FOOTNOTES:
[2] "Social Relief Work of the Salvation Army in the U. S.," p. 5.
[3] "Life of William Booth," p. 57.
[4] "Social Relief Work of the S. A. in the U. S."
[5] "Sesame and Lillies," p. 101. Cf. also "The New Movement in Charity," Am. Jour. Soc. III, p. 596.
[6] "In Darkest England," pp. 85-87.
[7] Ibid., preface.
[8] Ibid., p. 15.
[9] "Social Diseases and Worse Remedies."
[10] "The committee of 1902 which inquired into certain aspects of the Darkest England Scheme two years after its initiation, were careful to state that they did not enter upon any consideration of the many economic questions affecting the maintenance of the system sought to be carried out." (The Salvation Army and the Public, p. 121.)
[11] "London Daily Telegraph," July 6, 1904.
[12] In fifteen years, from 1890 to 1905, the social work grew from a few small scattered institutions, to 687 institutions, many of which alone would have greater accommodation than the total in 1890.
[13] See "The S. A. and the Public," ch. 3.
CHAPTER I.
The Salvation Army Industrial Department.
Originally the work now known as the Industrial Work was handled with and under the same management as the Social Work, but as the movement grew, the Industrial Work branched out and finally became separate in operation and management, the name "Social Department" being retained for the hotel work only.
The Industrial Department itself may be divided into three sections, all under the same management. These are The Industrial Home, The Industrial Store and The Industrial Colony. The object of the work embraced in these three divisions as stated in the prospectus sent out by the Army two years ago is:
"One of the most difficult problems that has confronted the Salvation Army has been the finding of employment for out-of-works and human derelicts in our cities. A system has been gradually organized by which this human waste is employed in collecting the material waste of the city. This latter has been sorted, sifted and sold, and temporary employment thus afforded to thousands of stranded persons, who have thus been tided over periods of distress, relieved of immediate suffering, saved from the stigma of paupers, assured of human sympathy, and given a new start in life."[14]
After a careful review of the various divisions of this work, above mentioned, we shall consider whether the object is being attained, and of what value the work done is to society.
In the formation of the Industrial Home the ideal building and situation cannot always be secured; hence there are differences in the planning and disposition of the different homes. The general plan, however, is to have a three or four-story building fitted up as follows: On the ground floor is a space where the wagons filled with waste materials can unload, a large room where furniture can be repaired and stored (unless this is done in the basement below), an office, and another large room to be used for a retail store. On the second floor is the sorting room, and adjoining or connected with it is the baling room, where such stuff as paper, rags and excelsior is pressed, ready to be taken away. On this floor, too, is to be found the kitchen, the dining room and the reading room. On the third floor are situated the dormitories and sleeping rooms. This plan is often varied. Sometimes there is a basement and only one or two stories above. Sometimes, as in the Forty-eighth Street home in New York, there are six or seven stories, and sometimes, as in one home in Chicago, the sleeping and living quarters of the men are entirely separate from the warehouse where they work, possibly some blocks away. The kitchen is nearly always found to be large and furnished with a good range and other facilities. The dining room contains long, plain tables, set so that the men can sit on both sides. The dishes are of thick, strong ware. The food is plain but good. Everything from the floor to the dishes is usually clean.
The sleeping rooms are of two kinds, individual rooms and dormitories. Those men who are of a better rank, that is, those who have been working long, or who are doing a higher grade of work, and those who have "boss" positions, occupy the separate rooms; while the general class of workers sleep in the dormitories. When it comes to the question of pure air, considerable difficulty arises. Some of the separate rooms have no outside window, though the partitions between the rooms rise only to a certain height, thus giving common air to the whole floor. Even where good ventilation facilities exist, it seems difficult to make the men keep the windows open. As regards ventilation, however, the industrial homes are, as a rule, better than the lower class workingman's hotels, and are improving in this respect. The beds are iron, single beds. The bed clothing and the rooms themselves are clean and fumigated regularly.
A reading room is also provided where daily papers and popular magazines are kept, and where the men may write. In some cases, a smoking room adjoins. Meetings of a devotional character, to which the men may come or not as they see fit, are often held in the reading room.
