gathers the group all to- gether at least once each day. The vesper half hour after dinner, beside the new hearth stone, :is hallowed in the experience of each one now in residence, as it is in the memory of all whom it used to encircle in the old Commons' parlor, i THE LITTLE CHILD LEADS. \\ ithout '-announcement, advertising, or any pre- kletermined plan of action, the household simply (invested its home life in neighborship, purposing ifirst of all to be what we could : to bur neighbors and to get them to be all they would to us. The _ appeal of the child life of the traffic .crowded -streets and ill equipped homes,' won 'the first response from our hearts and home. There were then neither place nor provision for the littlest children in the public schools. So we de- termined to lay the foundation of our work in the kindergarten. The fore-token of success in our endeavor for the children, which has 'under- laid all our other achievements, came in the prof- fered leadership of an expert kindergartner, who had just completed her thorough training at the Pestalozzi-Froebel Haus, Berlin. Her first tour of invitation rallied a pathetic little retinue of infantry, whose steadily increasing ranks proved to be the vanguard of a multitude of all ages, now numbering many hundreds, who have made the old house and the new building their social center. When the winter kindergarten closed, a summer kindergarten was demanded by the neighborhood, and when we opened our school at the new building, we reopened the kindergar- ten for the old neighborhood in the new quarters at 75 Grand avenue. At the former place every one of our seventy chairs are taken and we have a long waiting list, as have also the two public schools in the neighborhood. Our circle has be- come so full that the three and four-year-olds have been put in a room by themselves, increas- ingly steady attendance on cold mornings indi- cates a growing appreciation of the school in its new quarters. The influence of the new environ- ment is felt in the sweet, wholesome spirit, which has grown during the year and is greater than was found possible in the old accommodations. In the old neighborhood at 75 Grand avenue the double store, which was renovated and adapted to the purposes of the school, affords a clean, bright and cheery child-garden, at the heart of the most dismal and dirty section of the ward. Two resident kindergartners are in charge of the fifty and more Italian and German children in daily attendance, and of the Mothers' meetings and other settlement work centering at that river- district branch. The growth of the kindergarten interests, mean- while, developed the need of training assistants for our own- kindred work with little children, in which industrial features were emphasized. For five years, the Pestalozzi-Froebel Kinder- THE MATHEON DAY NURSERY. garten Training School at Chicago Commons, has flourished. The class-room, kitchen, gymnasium, and kindergarten equipment of the new building, adds greatly to the efficiency of the training work and to the comfort and inspiration of the stu- dents. The training thus afforded an average of about twenty-five young women in) the industrial, educational, social and home work, enables them to assist in private and public school kindergar- tens and to cooperate in the clubs and classes of THE COMMONS the settlement. This opportunity for service makes their training practical and the social teachings of Pestalozzi and Froebel a reality in their lives. NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY. In cooperation with the settlement work for our great neighborhood, the Matheon Club of young women has maintained for five years a who are old enough are sent from the nursery to the kind-ergartens at Chicago Commons and the Washington public school, as well as to the Com- mons' playground. By the generosity of a lady friend of the set- tlement, a kitchen garden is maintained at the new building. Not only are the children drilled in the principles of house work through their BRANCH SETTLEMENT HOUSE NEAR OLD COMMONS. Day Nursery. Under its present efficient ad- ministration it cares for an average of thirty children daily from 6:30 A. M. to 6:30 P. M., and is in more or less constant touch with sev- enty-five families. It provides a warm lunch, sleeping accommodations, playthings and a kindergartner's attendance. The nominal charge is only five cents for a twelve hour day for the care of each child, the Matheon Club meeting most of the expense, involved in the rent of the premises at 219 Grand avenue and in the main- tenance and attendance involved. The children songs and play, but also in the practice in the kitchen and chamber work of the Commons' household. CITIZENSHIP CLUBS .FOR YOUNG AMERICANS. An ascending series of clubs for boys and for girls provides play and playmates, education and recreation, industrial and moral discipline, higher ideal and better purpose for as many members as we can furnish with leadership. During the past year 325 boys have been enrolled in our group-clubs. The basis of the club work has been mainly social, giving to every boy for whom \ve THE COMMONS could make place, the opportunity for the high- est expression of his best self. The "Commons Democracy," is being organized, in which a mimic city government will be maintained. Each group will constitute a ward, which will send its alderman to represent it in the monthly meeting of the city council. Laws governing the Club will be enacted by this legislative body. Commis- sioners of the several municipal departments will familiarize themselves and their companions with the work of the various branches of the city gov- ernment. Club membership is required to admit the boys to the privileges of the gymnasium and manual training departments. Three large rooms on the basemtnt floor are devoted to the boys' clubs. One of them is furnished as their parlor, another as a game room and the third for as- sembly purposes. Group clubs are held at Chicago Commons ev- ery evening, except Saturday, and at 75 Grand avenue two evenings each week. Properly to direct these groups no less than thirty leaders are re- quired. MANUAL TRAINING NORMAL CLASS AND CHILD- REN'S WORK. Under great disadvantages and with ridiculously ONE OF THE BOYS' CLUB ROOMS. little equipment the residents have struggled to meet the demand for manual training among the 6 THE COMMONS children and the young people. The space at command in the new building for this purpose, and the offer of the gratuitious services of a public school manual training director, to head up this department, have prompted gifts of $500 from generous friends of Chicago Commons for the purchase of an outfit of tools and furnishings adequate to equip twelve benches. To meet the demand of public school teachers, settlement workers, students for the ministry and lay workers, normal instruction will be offered to prepare manual trainers, for their work. For a course of twelve weeks five dollars will be charged. With the help to be developed by this normal work, as many children's and young peo- ple's classes will be conducted as the equipment will allow. The instruction will include thorough and pro- gressive courses in woodwork, bent iron, raffia, hammock making and basket weaving, all aimed to discipline the worker in accuracy and self-ex- action. The loom for weaving carpet rugs and curtains is in constant and eager use by the women. FOR GROWING GIRLS. For the girls similar group clubs are main- tained, varied in organization and method to meet the need and aptitude of the several ages. The work with .each club includes some industrial feature, such as sewing, basket weaving, crochet- ing, physical culture, with breathing exercises, Delsarte drills and marching, and opportunity for social and recreative expression. While in both the girls' and boys' clubs the group method is depended upon for the best individual results, oc- casions are made for gaining the advantage there is in the inspiration and enthusiasm of numbers by massing the groups together. The influence of these clubs is very manifest in the ideals and lives of the boys and girls, many of whom are completely emancipated from their former idea that it was necessary to be bad to have a good time. A growing refinement and wholesomeness is apparent among them. How HOUSE-KEEPING AND COOKING ARE TAUGHT. Closely allied with the work for girls and reaching up to the work with women, is the de- partment of Domestic Science. A sewing room, well equipped with cutting t ables and cupboards, adequately provides for the instruction of small groups of younger girls in plain sewing, and of older girls and women in dress-making. To the . cooking-school, the large, light, airy room occu- pying most of the basement of the residence wing is devoted. For its fine equipment we are in- debted to the generosity of the Klio Club of Chi- cago. The resident in charge of this school is a graduate of the Philadelphia Cooking School, and has had thorough training, as well as practical experience in teaching. Classes have been formed, not only for young girls, but also for mothers, house-keepers and cooks; It is hoped in time that this school may contribute its share of the solution of the domestic service problem. WHERE WOMEN MINGLE, SERVE AND ARE HAPPY. Through the Junior Progressive Club, the Pro- _gressive Club for Young Women, the Woman's Club, the Mothers' Meeting, and the Tabernacle Ladies' Aid and Missionary Society, the work with girls merges into that of women with wo- men. The kindergarten child is the surest, easi- est and most natural access to the mother heart. Connected with both kindergartens are success- ful mothers' meetings. The kindergartners of the neighboring public school hold their mothers' meeting at Chicago Commons. Very personal and practical, yet cheery and social are these gatherings. Their conversational discussions range all the way from -the minutest points in the THE COMMONS care of the babe to the highest ethical dealings with the problems of adolescence and home life. Often children are brought to the meetings by their parents and sometimes the Italian mothers bring their husbands and older sons and daugh- ters, so that the mothers' meetings turn into a family gathering. To see the care-burdened mothers, light-heartedly engage in the kinder- garten games with their children, while their hus- bands and sons look on amusedly is a scene of domestic joyousncss and simplicity never to be forgotten. the house have profited, combine to make the Progressive Club one of the most efficient and satisfactory of the settlement agencies. The second year of the outings at the cottage maintained by the Club has been even more suc- cessful lhan the first. Besides 7.-; ^irls who spent from one day to two weeks, eight or ten mothers and their children had from oi.e to three weeks outing there, husbands and friends being their guests over Sundays. The annual Bazaar, conducted by the Club, for the bem'lit of its furnishing and outing funds. PROGRESSIVE CLUB FOR YOUNG WOMEN. The young women were among the very first to respond to the opportunity offered by Chicago Commons. Their Progressive Club has played a large part not only in their own lives, but in the life of the settlement. Their Monday evening gatherings for educational and social purposes; their bright entertainments and their effective outing work, by which not only their own mem- bers, but so many others in the constituency of has become a regular feature of our winter's special occasions. CHICAGO COMMONS WOMAN'S CLUB. While slower to start, the Chicago Commons Woman's Club has steadily progressed toward the stability of organization, enthusiasm of spirit, breadth of interest, power of influence, and gene- rous cooperation with the settlement and other interests, to which it has now attained. Its mem- bership now numbers about 125 women, and in- 8 THE COMMONS eludes the representatives of twelve or fifteen nationalities and many different sects. Its Tues- day afternoon meetings, (our flash-light view of the latest, gives some idea of their -popularity and pleasure), is an event each week in the lives of its members and the house. The annual cele- br.ition of. Chicago Commons' birthday, which lite Woman's Club festively commemorates every autumn, has always been the occasion not only of a delightful neighborhood gathering, but also of some valuable token of the appreciation which the Club has ever entertained of the settlement's motive and method. Its programs are carefully arranged not only to provide for the pleasure, but also to promote the educational profit and self- development of the membership. Last winter its series of studies in American history and bi- ography were wel! sustained, many of its members furnishing interesting and carefully prepared pa- pers upon the leading events and characters. This year's series on "The Great Men of Illinois," is eliciting equal interest and participation. Art and musical interests are carefully cultivated. The Club belongs to the city, state and national fede- rations of women's clubs. The decorations and furnishings, with which the clubs and the Ladies' Aid and Missionary So- ciety, have equipped the rooms they use, make them the most attractive part of the new building. The new piano, recently purchased, will not only add greatly to the attractiveness of the programs, but to the general cheer of the women's rooms. ON THE FREE FLOOR. From the beginning of its work, Chicago Com- mons has been a center for men. The second winter saw the establishment of its Free Floor Discussions. In response to a special announce- ment in the Daily News that a free floor discus- sion of industrial and economic issues would be opened at Chicago Commons, where "free speech, all sides and no favor" would be the rule, a group of twenty-five or thirty men gathered, which now musters an attendance of one hun- dred and fifty to two hundred people, four-fifths of whom are men, mostly from the ranks of man- ual labor. In six years this Free Floor has made a remarkable record of never having been inter- rupted by any one under the influence of liquor, and only in two instances requiring the chairman to appeal to the house for its support, in main- taining parliamentary order, which was instantly and overwhelmingly given him. The occasion has always maintained its original character as a free and informal friendly conference, over things of uppermost interest to those present. No attempt has ever been made or desired to organize its c-n='.i;uency, consequently there have beer, no officers or controlling influences to be struggled for. A great variety of subjects has been frankly and ably presented by widely representative men and women, and as freely and fearlessly discussed by any one who felt inclined to participate either, in questioning the speaker, or in the discussion. While occasionally the radical expression of ex- treme views has been tolerantly and good-natur- edly endured by the majority opposed to them, yet HOME OF THE COMMUNITY CLUB. very little has occurred in all these years which could be regretted by those aware of the large interests at stake in this occasion. Its educative value, its modifying and counteracting influence, its opportunity to interpret to each other, those in dangerous antagonism, its unfailing good na- ture and sense of humor, have won from very many representative men of widely differing points of view, the most emphatic attestation of the value of this free floor, to the cause of social unification, and even to that of public peace and safety. MEN'S COMMUNITY CLUB FOR Civic PATRIOTISM. Entirely independent of this free floor occasion, and with a wholly different constituency, drawn exclusively from the neighborhood, the Commun- ity Club rallies some of the best citizenship of the I /th Ward, for social fellowship, the better- ment of municipal conditions, non-partisan politi- cal education and action, and the promotion of civic patriotism. This Club has inherited the influence and constituency of two or three men's organizations which preceded it. Its member- ship, now approaching a hundred men, includes some of the best citizens in both the Democratic and Republican parties, and representatives of different nationalities, and faiths. While seeking to hold, and when occasion requires it, to wield the- balance of political power in the ward, it is THE COMMONS scrupulously non-partisan in its attitude and action. On two or three occasions, its constitu- ency has exerted a determining influence in the aldermanic nomination and election. One of the aldermen, now ably and honorably representing the ward in the City Council, united with the Club, in recognition of its influence in securing his nomination and election. The Community Club has this autumn opened its headquarters and social rooms at Chicago Commons, which it has appropriately decorated and furnished for the use of its members and guests every evening, except Sunday. CULTIVATING THE UNIVEBSAL LANGUAGE. Our musical work is widening out to meet the increasing demand from our cosmopolitan neigh- borhood. The Chicago Commons Choral Club is beginning its fifth season's work under inspir- ing leadership. Its sphere of work has been en- larged by combining 1 the choral and dramatic ele- ments in the scope of its purpose. Last spring the opera "Pinafore" was very creditably pre- sented, and this winter "The Chimes of Nor- mandy" is in preparation. The Club meets every Thursday evening, with commendable regularity and ever increasing enthusiasm. Under the aus- pices of the Choral Club, the oratorio of The Messiah is rendered in the Chicago Commons THE FIRST VIOLIN LESSON. auditorium annually at the Christma's-tide, by the generous service of the Apollo Musical Club, which gratuitously furnishes from its own mem- bership a chorus of seventy or more voices, and the soloists and accompanist. The inspirational and educative value of this occasion to this great community, is such as to amply warrant the very generous investment of time and talent which it involves. Our auditorium is always thronged by a strictly neighborhood audience, four or five hundred people paying twenty-five cents each for admission. A Children's Chorus has for several years ral- lied the boys and girls for musical training in large numbers. In cooperation with other set- tlement choruses, it assisted in rendering "The Children's Messiah" in Central Music Hall, furn- ishing a program illustrating the Christ-child's place in song 1 , story and art. A flourishing young Orchestra promises rapid development and helpful cooperation in promoting the highest musical interests of our community. Lessons are given in piano, violin, mandolin and other instruments, and it is gratifying to see that adulits, as well as children, are taking ad- vantage of these privileges. All lessons are charged for at the rate of fifty cents an hour, which prevents unfair competition with local music teachers. The Orchestra and The Fram Quartette, consist- ing of Norwegian men, are the first local musical organizations fo seek our hospitality and to be welcomed regularly within our doors. ART EXTENSION. A little loan collection of pictures has done its lowly, but beautiful work in supplying the one thing of beauty in many a dingy and dull house in the neighborhood. Its enlargement is earnestly desired. PENNY SAVINGS BANK. To promote and guide economy and fore- thought, we cooperate with the Penny Savings- Society in securing depositors from the consti- tuency of our clubs. The need of a wider de- velopment of this movement throughout our dis- trict and the natural point of contact, whicfi it furnishes with individual and home life, consti- tute an inspiring sphere, large and important enough to warrant the investment of a resident worker's whole time. THE FOUNDATION IN PHYSICAL HEALTH. As large a space as possibly could be spared in our new building was devoted to the gymnasium and the place for a full equipment of shower baths and lockers. A good beginning toward an adequate provision of apparatus has been made by the gift of some friends representing the Sco- ville Institute in Oak Park. The gymnasium and baths are greatly in demand, and will be open five days each week from four to nine-thirty o'clock every day, under competent directors. As we have but two shower baths and only half a dozen lockers, the early completion of the equip- ment of our bathing floor is necessary to the full use of our gymnasium facilities. In view of the 10 THE COMMONS fact that there are very few bath tubs in the houses of this densely populated district, and that neither the public schools nor the city afford any public baths, this appeal for the completion of our lavatories should meet with a prompt response, which would surely be followed by a popular de- mand for a more adequate provision for healthful cleanliness. FROM CLOSE QUARTERS INTO THE OPEN. The summer activities of Chicago Commons have grown very normally in both variety and expense. Beginning with a few little Saturday half-holiday park-parties, or visits of our kinder- garten children to some greensward, the work enlarged to include last summer seventeen day picnics with an attendance of 494; the sending of WASH DAY AT CAMP COMMONS. 83 adults into the country for periods varying from one day to three weeks ; 400 children from one to three weeks, one child remaining two months ; the establishment of the Chicago Com- mons playground (20x160 feet,) open every after- noon and all day Sunday under the supervision of residents, with an attendance varying from 50 to 175; the distribution of 1,082 bottles of steri- lized milk ; the scattering through the homes of the neighborhood the flowers, occasionally or regularly sent us by city or country friends; and the cooperation with the suburban camps and outing work, of the Bureau of Associated Chari- ties. The plans for our summer campaign found their consummation in the Progressive Club Cot- tage, for girls at Glencoe. Last year this enter- prising club of young women leased and main- tained at their own expense a summer cottage on the lake shore at Michigan City. This year their suburban site attracted not only more of their own members, but many of the younger girls who were allowed to share its privileges. The suc- cess which has made their outing enterprise self- supporting, demonstrates the need and should prompt the gift of a country house for the varied and continuous self-sustaining use to which it could be put by the settlement. CAMP COMMONS. Again, as last year, we pitched our tents in the Penny pasture just two miles north of Elgin, in the valley of Tyler Creek, made beautiful by the oak-clad hills on either side and by the stately old elms scattered along the creek. Only a little way to the west is a deep walnut grove, while half a mile to the east is the Fox River. As \ve THE COMMONS 11 emerge from our valley, on either side, we find ourselves in the green corn or the fragrant mead- ows. Is it strange, then, that in such a contrast to the city, new faces appear, new thoughts de- velop and new lives are lived? Our equipment this year was much improved by the addition of a large dining tent, a good most economical of its kind. Our expenses this year, when all groceries were so high and fruit could hardly be obtained, averaged only a little more than three dollars for each outing of two weeks, including car fare and the cost of our new equipment. This does not, however, include any paid workers, all except one being voluntary CAM i' COMMONS, PENNY MEADOW, ELGIN. cooking tent, two new sleeping tents and a supply of new blankets. Our tents are all floored and we sleep upon straw mattresses on the floor, thus having the real flavor of camp life. Our fare also is very plain. Bread, milk, oatmeal and vege- tables make up our regular meals. Meat is not a part of our food, except perhaps once a week. \Ve have 1 fruit whenever it can be reasonably ob- tained. Our Elgin and Dundee friends sometimes brought us ice cream and cake, watermelons, popcorn, candy or fruit. This fare may seem meager, but the scales told of an increase in weight of five pounds each during a two weeks' outing for some of the children. This inexpens- ive, yet wholesome fare, together with our simple equipment." made our outing work one of the helpers. Too much cannot be said for this compe- tent service so freely rendered throughout the summer. In their happy camp life each child bears his or her part of the burden. The garden is planted before the camp is begnn and when the first boys come it is ready to work ; then when the girls come, the time! to harvest is at hand. The other work is divided equally. Each group has four di- visions of "dish washers" and in turn they, da all the table work. The "milk boys" go morning and night for the milk to a neighboring farmer's place ; the "garbage boy" keeps the camp clean : the "towel girls" wash the dish towels after each norm-day meal, and the "flag boy" keeps the stars and stripes floating over the camp. 12 THE COMMONS Our time is spent in many happy ways. Often in the morning we hear some such call as "Every- body ready for Sulphur Springs," and in a few moments, forty or fifty strong, we are on our way up the creek, noting the geological construction, picking flowers, chasing a rabbit, picking berries, crawling through fourteen barbed wire fences and resting by the creek under some mighty tree to tell stories. Or, again, we stroll through the fields, learning the difference between corn and clover, potatoes and pumpkins, or we walk along the road gathering the wild grapes and choke- cherries from the hedges. Stopping- at some barnyard we inspect the great dairy, listen to the turkeys gobble, and watch "those sweet little pigs" at their morning luncheon. Suddenly we hear the whistle of the steam thresher and away we go to see this wonder of farm machinery, and at last getting home tired and hot, each one is ready with three city appetites to do more than justice to the cook's morning labor. The real value of these walks can never be estimated. In the afternoon the "swimming hole" is al- ways the center of attraction. Most of the boys and a great many of the girls learn to swim, dive and float. Do you say the city children are dirty? Not naturally. It is only because they are deprived of the means necessary to cleanliness, which every city should provide. Base ball is a great sport with the boys, and the playing of "theater" was one of the girls' favorite pastimes. Some days the latter would spend almost the entire time acting out little THE COMMONS dramas. Here they would spend all their energies in acting the tragedies of life. Inborn in every child is an instinct for heroic life in action. This is clearly seen in all their sports and games. Sunday is a home day with the working man's family. The influence of this custom was clearly seen in our camp life. An unmistakable quietness The best part of each day always came at its close. After supper \ve would gather on top of the hill for our little vesper service. Here we would read or tell some life story, unite in real prayer and sing some familiar hymn. These were l>eautiful hours. The sky was radiant with sun- set colors ; the cows would come grazing lack EVENING SERVICE ON VESPER KNOLL. and reverence prevailed. Distance prevented our attendance at church, so we went to some favor- ite spot and there listened to the stories of David, Joseph, Moses and other Bible heroes, and sang from the barn yard and in the stillness we could hear the cropping of the grass; the great oaks stood silent in solemn reverence. Is it strange that when, borne on the glad voices of these children, "Nearer, my God to Thee" rolled out sweet and clear on the evening air, nothing more sublime ever greeted our ears? Soon the stillness is broken by the call, our favorite hymns. We always took our after- noon swin on Sunday and then would gather in small groups to talk, read or play. Sunday wa- often the best dav of the week. "Every one line up for drill." Then for ten min- utes we took a vigorous breathing exercise, end- ing with our camp yell : "Boom, gig, boom ! boom, gig. boom ! Boom dig a rig gig! boom, boom, boom! He hi ho! he hi ho! Camp Commons! Chi-oa-go!" 14 TH E COMMONS And then down the hill we would go to spend the evening around a rousing camp fire, singing songs and telling stories. Often our evening pro- gram would do honor to the best minstrel band. About 8:30 o'clock, as the camp fire burned low, we would "turn in" to sleep soundly until the light, gray in the east, announced the new day. Amid the cares of work in the noisy city we will gratefully remember the happy, peaceful hours of our camp life, and all winter in little groups three hundred boys and girls will talk of the joys of Camp Commons. largest part of life's culture. Scrupulously care- ful only to supplement, and never to duplicate the schooling which is so much more thoroughly and economically furnished by public schools or privately managed academic institutions, the set- tlement endeavors to make all its social affiliations educative and to add to these, more or less di- rectly, educational features. It, therefore, offers its night classes chiefly to those, who by reason of their age or limited time and means cannot take advantage of other opportunities to secure rudi- mentary knowledge, or the culture of the accomp- A RARE TALE ON "POINT STORY." EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS OF SOCIAL WORK. The social settlement may be truly classified as an educational agency, perhaps the larger part of its activities and influence may most accu- rately be grouped under this term. Its direct edu- cational effort, however, is purposely made secon- dary to the social bonds which it is its primary purpose to create, and develop. For through this associative relationship with one's fellows, every one inside or outside of a settlement receives, indirectly indeed, but none the less actually the lished. Thus foreigners of adult age come to us to learn English, writing or arithmetic ; working men and women form social groups for the study of American history, English literature, and Shakespeare's plays. Our Shakespeare Club has entered upon its fourth winter's most successful work. Not only for its own enthusiastic mem- bership, but for the large constituency of its friends whom it is trying to interest in the study of literature, by inviting them to share with it the discussion of literary themes by some of the THE COMMONS 15 'best authorities in the city. The schedule of our winter's work published on another page, dis- closes the demands that we not only try to meet as made upon us, but which we try to create by the offer of the supply. CITY FARMERS DIGGING POTATOES. R. \iirv of the Old Commons a.nd the R.ise of the New Building. The long dreaded conflagration, which often menaced our old neighborhood during the seven years of our residence there, at last, on October 3Oth, quickly and completely destroyed not only the old Commons, but also both sides of Union street and a section of the south side of Mil- waukee avenue. Had we not removed from the old house, we would have suffered even a still more irreparable loss than our poor neighbors, for our manuscripts, records, books and files, could not have been saved, so fierce and rapid were the flames. Had the fire broken out at night, the loss of many lives would have been inevitable. So far as we could we tried to render emergency relief, by sheltering two shelterless households under our roof, and by providing as best we could for the immediate necessities of other fami- lies. The interior and exterior scenes of desola- tion, within and round about the old Commons will have a pathetic interest to many of our read- ers, who shared with us the hospitality of the old mansion. There is a certain sense of satis- faction, however, in that its complete destruction, prevents it from becoming such an abode of misery as it was before we made it the homelike center of neighborhood life and good cheer. Over against the pictures of the ruins from which our work barely escaped, we gratefully present views of the new center we have established! in the old district for so much of the work as can be effect- ively continued there, together with glimpses of the New Commons and the happy life with which its spacious and hospitable neighborhood house al- ready overflows. 