HN 31 . B18 Batten, Samuel Zane, 1859- 1925. Building a community B3ZIS JUDSON TRAINING MANUALS FOR THE SCHOOL OF THE CHURCH EDITED BY W. EDWARD RAFFETY, Ph. D. HENRY EDWARD TRALLE, Th. D. WILLIAM E. CHALMERS, D. D. BUILDING A COMMUNITY By SAMUEL ZANE BATTEN, D. D. Author of The Christian State," " The New Citizenship," " The Social Task of Christianity," etc. PHILADELPHIA THE JUDSON PRESS BOSTON CHICAGO ST. LOUIS LOS ANGELES KANSAS CITY SEATTLE TORONTO COPYRIGHT, I922, BY GILBERT N. BRINK, Secretary Printed in U. S. A. TO THE MEMORY OF MY FRIEND AND COMRADE WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH WHEN HE WAS WITH US THERE WAS NO MAN WHOSE JUDGMENT I PRIZED MORE HIGHLY. NOW THAT HE IS IN THE LAND OF LIGHT I LIKE TO FEEL THAT WE ARE STILL IN SYMPATHETIC ACCORD EDITORS' FOREWORD This volume is one in a series of texts in religious edu- cation known as the Judson Training Manuals for the School of the Church. These manuals are arranged in three groups, namely, general, departmental, and parent-training. The general group includes vital teaching, story-telling, educational evangelism, expression through worship, handwork, com- munity service, appreciation of the Bible, educational leadership, and kindred worth-while themes in the field of religious education. The departmental group covers courses for every department of the school of the church — Cradle Roll, Beginners', Primary, Junior, etc. The parent-training manuals emphasize religion in the home and the necessity of training for the God-given, heaven- blessed privilege of parenthood. It is the aim of these manuals to popularize the as- sured results of the best psychology and pedagogy and to make them the willing and efficient servants of all workers in the school of the church. Both the editors and the writers want these books " to live where the people live " and to be of real value to those forward-looking folk destined to be the leaders in re- ligious education. Editors' Foreword To this end, each course will be ( 1 ) simple in language, (2) accurate in statement, (3) sound in psychology, (4) vital in pedagogy, (5) concrete in treatment, (6) prac- tical in purpose, and (7) spiritual in tone. Dr. Samuel Zane Batten, the author of this volume, " Building a Community," is recognized as one of the outstanding social service specialists of our country and of the world. He has given us an attractively written, comprehensive, constructive treatment of the social duties and principles of the present-day Christian. His book is packed full of vital, practical religion, and points the way to a Christianized, socialized community life that is a "heaven on earth." It is sane, spiritual, and suggestive. It will be welcomed, not only for rapid reading, but for use as a text-book in teacher-training classes, in community schools of religious education, and in Sunday school classes of adults or young people. The Editors. AUTHOR'S FOREWORD In an illuminating article, Josef Hofmann writes on "How Rubinstein Taught Me to Play." He records that the constant charge of the Master was : " Before your ringers touch the keys you must begin the piece mentally ; that is, you must have settled in your mind the tempo, the manner of touch, and above all the attack of the first notes, before your actual playing begins." One hope of the Gospel is that of a City of God on earth. The Master who gave men this hope charged men to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. He expected his people to adjust life on the basis of God's purpose and to set about the work of building a Christian type of human society. Therefore we ought to expect that the city where we live will through the grace of Christ be transformed into a City of God; and we work, and we ought to teach men to work, that this great purpose may be realized. As one approaches this task he is at first appalled by its magnitude and complexity. But the more he studies the task, the more clearly he sees that it is at bottom a problem of human minds and hearts and wills. It is a question of social knowledge and right attitude of soul ; Author s Foreword a willingness to pay the price of progress. There are many people in the churches who have vision and aspira- tion and really want to serve the community. But many do not know what is involved in a single question; they do not know where to begin and how to take hold. Other persons are looking for a task that has some honor but no hard work ; they are reading articles and going to con- ferences, hoping that some day they may be given a plan that is guaranteed to solve all problems and save the world overnight, without any one lifting a burden or carrying a cross. Let me say frankly that I have no such patented panacea to offer; and Jesus himself gave no such panacea. The only way he knew whereby the world was to be saved was by bearing a cross and giving himself in uttermost service. There is no other way under heaven revealed to men than this way of Christ. It is necessary for men to approach this task with some understanding of its meaning and method. They need to know what is implied in the Christian ideal ; they must know what kind of a community they propose to build; they should settle in their minds the spirit of their work, the method of approach, the manner of touch. In other words, as they set about the work of community building they must set about the work of their own mental and spiritual preparation. The City of God must be built within men, in their minds and hearts and wills, before it Author's Foreword can ever be a visible city on earth. That city must be an ideal, a passion, a religion, a cause that claims men's uttermost devotion, before it can be an actuality of streets and homes and people. This little manual is written to meet this need. It is intended to indicate the spirit, the method, the manner in which Christian workers are to approach this task of community building. They need an ideal and model of the city that is to be. They need to understand the social meaning and Kingdom value of the great institutions of life. They need a Christian approach to the problems of community life; they need an attitude of justice and a will to serve. They need to know how to take hold of a social situation and to see what are the forces and factors with which they must work. The book must be judged by the purpose it has in view. It cannot discuss in detail any of the institutions it men- tions or any of the problems it defines. But it does aim to show students how to approach these questions, to suggest some of the causes that lie behind a social situa- tion, and then to give a sense of direction in Christian effort and to indicate some of the next steps in com- munity redemption. The volume of Christian Revelation closes with the vision of the Holy City coming down to earth. Some- time, somewhere, on this earth of ours there will be a city that in the best sense of the term is Christian. To Author s Foreword live and serve that the city where one dwells may be that city, is the essence of religion and the spirit of patriotism. To prepare oneself by study and effort to make the larg- est possible contribution to community building, is there- fore a most laudable and Christian desire. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Ideal City 15 II. The Church 30 III. The Schools 47 IV. The City Government 62 V. Housing and Homes 75 VI. Industrial Relations 90 VII. Play and Recreation 107 VIII. Disease and Health 122 IX. Poverty and Opportunity 139 X. Community Ideals 154 CHAPTER I THE IDEAL CITY Man is by nature a social being. Adapting the words of Aristotle, we may say that he who is unfitted for social life is either above or below the human stage. And the whole process of life has made for social living. View- ing this process in the light of results, we see that from the beginning it has been training men in the art of living together. Many causes have driven men together; the need of combining in order to resist their enemies ; the necessity of cooperation in order to accomplish the task of conquer- ing nature ; the crowding together due to the increase of population. But many things also have drawn men to- gether ; an instinct for fellowship ; a consciousness of kind; the advantages that are found in cooperation. Through all the generations of the past these causes have been at work; they are at work today, and so far as we can see they will continue to work till the end of time. IMPORTANCE OF THE CITY 1. Adapted to Men's Needs Man is becoming a community being, and more and more the one man is becoming dependent upon com- munity life. For an indefinite future a large proportion of the people will live in communities large and small. 15 16 Building a Community It is necessary, therefore, that this community life be made wholesome, healthful, sweet, and moral. Unless this be done there inevitably will follow physical and mural degeneracy. Life is a matter of relationships, and the advance of life is the adjustment of relations. Society is becoming more complex, which means tJiat the relations of men are multiplying and life is becoming more inter-related. It is necessary that the relations of men in modern society be so adjusted as to produce the maximum of security and justice, of happiness and peace, with a minimum of waste and friction, of disease and danger. An important part of the program of the King- dom is included in the work of building a Christian type of community life. In this study we are concerned with the Christian pro- gram in its bearing upon community building. By a community we mean a group of persons living together, having common interests, coming into relations with one another, and united in some form of organization. As such the community includes the common interests of the people, such as churches, schools, stores, transporta- tion; it is a field for all the forces that play in human life, religious, social, political; it includes all of the or- ganization with which men combat vice and crime, dis- ease and misery ; and it covers all the agencies through which the people promote the happiness, health, progress, and well-being of all. The term community, it may be said, is used in a gen- eral sense without any reference to the size of the place or the number of people. The problems of the large city differ somewhat from those of the small town ; the needs are different and the line of approach is somewhat dif- The Ideal City 17 ferent. And yet at bottom communities are much alike in many respects ; there are certain constant and irreduc- ible needs, and these must be met in much the same way. 2. Prominent in Bible One of the oldest stories of the race states that Cain after the murder of his brother " went out from the presence of the Lord " — mark that expression — " and built a city." The race has kept up that tradition quite faithfully ever since. Too often the cities have been built by men of force and greed, and too often they have been ungodly and murderous things, destroy- ing at once the physical and moral life of the people. The time has come for the men of good will to break this tradition and set to work to lay the streets in wisdom and to build the walls in love, that thus the City of God may appear on earth. What must we do to attain this end ? And where shall we begin ? Three things are essential. We need an ideal of a city, a model after which we shall plan our community. We need a program, that we may work in an effective way. We need to have some idea of the agencies and means through which we are to work. The race, according to the Scriptures, began its course in a garden. But the story of the race cul- minates in a city. " I saw a city," says John, " I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven." It is a city into which nothing enters that defiles, that works abomination or makes a lie. In that City men serve God, they see his face, and his name is on their foreheads ; there men reign with Christ forever and ever. In that City men hold B 18 Building a Community fellowship with God, and in that City they live in loving- and brotherly fellowship with one another. In that City no one goes hungry and no one is trodden under foot. In that City there is nothing to hurt or affright men, and the gates of the City need not be shut at all by night. In that City the strength of each is held in trust for the good of all. And the blessings of that City are accessible to the men of all nations and conditions and experiences, for there are three gates on each side of the Holy City. The City of God interprets the purpose of God in our humanity. The Apocalypse is a book of light, and not of darkness. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ and his redeeming power. It is a disclosure in our humanity of the redemptive purpose of God and the result of that redemption in a transformed earth. For this reason the book does not attempt to give us a chronology of history, and to use it that way is to miss its larger meaning. It does, however, indicate the lines along which the purpose of God is moving, with the assurance that his purpose shall be realized. It does not attempt to run a line between what we call the present and the future; least of all does it attempt to run a line between what we call heaven and earth. The Holy City is a double picture ; it is at once the revelation of the redeemed society now on earth, and it is a prophecy of the glory of this people in its eternal home. The vision, however, belongs quite as much to the present as to the future; it indicates the line along which the pur- pose of God is moving ; we see something of the meaning of that purpose here ; but the lines reach on into the future and sweep beyond our sight. The Ideal City 19 The City of God is realised on earth. In these chap- ters John is not giving us a description of heaven, the far- away home of the soul, not primarily at any rate. He is describing a city on earth. The city comes from God, but it is realized among men. Wherever we find a city, on this earth, on some far-off star, it is God's will that it shall be this kind of a city. We may say that the New Jerusalem is like a city built on both sides of a river. But the important thing for us just now is that the City of God comes on this earth. 3. Chief Concern of Christianity The making of a Christian city is the purpose of Chris- tianity. A city is a community of people living close together, having many interests in common, cooperating toward certain ends, and learning how to live together. The city, it is evident, is the people, and not streets and houses. We need to keep the perspective of Scripture and see divine truth in its relations. The purpose of Christ is not individual alone, but social also. He comes to save men that they may become chil- dren in God's family and serve in his Kingdom. He does not save men out of relations, but in relations. The central idea of Christianity is the Kingdom of God ; and this Kingdom in Christ's conception never means any- thing less than a divine human society on earth. It means more than that, for while the Kingdom begins here it does not end here; but it never means anything less than that. We may say that the purpose of God means righteous men in a righteous society. The City of God on earth means nothing less than the realization in our world of a 20 Building a Community divine type of human society. The purpose of Christ in the life of men is not fulfilled when one is rescued from sin and made an heir of life; it is fulfilled only when humanity itself is redeemed in all its parts and har- monious in all its processes with the will of God. THE DIVINE IDEAL . In the visions of John we have God's ideal of a city ; we have a statesman's vision of a city. We grant that the language is highly figurative and symbolic. Yet behind all this drapery of symbol there are some great realities. As we look through these figures the clear out- lines of a city begin to appear. A few of the character- istics of this city may be noted. Keep in mind this truth ; that John is describing a city, a real city on earth; any city as God wants it to be, every city as it shall become through the power of Christ. 1. Beautiful It is a beautiful city. God loves beauty, and that is the reason why he made the rose and paints the evening sky. This is the reason also why in his kind of a city every- thing is beautiful and attractive. " I saw the Holy City . . . made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." The language of the seer is heavy with metaphors as he tries to describe the glory of the city. How it flashes like a diadem of jewels ; it glows with the very glory of the throne and the very beauty of the divine. We have warrant therefore for loving beauty and planning for it in our cities. We have no right to disfigure God's fair earth with these blemishes we call cities. The Ideal City 21 2. Clean • This City of God is clean ; clean physically and morally. What is one of the things that oppresses one in these cities of earth? It is the uncleanness of them all. If cleanliness is next akin to godliness these cities are dread- fully ungodly, for they are sinfully unclean. Wash you, make you clean is good counsel for people and for cities. Then it is also clean morally ; for out of it have been cast the things that defile, that work abomination and make a lie. And at the gates are stationed angels — that is, mes- sengers — to stand on guard and exclude the evil. 3. Democratic In this City of God no one is disinherited, unprivileged, or trodden under foot. " They all had right to the Tree of Life " in the very midst of the city. The tree of life represents the best things in life, the provision God has made to meet our need. In these cities, alas, many chil- dren live in the shadow and have no real opportunity. Many people come into a world where they are not wanted ; they live in our world poor and meager lives, shut away from the best things ; and they die out of our world without really having lived at all. Yet it is not the will of the Father who is in heaven that one of his little ones should perish. Just so far as we realize this condition in our cities do they become cities of God. But let us not narrow the meaning of this blessing. Bread for all and opportunity for every life are neces- sary ; and we must never rest till these are secured. Yet we need to remember that there are other and more spiritual blessings. There are many good things in life 22 B u ilding a Com mun ity besides bread and opportunity. " We live by Admiration, Hope, and Love." Men, all men, need these more real and yet less tangible goods of life. They need education sufficient to develop their powers and enable them to make the most of themselves. They need recreation enough to give their bodies rest and their souls free scope. They need good books, good music, beautiful pictures, and noble buildings, the opportunity to enjoy the trees, to behold the mountains, to walk amid the flowers, to watch the silent, far-off stars. " If I had two loaves of bread," said Mohammed, " I would sell one and buy a hyacinth to feed my soul." We need not hesitate to plan for beauty in our cities, provided only it be common beauty and does not minister to selfish pride. 4. Beneficent " The streets of the city were of pure gold like unto transparent glass." In these chapters John is not dealing primarily with the style of paving and the material of walls. He has some larger and higher purpose than this. In all the ages man has loved gold and has lived for it. In our present society gold is on the throne and man is in the place of servitude. Often one hears it said that human life is the cheapest thing in our modern cities; and, alas, there are too many evidences that this is the case. In New Jersey a child was run over and killed by a trolley car; the parents brought suit and the judge awarded damages of one dollar; he said that was all a child was worth. Now a fairly respectable sheep is worth about ten dollars. How much then is a sheep bet- ter than a child in our present cities? But the time is coming when this inversion of values will end ; then gold The Ideal City 23 will go down under foot as the pavement of the city and man will come to his throne and be served by these things. Some day our cities will hold their resources of gold and property as servants of man. Thus far gold has been coveted by man and has been made the instrument of pride and greed. This is not the meaning of gold, and the time is coming when it shall find its true place. Wealth will never find its true meaning till it serves com- mon weal. Gold will never find its true place till it ceases to minister to personal pride and greed and be- comes the servant and helper of all. 5. Great Souls In this city man comes to his full stature. " I saw an angel measuring the wall of the city with a reed accord- ing to the measure of a man, that is of an angel." The city is for man and it is great and beautiful. If we have great cities we want great men. But, alas, our cities of earth are full of weak, stunted, and sickly men. This vision of John is a prophecy of man. Some time man shall come to his full stature and shall be truly man. No one of us has ever seen a man ; we have seen only a hint and suggestion of a man. Here and there we find a few lives growing taller than the run of men and suggesting some of the upward possibilities of our nature. In every human life there are possibilities far beyond anything that is now realized. In every human brain there are millions of unused cells ; and these many cells that are not used have as great possibilities of thought and of power as the few cells that are used. But, ah me, the time is coming when tall men shall live in a great city ; 24 Building a Community then men, all men, shall grow tall and attain unto the measure of the stature of Christ Jesus. The time is coming — may it hasten on — when no city will boast of its warehouses and monuments, but will find its highest pride in its great-souled men and its bright-eyed children. 