The support that renders the industrial home possible is the waste product of the city. This material is rubbish of all kinds imaginable. In connection with each industrial plant are kept a number of horses and wagons, mostly one-horse wagons. Each driver of a wagon has a definite route to cover regularly. Passing over his route, he collects everything of which people are glad to be rid. Waste paper, old clothes, old furniture, and the like, are the principal articles he collects. Many good people, persuaded of the good work the Army is doing, save up their store of odds and ends until the Army wagon shall call, often giving things away which they would not have thrown away or given any one else, unless it would be to sell them to an old-clothes man. The driver returns with his load to the warehouse. From his wagon the material is conveyed by means of an elevator to the sorting room in the second story, whence the greater quantity goes at once to the baling machine in the form of waste paper. Any articles that may be of use, such as shoes, clothing of any kind, books, crockery-ware, bottles, pots, kettles, etc., are placed in their respective bins and finally, repaired, find their way to the retail store. Heavy articles, such as stoves and furniture, do not go up in the elevator, but are retained on the first floor, where they go, first to the repairing and storage room, and then out to the stores. The paper and rags, when baled, are sold to the nearest paper mill for a good price. Some idea of the amount of this class of material may be gained from the fact that the average amount of paper sold by the Industrial Department in the United States is about 2,500 tons per month.
In England and other countries this work has not assumed such large proportions, but there is some difference between the workings of the industrial plant in the City of London and in New York. For instance, at the Salvation Army plant on Hanbury Street, Whitechapel, London, we found, in 1906, a planing mill, a paint and furniture shop, a mattress factory, and a sawmill and cabinet shop. This place had employment for ninety men, of whom twelve were regularly employed and the remainder were transients. The regular employees were paid at a union rate of wages. The men of this industrial plant lived some distance away on Quaker Street, having possession of part of the Salvation Army shelter or hotel there, the total accommodation of which was two hundred and forty. Again, in a different part of the city, over near Deptford, was a wood yard with good machinery, run by electricity, which employed anywhere from sixty to seventy men making kindling wood. On the other hand, at the "Spa Road Elevator," was a plant almost identical with the industrial plants in the United States, where were shipped out an average of 100 pounds of paper every week and several tons of rags in addition, and where was accommodation for some two hundred men.
Branching out from the main industrial plant are nearly always to be found large stores. These are Salvation Army retail stores. These stores are found in the poorest sections of the city, and are patronized by the poorest class. Articles of all descriptions may be purchased here at a very low figure. In each store is a furniture department; a clothing department for men, women and children; a toy department; a department for stoves, pots, etc., and sometimes other departments varying with the size of the store. It is possible, thus, for a poor family moving into the neighborhood to completely furnish themselves and their home from Salvation Army stores at a cost of often less than one-half of what they would pay elsewhere. Each store has a definite connection with the central industrial plant, from which it receives its supplies, its workers and its government, for the stores are merely branches of the central work, and all are under the same general management.
An interesting feature lies in an examination of the labor which is employed. From the cases given at the end of the chapter, it will be seen that it consists of all kinds, classes and nationalities, who, through their own recklessness, or by unfortunate circumstances, have fallen into want. A man willing to work comes to the Army in want of food and shelter, and the Army happens to have accommodation for him. He may go to one of the men's hotels or to the industrial home, or to the central agency of the Army. In any case he will probably be interviewed by an officer specially detailed for the purpose, who will be able to decide in short time what his needs are, and what can be done for him. He may be sent out at once to take some position secured through the employment bureau; he may be sent to the hotel with the understanding that, after being fed and cared for, he will be given an opportunity to pay for it in work; or he may be sent straight to the industrial home. In any case, if possible, he is put to work. He may be in a weak condition physically or mentally, or both, but even then, he can often do something; such, for example, as picking over paper and rags in the sorting room. Meanwhile, he is being fed and housed. If he means well and works earnestly, he is soon able to do some other grade of work. He may have had technical knowledge which will help him. In a few days, possibly, a call is made to the employment bureau, which is maintained in conjunction with each home or group of homes, for a man to fill some position. If suitable, this man may be sent out to take it. On the other hand, he may be retained in the home and employed permanently as a driver on one of the wagons, or as overseer and instructor in one of the rooms, or he may be sent out as assistant to one of the stores, and, in time, he may be given charge of a store. When the men first come to the home, they receive board and clothing and some remuneration, although very slight. If they continue to work at the home, they are paid wages ranging from $1.00 per week up to $4.00 or $5.00 per week, besides board and lodging in the United States, and from 1s. to 9s. in England.