16 THE COMMONS The soul of the social settlement is the home spirit at its center. To give this spirit a body in which to maintain, express and impress itself in the community the John Marshall Williams Residence Hall is designed. Its open door-yard, with a walk winding, between little lawns and flower beds from the street corner to the hos- ternal fellowship in the sacrament of the com- mon meal. Around the vesper circle in the ad- joining living-room, the flow of soul will be from each according to ability and to each according to necessity. Thus the Commons' household will live and labor here to make its open hearth the warm, free and fraternal home center for the WRECK OF THE PARLOR AND DINING ROOM. pkable entrance, will show the latch-string ever hanging out. The cozy little reception room and the spacious public parlor, with its open fire- place, on either side of the main doorway, will meet and greet every incoming guest. At the family board in the commodious dining hall on the second floor many will find new fra- whole people of its great neighborhood, without respect to person, class, condition, sect or parti- sanship. Its neighborship will be large enough also to include those who come from the suburbs, the universities and other communities to meet, mingle and minister for the common good. The cost of this wing, with its electrical eleva- THE COMMONS 17 "She Willia.ms Residence Ha.ll. Readv for its House-Warming. A RESIDENT'S ROOM. THE OPEN HEARTH ix THE NEIGHBORHOOD PARLOR. DINING HALL AND LIVING ROOM. 18 THE COMMONS tor, is $26,021. It was built as a memorial to the late John Marshall Williams of Evanston, whose early business connection with our district and whose later sympathies for our work with the workers, prompted him to head the subscriptions toward our building equipment. The gifts of his four daughters and two sons, in memory of their father, have identified his name with that part of the building, which, by providing for the resi- conimunity can scarcely be human. At the center of the building, as of the city problem itself, is the provision for the children. To pre-occupy and prepossess child-life with the good that overcomes and crowds out evil is the best way to help parents in their home life. Am- ple provision is therefore made for the kinder- garten, kitchen-garden and advanced instruction in cooking, sewing, housekeeping and manual THE P'AMILY PARLOR AND WARDEN'S STUDY. dence of the Warden's family and the dwelling of the group of resident workers, assures the perpetuity and progress of the work in making its leadership possible. TJie design of the new building speaks for itself. Indeed, the lines designating the uses to which the several apartments are to be put are simply traced over those common necessities of human nature, without some such provision for which a training, and for many small club and class rooms Overlying and in many aspects underlying child- hood's needs are the wants of womanhood and motherhood. The growing Progressive Club of young women and the 1 flourishing Woman's Club for the older women of many nationalities, the Mothers' Club and the Tabernacle Ladies' Aid are all well provided for with attractive club rooms and kitchen equipment. . v'. _ . . THE COMMONS 19 THE PEOPLE'S AUDITORIUM. The larger social, recreative and religious de- mands of the community are met by the spacious auditorium, containing with the proposed annex, 600 seats. The Pleasant Sunday Afternoons al- ready tax our seating capacity by the attendance of families of all faiths and nationalities gathered for free and helpful fellowship in song and story. Here also on Sunday is held the Tabernacle Family Service, with its carefully graded Bible their social, civic and moral betterment ; their economic, political and religious co-operation ; their art exhibitions, neighborly fellowship and musical festivals, to the attractiveness of which our Choral Club and Orchestra will increasingly contribute. CLUB HOUSE FOR MEN TO COMPLETE THE BUILDING. By the foresight of our old friend Mr. J. M. Williams, the title to the lot (20x160 feet), adjoin- ing our new building on the south, has been se- AUDITORIUM AND NEIGHBORHOOD ASSEMBLY HALL. school, and the Sunday evening assembly for song and sermon. The smaller class and club rooms will afford the best facilities for modern methods of church work. The main floor of the auditorium can be cleared or seated so as to be available for public receptions, recreative and educational purposes. It will be the only assembly hall not prohibitive in rental or not connected with harmful associations, to which a population of over 30,000 people can resort for cured, in hope that some one or two friends would soon erect a club house for the use of the hard- working, worthy men of our Ward, which, with its population of 65,000, is the largest and most cosmopolitan in the city. The temporary quarters of the Community Club will almost immediately be inadequate to ac- commodate or attract the multitudes of men with- in reach of its social and civic influences. The chance which this space for a five story 20 THE COMMONS. men's club house gives for the investment of $10,- ooo in the social settlement and civic patriotism of Chicago, some one who sees the situation will surely seize. We who know the men and are in touch with their needs are anxious to lose no time in supplanting the worse provision for their wants with this better preoccupation of their lives. AFFILIATION WITH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCH. The affiliation between the settlement and the Tabernacle church is naturally closer than with any other organization for two reasons. First, it constituted the largest group in our predomi- nantly Protestant district which had longest main- tained its association, and, second, it consented to the lease of the site of the old building to the Chicago Commons Association, on condition that its entirely independent services be accommo- dated in the new building. Chicago Commons and the Tabernacle, though organically separate and distinct organizations, are thus affiliated in the same friendly relations in which the settle- ment work seeks to cooperate with all other insti- tutions and agencies at work for the good of the community. Two features of special interest and promise have characterized the growth of the church work during the past year. The grading of its Sunday-school to correspond to that of the twelve grades in the public grammar and high schools, marks a noteworthy stage of progress. The ordination and installation to its associate pastorate of the Rev. James Mullenbach, upon his return from his two years of Fellowship study in German universities, assures the old church of a new leadership, which promises to be as practi- cally efficient as it is intellectually able. WIDENING COOPERATIVE RELATIONS. More or less intimate cooperative relationships have been sustained with other churches, both Catholic and Protestant; the Chicago Theological Seminary, the Bureaus of Associated Charities; the Children's Home and Aid Society; the Chi- cago Relief and Aid Society; Catholic Visitation and Aid Society ; the Juvenile Court and its pro- bation officers, one of whom meets the boys in her custody under the Commons roof; the Parmelee Library; the Flower Mission; North- western University Settlement in t'.ie distribution of sterilized milk; the Art Institute, the North- west Civic Improvement Society, and last, but chiefly, the neighborhood public schools and the teachers of other public schools, in their effort to establish neighborhood social centers at their school buildings. WHERE LIFE AND LETTERS EXCHANGE VALUES. Chicago Commons, with several other well es- trHishcd settlements, is being used as an educa- tional adjunct to university departments in eco- nomics and sociology, to theological seminaries and to schools for social service, and the training of lay workers for church work. For five years the University of Michigan has, through the vol- untary cooperation of the students and professors, kept with us a representative in settlement resi- dence for about half the year, to pursue some original line of investigation, under our immedi- ate supervision. One of its Fellows studied Juve- nile Delinquency in Chicago, another the Boy Problem, and a third furnished a report on "Eth- ical Substitutes for the Saloon," which has been widely recognized as an original contribution of first-hand value to the literature on the subject. The reflex influence of the settlement as a social ob- servatory or point of view is very widely attested, not only by the increasingly close affiliation with institutions of learning, but also by the wide cor- respondence maintained with students, through which their students are guided and their outlook upon life is affected. ONE OF THE FEW PLACES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. The social settlement is the only agency, except the church, which avowedly aims to promote the interests of the whole family, by providing some privilege for each one of its members. Where else can the whole group go together and find such provision for its social needs as th: settle- ment makes for the babe in the day nursery, the child in the kindergarten, the boy and the girl in the club, the youth and the maiden in the gymnasium and social circles, the motherly home- maker in mothers' meetings, cooking class or Wo- man's Club, the fatherly bread-winner in citizen- ship circle or economic discussion. But not con- tent with these special provisions for separate members of the family circle, definite endeavor is made to minister to the whole family group. The neighborhood visitor of the settlement house- hold follows the club members home, welcomes the strangers moving into the neighborhood, ren- ders the amenities of neighborship in times of sorrow and of joy, in the crises of birth and death, marriage and bereavement, accident and impoverishment. Neighborhood socials, with invitations issued on the inclusive principle, gather entire family groups together in the neighborhood parlor, r!>t hospitality of which is offered the neighbors for their wedding and other festivities. The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon is succeeding very largely as a non-sectarian, family, neighbor- hood occasion, to which the fathers and mothers come with their children, often bringing the babe THECOMMONS 21 in arms. Stopping short of divisive points, and carrying the whole crowd as far as they will go together, our Pleasant Sunday Afternoon is both unifying and elevating the family life of the com- munity. The attendance already taxes the ca- pacity of our auditorium. Musical, artistic, recre- ative, instructive, and broadly ethical or religious programs rally the people to attractions offered by the Catholic Woman's National League; stereopticon lectures and songs of the Scandi- navian home-lands; and musical selections ren- dered by a protestant church choir, or the chorus of some Woman's Club. OUR PUBLICATION REPRESENTING THE SETTLEMENT MOVEMENT. The medium through which Chicago Commons has enlisted most of its support, and exerted most of its reflex influence, is this monthly jour- nal, "THE COMMONS," which is published pri- marily in the interests of the whole settlement movement. It aims to represent life and labor from the social settlement point of view, and to be equally useful to settlement residents and workers in kindred lines of social service, by be- ing the medium of the exchange of their ideals, experiences, and methods of work. Its average monthly circulation has now reached about 4,000 copies, and is very widely scattered over the the English speaking world. LEGAL ORGANIZATION AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS. The Chicago Commons Association is incorpo- rated under the laws of Illinois, the purpose of which being thus denned in the articles of in- , corporation, "The object for which it is formed is to provide a center for a higher civic and social life, to initiate and maintain religious, educational and philanthropic enterprises, and to investigate and improve conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago." The Board of Trustees is com- posed of the following eleven members : David Fales, Esq. (Lake Forest), and! Prof. H. M. Scott (West Side), represent the Chicago (Con- gregational) Theological Seminary, board of di- rectors and faculty ; Frank H. McCulloch, Esq., secretary of the board, stands for the Evanston affiliation of the settlement, and Charles H. Hul- burd, of the Elgin Watch Company (North Side), represents the New England Church ; J. H. Strong (U. S. Life Ins. Co.) represents Plymouth Church; E. Burritt Smith (South Side) is an officer in the University Church and a prominent attorney; Edward Payson (Oak Park) a manu- facturer, and A. B. Scully (South Side) of the Scully Steel & Iron Co., with Graham Taylor (Professor of Christian Sociology in Chicago Theological Seminary) as president and treasurer of the association and resident warden. Mrs. Otto Matz represents the Chicago Woman's Club, and Miss Jane Addams embodies the close and friendly encouragement which has been reciprocal between Hull House and the Commons. THE FINANCIAL 'SITUATION. FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS DUE ON THE BUILDING. Of the $20,000 needed to discharge all obliga- tions on the building account, $5,075 have been subscribed within the last month. The balance of $15,000 is being carried by notes, liability for which has been personally assumed by those who can ill afford to carry the burden, while prose- cuting the effort to secure the subscription of this amount. As the tenure of the land forbids mort- gaging the property, thus providing against its alienation from the purpose to which it is now devoted, it will be necessary to secure the sub- scription of the $15,000 before the expiration of these accommodation notes. To SUPPORT THE WORK IN 1902. While all the groups and organizations using the building contribute toward its maintenance, and some of the departments are approaching self-support, it will require $650 per month, or $7,800 for the year, to meet the expense of the work, additional to what resident-workers con- tribute in gratuitous service while supporting themselves. For this amount Chicago Commons depends upon the spontaneous giving of its widely scat- tered friends, as it has neither endowment nor any one whose time is at command to solicit funds. Hitherto the support of the work has come from many small contributions, sent in from all parts of the country. Without the aid of these support- ers outside of Chicago, our work for these river wards could neither have been undertaken nor maintained. To provide permanent foothold) and shelter for the work thus well inaugurated, the manufacturers and business men of our own dis- trict and other public-spirited citizens of Chicago rallied to the support of the building project. Now that this fine plant has been secured by their gen- erosity, the development of the larger work, which this great equipment warrants, must depend upon the increased support from Chicago which the suc- cess of this civic service is recognized to deserve and may be trusted to attract. Checks or postal orders may be made payable to Chicago Commons, or to Graham Taylor, Warden, (Grand avenue and Morgan street, Chicago, Illi- nois.) Subscriptions for 1902 should be forward- ed during or before the opening months of the year, stating when remittances may be expected. 22 THE COMMONS SCHEDULE OF SETTLEMENT APPOINTMENTS. For the Eighth Winter at Chicago Commons. Grand Avenue and Morgan Street. DAILY: (Except Sunday.) House open for neighbors annd friends every day. 6:30 P. M. Day Nursery, 219 Grand avenue. (See Matheon Club below.) 9 :oo- 12 :oo A. M. Kindergarten (except Satur- day.) Cooking classes, afternoon and evening. Gymnasium Exercises and Games for both adults and children. Boys' Clubs, afternoon and evening. Community Club Rooms for men, open even- ings. 7:30-9:00 P. M. Manual Training. 7:00- P. M. Household Vespers. SUNDAY: 3 :3o-4 :3O P. M. Pleasant Sunday Afternoon. (A Non^seclarian neighborhood gathering.) MONDAY: 1:30-4:30 P. M. Kindergarten Training Clas- ses. 4 :oo-s :oo P. M. Kitchen Garden. 4 :oo-s :oo P. M. Gymnasium for boys. 7:15-8:15 P. M. Gymnasium for boys. 7:30-9:30 P. M. Orchestra Practice. 7:30-10:00 P. M. Progressive Club for Young Women. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Young Men's Club. 8 :oo-9 :oo P. M. Book-keeping. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Arithmetic and algebra. 8 :oo-9 :oo P. M. Stenography. 8:30-9:30 P. M. Gymnasium for young men. TUESDAY: 1 :3O-4 :3o P. M. Kindergarten Training Class- es. 2 :oo-4 :oo P. M. Chicago Commons Woman's Club. 4 :oo-5 :oo P. M. Elocution. 4 :oo-5 :oo P. M. Gymnasium for girls. 4 :oo-5 :oo P. M. Junior Boys' Clubs. 4 :oo-s :oo P. M. Penny Savings Bank. 7:15-8:30 P. M. Gymnasium for girls. 7:30-9:30 P. M. Junior Progressive Club. 8:15-10:00 P. M. Free-Floor Discussion. 8:30-9:30 P. M. Gymnasium, young women. 9:00-10:00 P. M. Fram Quartette. WEDNESDAY : 1:30-4:30 P- M. Kindergarten Training Class- es. 4:00-5:00 P. M. Children's Dancing Class. 4:00-5:00 P. M. Gymnasium for girls. 7:15-8:15 P. M. Gymnasium for boys. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Art Class. THURSDAY: i :30-4 =30 P. M. Kindergarten Training Class- es. 3 :oo-s :oo P. M. Mandolin and Violin Classes. 4:00-5:00 P. M. Gymnasium for girls. 7:15-8:15 P. M. Gymnasium for boys. 7 :3-9 :0 P- M. Mandolin and Violin Classes. 8:00-10:00 P. M. Chicago Commons Choral Club. 8:00-10:00 P. M. Community Club Weekly Meeting. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Class in English. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Stenography. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Gymnasium for Young Men. FRIDAY: 2:00-4:00 P. M. Kindergarten Mother.-,' Meet- ing. 3 :oo-5 :oo P. M. Piano Instruction. 4:00-5 :oo P. M. Junior Clubs (boys and girls). 4:00-5:00 P. M. Girls' Clubs. 4 :oo-5 :oo P. M. Gymnasium for boys. 7:15-8:15 P. M. Gymnasium for girls. 7:30-10:00 P. M. Piano Instruction. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Arithmetic and Algebra. 8:30-9:30 P. M. Gymnasium for Young Wo- men. 8:00-10:00 P. M. Dressmaking. 8:00-10.00 P. M. Shakespeare Club. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Elocution for Adults. 8:00-9:00 P. M. Literature. SATURDAY : 9:00-10:00 A. M. Sewing-school. 9:00-10:00 A. M. Gymnasium for Boys, i '30-5 :3O P. M. Manual Training, Normal Class. 7:00-8:00 P. M. Penny Savings Bank. APPOINTMENTS AT BRANCH SETTLE- MENT HOUSE. 75 GRAND AVENUE. DAILY : 9:00-12:00 A. M. Kindergarten. MONDAY: 4:00-5 :oo P. M. Junior Clubs (boys and girls). WEDNESDAY: 2:00-4:00 P. M. Italian Mothers' .Meeting (Fortnightly). ' 7 :3O-g :3O P. M. German Mothers' Meeting (Fortnightly). THE COMMONS 23 THURSDAY: 4:00-5:00 P. M. Junior Clubs for Girls. FRIDAY: 7:30-9:00 P. M. Boys' Clubs. OCCASIONS UNDER OTHER AUSPICES. AT CHICAGO COMMONS, GRAND AVE. AD MORIAN SI. TABERNACLE APPOINTMENTS. SUNDAY: 10:00-11:00 A. M. Bible School for Children and Adults. 11:00-12:00 A. M. Public Worship with Preaching. 2:003:00 P. M. Sunshine Circle. 7:00-8:00 P. M. Children's Church. 7:00-7:45 P. M. Senior Christian Endeavor. 8:00-9:00 P. M.- Evening Church Service. TUESDAY: ?:oo-io:oo P. M. Forget-me-not Girls' Club. WEDNESDAY: 7:00-8:00 P. M. Junior Christian Endeavor. 8:00-9 oo P. M. Fellowship Meeting. THURSDAY: 2:00-4:00 P. M. Ladies' Aid and Missionary Society. FRIDAY : 7:00-8:00 P. M. Intermediate Christian En- deavor. SATURDAY : 8:00-9:00 P. M. Choir Rehearsal. THE ARMENIAN COMMITTEE. SUNDAY: 3 :oo -4 :oo P. M. Armenian Religious Service. UNDER MATHEON CLUB AUSPICES. 6:30 A. M.-6:30 P. M. Matheon Day Nursery, 2irj Grand Ave. WASHINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL KINDER- GARTEN. FRIDAY: i :30-4 -oo P. M. Kindergarten Mothers' Meet- ing. SPANISH AMERICAN WAR VETERANS. FRIDAY: 7:30-9:30 P. M. McKiriley Lodge. JUVENILE COURT jfJB&ATION OFFICER, i SATURDAY: 2:00-3:00 P. M. Conference of Probation Of- ficer with boys under care of court. PESTALOZZI-FROEBEL KINDERGARTEN TRAINING SCHOOL. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Class Instruction. TRADES' UNIONS. Open meetings held in Chicago Commons Au- ditorium under the auspices of Trades Unions. LAWN SWINGS MAY POLES W. S. TOTHILL Manufacturer Play Ground, Park, Gymnasium and Athletic Field Equipments. Write for anything you want. 126-iZS West Webster Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. Orders for New Edition of FORBUSH'S BOY PROBLEM will be filled on receipt of the boks early in September AT 75 CENTS PER COPY Order of "THE COMMONS." Grand Ave. and Morgan Street, Chicago. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for T5he Handbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PESTALOZZI-FROEBEL, Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA HOFER HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave. Chicago Church in Social Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. New Fourth Edition *f College. Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per .copy. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point of view, It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.& Morgan St., Chicago, 111., and is entered at the Chicago Fostoffice as mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. The Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2.50 francs, French foreign stamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for $2.50. Send check, draft, P. 0. money order, casft or stamps, not above s-cent denomination . ^ at our risk. Advertisements in the Commons During 1901. One Page, $25.00; Half Page, $15.00; Quarter Page, 58.00; One Inch, S2 00. For each insertion. Special Rates for Special Numbers of the Commons Any number under twenty-five copies, five cents each; over twenty-five and under one hundred, three cents each; over one hundred, two and one-half cents each. Changes of Address. Please notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify us at once if for any reason you desire your subscription discontinued. In accord- ance with custom, and the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers. we continue THE COMMONS to each address until notified to the contrary. 24 THE COMMONS CHICAGO COMMONS' PLAY GROUND. THE ONLY PLAYGROUND FOR 12,000 CHILDREN. TKe Commons A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 66 Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago, January 19O2. <_> \0 The Making of Abraham Lincoln. Edwin Markham in his new volumes of poems entitled "Lincoln and other Poems,'" thus de- scribes the Norn-Mother when She took the tried clay of the common road Clay warm yet with the genial heat of Earth, Dashed through it all a strain of prophecy; Then mixed a laughter with the serious stuff. It was a stuff to wear for centuries, A man that matched the mountains, and com- pelled The stars to look our way and honor us. The color of the ground was in him, the red earth ; The tang and odor of the primal things The rectitude and patience of the rocks ; The gladness of the wind that shakes the corn ; The courage of the bird that dares the sea The justice of the rain that loves all leaves; The pity of the snow that hides all scars ; The loving-kindness of the wayside well ; The tolerance and equity of light That gives as freely to the shrinking weed As to the great oak flaring to the wind To the grave's low hill as to the Matterhorn That shoulders out the sky. And so he came. From prairie cabin up to Capital, One fair Ideal led our chieftain on. Forevermore he burned to do his deed With the fine stroke and gesture of a king. He built that rail-pile as he built the State, Pouring his splendid strength through every blow, The conscience of him testing every stroke, To make his deed the measure of a man. 'President R-oosevelt on "Reform Through SociaJ Work." In an interestingly straightforward article, con- tributed to the November number of the English "Fortnightly Review," President Roosevelt writes of reform through social work what is well worth the reading of every worker for so- cial of civic betterment. Its zest lies in the con- crete instances given of the reformatory value of certain men in New York City politics. The first of these to be graphically described is Mr. F. Norton Goddard. who is characterized as "probably the only man who ever entered on the career of a district leader by the door of philan- throphy." He is shown to have started upon his unique career under the single impulse "to do something serious in life." To test his capacity for settlement service, he settled alone over on the East Side and afterwards decided to swarm by himself. Joining a little club of men, which he found in his new neighborhood, he saw it grow into the "Civic Club." From this as a center, he moved steadily toward the control of the Republican party organization of his dis- trict. When the test at the primaries finally came, the candidates whom he and the "Civic Club" supported received more votes than both of their opponents together. He not only won out but stayed in, ever increasing his lead over all attempts to drive him out of party leadership. This he did by clean use of the social influence which Tammany corruptly, yet so effectively, em- ploys. His "Civic Club" is the social center of the district, and Mr. Goddard is the soul of it, every one's big brother, and "friend at court." A shrewd politician is quoted as saying that twenty such men in twenty such districts could save New York City from Tammany and force even the Republican machine to represent the Best elements of the party. The President pays high tribute fo the social settlements of New York City, the cost they are willing to pay for their influence and the civic achievement they have thus honestly earned. Of Mr. James B. Reynolds and his fellow residents at the University Settlement, he says, "They have stood for the forces of good in politics, in social life, in warring against crime, in increasing the sum of material pleasures. They work fiand in hand, shoulder to shoulder with those whom they seek to benefit, and they themselves share in the benefits. They make their house the center for all robust agencies for social betterment. They have constantly endeavored to work with, rather than merely for, the community ; to co-operate in honorable friendship with all who are struggling upward. Only those who know the appalling conditions of life in the swarming tenements that surround the University Settlement can appreci- ate what it has done." Of emphatic significance is Mr. Roosevelt's commendation of the settlement's close affiliation THE COMMONS with organized labor. "Its work in co-operation with trades unions has been of special value, both in helping them where they have done good work, and in endeavoring to check any tendency to evil in any particular union. It has. for in- stance, consistently labored to secure the settle- ment of strikes by consultation or arbitration, before the bitterness has become so great as to prevent any chance of a settlement." Of the social influence of the churches he stout- ly maintains that ''a living church organization should more than any other, be a potent force in social uplifting. In this connection he 'pays a well merited tribute to St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church for its honest effort to study the conditions of life and to remedy those which are abnormal. The four qualifications for real social work he finds typified in Jacob Riis, "high courage, disinterested desire to do good, sane and whole- some common sense and a sound sense of humor." Perhaps the most far-reaching influence of the President's valuable paper is its suggestion that the way to save even partisan politics in our great cities, is to invest them with responsibility and power for civic improvements and social pro- gress. The Fortnightly Review has done this country a service in. eliciting this article from President Roosevelt. We hope that the very inadequate and fragmentary glimpse of it which, in respect to the American copyright, we have given our readers will only stimulate their interest to buy and read its full text. Since the publication of Mr. Roosevelt's article a very stroTig and practical attestation has been given his estimate of Mr. James B. Reynolds. His appointment as the private secretary of Mayor Seth Low was made for three reasons: first, because of his personal qualifications for the office; second, because his long residence and leadership in the University Settlement had put him in close touch with the mass of the work- ing people; and third, because the densely popu- lated East Side tenement district had in Mayor Low's judgment the right to have its best rep- resentative close to him, thereby enabling him the better to serve the whole people of the city. The highest type of philanthrophy is that which springs from the feeling of brotherhood, and which, therefore, rests on the self-respect- ing, healthy basis of mutual obligation, and com- mon effort. The best way to raise anyone is to join with him in an effort whereby both you and he are raised by helping each other. Theodore Roosevelt in The Fortnightly Review. Chicago Settlements. BY ELIZABETH HEAD. FOR THE SETTLEMENT COM- MITTEE OF THE CHICAGO WOMAN'S CLUB. The Chicago Woman's Club has had for several years a "Settlement Committee," originated in the Philanthrophy Department, but now includ- ing members from nearly all the other depart- ments. This Committee, feeling that everyone should be interested in some settlement, not only for the good of the settlement, but for the deeper knowledge and broader outlook upon life which such interest gives to the individual, decided to put before the public a brief description of all the Chicago settlements, that each person may choose for himself what line of work most ap- peals to him. A letter was prepared and sent to each settlement, asking for certain information, and the present article is simply a presentation of the answers to these letters, edited enough to avoid needless repetition. Certain features, common to almost all the settlements, as kindergarten, sewing-schools, cooking and manual training classes, womens' clubs, clubs for boys and girls, circulating li- braries, penny savings banks and neighborhood socials, will not be dwelt upon unless some spe- cial feature is to be noted in such connection. Hull House. (1889.) 335 South Halsted Street Miss Jane Addams, Head! Resident. North-Western University. (1891.) Corner of Augusta and Noble Sts. Mr. William A. Hard. Forward Movement. (1893.) 294 West Van Buren St. Rev. George W. Gray, Super- intendent. Chicago Commons. (1894) Grand Avenue and Morgan St. Graham Taylor, Warden. University of Chicago. (1894.) 4638 South Ashland Avenue. Miss Mary E. McDowell. Helen Heath. (1895.) Thirty-Third Place. Mrs. Marion H. Perkins. Eli Bates House. (1895.) 80 Elm Street. Neighborhood House. (1896.) 1224 Sixty-Sev- enth Street. Mrs. S. S. Van der Vaart. Gad's Hill. (1897.) Corner of Robey and West Twenty-Second Street. Henry Booth House. (1898.) 135 West Four- teenth Place. Association House. (1899.) 474 West North Avenue. Miss Carrie B. Wilson. ASSOCIATION HOUSE. Association House is the most recently estab- lished among the settlements. It was opened about two years ago, in response to a petition signed by one hundred and fifteen young women and fifty-three children, who were so anxious to have it that they pledgx'd hearty and continuous THE COMMONS 3 support if the Young Women's Christian As- sociation would undertake the responsibility of securing suitable rooms, and would begin to carry on a gospel settlement work adapted to women and children. ing. is a distinctive and important feature. About one thousand people come weekly to the house, for various clubs and classes, not in- cluding special entertainments. The expense of conducting the settlement is about $5.500 yearly, iiition House. The activities group themselves along the lines of club life and educational work. The clubs are self-governing, and include, under twelve or more groups, mothers, young women, boys and girls. A self-supporting club of young men. not di- rectly under the control of the settlement, has recently been granted a meeting-place in the building. There is as yet no penny savings bank. The usual educational work is done, with class- es also in english, arithmetic and Bible study. A very successful Kitchen-garden class has been in operation for two years. One of the most helpful departments has been the sales-room, where the partly worn clothes sent to the set- tlement are priced and made ready for sale by two from the Mother's club. The income from this department was used lav summer toward the expenses of the playground. The playground has been maintained for two years, and h:is been, of course, of great value. The vesper service on Sunday afternoons, with an informal tea follow- $1.500 of which is raised by club dues, fees, and board. The rest comes from contributions for which the Board of Management is responsible. - n iaiion House Plavcroum!. THE COMMONS NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE. Neighborhood House, opened in 1896, is situ- ated among a population largely employed in the Stock- Yards, and of diverse nationalities, Amer- ican, Irish, Dutch, German, Swedish and Italian being represented. which it occupies was erected by Unity Church for an industrial school, with money left for that purpose by Eli Bates. So, although the settle- ment has been in actual existence only since 1895. many of its activities have been in con- secutive operation for more than twenty years. Neighborhood Houst The usual activities are carried on, in the way of clubs and classes. There are two kinder- gartens, one in the mornings, under the Board of Education, the other a private pay kindergar- ten in the afternoons. Gymnastic classes for adults and children are held several times each week, also singing-classes. The classes and clubs are rapidly outgrowing the hall ; the Young Wo- men's club, with a membership of fifty, has a waiting list of ten, and the industrial school, ac- commodating one hundred and twenty children, has a waiting list of seventy-five. An informal song service, held for an hour on Sunday after- noons, is eagerly attended by the neighbors, re- gardless of creed. The general expenses of the house are met by individual contributions, and donations for special class work are made by a number of Clubs and organizations. ELI BATES HOUSE. The Eli Bates House, known informally as "Elm Street Settlement," is located on Elm Street, near the river, among the gas houses. The neighborhood is peculiarly forlorn, and the House offers the only bright, clean, pleasant meeting-place for blocks around. The building The day nursery was the first in Chicago; the sewing school dates from 1884; there were boys' clubs from 1889 to 1892, though these lapsed and were reorganized later under settlement con- trol. During the past year there have been forty- two clubs and classes, under fifty-two different leaders, and including eleven hundred and seven members. The usual classes are held, also classes in shorthand, designing, history, geography and travel. Four manual training classes, caring for fifty-six boys, have a waiting list of thirty-seven. The Penny Savings bank is gaining depositors among the adults as well as the children. The settlement considers that its strongest hold on the neighborhood comes through the kindergar- ten, day nursery and social gatherings. About a thousand people come weekly to the house. Unity Church gives the settlement the use of the building for a nominal rent, and many of the workers come from that church, their interest continuing to the settlement as the successor of the industrial school ; but there is no alliance with Unity or any other church. The expenses for maintenance are about $3.600 yearly, met by subscriptions, donations and dues from member- THE COMMONS ships. (Associate membership, $2 a year; gov- erning membership, with a vote at the annual meeting of the corporation, $10. HELEN HEATH SETTLEMENT. During the winter of 1893-4, following the \Yorld's Fair, Dr. Helen Heath rendered most valuable assistance to the Relief and Aid So- ciety in dispensing its benefactions to hundreds of families among the foreign population center- ing at Wall and Thirty-second Streets. A social settlement had been for some time under con- sideration by Jenkin Lloyd Jones, and this seem- ed a favorable opening. A building