6. Child-centered " The streets of the city were full of boys and girls playing in the broad places thereof." It is Zechariah who gives us this item, but he is in the prophetic succes- sion and is talking about this same city. And in some ways this is one of the most beautiful touches of all. In these cities of earth children are not wanted and little provision is made for them. You want to rent a house in one of our cities and the first question will be, " How many children ? " We make provision in our cities for great factories, for speedways, for automobiles ; but, alas, we give the child no chance to play and to be a child. Some time ago a little boy was brought before a judge in New York for the awful crime of playing ball in the street. " Boy, don't you know what the streets are for? " thun- dered the judge. When the little fellow could catch his breath to answer, he said, "Yes, sir, they are for auto- mobiles. " We have actually stolen the land away from the child for automobiles and warehouses and have cheated him out of his sacred right to play. Some day we will set the child in the midst of our city ; and will then plan and build our cities and our churches around the child and for the sake of the child. I like that saying from the Talmud : " The world is to be saved by the laughter of school children." In the city that is to be, the child will have his place; and the whole city The Ideal City 25 shall be full of boys and girls playing in the playgrounds thereof. 7. Brotherly Many other characteristics of this city might be noted. For one thing, in this city men live together as a family and think of themselves as brothers. In this city men bear the stamp of God upon their very foreheads; they serve God and serve one another. In this city justice is done and peace prevails. In this city the causes of dis- ease and death are destroyed, for these things belong to the old past. These and many other characteristics may be noted ; but these are sufficient for our purpose. THE BUILDING OF THE CITY Why are we given this vision of the Holy City? Is it that we may sit down and dream of that happy land far, far away? Is it that we may revel in the glories of heaven, the final home of the soul? It may mean that, but that is not the message of this vision. It is given to us rather for our inspiration and guidance here and now. In these chapters we have a model and pattern for the cities we are to build. 1. Faith and Work It is for us to go out into the community where we live and build our city after the pattern shown us in the Book. We pray that God's name may be hallowed, that his Kingdom may come, his will be done — in Philadelphia as in heaven. But what we pray for we are under obli- gation to work for. Every man who has the vision of 26 Building a Community a City of God has the hope of a City of God on earth; he is therefore called to live and pray, to plan and build, that the city where he lives may be transformed into a City of God. This vision bids us cherish the hope of a City of God in our community. A City of God coming down to earth is what John saw ; and a Holy City on earth is what we confidently expect. We expect, we ought to expect, we are charged by the Gospel of Christ to expect, the dawn of a new social order, the coming of a regenerate humanity, the realization of a purified society, the actual transformation of the cities of the world into Cities of God. The City that John saw, the City that we expect, is none other than the city where we live, as it might be, as God wants it to be, as it some day shall be. " Survey the cities of the world today," says Professor Drummond, " survey your own city, town, village, home ; and prophesy." 2. Aim and Motive The vision of the Holy City shows very clearly the work we have to do. Men sometimes complain that Christianity is a vague thing, far removed from the real work-a-day life of men. To this day in a large part of Christendom the majority of people live and die in the delusion that religion has to do with churches and Sun- days, with priests and places ; they do not see that it is a real, human, every-day thing and has to do with the most real and practical interests of men. The Son of man claims all life for God ; and the man who knows Christ does everything in his name and for his ends. He seeks the Kingdom of God, not as something apart from life, but The Ideal City 27 as something in life. He does all things in the name of Christ, all things in his store and in his politics as well as in his church and prayer-meeting. The whole round of life is to be filled with the thought of Christ ; and the whole work of life is to be done for his ends. The work of the Christian discipleship is as plain as daylight. To build cities, better cities, Christian cities, that for the present is the work of the Christian brotherhood. To work for the redemption of society is a very definite task, and to this task we are squarely committed in the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Christ has come to reveal the purpose of the Father and to give men the hope of a Kingdom of God. But it may be noted that he depends upon men to carry forward this purpose ; the faithful witness and loving ser- vice of men are the means he uses ; and he never recog- nized any other means or agencies. " I have chosen you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain " (John 15 : 16). He chose twelve men that they might be with him and that he might send them out on his errands. In all his teaching he relies upon men in the work of the Kingdom. He says that men are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He says the good seed are the children of the Kingdom. He depends upon men, and not upon angels, to be his witnesses unto the ends of the earth. Redeemed men are to build redeemed cities. Regener- ated men are to be the regenerators of society. The Divine City is to be built by people. It is not to be built by angels. It is not to be built by some magic power that works over the heads of men. It is a city of people, of living men and women, and it must come in people 28 Building a Community and through people. It is essential that we get this truth clearly in mind. The City comes from God ; he is its source and inspira- tion. But it comes among men and is to be built by men. The city does not drop out of the skies ; and it does not grow up without our effort. God builds his city in men and through men. The building of the city goes forward as fast and as far as men enter into God's plan and do his work. His city is delayed when men are unwilling and disobedient. It has been so from the beginning and it will be so to the end of the chapter. The knowledge of the world has never been poured upon it in floods of light, but men have had to dig for it as for hid treasure. The progress of society has not been achieved by chance ; but men have had to cut down the forests, level the hills, take up stumbling-blocks, and pay the price of progress. If some evil is to be withstood and cast out of the city, courageous men must step up and destroy the evil. If parks are to be provided and the city made attractive, men of vision and devotion must live for these ends. God works in men, the city comes through men. Men are here to do God's will and to get it done. Men are called to be both subjects and builders of the Kingdom. Regenerate men are to be centers of regenerating power. Christian men are to set about the work of building a Christian city. God never does for men what men can do for themselves. And men are never given an impos- sible task. Men cherish the hope of a city of God on earth. Then a City of God can be built as men want it built. Then men are good in so far as they serve the city and make it more Christian. The Ideal City 29 FOR CLASS USE 1. What is the strongest proof of the truth of the state- ment that "man is by nature a social being"? 2. Give five reasons why the individual of today is less independent than the individual of fifty years ago in the United States. 3. Is the individual's decrease in independence an ad- vantage or a disadvantage to himself and others? Why? 4. Give a scriptural argument other than that given in this chapter for the building of a city of God on earth. 5. Criticize the author's definition of a city. Do you like it? Why? 6. Which of the author's seven characteristics of a city of God on earth do you regard as the most important? Why? 7. Discuss the author's most significant statement in the last two pages of this chapter. 8. References : Drummond, " The City Without a Church " ; Ely, " The Coming City " ; Strong, " The Next Great Awakening " ; Robinson, " The Improvement of Towns and Cities"; Follett, "The New State"; Ward, " Social Ministry," Chapter XII, by F. M. North. CHAPTER II THE CHURCH " I saw no temple therein," said John. " The future city will be without a church," says Professor Drum- mond. " Ponder that fact, realize the temporariness of the church, then go and build one." For the present at least, the most important institution in the community is the church. Yet the church is Christian in so far as it loses itself in the community, and is successful as it makes itself unnecessary. There are four great institutions that are found in all civilized communities. These are the Church, the Family, the State, and Industry. They all grow out of the essen- tial life of man and are so many means through which they express their common life. They are so many ex- periments in the art of living together and so many steps by which men climb the ascent of progress. They are so many realms of the Kingdom's reign and so many means of the Kingdom's advance. Each has its distinctive form of organization ; each works in its own way ; yet one and all they serve the same Kingdom and represent essen- tial Kingdom values ; each is, or should be, Christian, and no one can claim priority. As the sunlight, which floods the heavens and brightens the earth, seeks to get itself reborn into the rosebush and the wheat-field ; so the life of that Kingdom seeks to get itself incarnated in human lives and realized in social institutions. 30 The Church 31 THE CHURCH IN THE COMMUNITY The Kingdom of God is an ideal hovering over the actual life of the world. But, like every ideal with vitality and power, it ever seeks incarnation and expres- sion in human lives and social institutions. In what we call the church we have an institution in which the life of the Kingdom finds expression and through which it realizes its purpose. It is true that the church is not the Kingdom, but is only one of the expressions and institu- tions of the Kingdom. The Family, the State, and In- dustry — to limit ourselves to the primary institutions of life — are also intended to be institutions of the Kingdom and the means of its advance. None the less, the church for the present is a most important institution and must have a proper place in our program. Several things with reference to the church and its meaning may be noted. 1. Expresses Kingdom Life In the church the life of the Kingdom finds expres- sion and realization. In the church the great prin- ciples of the Kingdom find acceptance and illustration. In the church the law and life of the Kingdom receive loyal obedience and active imitation. In the church the righteousness and love of the Kingdom appear in thought and act. Through the church the world may learn the nature of the Kingdom. Through its life and service the great characteristics of the Kingdom, right- eousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, are revealed in their beauty if not in their perfection. The church is called to repeat and continue the wonder and glory of the Incarnation. 32 Building a Community ■ i ■ 2. Witnesses to Kingdom Reality The church is here to witness for the reality of the Kingdom. In all times there has been a disposition to relegate the Kingdom to some other sphere or some far distant time. But God is now King and his Kingdom is an eternal reality. " Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever," men say whenever they offer the Master's prayer. That Kingdom is a present reality and by its standards all things are to be tested and rated. " The Kingdom of God is at hand." Then we do not have to make terms with some other Kingdom in order to live. We do not have to postpone a single bless- ing or reference to some other time or place. " The Kingdom of God is at hand." Then the church must live in that conviction itself and must teach men so to live. Every blessing of the Kingdom and every promise of God is to be realized here and now. It is only the unbelief and blindness of men that cheat them out of the blessings of the Kingdom or lead them to postpone its promises. The church as the institution of the King- dom must make men realize the reality and power of the Kingdom. 3. Reveals Kingdom Spirituality The church in its life reveals the spiritual foundations of human society. In this, of course, the church is only a partner with the other institutions of the world ; but none of these, alas, fully recognize either their foundation or their end. The church in its order and fellowship witnesses for the truth that God has made men for fel- lowship and that the foundations of society are spiritual The Church 33 and vital and not mechanical or accidental. We do not create the bonds that unite us together ; at best we merely recognize and ratify the bonds that are implied in our very being. To love others and to live in fellowship with others is our true life and appointed end. To care noth- ing for others, to live isolated and self-centered lives, is our destruction and our sin. It is most essential that there be true churches in every community and that they live their true life and give forth their rightful testimony. 4. Pledges Kingdom Coming The church in its hope and service is a pledge of the full coming of the Kingdom. To most people the world as they find it seems very real and solid; as things are they think they always have been and always will be. But the children of the Kingdom who pray, " Our Father who art in heaven, thy Kingdom come," never can accept the present order as either satisfactory or fixed. The children of the Kingdom in the striking words of Amiel are " forever afflicted with the malady of the ideal/' They never can sit down and be contented with the world as they find it. They look above and beyond the present order and behold that true order which God wills and ordains. And so the church must keep alive in men the great hope of the City of God on earth, and it must hearten men to seek that city with all their might. We never shall see the world as it is till we have the vision of the world as it is to be. We never shall bravely attack the evils of the world till we realize the evanescence of these evils. A thousand evils exist because men have grown accustomed to them and have accepted them as a matter c 34 Building a Community of course. But they who have seen the Kingdom of God know that there are no necessary evils ; they know that whatever is wrong cannot be necessary, and whatever is right cannot be impossible. No part of the church's work is more important than this. No service of the church can be more vital in the community's life. THE CHURCH'S CONTRIBUTION In what the church is, and through the witness it gives, it serves a most vital function. But beyond this the church can fulfil a more direct and concrete ministry. In this study we are concerned more especially with the social ministry of the church. It must be said, however, and as strongly as possible, that we here assume the various other forms of service, such as evangelism, mis- sions, and education. Here we differentiate our com- munity service from other forms of effort and throw chief emphasis upon it; but we do not mean to ignore or minimize these other activities. We speak of it as social service for the reason that it is service to society; it is not only service of men as men, but service of society as a community and a group. And it is social service in that it demands social action atid deals with social condi- tions. Four things are noteworthy here. 1. Creating Community Material The church must create the kind of people who will make good material for community building. The quality of the mass depends upon the quality of its constituents. We must have God's kind of people if we are to have God's kind of city. We must face the The Church 35 hard fact that people as we find them are not good community building material. In their native state they are selfish and self-centered. They have very uncertain impulses and very mixed motives. Their wills are wavering in the cause of right. Their char- acters are like soft sand and not solid rock. Some change must be wrought in these people before they can ever serve the uses of the Kingdom and become foundation stones in the Holy City. Call this change what we will, their minds must be enlightened, their motives must be changed ; they must change the cen- ter of interest from self to Christ ; they must learn to love others and to live for the common good. 2. Training for Service The church can make a large contribution to the com- munity by training people for sacrificial service. The church has not finished its work when it has won men unto God and has taught them to honor his law. It has not finished its work till it has taught them to love their fellows and has trained them for sacrificial and fruitful service. It has not finished its work when it has taught men that wrong will be redressed and justice will be done in the hereafter; but it must teach men that it is their business to put down wrong and establish justice here and now. The church has not finished its work when it warns men against selfishness and seeks to save them from a hell beyond the grave. It has not fulfilled its mission till it has trained men to serve their fellows and has sent them out to abolish the hells of this world and to put out their fires forever. This work the church cannot delegate to any other agency. 