When a man is able, but is lazy and not willing to work, he is turned out. It is well known to those who have studied the question, that there are a large number of such men, but this class does not apply for help as often as it might to the Army, as it soon learns the uselessness of so doing. The officers become quite adept in seeing these men in their true colors. On the other hand, if a man drops into bad habits and goes off on a spree after he has been helped, he will be taken in again afterwards, and this is continued within reason. Much of the labor employed is a surface and floating population, the result of season and periodic work in connection with so many of our industries, and the men are just tided over a hard time in their experiences. This class is larger sometimes than at others, but is always in evidence. Another class, however, consists of the men who have fallen through their own recklessness and bad habits. Some of these men are sent out to positions which they fill creditably, and finally rise as high or higher than they were before. Naturally, the Army makes as much as possible out of these cases for the purpose of advertisement. Owing to evident difficulties, it is impossible to ascertain just what percentage there is of this class among the total number helped, or what percentage of this class itself is successfully aided. The industrial work itself, as a paying business, is developing so fast that a constantly increasing number of men are permanently retained and used as regular employees, being paid regular wages.
When we come to the industrial colony, we find it entirely different from the farm colony, where families are sent to settle upon the land in tracts of say twenty acres per family. The industrial colony is managed like a large farm with many laborers, all under one central head. The original idea was to graduate men from the city plants to the industrial colonies and thence to the farm colonies, but the Army has had difficulty in maintaining its colonies at all, and, as a result, no regular system has been followed. A large proportion of the men on the industrial colony are single, whereas, as will be seen, families are needed for the farm colonies. Again, many of these men are not the kind who will succeed on the farm colony. Sometimes, too, they have not been through the city plant, and sometimes they are men sent directly from the city to get them out of temptations which are too strong for them.
The best example of an industrial colony is the one at Hadleigh, about thirty miles from London, England. This colony has an area of about 3,000 acres. One thousand acres is almost useless now; and when taken by the Army in 1890, the whole consisted of almost worthless land, some of which, as a result of constant labor and fertilization, has been transformed into reasonably good land. A great draw-back and a great expense has been the lack of water, now partially supplied by two artesian wells, the cheaper of which cost over $20,000.00.[15] The population varies from 300 to 700.[16] In 1898, 775 men were admitted to the colony. Out of this number, 193 left after a short residence before they could be influenced for good; 47 were discharged as incorrigible, and 309 graduated, obtaining situations or being restored to their friends.[17] There are three classes received at the colony:
1. Those sent by the Army agencies.
2. Those sent by poor law authorities who pay from 5s. to 10s. per week for periods of from three to twelve months for their maintenance.
3. Special cases sent by philanthropic societies, or by relatives or others.[18]
Another division is made into four classes, thus:
1. Those coming and passing off in a month, not being regular colonists.
2. Those averaging nine months on the colony, and called colonists.
3. Picked men from the second class, who are made employees.
4. Employees hired in the neighborhood for specific purposes.[19]
The proportion of each, according to either specification, is such a variable quantity that nothing can be determined satisfactorily. According to one officer's statement, about one in every five is considered an employee.[20] In the winter of 1903-4, 209 men were sent to Hadleigh and supported there by a special fund, called "The Mansion House Fund for the Relief of the London Unemployed."[21] Out of the class sent by the Army agencies to the colony, a certain number are sent out as emigrants to Canada. For instance, in 1905, 41 were sent out, and in 1906, 58. The party of 58 was composed of five Irishmen, one Welshman, three Scotchmen, and forty-nine Englishmen. These men go to work on different farms in Canada, and some sent out in previous years now have homesteads there. In the colony there are five departments, viz.: the market garden, the brick-making department, the dairy department together with the piggery, the poultry department, and the Inebriate's Home. There is also a store which has an income of $1,000.00 a month. The market garden is one of the best industries, most of the produce being sold in the town of Southend, four miles distant. In the busy season, as many as 100 workers are found in this department. There are four large conservatories, especially for tomatoes and flowers. A good many potatoes are raised, and there is a good deal of land in berries and orchard. There are three brick-yards with the latest improved kilns and machinery. These yards have been a very heavy expense and have not been satisfactory. For instance, in 1898, the year's sale of bricks amounted to £4717, while the expenditure of this department was £5563, this latter sum including the expense of repairing the drying fields, which that year were injured by a flood.[22] In the dairy department about twenty-five head of cattle provide the colony with milk and butter, while sometimes milk is sold at Southend. In the piggery the number of hogs runs from 200 to 500. The poultry department is given over to prize poultry breeding and has been successful in winning some noted prizes. The Inebriate's Home is licensed for twenty male inebriates who are charged from 25s. to 30s. per week. Between 60% and 70% are stated to be reclaimed after an average period of eight months' treatment. In addition to these departments it might be noted that there is a school on the colony with an attendance of 100, some of whom come from outside the colony, and a good sized hall, seating about 400, where gatherings are held for social and religious purposes.