was planned and erected by All Souls Church, Dr. Heath'- sudden death giving impel us to the work, and the settlement, fittingly named for her was in operation in November, 1895. The usual club and educational work -is main- tained, an especially good library being one of the strong points. *' The Head Resident considersl the library and the manual training classes among the most effective means of reaching the com- munity. Most of the non-resident workers are drawn from All Souls Church, and the financial support conies largely though not exclusively from the same source. There was at first an indebtedness of $4.000 for the building, which has now been very cosmopolitan constituency, American, Swed- ish, Irish, German, Polish and Bohemian being represented. There is a Public Library delivery station at Gad's Hill, open daily. Besides the usual clubs and classes, are chorus classes for young men, hoys and girls, meeting weekly, and a Loyal Tem- perance Legion for boys and girls. Gad's Hill has a summer camp at Glencoe, large enough to care for one hundred at a time, and also maintains a playground in the summer. A project is now under consideration for open- ing a playgroom in one of the public schools for the winter months. So much has already been said of the desirability of using the public schools as a sort of neighborhood centre, in localities where no other pleasant gathering-place is offer- ed, that the playroom idea seems feasible, and might well be taken up by other settlements. Gad's Hill derives its main support from con- tributions from the business firms located in that part of the city, and it also aided by Central Church. HENRY BOOTH HOUSE. The Henry Booth House, named for the late Judge Henry Booth, for many years president of the Society for Ethical Culture, was opened in 1898. It is not really a settlement, as it has no i'.,i I's Mill Settlement. reduced to $1,500. in large measure by "one dol- lar a month" subscribers to this special building fund. GAD'S HILL SETTLEMENT. Gad's Hill Settlement, founded in 1897. has a resident workers nor room for any, its building being entirely taken up with clubs and classes. It is included, however, in the Federation of Chi- cago Settlement?, and -s working along settlement lines as far as is posihle without residents. It THE COMMONS is surrounded by a Jewish, Irish and Bohemian population. There is no Penny Savings bank established here. The social relations with the neighborhood are kept up through the leaders of clubs and classes. A very successful singing-class meets weekly, besides the usual educational work ; also three gymnasium classes. The support and the workers come naturally largely from the Society for Ethical Culture, though some valuable help, personal as well as financial, is from outside. The financial outlay is about $2,000 a year. THE FORWARD MOVEMENT. The Forward Movement work began with car- ing for boys in a basement under a saloon at the corner of Harrison and Halsted Streets, tin- der the direction of Dr. George W. Gray, in 1893. As necessities have demanded, larger quarters and better equipment have been pro- vided. Miss Mary E. Dix has been for seven years the head worker. The Forward Movement is now located at 293 to 305 West Van Buren Street, comprising a resident house, kindergar- ten rooms, assembly, hall, library, reading room, club and industrial rooms and a gymnasium. In the rear is a playground, a vegetable and a flower garden. Forward Movement Summer Cottage. The Forward Movement esteems its work as of the nature of a character-forming school ; it seeks more than to amuse or interest or even to teach, the dominant inquiry in any activity being how will it affect the development of character. "The greatest formative influence in the develop- ment of character," says Dr. Gray, "Is love; love dominates the workers and determines the meth- od of their work ; love is an active principle out of which comes, naturally and joyfully, a life of service. The workers minister to the poor, to awaken in them a desire to minister to others ; to help them to help themselves is only a half truth. The agencies to be used by the people of the neighborhood are the social, educational, in- dustrial, recreative and spiritual. The workers are here to suggest to them methods of opera- tion." The Forward Movement has a life and an an- nual membership, constituting a governing body, and is dependent for its support upon these mem- bers and upon voluntary contributions. Forward Movement Kindergarten. THE NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT. The Northwestern University Settlement was founded in 1891. It is just now entering upon the enjoyment of a new and suitable building. Mr. William A. Hard, Resident-in-Charge, re- ports accommodations for twelve residents, eight of whom are already in possession. Their month- ly publication, The Neighbor, gives more of the detail of their work than is possible in the space at our disposal. We note that their activities group themselves in clubs rather than calsses. which would seem to imply a certain element of selection and self government. Among them, be- sides the usual ones, is a Picture Loan club, a Mending Guild, the Progressive club (lectures and classes), and a club for household Arts and Crafts. The supporting constituency includes profess- ors, and students from the Northwestern Uni- versity and the University of Wisconsin, and friends in Evanston and Chicago. Mr. Hard's conception of the object of their work is one not out of place in any locality. "To increase the pleasures and opportunities of the life of the neighborhood ; to cultivate the art and the joy of living; to be in all things un- prejudiced and imperial." THE COMMONS CHICAGO COMMONS. The Chicago Commons has just established itself in new and commodious quarters at the corner of Grand Avenue and Morgan Street. A branch house for kindergarten and clubs is main- tained at 75 Grand Avenue, in the neighborhood of the old Commons. The usual clubs and classes are in active operation, combined with individual features of great interest. Situated in a neighborhood predominately Protestant, the Commons finds it possible to maintain close re- classes which go on, the whole settlement is per- vaded by a distinctly home feeling, rarely met with in just such surroundings. After all, the essence of a settlement is neighborly living, and the actual home life is too easily crowded out in the press of other work unless great and con- scious stress be laid upon it. The Chicago Commons Association is incorpo- rated, with a Board of Trustes of eleven mem- bers. It requires about $7,800 a year, above what is contributed toward maintenance by the resident 3N5 3ND*PONC AKCHltECTS Williams Residence Hall. Main Wins;. lations with the Tabernacle Church, whose serv- ices are held in the Commons building; to have a graded Sunday-school, and household vespers, and still to keep up co-operative relations with other churches of the districts, both Catholic and Protestant. The Assembly hall is used for many gatherings not under the direct auspices of the Commons, the public schools, trades unions and other neighborhood organizations being welcome to its use. The Tuesday evening "Free Floor" discussions are famous. The non-sectarian Pleasant Sunday Afternoons unite the families of the neighborhood. The field for usefulness seems almost boundless with such workers and so satisfactory a building. "The Commons," the most widely circulated settlement journal, has been published by this settlement for seven years. Notwithstanding the multitude of clubs and Proposed Men's Cluh House. and other groups, to support the work of the Settlement including its summer camp at Elgin. For all expenses it depends upon spontaneous giving of interested friends, having no endow- ment. THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SETTLEMENT. The University of Chicago settlement was founded in January, 1894 ,by the Philanthropic Committee of the Christian Union of the Univer- sity of Chicago. Miss Mary E. McDowell, the Head Resident, is a member of the faculty of the University. Among the non-resident workers the University of Chicago furnishes forty, the gen- eral public thirty-four. The settlement has a gymnasium at 4630 Gross Avenue, back of the stockyards, erected in 1899 by friends of the settlement. The Public Library station in the Gymnasium building; the day nurs- THE COMMONS ery at Forty-eighth Street and Marshfield Ave- nue and the University Settlement Dispensary are affiliated interests not supported by the set- have social possibilities and that educational methods are more effectual if made in an atmos- phere of genial fellowship." University of Chicago Settk-ment Gymnasium. t lenient. In co-operation with the neighborhood, the settlement has secured a free public bath, and manual training and kindergartens have been put into the public schools. A playground has been maintained for four years, summer con- certs and out-of-doors stereopticon lectures be- ing held there last summer. The usual clubs and classes are carried on, with the addition of a Bo- hemian Womans' Club, a natural outgrowth of the neighborhood. About 1,500 people come to the settlement weekly. The settlement holds fraternal relation with the labor movement, co-operating with Stock- yard Unions. The Head Resident is the Vice President of the "Womens" International Union Label League." One of the residents is a proba- tion officer, with 150 wards of the juvenile court under her charge. The support of this settle- ment rests upon the University of Chicago Set- tlement Committee, and the University of Chi- cago Settlement League. "From its experience of the last six years the settlement has concluded that all of its activities HULL HOUSE. Hull House was the first Social Settlement in Chicago, and is now the admiration and incentive of all the rest. Opened in 1889 with one build- ing not too well suited to Settlement needs, it comprises now a group of six buildings, cluster- ed about Polk, Halsted and Ewing Streets. There is no organization back of Hull House, save a Board of seven Trustees, and these substantial improvements have been made possible by indi- vidual donors. Many public entertainments are given in (lie Auditorium, lectures, concerts, and dramatics. Besides the classes common to all the settlements, Hull House has grammar school and colfege ex- tension classes ; classes in the history of art and music: classes in pottery, clay-modeling, metal work and wood-carving. A visiting nurse and a probation officer are in residence here, and a branch of the Chicago Post-Office is located* in the Coffee House. The work for children, car- ried on in a building especially for them, is of the same nature, but on a larger scale, as in other THE COMMONS 9 settlements. The Day-Nursery, like the one in Eli Bates House, is a very important feature. The most recent undertaking at Hull House is the Labor Museum, which is intended to demon- a serious menace to civic life. If the settle- ments can inspire confidence toward its own workers, there is at once a working basis toward a mutual understanding. It is in this simple, Hull House Scene. strate the development of the various industries from their respective forms to their present con- dition. It is hoped that this will give an his- torical perspective to manufacturers, and help workers feel a great interest and therefore pleasure in their task. The Museum is at pres- ent most completely illustrated in the Textile Room, where spinning and weaving are done by foreigners familiar with the simpler processes in their own countries. It has been possible to give here only a brief, matter-of-fact account of the work carried on in the several settlements. What the settlement really means to the neighborhood, in its close every-day relation to life, would be hard to put into words. In this era of great commercial trusts has come, among the working people, a correspondingly great distrust. Every student of philanthropic or social questions has been brought up against this blank wall of disbelief and misunderstanding, nor can he fail to see in it unselfish neighborly life that the settlements are doing work so important to municipal and civic life that no one can afford to ignore it, and the more settlements there are, the more of these centers of interpretation, the sooner may we all hope to speak one language. The Federation of Chicago Settlements is an organization, meeting several times a year, for the exchange of ideas and experiences, compari- sons of methods, and results. The Federated Settlements find its fellowship helpful and its re- sults are shown in the work of each and in the sympathy and co-operation with each other. Best Books on Social Settlements. Philanthrophy and Social Progress (Crowell & Company), containing papers by Miss Jane Ad- dams on the objective and subjective necessity for social settlements. Hull House Maps and Papers. (Crowell.) English Social Movements, by Robert Woods. (Scribner's.) See also Settlements To Date (a 10 THE COMMONS booklet published by The Congregationalist, Bos- ton), and The City Wilderness, by the same au- thor. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) Practical Socialism by the Rev. and Mrs. Sam- uel A. Barnett. (Longsman, Green & Co.) College and University Settlements by Will Reason. (Methuen & Company.) Hand Book of Social Settlements by Professor Charles R. Henderson of the University of Chi- cago (Lentihon & Co.). furnished by The Com- mons for 1 6oc. Neighborhood Guilds by Stanton Coit. (Scrib- ner.) Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of La- bor Statistics of the State of New York for the Year 1900, Part II, Social Settlements, containing the best review of the New York Settlements. (Department of Labor. Capitol, Albany. New York.) The Commons, a monthly record devoted to aspects of life and labor from a settlement point of view, published by Chicago Commons, Grand avenue and Morgan street, Chicago, at soc per year, with the co-operation of the College Set- tlements Association, and the Association of Neighborhood Workers in New York City. Politics a.nd La.bor. BY RAYMOND ROBINS. President Roosevelt's first message to the con- gress of the United States has aroused more general interest than any other state paper with- in thirty years. The extraordinary circum- stances that have resulted in the elevat-on of Mr. Roosevelt to the most powerful political office of the modern world, are largely responsible for the unusflal eagerness with which the people of the English speaking nations have followed his first steps in the courts of the mighty. Comparatively young and inexperienced, yet chief magistrate of ihe foremost industrial power in a commercial ag?, consigned by a designing political boss to the national political grave-yard, yet within a year, by the awful instrumentality of an assassin's bul- l*t clothed with untrammeled command of that boss and his party machinery, a reformer with high ideals, distrusted by predatory capital and feared by politicians, yet in an hour, ushered into the mightiest theatre of action and called with- out let or hindrance to play the title role among the rulers of the earth, he has well been deemed a sign and a wonder by the sons of men. Nor was there lacking that intoxicating flavor of mys- tery that ever envelopes the new and untried leader, suddenly emerging from obscurity into that fierce light that beats upon the throne. By some Mr. Roosevelt was regarded as an imprac- tical dreamer, chasing the butterflies of municipal and national purity about the byways of Police Commissions and Civil Service Reform. To oth- ers he appeared the incarnation of honest, com- mon sense and enlightened public spirit. For these latter Roosevelt was the Moses of the up- right, strenuous life, that would lead the people into the promised land of civic righteousness, and with his own right arm lasso our modern golden calf and drag him bellowing down the steps of the capital. Before us lies this first deliverance of the strenuous life in power. It is an inspiring mes- sage and worthy of our best faith in the main. Upon questions of labor it rings true to the nobler promise of the great Republic. Though: - ful men of all parties will endorse Mr. Roose- velt when he says : "With the sole exception of the farming interest,, no one matter is of sucli vital moment to our whole people as the welfare of the wageworker. If the farmer and the wage- worker are well off, it is absolutely certain that all others will be well off, too. "The most vital problem with which this coun- try, and for that matter the whole civilized world, has to deal, is the problem which has for one side the betterment of social conditions, moral and physical, in large cities, and for another side the effort to deal with that tangle of far-reaching questions which we group together when we speak of "labor." The chief factor in the success of each man wageworker, farmer and capitalist alike must ever be the sum total of his own in- dividual qualities and abilities. Second only to this comes the power of acting in combination or association with others. Very great good has been and will be accomplished by associations or unions of wageworkers, when they combine in- sistence upon their own rights with law-abiding respect for the rights of others. "The national government should demand the highest quality of service from its employes, and in return it should be a good employer. If pos- sible, legislation should be passed, in connection with the interstate commerce law. which will render effective the efforts of different states to do away with the competition of convict contract labor in the open labor market. So far as prac- ticable under the conditions of government work, provision should be made to render the enforce- ment of the eight-hour law easy and certain. In all industries carried on directly or indirectly for the United States Government women and chil- dren should be protected from excessive hours of labor, Trom night work and from work under un- sanitary conditions. The government should pro- vide in its contracts that all work should be done under 'fair' conditions, and in addition to setting THE COMMONS 11 a high standard should uphold it by proper in- spection, extending if necessary to the subcon- tractors. The government should forbid all night work for women and children, as well as exces- sive overtime. For the District of Columbia a good factory law should be passed ; and, as a powerful indirect aid to such laws, provision should be made to turn the inhabited alleys, the existence of which is a reproach to our city, into minor streets, where the inhabitants can live un- der conditions favorable to health and morals. "When all is said and done, the rule of brother- hood remains as the indispensable prerequisite to success in the kind of national life for which we strive. Each man must work for himself, and unless he so works no outside help can avail him; but each man must remember also that he is in- deed his brother's keeper, and that while no man who refuses to walk can be carried with advant- age to himself or any one else, yet that each at times stumbles or halts, that each at times needs to have the helping hand outstretched to him. To be permanently effective, aid must always take the form of helping a man to help himself; and we can all best help ourselves by joining to- gether in the work that is of common interest to all." Sounder words than these have not been spoken in recent years upon this supreme prob- lem of modern politics. Upon one subject only of this generally ad- mirable message, are we in complete dissent. Mr. Roosevelt could not have disappointed some of his ardent admirers more, than by giving the sanction of his name and fame to the crassly ignorant cry for legislative persecution against philosophic anarchy. To recommend a law that would exclude Tolstoi and deport Crosby, that had it been in force on the 6th day of last Sep- tember would have divided many happy homes, excluded some and banished other worthy citi- zens, but have left us Leon Czolgosz, the republi- can elector and native born citizen of Cleveand to assassinate our beloved President, is a depth of blind resentment we had not expected from Roosevelt the brave. The change advocated by this message in the fundamental law of the land, involving a new special jurisdiction for the fede- ral courts, with its calendar of state crimes, is both revolutionary and futile. For Czolgosz and all murderers of any faith and name we have the gallows and the grave. For philosophic anarchy there is just one cure, a free government providing equity for all its citizens. So long as our government presents the spectacle in many places, of corruption at the bottom and incompetence at the top. for just so long will ill- balanced persons, dwelling alone upon its crying evils and forgetful of its many great though si- lent blessings, revolt against government in any form. A purer administration and more equitable legislation in city, state and nation, is the only possible answer to philosophic anarchy. Legis- lative persecution to combat ideas is the bastard offspring of ignorance and fear. The stamping out process is an old failure. The Spanish In- quisition played out that hand three hundred years ago and lost. THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF LABOR. The recent convention at Scranton of the American Federation of Labor was the largest in attendance in the history of that great organiza- tion. The past year tho conspicuously marked by the ravages of industrial wars, has been one of steady growth for Unionism as a whole. The increasing co-operation, and growing efficiency, of labor federations in dealing with industrial problems, was mightily evidenced by the annual reports. Conspicuous among the important acts of this convention, was the overwhelming defeat of the anti-machine resolution of the cigar-makers' un- ion. The reply of the convention to the protest against machine made products was "organize the operators of the machines and insist on a wage scale." Under present leadership American labor promises to avoid that rock upon which English commercial supremacy was wrecked. Industrial inefficiency due in great part to labor union rules opposing machinery and limiting the amount of product has taken from England the markets of the world. A wise limitation was made in the use of the boycott. Hereafter central labor organizations can alone order a boycott and then only after in- vestigation and earnest effort for settlement. For students of the race problem and indus- trial conditions in the south, a significant testi- mony to the insufficiency of industrial education Tuskegee Institute's and the like, for removing race antagonisms, was presented by the fate of the color line resolution, that was laid on the table because it was too hot to hold. The annual attempt to stampede the convention for socialism met its customary defeat. THE ANTI-STRIKE CONFERENCE. The impossible has happened. Mr. Hanna and Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Schwab and Mr. Schaffer, Mr. Marks and Mr. White, Mr.Kruttschnitt and Mr. Clarke, Mr. Ireland and Mr. Potter have met in the same hall and in the simple majesty of a common manhood have discussed without bit- terness and agreed without hypocrisy upon a 12 THE COMMONS. plan for the settlement of differences between labor and capital by arbitration. The plan may fail but the spirit of that conference is the sign manual of industrial peace. An executive committee of thirty-seven men twelve representing capital, twelve labor, and thirteen the general public was appointed. FOR THE CAPITALISTS. Mark A. Hanna, United States Senator. James A. Chambers, President American Glass company, Pittsburg, Pa. William H. Pfahler, President National Asso- ciation of Stove Manufacturers. S. R. Callaway, President American Locomot- ive Works. Lewis Nixon, President and owner of the Cres- cent Ship Yard, Elizabethport, N. J. Charles M. Schwab, President United States Steel corporation. H. H. Vreeland, President Metropolitan Street railway company, New York. Charles A. Moore, President of the Machine Manufacturing company. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. E. D. Ripley, President Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. Marcus M. Marks, President National Associ- ation of Clothing Manufacturers. Julius Kruttschnitt, General Manager Southern Pacific railroad. ' FOR ORGANIZED LABOR. Samuel Gompers, President American Federa- tion of Labor. John Mitchell, President United Mine Work- ers. Frank P. Sargent, Grand Master Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. Theodore J. Schaffer, President Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers. James Duncan, Secretary Granite Cutters' un- ion. Daniel J. Keefe, President International Asso- ciation of Longshoremen. James O'Connell, President International As- sociation of Machinists. Martin Fox, President Iron Molders' National union. James E. Lynch, President International Typo- graphical union. Edward E. Clarke, Grand Master Brotherhood of Railway Conductors. Henry White, Secretary Garment Workers of America. Walter MacArthur, editor Coast Seaman's Journal, San Francisco. TO REPRESENT THE PUBLIC. Ex-President Grover Cleveland. Archbishop John Ireland. Bishop Henry C. Potter. Charles Francis Adams, Boston. Cornelius N. Bliss, ex-Secretary of the In- terior. Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard Uni- versity. Franklin MacVeagh, Chicago. James H. Eckels, ex-Controller of the Cur- rency, Chicago. John J. McCook, lawyer, New York. John G. Milburn, Buffalo. Charles A. Bonaparte, Baltimore. Chairman of the conference committee, Oscar S. Straus, and Secretary Ralph M. Easley are ex-officio members of the committee. Archbishop Ireland made the closing address of the conference. He said in part: "May the winds carry the news over the con- tinent and around the world that such a meet- ing as this has taken place in the great City of New York. The hope of the twentieth century is that the great principles of brotherhood, char- ity, and justice announced by the Holy One of Palestine shall become wider and deeper at this time than at any other. Let us have industrial peace. Let employer and employe know that they are brothers. Let charity and justice, and justice more than charity, be the prevailing light of this great nation." LABOR CONDITIONS IN JAPAN. Our Consul-General, Mr. E. C. Bellows, thus officially reports to the State Department under the above title. The Japan Gazette of June 25 contained a translation of an article on "The want of skilled labor in Japan," which had appeared in the Asahi, a Japanese newspaper. It says: The Japanese believe that wages are low in Japan, though the rate of interest is high. It is true wages are low, but Japan wants sKilled la- bor, and there is a great difference as compared with Europe and America as to the amount of production, and therefore, wages are actually higher in Japan than in Europe and America, when the cost of labor is taken into considera- tion. Take the spinning industry, for instance. The average wages in South America are about i yen (50 cents), whereas they are about three- fourths of that in Japan. Yet the individual amount of production is much more in the former than in the latter. In Japan, some one thousand hands are employed in a spinning mill of 10,000 spindles, whereas in America about two hundred are sufficient in a factory of a similar capacity. * * * Despite the fact that the Government pays "encouragement money." or a bonus, for T HECOMMONS 13 every ship built in Japan, and that each ship built abroad involves the expense of bringing it home, most orders are given to foreign builders. This is because the cost is lower in the aggregate in foreign countries than in Japan. The writer concludes that the lack of skilled labor is a serious hindrance to the introduction of foreign capital, so earnestly desired by Japa- nese financiers. The Gazette of May 15 quotes the following from an article by Mr. K. Kawakami, a native writer. "Children under 10 years, even of scarcely 6 or 5 years of age, are largely employed in factories, and men are generally made to work for injuri- ously excessive long hours, while women have to work for the same periods to which the men are subjected, and, like them, they have to work in the night-time, too. It is no exaggeration to say that fourteen, sixteen, and even eighteen hours a day are often worked in factories." The same article, after giving a table which shows that in most factories there are more than three hundred and twenty working days per year, comments severely in the lack of provision for the health and lives of the employees, and says that the Tokyo Tramway Company, which pays a dividend of from 30 to 40 per cent, pays its laborers $5 to $6 a month, and works them from fourteen to seventeen hours a day. He adds that in many factories no provision is made for suit- able ventilation and lung diseases are very com- mon among the employees, while the arrange- ments are such that in case of fire escape would be almost impossible. Japan has no laws for the protection of labor, or restricting the employment of women and children, but the subject is being considerably discussed, and in the many articles relating to this matter which have appeared in the local pa- pers lately are frequent references to the labor laws of England and America. While the indus- trial and economic conditions of Japan would hardly warrant such close restrictive measures as are enforced in those countries, it is believed that some law of this kind will be introduced at the next session of the Diet. It is interesting to note, in this connection, that the agitation has arisen on this subject comes principally from the educated and professional or leisure classes, rather than from the laborers themselves. The Japan Mail of June 18 gives an extract from an editorial in the Jiji Shimpo, deprecating the agitation of socialistic subjects. Tt asserts that the rich and poor of Japan are not separated by a gulf comparable with that dividing the plutocrat and pauper in the West, and that the pooi man here, with his compensations in holi- days, fetes, and festivals, finds nothing intoler- able in his lot. It ascribes the content of the working classes in part to the lack of ostenta- tion in the lives of the very rich, the Japanese house and manner of living not offering such op- portunities for magnificence and luxury a:; those of Europe and America, and rich Japanese usu- ally preferring to avoid any display of extrava- gance. A Social Settlement in the Scot- tish Highlands. BY LESTER L WEST. I have just been learning of a beautiful instance of social settlement work in the remote regions of Scotland, in a little village of the Highland fisher- folk. It was given to me by a young lady of Edinburgh, who was one of the chief helpers in its organization. This work had its inception in the heart of one of the devoted and self-sacrificing "Gray-Sisters" of London. She had especially interested herself in the work of teaching basket-making to the women and girls of London and the surrounding villages. Some months ago she came into the north with the feeling that her art ougnt to be made a national Scottish industry, tnereby mak- ing baskets a home product instead of having them all imported from Germany, as at pres- ent. In one of the northern fishing villages the Free Church people had recently been building a new house of worship. As is not unusual it was fin- ished with a large debt upon it. Some people iri Edinburgh who were interested in that enter- prise, hearing of this lady, conceived the plan of getting her to go to that place and teach the people her art with the hope of their thus earn- ing some money for this debt by selling baskets to tourists and fisher-folk. She gladly did so and was not long in persuading many of the women and girls to take up the work. But this by no means satisfied her. She want- ed to interest the men as well, especially the idle porters and fishermen. To this end she car- ried her work amongst them, down to the piers. But the shy, canny, conservative highlanders were not like the versatile Englishmen of the south, and it was days before she could induce even the boldest and most liberal minded of them to take her slender stems and splints between their coarse fingers and thumbs. But at length when the early winter darkness of the northern clime fell about them she found herself each night with a little cobbler's shop packed almost to suffocation with eager, interested, awkward learners. But mean- 14 THE COMMONS while, as always, the clever teacher was learning more than all her pupils. She was learning to look deep into a new phase of life. She was learning that highland village life can be as de- grading, and many times more desolate than life in London slums. The weary monotony and grim loneliness of it took hold of her heart. The men wasting their time and money and manhood in the public house the children swarming in the nar- row crooked streets the worn wives and mothers fighting dirt and hunger in narrow, squalid huts, and the fish girls cleaning the slimy herring day after day with cold, red hands, by the sullen sea and under leaden skies. Yes, most of all these fish girls in the midst of temptations and a life that seemed all but choked and smothered by material and moral filth ; all, but most of all these cried out to all the divine compassion with which her woman soul was filled. In a few weeks some score or more of poor and ignorant people had learned to make plain, home- ly baskets, but their wise teacher had learned the unfathomable needs, and heard the pathetic cry of an entirely new phase of human life. She came back to Edinburgh, but she could not stay there. Across the dying heather and the rugged Trossachs the north wind brought that cry of the dwarfed and stunted life of that one little fishing village. In that village there was a movement on foot to secure a Reading Room. They had heard of a man by the name of Carnegie and had asked him for one hundred pounds for a Reading Room. This he had promised them on the condition that they raise another hundred pounds. A commit- tee of thirteen had been organized. But things do not move so swiftly in the highlands of Scot- land as they do in Chicago, and the whole ques- tion of what to do and how to do it had been un- der advisement for eighteen months, with innum- erable