36 Building a Community 3. Preparing for Community Efficiency The church must train the people in the work of com- munity building. It is something to win the soul unto Jesus Christ and unveil before it the Christian ideal. The church must go farther and interpret the great purpose of Christ and train people in the work of building a Christian type of community life. This means much more than giving the soul a few ideals and stirring up some good impulses. The fact is, many of our people have such ideals and impulses now ; but they do not know where to begin in their community; they do not know how to translate Christian principles into community service. They are filled with high aspirations, endless futilities, pious phrases ; but have not an atom of social science, not a bit of understanding of people, no concep- tion of the factors that enter into the making of a human life. The churches are therefore called to interpret the great principles of Christ as the foundations of human society. They need to show people how to find the human values in each social problem and industrial situa- tion; they are called to interpret the Christian meaning of the great institutions of life ; they must develop in men a Christian point of view and an attitude of justice ; they must suggest ways in which men may take hold of social situations and train them for effective and fruitful ser- vice in all the relations of life and through all institu- tions ; they need to suggest ways in which good impulses can be expressed in full intelligence and in fixed social purposes. In a word, the great service of the Christian today is that of teaching men how to set love to work in community building. The Church 37 4. Developing Religious Consciousness The church can serve a useful function by teaching men to view life and its needs in the light of religion. Spirituality is not a zone of life but an attitude of soul. The difference between the sacred and the profane is not in things but in people. There are no parts and prov- inces of life that are in themselves spiritual. That man who calls some parts of life profane confesses that he is not spiritual himself. To the religious man all life is religious; the man who is religious in a part of life is not really religious at all. Life at bottom is essentially re- ligious; and everything is spiritual to the spiritually- minded man. Let this conception of life and religion become domi- nant, and men will see that religion can be expressed in government statutes as truly as in church resolutions; that men can seek the Kingdom of God as really in secur- ing good homes for the people as in missionary effort; that Christ can be served in keeping people from becom- ing criminals as fully as in conducting evangelistic cam- paigns ; that God can be honored by the chief of police as truly as by the church preachers ; that the Holy Spirit can inspire men to fight for social justice as truly as he can move them in preaching sermons ; that, in a word, work in behalf of good housing for the people, a better indus- trial order, a just system of taxation, may be quite as Christian as building churches and gathering missionary money. Let this conception of life and religion become dominant and men will see that the Brotherhood of Man- kind can be interpreted as clearly today in a great indus- try as in a missionary society ; that Christ can be honored 38 Building a Community as fully in a stockholders' meeting as in a prayer-meeting ; that one of the finest illustrations of faith in action is a conference of employers and employees sitting down to adjust the affairs of the enterprise in the interests of all the parties; that, in fine, the clearest evidence of the power of the Gospel is a company of men laying their talents upon the altar and planning not for the enrich- ment of the few but for the profit of the many. THE CHURCH SERVING IN ITS COMMUNITY It would require many volumes to consider ade- quately all the things that are implied in this. We simply suggest salient items; and need not discuss any one in detail. 1. Program of Community Service The church may well have a definite program of com- munity service. According to a recommendation adopted by the Northern Baptist Convention, "Every church should have a constructive program for serving the social needs of its community either individually or through the largest possible cooperation with other agencies of human uplift." This means that the church will frankly admit its obligation to society and will seek to realize its faith in social life. This means further that the church will have a definite conception of its end and object and will frame a positive program of social action. " The true and grand ideal of a church" said Thomas Arnold, " is that of a society for making men like Christ, earth like heaven, and the kingdoms of this world the kingdoms of our God." The Church 39 2. Organized for Social Efficiency The church should be organized for social efficiency. What are the marks of efficiency in a church? When can it be said that a church is really efficient? More than all, what can be done to make the church efficient in all its lines of interest and activity ? Many men, most men in fact, are sincerely anxious to serve the Kingdom of God in such ways as are possible and useful. There are vast reservoirs of untapped power in many of the churches. There are possibilities of heroic and fruitful service in the rank and file of men. The church must know how to enlist and develop these possibilities in behalf of social salvation. The church must enlist men in the tasks of the Kingdom and organize them for efficient service. In God's arithmetic twice one equals ten; for one shall chase a thousand; but two shall put ten thousands to flight. In actual life, organization means not simply addition but multiplication of power. 3. Committee on Social Service In this work of organization the church may have a committee on social service to have a general supervision of all the social service work. This committee should contain a representative from the deacons, the Sunday school, the Young People's Society, the Men's Brother- hood, and the Woman's Society, with the pastor ex officio a member. The committee should organize with a chair- man and a secretary, and should have regular meetings at least once a month. It should carefully study the local situation, the needs of the community and the re- sources of the church, and should have a definite con- 40 Building a Community structive program. It should create such sub-committees as may be needed for special work. It should suggest ways whereby the efforts of the people may become most effective in community betterment. It should have a well-formulated policy of social service instruction in and through the church. It should keep the church and con- gregation informed concerning such matters as demand their interest and effort. It should cooperate with the educational committee and all agencies of the church which are seeking to guide the thought and to train the conscience of the people. Persons should be chosen for membership on this committee who are specially inter- ested in social service and who show special fitness for the work. 4. A Community Social Center The church may serve a most useful function by providing a community social center. In ideal social conditions the home should serve a large part of this demand ; in fact our social system stands condemned because of its destruction of the home. In ideal social conditions the home might be the social center and the church-building might be the place for worship and in- struction. But as we know, modern civic conditions have threatened the home ; industry has invaded it ; the home is little else than a lodging-place for many of the people. More and more the people, and especially the young, are being crowded out of the home and are being turned out upon the street. Where can the young meet for acquain- tance and recreation? Where shall men and women go for fellowship and inspiration? On all sides cheap amusement places appeal to all, young and old, and the The Church 41 appeal is not in vain. But recreation has been com- mercialized and is now demoralized; recreation is fast becoming dissipation, with results that are well known. In industrial communities women are drawn into the fac- tories and their children are neglected. Sometimes the baby is left in the care of one of the older children ; some- times the children are crowded into a neighbor's already overcrowded rooms. Where shall the people go? And what shall be done to meet this need ? The church must answer this question. The need of the people is the church's opportunity. Something can be done by the church in providing parlors for social fellowship. Something can be done by providing social rooms where the young people can meet and become acquainted. A part of the church grounds may be used as a playground. The basement may be turned into a gymnasium; the roof can be utilized as a roof garden and playground. As Professor Henry Drummond said to those who objected to using the church as a gathering place for children : " One yard of boy is worth a hundred yards of carpet." The church can pro- vide a library and a reading-room for the use of all. In the church-building there may be classes in sewing, housekeeping, sanitation, health, citizenship, and social study. The churches of a community can serve a human need by maintaining labor bureaus and exchanges. The young people should be encouraged to organize a glee club, a choral society, a dramatic club, a nature study club. The church should consider it as part of its mis- sion to provide a community social center for all of the people. Man is a social being, and ministry to his social nature is a sacred ministry. 42 Building a Community 5. Center of Helpful Ministries The church should be a center of helpful ministries. We assume that the church is the center of the whole community worship and inspiration. But the church that would fulfil its whole ministry must be much more than this. The church that has the spirit of Christ must seek to perpetuate Christ's helpful and healing ministry to all whom it may reach. In the neighborhood of every church there are many poor and needy people; the church that would fulfil its full ministry must have some definite and systematic way of helping them. Indiscriminate charity is worse than no charity at all. The church is not called upon to keep open house and feed every beggar that comes along. This only encourages begging and neither helps the people nor fulfils the law of Christ. After all, what the average beggar needs more than bread and dimes, is counsel and sympathy. Sometimes he needs a little stern dealing, which will make him know that the man who will not work should not eat. But beyond the occasional beggar there are many people in the community who are in need, unable to make both ends meet and often suffering for the necessities of life and never knowing what life really means. These people need counsel and sympathy; they need some aid which will tide them over the present diffi- culty ; they need good counsel and wise direction. It is an easy thing to gather clothing and food for the needy family ; sometimes these things may be necessary as emergency measures. But this method is too easy and cheap to be really Christian and effective. After all, the person who is poor is usually poor not alone in money The Church 43 values but in human sympathy. People need sympathy and encouragement more than they need bread and money. To give them a chance to work and try to im- prove their ability is better than to fill their coal-bin or pay their rent. 6. Cooperation with Other Agencies The church can render a large service by cooperating with other community agencies. In the past generation or two, due in large part to the impulsion of the Christian spirit, there have grown up outside the church many agencies of social service. Some of these organizations are doing their work in the name of the church; but many have no connection with the churches, and some of them frankly disown all connection with the churches. The Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association have some official rela- tion to the church ; but other organizations, as the Civic League, the Juvenile Court, the Charity Association, are wholly independent; the public schools are separated from the churches, and many people are determined to keep them apart. The fact that these organizations exist is no reason for regret. Nay, rather the churches should rejoice that so much good work is being done. The churches can know what these agencies are doing; they can keep in touch with them ; they can train their members for effective service in and through these organizations ; and they can find in these agencies many channels through which the devotion of Christian people can flow forth. The churches can do more than this; they can have committees on conferences with the public-school teachers, with the city administration, with the police 44 Building a Community department, with the juvenile court, and many other organizations. The recognition of this truth will save the church from possible narrowness — the narrowness of trying to reduce the Kingdom to its limited area and excluding all other interests of life, and from possible difTuseness — the dif- fuseness of trying to do everything and thereby scattering its energies. It will properly relate the work of the church to that of the other agencies of life; and it will save men from the mistake of supposing that they are doing secular work when working through other agencies than the church. It will lead men also to know their gifts, to do the special work for which they have special fitness, to honor the church without minimizing the other agencies of life, and to work through other institutions while honoring the church and promoting its work. 7. An Example of Unselfishness The church is here to seek the Kingdom of God, to serve men, to give its treasures of love and grace to the world. The churches may well remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he said : " It is more blessed to give than to receive." The churches may well heed the solemn warning of the Master : " He that findeth his life shall lose it ; he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." The church is here to give itself to the world and to lose itself for the sake of the Kingdom. The church forfeits its Christian character and becomes a mere social club or a group of Sadducees, when it makes itself an end, gathering into itself from the world and seeking its own upbuilding as the goal. The misconceptions of this The Church 45 truth, the failures at this point, have been many and have wrought incalculable mischief to the churches and im- measurable woe to the world. The true and Christian idea of the church and its rela- tion to the Kingdom would work a complete revolution in the plans and methods of the average church and would send it forth to spend and to be spent for men. The fact is, the church that gives most is the church most fully Christian. The church that gives the largest measure of service is the church that men will honor. FOR CLASS USE 1. Which of the author's four characterizations of the ideal church on earth seems to you to be the most significant? Discuss. 2. In which of the four contributions of the church to society that are named by the author is the church of today the strongest? In which is it the weakest? Give reasons. 3. Of the seven ways in which the church may serve its community, as suggested in this chapter, which seems to you to be the most important ? Why ? 4. Do you know of a church that has a committee on social service? What has been accomplished through this committee? 5. Give examples of church cooperation with other communities. 6. References: Strong, " Systematic Theology," Vol. Ill, Part VII ; Rauschenbusch, " Christianizing the Social Order " ; Crocker, " The Church Today " ; Cutting, " The Church and Society " ; Ward, " Social Ministry " ; Wish- 46 Building a Community art, " The Social Mission of the Church " ; Mathews, " The Church in the Changing Order " ; Coffin, " In a Day of Social Rebuilding " ; Rowe, " Society," Chapter XXXVIII ; Men and Religion Movement, " Social Ser- vice Messages." CHAPTER III THE SCHOOLS " There is one institution in every American com- munity that stands as the gateway into the promised land of a richer life. This is the school. It supplements home training and prepares for the broader experiences of community existence. Into it goes the raw material of the bodies and minds of the children, and out of it comes the product of years of education for the making or marring of the children of the community." (Rowe, " Society, ,, p. 120.) THE MEANING OF EDUCATION There are some principles that must be recognized in any system of education that deserves the name. But they demand special consideration in the educational sys- tem of a democracy. As Professor Welton so well shows, " The end rules the means, in education as in life itself." (Welton, "What Do We Mean by Education?" Chap. I.) We can note only a few vital principles. 1. Must Be Social Education must be social. Life is a matter of relation- ships. Righteous life is life in right relations. Good living is social living. Every person is called to live in a community. He must therefore be trained for social 47 48 Building a Community living and community service. " Education is the organi- zation and direction of social expression to the end that persons may be competent to live as social beings. " (Cope, "Education for Democracy," p. 141.) Educa- tion is achieving its purpose in so far as it discloses the social relations and obligations of life, trains the life in making right social adjustments, and prepares it for help- ful and serviceable life in the community. " A man is educated," says Ruskin, " if he is happy, busy, beneficent, and effective in the world." (Ruskin, " Stones of Venice," III, Appendix VII.) 2. Must Be Vocational Education should be vocational. Every member of the community is expected to do some work, to make his appropriate contribution to the community life. Work is both a moral and a social necessity. " He that will not work neither shall he eat." Every person must make his own way in the world and do his own work. Some per- sons hope to elbow and dodge their way through the world without doing any real work ; they grow up in the delusion that the world owes them a living. But every right-minded person knows better than this; he realizes that he has his own contribution to make and his own work to do. Every person is expected to do some real, honest, valuable work. He therefore needs such an edu- cation as shall train him to be an efficient, economic unit. But even more vitally than this, as the condition of all good living, he needs to understand the social meaning of work, to realize that one's vocation in life is one's means of serving society, and that one is truly educated in so far as he does his work with delight and thoroughness. The Schools 49 3. Must Be Cultural Education that is real is also cultural. The great ma- jority of the people in every community must be workers with hand or brain; and they require some specialized training for this work. But beyond this and before this, every person has a life to live, a personality to develop. We must be careful not to invert values here and mistake means for ends. The end of all education and of all in- dustry is the development of life. Labor and industry are means to this end. Life and personality must always be the end and never be regarded as the means. This means that every person, whatever his work in life, re- quires such an education as shall develop his mind, quicken his imagination, direct his impulses, and teach him what to admire and love. We all profess to believe in education, but, as John Hobson points out, few of us truly realize that it is an organic process of developing the capacities of a human soul; for the most part we only believe in processes of learning. The result is an attainment of knowledge, or at most sharpening of aptitudes for the practical work of life. (Hobson, " John Ruskin, Social Reformer," p. 250.) The work of education consists rather in the develop- ment of the soul's capacities in order that we may live a full and satisfying life. 4. Must Develop Conscience Education must develop and train the moral conscious- ness and will. The person who would live in a modern community must play according to the rules of the game. He must learn how to make moral valuations. He must D SO Building a Community i ■- - ■ i iii-- tii— ■ r»Ti~M-—i n—mnnwr have acquired certain definite reactions against the evil and certain positive attitudes toward the good. He not only knows the better, but he must love and choose it. He needs a keen and sensitive conscience which will feel that his profession is put to shame so long as an abuse exists in the community. He needs a sacrificial attitude of soul which will make him willing to hold his life as a trust for society and will lead him to serve his community in every possible way. We need to note carefully the nature of this moral and religious education. " A religious and moral education is religious and moral through and through, not because the subjects studied are all directly religious and moral in their content ; but because they are studied in a re- ligious and moral spirit." (Welton, " What Do We Mean by Education? " p. 56.) THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM It is not possible to discuss here the various efforts that have been made to provide for the education of the people ; nor is it possible to consider either the origin and development of the public-school system. This should be said, however : that it is an effort on the part of the state to prepare every child for life in the community and citizenship in the state. It rests upon the conviction that there are mutual obligations on the part of the person and of society. The democratic state, which must depend upon the intelligence and courage of its citizens, must prepare them for effective and qualified citizenship. In an autocracy universal education is an optional matter; but in a democracy it is a necessity. The public-school The Schools 51 system is the means that democracy has devised for edu- cating itself. It is not necessary to consider how far the public-school system is meeting the essential demands upon it. But some things may be noted especially with reference to certain shortcomings in the system. The public-school system as it exists contains some serious defects. 