has been wisely committed to such society, visitor, church or friend. V. There must be coöperation in the hard and difficult cases, where many agencies must be brought into consultation and joint action. If' you ask how this can be secured, it becomes my pleasure to say that, in Boston, it has come easily. The relations between the various societies here, before our “Associated Charities" were started, were excellent. Indeed, in most cases it was only necessary to invite coöperation and explain how it could be secured. Nothing convinces any person or society of the value of coöperation so much as seeing the actual results. Here the results speak for themselves. The work of our central office is not to fix the particulars in which coöperation shall be carried on. We simply invite discussion and suggestions, and leave the whole system of particulars to the societies themselves. If we had undertaken to dictate in the least, the result would have been very different. But we have been studious from the start to leave to every society entire independence in carrying out in detail the principles of coöperation in local work and among individual workers and churches. Our work now covers substantially the whole city. We have not been able to secure such perfect coöperation with the churches as, from our point of view, we believe is wise. Churches naturally look at this matter from their point of view. I should claim that we look at it from the point of view of the best good of the whole needy class; the churches for the good of their own poor. We ask the churches to register all the relief they give, and some of them are ready to do so and believe it is wise, especially when they find that these facts are kept private. But many of the churches decline, owing to the sacred relation existing between themselves and their own poor. In these cases we ask them to send their workers to consult the registration in our office, and this they are usually ready to do. The result is a benefit to us as well as to them. is of advantage for them to know from what other sources their poor are drawing relief, and, conversely, it is our interest to know that that church is also aiding such a family. With this degree of coöperation with some of the churches we must be content, I suppose. It We have announced everywhere that the Associated Charities shall be absolutely free from every particle of proselyting influence; but we do not interpret that as meaning that we shall not send a member of a certain church to a church of that denomination for care, and suggest that they should find some visitor for the family. After that the visitor can exercise what influences he pleases. On that system, I believe the Roman Catholics are perfectly content to work with Protestants in Boston. We think it is for the welfare of the children to be connected It has simply take a new derejigment Wing w the work ɗte Awonated Charmes: the mud ve MAT MATE some of these a coquete as excid be desired Let me zame a few. The Fruit and Flower Missine, terenie fran the klady na in the neigborood large quantities cể đowers 2nt of the meager frita, wine are brought in ce the nima is freely. These are gathered at central pots ai in sticted to fix les vierod is the rumors of the Aworsted Chambles. The Die Kiten sie fortistes food to those persons selected by on valur, or the Dispensary porsicans. The Country Week. win a wong wat u erlent work is sening needy children on for onttry air. wrepts the children recommended by the victors of the Aworiated Charities. The Industrial Aid Society, when is a large wxiety fading work and employment, has pot helf ompletely on the basis of cooperation. I have bere a cirear, received last evening, which emphasizes their wish to cooperate. I will read a reviction from the last vote, passed on the 20th July, with reference to it: Revolved. That the Industrial Aid Society invites the cooperation of the Overweers of the poor, and au charitable societies and associations employing vixiture among the poor, to furnish from reports of their visitors the names and reddences of pervona needing employment and each funter information in regard to these persone as the visitors deem desirable. Kesired. That the vote of cooperation with other charitable associations and societies employing visitors among the poor, passed April 20. be communicated to them by the Secretary, and that our agents be requested to give special attention to cases referred from them. The purpose of this is that where the Overseers of the poor find a man who says he is willing to work but cannot find it, or where a boy can find no work, they can be sent to the employment bureau, which will aim to find the man or boy work, so that the Overseers of the poor may compel them to be self-supporting, and stop relief. That promises excellent results. Our society has refrained from the outset to give relief. This turns the attention of the visitor toward the permanent cure of poverty in preference to simply meeting the needs of the day. Our relieving societies therefore found it necessary to cooperate. The Overseers of the poor are always willing to receive requests from our workers, and to give them respectful consideration. The fourteen truant officers, charged with the care of children, are ready to coöperate in every case instantly and cordially to their utmost where anything can be done for poor children. It is specially their duty to keep the streets free from truant children, to care for children maltreated or neglected by their parents, etc. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children also coöperates with us. The Board of Health is always ready to receive our official communications, and where we find tenements unsuitable for homes, is willing to investigate them and act. The police are ready to give us information as to the character of persons, and to help in the care of children, and in the matter of keeping the streets free from mendicants. I must now come to one great point of failure. We have failed utterly to get the police to coöperate in enforcing the liquor laws, and repressing the evils of the traffic. The Advertiser's report today shows that, of 28,000 arrests in this city last year, 17,000 were for drunkenness. The police will arrest the victim, but when we aim to enforce the law against the liquor sellers, the law compelling saloons to be closed on Sundays, and, in my judgment, the most important of all things, that they shall always be closed to children, the police are impotent to help us. Politics, in its powerful but secret way, prevents anything we can do to influence the police to give us desired coöperation. The police are not free to act. They are afraid to intervene, and I am afraid that this is not only so here, but through the world. The police know that if they are too vigilant, it will not conduce to their welfare. I have in my pocket a writing about a man who has had to suffer for attempting to enforce the law faithfully against one of the worst nuisances of the city, where liquor was sold to persons frequenting an adjoining dance-house, by which the little girls of a primary school must pass four times a day. Although this officer lived within three hundred yards of where I stand, he was transferred to a remote suburb simply for his faithfulness. Coöperation has a great work to do in securing the influence of all good citizens, until we can make our police commissioners feel the necessity of more vigorously enforcing the laws against the sale of liquors, and until we can act through them upon the police, and through them upon those that violate the law. One word in closing: Look at this great army of the poor. One of us alone is powerless against it; but if, by coöperation, we can all work together, if every benevolent person would take two or three cases and strive to put them on their feet,-if we could have the feeling that every poor family is allotted to some one who will thus care for them, we can work with inspiration, courage, and hope. It brings us into a compact army. We can succeed in that method, but in no other. UPOS THE CONSTITUTION AND DUTIES OF A DISTRICT BRAD ET XEL JAMES Z. FIELDS. In the government of a State. we consider the question, who stall be its officers, to be one of primal importance: so. in the admin ́stration of charities, in a city district. no rules can be laid down which should for a moment challenge our consideration. compared in significance with the necessity of obtaining the right persons to £l the committees. In the past, the question has Will he do it?” in the future, the query will be. ** Can he do it?" Improvement in methods has, in part, wrought this change, but advance in morality, more than all. demands that the best force the community can afford, shall devote at least a portion of its energy to grappling with the problems presented by the unfortunate of great cities. This unfulfilled labor is the religion of the present and the future. It is the first duty of the Central Board of any organization, and one never to be set aside for matters of secondary importance, that persons of ability be sedulously informed of the need of assistance, and constantly beckoned to the front. Not as figure-heads, nor to lend their names, but to give such time as they can spare, to strict performance of weekly duties; this being far more important to our advance than any gift of money. Without underrating what money can do, we have learned from the past, as well as the present, that if the gifts of sympathy and energy are withheld from the work of the Associated Charities, wealth may be pronounced useless to perform the service. The Conference of a district is composed of three parts: First, the District Committee, to which special reference has been made in considering the need of active intelligence in this service; Second, the representatives of various societies and public or private officers working among the poor of the vicinity; and, Third, the visitors. This body constitutes a Conference. One of the valuable effects of such a body has proved to be that the distinctive gifts of both men and women are required to accomplish the ends proposed. The comparative ease with which we grasp difficulties, in Boston, from this perfectly natural union, is to be remarked. We have no separated committees. We have silently recognized the fact that in this business, because we are dealing with social questions, and those of the family, we have need of each other. We believe in the value of a weekly meeting for each Conference; the Committee to come together one half hour before the moment of the meeting, in order to look over the business to be presented, and to dispose of such cases as need not be brought before the larger company. The agent will have time to ask questions and give advice, and the Committee can thus bring itself into order and harmony, which will serve to expedite the business of the following hour. I will not repeat the order of work as laid down for guiding the administration of a Conference. So far as this business can be reduced to form and put on paper, it has been done, and may be found among the publications of the Associated Charities; and, we feel assured that every District Conference will find it greatly to its advantage to follow the printed plan as closely as possible. The relation between the agent and visitors is one that has been often discussed, but, here, especially, we must beware of rules and of red tape. We have to deal with different agents, and a large variety of visitors. Some excellent agents are far less able to satisfy the needs of the visitors than others. In such cases, there may be special service of another kind, which is remarkably performed, making it wise to supply this gap between visitors and agent in some other way. Again, the agent may be an excellent visitor, but slow to make efficient record of work really well accomplished. It would then devolve upon the Committee to see that this want was remedied. A person of intelligence and unselfishness, devoted to the work, is what is required in an agent. When these qualities are given to the service, incapacity respecting details, in whatever direction, should be voluntarily supplied, if possible, by the Committee. The particulars of office business are already in print. They are carefully stated and are wo:th attention. The relation of churches and religious bodies to organized charity, is less carefully observed and understood than we could wish. Every church has its own poor to be cared for by visitors from its own body; but those visitors have usually no special instruction, and no Committee to which they may turn for advice. Why, then, should they not attend the Conference of the district wherein their poor families reside, unless they are simply cases for a private |