long-winded but fruitless committee meet- ings ; and they still seemed no nearer the end than when they began. A gentleman in Edin- burgh had also promised fifty pounds. At this point one Gray Sister was saying I must go and live with those people if a way of any sort can be opened. Then the idea was conceived of making the money for the proposed Reading Room serve the double purpose of that and an "Institute" or "Commons" by building them both under the same roof. The Edinburgh gentleman said he would make his pledge conditional upon its being so used. Armed with this promise our weaver of baskets and healer of hurt hearts went before the august committee of thirteen. But of course the plan was preposterous. It could not be thought of. And then the very idea that two 'weaker vessels' from the south should come up there to teach off-hand the magnates of the 'toon' how to do what with great wrestlings and agoniz- ings of intellect they had already spent eighteen months at learning! How ndiculous ! There were a score of reasons why it could not be done. At length the plucky little woman rose up and said "well then gentlemen I shall take this fifty pounds which was to have been yours and find other money elsewhere and build my insti- tute in spite of you, and you can build your read- ing room when you get ready.' But of course it would not do to let that fifty pounds slip through their fingers like that, and so their final dodge was that the whole matter must be indefinitely postponed until they could raise the hundred pounds on which the Carnegie gift was condi- tioned. But she said : 'No, not indefinitely, gen- tlemen. My friend here and I, will see that the hundred pounds is raised before the next com- mittee meeting.' But they knew too well that that could not be done. So they adjourned. The next day the laird of the place was vis- ited and he gave them twenty-five pounds. Others were seen and letters were written and before the time for the next committee meeting had' arrived, the money was raised and before the New Year had come the Hall and Reading Room were ready to be opened. The laird sent a piano in time for the opening day without having had so much as a hint that it would be desirable or use- ful. And now within the year, the Gray Sister is the Sister Superior and the comforting and counseling mother of the whole community, and her 'Institute,' as she calls it, is the vital center of its social life. It has brought life and light and inspiration and love to the whole village. She is doctor, nurse, priestess and friend to all the people. Her days are filled to overflowing with the unpriced service of love. There is almost nothing in the way of helpfulness that she does not have the opportunity of giving 1 . She waits at her door to bind up the cut fingers of the fish girls and the ugly wounds which the fishermen too often bring with them in the morning when they return from a night's fishing. She goes from home to home washing and nursing sick babies, teaching ignorant housewives how to cook their food and tidy up their homes. An orchestra has been organized and trained by the young lady from Edinburgh. Monday night the children are gathered and taught the truths of temperance and ethics. Saturday night there is an "At Home" for the whole community when the Hall is turned into a delightful drawing-room by a hundred lit- tle touches which can be given only by a woman's fingers, and a hundred devices which are never THE COMMONS 15 born any other where than in a woman's heart. Then tea is served, not with the chairs all in a stiff row around the wall and the cup trembling on a man's knees, but on little tables for four or six artistically arranged about the room. Then solos are sung and Gospel Hymns, and the or- chestra plays, and the community grows like one big family. On Sunday afternoon the people gather to sing and to listen to a quiet helpful talk from the woman whom they love because she first loved them. And every night the! fish girls, whose rooms are only cramped and cold and cheerless sleeping places, come to the Institute for the light and gladness and companionship wh'ch they find there, and above all for the in- breathing of the spirit of one noble and unselfish and pure soul. On Sunday evening in the gloaming they have another gathering, the most sweet and hallowed of all, a sort of family vespers, which throws its radiance through all the darkness of the week. She is still hampered and hedged and weighted by her comtrrttee of thirteen highland lords of creation who cannot get away from the idea that women are either dolls and playthings, or slaves to scrub and cook and carry. And they think to this day that it is they who have done everything that has been done. Nothing must be thought of which they have not first deliberated and 'sat' on. When she first ventured to use her piano in her Sunday afternoon service she found that the pious orthodoxy had received a shock that shook the whole community; and the chairman of the committee felt that the time had come to make himself heard in no uncertain way. But as sometimes happens with rash inquisitors, he went too far and had to come back and apologize, while the plucky heretic still uses her piano and the people still dare to come. 'What,' I said to the young lady who had organized the orchestra, 'What would have happened if it had been a vio- lin?' 'O my,' she said, 'if I should dare take out my violin on Sunday it would break up the whole thing.' 'And if you should play your vio- lin by yourself in your own room what would happen?' 'Happen? I should have to leave the place at once.' But as a rule the sweet strategy of a wise love gets what it wants and the august committee does not even suspect that it has been wheedled or cajoled in the least and the divine work is growing and deepening every month. Already this flaming heart is making plans to turn her work over to others that she may push on to do pioneer work in villages beyond. We get nothing from history without paying for it. and for a violent movement we have to pay double. Adolf Harnack. From the Settlements. The Social Settlements Association at Cam- bridge, of which our friend F. B. Stevens is now Secretary, had a very successful meeting on No- vember 7th, the Victoria Assembly Rooms being crowded. The speakers were Tom Bryan, M.A., Sub-Warden of Browning Hall Settlement, and Keir Hardie, M.P. ; and the subject under dis- cussion was "The Duties and Responsibilities of the Universities to the Working Classes." Mr. Bryan said that he believed that in a gen- eration we would see the House of Commons very largely in the hands of working men repre- sentatives. Whether it was to be for better or worse depended very largely upon the educated classes of the country, if he might say so, upon the Universities. The working men would in- evitably see that their class was more fully rep- resented numerically, and more fairly represent- ed, as far as opinion went, in the House of Com- mons; and if the working classes were educated and trained to take a broad view of things, and feel in sympathy with the richer and more cul- tured classes, then he believed the increased rep- resentation of the worker in the House would be for good, both for the country, the Empire and the world. But if, on the other hand, working men felt estranged from the richer classes, and there was a spirit of antagonism between the;n, increased representation would not be for the good of the Empire. There must be a spirit of sympathy. It was for the Universities, the rich and educated classes, to take the initiative, in order to build up a bond of sympathy Between the various classes of society. He need not tell them that the best way to do that was to found a settlement. A settlement was really the Church with perfect adaptability. Mr. Keir Hardie, whose speech we should like to print in full, spoke of the value of University training. He considered that a Settlement should be a training-school where young people should gain experience. Dealing with the differences and similarities between rich and poor he said that life for the working man was one perpetual thought of how to obtain the necessaries of life. The real problem was how each class of society could be made to be of service to the other. The poor needed to be approached, as the rich did, not through the position they occupied, but on the ground of their humanity. He condemned the present system of wealth production, which elimi- nated the human element between employer and employee. landlord and tenant, as anti-Christian in its very essence, and one which could work nothing but evil. The work of University Set- tlements could only be called a success, in so far 16 THE COMMONS as it helped to create that type of citizen which, by its strength of character, nobility and self- respect, made a nation great. Mansfield House Magazine. The "At Homes" began on the 24th of Oc- tober, when the P. S. A. was invited to meet the Warden and Mrs. Alden. The musical program- me was arranged by Miss de Fries, who, it will be remembered, gave the first Sunday Evening Concert of the winter. Since then the "At Homes" have taken place regularly every Thursday, and have been, as usu- al, a source of much enjoyment to entertained and entertainers. The Societies invited have in- cluded the Sunday Union, Hospital Letter and Convalescent Home Societies, Coal Club, and the Independent Order of Oddfellows, the last-named then paying their first visit to the Residence. We should like here to thank warmly the hostess and friends who have given their services, frequently under great difficulties. Mansfield House Maga- An off-shoot of the North-Western University Settlement, in the sense of its original inspiration coming from there, is an interesting work, mostly for children, which Mrs. Hermann Falkenstein has recently begun in her own home, 782 North Washtenaw avenue. Seeing what the North- Western Settlement people were doing, Mrs. Fal- kenstein felt that something of the same sort could be advantageously done in her neighborhood, and proceeded to do it. This is a most gratifying ex- ample of one of the best ways to extend Settle- ment work. Chicago Commons. OF MEN, FOR MEN. The Men's Community Club, since it opened its room in the new building, has more than dou- bled its membership, which now numbers about one hundred, and is enlisting the interest of many more of the citizens of our ward in the depart- ments of the city government, the purification. -A municipal politics and the progress of civic ad- minisirat'on. Professor Thurston's graphic pic- tures and words descriptive of the sanitary situ- ation of the city, attracted much attention and cannot fail to enlist many of our citizens in what he called "The Fight for Life in Chicago." The Municipal Voters' League's continuous campaign for honesty and capacity in the city council was discussed with much animation on the Free-Floor. The duplication and wastefulness of our seven fold taxation under the long outgrown town sys- tem of government were conclusively set forth and intelligently inquired into at a conference be- tween the secretary of the Citizens' Association and a group of Community Club men. The Club is recruiting and drilling its members, this off year between campaigns, so that it cannot fail to be heard from when the time for action is at hand. Its reception to Ben Tillett, *hs noted English labor leader, rallied many trade n.iion- ists to hear him speak on the condition of labor in response to the club's ; nvitat!on to the labor organizations of the city. A FAMILY RESORT. Diverse elements of our very cosmopolitan pop- ulation meet and mingle as they never have be- fore at our Pleasant Sunday Afternoon, which is recognized to be a wholly un-sectarian, non- ecclesiastical neighborhood gathering, where peo- ple of every faith and antecedent can freely come without compromise or embarassment, to find something interesting and uplifting to every mem- ber of the family circle. It is becoming a favor- ite family resort. At the Harvest Home on Thanksgiving day Jewish, Catholic, and Prote- stant held genuinely heart-felt fellowship within a religious spirit comprehensive enough to in- clude them all and deep enough for that which was essential in each to rest. The Christmas-tide is flowing right merrily as we go to press. Almost all the organizations cen- tering at the building are in smaller or larger groups swelling the cycle of Christmas festivities. But high-tide is to be marked for the third year by the Apollo Musical Club's rendering of the Oratorio of the Messiah, Thursday evening, Jan- uary i6th, in the auditorium of Chicago Com- mons. No truer Christmas gift is offered in Chi- cago than that which the city's greatest chorus freely gives to its hardest working and highly appreciative people. Charles Kingsley's Christmas. God who taught mankind on that first Christmas day What t'vvas to be a man; to give, not take; To serve, not rule ; to nourish, not devour ; To help, not crush ; if need, to die, not live. O blessed day which gives the eternal lie To self, to sense, and all the brute within: O come to us amid this war of life, To hall and hovel, come; to all who toil In senate, shops, or study : and to those Who, sundered by the wastes of half a world, Ill-warned, and sorely tempted, ever face Nature's brute powers and men unmanned to brutes. Come to them, blest and blessing, Christmas day. Tell them once more the tale of Bethlehem, The kneeling shepherds, and the Babe Divine; And keep them men indeed, fair Christmas day. THE COMMONS 17 The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Socia.1 Settlement Point of View. GRAHAM TAYLOR, - - - - Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.s Morgan St., Chicago, 111. For particulars as to rates, terms of advertising, etc., see "Publisher's Corner." EDITORIAL. We take great pleasure in announcing to our old friends and all the readers of The Com- mons its alliance with another strong group of co-operative workers in the East. The Asso- ciation of Neighborhood Workers in New York City, upon the recommendation of its committee on publication, presented by Miss Wald, of the Nurses' Settlement, decided "that it was not war- ranted in undertaking a publication of its own, but that its interests would be best served by assisting to strengthen The Commons." The president of the Association was authorized "to appoint some member resident in New York, as editor, to send matter regularly to The Com- mons and that all members of the Associa- tion be asked to subscribe and procure subscrib- ers." This action allies with The Commons the most representative body of social workers at the greatest center of social activity in the country. The Association of Neighborhood Workers includes all the settlements, the ethical culture societies and schools, and many of the churches of different denominational affiliations, which are most effective in their social work. With an editor, representing this influential group and the manifold public interests of New York City identified with it, and the successfully con- duted department of the College Settlements As- sociation, under the editorship of its Chicago representative. The Commons should be worthier of its growing, widely scattered, actively at work and heartily interested readers. The Movement of A Spirit. In recommending the action above referred to, Miss Wald's committee put upon record "their opinion that the settlements should not be temp- ted into writing more frequently about them selves as a 'movement,' it being the opinion of the members of the committee that publications other than those intended to stimulate their con- stituencies by interchange of thought and ex- perience should not be encouraged ; that we should rather discourage setting the settlement apart as a 'movement,' which in the opinion of this committee is in violation of the original in- tent of the settlement to be simply a group of people devoting themselves to the interests of their various neighborhoods, whatever those in- terests may be." The point is well taken. Anything which tends to emphasize distinction between the settlement and its neighborhood lessens its identification with it. Anything which makes the settlement in fact or appearance more institutional than personal robs it of its very soul. Personal rela- tionship on the basis of the most democratic so- cial equality is the settlement's only right to be and room to work. If the settlement "move- ment" has been occasionally referred to in these columns, the phrase has been used as that which to the writer's mind describes the rise and progress of the social spirit, for which the set- tlements stand with the least possible intimation of institutionalism. Indeed so far from tempting the settlement to be anything that builds itselj up out of the community, instead of being every- thing that builds the community up out of itself, The Commons prefers them to be known, to their neighbors at least as "social centers" or "neighborhood houses." For, in the term settle- ment itself there is a divisive self conscious- ness in the intimation of some people settling among others . If the editor exercises the prerogative of the blue pencil over the reports of their work, which the settlements send to The Commons, it will be intended at least to protect them from unwittingly separating themselves from their neighbors to the denial of their own spirit and the subversion of their own purpose. Shi a. 11 we raise the subscription price of THE COMMONS. Our New York friends urge us to raise the subscription rate of The Commons from fifty cents to one dollar. It has been published for seven years, not only "not for profit" but at a continuous loss, to serve the cause which the settlements exist to promote. Many people of very limited means have been its most constant and appreciative readers. When one and another of them write that they must be deprived of its helpfulness because they could no longer afford to pay for it, we have promptly offered to con- tinue sending them the paper until they could make remittance. In many instances this offer has been gratefully accepted and the subscription has ultimately been paid. We would not lose such readers, even to bring the paper to self- support. But perhaps there are enough subscrib- ers who are as able and willing to remit one dol- lar as they have been to bear their share of less 18 THE COMMONS than the cost of printing and mailing The Commons. Our own settlement has cheer- fully borne the heavy burden of this large de ficit, amounting to hundreds of dollars from its meager income for the support of the work. in hope of thus rendering the best service it could to the cause for which it, with all other settlements, stands. It may now be time, as our New York friends suggest, to place the paper upon a strictly busi- ness basis, even at the cost of losing some sub- scribers. But we prefer to hold the decision in abeyance until we can hear from our readers ourselves, in whose interests The Commons has been and shall be published. Perhaps, if they are willing to double their remittance, when they renew their subscription, the paper may be abler than before to make concessions to those who would pay as much, if they could. Let us hear promptly the frank opinion -of our readers tipon this question raised by some of our sub- scribers. The American Press Censor. The ruling of the third assistant Postmaster General in excluding Wilshirc's Magazine from American entry in the mails as second class mat- ter is a violation of the spirit and the letter of our constitutional guarantee of a free press. Neither the blatant egotism that was the chief characteristic of that publication nor its slight importance in the contemporary literature of socialism should blind us to the grave and immi- nent menace that such a precedent would es- \ tablish. The legal effect of Mr. Madden's ruling is a contravention of the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Its practical effect is to establish an autocratic censorship of the press. A candid consideration of all the facts will prove : First : This ruling reverses the long establish- ed interpretation by the Post Office Department of the Act of March 3rd, 1879, Sec. 14, 20 Stats. 359- Second : It has all the appearances of an arbi- trary discrimination against a Socialist publica- tion. (Witness, Win Carlcton's Everywhere, Social Service, and other publications too numer- ous to mention.) This is to say the least bad public policy. It awakens interest in and excites sympathy for a noisy egotist. It breeds suspicion of the government and helps to bring officials into disrepute. It tends to give color to the destructive arguments of anarchists. Third : This ruling is futile as a means of economy in the Postal Department. Wilshire's Magazine will now be distributed by the U. S. mails as second class matter under the interna- tional postal agreement free of charge and the Canadian government will receive the revenue. Toronto will gain a publication and the incident business and advertising and New York is the loser. This ruling is a criminal blunder and should l>e condemned by the entire people and reversed by the administration. Woman's Club Cooperation with the Settlement s The intelligent and sympathetic attitude of the strong and progressive Woman's Club of Chicago toward the settlements of the city has been from the beginning, and never more than now, a source of inspiration and helpfulness to each group of residents and their supporting constituencies. The admirably concise and comprehensive sketch of the settlement work at each of the centers, fur- nished by the settlement committee of the club in this number of The Commons, will be re-pub- lished in booklet form for local distribution and cannot fail to be very helpful to all the settle- ments, especially those of them who with the least resource are working with great efficiency. Copies of the booklet may be secured at five cents each by the settlements or their friends by ap- plying to Miss Elizabeth Head, No. 2 Bank street, or at the rooms of the Women's Club, Fine Arts building, or of The Commons. An Industrial Cv&ngellsm. Chicago Commons is greatly indebted to the League for Social Service for the profit and pleasure afforded its residents and neighbors by Dr. Tolman's beautifully illustrated and suggest- ively descriptive lecture on "Social and Industrial Betterment." Its realistic disclosure of the need of employers' efforts to improve the conditions of labor in their shops and in the housing pro- vided for their employes was a dark background for the bright pictures of what many industrial , concerns are effectively doing to identify their interests with those of their labor partners. The League is rendering the whole country valuable service in sending Dr. Tolman forth upon his wide tour of industrial evangelism. In Chicago his lecture was repeated at the residence of Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick. where were invited many of the leading employers of the city and some of the foremen of the McCormick Reaper Works to meet Dr. Tolman and each other socially. "Social Service," the monthly magazine issued by the League, is a most interesting and helpful periodical which is doing much to leaven many circles of employers with the wisdom and hu- manity of practicing human, not to say Christian brotherhood in their industrial relations. THE COMMONS 19 LAWN SWINGS MAY POLES W. S. TOTHILL Manufacturer Play Ground, Park, Gymnasium and Athletic Field Equipments. Write for anything you want. 126-128 West Webster Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. Orders for New Edition of FORBUSH'S BOY PROBLEM will be filled on receipt of the boks early in September AT 75 CENTS PER COPY Order of "THE COMMONS." Grand Ave. and Morgan Street, Chicago. Send 60 cents to THE COMMONS for &/>e Ha.ndbook f Social Settlements By Professor C. R. Henderson. The best single volume on the Social Settlement Movement. PKSTALOZZI-FKOEBEJL. Kindergarten Training School at Chicago Commons. Two years' course in Kindergarten Theory and Practice. A course in home making. Industrial and Social Development emphasized. Includes op- portunity to become familiar with Social Settle- ment Work. For circulars and particulars, address BERTHA HOFER HEQNER, 363 No. Winchester Ave. Chicago T5he Church in Social Reforms By Graham Taylor. An Address and Discussion at the International Congregational Council in Boston, 1899. Twenty-five Cents. T5he New Fourth Edition of College, Social and University Settlements Bibliography. Compiled by Caroline Williamson Montgomery. For the College Settlement Association, with much new material. Now ready. Order through THE COMMONS. Ten cents per copy. The Commons Is devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Set- tlement point of view. It is published monthly at Chicago Commons, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.* Morgan St., Chicago. 111., and is entered at the Chicago Postofficeas mail matter of the second (newspaper) class. TKc Subscription Price Is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2.50 francs, French foreign stamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for S2.50. Send check, draft. P. O. money order, cash or stamps, not airovfj-cent denomination., at our risk. Advertisements in tne Commons During 1901. One Page. J25.00; Half Page. 15.00; Quarter Page, *8.00; One Inch. S2.00. For each insertion. Special Rates for Special Numbers of the Commons Any number under twenty-five copies, five cents each; over twenty-five and under one hundred, three cents each; over one hundred, two and one-half cents each. CKtvnges of Address. Please notify the publisher of any change of address, or of failure to receive the paper within a reasonable interval after it is due. Discontinuances. Please notify us at once if for any reason vou desire your subscription discontinued. In accord- ance with custom, and the expressed wish of many subscrib- ers, we continue THE COMMONS to each address until notified to the contrary. College Settlements Association. Standing Committee, President: KATHARINE COMAN, Wellesley, Mass. ^ice-President: MARY K. SIMKHOVITCH, (Mrs. Vladimir G. Simkhovitch.) 248 East 84th St., New York City. Secretary: MABEL GAIR CURTIS, 829 Boylston St., Boston. Treasurer: ELSIB CLEWS PARSONS, (Mrs Herbert Parsons.) 112 East 35th Street, New York City. Fifth Member: HELEN ANNAN SCRIBNER, (Mrs. Arthur H. Scribner.) 10 West 4Sd Street, New York City. EDITED BY CAROLINE WILLIAMSON MONTGOMERY. Enlarged Quarters for the New York Settlement. BY ELIZABETH S. WILLIAMS, HEAD RESIDENT. After several months of comparative inactivity, the College Settlement is rejoicing in the immedi- ate prospect of increased facilities for work. There will soon be two houses to take the place of the old three-story frame dwelling which was the workshop for so many years. These are both two blocks distant from the main house at 95 Rivington Street, but in opposite directions, so that different centers of population will be reached. The Music School for several months has oc- cuppied its new house. No. 31 Rivington Street, and although the whole building, a three story dwelling, is used for this purpose and as a resi- dence for the two directors, it is none too, large, for this rapidly growing work. The school num- bers now about two hundred pupils, taking piano or violin lessons. These latter are supplemented by theory classes, an orchestra for the more ad- vanced, and many opportunities are given for the cultivation of a taste for the best music and for an increase of their general musical knowl- edge. The recent growth of the school was made possible by a union with similar work conducted under the auspices of the University Settlement. The other house, at 188 Ludlow Street, is undergoing repairs, but when ready for use will accommodate the kindergarten, which was tem- porarily discontinued this fall ; the basement will be devoted to the work of the boys' clubs ; and one floor will be used for a domestic science de- partment and manual training 1 and art class. In this educational work the aim both in equipment and course of instruction will be to meet what experience has shown to be the peculiar needs of this neighborhood, and to supplement rather than duplicate the work of the public schools. The cooking school will be fitted up as simply as pos- sible that the application of the lessons to the home life of the pupils may be felt directly. In connection with these and in the care of a shed 20 THE COMMONS room fitted up for the purpose, many house- keeping principles will be touched upon. The art classes will be associated with those in wood carving modeling and basketry. No at- tempt will be made to turn out finished workers or artists, but the endeavor will be to discover the especial talents of any of the children and secure other means for their development, to give as many as possible some training of hand and eye, and increase their capacity for appreciation of beauty. The upper floor will be used for residents' quarters, and these will allow of an enlargement of the force of workers, to include a trained nurse. Many clubs and classes, temporarily homeless will resume their meetings at this house and the residents will make it a centre for much informal social life. Ridge F&rm -At Mt. Ivy. N. Y. SUMMER HOUSE OF THE NEW YORK COLLEGE SETTLEMENT. BY L. M. AMBLER. For the first six, or seven years the summer work of the N. Y. College Settlement was car- ried on in different country places. The houses were rented and often inconvenient and much too small for the number of people sent out to them. The work first became a permanency in 1895, when Mrs. Frederick Lee, then Miss Billings, bought a farm of eighty-five acres in Rockland Co. N. Y. It is situated on a high ridge of land, with mountains on both sides, and thirty miles from the city. A house was built, adapted for large parties and hot weather, and put at the disposal of the N. Y. Settlement. Last year Mrs. Lee made the settlement a present of the entire property, including the farm house, barns and summer house. This purchase, six years ago of Ridge Farm, provided an ideal vacation place for young people who belonged to the winter clubs and many older friends. There is an out door dining room, and large entertainment hall in the big house,- with a swimming pool not far off wfiich was built by the clubs, and last year a tent was added for campers. A farmer lives on the place, cares for the animals and in summer looks after the needs of the family. Spring and fall parties go out from the city for a day, as soon and as late, as the weather will permit, but the house is open for the season from the middle of June until late in September. In the crowded East Side, where news spreads quickly and the excited imagination of the chil- dren easily depicts distant charms, the fame and popularity of Mt. Ivy has grown apace, until now it has become, in their imagination, a land of pure delight; of which tired mothers dream and for which discouraged children long. All winter, teachers are asked," to mind" the growing pile of pennies, which are to be the open Sesame to Mt. Ivy, and there is no subject more absorbing, to hundreds of city .children than "what we do at Mt. Ivy." The kindergarten opens the season and there is a procession of all ages ending with school boys who arrive for the grapes and early nuts. The station is three miles from the farm, and all through the summer, the strong horses are kept on the jog along the station road, bringing and taking the travellers from the hot city to the big house. At first the summer house, like many others was an experiment; the residents were inexperi- enced, and equipped only, with ideals and enthu- siasm. The children were unknown to them all met as strangers. There could not be any feeling of individual responsibility, on the part of young people, for the welfare of the house, or personal attachment for a place devoid of asso- ciations. It was often felt that the vacation ac- complished little, except better air and healthy surroundings. In twelve years this has changed, men, women and hundreds of growing boys and girls, now - have, as their happiest memories, these vacation days. Memories that are filled with sunshine, space, music and laughter, familiar spots dear with association, and above them all the sincerity and friendliness that was the atmosphere of the place. It is this background of happy memories, that has produced, unconsciously, the present splendid ""Es- prit' de Corps" that prevails at Ridge Farm. A spirit of personal responsibility, and an effort on the part of all to lend a hand. As one young man said: "You just can't be mean here." There are no rules, but there are certain things "no fellow can do" and the traditions are handed down with vigorous impartiality from one club to another. For nine years, Miss Elizabeth Robbins has been ->t the head of the house, and the work ha> been peculiarly her own. She took the charge in its days of trial am! uncertainty, and has been the unifying force around which the life of the house has centered. The present success, is certainly due to her rare good judgment, :in,l unselfish devo- tion. A great many who hr.vc lived at Ridge Farm, must feel, that the best of all their happy memories of those days, was her sympathetic appreciation of their needs and very sincere friendship for them, either as little children or grown men and women. TKe Commorvs A Montnly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 67 Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago, Febuary 1902. Hymn for Settlement Vespers. O thou great Friend to all the sons of men, Who once appeared in humblest guise below, Sin to rebuke, to break the captive's chain, And call thy brethren forth from want and woe! We look to thee : thy spirit gives the light Which guides the nations, groping on tfieir way, Stumbling and falling in disastrous night, Yet hoping ever for the perfect day. Yes: thou art still the Life thou are the way The holiest know, Light, Life ;md Way of heaven ; And they who dearest hope, and deepest pray, Toil by the lignt, life, way, which 'Mou hast given. Author, Theodore Parker; Tune, Pax Dei by Dykes. Rural Social Co-operation. IMPORTANT CONVENTION OF PROFESSORS, FARMERS AND COUNTRY PASTORS. By Kenyon L. Butterfield, University of Michigan. The farm problem, like most social problems, has several phases. The farmers have industrial needs