1. Lacking in Religious Training It makes no provision for the direct moral and religious education of the pupils. In America we have effected the separation of church and state, and so far we have done well. All churches and all faiths stand on an equality before the law. Owing to the divisions in the churches no forms of religion can be recognized by the state or be taught in the schools. All positive religious teaching is thus barred from the schools of the nation. In some cities the Bible may be read without comment, and hymns may be sung; but nothing beyond this is at- tempted. In few public schools is there any direct ethical instruction. One is glad to see that moral influences are potent in practically all of the public schools; as a rule, the principals and teachers are men and women of high moral character and pronounced religious life. But with it all there is no direct moral instruction and positive ethical training. The moral influences at work are inci- dental rather than purposed. It must be admitted that from one cause and another the public school is failing to develop the moral and re- ligious life of the child. Whether rightly or wrongly, the home in large part has turned over to the school the train- ing of the children ; and the school is failing to provide 52 Building a Community the moral and religious training that is needed. The in- fluence of the school upon the child, both negatively and positively, is a most potent influence in life. The school claims the child for some six hours every day at the most impressionable period of its life; and the public-school system rests upon the assumption that it is preparing the pupils for life and for citizenship. But, as a matter of fact, it is not doing this work in full; in fact, evidence multiplies that it has failed to develop either a qualified citizenship or a moral generation. " The business of education," says Professor Sadler, " is to prepare for life." But man is not prepared for life unless he has not only a trained mind but a sensitive conscience and a disci- plined will. 2. Fails to Prepare for Real Life Not only so, but the public-school system is failing to prepare the children for real life. It is admitted by all students of the system that the instruction is too bookish, too abstract, too purely mental. The public-school sys- tem is a splendid system, covering all grades as it does from primary to the university. But everything from the first-grade primary is designed with the university in view. As a matter of fact, however, only twenty-two per cent of those entering the first grade ever complete the eighth grade. Of those who enter the high school only thirty-one out of a hundred complete the full course and graduate. Approximately forty-two of each one hundred high-school graduates enter college ; but about one-half of those who enter complete the college course. Stating it differently, this means that of seven hundred pupils who enter the first grade, only five continue their The Schools 53 training through college. There are several things in- volved in this which are significant. For one thing, a very small proportion of the people, about two-thirds of one per cent, ever receives the advantages of a collegiate training. More than three-fourths of the people receive all of their school preparation in the grades. But the training in these earlier grades is almost wholly bookish and abstract; there is very little training in ethics and citizenship ; and there is little direct technical and voca- tional training. This means that the pupils who drop out of the lower grades under sixteen years of age, as more than three-fourths do, have little direct and practical training for life and citizenship. A SCHOOL PROGRAM We are concerned here with a positive program. There are several things practical and possible that may be done. 1. Cooperation with Churches First of all, the churches should be organized for defi- nite practical cooperation with the school. In every com- munity there should be the most friendly relations be- tween pastors and teachers, with frequent conferences. In every community the churches should have a com- mittee on conference with the teachers, and should assist them in every practical way. This committee should study the best methods of public instruction; it should give close attention to the sanitary conditions of the buildings and grounds ; it should encourage those teachers who are exerting positive moral influence; and it should 54 Building a Community see to it that teachers of the highest character are pro- vided. More than this, such a committee should work out some method whereby the moral and religious training of the children can be ensured. Some day we may see that re- ligion is larger than any or all of the churches and that men of all faiths can agree in the fundamentals of re- ligion ; and thus some working basis can be found. The present method of non-religious education is wholly un- satisfactory, and the present condition cannot be accepted as final. To please all churches we have reduced religion to the minimum and have excluded it from the public schools. We cannot say what the future holds in store for us, but one of the most immediate duties concerns the strengthening of moral influences in the public schools. There is another duty even more urgent, that the church and home shall fulfil their responsibility and provide the moral and religious training so greatly needed, but now so sadly lacking. 2. Appreciation of Nature and Life Another thing : the time has come for a radical change in the public-school system. Any education worthy of the name should seek to train the eye to see, the hand to touch, the mind to compare, the body to be strong; it must train the pupil in diligence, patience, reverence, thought ; it must sharpen the intellect, purify the insight, discipline the will; it must prepare the child for its life in society, in work, in play, in service. " A man is not educated in any sense whatsoever be- cause he can read Latin or write English or can behave The Schools 55 himself in a drawing-room; but he is only educated if he is happy, busy, beneficent, and effective in the world. Millions of peasants are, therefore, at this moment better educated than most of those who call themselves gentle- men; and the means taken to educate the lower classes in any other sense may very often be productive of a precisely opposite result." (John Ruskin, " Stones of Venice," III, Appendix VII.) "You do not educate a man," he says again, " by telling him what he knew not, but by making him what he was not." People may have eyes, but most people see not. They may have ears, but they hear not. They may have minds, but they do not know how to think. Children should be taught to observe and compare; they should be able to recognize every tree and plant in their neighborhood on sight ; they should identify every common bird on sight or by its song; they should know the stars and constellations in the sky ; they should know how clouds gather and rain falls in their valley ; the begin- nings of geography, botany, geology, zoology, astronomy should be studied from nature itself. One fact known at first hand and seen in its relations is worth a dozen bits of information gained from books and unrelated to life. For this reason the public-school system should be changed and extended and the training carried out-of- doors. The pupils should be brought face to face with nature and should study its processes. They should study the flowers as they grow and the birds as they sing and fly. An education that turns one away from nature and life and shuts him up in books and schoolrooms is wholly unsatisfactory. Life is learned by living. Real education is directed living. r 6 Building a Community 3. Training in Reading and Conversation Far more attention should be given to some elementary and yet essential things, such as reading and conversation. Anyone can make a simple test for himself. Take any page from a standard author or even from the Bible, and ask the average high-school pupil to read it aloud. Very few are able to read it with ease, with precision, with distinct enunciation, giving the author's meaning. Few pupils are taught clear enunciation and easy speech. The average eighth-grade pupil should be able to speak his native language with ease, distinctness, and elegance; he should know how to read aloud the best literature of the world to the satisfaction of the hearers. An educa- tion that fails here is failing in its primary duties. 4. Technical and Vocational Preparation There must be such a change in the public-school curriculum as will provide a technical and vocational training for the children of the nation. Two dangers beset the nation in its educational policy. One is the danger of making education too exclusively a matter of general culture, of making it a mere accomplish- ment and an end in itself. The other is the danger of reducing all education to the mere bread-and-butter level, of making it a means of getting on in the world and increasing one's income. Three-fourths of all the pupils in our public schools drop out before they reach the high school. If these are ever to receive any direct technical and vocational training, they must receive it early in the course. Few of those who drop out have received any vocational training; as a consequence The Schools 57 they must take the first work that offers. They are unskilled workers, and so are seriously handicapped. Some vocational training must come earlier in the curriculum. Some technical training should be given every pupil in the earlier grades. Vocation schools with vocational training can meet a real need. Above all, there should be provided for all children some vocational guidance somewhere along the line between the eighth and the sixteenth years. In America there are about two million children between the years of fourteen and sixteen who are out of school. Of this number, about one million are at work; which means that about one million are idle at the most vital years of life. The school did not hold their interest, and so they dropped out of the course. They have not found their place in life and are drifting. This sug- gests a question which demands serious consideration. It is necessary that continuation schools of some kind be provided for these and other children; and it is necessary that they be given careful vocational gui- dance in these formative years. (Miles, "Vocational Education," World's Work, October, 1913.) Everywhere we find much waste of human capacity due to misfit occupations. Many young people drop out of school and enter " blind-alley " trades. Many take the first work that offers without reference either to the future or to their fitness. Much more should be done by the home than is now done in the way of vocational inspiration. Much more can be done by the churches in teaching the young the meaning of work and the oppor- tunities of the various vocations. But the public school is the one agency which should give attention to this ►8 Building a Community question, and should provide the needed vocational train- ing. This is a fundamental obligation of the public schools, and its provision would meet the need and would prepare pupils for life in society. 5. Training in Civic Duties Three-fourths of the children of the nation never enter the high school. This means that they receive little if any direct positive and adequate training in civic duties. It may be said that the pupils in the grades are not advanced enough for the study of political institutions, civic questions, and social obligations. But if the public school exists to prepare the people for life in society and citizenship in the state, some direct training in these things should be given every pupil who goes as far as the sixth grade. There should be some direct and positive instruction in the nature of the state, the function of the government, the duties of citizens, the meaning of a vote. In addition there should be a comprehensive study of the city, its history, its conditions, its government, the re- sponsibilities of citizens. In many of the schools a noble and notable beginning has been made here ; but this func- tion of the public school needs to be kept in the very forefront and given large consideration. 6. Supervision of Play Activities No more useful function can be served by the public school than to provide adequate facilities for play and then to supervise the play activities of the children. In this way the school can do much to train the children, to socialize them, to teach them how to do their work, to prepare them for life in society and service in the state. The Schools 59 The most important part of a school's equipment, next to the teachers, is the playground. Every school should have an adequate and well-equipped playground, and should provide for supervised play. The children should be taught to do team-work, to give and take, to win with- out being proud, and to be beaten without being cross. More real preparation for social living can be gained on the playground than in a close room by reading from a book. 7. Wholesome, Attractive Environment One thing is most important in this school program. Every school-building should have light, cheerful rooms; and provision should be made for an abundance of fresh air. In fact, every room should be half open much of the time. Investigations show that the mental efficiency of a child is reduced from ten to fifty per cent by con- finement in a close room. In many of our cities we have provided open-air schoolrooms for sickly and tuberculous children. This is most wise, but it is a sad commentary on our intelligence that it is the sickly and diseased chil- dren who are given an education under proper conditions. Some day every school will hold part of its sessions in the open air. Some day the teachers will take the chil- dren to the woods and fields to study nature instead of getting information at second hand from books. Some day we will realize that a large part of education consists in keeping the body strong, teaching the hand to move, the eye to see, the mind to compare, the brain to think. Make the schools attractive, teach the children to obey, give them a chance to play and train them in team-work, and we have made prisons unnecessary. 60 Building a Community 8. Some Other Considerations Two or three items are vital in our program. No child should be permitted to leave school till he has been disci- plined for social living and trained in the duties of citizenship. No church has met its obligation toward the Kingdom till every child has received some training for parenthood. No school can be pronounced a success unless it is train- ing body, mind, and spirit. Education must be accessible to all. A community is not becoming Christian when it provides education for a few and practically disbars the vast majority. It is be- coming Christian as it keeps the door of opportunity wide open and seeks to lift up every life into the possession and appreciation of the highest good. In a certain in- dustrial community a prominent church-member was asked to aid in the education of the foreign peoples in the city. He declined with the remark : " I have no in- terest in the education of these people, because that would deprive industry of its workers." Better for a nation that its industries were sunk into the depths of the sea than that it should build its prosperity upon the meager lives of workers. The last thing is this : education should make it pos- sible for every person to live a full life and enjoy the best things. Some time ago I saw a picture that has haunted me. It was the face of a woman of the Far East old before her time ; with wrinkled face, vacant look and dim eye, near her end, she was looking out upon the world feeling that she had missed the best things in life, but yet hungry for some of these higher values. The The Schools 61 community must see to it that no one can say : " I passed through the world and missed the best things in life." It is the duty of every community to appraise the true values of life, to train every life to admire the best, to make it possible for every one to possess the best things in life, ever remembering that the ideal of Christ and the meaning of democracy demand the whole good of the last man. FOR CLASS USE 1. Show that real education must be social. 2. Is it more important that education should be voca- tional than that it should be cultural ? Why ? 3. Discuss character development in education. 4. What are some arguments for the public-school system ? 5. Discuss some shortcomings in the public-school system. 6. Discuss some of the constructive aims that should enter into a positive school program. 7. References : Welton, " What Do We Mean by Edu- cation? " ; Cope, " Education for Democracy " ; Coe, " A Social Theory of Religious Education"; Howe, "The Philosophy of Education"; Dewey, "Democracy and Education " ; Rowe, " Society " ; Wilson, " Evolution of a Country Community." CHAPTER IV THE CITY GOVERNMENT The state, according to the accepted definition, is the people organized in a political capacity in behalf of the welfare of all. Aristotle, than whom no clearer thinker ever lived, maintained that " civil society was not founded primarily for the sake of preserving and increasing prop- erty. Nor was civil society founded merely in order that its members might live, but that they might live well." It is evident that a state is not a mere community or place, nor is it established for the sake of mutual safety or traffic. " A state is a society of people joining together with their families and their children to live well, for the sake of a perfect and independent life." (Aris- totle, " Politics," Book III, Chapter 2.) " The end of government," said Locke, " is the good of mankind." A community, we have seen, is a group of people living together, having certain interests in common and cooper- ating toward definite ends. People who live together must come into relations with one another. These rela- tions must be ordered and orderly or life is impossible. People who cooperate toward certain ends must have ordered and recognized methods. There must, therefore, be some organization which shall maintain order and pro- mote the common good. Whenever we have any body of people so organized that a central institution or govern- ment takes over the maintenance and development of the 62 The City Government 63 essential system of rights and obligations, we have what is properly called a state. (Maclver, "Community/' p. 32.) In this conception the state is an association for maintaining social order and promoting the common good. And in this conception the government is the machinery of the state, and so is the means through which the people cooperate in behalf of the common well-being. In this brief study we cannot deal with the question of the state in its larger meaning. We must limit ourselves to the consideration of government in relation to the life and progress of the community. In this sense city gov- ernment is the authoritative association within a com- munity; and it is the means through which the people cooperate in promoting community ends. It is, of course, not the only recognized association within the com- munity; but it has a mission and a function that are most vital. THE PRESENT NEED The question of good city government is one of the most important in every community. It matters little to the average man what may be the form or method of government in the state and nation. But it matters much to every one whether the city government is honest and efficient. For national government touches life at few points and has to do with such things as national security, taxation, tariffs, and trade. But city government touches every person at many points and has to do with the most vital and definite interests. It protects life and property; it safeguards the health and homes of the people ; it edu- cates the children and enforces the laws; in fine, it is concerned with safety and health, with education and 64 Building a Community morality, with the homes and lives of the people. Yet ten people are interested in a national political campaign in which partisan issues are involved where one is inter- ested in a civic campaign on non-partisan issues of vital moment. The question of an efficient, honest, and progressive administration of the city's affairs is one of the most vital at this hour. Some years ago Professor Andrew D. White said that the worst governed city in Europe is better than the best governed city in America. There are signs not a few of a great improvement in the govern- ment of American cities, but not yet have we attained. Many of our cities are struggling toward the light, but it is a hard struggle and there are many adversaries. We cannot here name all of these difficulties, nor can we dis- cuss any one in detail. Two or three things, however, may be mentioned in passing. The American people have been extreme individualists and have given little attention to public matters. They have been devoted to money-making and have had little time for civic questions. Private interests have sought special favors and have done everything in their power to make the civic administration inefficient. The vice in- terests have formed a " vice bund " to keep strong men out of public office and to defeat progressive measures. But deeper than all, and more serious than any, is the subtle suspicion between the churches and the city offi- cials. In this land the separation of church and state has been effected, and negatively this is a good thing. But as usually interpreted this means the exclusion of religion from civic affairs. Church people have stood aside and taken little interest in civic affairs, offering as a plea: The City Government 65 " Our citizenship is in heaven." There has been the feel- ing that civic and political matters are common and secu- lar, and the saintly Christian will have as little to do with them as possible. As a consequence Christian men have stood aside and have allowed corrupt and selfish interests to nominate officials and determine the civic life. In the past the candidate for a city office was expected to pass a kind of " Civil Service Examination " in the back room of a saloon. More than once it has happened that a city councilman has declared that he would rather have one saloon behind him than a hundred churches. The suspicion between the churches and the civic admin- istration has been responsible for much indifference and neglect on one side, and much corruption and inefficiency on the other. The time has come for us to change all this. We must teach men to be good citizens in their own community. If heaven is a city, then the best prepa- ration for heaven is the practise of citizenship on earth. One other thing may be mentioned, as it has made good city government in American cities difficult; and that is the form of the municipal government found in many of the cities. It is easy, of course, to blame the defects of any system upon the system itself ; whereas much of the blame must rest upon the men who use the system. But we may have a system which makes good govern- ment doubly difficult ; and we may have a different system which makes it comparatively easy. The former is the system that has been found in many of the American cities until the last few years. It is not possible here to consider the defects that have appeared in the American system ; but we may note several of the conditions neces- sary in any satisfactory system. E 66 Building a Community THE CONDITIONS OF A GOOD SYSTEM In our efforts to secure good city government there are several important items. 