An instance should be noted of work done satisfactorily with a relief society. Immediately after the calamity the possibility arose that the associations of Jewish Charities in the large cities of the country would send their contributions to San Francisco for the Jewish committee to use as a separate relief fund. Instead, however, of attempting to organize a special relief fund, the Jewish committee, upon earnest request, agreed to do its work through the Rehabilitation Committee. The Jewish committee later was merged into the Hebrew Board of Relief, whose work was most efficiently done. This Board was never officially called an auxiliary society, but from the start it made recommendations directly to the Rehabilitation Committee. Its reports were based upon a real knowledge of families, and in a large majority of cases these recommendations were acted upon directly without a supplementary investigation.
In times of emergency it will doubtless often be expedient to make a similar arrangement. Such separation or division of work is very different from leaving to a group of auxiliary societies the responsibility of making investigations and determining treatment. So far as the San Francisco experience is concerned such delegation may be set down as a failure.
2. REHABILITATION OF INSTITUTIONS
The question of the rehabilitation of institutions was considered at one time and another by the Rehabilitation Committee by request of Mr. Dohrmann, chairman of the Department of Relief and Rehabilitation. Not until December, 1906, however, were any definite steps taken in this field. The responsibility for making grants rested logically upon the chairman of the Department of Relief and Rehabilitation. Early in September Mr. Dohrmann, after consultation with various persons, appointed an advisory committee on charitable institutions which was to make recommendations to him which he in turn would submit for final approval to the Executive Committee of the Corporation. Thirteen persons were chosen to form the committee, with the end in view of giving due representation to every phase of the philanthropic life of the community. In meeting with the new committee Mr. Dohrmann presented a letter of explanation, the salient points of which were:
1. That he as chairman of the Department of Relief and Rehabilitation had power solely to make to the Executive Committee of the Corporation recommendations of grants to institutions.
2. That he wished the advisory committee on charitable institutions to take into account the losses, the wants, and the incomes of the individual societies or institutions and to lay down principles of action before recommending any grants.
3. That he particularly commended to their attention, however, the societies that would be obliged to take up the work of relief when the Corporation itself suspended such work.
4. That the advisory committee should act on the assumption that only $250,000 would be available for its work; though a larger amount might be set aside for rehabilitating institutions when the Corporation received further funds from the Eastern committees.
5. That before the incorporation, grants had been made to a few institutions by direct action of the Finance Committee of Relief and Red Cross Funds.
6. That he would turn over to the advisory committee the information he had received regarding such institutions.