because they must make a living under ever- changing conditions ; they have political needs be- cause legislation can vastly help or hinder the development of their occupation ; they have pe- culiar social needs because comparative isolation is thir ordiary lot; they have educational needs common to other classes because they are Ameri- is their ordinary lot; they have educational needs because they are farmers ; they have the common religious needs of mankind, and possibly religious needs of a peculiar character because country life is so different from city life. Everybody concedes that a virile, consecrated personality is the main factor in any line of social progress. But in the end even vigorous person- ality builds a social machine of some sort, forms some sort of organization. We naturally and rightly then look to institutions of various kinds to supply the needs of the farmers. Many de- vices are suggested by many men. but I think that after reflection we shall all concede that at least three institutions are fundamental to rural amelioration: i, The farmers' organization; 2, The schools, including the rural schools, the ag- ricultural colleges, experiment stations, etc. ; and 3, The rural church. The farmers' organization gives an opportunity for mature farmers to discuss political and busi- ness questions, and to exert the class influence for or against legislation; it educates to co-opera- tive endeavor and deals with interests that are material perhaps but also materially necessary. The schools, of course, are essential, and when broadly defined, as above, are coming to be rec- ognized as having an especially necessary task to perform. The church in the country has a field which promises as fruitful a harvest as any that can be gathered in the city or in lands beyond the sea. Some ardent people think that some one of these three institutions will suffice. An enthusiastic member of the Grange declares that that order is the natural corner-stone of rural regeneration, and he is partly right. The strenuous rural teach- er wants to see the school the neighborhood cen- tre for all social purposes, and she is partly right. The up-to-date and devoted clergyman who is striving to vitalize the rural church, urges the idea that the church can take upon itself all the necessary social functions of the community, and he is partly right. Yet none of these is wholly right. Neither the farmers' organization, nor the rural school, nor the country church, neither farmer, teach- er, nor preacher, is alone sufficient. All are nec- essary. It would be next to fanaticism to seri- ously insist that any one of these institutions can serve the farmer at every point. It is a good sign, however, that there are farmers, teachers, and preachers who have this all-inclusive idea of their respective institutions. The common case is that of the farmer who can see no use even in a farmers' organization ; of a teacher whose vision of service is bounded by the four walls of the school-house ; of a preacher who imagines the pulpit and the prayer-meeting the only arenas of conflict against low aims and poor lives. But it would be a better sign if farmer, teacher, and preacher would each recognize the need in rural life for this trinity of institutions. For ths recognition would surely lead to a form of co-operation big with possibility. Given a farm- ers' organization that ministers chiefly to indus- THE COMMONS trial and economic needs, though incidentally to moral and educational ones ; a school system that feeds chiefly the accepted educational needs, though acting perhaps as a moving force in in- dustrial and social betterment ; a church which is chiefly a religious institution, but which touches the life of the community at many other points given these things and the obvious next step is co-oper- ation between them all, in order that a well-bal- anced kind of social progress may result. How can this be done? That is harder. The first thing is to show its necessity and its possi- bilities. Brief mention of an actual attempt to do this much mav be of interest. The Michigan Political Science Association will devote the entire program of its next annual meeting to the genral subject of "Rural Social Progress." The meeting will occur Feb. 25-26, next, at the Agricultural College, near Lansing, Mich., and the sessions will be held jointly with the State Round-up Farmer's Institute, thus as- suring a large audience of representative farmers. Prof. Henry C. Adams, Secretary of the Asso- ciation, has arranged the program on the basis of the idea of co-operation referred to above the economic, the eduactional and social, and the re- ligious phases of rural life will receive attention from noted speakers. An endeavor will be made to secure, in addition to the farmers, a good at- tendance of rural teachers and country pastors. The spirit and aim of the meeting will be to try to show that the farm problem interests every- body in the rural community, and that the best and sanest and surest way to achieve rural prog- ress is not only to encourage farmers' organiza- tions, and better eduactional facilities, and a so- cial service church, including perhaps the social settlement, but that the hearty and avowed co- operation of these agencies is worth while. What- ever the success of this meeting may be, it will at least be noble in purpose and progressive in plan. Among the papers, provided for by the still in- complete program, are the following'. "The Need and Possibility of Agricultural Organization," by Hon. Geo. B. Horton of Fruit Ridge, Mich., President of the State Grange ; "The Methods and Results of Rural Education in Canada," by Hon. Geo. C. Creelman of Toronto ; "The Function of the Church in Rural Organization,'' by Prof. Graham Taylor. The Commons will present its readers with as full a report of this exceptionally interesting and important occasion as its space will allow. Ad- vance orders for the April number, in which an abstract of these papers and discussions will ap- pear, are solicited. The Country Chxirch Industrial. BY EDW. P. PRESSEY, EDITOR OF "COUNTRY TIME AND TIDE." Depopulation has been the least conspicuous of the changes during the last twenty years, in coun- try New England. The abandoned farm with its cellar holes or tottering, weather blackened build- ings is indeed somewhat conspicuous. The mo- ment you turn anywhere a few miles afield or off the main thoroughfares. But these are not as conspicuous as the abandoned, semi-abandoned or dry-rotten institutions of the fathers. The population has not so much diminished as the character of it has changed. One is astonish- ed upon considering the population of twenty years ago and now, to see how comparatively sta- ble the numbers are and also to find how dispro- portionally to the decline of population popular institutions have declined. To speak without moral approbation or disapprobation, the change that has come over country New England has not been "death and removals," as is so often apolo- getically maintained by country newspapers and church officials ; but it has been a change in the habit and character of the actually resident popu- lation. To speak with an opinion, old New England that passed away about twenty years ago was public spirited. Present New England is con- spicuously lacking in public spirit. Too often a country region seems like the forlorn odds and ends of disappointed self-seekers and not half a dozen public spirited persons of any degree in a population of five hundred. The old fashioned town meeting could scarely be found by the fath- ers in the present institution, dominated as it is so often by the mere smart bully, whilst the men of character are so close-mouthed as to be inef- fectual. Our schools of course are our pride, par- ticularly in Massachusetts where under profes- sional supervision of an effectual class of virile men. But from another point of view even our modern country schools are an invention of the Devil for deceiving the very elect, if that were possible, for no purpose but to turn our boys and girls into a race of bloodless, anaemic city clerks, valuable chiefly as commercial assets. The heart rebels even from our charming schools, sometimes. But there is neither charm nor commercial asset in the New England country church and one may speak of that more freely without affecting the price of stocks. I am to speak of the country church as it is and as it is to be. It is without either moral or social importance just now; but of course that is not to be the fact. The most discouraging thing just now about the country church is not the lack of spiritual life THE COMMONS 3 and pojRilar interest-, for there still continues a good deal of both, llhough not enough of either to presejve communities from hungry lonesomeness and decay. If there were less life and interest in the church there are plenty of Christian ideas and intentions that would probably rise out of its ashes. If this is anarchy, make the most of it. A few actual examples of country churches of the best and at the worst will illustrate what I mean by thus speaking out of school. Some years ago I found myself ministering to a country con- gregation in a town of two churches and several hundred inhabitants. My congregation had only seven or eight men who could be called in any sense regular attendants. Only two in the literal sense were regiilar. Three of the eight were superanuated men. One was a town pauper. One was a political scamp. Two were inoffensive young men, one married, one single. And there was one other tobacco soaked church official. The rest of the congregation were women and chil- dren. The women were more numerous and aver- aged better than the men with a proportion of them halt and blind and dangerously silly. The average of the children was very good. But the parents of these bright children were not general- ly in our congregation, and some of them other- wise had their grave defects, and all of them their problem. The only Sunday-school teachers we could get were of two classes mninly: disspirited persons who would have helped if they had had any heart or courage ; and foolish persons who made a shallow prattle out of the whole thing and would not and perhaps could not obey orders to any better end. The other church in town was in worse case in point of numbers. Over against our pauper, they had an idiot boy; over against our political scamp they had a wolfish young deacon ; for our inof- fensive young men they had one or two very good ordinary middle aged men ; for our superanuated men they had an old elderly man who was "the last of the prayer makers'" and they worked him unduly and over-time. This town was not one of the worst. And it was a good way from the best. There were several towns immediately around us that haij no church in action at all, though they all I believe had "ladies societies." The best cases were the most hopeless. For instance in our present region in western Mass- achusetts there are several country churches in the county and vicinity that have an all year round average congregation of one hundred and a very few possibly go up to a hundred and fifty. Such churches have seemed at a distance like heaven to the country minister who has been used to a summer congregation of sixty and a winter con- gregation of five to thirteen, or zero in stormy weather. But the average congregation of a hundred in these days is exceptional. Such happy congregations almost never do anything to meet the moral or material problems of decadent in- dustry and life about them. One sees a better future far off for the habitual church going com- munity. They are so complacent in their living tomb, the old parish church, that one almost feels the instinct of the Puritan to go in with an axe and smash the pipe organ and stained glass and cry, 'Let the Lord's people awake out of their fee- ble ecclesiastical dream and do the things that this community needs to have done, that the pub- licans and sinners may be masters of their ma- terials and the flesh.' And so I have arrived at the idea of the Coun- try Church Industrial ; the church that touches all life and makes the dead bones leap. One end of the parsonage study is now occupied by our parish compositor and cases of type. A little back room has become a press room. And the little mountain brook back of the barn is harnessed to the press for the greater glory of God. Across the brook are our cabinet and woodworking shops, where the all wood Clairvoux table is made to the glory of God and the handicraft of man. We have a farm fifteen minutes walk out of the village, where we are to teach the glory of God in the farmers practical life by the kindergarten method, by dealing with the things of a farmer's life and preaching our sermons largely in object lessons. I am a kindergarten preacher and find myself bound to assume that all men and women are only children of a larger growth and require to see Ihe green and gold, the solidity, the push and pull of actual things in a way to symbolize righteous- ness and purity as the new sacramental elements of their earthly faith, before they will see and believe and take warning or inspiration of the pulpiteer. Our business and industry clustered about the new parsonage and the new church where swarm the young and old with glowing hearts and eager hands are but the sacramental elements of our love of God and man while the spirit shall use to inspire the practice of the gold- en rule, the brotherhood of man. And so I sit in my house in the spirit of Jesus the Carpenter of Capernaum; and the dis- ciples, the little children and the publicans and sinners come and sit at meat in our house as in his and they follow us believing that power is be- ing given to us over the materials and the flesh that may not keep us slaves but make us masters of the flesh and the world. Montague, Mass. THE COMMONS Social Observations in a Country Pa.rish. BY A NEW ENGLAND COUNTRY TOWN PASTOR. The parish of which I write, is in many re- spects, an ideal one. Some of the influences that so often work against the higher life in rural communities, are not felt here. For example, the population is nearly as large now as it ever was. There is a very small infusion of foreign element in the parish; most of the people are of the old New England type. Again, denomina- tional rivalry has no field here for there is but one church. In years gone by, there was a Un- iversalist church, now defunct, and a Baptist church now located in another part of the town. There are within the limits of the parish 378 persons. 138 men; 146 women; and 94 children under 15 years of age. It is distinctively a farm- ing community. There are 114 families in the parish. 76 of these are living on large farms. 19 on smaller farms, and there is not a family in the parish that has not land enough for a garden. Of the 114 families in the parish, 90 own their houses, 24 live in rented houses. Two-fifths of these farms are mortgaged, but not heavily. The farms are well kept up, the houses and barns are neat and tidy tor the most part. The arrange- ments for house life are convenient and health- ful. The drainage is good in almost every case. The water supply is secured from living springs, a few wells are in use. Economically, the parish is more than holding its own. Progress is the watchword with nine out of every ten of the farmers. New and im- proved implements for farm use are introduced every year. Modern methods are employed. The markets are carefully watched. Expenditures are wisely and prudently made. Thrift and enter- prise are evident on every hand. Within the limits of the village, a new school building, two new stores and three new dwellings have been built within five years. A Village Improvement Society, seeks in a multitude of ways to stimulate the spirit of enterprise and to inspire a love for the beautiful and the artistic. The social and intellectual life of the people is of a high order. 67 of the 114 families possess a library of their own, and as a rule the books are standard works. 45 daily papers are taken; 225 weeklies; 50 monthlies and 42 distinctively religious journals come into the homes. This number is increasing rapidly since the rural free delivery has come into operation. There is not a family in the parish that does not take at least one weeky paper. One division of the town li- brary is located here, and an average of 15 hooks are drawn each week, with an average of a little less than two-thirds fiction. During the winter months there is a great deal of visiting among the farmers, hardly a week passes that I do not run into a little company of friends and neighbors, spending the day in a so- cial way. The evenings are largely spent at home. The families gather around the fire and a book is read or a game is played, and conver- sation (not gossip) never lags over a pan of fameuse or gillyflower. Boys and girls are encouraged in their studies at home and sent away to school whenever it is possible. There are 31 young men and ladies be- tween the ages of 10 and 20 in the parish and 9 of them are at present away at school. The social life of the community centers a- round the church. There are family gatherings, and an occasional evening party, but by far the larger part of the social life of the people has a direct or indirect relation to the church. The church is the only social institution in the com- munity. The village band, the village improve- ment society, and a flourishing literary club are indeed independent of the church, but on the best of terms with it ; and each in its own way con- serves the higher life for which the church stands. The pastor of the church is president of the im- provement society, a leader in the literary society, and a frequent visitor at the band meetings. The stores and post office are the only loung- ing places in the village, and they are remarkably free from loafers. There is comparatively little profanity or slang heard either at the stores or on the streets. Of course the village fathers could not exist without telling an occasional "Fish Story," but the boys and young men are conspicuous by their absence. They are taught to spend their evenings at home and this most of them do. The principal of the village school told me last evening that he had not had to stop a single "fight'' among the boys since he began teaching here five years ago. I have been the pas- tor of the church for five years and I have yet to receive the first ungentlemanly or discourteous word or act from any boy or girl in the parish. This community has the advantage over, many rural communities of its size in that its religious life centers in and around one church. Two churches would be a detriment to the people and a hinderance to the progress of the Kingdom of God in the community. Of the 378 people in the parish. 130 are mem- bers of some Protestant church. There are 8 Catholic families. There are 94 resident mem- bers of the local church, and 36 absent members. There are exactly the same number of members THE COMMONS of other churches in the parish as of absent mem- bers of the local church. Of the 130 church mem- bers, 45 are men, 85 are women; 12 are under 20 years of age; 13 between 20 and 30; 24 between 30 and 40; 41 between 40 and 50; 40 are over 50 years old. Again, of the 130. 3 became members before they were 10 years old; 24 before they were 15; 59 before they were 20; 32 before they were 30; 30 between 30 and 50; and none after they were 50 years old. Once more, of the 130, 44 were led to unite with the church at a time of revival in- terest ; of these 10 profess not to have had any great change in their life, but to have always considered themselves Christians. 86 united with the church as the result of some form of Chris- tian nurture. Of these 46 say they were brought up to consider themselves Christians, and never departed from the faith. II attribute their action to a deliberate choice. 3 to the direct study of the Bible. 2 to personal letters from friends, i to sickness: 3 to the direct personal work of their pastor, and the remaining 20 to the combined in- fluences of home, church, and friends. One wo- man told me that she had distinct recollections of impressions made on her when she was only 2 years old, and she dates her religious life from that date. The history of the additions to the church for the last 25 years is interesting. Of the three larg- est ingatherings two were the result of revival meetings in 1888 and -1892, and one the result of Christian nurture and personal work, 1900. 18771 18842 18912 18983 18785 18856 189220 18997 18794 18863 18934 190014 1880 o 1887 o 1894 2 ' I 9 I 2 1881 i 188835 18952 18820 18892 18963 1883 i 1890 2 1897 4 There are 50 families in the parish in which both husband and wife are members of the church. 32 of these sustain a family altar and return thanks for daily bread. 14 Christian homes, pardon the paradox, have neither a family altar, or grace said at the table. 4 acknowledge the provident care of God at the table, but do not maintain an altar. The inveriable excuse for the neglect of these most essential forms of Chris- tian nurture is, lack of time. In closing allow me to say a word in favor of country churches employing Institutional meth- ods. The one great end and aim of all church work should be to reach and save men. The meth- ods that succeed best at any time or place should most certainly be employed. It is my experience that the church that succeeds in interesting the largest number of people in some form of church activity will secure the largest number of con- versions. It is the business of the church to re- generate the community in which it is located. This it cannot do until every man and woman is in hearty sympathy with its work. The church ' should be the centre of the religious, social, in- tellectual and aesthetic life of every rural com- munity. Publications on Social Aspects of R. viral Life. The following articles, periodicals and volumes, referred to in this number of The Commons, are listed for the convenience of our readers. Municipal Affairs, Symposium on "The Dec- oration of Cities" in the fall issue, 1901, (New York Reform Club, Committee on City Affairs, 52 Williams St., $2.00 per volume, $0.50 per copy) . Country Time and Tide, (published at Mon- tagu, Mass., by Edward P. Pressey; price $0.50 a year, 5c a copy) . Home and Flowers, (The Floral Publishing Co., Sprngfield, Ohio, $1.00 a year) . Articles by Rollin Lynde Hart on "The Regen- eration of Rural Ne"w England" in the Outlook for March 3, 10 and 17, 1900. (The Outlook, 287 Fourth avenue, New York City.) Institutional Work for the Country Church, compiled by Charles E. Hayward, and containing twelve contributions by several writers on "The Country Church," "The Country Minister," "Ins- titutional Methods," Religious Instruction," "Men's Sunday Evening Club," "The Church Paper," "The Home Department of the Sunday- school," "Special Work for Boys," "Library and Reading Rooms," "Evangelistic Work in Out- districts," "Special Work for Girls," "Sociolog- ical Canvass." (Free Press Association, Burl- ington, Vt.) The Twentieth Century City. (Publication of the American League for Civic Improvement, Springfield, Ohio.) The Commons, "Civic Betterment in Chicago," being a report of the all day conference of Cook County Improvement Societies, (Chicago Com- mons, Grand avenue and Morgan street, soc a year). In Phillips Brooks' way of being a scholar, his biographer says, stood "his love of literature as the revelation of man. the yearning to enter into the deeper experiences of life, to know the world he lived in." THE COMMONS A Lenten Thought Emma Playfair Seabury. I take this lenten thought with me, Along the Master's devious way, Upon the Mount, by Gallilee, He was the people's Lord alway. He took their burdens for his own, He healed the sick, he eased their care, He comforted with grief alone, He stool beside them everywhere. He took their children on his knee, And blessed them in his simple way, "O suffer them to come to me :" Ah 'tis so different to-day ! We kneel within our costly pew, And his poor children throng the street. With crime and want, and hunger too, With aching heart, and bleeding feet. He helped the humble fishermen, To fill, and fill, their empty net, He gave his gospel to them then, For all the years to come and yet We will not give the work he prays, We see him starved, his children cry. For mammon rules these latter days. And we unheeding pass him by. I give this Lenten thought to you, Who kneel in dusky aisles again. And ask his kingdom come anew, And dwell within the hearts of men. Give men your help, and with them stand, They scorn your pity and your gold, They want your love,' your proffered hand, The Christ-like brotherhood of old. If he were here again I ween, He would not in his temples stay, But oftener he would be seen Where suffering, and hunger prey. And it would please him more that you With weak and helpless ones abide, Than kneeling in your cushioned pew, And leaving his dear ones outside. Rural Homes a.nd Modern Progress. At the little town of Morris in the state of Connecticut there has grown up a typical Amer- ican festival. "Old Home Week" the New Eng- land fathers have called it. On this occasion from far and near gather the great sons, and simple home folk of the neighboring towns, and togeth- er they tell again the story of the Pilgrim pio- neers and the achievements of a line that has gone out into all the earth. Near this little town in the old Nutmeg state was nurtured the genius of Horace Bushnell and Adoniram Judson, and on a nearby stony hillside the turbulent yet he- roic soul of John Brown, began its strange and solemn march to the Charlestown gallows and an imperishable fame. Plain, stern, hard-headed and hard-handed free- men were these Connecticut farmer folk. Fear- ing God and nothing else, they bore the stamp of a great commission, and with unfaltering cour- age they gave living witness of their faith. For many years the neighboring Litchfield parsonage was Lyman Beecher's home. Theodore Parker said of this same Beecher, "he was father of more brains than any other man in America." But the sceptre has departed from our mod- ern Judah, and industrial changes, marked by de- serted homes and an alien people, have brought us face to face with the "rural problem." What is to be done to save the character, power, and beauty of American country life? It was the shadow of this problem that rose before each aro- tor during the festival of Old Home Week. A conference grew out of this discussion, and we here set forth some of the recommendations agreed upon : Better roads, the trolley, the farm telephone and rural mail delivery improve the industrial condi- tion and at the same time break the social iso- lation. The trolley and the automobile are ele- ments in the solution. The basis of better rural conditions must -be laid jn improved methods of farming. Dr. Bushnell, who saw things in their true proportions, declared : "The condition of many of our rural towns suggests that instead of ecclesiastical conferences we should rather resolve ourselves .into a board of agriculture to discuss what may be done to revive this industry." The next to be considered is the educational need. The present school system, especially in Connecticut, is very faulty. The old district school often has few pupils left and no one in the district competent to manage the school. Schools should be combined, children being trans- ported and the schools graded and better teachers employed. The party who will put a good school automobile on 1 the market will be a public bene- factor. Central schools are a social force uniting different parts of the town. Several towns should combine for the employment of a competent su- perintendent, the state paying a large part of his salary. State grants should be made to rural schools where the grade of work done is of a su- perior quality. With the trolley should come the county and district high school. In rural com- munities the courses of study should be adjusted to rural needs. Teaching in agriculture and THE COMMONS manual industries should be given. Educate coun- try boys and girls for life in the country. The local library, and library post, the Grange, the Reading Club, the Literary Club, the Women's Club have their value. Professors of social science should give courses of lectures upon the rural problem. Post grad- uate students should carefully study the subject and publish their conclusions. Among subjects proposed for discussion, many of which were suggested again and again, thus showing practical agreement as to' their perti- nency, were : The Interpenetration and Interde- pendence of the City and the Country Transpor- tation and Communication in the Country; For- estry; Social Settlements for the Country; Coun- try Politics ; How to Secure Wise Leaders for Ru- ral Life?; The Beautification of Village Streets and Country Highways ; The Education of the Producer from the Sflil ; Equal Education for all ; Consolidation of Schools: District Supervision; Industrial Teaching in Country Schools; The Public Library ; Moral Conditions in the Country ; The Social Opportunity of the Country Church ; Consolidation of Country Churches. The American League for Civic Improvements. BV PROFESSOR CHARLES ZUEBLIN. The American League for Civic Improvement was organized in the spring of 1900 at Spring- field. O. A little group of people, prompted by their own experience in a local improvement so- ciety and by a series of articles on civic improve- ment published in a local magazine, decided to call a convention. The convention was attended by people from various parts of the country and several interesting addresses were made. The organization which results was, however, large- ly left in the hands of those who inaugurated the movement, and the headquarters were located in Springfield. It was frankly regarded as experi- mental, since there were other organizations in similar fields, such as the American Park and Outdoor Art Association, the American League for Municipal Improvements, the League of Amer- ican Munic : palities, and the National Municipal League. The organizers of this new movement felt that in spke of the societies apparently in possession of the field, there was not only room for another, but also a necessity for a different kind of work. The first of the societies named is made up largely of professional landscape gar- deners and park authorities and attempts to ap- propriate as its field only outdoor art. The next two organiaztions are representative of municipal officials. The last aims at changes in administra- tion. It was felt that there was a demand for an organization which would represent the principle of federation and would embrace the various lo- cal societies of the country, which were known to be numerous, and at the same time be com- prehensive in its purposes. The first year's work was largely guided by the founder of the movement and its first corre- sponding secretary, Mr. D. J. Thomas, of Spring- field. O. The work of correspondence and or- ganization was carried on under his direction by Miss Jessie M. Good and Mr. E. G. Routzhan. It was through Miss Good's early efforts in writ- ing articles and corresponding with inquirers throughout the country that the first materials were gathered which seemed to point toward the advisability of such a movement. Her pamphlets, "The Work of Civic Improvement" and "The How of Improvement Work," still remain the chief literature of the movement. Through the efforts of these pioneers over three hundred local improvement societies were discovered, the geo- graphical distribution of which, confined as it naturally was to a certain number of states, has led to the belief that there are in the country at least a thousand of these organizations. While the work of the first year was national in its scope, the results were chiefly noticeable in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois. When the time came to call a second conven- tion, which properly enough was held at Buffalo, in August, 1901, it was found that a thoroughly representative gathering of a national movement was possible, and the new officers elected in a measure indicated the geographica 1 strength of the movement. They were : President, Charles Zueblin, University of Chi- cago ; First Vice-President, E. L. Shuey, Dayton, Ohio; Second Vice-President, Mrs. Conde Ham- lin, St. Paul, Minn. ; Third Vice-President, Henry Metcalf, Cold Springs, N. Y. ; Treasurer, Frank Chapin Bray, Cleveland, Ohio; Corresponding Secretary, E. G. Routzahn, Dayton, Ohio; Record- ing Secretary, Charles M. Robinson, Rochester, N. Y. ; Organizer, Miss Jessie M. Good, Spring- field, Ohio; Albert Kelsey, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania : Charles M. Loring, Minneapolis, Minneso- ta ; H. B. Beck, Austin, Texas; W. H. Moulton, Cleveland, Ohio : John L. Zimmerman, Spring- field, Ohio; Miss Mira Lloyd Dock, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; D. J. Thomas, Springfield, Ohio. It was found that the presence of the Buffalo exposition, while it made it possible for some of the members to attend, prevented any attendance from Buffalo, so that the convention was distinct- ively one for work and mutual encouragement rather than propaganda. The first evening Miss Mira Lloyd Dock, of 8 THE COMMONS the Pennsylvania state board of forestry, deliv- ered an illustrated address entitled "An Improve- ment Pilgrimage," the character of which may be slightly indicated by reference to the admirable pamphlet of Miss Dock's, issued by the organiza- tion which she represented, in which is recorded her observations on a tour through Europe, at the instigation of the Women's Clubs of Pennsyl- vania. The next morning the various improvement so- cieties which were represented presented their re- ports, which were of great individual interest and especially encouraging because of the remoteness of many of them, such as the Civic Division of the Women's Club of Keokuk, Iowa, the Floral Association of Spokane, Wash., the Civic Club of Harrisburg, Pa., the Women's Civic League, St. Paul, Minn., the Women's Health Protective Association of Galveston, Txas, and the Im- provement and Cemetery Association of Tarpon Springs, Fla. One of the most stimulating ad- dresses of the morning was given by Mrs. Conde Hamlin, president of the Civic League of St. Paul, in which a record of work was presented which should be encouraging to every improve- ment