1. Direct Responsibility We must have a system of government which is directly responsible to the people. Thus far between the people and the government there have been many barriers and great distances; it has been difficult for the people to know what their servants were doing; and it has been almost impossible for the people to make their will known. This is due to the deep and ingrained distrust of the people which appears in the Constitution of the United States and in all the older city charters. 2. Concentration of Authority We must have a concentration of authority and a locali- zation of responsibility. This has not been the case in modern cities ; and the results are known to all. In fact, city government as it has appeared might almost be called a government by evasion and circumlocution. We must be able to locate responsibility, and must have direct accountability of officials to the people. Along with this we must have some means whereby we may check up accounts and may call derelicts to book. 3. Consideration of Interests of All We must have a system which considers the interests of the city as a whole. The system long in vogue with a large city council made up of representatives from differ- The City Government 67 ent wards of the city is a system of atomism and section- alism; it loses the sense of the city in the councilmen's concern for a ward. The old ward system encouraged local selfishness; it proceeded on the theory that by a compromise of local demands we could evolve a just city policy. To have good city government we must create a presumption against local selfishness and must cherish the ideal of a united city. And we must have expert man- agement of public affairs. Democracy does not mean a dead level of mediocrity; on the contrary, it demands expert leadership. Democracy proves its wisdom when it provides methods for finding such leadership and plac- ing it in office. Finally, we must have a direct veto and a direct initiative in the hands of the people. 4. Intelligent and Courageous Citizenship We are not here discussing forms and methods of city government, for these are somewhat incidental. Almost any system will produce good fruits when we have an intelligent, alert, conscientious, and courageous citizen- ship. No system of government has yet been devised that the people can go away and leave. As De Tocque- ville long ago pointed out, governments will be as rascally and inefficient as the people permit them to be. No sys- tem, however perfect, will run itself and achieve good results where the people are indifferent, supine, self- centered, and pleasure-loving. But there are forms and systems which make it easier to achieve good results, and these are worthy of careful consideration. In these latter times the commission form of city gov- ernment has come into operation in many cities, and it is found that it meets the necessary conditions we have 68 Building a Community named ; and it is found also that it secures good results. City government becomes more efficient; waste is saved and corruption is eliminated ; in every way it makes for economy, efficiency, honesty, progress. Other forms are being tried. Every community, large or small, should have the very best form of government that can be found. To secure this the people should study closely the work- ings of the system in their community and should know both its advantages and its defects. They should not be satisfied till they have found that form of government which meets all of the necessary conditions and achieves the best results. To be satisfied with anything less than the best is treason against the truth. 5. Church Must Train for Citizenship Another thing: the men of good will should take a direct interest in civic affairs. The churches have a direct responsibility at this point which they should accept in good faith, the duty of teaching the people the meaning of citizenship and of uniting them for civic action. It would not be wise, if it were possible, for the churches to enter politics and nominate candidates and propose ordinances. But the churches must train the people in the theory and practice of citizenship. The churches must teach the people the meaning of citizenship and must make a civic conscience in the community. The churches must emphasize the divine meaning of government and must make the mayor and policeman know that they are God's " deacons " in the city unto men for good. (Rom. 13:3-8.) They must stimulate the people to demand high-grade men in public life and must inspire them to take such action as will secure these The City Government 69 results. As Professor Carver says : " If as much effort as is now being expended in trying to contrive a fool- proof government were expended in teaching the people how to run the government they have, and how to dis- tinguish between just and unjust acts of government, more real progress would be made." THE VALUE OF COOPERATION In the program of community redemption the Chris- tian workers should cooperate in every way with the city administration. As we have seen in an earlier chapter, we must use existing agencies and make these means in securing results. Yet, as we have also seen elsewhere, thus far the Christian worker has long cherished a subtle suspicion concerning the religious- ness of effort in and through political agencies. This attitude of the church is in part a survival of the age- long suspicion of government and has been confirmed by the theory that the church and state must have as little as possible in common. Happily this suspicion on the part of either toward the other is passing, and we are coming to see that while church and state must differ in function they yet are seeking the same ends and can be sympathetic in spirit. 1. Federated Committee on Conference First of all the federated churches of the city or the ministers' association may well have a committee on con- ference with the civic administration. This committee should confer and not criticize; it should know what public officials are doing and support them in all good 70 Building a Community measures. There will be some hope of permanent im- provement in civic affairs when the old antagonism be- tween the church and state ceases and people learn to take a sympathetic attitude toward the civic administra- tion. (Cutting, " The Church and Society," Chapter III.) More than this, the people of good will should maintain the most friendly and cooperative relations with the pub- lic schools and the board of health; they should know what the juvenile court is doing and should cooperate with it; in every way possible they should use existing agencies and should seek to develop their highest social efficiency. 2. Assisting the Police Department One of the most important factors in the work of civic redemption is the police department. In most of our cities, for " a time to which the memory of man runneth not the contrary," church people have regarded the police department with confirmed suspicion, if not positive op- position. The churches have not honored the police offi- cers as servants of the Kingdom; they have done little to secure the appointment of high-grade men to the police department ; they have seldom cooperated with this de- partment in a sympathetic and friendly way. This sus- picion has kept good men from the police force; this indifference has made it impossible for a good man to do his whole duty. The average police officer, whether chief, captain, patrolman, or detective, is a man, and very like other folks. He is good or bad as he is expected to be. In a recent volume a writer of large experience gives some interesting testimony on this point which is worthy of careful consideration. If the churches would cooper- The City Government 71 ate with the police department, they might render the city a large service ; if they would cooperate in a sympathetic way, better men would soon be found on the police force. (Cutting, "The Church and Society," Chapters II and III.) There are several things that churches can do in this direction. The first thing is a revaluation of the police department. In the time past the functions of govern- ment have been mainly repressive and negative; it was the business of the police department to protect life and property and suppress violence and crime. But in our time we are coming into a larger and truer conception of government, and are beginning to realize that it has many positive and promotive functions ; it is the business of the police department to promote public morality and perform a social service. This is certain; that no position in the community offers a larger opportunity for helpful and constructive service. A good patrolman can know every person on his beat ; he can know the evil and the good influences at work in his district. He can be the trusted adviser of many ; he can warn those who are going wrong ; he can protect the innocent ; he can shepherd the lambs from the prowling wolves. The primary function of the federated committee is to cooperate, and not to criticize. Criticism may be neces- sary ; but it should always be based upon full knowledge and should be constructive in spirit. In this way the police department can be greatly aided in its work; it can become more efficient in preventing crime ; the people of the churches will find many open doors of service, and the redeeming grace of God will reach many lives. The 72 Building a Community police department with low ideals, directed by men of doubtful morality, regarded with suspicion by the churches, and given over to the domination of the vice interests, can become one of the most baleful influences in a city and can stand in the way of civic redemption. But the police department with high ideals, managed by capable men, and aided by the men of good will, can become a mighty power for good in any community. The churches also can perform a large service by co- operating with the city in creating a school for the train- ing of men for police work. The nation maintains military and naval schools to train men for service of the nation. The state maintains the public-school system from primary grade to university, to prepare citizens for public service. In like manner and for the same reason the cities must maintain schools to prepare men for ser- vice as police officers. If trained men are needed any- where they are needed here ; and they will be needed more and more in the days to come as the state becomes more promotive in its work and as the police department under- stands its true function. The police officer should be honored as a servant of the community, and his service should be appraised at its true value. His work should be regarded as a profession, and high-grade men should be required. The city should maintain schools where men in prepa- ration for positions for police officers should receive a special training. They should be trained as social work- ers, and should have courses in hygiene and sanitation, in treatment of children and care of delinquents. They should be expected to be advisers of the poor and friends of the unfortunate. They should, therefore, be high- The City Government 73 grade men with ideals of public duty and honored soldiers of the common welfare. They should receive an adequate salary and should have proper hours and should work under rightful conditions. They should be men and women chosen for this honorable office on the sole ground of physical, mental, and moral fitness, and the tenure of officers should depend wholly upon the faithful discharge of their duties. 3. Unlimited Possibilities for Service These are only illustrations of what may be done by the people in and through the city government. Since community government is cooperation of all in behalf of all, there is really no limit to the things that may be done in and through the city government. In any large city a list containing a thousand things that are done by the government could easily be given. These range all the way from care of the highways to the management of a library, and embrace such vital concerns as health and education, public morality, and supervision of housing. Every year the functions of city government are increas- ing; and more and more government will hold a vital relation to the higher life of all. The chief concern just now is not so much an increase in the functions of city government, but a growing determination to have these functions performed better. FOR CLASS USE 1. Discuss the relation of the city to the state. 2. Why is the question of good city government of such vital importance? 74 Building a Community 3. Discuss three of the most important of the condi- tions of a good system of city government. 4. Show how the Christian workers may cooperate with the city administration in ways other than those sug- gested in this chapter. 5. References : Munro, " The Government of Ameri- can Cities " ; Wilcox, " The American City " ; Cutting, "The Church and Society," Chapter III; Ward and Edwards, " Christianizing Community Life," Chapters IX, XI ; Holt, " The Bible a Community Book " ; Strong, "The Challenge of the City"; Howe, "The City the Hope of Democracy " ; Addams, " The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets " ; Sears, " The Redemption of the City"; Follett, "The New State"; Devine, "Social Work," Chapter XI. CHAPTER V HOUSING AND HOMES The Bible is a book of the family. In a sense it grew out of the family, and so it places a high value upon it. It regards life in the family as man's normal life, and it treats sin against the family as the most heinous of all. In the divine will, adequate provision is made for the family and every precaution is taken to ensure its pro- tection. The prophet foresees the day when every family shall have its own home ; one of the most alluring hopes of the future is that men shall sit each under his own vine and fig tree. The Son of man was born into a human home and grew up as a member of a family. The City of God is built on earth as fast as true homes are found in it. In this brief study it does not fall within our purpose to consider the origin and meaning of the family. We cannot discuss the function it fulfils in the training of life and the service it can render to the Kingdom of God. We are concerned here primarily with the home as the shelter of the family; we note some of the things that menace the home ; we consider some of the things the community must do to protect and promote the home — that thus the home may render the largest service to the community itself. " Domestic life," said Cardinal Man- ning, " creates a nation. The state interested in its own welfare will give the home first consideration/' " Ques- 75 76 Building a Community tions like the tariff," said Theodore Roosevelt, " have absolutely no meaning in the presence of the supreme duty of preserving the family, the primary unit of society." HOUSING CONDITIONS It has been pointed out by a recent writer that in the narrative in Genesis there is a marked antagonism be- tween the family and the city. It was Cain, red-handed from the murder of his brother, who built the first city. All through the narrative the city with its sin and tyranny is set over against the family with its purity and freedom. (Smith, "The Bible Doctrine of Society," Chapter I.) However this may be, we must recognize the fact that many things in our modern communities menace the home. At bottom the fundamental difference between barbar- ism and civilization is measured in the condition of the home. In a barbarous condition there is little real home- life ; the people are more or less nomads, and true home- life does not exist. As we rise in the scale we find that the home is becoming more stable and has a fixed habita- tion. More than that, we find that it becomes more than a mere dwelling-place and is becoming both a school of life and an agency of social progress. It is in the home that life receives its earliest training. It is in the home that human beings are trained in the art of living together. It is a significant fact that a large proportion of delin- quents have had no proper home-life. It is a noteworthy fact also, that the great saints and servants of the church, the men and women who have done most for God and man, have come from Christian homes. It is in relation Housing and Homes 77 to the home and its well-being that we may measure some of the conditions and tendencies in modern life. Three aspects of this question may be noted : Bad housing, un- satisfactory home-life, and the difficulty of home-owning. 