The field of investigation plainly defines itself as: first, to know the number and character of the persons that remained dependent after the fifteen months of conscientious rehabilitation work, and to compare them in regard to number and character with the lesser number of persons that for two years before the disaster were under the care of the Associated Charities; second, to learn what methods of relief were used to render these persons once more effective members of the community; and third, to measure in some degree the efficiency of these methods.
The primary purpose of this study was to learn as far as possible the psychological effects of the disaster by studying a group of refugees who continued to draw on the relief funds after the general public had fallen out of the bread line. It has been impossible, however, to hold strictly to the purpose, because the Associated Charities,[225] in resuming its normal place in the community, aimed rightly to administer to the needs of the city’s poor whether or not the individual applicant could show a relation between his necessity and the disaster. From the point of view of the Associated Charities, all persons applying for aid from June, 1907, to June, 1909, had an equal claim on its funds. Its power of realizing this aim of impartially meeting the needs of the applicants has been limited by the fact that as a society it was known by the public at large, as well as by the direct and indirect sufferers from the disaster, by their relatives, and by their friends, to be acting as the financial agent of a corporation that continued to have large sums of money to disburse.
[225] Before and since the disaster the Associated Charities has been, except for the work done by the Hebrew Board of Relief, the accepted general relief society. It has had, throughout, the active co-operation of the Catholics.
2. NATURE OF THE DEPENDENCY
The interest in the relief administration centers in the desire to know to what extent it altered the poverty situation of the city. The presumption is, of course, that the work of the Associated Charities and kindred agencies was greatly increased by the disaster, but it is important to get a specific idea of the increase for the two selected years, and to determine what proportion is a distinct result of the social upheaval brought by the earthquake and fire of 1906.
To answer this question required a knowledge of the work of the Associated Charities for the two years before the fire as exact as for the two years under consideration.[226] By one of the most notable incidents of the great fire, the building containing the records of the Associated Charities escaped the flames. These records, no previous study of whose facts had been made, were therefore available. The stories of the applicants to the Associated Charities for the two years preceding April 18, 1906, have been analyzed, and in order that comparison might be possible, a similar study of records has been made of the post-disaster cases.
[226] At the time of the fire the Associated Charities had been in existence for over seventeen years. Its original aim had been to confine its work to organizing charity; but as there was no general relief society in existence it was called on more and more to do relief work. By 1905 the society had a list of 900 subscribers; an annual income of not more than $5,000; a staff consisting of a general secretary, two or three paid investigators, and a stenographer on part time. In addition to these, the office had the exclusive use of two district nurses supported by special funds. With a staff and an income so limited it was possible to give little beyond emergency aid to needy families in their homes. The problem of homeless men was not touched. The initial steps had been taken looking to co-operation with other philanthropic agencies along several lines. In conjunction with the Merchants’ Association, a charities endorsement committee had been formed; a children’s agency had been established, and a department of legislation and law organized to originate needed social legislation and to give free legal aid to applicants. For a résumé of the development of the work of the society after the disaster, see [Part V], [pp. 317]-[318].
As the means to aid during the two years from June, 1907, to June, 1909, were drawn almost exclusively from the Corporation and the Board of Trustees of Relief and Red Cross Funds, a statement of the work of the Associated Charities is practically a survey of the further use made of the disaster relief funds.
The Associated Charities, as an independent agent, reopened its doors to applicants on June 17, 1907; but since it had assumed the responsibility before the complete transfer of duties was effected, data are here given for the period beginning June 1. From June 1, 1907, until June 1, 1909, 6,766 applications were made to it in the following order:
| June 1, 1907, to December 31, 1907 | 2,547 |
| January 1, 1908, to December 31, 1908 | 3,154 |
| January 1, 1909, to June 1, 1909 | 1,065 |
| Total | 6,766 |