association of the country, and particularly stimulating to the voters who are pe'rmitting such work of citizenship to be done by the women. It included the enlargement of the functions of the park board, the disposition of the garbage ques- tion, an attack on the bill board and smoke nuis- ances, the establishment of playgrounds, the car- rying through of a new charter, the opening of a reading-room and gymnasium, fresh air excur- sions, and finally the subdivision and co-ordina- tion of effort, involving a local organization in each ward of the city. At the afternoon session Mr. Starr Cadwal- lader, of the Goodrich House, Cleveland, spoke of the Home Gardening Association of that city, recounting the experiences of an admirable or- ganization which has encouraged the school chil- dren to plant gardens of their own, by selling them packages of seed. The success of this organiza- tion cannot be better indicated than by stating that over 120,000 packages of seeds were sold this last year at one cent each, without any ex- pense to the association, the small charge pay- ing for the seed, the printing of the envelopes, the sorting and distribution, and leaving a sur- plus, which was invested into bulbs for the school rooms. The discussion which followed brought out the fact that such work had also been done in Rochester and other New York cities under the inspiration of the extension work of Cornell Uni- versity, which was admirably described by Pro- fessor Craig. At this session there was also an address by Mr. H. S. Earle, representing the League of American Wheelmen, of which he is president, the subject of his address being "Bet- ter Highways," on which he speaks with author- ity, being the leader in the "Good Roads" move- ment in Michigan. A very instructive address was given by C. E. Bolton, the mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio, whose account of the accom- plishments of that delightful little suburb, was so full of interest and instruction, that it is worth while calling attention not only to the report of it in the convention proceedings, but to the fuller accounts found in his beautifully illustrated re- port for last year, by means of which the citizens of East Cleveland have been encouraged and aroused. The evening addresses were illustrated by the stereopticon, and were given by Mr. Albert Kel- sey, president of the Architectural League of America, and by the president-elect of the Amer- ican League for Civic Improvement. On these two successive evenings the general subject of the City of the Future was discussed, which made an appropriate introduction to Mr. Kelsey's resolu- tion, acted upon by the League and subsequently sent to the exposition authorities, with the in- dorsement of other organiazations and the very general approval of the press throughout the country. These resolutions proposed a civic ex- hibit at the St. Louis exposition of 1903, and read as follows : "Whereas, The improvement of towns and cit- ies, in the judgment of this convention, is a sub- ject of widely recognized importance to the peo- ple of the United States; and, "Whereas, civic improvements of a public and permanent character must soon transform many communities, reflecting 'man in his full Twentieth Century development, exhibiting not alone his material, but his social advancement,' in a most conspicuous manner ; and, "Whereas, Municipal art and the science of modern city-making has formed the subject of a department exhibit at three international exposi- tions abroad, therefore be it "Resolved, That the American League for Civic Improvement, in annual convention assembled, pe- titions the commissioners of the Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition to make provision for an ex- hibit which shall have this characteristic." Aside from the instruction and fellowship of the convention important results were achieved in the enlarging of the scope of the organization by embracing Canada as well as the United States, and by adding commercial memberships, so that now the membership consists of individuals who pay $2.00 a year, improvement societies which pay THECOMMONS 9 $2.00 for each 500 members, and commercial members paying $10.00. A full account of these convention proceedings is published by the League in "The Twentieth Century City," to be obtained from the headquarters, Springfield, Ohio. As indicating the scope of the American League or Civic Improvement, it may be worth while to append a few of the objects which it announces as within its province : Cycle side paths ; county park systems ; foot paths to reach scenic beauties ; forestry, fountains and wayside springs ; good roads and good streets ; hand books and guide boards locating points of interest ; increased at- tractiveness of farm life; photography as an im- provement agency ; preservation of groves and natural features ; street and road signs ; street, road and riverside planting; athletic and outdoor pastimes; floral exhibitions; flower and fruit mis- sions; open air band concerts; open-air restau- rants and picnic grounds; parks for all the peo- ple; people's play grounds and recreation parks; pleasing church exteriors and surroundings; pub- lic assembly and lecture halls; proper patriotic celebrations ; public lavatories and closets ; pub-^ lie gymnasiums; recreation piers; rest room in towns and cities ; shelter houses for park and cemetery; village club room or nouse; abatement of smoke nuisance; artistic public advertising; care of vacant lots ; care of railroad and traction right-of-way in city and country; cemetery im- provement ; civic function of the church ; cleans- ing and beautifying public buildings ; comfort, convenience and beauty of pubic vehicles ; dwell- ings for the people; garbage disposal for towns and villages ; harmonious housing of public gas, water and sanitary plants; improvement of city water front ; municipal .architecture ; permanency and beauty in bridge building; practical and ar- tistic street planning; proper care of streets and alleys ; planting about factories ; proper naming of streets and roads : public lighting as an aid to city beauty ; public sanitation ; public squares and open spaces : sanitary burial and cremation ; side- walk planting; sanitary and storm sewage sys- tem ; statuary in public places ; public memorials ; suppression of noise ; study of public health and civic beauty by commercial bodies ; suitable group- ing of public buildings ; the "city gateway" rail- way station and grounds; vacant lot cultivation; home roof gardens ; improvement of rear yards ; improvement work for church young people's so- cieties ; women's clubs ; Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A., social settlements, civic federations and sim- ilar organizations. In all parts of the country all kinds of improve- ments are being undertaken by individuals, pri- vate organizations and public bodies, and the most pressing needs are for co-operation and ed- ucation. The American League for Civic Im- provement has the continent for its "parish" and a "more beautiful public life" for its goal. Decoration of Cities. This title is given to a series of excellent arti- cles in the last quarterly issue (1901) of Munici- pal Affairs. The subjects of small parks and tree planting, municipal sculpture and street fix- tures, plant decoration for city homes and the bill board nuisance, are thoughtfully con:>. Upon the subject of small parks, Frederick W. Kelsey says in part : "In the attainment of large parks and connect- ing parkways, the small parks should not be over- looked. Nothing yields larger returns than the open oases in the crowded tenement-house dis- tricts of our metropolitan cities. Thither thou- sands flee in the hot sultry days of summer, to breathe the fresh air. There the children congre- gate to enjoy their sports, leaving the crowded streets for traffic. And if any one doubts the wis- dom of small parks, let him visit any of the small parks opened in New York within the last decade. Nothing is dearer to the hearts of the people, and the failure of the last administration to follow the constructive policy of Mayor Strong in this direction was a factor in the recent election." As a ground-work for all plans of municipal betterment a comprehensive scheme is indispensa- ble to secure symmetry and economy. Doubtless after Chicago has wasted a few more millions of dollars we will have a single commission appoint- ed by the mayor and removable for cause, that shall have charge of all public parks, playgrounds, baths, and street improvements. Municipal Affairs (52 William street, New York City,) is a publication that no settlement, municipal club, or person interested in civic bet- terment can afford to be without. A file of their annual issues is a history of the latest steps in civic progress and a storehouse of data for mu- nicipal improvements. PROF. THURSTON'S "FIGHT FOR LIFE IN CHICAGO." The cause of municipal betterment and the im- provement of social conditions is making steady gains each year through the patriotic and effect- ive service of the professors in our colleges and teachers in our normal and high schools. The result of their work is obvious to those who teach in the department of sociology and economics in the universities and the professional schools. Each new entering class has more of a social con- scic'isness and vision and increased intelligence in their observation and judgment of economic data. Conspicuous among these efforts is the scientifically accurate and practically efficient work 10 THE COMMONS done by Prof. H. W. Thurston in the department of sociology at the Chicago Normal School. His finely illustrated and brilliantly descriptive stere- opticon lecture on "The Fight for Life in Chi- cago," which he recently delivered before our Com- munity Club, has been published and copyrighted by the board of education of the city of Chicago as No. I in its series of municipal studies. It bears the same title as the lecture and will be conceded to be altogether the best sketch of the sanitary history of the city which deserves to be credited with 'official sanction, as it is compiled largely from offical reports. The marvelous healthfulness of Chicago which seems so incred- ible, that its vital statistics have been discredited by statisticians both at home and abroad is due not only to its great lake, high winds and floods of sunshine, but also to the "seventy years' bat- tle" of the health department against its difficult topographical conditions and its still more dan- gerously cosmopolitan and transient population. Its remarkable engineering achievement in suc- cessfully completing the drainage canal is the greatest sanitary enterprise ever undertaken by an American city, and goes far toward assuring the good health of its great population. Professor Thurston's text book on Economic and Industrial History is the best inductive in- troduction to these subjects which we know. Chicago's Traction Situation. The report of the special committee of the Chi- cago city council on local transportation affords an admirable basis for public discussion, popular education and intelligent problem. The long and bitter conflict between the justly indignant and suspicious public opinion and the devious and short-sightedly selfish policy of the street rail- way companies renders any satisfactory solution of the present deadlock extremely difficult. The expiration of the principal franchises next year necessitates prompt action of some sort, while the impending litigation based on the untested and very doubtful claim of the companies' alleged "ninety-nine-year extension rights" requires the most cautious and united effort to protect and promote the people's rights. The whole situation is very fairly and firmly stated in the council committee's report. With this as a basis, the public hearings given by the committee are elicit- ing the strenuous but deliberate discussion of the question from the differing points of view taken by those representing the divergent interests in- volved. The Municipal Voters' League (whose splendid success in ward politics assured an honest ma- jority in the city council and made possible such a capable committee) presented the most incisive analysis of the situation, demanded prompt ac- tion, advocated both direct compensation and re- duced fares, far better service during the term of the new franchise, which is not to exceed twenty years and may be terminated after ten years, and provided for municipal ownership at the expiration of the lease, in case the city is then desirous and able to purchase and manage its street railways. The mayor in his message to the council strenuously opposes any action until the state legislature gives the city the charter right to own and operate its railways. In strange inconsistency with his overtly inim- ical attitude toward the civil service law, which he has done his best to nullify, he now insists that municipal operation of street railways is im- practicable until the merit system of appointment is thoroughly well established. The Chicago Federation of Labor urges delay until the question of municipal ownership can be submitted to a referendum votej and the people can thus inform their representatives in the legis- lature and city council of their demand for low- er fares instead of compensation, protection of the rights of labor and the control of local trans- portation in the interests of the whole people. The Chicago Teachers' Federation are circulat- ing petitions to the city council protesting against granting any franchises until the companies pay their taxes. Among other civic bodies presenting their views at the public hearing, our own Seventeenth Ward Community Club, whose headquarters is at Chi- cago Commons, submitted the following action which made a distinct impression and which is reproduced in The Commons by request for local circulation and in order that each alderman might receive a copy. "Whereas, The street railway service in Chi- cago is a disgrace to our citizenship and a menace to the growth and prosperity of our city; and, "Whereas, The franchises of corporations di- rectly responsible for this vicious service are about to expire; and, "Whereas, The city council, having power to grant franchises, has appointed a committee on local transportation to inquire into this subject; now, therefore, be it "Resolved. That we, the members of the Com- munity Club, as taxpayers and electors of the 1 7th ward of Chicago, do respectfully submit as the desires of our people upon this subject : "l. That rapid and adequate service is the first requirement and all franchises should provide for immediate forfeiture when this requirement fails. "2. That no franchise should be granted that THE COMMONS 11 does not provide for universal transfers to all surface lines within the city limits. "3. That low fares to the people should take the place of compensation to the city in all fu- ture franchises. Compensation to the city, so called, is but a heavy indirect tax upon the wage- earning class. "4. That all franchises should provide protec- tion of the rights of employes and of the people by regulations of the conditions of labor and agreements to arbitrate all differences between the railway corporations and their workmen. "5. That all franchises should be drawn to pro- vide for municipal ownership and operation in the near future. We regard the operation of all street railways directly by the municipality as the only final solution of this problem. "6. That a department of transportation be es- tablished, with permanent quarters, where com- plaints of inadequate service can be received, with power to investigate all charges and make recom- mendations to the city council." Child La-bor in Illinois. By Harriet M. Van Der Vaart, Chairman of the Industrial Committee of the Illinois Federa- tion of Womens' Clubs. Child labor is steadily on the increase as shown by statistics of the state factory inspectors and this fact is enough to make any thoughtful per- son inquire, "What are the causes?" The Women's Federated Clubs of the state of Illinois have appointed an industrial committee. Early in November this committee began to in- vestigate conditions under which people labor in factories, sweat shops and stores of Chicago. This work of investigation has only begun and it is early to make a statement, but the general inter- est is such, that the committee have been re- quested to give this partial report of their efforts. Thus far forty places have been visited and hundreds of toilers observed. According to the state law, a child may not work under fourteen years of age. The parent is required to furnish a sworn statement of the child's age, if it be be- tween fourteen and sixteen years. Of the work- ers seen one-fifth were children and a conserva- tive estimate of this committee would declare one- third of these affidavits false; thus one-third of all the children were under the legal age. This was notably so in the box and candy factories and in most of the department stores. What are the general conditions under which the child works? We find him at the age of puberty, rising at five in the morning, taking a long cold trip in a crowded street car to a fac- tory where he must labor from seven in the morning until five-thirty at night, with but one- half hour in which to hastily partake of a lunch. The conditions surrounding him while at work are not conducive to health. The air in many- places is foul, the light poorly adjusted to the eyes, the toilet accommodations often inadequate and frequently unsanitary and the surroundings unfavorable to the development of both mind and body. Thus is the state jeopardizing the health and welfare of its future citizens for the sake of the mere pittance the child receives. And what is this pittance? At a liberal estimate it would av- erage in this city $2.50 per week from which must be deducted sixty cents for car fare. But what of the loss of vigor resulting, in the case of the factory child, from the tension induced by the effort of human muscle to keep pace with the re- lentless energy of the machine. And, as the ma- chine is perfected, it needs, more and more the agility of the child to complement it. This se- vere nervous strain comes at the time of adoles- cence, when not only physically but spiritually and mentally the child is awakening to new and larger life. If his powers are stunted at this time, a dulled, ineffective life follows. As a single example, picture the little girl, twelve years old who, in making boxes, repeats the same automatic motion 15,000 times a day. By the time she is twenty years of age, what strength will she have to give in service, or to her possible future children? What is the pop- ular objection brought against legislation which limits child labor? It is, that the family or wid- owed mother needs the wage of the child. Is this a fact ? The factory inspector's report says that this necessity is very largely over estimated. But even if it does exist, is it an intelligent and eco- nomic method of procedure for the state to allow the sacrifice of so large a number of its future citizens for the support of a few needy families? Surely it needs but the awakening of the mind of the people to devise some less wasteful and more intelligent method. For the present the committee feels that its ob- servations have been too limited and the problems involved are too complex to admit of its making any recommendations. "Publicity creates con- science'' and through the medium of the press, it hopes a knowledge of existing conditions will re- sult in their speedy betterment. One must have the world already in his own soul, seeing much through anticipation, or he re- mains blind with seeing eyes, and all experience and observation become dead and unproductive labor. DR. A. V. G. ALLEN OF PHILLIPS BROOKS. 12 THE COMMONS The Commons. A Monthly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Social Settlement Point of View. GRAHAM TAYLOR, Editor. Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second-Class Matter, and Published the first of every month from CHICAGO COMMONS, a Social Settlement at Grand Ave.s. Morgan St., Chicago, 111. The Subscription Price is Fifty Cents a Year. (Two Shillings, English; 2.50 francs, French foreign stamps accepted.) Postpaid to any State or Country. Six copies to one address for $2.50. Send check, draft. P. O. money order, cash or stamps, not aboves-cent denomination., at our risk. Advertisements in the Commons During 1902. One Page, S25.00; Half Page, $15.00; Quarter Page, S8.00; One Inch, SiToO. For each insertion. EDITORIAL. The very interesting combination of forces, brought about by the joint conference of teach- ers, farmers and country pastors to be held at the Agricultural College at Lansing, Michigan, which is announced on another page, will doubtless prove an inspiring example, which will be eager- ly followed at other centers of educational effort and rural influence. The fact that such univers- ity professors as Henry C. Adams and Charles H. Cooley of the University of Michigan are actively participating, with the faculty of the Agricultural College and other educators, in promoting this conference should stimulate men of equal standing and influence elsewhere to rally similar combinations of forces which only need to organize their efforts in order to accomplish the social redemption of country life. Socializing the Country and Ruralizing the City. The ruralizing of city life and the socializing of country life are equally essential to the pro- gress and satisfaction of all life in America. It is with great pleasure and hopefulness that we give to our readers this month a little .glimpse into the encouraging movements in both direc- tions, which are starting up in many quarters with such strong support. The American League for Civic Improvement promises to become the much needed clearing house and federative cent- er, which will bring into suggestively helpful re- lations, and to some extent into actively organic co-operation, the very diverse, yet well directed movements toward these ends. The literature of this fresh impulse is also full of promise. The symposium on "The Decora- tion of Cities" which Municipal Affairs presents in its fall issue for 1901, with the co-operation of the Municipal Art Society, gives its readers the results of the careful thought and long experience are fast losing, or have never gained, that which makes country life worth living. The editor of "Country Time and Tide" is the pastor of a country church at Montagu, Mass. Another min- ister in the country town of Jericho, Vt., has ed- ited a valuable little volume containing 1 a sym- posium furnished by a group of country pastors on ''Institutional Work for the Country Church." The noteworthy articles on "The Regeneration of Rural New England," published in the "Outlook," last year, by Rollin Lynde Hart, aroused a great deal of interest and profitable discussion. Perhaps the most potent force that promises the most rapid and radical changes in the social con- ditions of country life is electricity. The rural trolley lines are proving an immense saving in the time and drudgery of farm work. The cheap and rapid transportation thus afforded, together with the co-operative telephone associations al- ready widely successful in farming communities, of several experts on the specific points of prac- tical interest. In the publication of the American League for Civic Improvement, entitled "The Twentieth Cen- tury City," full reports of the two improvement conventions may be found. "Home and Flowers," an illustrated monthly magazine devoted to the world beautfful, and published at Springfield, Ohio, while primarily devoted to practical floriculture, is exerting itself in a very popular way "to tell what is being done to make American life more beautiful and to make suggestions how this may be brought about, especially in the home life, through which we can most surely refine and exalt our national character." Its September number contains an interesting sketch of the first annual convention of the American League for Civic Improvement. The rise of such little periodicals as "Country Time and Tide," with its artistic typography, in- dustrial outlook and poetic spirit, is full of the potency to fulfill the promise of this one, to make "a more profitable and interesting country life." It is interesting to note also that the country churches are beginning to lead in these move- ments for the self preservation of what many country communities have either long since lost, will surely relieve the hitherto isolated homes from much of their loneliness and stagnation, and will as surely establish in the country those centers for the interchange of educational, social, moral and economic values which give to city life so much of its charm and profit. The rural free postal delivery is already transforming whole communities. Those who live too much in outer relation- ships become alien unto self. MARGARET FULLER. THE COMMONS 13 The University of Michigan Set- tlement Fellowship. For the sixth year the students and professors of the University of Michigan are planning through the Students' Christian Association to send a representative to Chicago Commons for six months' residence and the pursuit of some orig- inal research. To assist in this effort, the War- den of Chicago Commons met their annual ap- pointment to address the large rally of the friends employes, directly and indirectly promoted through efforts for social betterment; the politi- cal reform achieved and to be expected by hold- ing party administration responsible for social progress ; and the vitalizing and humanizing of religion which has ever come through its appli- cation to the social conditions of the common life. Prof. Henry C. Adams, in making the ap- peal for the financial support of the Fellowship, declared that the social service of the times was DETROIT SETTLEMENT, 519 FRANKLIN STREET. of the settlement work from the University and the city of Ann Arbor on Sunday, Feb. I2th. His theme was "The Reflex Influence of Social Service." which he illustrated by the personal de- velopment which settlement residents and work- ers in kindred lines of effort attained through their work; the reciprocal advantage to education- al institutions and public interests in giving ex- pression to the cultivated life : the improvement of the condition and relationship of employer and laying the basis for a new morality. He also took pleasure in affirming that the University's Fel- lowship at Chicago Commons had not been with- out its effect in certain departments of instruc- tion. Applications for appointment to the Fellowship are pressed more urgently than ever before. At the joint request of the Detroit Settlement, the Collegiate Alumnae and representatives of University of Michigan. Prof. Taylor also vis- 14 THE COMMONS ited that city in the interests of a possible co- operation of these three strong groups. He found the settlement well located and having an excep- tionally good building equipment, but in need of resident and non-resident workers to supplement the- effective service of the three now in residence. The Collegiate Alumnae manifested hearty and intelligent interest in further co-operation with the settlement. The friends of both interests ral- lied in large numbers at two public appointments for the discussion of the settlement motive and method. The proposition to ally those interested in settlement service in the University of Michi- gan with the work of the Detroit Settlement, only forty miles distant, was most favorably en- tertained, both in the latter city and at Ann Ar- bor. But whatever practical development may come of it, both professors and students declared their affliliation with the greater center of popu- lation through Chicago Commons to be so ad- vantageous to the University that it must be maintained, and they hoped would be supplement- ed by reciprocally valuable co-operation between the Franklin street center and the University forces. Mr. Royal Melendy, Miss Edith Clark and Mi. Lionel Heap, former incumbents of the Fellow- ship are all at present students at the University. Conditions in Detroit seem to be ready, and public opinion among people of civic intelligence is ripening for a thorough investigation of the need for initiating such a juvenile court in that city as has been so successfully established in Chicago. If the University of Michigan could supply an investigator of sufficient capacity and calibre to grasp and demonstrate the situation, the Collegiate Alumnae and other friends of the Detroit settlement would prove to be abundantly able not only to provide for the very reasonable expense involved, but also to educate public op : n- ion to secure the enactment of such benefic ent legislation. This settlement, with its capable and devoted neighborhood workers, its effective bu : ld- ing equipment, and its generally recognized prac- tical achievement in its own distrct would read- ily become a center for broader civic interest and co-operation. All it needs to this end is the joint action and support of its own friends, and those in the Collegiate Alumnae and University in initiating some such needed work for the whole city as this proposed investigation would surely be recognized to be. He was alive in himself at every pore of his being and no life or expression of life could he regard as alien to himself. DR. A. V. G. ALLEN OF PHILLIPS BROOKS. College Settlements Association. Standing Committee, President: KATHARINE COMAN, Wellesley, Mass. Vice-President: MARY K. SIMKHOVITCH, (Mrs. Vladimir G. Simkhovitch.) 248 East S4th St., New York City. Secretary: MABEL GAIR CURTIS, 829 Boylston St., Boston. Treasurer: ELSIE CLEWS PARSONS, (Mrs Herbert Parsons.) 