1. Bad Housing In our time we have awakened to the fact that many people are badly housed, and that this evil lies at the root of many other evils. Bad housing is responsible for much sickness and many deaths. It is a potent cause in the break-up of families and the delinquency of children. Since this is so, it is evident that any real program of community-building must give large attention to this question. And our program here must have two aspects ; we must seek to cure bad housing, and we must secure good housing. What is bad housing? In a broad sense it may be said that bad housing means any condition which tends to impair the health and morality of the tenants. In relation to the family, bad housing means any condition which menaces the physical health and moral life of the people. Judging by this standard we find that bad hous- ing exists in many communities, not only in the large cities, but in nearly all communities without regard to size. Several things enter into this condition called bad hous- ing that may be mentioned, such as lack of air and sun- light, lack of privacy and unsanitary conditions, over- crowding and liability to disease. Bad housing, accord- ing to the best authorities, consists in houses that are (a) poorly lighted; (b) poorly ventilated; (c) damp; (d) imperfectly drained; (e) exposed to undue fire peril; (/) 78 Building a Community in bad repair; (g) vermin infested; (h) disease infected; (i) with uncleanly surroundings; (/) with insufficient water-supply; (k) without toilet accommodations ade- quate for comfort, privacy, and cleanliness; (/) with defective plumbing; (m) with overcrowded rooms; (w) with cellar tenements. One of these defects proves bad housing, but houses grade from bad to worse according to the number of defects present. The results of bad housing are many, and affect men all along the line. Bad housing is dangerous to moral and physical health, to personal and social welfare. Bad housing promotes (a) industrial inefficiency; (b) in- ebriety; (c) dependence; (d) poverty; (e) disease; (/) death; (g) juvenile delinquency; (h) debased citizen- ship; (i) vice and crime; (/) degeneracy of race. It betrays a sad lack of discrimination to hold bad housing alone responsible for the high rate of sickness and the inefficiency of the tenants. For bad housing with serious overcrowding is due in large part to poverty and igno- rance. People who crowd into rooms in disregard of health and decency are usually weak and underfed; so that bad housing may be called a contributing cause and not the sole cause. It is true today as of old that " the destruction of the poor is their poverty." The poor and beaten are driven into overcrowded tenements, and bad housing conditions complete the work of destruction. In Berlin investigations show a direct relation between housing conditions and the death-rate. Thus the death- rate in families occupying one room is 163.5 per thou- sand; in families occupying two rooms 22.5 per thou- sand ; in families occupying three rooms 7.5 per thousand ; in families occupying four rooms and over 5.4 per thou- Housing and Homes 79 sand. (Riis, " Charities and Commons," Vol. XVIII, p. 77.) Recent investigations among the school children in Glasgow show that boys from one-roomed families are 12.9 lbs. lighter and 5 inches shorter on an average than boys of the same age from four-roomed families; and girls from one-roomed families are 14 lbs. lighter and 5.3 inches shorter than girls of the same age from four- roomed families. Other cities yield practically the same results. The results of bad housing, including insanitation and overcrowding, are marked in the whole life of man. Some years ago a friend of mine who was investigating conditions took a lodging in a crowded tenement in the East Side of New York. He awoke in the morning with a dull headache and a feeling of nausea, having a bad taste in the mouth, and craving a stimulant of some kind. He then understood for the first time why it is that so many people take to drink. "The destruction of the poor is their poverty." It is needless to say that this overcrowding is a menace to the moral life of the family. Where an entire family live in one room, eating, sleeping, and working in sight of one another, it is evident that modesty is practically im- possible and morality is doubly difficult. How much more difficult is it to be moral and modest when two or more different families live in the same room. Some of the finest graces of the spiritual life can grow only in quiet and retirement. The religious life requires some opportunity for prayer and meditation. But these are all impossible in an overcrowded room. The people who are interested in the moral and religious life of their fellows must perforce be interested in this question of bad hous- 80 Building a Community ing. To seek the spiritual welfare of people, but to do nothing to make the spiritual life possible, is an evasion of duty that is as foolish as it is misguided. The conditions of true home-life are impossible in over- crowded rooms. There can be little, if any, home-life with a family of eight persons living in a single room not more than fifteen feet square. There is hardly space for the persons to turn around without getting in one another's way. It is not strange, therefore, that both parents and children spend just as little time at home as possible. The man goes to the street, to the poolroom, or to the corner saloon. The young people go out to roam the streets, to go to the cheap shows and dance-halls. Young men and young women having no place where they can meet for social fellowship are driven to the streets, to the cheap shows, the dance-halls, or worse. That many fall into evil ways is what might be expected. That many more do not go to pieces morally is due to some innate nobleness of human nature rather than to any help from society. Some years ago a police judge in New York City said : " There are thousands of families in this city — I had almost said a majority — where the rearing of two more children means a girl for the brothel and a boy for the penitentiary." 2. Unsatisfactory Home-life There is a marked tendency in modern society toward what we shall call unsatisfactory home-life. This is due to the growth of tenement- and apartment-houses. In recent years this has been most marked ; and the evil is not limited to a few large cities, but is growing at a rapid rate in smaller cities and towns. In New York Housing and Homes 81 City this tendency has been carried farther than in any other city. Here over ninety per cent of the people live in tenements and apartments with anywhere from four to fifty families in a building. Several things may be noted. We have the families crowded into limited space. As a rule some of the inner rooms are ill-lighted, where they are not dark. The families are found on all floors, and many members have little direct contact with the earth. Home-owning is out of the question, and thus the families move frequently and have few attachments. A tenement population is nomadic, and this is an evil tendency. More than this, in many of the better grade apartments children are not wanted. In some cities in high-priced apart- ments children are not allowed. Cases are known where in the contract it is provided that if a child is born into a family this fact works a cancellation of the lease. This is a barbarous condition, and is unworthy of a civilized society. 3. The Difficulty of Home-owning The modern social and industrial development is mak- ing home-owning ever more difficult. The industrial revolution has been accompanied by the growth of great cities. With the rise of the factory system there came the upgrowth of the factory town. This has massed the workers in these centers, and has increased the value of the land. Wages paid wage-earners have been small, and this has made home-buying almost impossible. This is not all, but a large proportion of wage-workers are more or less migrant, with no permanent tenure of employment and no permanence of residence. In many industries a large proportion of workers are out of employment for a 82 Building a Community considerable part of the year. The man who owns a home is tied to one place and cannot offer his labor at another place. To own a home is to limit one's freedom and mobility. For the average worker to buy a home on the instalment plan is giving hostages to fortune. It is certain that the man who removes his family to any industrial community and begins buying a home is run- ning a big risk. In the first place he is dependent upon the one industry for his income. In the next place he is often dependent upon the whim of a manager or boss. So he may be thrown out of employment without reason or redress. If he is driven by necessity to acquiesce in conditions which injure his self-respect, he is reduced to the position of an industrial serf. The results of this condition are very marked. Many families are reverting to the nomadic manner of life. They are here today and gone tomorrow. The conse- quence is that the family life is uncertain and unstable. The tendrils of life have no time to entwine themselves into the life of the community. The family forms few attachments, and the children are never fully socialized. The family pays the forfeit. Thus the modern industrial development is making against a stable and real home life. All honor to those parents who, with all these handi- caps, are trying to make a home and are training their children in the way of the Lord. But society must ease this pressure and must make it more easy for all parents to do the same. SUGGESTED REMEDIES Our efforts, to be fully effective, must take all factors into account and must work along various lines. Three Housing and Homes 83 main things may be noted, and our efforts will be grouped under these. 1. Cure Bad Housing We must recognize the fact that in all of our com- munities houses are erected and will be used. As fast as possible defects should be corrected and improvements made. But it will be a long time before all of these com- munities are rebuilt on more human and moral lines. Some lines of action are pretty well denned. The prevention and cure of bad housing conditions are the ends we seek. To attain this an effort must be made. ( 1 ) Every new building and tenement must be so con- structed as to afford suitable living accommodations. (2) Every old house not now fit for habitation must either be demolished or improved so as to become fit. (3) Every habitation, new or old, must be maintained in good repair and sanitary condition. ( Ball, " Housing Problems in America," pp. 33, 34.) To secure these results several things must be done. The first is to create an informed and active conscience which will be quick to hold every responsible party to strict account for these evil conditions. We must teach that rents or dividends extorted from the people in such tenements are blood-money. We must dare to say that it is just as wicked to kill a family by renting it an unsani- tary tenement as to throw strychnine into the milk-bottle. We need a new conscience that, with a whip of small cords, will lash the owner of a " lunger hovel " out of social fellowship. We must not stop here, but must secure state and civic 84 Building a Community regulations. We must accept the principle that bad housing is not necessary, but can be cured and prevented. To this end we must have both a good building code and a good housing code. The building code should provide (1) that only a certain percentage of the land shall be built upon; this may range from 50 to 70 per cent, according to the height of the building; (2) it should contain certain definite provisions with respect to courts and spaces; (3) it should contain regulations governing the use of basements and cellars and defining how much of a room used for resident purposes may be below the surface-level; (4) it should contain positive regulations forbidding the construction of buildings hav- ing dark, unventilated rooms, and with minimum require- ments for floor-space, size of windows, etc.; (5) it should contain provisions which will ensure adequate and sanitary plumbing conveniences. (See Veiller, "Model Tenements," House Law I.) The housing code should cover all other items not speci- fied above. It should require a certain number of cubic feet of air for each person; it should contain provisions also covering proper and systematic inspection and carry- ing sufficient penalties for the violation on the part of responsible parties. But beyond this in the interests of the family there should be requirements with respect to the number of rooms and the guarantee of privacy. The integrity and the solidarity of the family are at stake, and these are primary considerations. No city should permit unsanitary and unfit tenements to be erected and to remain, for they mean physical deterioration and make real family life impossible. In many cities in Britain and on the Continent society Housing and Homes 85 has recognized its obligation in this direction. Many cities have bought whole blocks of defective tenements, torn down old buildings, and built model tenements in their place. These are rented at fair rates ; in this way society is doing much to save the family. In older cities this is the necessary course, and the time has come for society to recognize its obligations. No self-respecting community will permit itself to be stopped in this neces- sary and righteous work by any reactionary cries about paternal government, socialism, and what not. Some owners will plead vested rights and will oppose all such legislation. But many so-called rights may become great vested wrongs. The best laws will fail unless they are enforced. There may, therefore, be in any community some body or com- mittee that will study housing conditions, that will make public the facts, and will secure the necessary action. The best thing, however, is for the people in every com- munity to be watchful and alert and thus head off the slums. It is easy to determine the mold and so to deter- mine the form of the cast. For when once the mold is made and the metal has cooled, we make slow progress filing a cold casting. Cure present evil housing condi- tions and prevent such conditions in the future. The constructive program of housing reform is thus stated : " The providing of healthful accommodations, adequately provided with facilities for privacy and comfort, easily accessible to centers of employment, culture, and amuse- ment, accessible from the centers of distribution of the food supply, rentable at reasonable rates and yielding a fair return on the investment." (Carol Aronovici, in " National Municipal Review," Vol. II, No. 2, 1913.) 86 Building a Community 2. Provide Adequate Housing In all lands at present there is a serious shortage of houses, and this must be met and remedied. We must recognize the fact that there is no easy solution of this problem. It is a very complex problem and is not to be solved by any offhand measures. There are several principles that enter into this problem and must be worked out in effective measures. These are based upon the conclusions of many careful statements of the whole housing question ; we give a short summary of these measures : (1) Land must not be held out of use for specula- tion, but must be freed for community use. (2) Values created by the community belong to the community. (3) The credit-power of the community must be made available for the building of homes. (4) The housing of a city's population is a public service, and it should be so regarded. (5) The city should have a comprehensive study and program of city-planning and house-building. (6) Transportation should be so planned as to give rapid transit to the suburbs and to relieve congestion. (7) Community ownership and control of land and houses by cooperative building societies should be made possible. (8) The city and state should encourage and make possible the widest possible ownership of homes. (9) Engineers, architects, and workers, and not mere selfish speculators must be made " the rightful masters in the task of providing homes for man." Housing and Homes 87 (10) Housing is a public service that must be placed under the charge of a state housing commission with comprehensive regulations and adequate authority to adjust all questions. 3. Promote Home-owning To ensure home-owning several things are essential. (1) We must secure for each family an adequate in- come. The question of an adequate economic basis for the family is one of the most vital before us. An ade- quate income is a prime essential in any program of family preservation. Without this all other efforts will accomplish little. With this secured all things become possible. Society must do everything possible to set the family on its feet, prepare its members for efficiency, and provide an open opportunity. Then the family must work out its own salvation. (2) We must secure permanency of residence and guarantee continuance of employment. Everyone recog- nizes the fact that there are certain seasonal industries ; and in these it may be difficult to secure the conditions we desire. But much can be done to regularize employ- ment and provide continuous work. Working people have done much to protect themselves and increase their security by labor organizations. Intelligent employers are more and more coming to see that irregular employ- ment reduces the working efficiency of workers and means a large labor turnover ; and so they are introducing more system into industry. Leverhulme, " The Six-hour Shift.") (3) We must effect such changes in the social and in- dustrial order as will give the workers a direct stake in 88 Building a Community industry. To ensure a satisfactory home-life we must secure a permanency of residence; to secure this per- manency of residence we must guarantee continuance of employment and adequate wages; to guarantee these we must effect some radical changes in the social and indus- trial order and give the workers a direct stake in the in- dustry. There are no single reforms, we begin to see; we cannot save man at one point until we save him at all points; the redemption of society is an organic process and must take every factor into account. The question of an adequate income enters into this problem ; so does the question of city-planning and transportation; it in- volves also the question of industrial processes and labor conditions ; above all, it involves the question of dis- tributive justice and industrial democracy. Society must know why home-owning is undesirable for many workers today and why it is impossible for others. It should then resolutely deal with these causes and should make home- owning both possible and desirable for all. (4) Beyond all these things, which in a sense are partial, there must be a wise program of city-planning in the interests of the people and their homes. Our cities are unclean, unsanitary, unattractive, and unheavenly. And they will be so as long as individualism reigns, as long as each thinks of the city as a place of profit and not of service, as long as the city allows individuals and corporations to exploit its most valuable resources, and as long as values created by the community are appro- priated by private individuals. The best sign of a city's progress is seen in the number of home owners and home lovers. Housing and Homes 89 FOR CLASS USE 1. Discuss the importance of the house in the making of the home. 2. Show what is meant by bad housing. 3. Indicate some of the bad results of bad housing. 4. What may be said regarding unsatisfactory home- life? 5. Indicate some of the difficulties of home-owning. 6. What is the cure for bad housing? 7. What may we do to assist in providing adequate housing ? 8. What can be done to promote home-owning ? 9. References : Veiller, " Model Tenements " ; National Housing Association, Proceedings 1915, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 ; Report of the Ontario Housing Committee ; Ward and Edwards, " Christianizing Community Life " ; Tra- wick, " The City Church and Its Social Mission," Chap- ter I ; Rowe, " Society," Chapter XXXI ; Watson, "Social Advance," p. 230ff . ; Booth, "In Darkest England"; Devine, " Misery," Chapter V ; Devine, " Social Work." CHAPTER VI INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Every community is made up of people. These, being human beings, eat food, wear clothes, cultivate the ground, build houses, work and trade, and have dealings one with the other. These community contacts, these relations of man with man, are the field of manifestation of the Christian spirit. " Without human life to act upon," says Professor Drummond, " without the relations of men with one another, of master with servant, husband with wife, buyer with seller, creditor with debtor, there is no such thing as Christianity. With actual things, with humanity in its every-day dress, with the traffic of the streets, with gates and houses, with work and wages, with sin and poverty, with these things and all the things and all the relations of the city, Christianity has to do, and has more to do than anything else." (Drummond, "The City Without a Church," p. 13.) THE MEANING OF INDUSTRY Man as we know him is a complex being of spirit and body. For the present, body is the abode of spirit, and spirit uses body. Sometimes these have been set in oppo- sition and each has been treated by itself. In any com- prehensive view of man both of these aspects must be considered and properly related, 90 Industrial Relations 91 1. Man a Complex Being This is the one thing vital here : God has ordained that man for the present shall be body and spirit, and these are so interknit and interdependent that neither can be considered by itself apart from the other. The other fact is that God's will covers the whole of man's being and makes provision for all of his needs. In discussing this subject of industrial relations, which, as we shall see, is concerned primarily with essential human needs, we are dealing with sacred things and are moving in line with the divine purpose. It is pos- sible to be as spiritually minded in discussing working conditions as in leading a prayer-meeting. 