judge of the juvenile court and members of his staff, the executive of the humane society, the dean of the department of sociology in the university, the field workers in the Juvenile Protective Association, and others engaged in similar work. Child welfare work is covered by specialists, both those attached to the city and county governments and to social agencies. It may be interesting to call attention to the willing cooperation given to the speaking program by public officials, including those attached to the courts, health departments and corrective agencies, and the schools. This cooperation has not only a high educational value, but a moral value as well. In the field of health alone there are catalogued forty-eight speakers and 102 subjects. These cover every phase of public and individual health, from the unborn child to old age. In the list of speakers are included not only the medical, surgical, and sanitary officers of the agencies, public and private, but well-known physicians, dentists, psychologists, experts in mental hygiene, and even an editor of a newspaper, whose topic is "The Public Press and the Public Health." The intense interest of the public in the matter of health will be referred to later in connection with figures which show the relative frequency with which the various classifications are called for by groups. As health standards have a greater influence upon community and individual welfare than any other, the interest manifested in this topic not only is significant, but fortunate. In passing, it is a reasonable assumption that the great amount of educational health propaganda put out by health agencies, by the educational department of the chest, and by the public press is vividly reflected in the preponderant demand for health lectures among the groups reached through this bureau. The public is alive to the importance of health as a basis of prosperity and well-being. The seventh and final classification of the speakers' catalogue is devoted to general topics such as "Cincinnati's Social Resources and Problems," "Labor's Attitude toward Organized Social Service," "Why Negro Migrants Leave Home," etc. There has been a considerable exchange of speakers between sectarian groups. Catholic social workers have spoken to Protestant groups, and Jewish workers to gentile groups; and while the millennium has not yet been reached, there has been a spirit of cooperation which means that in social service, at least, there is a common ground on which all may stand. Referring back to the preparation of the catalogue, work is begun toward the end of the hot summer months and during the low ebb in social service. Speakers are invited to accept appointment to the bureau, and their topics are solicited. These are revised in the bureau when possible. A well-phrased topic has a distinct selling value. However, it is frequently difficult, if not impossible, to phrase a topic in graphic terms. Many speakers are disinclined to use popular words. Arriving at reasonable compromise is one of the chief difficulties in the preparation of a satisfactory catalogue, for a topic stated in stilted or technical language will attract few program chairmen. Much depends upon the character of the lectures which are given. In the language of the day, nearly all speakers "know their stuff," but some are unable to present it to the best advantage. The bureau does not attempt to revise a lecture. What missionary work is done, is done in a friendly and advisory manner. These instances are of infrequent occurrence. The bureau does, however, insist that the speakers tell not only of their own agencies in constructive terms, but that they shall at some point in their lecture stress their relationship to the Community Chest. In its daily routine the bureau makes persistent use of the telephone in calling clubs and organizations and in confirming speaking dates. This supplements a general broadcasting of speakers' catalogue and prospectus in the late summer and early fall. Telephone requests for speakers are confirmed by mail, and suitable assignment cards are sent to the speakers. A monthly report of the work of the bureau is compiled. In the report of the past nine months' operation of the bureau some interesting figures are available. They disclose, for instance, that November and February are the heaviest months, the one just prior to, and the other immediately following, the holiday season. Of the lectures which are of record in the nine months, 179 were given before mothers' clubs, and 25 before women's clubs; 49 were given before church groups; 15 before men's clubs; 29 before school groups; 10 before community centers, and so on. The unclassified lectures numbered 200 in this case, being those for which reports were received with only the attendance mentioned, the group and location being left unstated. The use of church groups offers difficulties, for the reason that church programs usually are crowded and clergymen are somewhat reluctant to extend them. Their mails are always full of circulars and prospectuses which are read casually. It is sometimes incomprehensible to the speaker that social service, which is such an integral part of religious work, should not be more largely represented through lectures. Illustrated lectures, both motion and still, offer an effective means of publicity. Some cities have developed this plan to a considerable extent. In our own case the expense of preparing films has been a deterring factor. Several agencies, such as the Public Health Federation, the Antituberculosis League, and the Americanization Executive Committee, do, however, use illustrated lectures and accept frequent bookings through the bureau. As the plan becomes more and more a permanent institution among clubs and groups a defect develops in the accumulation of complete records of results. This is due to the fact that program chairmen acquire the habit of taking short cuts in selecting speakers, going direct to the latter without clearing through the bureau. Persistent effort is made to pick up these missing records. A reasonable estimate of speaking arrangements made without clearing through the bureau would be 40 per cent of the total. On this basis the nine months' record of our bureau would be 736 lectures, to a total attendance of 29,426 people. This is exclusive of campaign meetings. In the main these represent the groups of smaller givers, running perhaps from $5 to $250. But in the smaller groups are those who, as a rule, come into closest contact with social service and whose need for it is greatest. The five-dollar group is in more intimate contact with the families and individuals who cannot give, but among whom the visiting nurse, the family case worker, the field workers in protective organizations, the agents of the humane society, and so on, are frequent and helpful visitors. The dissemination of knowledge among this group is of the highest importance, for in the increase in the number and amounts of smaller gifts lies the margin of safety in the community chest plan. This increase must of necessity be predicated upon knowledge of the work being done and upon a favorable opinion. In our recent campaign some highly gratifying results were noticeable. There was a very marked increase in the number of new givers in the smaller brackets, and a marked increase in the average gift. Publicity is so intangible in its results that there is no way of assessing the benefits directly accruing from the year-round speakers' bureau. But that the intimate and constant view of the practical job which has been given through these lectures to the various groups has had a material result in developing the new interest and desire to give is reasonably certain. INTERPRETING PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS OF SOCIAL Paul S. Bliss, Publicity Secretary, Council of Social Agencies, In cities where central financing of social agencies has been adopted, interpretation of professional standards of social work has made rapid progress. The reasons are not far to seek. A campaign army of approximately 1 per cent of the population is built up to carry on the annual task of solicitation. This group, composed of citizens of intelligence, unusual aggressiveness, including many of the natural leaders residing or working in almost every city block, building and plant, tends to continue its interest throughout the year. Letting people know what is being done is the first step to interpretation. More people in community fund cities know what is being done in social work than ever before. Why and how follow inevitably. In Minneapolis the campaign workers, approximately 4,000 in a population of 425,000, are instructed to report misunderstandings at campaign time and are requested to do so throughout the year. And they do. When rumors are heard they demand names, places, and dates. They are rapidly learning to assume that the community fund agency concerned is innocent until proved guilty. It used to be the other way around. Misunderstandings that campaign workers report at campaign time and throughout the year are run down by staff members of the central office in cooperation with the agencies. In straightening them out interpretation of professional standards of work of one or more types of agency is almost always involved. The community fund campaigner and the person having the misunderstanding get the how and why. This process is continuous. The second reason of major importance in explaining progress made in interpreting professional standards is found in the necessity which the central office faces of conserving the public generosity, in order that this generosity may not be wasted in needless activities. The best way to do this is to interpret professional standards of social work to the public. Let us examine for a moment the public, to whom social work standards are to be interpreted from the standpoint of the community fund or chest, that is, from the standpoint of someone having to deal with several sets of standards in one community or center. Is it everyone in the city directory? Is it everyone within the city limits? Yes; but just as the military force makes progress by taking the dominating points in the terrain, so there are certain targets which we must concentrate upon in interpreting social work standards. In a city like Minneapolis this definite target consists of about 11,000 persons. Through them and through the persons they reach and influence most of the results must come. Little or no progress can be made unless this group makes progress. This group is composed of the following: first, those giving $25 and up to the Community Fund; second, those who, regardless of amount of subscription, work in the community fund campaigns; third, the newspaper personnel; fourth, a composite group made up of school teachers and principals, city officials, social workers and board members of social agencies, policemen, and clergymen. How do we reach this major group which, without duplication, totals approximately 11,000? Largely through publicity. What do we mean by publicity? Publicity is the presentation of a message. By what means? By means of the three "L's": liaison, literature, lips. I shall first show these forces in their positive aspect. The liaison officer was a development of the world-war. His job was to effect cooperation. The supporting artillery "seven miles behind" sent a lieutenant to be with the staff of the infantry colonel. This lieutenant knew what the artillery could or could not do, and also what it should not do. When the commander of the infantry wanted the artillery units to act he theoretically addressed the artillery commander. In practice, he summoned the liaison officer, who was right at hand, and told him what he wanted done. The liaison officer transmitted this information at once to the proper sources, using artillery language. Quick, accurate, and coordinated action was the result. I think the liaison officer won the war. He made rapid cooperation possible, and kept out the destructive element, friction. The public has need of someone to take the part of the liaison officer in its dealings with the social agencies. The council of social agencies office, or the community fund office is that liaison center; its staff members the liaison agents. The public makes use of this liaison center because it can remember one name and one location, whereas it cannot, and will not, remember all of the sixty-four. The name "Community Fund" is easily found in the telephone book. The longer and more involved names of some of the agencies are often hard to remember and hard to look up. The five precincts of the police department in Minneapolis coincide very nearly with the district boundaries of the Family Welfare Association. With what an exclamation of surprise one of the precinct captains greeted me when I showed him the Family Welfare Association map: "Why, this district is just like mine, except that I've got one more street on the east," he said. He was concerned with that most pitiful of all families, the poor family located in a wellto-do district. Such a family would attract no attention in a poorer section, but in a "good" district the contrast is so great that the family becomes an object of pity to its kind-hearted neighbors. This particular family had been depending upon pity for some time. The policeman on the beat had become a social worker. He often entered the house to check up on the larder, and reported that the Family Welfare Association was not providing enough food. The precinct captain, in turn, so informed a newspaper man, who promptly called the Community Fund office on the telephone. Little did the precinct captain know that Mrs. L was quite capable of hiding supplies which one neighbor after another gave her, in order that the larder might be temptingly low. The father disappeared each year to work in the woods. This appealed to his adventurous spirit. He earned less than he could earn in Minneapolis, but he could spend more on himself and he found that somehow the family got along. It was apparent that the solution depended upon the cooperation of the precinct captain. He was taken in person to the district office of the Family Welfare Association. Once inside this office, which he had never entered before, his entire attitude changed. A policeman, more than anyone else, is impressed by organization. The records themselves impressed him, and when the secretary showed him in one bundle the case histories covering 231 families in his own precinct and explained that only one case had "caused trouble," his desire for cooperation knew no bounds. It was then not a difficult matter to interpret to him the professional standards of the Family Welfare Association. When the secretary told him that real help consists, not in continually supplying food, but in helping a family to independence and self-support so that it could buy its own food, he agreed. When she said that this could not be accomplished while the neighbors and the policeman on the beat were constantly interfering with the family his face lit up with comprehension. When she asked him: "If you found that your family would be cared for without your effort, would you strive as hard as before?" He smiled and shook his head. It is gratifying to be able to report that following a conference of all the neighbors who had been trying without cooperation to help the family, a committee was formed. This committee itself de |