IX—CHARITIES
1. Existing Local Charities—Their history, character, and condition. The poorhouse, free beds in hospitals, distributing agencies. Discussion: What can we do to improve local conditions?
2. Best Methods of Helping the Needy—Peril of indiscriminate giving. Self-respect in the poor. Place of the friendly visitor.
3. New Work—The day nursery, the kitchen garden, the flower-and-fruit committee, home for the aged, free employment bureau, work centers: the laundry and the wood-yard.
4. Organized Charity—Discuss the subject of waste through duplication. Gathering and distributing information. Coöperation between church and other societies.
Books to Consult—E. T. Devine: The Practice of Charity. E. T. Devine: Misery and Its Causes. W. H. Allen: Efficient Democracy.
In cities, one of the most valuable helps in charitable organizations is the constant meeting of the workers at informal gatherings, when the larger aspects of the subject are discussed and the various parts of the work are harmonized. The necessity that all should work sympathetically together should be emphasized in a brief talk after this program.
X—LOCAL AMBITIONS
1. The Town Beautiful—Description of what is being done in cities, and suggestions thus derived: Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis. L'Enfant's plans for Washington, and their history. What Baron Haussmann did for Paris.
2. The Plan of the Town—Is the location of the best? Can the situation be changed in any way for the better? Plan an ideal town on the local site. Value of an outlook for the future.