For the feeding and lodging of the colonists, large preparations are made. They are graded according to their position in the colony, and an opportunity is given them to rise from the lower to the higher grades. The superintendent stated that this plan was found useful in stimulating ambition. There are two dormitories, both clean and well-kept, but the higher grade with better bedding and surroundings than the lower. This grading system is also maintained in the dining room, the higher grade of colonists being served with better food than the lower. Everything around the buildings is well-kept and orderly, and the general moral atmosphere of the colony seems to be healthful and up-lifting.
The industrial colony at Ft. Herrick, near Cleveland, Ohio, differs in many ways from the one at Hadleigh, and doubtless has been instrumental in aiding a good number of outcast and fallen men, but it has been such a burden financially, and such an unsolved problem in many ways, that it may be considered a failure. The reason for its failure is not so much bad management as lack of foresight on the part of those choosing the site. The site is in no sense suitable for a colony, the soil being unfit for intensive farming. Probably the best work done there has been the reformation of drunkards, a work in which, according to reports, the colony has been eminently successful.[23]
Coming now to the management of the Industrial Department in the United States, we find that it is an up-to-date business enterprise. The department is controlled by a corporation called "The Salvation Army Industrial Homes Co." already referred to in our [introduction].[24] The management of the company is in the hands of the Army.[25] Under this central authority, we find the United States divided into three districts; the eastern district, with headquarters at New York; the central district with headquarters at Cleveland, and the western district with headquarters at Chicago. Each one of these districts has at its head a social secretary, and under him are the different officers in charge of the respective plants. Generally speaking, each local officer is supreme in his individual plant. He can adopt methods and means to suit the environment of his district, provided always that his methods mean success. There are no iron-clad rules to hold him in check beyond a system of bookkeeping and of making out detailed reports, which must be sent to headquarters. When about to engage in some new venture, however, such as securing a new location for his plant, opening up a store, or renting or purchasing new property, he must refer the project to his superior officer, before undertaking it. The local officer in charge has trusted employees under him, such as a warehouse boss, a kitchen boss, and stable boss, etc., each of whom is responsible to the officer for his department.
Although present to some extent in other countries the special field of the industrial work is the United States. The growth in this country during the recent years has been great. In 1896 there were no regular industrial homes; in 1904 there were 49 industrial institutions, and in control of these 49 institutions, there were 70 Army officers and 820 regular employees. The accommodation was about 1,100. During one month there were 225 cases that were considered unsatisfactory. There were 239 horses and wagons in daily use. About 1,000 tons of paper were baled and sold per month. Contrast this with the year 1907. In this year there were 84 officers engaged in these institutions and over 1,200 regular employees. There was accommodation for 1,651 men. The unsatisfactory cases for the year amounted to 1,389. There were 460 horses and wagons in daily use. An average of 2,500 tons of paper was sold each month. 16,875 men were placed in outside positions during the year. No large city in the United States is without this industrial work, and it is to be expected that, within a few years, there will be no city in the country with a population of 100,000 that does not have an industrial home, and that many cities with a smaller population will have one also. Already there are several cities with a population of less than 50,000 that have promising industrial plants. In London, the growth has not been so rapid, and the industrial institutions are run at a loss to the Army, but there are about eight industrial plants in that city, and others are to be found in other large cities of England.
We come now to the question of the value of the Salvation Army industrial work to society. From the preceding brief outline of the methods, material, labor, management and extent of the industrial work, it will be seen that it is a movement, unrestricted in scope, with an unlimited field of development as an economic enterprise. In certain fields where the Army is active, its work is considered of little or no value; but as a result of our investigation into this particular field, the conclusion is reached that, with the exception of the industrial colonies, it is a practical, social work, of value to society.