2. Man's Constant Needs Every human being has certain constant and imperious needs. He needs truth for his soul and beauty for the eye. But no less he needs food for his body and oxygen for his lungs. It is true that man does not live by bread and oxygen alone ; " but by every word of God doth man live." Man is something more than so many pounds of carbon and hydrogen with a little phosphorus added. But it is no less true that man cannot live without food and drink and be a man. And it is God's will that he shall have all things needful for his life in this world. Revelation and reason make this so obvious that it needs no proof. When Jesus taught men to pray : " Our Father who art in heaven, Give us day by day our daily bread," he interpreted the Father's will for his children. Whatever is implied in the will of God demands thought and action on our part. 92 Building a Community 3. God's Way with Man In his dealings with men God follows a law and method. It is his will that his people shall have daily bread and acquire dominion over the earth. But nothing is given to man ready made and without any effort on his part. To have daily bread man must cultivate the ground and gather the harvest. It may be noted that this is a human collective task and not a purely individual enterprise. God is training his people in the great art of living to- gether ; to live well and to accomplish his task, man must cooperate with others. Some few things he may produce by himself alone ; but his ability in this direction is strictly limited. To have any variety in food and to build any kind of a house men must exchange commodities and transport them from place to place. To be human, men must have fellowship in work no less than in worship and play. 4. Place and Meaning of Industry This suggests the place and meaning of industry. In a general sense industry includes all of the factors that enter into the production and manufacture, the transpor- tation and distribution, of commodities. Many writers have used the term in a more restricted sense, as dealing simply with the manufacturing system of modern life. But we cannot chop things up with a hatchet after this fashion; we cannot use the term in this narrow and divisive sense. Here we shall use the term in the larger sense and shall make it include all of the factors that enter into the production and distribution of commodities. Thus it includes many factors and processes; it includes Industrial Relations 93 the work of the farmer and miller, the miner and trader. But quite as truly it includes the services of the carpenter and builder, the merchant and the errand boy. In a word it includes all of the means and methods by which men are fed and clothed. 5. Industry and Man's Well-being It is evident that industry as thus understood has a place in the purpose of God and a direct relation to man's well-being. Christianity is here not to scorn the world or to cast any essential human need out of the Kingdom. It is here rather to redeem all life and to interpret the true meaning of things. The Christian conception of life reveals very clearly the meaning of industry and its relation to the Kingdom of God. Industry is here that it may serve man. Industry is a means through which men cooperate in serving essential human needs. Industry, like every other factor and in- stitution, exists that it may promote human fellowship and the advance of God's Kingdom. In the last analysis these three things are one; at any rate, each implies the other. This we may note : that industry in its true mean- ing is a fellowship of men working together to serve essential human needs. Bread for his daily life is one of the most imperious needs of man. Industry, which is the means through which man gains his daily bread, is thus one of the most important factors in community life. It must be so conducted as to supply man's essen- tial needs and make its largest contribution to community values. It should promote cooperation and fellowship and be a means of uniting men in common tasks. And it is necessary that it be so related to the other factors of 94 Building a Community society as to promote community progress and social unity. THE DISHARMONY IN INDUSTRY In this brief study it is of course impossible to discuss this or any question in detail. As anyone knows, the industrial question is one of the disturbing ques- tions of our time, and many volumes have been written dealing with aspects of this problem. Here we are con- cerned with industry as related to community life, with some consideration of the ways whereby industry may serve community progress. 1. Changes in Industry The present industrial system is unsatisfactory. It is sometimes supposed that as things are they always have been. But, as students of economic history know, our present system is a comparatively modern thing. It is only a little over a hundred years old and is the direct result of what is called the industrial revolution. The invention of machines for manufacturing purposes and the development of steam-driven machinery produced momentous changes in the structure and methods of human society. In the present order we have what we call the factory system. On the one hand we have investors, whether individuals or a corporation, building great factories and employing many workers. On the other we have great numbers of workers employed in industry, with no ownership in the tools and no voice in the management. These two groups, owners and employees, by the nature of the case are related to one another, and each is de- Industrial Relations 95 pendent upon the other. But in industry they are sepa- rated into two opposed and competing groups, often without any contact or fellowship. This system contains all of the conditions which make for misunderstanding, friction, and strife. 2. Division of Labor This present system has brought a division of labor, and so has limited the workers' interest and personality. Division of labor is no doubt necessary in any industrial system ; no man can be a specialist in everything ; that the whole work of the world may be done and all the needs of man met, there must be specialization of function. But our system has carried this to the extreme; and so we find innumerable trades with highly specialized work. The time was when one man made a pair of boots ; but in a shoe factory he merely makes the fraction of a boot. This narrows the scope of his interest and life; this limits his freedom and mobility ; he may be thrown out of employment without notice ; he is unable to turn him- self till his particular bit of skill is again in demand. 3. Uncertainty of Employment The present system has brought an uncertainty of employment. As everyone knows, under the present system, employment for a large proportion of workers is very uncertain. Men may be thrown out of work with only a few days' notice. In such industries as the building trades in normal times workers have em- ployment less than two hundred days in the year. In nearly all industries a large proportion of workers, skilled no less than unskilled, are out of work a con- 96 Building a Community siderable part of the time. This uncertain tenure of employment makes home-owning difficult and unde- sirable for many. Seasonal trades mean migrant workers. Industrial nomads have no true home-life. 4. Effects upon the Home The present system has drawn women out of the home into the field of industry. This has given women greater economic freedom and has made it possible for millions to be self-supporting. It has increased the productive power of industry and has released men for some heavier masculine tasks. But there is a darker side which must be taken into account. Manufacture today is largely machine production. Such work, being mechanical, is tedious and uninteresting. This means that it induces fatigue in the worker. But woman, on account of her very organization, is more subject to fatigue than man. In fact, careful investigation shows that fatigue in men and women is as 100 to 139. A fatigued person is a poisoned person. Fatigue is a racial poison and affects not only the woman herself but her children. Here is a question that demands full consideration. (Goldmark, " Fatigue and Efficiency.") 5. Law of Selfishness Prevails Beyond this, the present system has enthroned the law of selfishness as the fundamental law. It assumes that men are selfish beings and that each is trying to get ahead of his fellows. It assumes that self-interest and competition are constant and potent factors, while sympathy and confidence are inconstant and secondary principles. The present system accepts, if it does not Industrial Relations 97 sanction, the principle of competition as the necessary- relation between employers and employees. Thus it is that industry, which should promote cooperation and fellowship, really divides men into two competing groups and pits one against the other. The result of this brief survey shows two things that are significant: industry as we know it has fallen far below its ideal ; it not only fails to promote fellow- ship and serve man in the largest way, but it is work- ing at cross purposes with the spirit of Christ and is wasteful of both material and human values. And the industrial system as we find it today is defective at many points and contains all the conditions of fric- tion and strife. The industrial world is a scene of confusion and strife. Misunderstandings are frequent ; there are strikes and lock-outs with much sufTering and bitterness ; communities are divided ; division enters the church, and class spirit grows. But we must pass on to deal with the things to be done in order that a more satisfactory system may be devised and that industry may make its full contribu- tion to community life. Two aspects of this may be noted. The first has to do with a change in the ideal, motives, processes, and organization of industry. The second has to do with the things to be done, both in the immediate situation and in the larger program of industrial progress. THE CHRISTIAN INDUSTRIAL POLICIES There are serious defects in the structure and organiza- tion of industry, as we all admit. (See report of Arch- 98 Building a Community bishops' Fifth Committee on " The Church and Industrial Problems," also Report of Committee on the World and the Religious Outlook, " The Church and Indus- trial Reconstruction.") But the primary defects, as the most careful students of industry admit, are within men, in their false ideas and wrong principles. Since this is the case, the first steps in the redemption of industry must be in the minds and motives of men. These false ideals and wrong motives must be denied and repudiated, and true ideals and Christian motives must become domi- nant. We need not mention these false ideas and mo- tives, but shall proceed at once to the mention of the true. Only the true can supplant the false. 1. Social Function of Industry The first thing is to affirm and accept the social func- tion of industry. As we have seen, industry includes all of the factors that enter into the production and distribu- tion of commodities. It is the Father's will that his chil- dren shall have daily bread and all things needful. Thus industry is a divine means to a divine end. It therefore has a social function; it is here to serve the uses of the Kingdom ; so it has a moral and spiritual value ; it is here to bring life to body and fellowship to spirit. The industrial order exists for the same end as the church and the missionary society, that it may serve man and advance the Kingdom of God on earth. To regard industry as a means of profit is to lay profane hands upon a holy thing. " Not to be ministered unto but to minister," is as fitting a motto over the door of the fac- tory as on the communion table in the church. Industry is here to serve essential human needs. Industrial Relations 99 2. The Obligation of Men of Good Will The men of good will must learn to think of industry in its true meaning. We are in the stone age of eco- nomics. Industry today is motived by Gentile and not Christian motives; it is organized on a pagan and not a Christian basis. So long as these Gentile motives are dominant and these pagan principles are accepted, "the goodly fellowship of the apostles could not operate our present industrial system and make its working just." We ought to have known long ago that our social and industrial troubles are due to selfishness and injustice. 3. Christian Principles Must Control There must be developed a body of just and Christian principles for the organization and conduct of industry. In civil society we have developed charters, bills of rights, constitutions, and laws for the definition of civil justice and the adjustment of civil difficulties. But industry, as Secretary Charles Evans Hughes says, is still uncivil- ized. The great need today is the development of such a body of charters and constitutions for the definition of social justice and the adjustment of industrial relations. (Batten, " The Christian Spirit in Industry/' pp. 7-14.) 4. Reconstruction of Industry is Necessary Then must follow a reconstruction of industry on the basis of just and Christian principles. There should be a parliament or council representing all parties, which shall interpret and define industrial principles. This council should pass upon all questions that concern the industry and should represent the judgment and voice of 100 Building a Community all. There should also be a court or committee to which all questions at issue may be referred and before which they may be tested according to certain accepted stand- ards. This court could adjust ninety per cent of the con- flicts that arise and could do much to insure industrial peace. That we are far from the realization of such a Chris- tian industrial order is known to all. That even the church itself needs to undergo a change of mind on this question is no less evident. Thus a prominent and wealthy member of a church can say : " I am not inter- ested in the education of the foreigners, because their elevation will deprive industry of its workers." But there are many signs of promise, and every day the num- ber of men increases who regard industry as a service and are seeking to keep it true to its ideal and to make it indeed a fellowship of men seeking the kingdom of brotherhood 5. Right State of Mind is Essential The primary need of men is a right state of mind. In- dustrial reconstruction must be an ideal, a chivalry, a faith, a religion, before it can ever become a visible reality. We may need a program for industry; but be- yond this and before this we need the Christian attitude of mind. This brings us to the very door of the church ; for this work of informing the mind, arousing the con- science, developing right motives, strengthening the will, is the special task of the church. " Where there's a will there's a way." Men would soon find the way to advance if they had the will to do so. The church must create the will which shall impel men to Industrial Relations 101 find the way. When men are willing to take Christ's way in industry they will know how to take the next steps. THE NEXT STEPS In attempting to reconstruct industry it is necessary that we have right ideals and principles and that we keep our eyes ever fixed upon the goal. We must beware of patchwork and must never be satisfied with half measures. It is equally necessary for us to see things as they are and to proceed by practicable measures to attainable ends. We must recognize the fact that life is a growth and men must live in passing from the old order into the new. The better industrial order will come as fast and as far as men are prepared for it. Here we note a few of the immediate and definite tasks that challenge those who would follow Christ and build a Christian type of com- munity life. 1. Church Must Have a Social Program In recent times many of the religious bodies have adopted statements which constitute what may be called the Christian program of industry. Among these may be named the following: (1) Abolition of child labor. (2) Such regulation of the conditions of toil for women as shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community. (3) Abatement and prevention of poverty. (4) Conservation of health. (5) Protection of the worker from dangerous machin- ery, occupational diseases, and mortality. 102 Building a Community (6) The right of all men to the opportunity of self- maintenance, for safeguarding his right against encroach- ments of every kind, and for the protection of workers from the hardships of enforced unemployment. (7) Suitable provision for the old age of the workers and for those incapacitated by injury. (8) The right of employees and employers alike to organize; and for adequate means of conciliation and arbitration in industrial disputes. (9) Release from employment one day in seven. (10) Gradual and reasonable reduction of hours of labor to the lowest practical point, and for that degree of leisure for all which is a condition of the highest human life. (11) A living wage as a minimum in every industry, and for the highest wage that each industry can afford. (12) A new emphasis upon the application of Chris- tian principles to the acquisition and use of property, and for the most equitable division of the product of industry that ultimately can be devised. (13) An adequate permanent national system of pub- lic employment bureaus to make possible the proper dis- tribution of the labor forces of the nation. In following out this program there are several things that demand special attention on the part of all intel- ligent people. 2. Prohibition of Child Labor The community must end the crime and blunder of child labor in industry. In the fine words of the Report of the Executive Committee of the American Federation of Labor, in 1914: "Child labor robs the child of a Industrial Relations 10. o chance to grow, a chance to learn, and a chance to dream. It robs children of the chance to attain the fullest develop- ment of manhood and womanhood. It leaves them with the sense of the world's injustice burned into their inmost feelings." Child labor in industry is morally wrong, socially unnecessary, and industrially wasteful, and should not be tolerated. 3. Protection of Women Women in industry should be fully protected. In recent times the number of women engaged in indus- try has rapidly increased. In America there are some ten millions of such workers. For a long time to come women will play a large part in industry, and our calculations must be upon this basis. But the community that accepts women as industrial workers has a clear duty in the case. It must protect women and must be sure that they are not overdriven. It must safeguard their health by limiting the hours of labor and forbidding night-work. It must insure them a living wage which will do these things: enable them to live a full life above the efficiency level; and by giving them an adequate wage it will prevent them from being used to undercut the wages of men. The community should carefully study the question of women in industry ; it should not be satisfied till satis- factory laws and regulations are adopted ; and it must see that these laws and regulations are fairly obeyed. 4. Guarantee of a Living Wage The community must see that all workers receive a living wage. " The laborer is worthy of his hire." It 104 Building a Com m unity is God's will that his children shall live a full and satisfying life. What we call wage, or income, is the economic means by which this end is attained. Human values are at stake, and these always take precedence over material profits. The churches have affirmed that a living income for the worker is the first moral claim upon industry. They have inter- preted a living income as one that will enable the worker and his family to live above the efficiency level and to be relieved of needless anxiety. This end is possible, and it must ever be kept in view. Any in- dustry that cannot pay a living wage is a parasitic industry and should not be tolerated. (Ryan, " A Liv- ing Wage " ; Ward, " The Living Wage," in Social Service Series.) 