112 East 35th Street, New York City. Fifth Member: HELEN ANNAN SCRIBNER, (Mrs. Arthur H. Scribner,) 10 West 48d Street, New York City. EDITED BY CAROLINE WILLIAMSON MONTGOMERY. Early Days at Rivingtorv Street. BY JEAN FINE SPAHR, FIRST HEAD-WORKER. In the early days, life was very simple at the New York Settlement. The first servants came with no particular theories of life to carry out, no economic or sociological hypothesis to verify or disprove. They were moved purely by the sentiment of neighborliness. As it was impossible for the East Section to move into our vicinity, we would go to live near them. And we went in the first place with few places beyond the simple one of living in a tenement house neighborhood, and proving ourselves good neighbors. We had been so warned and forewarned by those wise in the ways of the world, of the evil, and the drunkenness, and disorder of Rivington St., that we endeavored to placate Mrs. Grundy with a middle-aged housekeeper, and to defend ourselves from midnight assaults by having a man sleep in the house. And he was unwittingly the cause of the only fright which I had in the three years that I lived at the settlement. The month before the settlement opened Mrs. Rand and I spent in furnishing our house. We had a limited sum of money, and we endeavored to make it go far by painting our own floors, sewing and laying our carpets, find the like. When we had gotten the beds into the house it seemed as if it would be easier if the housekeeper and I slept in Rivington street instead of taking the long trip up town and back each day. We were very tired when night came, and as the gas had not been turned on in the house we extinguished our can- dle early and went to bed bolting the upper door and leaving the lower one unbolted for our pro- tection. About midnight I was roused from a sound sleep by a violent ringing at the bell. I leaned out of the window, and called but received no answer. The bell continued to ring, the door was shaken and occasionally kicked. I stood and thought a few moments, and then supposing that this might be the regular part of any night's pro- THE COMMONS gram, I donned some clothes, lit my candle, and started down the stairs. But before I reached the front door, the disturbance had ceased, and I went back to bed, resolving that another night should find us with gas, and a chain bolt, The next night we learned that our midnight disturb- er was our paid protector. He had come at that hour to go to his bed and had found himself locked out, and vented his wrath on the front door before he went off to walk the streets for the night. That was the only time we were troubled at night, but our peace of mind was broken by an early visit from a policeman. Rivington street had a very bad name in those days, and until they got used to it, the street car conductors looked askance at young women who asked to be let out at Rivington street. And so perhaps we ought not to have wondered at our call from a policeman. He asked to see the "Madame," and he was with difficulty convinced that he had not a right to a bribe for letting us exist in the neighborhood. There was a good deal of hard work that first year at the settlement. The house was heated with stoves, and a good half of the residents "stoked" every day. Some of us became very skillful in keeping a fire alight, but the unfor- tunate individual to whose share the parlor grate fell, built many fresh fires. We had no servants in those days but a working housekeeper and a little girl from the neighborfhood who changed every two months and who sat at the table with us, and was one of the family. Also in those days we sold baths in our basement, and the Jewish women were not very particular about scrubbing out the tubs after they had bathed. And so the residents scrubbed tubs, and washed dishes, swept, and dusted their own rooms and the parlors, and kept the front steps and sidewalk clean. It was in connection with our housework that I had an amusing call one Sunday morning. A young woman, a clerk in a Grand street store, came to see me. She had with her a newspaper containing one of the high flown accounts of our work to which we were treated in those days. She had called because the article said that we did our own work and she wanted to know if we did. She asked: "Do you sweep, and cook, and wash dishes?" When she had received an affirm- ative answer she saf a moment in silence, then sighed and said : "I thought ladies never did any thing but sit in the parlor and hold their hands." There was one delightful feature of that first year which is not likely to be repeated. Al- most all the residents were personal friends of the few who had been interested in starting the settlement. For two months of that first winter the seven residents who composed the family were members of either '83 or '84 of Smith Col- lege. This element of old friendship gave a unity to the family which it would have been hard to have gained otherwise. In spite of per- haps because of the hard work that fell to the share of each resident during the early days, our life was a very happy one. And it seems to me, that the fact that there are to-day many married men and women, fathers and mothers now, who count the "settlement" as one of their life's pos- sessions, who were children in the home those first years, goes far to prove that the hard work did not seriously interfere with the forming of strong ties with the neighborhood. LAWN SWINGS MAY POLES W. S. TOTHILL Manufacturer Play Ground, Park, Gymnasium and Athletic Field Equipments. Write for anything you want. 126-iZS West Webster Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. Settlement Attitude Toward Rad- icalism- The discussion of the attitude of settlements toward radicalism gave the Federation of Chi- cago Settlements one of its most animated and profitable meetings. Sixty-five of their residents and friends gathered in the neighborhood parlor at Chicago Commons Jan. i8th. In the opening address the position was taken that the settle- ments, to be true to their fundamental principle, should not d : scriminate against the radicals any more than any other class. The general advan- tage, both to the community and to those who hold extreme views regarding the social order, of treating them exactly like other people was urged. To afford an opportunity which brings the ex- tremist out into free and open discussion with representatives of other points of view, it was claimed tends to lessen the exaggerated empha- sis which isolation always lends to suppressed or repressed opinions In proof of this advantage, the open discussions at Toynbee hall and the Free Floor at Chicago Commons were cited. Up- on the latter, for instance, the anarchists' lead- ers have repeatedly been confronted with the rea- sonable, tolerant and firm defense of law by a prominent judge, an able attorney and a widely known scholar. The questions and discussions 16 THE COMMONS thus elicited from the radicals were honest, earn- est, pertinent, in the best of spirit and entirely free from bitterness, personalities or any approach to a breach of parliamentary order. It was conceded, however, to be a debatable point whether the settlements should not only assure equal freedom of speech, but also afford a platform for the public utterance of individual or factional opinion. The embarrassments of what- ever attitude the settlement takes toward radical- ism, it was agreed, were to be expected rather from the action it felt called upon to take in times of stress and strain, rather than from its mere tolerance or furtherance of radical expression. At whatever cost in the temporary loss of in- fluence or support, it was felt by all that the set- tlements must stand firm for even-handed justice to all classes against whatever misconception or injustice may confront them, and that when oc- casion clearly demanded it they must not hesitate to take the overt act which will prove the con- sistency of their attitude toward truth and justice. It was further urged to be the duty of the settle- ment to educate their residents in an intelligent understanding, a well balanced judgment and a calm attitude with reference to the conflicting theories and interests by which they are sure to be confronted and between which _ they are more or less compelled to judge. _J CHICAGO COMMONS The Cook county superintendent of public schools, Mr. Orville T. Bright, greatly interested the constituency of our two city-center schools and other friends by his pictures and descriptions of the suburban and country schools within the county outside of the city limits. The County Association of Teachers have long been actively interested in our settlement kindergarten. Their contributions led the teachers of the state to ap- propriate, at their convention a year ago, enough money to warrant us in maintaining the branch kindergarten in the old neighborhood at 75 Grand avenue. The reciprocity between the trades unions and Chicago Commons is becoming increasingly cor- dial and helpful. The warden has recently ad- dressed in their own halls the Carpenters' Dis- trict Council, the Glass Makers' Union, and the mass meeting of Brickmakers and Cigarmakers at Blue Island. A series of craft conferences, to which the Free Floor Discussion is to be largely devoted dur- ing the remainder of the winter, was opened by the cigarmakers, who discussed the conditons of their trade, the effect of the new relations of the country with Cuba upon their craft interests, the growth and benefit of their union and the strength it has added to the labor movement. The Protestant Episcopal clergy are investigat- ing the Chicago settlements. Chicago Commons welcomed the inspection and the fellowship of the friendly and sympathetic clergymen, who spent an evening with us lately. The Catholic Woman's National League sup- plied one of the best programs at our Pleasant Sunday Afternoons this winter. The opportunity to reciprocate their courtesy was heartily im- proved by the warden to address their largely attended club meeting on Francis of Assisi, the initiator of social chivalry. Three social neigh- borhood centers on the north, west and south sides of Chicago are supported in their success- ful and varied work by this strong and growing league of Catholic women. The Apollo Musical Club of Chicago has proven its splendidly democratic spirit in ways which are as beautiful as the social service rendered there- by is invaluable. For the third season they have rendered the oratorio of the Messiah at Chicago Commons and at the settlement of the University of Chicago. The chorus of ninety voices was not as large by one-third as the number of their great chorus who volunteered to sing. Mr. Harrison M. Wild, their successful director, conducted the recital. The volunteer soloists, who so generous- ly and artistically contributed to the great s-.;C cess, were Miss Elizabeth Blamere, soprano ; Miss Adah Bryant, contralto ; Mr. Frank Hannah, ten- or; Mr. E. C. Rowden, bass; Mr. Arthur Dun- ham, accompanist The encouragement we have received in thus offering the highest art in the service of tin: best music to our great industrial and cosmopolitan population may encourage others. The first y;ar the beer hall we were obliged to use was not half filled ; last year our own new hall was not more than fairly occupied ; this year every seat we could crowd into it was taken, every inch of standing roomi was eagerly sought, the adjoining stairways, halls and rooms held the overflow and many who sought admission were turned away from the building half an hour before the concert began. Fully seven hundred people thus eagerly rallied to hear the Messiah and willingly paid the admission price of twenty-five cents. The Chi- cago Commons Choral Club, under whose auspices and for the benefit of whose piano und the re- cital was given by the Apollo Club, are greatly stimulated by the success of this occasion in their own effort to raise the ideal and promote the culture of the community in the refining and un- ifying art of song. TKe Commons A Montnly Record Devoted to Aspects of Life and Labor from the Settlement Point of View. Number 68 Vol. VI. Sixth Year Chicago, riarch 1902 You and the Multitude. Already you include The multitude; then let the multitude Include yourself; and the result were new: Themselves before, the multitude turn you. This were to live and move and have, in them Your being, and secure a diadem You should transmit (because no cycle yearns Beyond itself, but on itself returns). Browning's Sordeiio. Book V. Public Opinion and New York City Politics. BY JOHN L. ELLIOTT. So much is said in these days about educating public opinion and about the power of public opinion, that we grow tired of the very sound and sight of the phrase, and public opinion as a factor in social betterment has not infrequently proven itself to be a broken reed on which to lean. The majority of voters, even when well-inten- tioned, are often likely to be both uninformed and luke-warm about the public welfare. It is interesting, therefore, when, as in the last New York City election, we see these two difficul- ties in democratic government, ignorance and in- difference, overcome, and the best element in the community expressing itself in a sensible and vigorous manner. The campaign of '95 presented somewhat the aspects of a moral spasm. Moral it certainly was, brought about by sincere and unselfish reformers, and spasmodic its effects proved to be, for, after two years, the worst element in the city was again placed in power. On the evening of the city elec- tion in '97, crowds marched through the streets under double influence of liquor and campaign ex- citement, shouting with a wildness that suggested the scenes of the French Eevolution: "To hell with reform. New York is wide open." And wide open New York stayed for four years. There was hardly one decent sentiment in the community that was not trampled upon. The better element in the city was disheartened. A sincere attempt had been made for good government and after two years it had resulted in turning over munici- pal affairs entirely to Tammany. One observed in the pulpit and lecture platform, and in the bet- ter newspapers, in fact among all agencies which made for social betterment, the note of discour- agement, almost despair. The conditions which made these feelings so poignant have been given in shocking detail by the newspapers, and need not be reproduced. Up to about a year and a half before the elec- tion of 1901, no effort toward radical and imme- diate betterment was made. About that time a young man from one of the worst tenement house districts called upon a private citizen of influence in the community, detailed to him the life of the streets and tenements in his part of the city, and asked, "Is it true that we must live forever in these conditions? Is it true that nothing can be done?" As a result of the appeal of this young man, a committee on public morality was formed, which was made up of representatives from many of the better social agencies, especially from the settlements and churches. This committee employed a secretary who in- vestigated the conditions and reported to the committee, great care being taken to make no sen- sational appeals to the newspapers. This inves- tigation revealed conditions in what is known as the Red Light District, which were so intolerable that those who knew what was being done were deeply stirred. Evidence was collected, particul- arly against landlords and police officials. The work outgrew the powers of this self-con- stituted committee and it was taken up by the committee of fifteen, appointed at a meeting held by the Board of Trade. The committee of fifteen was the outgrowth of the committee on public morality, as the committee on public morality had been the outgrowth of the appeal of a single in- dividual, and the political victory was very largely the result of the work of the committee of fifteen. The revelations brought out at the trial of one of the police captains, which was undertaken by this committee, gave to the better elements of the community the shock which was necessary to rouse them into action. The farcical incident in the campaign was fur- nished by the committee of five, which was ap- pointed by Tammany Hall for the purpose of rid- ding the city of its bad conditions, and yet, farci- cal as the incident was, it proved to be not without effect. Tammany was put in the light of trying to destroy those conditions which it had fostered. The chairman of the committee was evidently sin- cere and he showed what might be done by conduct- THE COMMONS ing raids on gambling houses. Careful and secret preparations were made by the Tammany commit- tee and one of the most notorious gambling houses was raided, and when the fish were taken from the net, lo and behold, one of Tammany's leaders was found among them. The experiment was never repeated. But the effectiveness of raiding had been demonstrated and was immediately taken up by the committee of fifteen and proved one of its most efficient methods. Very seldom have the lines of political struggle in a campaign been so strictly those of morality and immorality, and those candidates of the Fu- sion ticket, who made their fight purely on moral grounds, were those who ran best on their ticket. Men voted as citizens, rather than as party men, and yet what will be regarded by many as one of the most hopeiul signs of the election, was that while it was a moral campaign, a campaign for reform, the reformers expressed themselves with great moderation, when we re- member how extreme reformers are likely to be. Of course the campaign could not be entirely free from mere party strife. There were many political soreheads. But on the whole it was a struggle and victory for common sense and common decency. The best public opinion had been roused and had made itself felt. However, as yet, we cannot say what the result will be. It is very possible that after two short years of repentance, the city will again be turned over to the forces of disorder and crime. It may be that our present reform administration will do exactly what other reform administrations have done and will go further than public opinion will warrant, just as the Tammany administration went further in the way of corruption than public opin- ion would endure. We have had a successful cam- paign of education and reform. It now remains to be seen whether we can have a successful adminis- tration of education and reform. We have reached the second stage anu now are waiting to see whether the better element can be kept alive to public needs, whether it is" willing to take an in- terest 'and make efforts in the time between elec- tions. There is hope for believing that a new type of social reformer is evolving. Not simply the man who cries against evil conditions, but one who mingles thought and reason with his enthusiasm, and works patiently and persistently in times of campaign and in times of political rest alike, for a better city. The situation at present is both interesting and critical, and seems to turn on the infinitely diffi- cult saloon problem. The question has taken the form, Shall the saloons be opened on Sunday? The radical reformer says no, we will not tolerate evil conditions of any kind; we will not sanction them ; Sunday is the day for rest and edification ; w will not have our American sabbath disturbed; moreover our statutes say that the saloon shall be closed, and any infraction of the law which is permitted, will beget a most dangerous feeling of disregard for law; the mayor and his officials were elected to enforce the law; if we wink at the infractions of those statutes which exist, we are no better than Tammany; the mayor has taken an oath to enforce the laws as they are and he must do so; we will not open the saloons. The idea of destroying that which was bad dominated the last election. Now the city officials have the infinitely difficult task of finding the best means for making effective the ideas and senti- ments for which they were elected. There is a great chance that between the rampantly moral and the immoral forces, our present administra- tion may fall between two stools. It is time that we had a careful study and pub- lie enlightenment of the real conditions which exist in the saloons, and the voices of those best fitted to judge are beginning to be heard. The conditions seem to be these: That the discussion as to whether the saloons shall oe opened is purely academic. As a matter of fact the saloons are open all day, not the front door, but the side door, and the real question is, whether they shall be closed part of the day or not. Theodore Roosevelt tried as sincerely as ever a man tried to do anything, to keep the saloons closed. He succeeded partially for three Sun- days and then gave up the attempt. The shades of the saloons are drawn up and there is much more loafing in the bar-room on Sunday than any other day, more loafing than would be allowed if everything was open to inspection, as on week days. If the front door were kept open legally part of the day, there would be an opportunity of keeping both doors closed part of the day, during church hours. The time when drunkenness is at its worst, is from twelve o'clock Saturday night until twelve on Sunday. If the saloons were opened at noon on Sunday and kept open the rest of the day, or at least part of it, there would be a fair chance of shutting the saloons at 12 o'clock on Saturday night and keeping them closed for the next twelve hours, which is un- doubtedly the time when the danger is greatest. The first thing, then, is to stop the academic discussion as to whether we should open the saloons, and see the question fairly, Can we keep them closed part of the time? The second point seems to be, that in fighting the saloons, we are not fighting an absolutely un- THE COMMONS mixed evil. The saloons do many things besides making their patrons drunk. In fact, drunkenness is not at all the rule, but the exception in many places. The saloon performs many legitimate functions in the community. We may be tired of hearing it called the ' ' Poor man 's club, ' ' but it is that to a certain extent. It is true that every- thing in the bar-room points to drinking, from the over-salted lunch to the lack of chairs, and yet there are many legitimate club features. In the first place the saloon is almost the only place within the reach of all working men where there is perfect freedom and equality. For five cents he becomes a patron and an equal of all those who frequent the place. The feelings of freedom and equality are very sweet to the working man, who all day long is bound to obey strict com- mands, freedom, of course, being used in its best sense, and not in that of license, the freedom which he would enjoy and should enjoy if he had a home, but the average 'tenement house dweller can scarcely be said to have a home when we con- sider the condition of tenement houses, especially in New York City. The saloon is the place for the gathering of people of the same race and in- terest and in this sense has distinctly the club feature, and it serves in no small degree as an employment bureau. i do not wish for one moment to be understood as defending the saloons, as upholding the saloons as they exist. The point is, that while they per- form all these legitimate functions, it is simply folly for the radical reformer to knock at the door and say to the patrons of the thirteen thousand saloons in New York City : ' ' Get out, move on. ' ' The men who frequent the saloons know what the rabid reformer does not know, of the good fea- tures of these places. Never can the baneful influence of the saloon be destroyed until these good features of. the freedom and equality of the club and the employment bureau, are met in other ways. It has been stated on good authority that in one district, measuring 374 yards by 514, there are 148 saloons. There would not be this number if the saloon was for nothing but drunkenness, and yet one has only to contemplate the figures to recognize how great is the price of evil paid for the features which are not bad. But not until the city has opened up other places which shall satisfy the needs of the thousands of men who use the saloon for legitimate and healthful pur- poses can we hope to eradicate the evil influences. Kxperience has shown us clearly enough what the ffect is of trying to go further in the matter of prohibition than the sentiment of the community will warrant. It was tried in Maine, tried sincere- ly, and when prohibition was at its height, there were forty representatives of wholesale liquor houses traveling in the State, who seemed to be happy and contented and did not claim to be there for their health. The number of speak-easies in- creased greatly, and it was said that there were two hundred men walking the streets of Portland who carried liquor for sale around with them. Only a little quiet thought will be required for anyone to see that if this has been the experience in Maine, what could be done in New York City with its infinitely more difficult problems, brought about by overcrowding and the presence of hundreds of thousands of foreigners, to say nothing of the other difficulties. The solution that seems to be most commonly offered is that of local option. If the State Legis- lature can be induced to give New York City the right to legislate for itself in this matter, it may then be possible to have laws which shall really accomplish the purpose for which they were in- tended, and not which pretend to do so. It is ad- mitted by all those who are familiar, with condi- tions that the present liquor laws do nothing ex- cept to make secret what is done and add thereto the dangerous features of blackmail and bribery. Will we get our new type of reformer, the one who has common sense as well as moral enthusi- asm, who takes into view not only theories but conditions as well, and who recognizes that you cannot drive out an evil unless you put something better in its place? Truths which are trite enough, but however trite, are not yet in force in New York. The old method of treating insanity was to beat and torture the patient with the hope of driving the devil out of him. That seems to be the present method of much social and moral reform, and we, too, must learn that mere punitive methods will not suffice. We must have a reform which is based on sympathy and common sense. Reformatory Influence of Social Service Upon City Politics. The New York Sun in an editoral, which we take pleasure in reproducing, justifies President Roosevelt's claim, quoted in our January number from his British Fortnightly article, that city pol- itics are best reformed by imposing upon tEem the responsibility for social betterment and by placing their administration in the hands trained for the trust by experience in social service. "The make-up of the new city administration shows an extraordinary number of important offi- cers who have been prominently associated with the organized charities James B. Reynolds, Mayor Low's private sec- retary, was the head worker of the University Settlement Society, and his selection was largely due to the fact that his service there had made him familiar with East Side conditions. THE COMMONS Robert W. De Forest, tenement house commis- sioner, is the president of the Charity Organization Society. It was due to him that the important de- partment of tenement houses was established by the legislature last year. His first deputy, Lawrence Veiller, qualified for his appointment through being secretary of the Charity Organization Society's tenement house commisson. Homer Folks, commissioner of charity, is the secretary of the State Charities Aid Association. Mr. Folk's first deputy, James E. Dougherty, is a veteran worker in the Catholic charitable or- ganization, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Thomas W. Hynes, commissioner of correction, is the president of the Brooklyn council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Dr. E. R. L. Gould, city chamberlain, served the Charity Organization Society on its tenement house commission. President Cantor of the Borough of Manhat- tan selected for superintendent of public baths, Richard W. Taylor, who made such a success of the People's baths, established by the New York Assocaition for Improving the Condition of the Poor. And Mayor Low, who was the founder of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities, has been for many years an officer of the Charity Organization So- . ciety. There are other minor appointments that are due entirely to good records in the same sort of work. If these appointees prove competent they will certainly reflect credit on organized charity as a training school for municipal office." The Ethical Culture Hovement. FRANK A. MANNY, NEW YORK CITY. To the reader of ' ' The Making of an Ameri- can, ' ' by Jacob Eiis, Felix Adler is an interesting character; to the many students of the latter 'a "Moral Instruction of Children" he appears in another but equally suggestive light. But the man himself is more than the sum of the many views' of him which could easily be enumerated. What strikes the student of the situation most forcibly is the amount that he has accomplished in a short time. It is only a little over a quarter' of a century ago that he began his public work, but in that time has come into existence the great work of the parent society in New York with its thousand members, effective organizations in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. .Louis, and across the water in England, Germany, Austria and Switz- erland. When one considers that this work has been among classes of people not usually consid- ered the easiest to reach, it is difficult to under- stand its success until he appreciates the fact that the founder brought to his task the none too common capital of high and definite ideals and excellent training. In the New York society, the personality of the man appears in every phase of the work. The organization is extensive. There is provision for growth in thinking and doing. The great auditorium at Carnegie Hall every Sunday morn- ing is filled with people. During the week there are courses of lectures and classes carried on by the various divisions, for mature men, mature women, young men, young women, youths, maid- ens, and children. It would seem that everyone has an opportunity to do for himself and for others. One of the best students I have ever had secured her training in the wage earners' sec- tion, and in ter work as a stenographer. The mothers have classes in child study; settlement workers and others form an Industrial Ethics Section, etc. There ha been at all times an emphasis on unity of deed rather than of creed, but this in no way is allowed to be an excuse for loose think- ing. There is constant effort to give every pos- sible opportunity to the individual to know the best that has been thought, that he may form his own thought as a vital force in life. The ethical aspect is at the front, but the religious life in a very real sense seems never to be for- gotten. One of the earliest responsibilities assumed was a school. It began in a free kindergarten, and has grown in scope until it now includes as well a training school, a high school, and an elementary school. It has done pioneer work in many lines, notably in manual training and in systematic ethical instruction. Its organization is unique, and presents many problems in that it aims to pre- serve the democratic conditions of membership found in the public school, and at the same time to secure the advantages of the small classes, etc., of the private school. It is suggestive of the spirit of the society that those who support the school send their children to it and wish to have them educated with children of other classes. It is understood that no class shaii contain more than fifty per cent of pay pupils, and that all are on a common footing. On this democratic foundation, the general pur- pose of its work is to serve as a school of experi- ment, demonstration and observation. Visitors come from all parts of America and from abroad, not only those who are at work in schools, but workers in churches, clubs and settlements. Classes are held by its teachers for those who wish to prepare for more effective social work. Even in the regular training school there ara many stu- THE COMMONS dents graduated who never expect to teach, but who take the work as a help to better service in the home and in society. The aim is not to confine these opportunities to those who can come to the school, but provision is made for sending out, at the expense of the society, to those who cannot come. Last spring one teacher spent some time in a negro school in the South introducing cer- tain forms of industrial work. A conference in the South will be provided for this winter. Ex- hibits of work have been sent to other less access- ible sections. Not content with what could be done on other days, a Sunday school was organized. It is on a thoroughly business basis, with paid teachers, a sufficiently long period for lessons, separate classrooms, etc. A part of the course of study is similar to that given under the name of ethics in the day school, and printed at the close of this article. Other classes are provided so that pupils will not duplicate work. One very suggestive de- velopment is that of clubs into which the children pass after completing the Sunday school course. It is one of the most definite and successful at- tempts to meet the problem of what in the day school we call the "secondary" or "high" scho:>l problem that I have known. Both nature and man are kept in mind in these courses. One is for the students who have had some study of sci- ence and history in the day and Sunday school, and now are led to look into theories of develop- ment and gain a definite notion of what is meant by evolution. Another course has to deal with the ethics of organization. In this division as elsewhere it is not considered sufficient for the students to have training in thought alone. They are brought into relations with the many practical lines of work, especially in this case with that of the Hudson Guild in the Tenderloin district. This is not called a social settlement, but much of its work is that usually found in settlements and its clubs, classes, dramatic representations, library, etc., afford ample opportunity to "secondary" training. The major part of the students are found systematically at work here under the inspiration and direction of Dr. John Elliott, who is the ehief factor in this work as well as in the Sunday school and in many other sections. This laboratory principle is found everywhere, the children in school and in special guilds make things needed by those in the hospitals; the Young Men 's Union has a summer home in the country to which city children are taken for an outing; the women sustain the work of the district nurses; the young women provide park outings for down- town children. There is an extensive East side work besides all this. The multiplicity of activi- ties cannot be understood until one realizes that everyone is at work, and that there are leaders. Plans are now making for a large building on Central Park West which shall house the central work of the society, and afford to it better op- portunities for effectiveness. Settlement and School in New Com- bination. A very promising experiment in social endeavor is being initiated by the Teachers' College of Columbia University, New York City. Mr. and Mrs. James Speyer recently gave the college $100,- 000 for the erection of a building, which will com- bine the equipment of a free school and a social settlement. It is to be a five story structure, with exceptionally good provision for a kindergarten and the eight grades of the elementary school, in- cluding also a gymnasium, assembly and club rooms and residence quarters. It is located only a few blocks from the University and in the midst of a distinctively wage-earning population, where settlement work will find its most open field. The work of the Speyer school has already been inaugurated and includes, notwithstanding very inadequate accommodations, the kindergar- ten, four primary grades, and classes in sewing and cooking for other than grade pupils of the school. The settlement activities have begun with a girls' social club, a mothers' club of fifty mem- bers, a free library and other features. While the primary purpose of the school is to furnish oppor- tunity for extensive practice teaching by the stu- dents in the teachers' college under expert super- vision, it is believed that the settlement will find the school a uniquely valuable point of contact with the neighborhood, and that this union of forces will disclose possibilities hitherto unrealized for making the city school a social center. Per- haps, however, the greatest significance of the plan lies in the fact that teachers from all over the country will receive their professional train- ing in such close contact with settlement methods and ideals. Two of the residents are to be nominated by the University Settlement Council and are to give their entire time to the organization and super- vision of the distinctively settlement activities. The new building is expected to be ready for use in the fall of 1903. Religious movements for Social Betterment. Under the above title three interesting sketches have recently appeared in The Christian World (James Clark & Co., 13 Fleet street, London, E. C.), from the pen of Rev. A. Holden Byles. After a four months' tour in the United States study- ing settlement and institutional church methods. THE COMMONS Mr. Byles has given to his countrymen the results of his investigations. Upon the question of the success of institution- al church methods, he says : "It has been the salvation of many of the down town churches in New York, Boston and other American cities ; it has kept them in healthy and vigorous work in districts too sadly neglected; and thus, while do- ing much to solve the vexed problem of the stranded city church, it has helped to remove the reproach that the Church of Christ is too ready to make Lot's choice of 'the well-watered plains.' In connection with this the startling statement was made at a meeting of the Institutional Church League, that 'in New York, while 200,000 people moved in below Fourteenth street (the poorer part of the city), seventeen Protestant churches of the old type moved out.' 'What shall we do?' cried Dr. Myers, of Brooklyn, a prominent leader in Institutional work. 'Stand and face it ; face it with the Institutional Church. The only way on earth to reach' a man is by Christ's own way, the point of contact, to get near to him with your love.' The moment you sit down 1 beside him and give him your love, that moment you begin to save/ "This is the whole secret of the power and suc- cess of the Institutional Church ; it establishes a 'point of contact,' or bond of sympathy between those who are inside and those who are outside the fold of the church. 