We make an exception of the industrial colonies because we do not consider that the two experiments already tried by the Army justify their own continuance or the starting of other similar colonies. The reference here is to Fort Herrick in Ohio, and the Hadleigh Colony, near London. These colonies have necessitated a continual sinking of funds contributed by the charitable public, and the return does not justify their expense. The Army should realize this, and admit the fact, instead of drawing wool over the eyes of the ignorant public by the constant reiteration of "the great work done at Hadleigh and Fort Herrick." It looks as though the organization was afraid that the infallibility and sanctity of General Booth's pet scheme would be seriously impaired, if the public should discover that any part of that scheme was a mistake and an unfortunate experiment, and that, for this reason, it has continued to expend much money on it, which might have been turned to better advantage in connection with other parts of General Booth's plan. These colonies are object lessons showing what is unwise to attempt, rather than what can be done. The Army has no need to be ashamed of having made a mistake, and its usefulness along other lines is sufficient to maintain its reputation in spite of the failure of its industrial colonies. There is no need of the industrial colony anyway. The object in view is either to tide workless men over a period of hard times and misfortune, or to restore manhood where evil habits and recklessness have destroyed it, and this can be done and is being done by means of the city industrial work without the aid of the colony. As regards the work of reforming the inebriate, in which the industrial colonies have had some success, that could be carried on without the great expense of a regular colony.
The moral field of the city industrial work derives support from the relation of its management to the spiritual work and influence of the Army. The influence and spirit of the whole organization runs to a certain extent through every branch of its varied developments. This influence cannot be described by comparative means. The spirit, somewhat unique in itself, runs through everything, a spirit which is a mixture and blending of love, gratitude, service and patience. While we think that, in the tendency of this branch to become a business enterprise, there is a considerable decrease in the influence just described, it still has great power. The officers and employees now engaged in this work were themselves not long since outcasts in society. Many of them had despaired of ever making a success of life and were simply drifting. But a helping hand had been stretched out to them, hope had been imparted and new ideals had been placed before them. They might even yet be men, wear decent clothes, stand up straight and look their fellow men in the eye! What wonder that the decent clothes to which they looked forward turned out to be the uniform of the organization which had picked them up from the gutter! What wonder they felt an eternal debt of gratitude toward that organization! While this is not a true expression of their attitude in every case, and while there are some who hold their positions simply because they can get no better, loyalty to the work exists in enough instances to create a distinct moral atmosphere. The men wish to make a success of their new work; they wish to see the Army advance, and to do this they feel that it is essential that the same moral influence which enabled them to become men should be continued. This influence moves almost unconsciously among the industrial plants. For instance, we do not find here the tendency to obscenity which we find in any ordinary factory or workshop. Environment in these plants is all-powerful as an uplifting condition. Cleanliness is encouraged in the dormitory and kitchen. Respectful attention is paid at meals while grace is being said. The reading room is frequented, while the occasional meetings held are sometimes well attended and sometimes not, according to the attraction. The emotional religious element is a great deal in evidence, though not so much as in other departments of the Army. In any case, the element of hope and ambition, which often arises within these social outcasts, making them men once more, is to be considered a great moral asset. The moral influence is due more to the personality of those in charge than to anything else. A large number of the managers have served in connection with the Army's spiritual work and have the desire, as they would tell you, to see every man under them "saved," not only in a moral and social sense, but "saved" in accordance with the Army's special significance of that term.[26] While the Army's special idea of salvation may have no value in itself, still if the emotional element assists in the moral and social salvation of individuals, we have no reason for not tolerating it unless it has evil effects of real importance. Such effects, however, tend to decrease, as the movement advances, and the education and enlightenment of the masses increase.
From an economic point of view, we believe that the work of the Industrial Department has been successful. We have seen that large numbers of men, who are out of work, are taken in by this department and kept for a number of weeks or months, and that, during this time, besides making their own support, and gaining in efficiency, in many cases, they are able to return to a more important part in production. Let us see what this means. While these men are out of work, they are not producing anything. They are idle, and thus a loss to the community. In addition, they are fast losing any potential ability for production, which they have had. But they now become producers, a gain to the community, and their potential ability for production is at least conserved if not increased. Secondly, out-of-work men are a burden on the community. While they continue to live without employment, they must be supported in some way or other by private or public charity, and they form a great item of expense to the community. But in the hands of the Industrial Department, they cease being an expense to the public and become to some extent a gain. Thirdly, some of these men are in danger of becoming members of pseudo-social and anti-social classes; it is from them that the pauper and criminal classes gain recruits. But through the elevating environment of this branch of the Army's work, their character is affected, and they are raised to a higher level. In this way then, in successful cases, the worthless men become workmen. Worthless men are changed into economic assets. The dependents become independent. Working by means of the laws of environment and association, the Army elevates the degenerate from a pseudo-social and anti-social class to a higher level and to social position. Where individuality was lost, independence of character reasserts itself.
Let us consider in detail some of the advantages connected with this form of practical philanthropy. One advantage is, that once started, the work continues and increases without further expenditure on the part of the charitably disposed public beyond the giving away of things for which they have no further use. This is so because the Army here in its work becomes an efficient producer and creates articles which have market value. Leaving all charity alone, the work is paying and more than self-supporting, and thus in a short time will be reimbursed with all the money which was necessary to initiate it. In nearly every city in which the work was started, rented property soon gives place to property owned by the Army and poor ill-suited buildings, to up-to-date structures built for the purpose. An example of this is to be found in the history of the 48th Street Industrial Home in New York City which is briefly described, in the examples given [at the end of this chapter].[27] That the entire work has grown self-supporting in the United States is shown by the fact that last year, 1907, there was a net gain of $21,000, after the interest on the loans and investments had been paid. If a home does not show signs of being successful financially, its location will be changed or it will be discontinued.[28]
Another advantage lies in the fact that men who were socially dependent are made self-supporting. We should place emphasis on the effect on the man himself as well as on the community. We saw how these men were given to understand that they were earning their own livelihood and were not recipients of charity, and how they were encouraged by the receipt of wages, to be increased as their productiveness increased. The relief given is true relief in that the man earns it himself and realizes this fact, and because, along with this realization, comes a return of manhood and independence. Of course if men have lost all manhood and have no desire to be independent, but simply to live as easily as possible on what may be given them, the above is not the result; but few such get into the industrial homes, as they know better and have no wish to work as these men do, and if they get in temporarily, they are soon sorted out. Thus it cannot be said of these homes as is said of many institutions, that they pauperize men in place of helping them. The institution that makes men work for everything they get and provides some sort of channel for their ambition, maintaining itself meanwhile as a paying concern, is not pauperizing in its tendency.
Still another advantage of this work is found in the saving of the community's funds. Of late years, more and more, the principle has been advanced and brought before the public, that the starving and unemployed are to be cared for in some way, and we are willing to tax ourselves to provide for this. As far back as the census of 1890, we find that the United States spent annually $40,000,000 in charities and over $12,000,000 in penal and reformatory institutions. Probably the total expenditure for these two objects to-day would be nearer $60,000,000 annually. What percentage of this $60,000,000 would go to the class of people aided by the Army industrial work would be hard to ascertain or approximate, but there is room for a great extension of this kind of work, and the Army's efforts are most suggestive. In some of the European countries, especially Germany, many helpful experiments along this line are in progress, but conditions in the United States are vastly different. In any case social economists are agreed that vast sums are spent annually in our country to little or no purpose from the point of view of social relief. In the year 1907, 8,696 men were cared for in the United States industrial homes of the Army. This means just that amount of saving to the nation that it would have cost the regular municipal and state charities to have dealt with these 8,696 men, since these men were aided by a self-supporting organization and paid for their own support. This work, then, if carried far enough, would effect quite a saving of taxes.