'The Institutional Church' (said Dr. Nidson to me), 'is nothing more than systematic organized kindness, which conciliates the hostile and indifferent, alluring them within reach, and softening their hearts for the reception of the Word of Life.' "They are not merely regaining a hold on the multitude by ministering to their physical and mental necessities, but they are showing a far larger percentage of admissions to Church fel- loswhip than can be shown by those churches which continue to rim on the old lines. Dr. Strong tells us that he has found, as the result of a careful examination of records extending over a period of six years, that 'the average Con- gregational Institutional church had precisely six times as many additions on confession of faith as the average Congregational church of the old type,' and the same is true in other denomina- tions ; and he claims for these churches as a bonus against which the old line churches had nothing to show 'all that they accomplished on behalf of cleaner and healthier bodies, better in- formed minds and a more wholesome social and civil life.' " Speaking of the difficulties to be met in ap- plying institutional church methods, and the ad- vantages of the freedom enjoyed by social set- tlements, Mr. Byles has this to say : "A further objection and this seems to me the most serious is that this work is better done by the Social, or University Settlement. To a cer- tain extent, and in one important particular, I am afraid this is true. In the matter of provid- ing amusement, I was disappointed to find that very few, even of the Institutional Churches, were prepared to 'grasp the nettle.' If the Church is to lay hold of the young- people who now throng the billiard saloons of the public-house, or fre- quent the music-halls, it must have the courage to gratify all that is legitimate in these cravings on/ its own premises. I found the leaders of the Institutional movement in favor of this almost to a man, but they told me, 'The churches are timid, and the saloons are doing the work that ought to be done by us.' Some churches are bolder, and they have had their reward. Dr. Scudder, of Jersev City, once said, 'I have saved more souls by my skittle-alley than by my sermons.' Fast young fellows had been attracted to his rooms by the cheaper prices, and when there had to use his phrase 'touched elbows' with the Christian young men who were always about. If, however, the churches will not undertake this work, others must." Social Development of Y. M. C A. Work. The annual report of General Secretary, L. Wilbur Messer, to the directors of the Y. M. C. A. of Chicago, contains four very interesting and important recommendations for larger work. The first plan is to establish a large dormitory to accommodate young men whose work neces- sitates their, living down-town. Present condi- tions are such that good lodgings can not be had at reasonable rates in the central portions of the city. Consequently young men are compelled to live in either poor or disagreeable houses. 1795 men were directed to boarding houses during the last year by the Association. The success of the Mills' Hotels and of similar plans carried out by the Y. M. C. A. in in New York City are cited: to demonstrate the feasibility of the plan Recognizing the small way in which the Y. M. C. A. touches the working man, a second recom- mendation is to establish Y. M. C. A. centers in ' those parts of the city most suitable and con- venient for mechanics and working men. The success of the association among working men is demonstrated by the Railroad departments. Third a Rescue Home for men is proposed, where the unfortunate can find a home until he can get on his own feet. The great need of such a place in Chicago has long been felt by all who have ever met the stranded man. THE COMMONS The fourth plan is to enlarge the boys' work by establishing special departments for boys be- tween the ages of 14 and 18 years of age. The Board of Education is quoted as saying 85 per cent of the boys leave school between the ages of 14 and 18 years. Special buildings are recom- mended at a cost x>f not less than $100,000. The ''school boys" are to use the building on after- noons and the "working boys" in the evening. No provision is made for the "street boy." These recommendations should commend them- selves to all. Business men are already offering their support. The report shows a large grasp on all the problems involved and is the outcome of experience and careful study not only of the needs of Chicago but of similar work successfully carried on in other places. Dale Memorial Library at Browing Hall. It is happily proposed by the Kobert Browning settlement to make a special feature in its nearly completed Men's Club House of a memorial libra- ry of Christian sociology to bear the name and perpetuate the influence of the late Rev. E. W. Dale, D. D., of Birmingham. Dr. Dale was a na- tive of vValworth and was bora within a stone's throw of Browning Hall, now the geographical center of the county of London, and one of the most densely peopled districts in the whole metrop- olis. Dr. Dale was one of the most eminent men in the whole ministry of the English free churches. He was not only a voluminous author, popular preacher and the successful pastor of large churches, but was recognized as a political power and civic force, whose statesmanship grew to in- ternational proportions. His best efforts and most sustained interests centered in the sphere which he himself defines as "the relations of the Christian faith to the improvement of the ma- terial conditions of mankind and the reformation of the social order." In their endeavor to col- lect ' ' this literary epitome 01 what the Christian conscience has to say on the handling and solving of social problems" the council of Browning Hall is consulting leading experts in Europe and America and will welcome suggestions from all competent guides. The contribution of $2,500 is being solicited for the purchase of at least a thousand of the best books and the gift of other volumes is expected. Communications may be addressed to the warden, F. Herbert Stead, M. A., 29 Grosvenor Park, S. E., uondon, England, who will be glad to receive all remittances and sugges- tions. The Club House, in which tn.s collection of literature, which is said to be unique in London, wih be suitably and safely housed, is a fine build- ing, costing $25,000, and is increasingly frequented by the intelligent workingmen of the district who are both capable and desirous of sharing the use of the proposed library. From the Settlements. From Lincoln House, Boston, to Gordon House, New York. Mr. William A. Clark who for eight years has been the managing director of Lincoln House, Boston, has resigned that position to take charge of the new and growing work of the Gordon House, in New York, now situated in temporary quarters at 127 West 17th street. Mr. Clark was one of the early residents at the South End House, coming there immediately after finishing his course at Harvard. He at once be- came interested in the investigation of two spe- cial subjects which he continued to study for some years at Lincoln House, the results being given in two chapters contributed by him to "The City Wilderness," "The Roots of Political Power," and "Strongholds of Education." When Mr. Clark took the executive charge of Lincoln House it had just stepped out of its early stage as a club for small boys. He has not only greatly developed the work among boys, especially by means of varied instruction in handicraft, but he has taken the lead in a program which now in- cludes in its scope all the members of some hun- dreds of families. Lincoln House now has a f orae of about a hundred workers, about fifteen of them being paid instructors, and it is, without question, the leading exponent in Boston of suc- cessful club and class work. M.he founders of Lincoln House who give it such ample financial and moral support expressed their appreciation of Mr. Clark's services by presenting him, at his departure, with a library of one hundred volumes upon present-day social questions. Gordon House was started a year ago by Theo- dore G. White, Ph. D., who, though having ac- knowledged standing as an expert in some branches of physical science, found his chief interest in social work. His work among boys began wifa a Sunday-school class. This led to the formation of a club which at first met in a stable, in which Mr. White and his boys worked together with their hands to prepare suitable accommodations. Mr. White unfortunately met his death as a re- sult of exposure after a summer swimming excur- sion with his boys. He left his personal fortune to establish Gordon House upon an adequate and permanent basis. The Nurses' Settlement. The Nurses' Settlement in New York has just finished a year of varied and interesting work. The nursing staff rose through the year to eight- een, including a hospital third-year pupil and two who give only a part of their time. The number engaged in systematic visiting nursing rose from 8 THE COMMONS ten to twelve, the others being in the Country House, the first aid rooms, in executive work and in extra emergencies in the outside work. Three thousand three hundred and twenty-five sending about 22 per cent and the patients' fami- lies 33 per cent; about 20 per cent came from a dispensary with which one nurse is connected, and the rest were from miscellaneous sources. Strictly nursing visits made numered 26,600; many visits made for other purposes are not counted. In the three first aid rooms 12,694 minor dressings were done within the year. The nursing service is almost entirely acute dis- eases and includes a complete variety of medical cases, among which were in the year 502 cases of pneumonia and 107 of typhoid, the latter having had a light season. There are many cases of burns and accidents, and many of scarlet lever with complications. Diphtheria cases are frequent. At times it. is necessary to set one nurse aside for these cases. Few obstetrical patients are taken, as a special medical service with pupils in train- ing attends to these. There is a small proportion of operative cases, usually curettement. During the year 285 patients were taken to hos- pitals, and 225 convalescents were entertained for varying periods in the Country House. This charm- ing- home which is open all the year, the gift of a young married woman of New York, is one of the most satisfactory parts of the work, and calls forth the most heartfelt and affectionate recogni- tion from the patients. The donor supports it on liberal lines, and the nurse in charge conducts it on the happy and unrestrained basis of an un- selfish family. A summer camp and excursion for the young people are also features of the Country House. There are now thirty-five clubs which have grown up as parts of the social life of the settle- ment, and classes in sewing, kitchen-garden work and housekeeping, basket weaving, cooking, and home nursing. By the kindness of the Children's Aid Society a large building is utilized in the evenings for many purposes, among them gymna- sium and dancing classes, of which there are four, all self-supporting. The new features of the settlement this winter are carpentering classes for boys, conducted by a young graduate of Smith College, and assistants, who have different groups of boys on each evening, in all about 150; and a little flat in a near-by tenement, managed by an up-town friend in co-operation with a committee of the Household Economic Association, where the classes in house- keeping are held. Alumnae Settlement House. From the interesting and attractive Fifth Annu- al Keport of the Alumnae Settlement, 446 E. 72nd street, New York City, we share with our readers these valuable suggestions: Dr. Jane E. Bobbins, in her report as head worker, thus strongly emphasizes the responsi- bility of the settlement for conserving the family unity and national heritage of their neighbors: ' ' In our interest in the individual boys and girls, ' we try not to lose sight of the fact that we are not only to be neighbors to two or three hun- dred young people, but we are also to be the friends of the families to which these young people belong. One thoughtful club girl said, 'A Settlement is to make girls more contented at home', and we feel that if 'more contented' means in truer relation with home life, we could not have a higher ideal set before us. There is a superficial Americanism in our large cities that some of us in the settlements view with growing alarm. The children, in their thoughtlessness, try to shake off the traditions of their fathers before they are in the least ready to take to heart the traditions of the 'Land of the Pilgrim's Pride'. Traditions do not spring up in a day, and we believe that we ought to encourage those who are now coming to America to bring with them all the ideals of their fatherland, and to hold their children to them against all the ' streetiness ' and cheap Americanisms that so overwhelm the chil- dren of the first generations in this country. Despising one 's forefathers is not a strong founda- tion on which to build good citizenship, and the boy who says with flashing eyes that Ziska was the George Washington of Bohemia, has a good deal better chance of understanding what George Washington really stood for than his school-mate whose conceptions do not include anything broader than a flashy, pretentious Americanism. We en- courage the young people to talk Bohemian and German, and we take warm interest in the efforts of the parents to have them taught to speak cor- rectly the tongue of their forefathers. We feel that the ideals of other countries are just as true as those which we sing in 'Columbia' and 'The Star Spangled Banner, ' and that, in standing for these ideals, we are standing for the truest Americanism. ' ' The East Side House Settlement, New York City. After ten years of vigorous and effective settle- ment work tne East Side House finds itselt with new incentives and necessities to prompt its most strenuous effort to secure a more adequate build- ing equipment. Its homestead like old house hss served its purpose well, but now suffers in com- parison with the provisions being made for hous- ing and helping the vast tenement house popula- tion, of which it is the natural social center. In THE COMMONS its immediate vicinity the City and Suburban Homes Company is building what promises to be the finest tenement house in the United States, and a little further off has erected another great model tenement; near by also are the New York Trade School and Public School No. 158, which opened in 1900 one of the largest and best school buildings in the city. Immediately opposite the East Side House, fronting on the river, lies the proposed playground which the new park board expects to open in 1902; here, too, is the Webster Free Circulating Library under the care of the settlement, which is said to be the most popular library of its size in the city. To meet the de- mands of the ever increasing neighborhood, by enlarging the settlement work, the managers of the East Side House have begun a new building adjoining the fine old mansion, which will con- tinue to give a home atmosphere to all its sur- roundings. They hope to have the addition com- pleted early next summer, if their effort to se- cure funds enough to complete their plans for building and equipment meets with the success it deserves. In its tenth annual report, Mr. Clar- ence Gordon strongly emphasizes the conviction which "should underlie all settlement endeavor and aim, that reform, betterment or whatever else settlement aims may be called, cannot be imposed from above. The desire, the ideal, must have seed; it is innate with the great majority of our fellows, and, recognizing its strivings, however roug'h the shape, the settlement worker has but to tend and water that which is the need and want of others, a need and want otherwise without surrounding opportunity. (jive it this one's best friendly companionship and faith, and a partner is won from -whom largely shall come the increase." Thus only may settlements become "the birthplaces of the better society, the juster economics, the more righteous government, the ideal democracy which shall be." FELLOW-CITIZENSHIP ASSOCIATION^. The Fellow-Citizenship Association of East Side House, New York City, aims to maintain "a, fellowship, independent of race, religious denomi- nation, political party, social class or money pos- session, inviting us to cultivate and enjoy all social recreation which is joyful and impressing and inspiring us, especially at the same time, to learn and practice citizenship, to learn and do what we can in the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man." The democracy of the association is shown by having in its membership J ' a liquor dealer, two lawyers, a paper hanger, a physician, a cigar maker, a contractor, a plumb- er, a teacher, two policemen, a haberdasher, a house painter, a florist, a tenement-house landlord, three printers, a cornetist, a glazier, a broker, a miner, a staff member of the State Bureau of Labor, an awning maker and several 'at large.' ' Trinity House, Buffalo's New Settlement. It was a pleasant evening the Welcome Hall residents spent around the hospitable board at Trinity House, our newly pledged sister settle- ment. For some years the Trinity Co-operative Society has been carrying on work as best they could without resident workers, but about January 1st Miss Alice Moore was installed as head work- er, and with her sister, Miss Moore, went into residence in the cottage that had been used as kindergarten, library and club room by the non- resident members. The house is very quaint, with its large rooms, low ceilings, dark cubbyholes, and unexpected stairways, and it was hard to realize, as we sat about the cheery, old-fashioned stove, listening to their plans and hopes for the future, that we were in the heart of a great com- mercial city, with its lumber yards and docks within a few blocks of us. Across the road the first floor of a large tenement house, owned by the Moore estate, and the house in which Miss Alice Moore was born, has been converted into a kindergarten and club room. We can hardly con- ceive a more ideal arrangement than for Miss Moore, after many years' absence, to return to her old home not only as landlady but also as friend and counselor. When we think of the obstacles some have to encounter in getting a foothold in a neighborhood we can but rejoice with Miss Mpore when, in visiting many of the older people, she is greeted with "Oh yes! I re- member your father, he was a good man." She is fortunate also in having control of a large, vacant lot next the tenement, which will make an ideal playground. The outlook here is certainly a bright one, and we want to congratulate the society upon securing Miss Moore as head resi- dent. Our happy evening came all too quickly to an end, and we left wishing a Godspeed for this interesting work. Chicago Contributes One of its Best Workers to New York. The University Settlement of New York City has recognized rare personal capacity, has hon- ored Chicago and has served its own great inter- ests by inviting Mr. Eobert Hunter to succeed Mr. James B. Reynolds in the leadership of its work. Mr. Hunter entered upon his varied social service in Chicago immediately upon finishing his course at the University of Indiana in 1896. While achieving the long delayed establishment of the district charity bureaus as organizing secre- tary of the Associated Charities, he was in resi- dence successively at Northwestern University 10 THE COMMONS Settlement, Helen Heath House and Hull House. When the City Homes Association instituted its investigation of the serious housing problem in Chicago, Mr. Hunter became chairman of its com- mittee in charge of this difficult and heavy task, and furnished the text of its notable report of ' ' Tenement Conditions in Chicago ' ' (to be se- cured of A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago), which has won deservedly wide recognition as an orig- inal and scientific contribution to the literature of the subject. Since the completion of this expert work his continued relation to the Central Bureau of Associated Charities has allowed him not only to render valuable service as a member _ of the Special Parks Commission of the City of Chi- cago, and also on the School Extension Com- mittee, but to assume the superintendeney of the recently established Municipal Lodging House. His travel abroad and temporary residence at Toynbee Hall round out his training for the exacting duties which he is invited to assume in New York. We who know him best regard his intelligence, versatility and accuracy very excep- tional in a man of twenty-seven years of age, and find our only consolation over the loss his with- drawal costs our local work, in the fact that New York has at hand a larger opportunity to serve the common cause than Chicago is at the present ready to offer him. Mr. Keynolds may, with freer mind, give himself to serve Mayor Low's adminis- tration, now that the work of the University Set- tlement, which owes so much more to him than to anyone else, is assured such capable leadership. The (iodman Guild House, Columbns, Ohio. The Italian neighbors, who are reported "in the past to be slow to accept the hospitality of the House are now seen in the kindergarten, sewing-school and mothers' club." The settle- ment co-operates with the public schools in look- ing after truant children. It is not words, but deeds, and not deeds only but self-sacrificing deeds and not only self-sacri- ficing deeds, but the surrender of life itself, that form the turning point in every great advance in history. Adolf Harnack. "Money can never take the place of service, and though here and there it is absolutely neces- sary to have the paid worker, yet normally he is not an adequate substitute for the volunteer." "We have a peculiar right to expect syste- matic effort from men and women of education and leisure. Such people should justify by their work the conditions of society which have ren- dered possible their leisure, their education and their wealth." College Settlements Association. Standing Committee, President: KATHARINE COMAN. Wellesley, Mass. Vicc-Presidcnt : MARY K. SIMKHOVITCH, (Mrs. Vladimir G. Simkhovitch.) 248 East 34th St., New York City. Secretary: MABEL GAIR CURTIS, 829 Boylston St., Boston. Treasurer: ELSIE CLEWS PARSONS, (Mrs Herbert Parsons.) 112 East 35th Street, New York City. Fifth Member: HELEN ANNAN SCRIBNER, (Mrs. Arthur H. Scribner.) 10 West 43d Street, New York City. Denison House. A COLLEGE SETTLEMENT IN BOSTON, BELONGING TO THE COLLEGE SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION. BY CORNELIA WARREN. It was with great joy of heart that Denison House was opened at 93 Tyler street, Boston, in December, 1892. Most of those interested had been active in settlement efforts four years earlier. Then it had seemed wise to plant the first settle- ment in New York City, as the metropolis of the country and the distributing center of immigra- tion, and so the spacious, old-fashioned house at 95 Eivington street, became one scene of their first settlement love. Next, a promising and much needed work already started in Philadelphia was offered to the association, and the settlement now at 433 Christian street became their second. But women in Boston and vicinity were longing for a work near at hand, and late in 1892. took courage and hired a house. They knew indeed that the new association had but little money to give them and as yet they had no head-worker in view, but there were six or seven women who could be trusted, ready to go into residence, and so they went, with the object not so much of start- ing any activities this first year as of becoming acquainted and discovering what things might be best worth doing. Most of them had occupations already in other parts of the city. Vida Scudder, of Smith College, who had been a prime, mover in the New York house, became the first chairman of the Denison House Com- mittee. Katharine Coman, professor at Wellesley College, stood as its sponsor before the public. Emily Balch, of Bryn Mawr, gave several hours a day at the house, without becoming a resident and thus superintended its beginning. Miss Batch has since served for two years as one of the trustees of the Children's Institutions Department of the City of Boston, and is also on the Wellesley faculty. The names of those who went into residence be- tween Dec. 27 and Jan. 23, most of them to stay till June, were Helen Cheever, who later succeeded Miss Balch as trustee for children; Laurette Cate, a director of the Working Girls' Association, Carol Dresser, afterwards head worker at Eliza- THE COMMONS 11 both Peabody House, Maud Mason, who came on a fellowship of the association, Susan W. Pea- body, who has since been a teacher and has been active in a large factory club, and Mrs. I. Gr. Hartwell, the latter as housekeeper. Among the transient visitors that year were women of marked experience in other fields, "instructive visitors" the}' were called. Also residents entered later in the year who were afterwards most devoted. The house was named for Edward Denison, who lived in East London in 1867, and it was hope I to imitate both his spirit of work and his level- headedness. It was a satisfaction to feel that in taking this house, a center of immorality was broken up. Also, it was encouraging to receive af once neighboring attentions, such as buckets of hot water when our boiler refused to work. It must, however, be admitted that one of the hard tasks before the residents was to live down the reputation of philanthropists given them by an over-enthusiastic press. One of them was met by a neighbor, holding her own front door gently but firmly shut behind her as she said: "I don't intend to let you in. I see in the papers that you are ladies from the Back Bay, who mean to elevate people in the slums by per- sonal contact. Now I don't consider my home to be in the slums, and I prefer not to have visits from you." The visitor naturally withdrew, but later in the season had the satisfaction of seeing this same neighbor come down her door-steps to stop her to say: "I hope you will excuse what I said to you last January. 1 feel sure you will, when you remember it was simply because I didn't understand what you came for." And some years later this neighbor refused to move away from the neighborhood, because of three good influences there for her children, a boy's club (not ours) then in active operation, the branch of the puolic libra- ry and Denison House. Indeed, Denison House is not in the slums, and the root idea of settlement work is one whose efficacy need not be confined to a neighborhood of slender means. It should be a new ideal of social possibilities; new, because Christianity is still somewhat startlingly new. In September, 1893, Helena S. Dudley, of Bryn Mawr, became the first head-worker and is still holding the same position, having perhaps the longest record of any one in such work except Miss Addams, of Hull House. Before coming to Boston, she had for a year been in charge of the Philadelphia settlement. Names crowd to one's pen of those who have been her efficient helpers, either officially recognized as such, or giving the same devotion year after year without official recognition. In a way, outside workers are more permanent than residents, as their homes remain the same. One of the encouraging signs of our work is that old friends return continually to per- petuate their influence in classes and clubs, in va- cation school work, in nursing and in the health- ful social activity which, like the life-giving air of spring, fosters goodness and life and suppresses what is bad with a success not to be tabulated '.n reports. It is the failures of life, the crimes, the deaths, that lend themselves to statistics. One of Miss Dudley's marked successes has been the social life. She has made the house a home and a pleasant one for her fellow-workers and a center of pleasure and stimulus for hun- dreds of neighbors and acquaintances. Thursday evening always finds the residents at home, anu at most seasons of the year from sixty to a hundred come in without special invitation. As one neigh- bor who moved to a distance said, "I can't often go now-a-days, but I always know it is going on and that I should be welcome if I could go." And Denison House recognizes in this social work, not merely an element of charm and grace naturally accompanying woman's influence, but a distinct power for good, and that possibly the greatest at its command, second, at least, only to the indi- vidual, personal influence so closely allied with it. When the house was first, opened, one after another of those about it, as they became acquainted, com- plained that they lived lonely lives. Indeed, the complaint became so general as to be almost ludicrous, as, if all were lonely, the remedy seemed to be near at hand. But the hindrances to a bet- ter state of things were very real. Lack of time or of energy after exhausting days for the neces- sary effort to plan social sratherings, lack of space for entertainment, divisions of religion and race, and the sad but often necessary distrust of one's nearest neighbors, especially neeuful where chil- dren had to be protected. A social nucleus whose influence could be trusted, proved the solvent of these difficulties, and in the beautiful green room, of Denison House, of which many are proud be- sides our own household, a moral force has been set free more powerful for good than mere ma- terial disadvantages are for evil, even such as in- sufficient food, poor lodging and hard lines gen- erally. When one studies the scant opportunities open to young people of social intercourse free from dangerous influences, when one finds among those who have become the problems of society, how the wrong start was taken because of a natural and at first innocent love of a good time, when one sees how the weight of toil is lifted, as the older and more careworn look with pleasure on the young people dancing, how the frictions and acerbities of home or shop life melt away in the genialness of human society, how our young men find pleasure in being the main dependence of our residents in these social entertainments, seating. 12 THE COMMONS guests, passing refreshments, and helping put to rights afterwards, when one remembers how much right feeling good manners stand for, one feels that a settlement would be a success were this its only achievement. I have never forgotten a preg- nant remark made to me by a cabman with whom I talked at a ball at Hull House. A large ban- quet for a library had been recently announced in the newspapers and he expressed some disgust. "I suppose," he said, "I ought not to say any- thing against colleges and libraries. They're good enough in their own way. But after all we know a good deal already. What we want now is to be able to use and enjoy what we know, and Hull House shows us how to do that." I shall touch but briefly on the other activities of Denison House. The marked events of our nine years of life are, perhaps, the opening of a work- room for the unemployed in December, 1893, un- der direction of the mayor's committee, when over six thousand dollars were distributed in wages; the starting of a vacation school in the summer of 1894, which has been carried on ever since for six weeks every season, with an attendance usually of over two hundred the city has given us the use of two schoolhouses, and the Associated Chari- ties has raised the necessary money, now the city is starting vacation schools of its own; the organization of the Women Clerks' Benefit Asso- ciation, still in active operation, with a member- ship in good standing of about two hundred; the organization of a highly successful social club of public school teachers in our neighborhood; the addition of a new house to our plant in 1896; the opening of the green room in our new house to the sessions of a city kindergarten, which still con- tinues; two short-lived efforts to start a reading- room for older men, which led, however, to the establishment near us of a branch to the public library; the large increase in our industrial work, leading to the opening of living rooms room for residents in a third house next door to us; and, lastly, our success in securing a municipal gym- nasium in our neighborhood. Through the generosity of a Boston woman our industrial equipment is now more efficient than ever before. Also our oldest boys' club has given us $200 towards our industrial work, the money being earned by dramatic performances. We have ten very popular classes in cooking and two in laundry work, also sloyd-work, a cobbling class, and basket weaving. Our college extension classes number about one hundred and fifty students, and diplomas for attendance are awarded in the spring. In closing, I will speak of the gymnasium. The need of this outlet for the energies of the boys has been felt for a long time, and in 1900 a room next door was fitted up for it. But this was very inadequate and that same year another generous Boston woman gave us outright a piece of land not far away on which stood a wooden chapel. Our first wish was that the city should take it from us and put up a gymnasium. But Mayor Hart, just entering on a rehabilitation of the city finances, said street improvements must come first. So Denison House invited to its aid an auxiliary com- mittee of men, who refitted the chapel as a gym- nasium, and conducted it for several months very successfully. In the spring, however, overtures were made by the city, and Denison House leased the gymnasium to them for a term of years. The first result of this was a closing of the gymnasium, as the city wished to strengthen the floor and to add to the capacity of the bathing facilities. During last summer, however, the spray baths were open to the public, and in the autumn the gymnasium was reopened. It proved at once to be far more successful than under private man- agement. The men's classes filled up at once, and even the young women, who had feared lest the withdrawal of any fee for admission might bring in a rowdy element, found that under the efficient superintendent and teacher the order was excellent, and re-formed their classes. All went merry as a marriage bell till January 4th, when a serious fire broke out, burning through the roof in several places. Though the loss is fully covered by in- surance the apparatus has had to be removed tem- porarily, and matters are at a standstill till it