But along with advantages there may be disadvantages. Some objections have been raised to this branch of the Army's work. For instance, it is stated that industries entered into by the Army tend to hurt economic conditions with regard to both wages and prices.[29] With regard to wages it is urged that the Army will keep for its industries, workers in constraint of one kind or another, paying them a lower wage than the same workers could procure outside, and thus lowering the wages in the respective industries. We do not consider this objection a strong one. Let us forget for the present the philanthropic side of the industrial work, and look on it as a distinctly economic enterprise, as a factor of production. We think it quite likely that a manager, anxious above everything else to make his institution a financial success, would make an endeavor to keep as long as possible, and at as low wages as possible, men who could receive more on the outside. He might even try to retain men for whom he could secure better positions through the employment bureau, if he needed their services, and times were so good that no other applicant offered to take their place, but this he could not succeed in doing to any serious extent; for, in the first place, the restraint exercised over the men is very slight, and secondly, if the men could secure better wages, it would not be long before they found it out and left the home voluntarily. It would be just the same as in any industry in which most of the workers are ignorant. They would remain under low wages just as long as their ignorance and lack of initiative would allow, but sooner or later the relatively able man would seek the best wage. Hence the able man would seek the best wage, and his place would be taken by one, possibly morally and physically unable to procure any wage, or, in other words, belonging to the unemployable class. If it should come to the point of the Army's hiring able men to carry on the work without aiding the outcasts, it must compete in the market for them and pay the market price. The only real danger would lie in the Army's industrial work securing a strong enough position in some industry to be able to dictate terms to labor in an industry, but this is so unlikely as to be almost irrelevant and even in such an almost inconceivable case, the danger would be only temporary. Labor would still be able to drift sufficiently to another agency, not controlled by the Army and thus bring up wages again. This is the more true in that any industry, in which the Army engages, must of necessity be one in which unskilled labor is competent.[30] In addition to this, from personal investigation, we can state that a large part of the labor employed in these plants of the Army is at any rate temporarily inefficient labor and would not have much chance in securing employment elsewhere. Finally, though considered a charitable work, this branch of the army is, as already stated, a corporation, a business enterprise financed by investors who receive interest on their investments; hence, to the same extent that it is a financial enterprise, like other such enterprises, it will be governed by the rate of wages.[31]
Another objection has been raised by critics, to the effect that the Army, through its industry, enters into competition with existing firms and companies to the harm of the latter.[32] For instance they urge that in the case of those engaged in second-hand goods and salvage, who are able to make a profit by buying their material, the army enters into an unfair competition, when it takes such material, given in charity, and sells at a lower figure. In so far as the army does undersell others this objection is valid, and we have no doubt that in some cases such is the truth. Doubtless some individuals and firms have been hurt in their business by this under-selling. For instance, in Chicago, the Army has nine retail stores situated in the poorer districts, doing a big business in second hand goods. In addition to those goods it sends into the retail trade, it sells hundreds of tons of paper and rags annually. This must have some effect on others engaged in this business. However, the Army itself sometimes pays for its material and does not often undersell.[33] But there is another side to this question of underselling. Naturally the tendency is to get as much as possible for its goods, and provided there is a market, the army would seek to obtain just as much as any one else in the business. It now falls back on a question of supply and demand. The only way in which the price would be lowered by the Salvation Army would be by an increase of supply. Doubtless the supply of these goods is increased by the thorough work of the Army agents, and, to such an extent, its entrance into this field would tend to lower prices. However, in the leading salvage industries of the army, the increase in supply does no more than offset the increase in demand. The amount of displacement of the salvage and allied industries due to the competition of the army at present would not seem to be much, although of course it is difficult to get any exact figures along this line.
Looking at the Salvation Army retail store as a form of relief, another question arises as to whether the opportunity given to the residents of the district to get things at the Salvation Army's store cheaper than elsewhere interferes with the standard of living. By the standard of living we mean the scale or measure of comfort and satisfaction which a person or a community of persons regards as indispensable to happiness.[34] This would differ in the case of different persons and classes and communities, but progress demands that the standard should never be lowered, but should always be raised, in accord with increasing enlightenment and education.
"It is only," says Dr. Devine, "when individuals or individual families for personal or exceptional or temporary reasons fall below the standard, that charitable assistance can effectively intervene. In other words, as has been pointed out in other connections, the relieving policy cannot be made to raise the general standard of living, but it should be so established as not to depress it"[35].
Here, then, the point is, whether those who are otherwise able to come up to the standard of living in a given community take advantage of this form of charity, or whether the customers of the Salvation Army's stores are living below that standard. To just the extent that the former is true, this part of the work would be pauperizing and retrogressive, but we do not consider the former to be true. Naturally, we have no statistics on this point, but speaking from general observation, we should say that the customers of these stores are needy poor, who are living below the standard, and hence, the store is a boon to them in aiding them toward a realization of that standard.
Let us now sum up our conclusions regarding the industrial work of the Army. Regarding the industrial colonies, we would say that, while doubtless responsible for good and reformation in certain cases, nevertheless, owing to their cost of maintenance and the fact that the work can be done without them, they are not a practical form of charity deserving the intelligent support of the public. Regarding the city industrial work, including the employment, amid a good environment, of men out of work, including also the turning of much otherwise waste matter into an economic good, and the assistance of deserving poor by means of second-hand stores, we would say that it is commendable and deserving of support. This latter conclusion is made in spite of three objections: first, that there is a tendency to lower wages, which objection we do not consider as important for reasons given; second, that underselling of certain commodities by the Army takes place, which objection we admit to a limited extent, and third, that the standard of living is interfered with, which objection we do not consider valid.