5. Demand for Rest and Recreation The community must demand and secure for every worker sufficient time for rest, for recreation, and for family life. It is a sin, and it should be a crime, to com- pel any worker to work seven days in the week and toil to the point of exhaustion. The community should sup- port all measures designed to limit the hours of labor and reduce them to the minimum. Above all, it should guar- antee to every worker one day of rest in seven and should demand a wage based on a six-day week and not on a seven-day week. 6. Promotion of Conferences The churches may well promote conferences of em- ployers and workers for the discussion of industrial ques- tions. Our present industrial system divides men into Industrial Relations 105 two groups and pits one against the other. One of the chief causes of industrial strife is found here, in the fact that members of each group look with suspicion upon the members of the other. Each group considers pri- marily its own interests and makes its own demands. So long as men stand apart they will misunderstand one another, and we have the conditions of friction. Indus- try, we have seen, is a partnership, and is intended to be a fellowship. The churches are the friends of all men and stand for unity and good will. The church in each community can render a large service in industry by em- phasizing the principles of fellowship, by promoting mutual understanding, and by bringing men together in conference for the discussion of their common interests. This work is difficult and requires tact ; but it can be done and it must be done. The duty of Christian men is clear : they are to accept the ideal of Christ as the standard for industry and are to make his ideal a reality in the actual life of the world. They are to interpret all life in terms of his purpose and are to bring all the tendencies, motives, processes, and results of industry to the touchstone of his spirit. It is not enough to be a Christian in industry; but men must strive to make industry Christian in its motives and methods. The just shall live by his faith. Men are justified not because they have fully attained the ideal; but they are justified when they see the ideal and set out to realize it. Our efforts at best will be approxima- tions ; but it makes all the difference in the moral value of life whether men are satisfied with the present or whether they are struggling upward toward the Christian ideal. 106 Building a Community FOR CLASS USE 1. Discuss the meaning of industry. 2. Show why the present industrial system is unsatis- factory. 3. Discuss the uncertainty of employment in its effects upon the home. 4. Discuss some Christian ideals of industry. 5. Indicate the five most important items in the state- ment of the social program of the church as given in this chapter. 6. In what ways may women and children be protected in industry? 7. What in your judgment is the one best suggestion given in this chapter? 8. What is your own best suggestion? 9. References : " The Church and Industrial Recon- struction," Report of Committee on the War and the Re- ligious Outlook ; " The Church and Industrial Problems/' Report of Archbishops' Fifth Committee; Rauschen- busch, " Christianizing the Social Order " ; Tawney, " The Acquisitive Society " ; Johnson, " The New Spirit in In- dustry " ; King, " Industry and Humanity " ; Batten, " The New World Order " ; Ward, " The Labor Move- ment " ; Maclver, " Labor in the Changing World " ; Commons and Andrews, " Principles of Labor Legisla- tion " ; Ward, " The Social Creed of the Churches " ; Henderson, " The Aims of Labor " ; Henderson, C. R., " Citizens in Industry." CHAPTER VII PLAY AND RECREATION " The three master forces fixing the mundane welfare of human beings," says Professor E. A. Ross, " are work, living conditions, and recreation." It is certain that rec- reation is one of the vital factors in human life. It must therefore have a rightful and recognized place in the com- munity program. The warrant for our interest — in case any warrant is needed — is found in the words of Zecha- riah : " The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the broad places thereof." (Zech. 8:5.) THE PLACE OF PLAY There are several aspects of this question which we may briefly note for their direct relation to our purpose. 1. Natural to Man Play is natural to man. If we were searching for the roots of things we should find the beginnings of play far down in the scale of life. Animals are fond of play ; in fact, a good part of an animal's life is spent in play. Two things make up the life of a being, animal, or man, work and the search for food, play and rest. The scien- tist has had much to say about the struggle for existence in the world of life, and undoubtedly there is a struggle, and it is intense. But life is not by any means the 107 108 Building a Community strenuous fight that some have imagined. Any observer of animal life, of birds, cats, dogs, sheep, horses, will discover that a considerable part of their time and energy is given to play. And the same is true of man. Primi- tive man indulged much in play, and he had many games and dances. This is a strenuous world for its inhabi- tants, and men must toil and fight to maintain themselves. But life is not all struggle and warfare. Deep in the nature of man there is a desire for recreation and play. 2. Necessary to Man Play is necessary to man. Work and play make up the life of man. " All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." This, like all old sayings, condenses a lot of social philosophy into a few words. In a far deeper sense than is sometimes supposed, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Man's body is so built that periods of labor must alternate with periods of rest. But rest, we have learned, does not always mean inaction ; sometimes complete change and increased activity are the best kinds of recreation. The use of any muscle or tissue of the human body means waste. More than that, where the labor is prolonged till exhaustion supervenes, a toxic element is found in the human system which has a very deleterious effect. Rest is necessary that this waste may be repaired. However, something more than this is required if man is to rebound from the exhaustion and regain his in- terest. He must have a counter attraction, a diver- sion, something that shall change the current of his life and call other tissues and faculties into exercise. Play and Recreation 109 " A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Man needs rest, diversion, recreation. Play is necessary to man. 3. Prepares for Life Play is an important factor in preparing the child for life and usefulness. In these times the sociologist has studied the phenomena of animal life, and he has made some important discoveries. He has found that play is the method through which the young animal is trained for its place in life. In play and in spontaneous exercise the animal calls into use those very activities which make up a large part of its serious life. Let anyone watch some animals at play and he will not be able at times to distinguish between the antics of play and the activities of a fight. He will see a group of dogs chase one another, biting, attacking, fighting apparently in good earnest. As he looks deeper into the meaning of things he finds that, while all this is play, it yet serves a most real and serious purpose in life. It is in and through play that the young animal is trained to run, to dodge, to avoid an enemy, to attack, to bite, to break away from its antagonist, to overturn him and overcome him. In play an animal is trained to do in sport the very things that he must do in earnest. What is true in the case of animals is even more true in the case of humans. Every person needs a certain equipment in body, mind, will, and habit for useful and social efficiency. The child needs a strong, vigorous, well-trained body, obedient to the will and fully under control. It needs good lungs, a strong heart, a clear eye, a trusty foot; it needs strength of back, agility of foot, 110 B u ilding a Com m un ity flexibility of muscle, alertness of movement. How can the child gain this training? Life is learned by living. The mere wishing for these things will not bring them. They do not come by chance, and they cannot be acquired from books or in the classroom. In large part they must come, if they come at all, in play. 4. Develops Social Nature Again, play serves a useful function in the develop- ment of man's social nature. There are certain qualities that are essential in life both for personal efficiency and social living, as imitation, initiative, fair-play, self-control. The person who does not possess these is seriously handi- capped ; persons are well-equipped for life so far as these are present. Not only so ; but people in this world who would be moral and happy must know how to get along with others, to do team-work, to give and take, to do one's best and yet cooperate with others. These qualities, it may be noted, must be gained in and through actual living. They cannot be inherited and they cannot be ac- quired from books. Play is one of the chief means through which these qualities are developed in life. In play, animals unite to accomplish certain ends, and play is the first social exer- cise of an animal's life. Birds in play unite to storm a tree. Ants unite in sham battles. Thus the animals learn to do team-work and to practise mutual aid. The same is even more true of human beings. In play chil- dren learn to combine, to do team-work, to support one another, to do a common task. In play the child learns to be both imitative and independent, to do as others are doing, and to depend upon its own initiative. In play the Play and Recreation 111 power of leadership shows itself, and children learn to group themselves around one who commands. In play there is a division of responsibility with a demand for common effort. In play children learn to be social beings, to be patient, to acquire self-control, to keep the rules of the game, to give and take. The playground is one of the best schools of character. Play is one of the chief factors in the socialization of man. Life in this world is life under laws and limita- tions. Society is possible in so far as life is adjusted to life and people work together. In every department and relation of life man finds that he is under law, and must adjust himself to other folks. He finds that there are certain rules and customs, and he who would stay in the game must play according to the rules. In the family, the church, the community, and industry, this is the case ; in fact these are all so many forms of the game of life, so many experiments in the art of getting along together. The well-adjusted person is the good, moral, happy man; the ill-adjusted person is the unhappy, troublesome, criminal man. The criminal is the un- socialized person, the one who does not know how to play according to the rules of the game. If the purpose of God in the world consists in training human beings in the divine art of living together, then play is one of the most necessary elements in every life. For there is a higher value in the spontaneous reactions of play than in the conscious experiences of labor. In play man learns to act unconsciously and freely, and thus its moral values are very high. Play must be made more attractive than vice. Vice will lose its power when play is made more attractive. 112 Building a Community 5. Satisfies Craving for Adventure Finally, play gives scope to one of the strongest cravings of the human heart. Someone has said that there is an unconscious poet in every man. . The say- ing is true, and, we may add, there is an unconscious romance in everyone. Man has come from ancestors who lived in the open air a life of adventure and move- ment. The craving for adventure and excitement is in the blood, and this craving must find some expression. Not only so, but life in this unfinished world, with so many possibilities open and so many battles to fight, is itself the greatest adventure. There is a great mysteri- ous future before the world and before man, and this means struggle and risk. Man loves the dramatic, the romantic, the heroic, the idealistic. It will be a sad day for the race if this craving is denied scope and is sup- pressed. It will mean the deadening of life, the leveling down of society, the reign of the stale and commonplace. Life to the average man in our regulated society and work-a-day world is a dull and flat affair. There is the same old round of duty, with the walk to the office or factory and home again. Sometimes as I watch the crowds of workers going forth to their work in the morning and to their labor until evening, I wonder that they do not rebel at its monotony ; for I do not see how they can endure its humdrum. It is just here that play and recreation come in to meet a human need and to satisfy a great natural craving. In play we can be romantic and heroic, if only for a few brief moments, and so can live for the rest of the day. Play and Recreation 113 THE PERVERSION OF PLAY The question of recreation is one of the most vital questions of our community life. But many things in our modern social development are making for the destruction of play and recreation in helpful and social ways. 1. City Life Against Play The modern city is the enemy of recreation. All the available ground is taken for streets, houses, warehouses, factories, trolley cars, and automobiles. There is no place where the children can run and play, no open space, no woods where children can hide, no streams where they can wade. The homes are too crowded for play and the streets are not safe. The child must do one of two things: either go without play or find it in questionable ways. By our methods of city building, with no provi- sion for the playing child, we have wronged the children and have driven them into evil dissipations. In denying the children an opportunity to play we are robbing them of some of their primary rights and are doing them an irreparable injury ; we are depriving them of a natural means through which they are socialized and fitted for the community life. 2. Children Driven into Evil More than this, in denying children a chance to play, we are driving them into evil. Vice is love of pleasure gone wrong. " More than half the children who come into the Children's Court of New York are there through the thwarted desire for play. Much crime is simply mis- H 114 Building a Community directed energy." (Coulter, " The Children in the Shadow," p. 64.) If children are to grow up strong, vigorous, alert, efficient, socialized, moral, they must have food, air, sunshine, recreation, and play. To deny them a chance to play is as great a wrong as to deny them food. Dr. George J. Fisher, International Secretary of the Y. M. C. A., says : " An unfortunately large number of our population do not have the physical basis of being good." Children do not want to be bad; but in denying them a chance to play and driving them into secret play, we are forcing them into evil ways. The failure to recognize this primary need of man for recreation and to provide adequate facilities for its de- velopment, means an increasingly large number of per- sons who are not fully socialized and coordinated. In a word, it means the presence of a large number of persons who are in danger of becoming non-socialized or desocial- ized — that is unadjusted and delinquent. 3. Adults Cannot Play What is true of children is no less true of adults. The average community offers few means for innocent and helpful recreation. There are some parks on the out- skirts of the city, started often by the street-car com- panies for their own profit. But there are very few means of recreation accessible to the rank and file of men. No wonder the corner saloon, with its bright lights, its laughter, its fellowship, has attracted so many. No won- der that pool-rooms are crowded and that cheap theaters flourish. It is true that we have some sports that attract thousands every day for months together. Baseball may almost be called the American national game. But base- Play and Recreation 115 ball is a sorry sort of sport for the thousands who crowd the bleachers. Here we find eighteen men, usually pro- fessionals, engaged in a game of skill and a struggle for victory, while thousands of men sit around as mere spec- tators. It is far better for all to play as amateurs than for thousands to watch eighteen professionals in action. Thus it is that most men take their exercise by proxy, and a pretty poor substitute it is for the real sport. 4. Play is Commercialized But there is a darker side to this question of recreation which must be noted. The failure on the part of a com- munity to provide adequate means of recreation furnishes designing men with the opportunity they crave. In our time play has been commercialized, and as a consequence it has been demoralized and degraded. No man can con- template the means and agencies of amusement in the modern city without some deep fears. Amusement is now run for profit, and it is falling lower and lower in the scale. It is most regrettable that so many forms of modern amusement excite the fighting instinct, while not a few gain their popularity by exciting sex-impulses. Many of the common amusements of modern society are those which appeal to the most primary instincts of man, and consequently do nothing to elevate him or improve society. Some of the modern forms of amusement are bad ; many of them are frivolous ; few are what may be called recreation. Play has become distraction, amuse- ment has become dissipation. By our failure to provide adequate means of recreation we are setting a premium on dance-halls and saloons, cheap and nasty shows, and questionable summer gardens. 116 Building a Community THE COMMUNITY PROGRAM In this question of play and recreation, as in so many others, there must be a change in thought before there can be a change in conditions. 1. The Church Must Educate This suggests the work of the church with reference to the question. The church can render a large service by teaching the religious meaning of life and showing the moral value of play. In the fullest and truest sense nothing that is common to man can be alien to the Christian. We need to remem- ber that Christ has come not to condemn the world, but to save the world ; he has come not to destroy, but to fulfil ; not to empty, but to fill life. No one probably would have thought of inviting John the Baptist to a wedding; but it was perfectly natural to invite Jesus ; it was natural for him to go and to add to the joys of the occasion. We must educate people out of the negative and indif- ferent attitude toward play and recreation. We must show the moral and religious value of all human activities and must employ every means that will promote health, happiness, morality, and life. That is, instead of seek- ing to repress natural and normal human impulses, we must give them creative expression and enlist them in the service of God. Beyond all we should recognize the fact that play, which is natural to man, in itself is good, and may be made a means of grace. The evils of sport, and they are many as now conducted, are collateral and not intrinsic. The social worker must therefore elimi- nate the bad features and redeem play for its higher uses. Play and Recreation 117 2. The Church Must Cooperate Every community should have a definite, practical, and constructive program of recreation. There are two aspects of this program which may be noted, the negative and the positive. In every community there should be a well-understood policy of repression of all evil forms of recreation. The community should have some good rules and ordinances for the regulation of all forms of recrea- tion, such as theaters, moving-picture shows, dance-halls, recreation parks, and public clubs. The community may well have a censorship committee whose duty it shall be to know the character of all shows and the conduct of all amusement places. The people should have an efficient and willing police department that will faithfully enforce the laws and safeguard the young. But this negative work, important enough in its place, is yet but a mere incident in our program. We must go forward and work along constructive, suggestive, helpful lines. Too long our efforts have been negative and re- pressive when they should have been constructive and expressive. Many of our moral and religious agencies have sought to repair the damages of vice when they should have sought to promote the development of virtue ; they have been shelters for the overdriven when they should have been power-houses for all. Effort must become creative rather than negative, and must encourage expression rather than repression. 3. Provision for Recreation The first thing is for the community to provide ade- quate means for the proper recreation of the people. 118 Building a Community The place to begin is with the children in the provision of proper play facilities. Society has committed the greatest wrong against the child — and the wrong against the child is the greatest wrong of all — in making private property of the earth and in cheating the child out of a chance to play. Society that would be moral and Chris- tian must repair this wrong, and must guarantee the child its right to play, to be a child. In many of our cities a beginning has been made in the establishment of playgrounds and recreation centers. But these are few and inadequate at best, and do not fairly meet the need. Something can be done to meet the need by equipping school-yards with apparatus for outdoor play. Better a playground without a schoolhouse than a schoolhouse without a playground. The basements of school build- ings should be equipped with gymnastic apparatus, swim- ming-pools, and other forms of indoor recreation. In crowded cities the roofs of schoolhouses and public build- ings can be used as roof-gardens. For the present, till other facilities are provided, certain streets may be closed to traffic at certain hours and children allowed to play in them. Parks on the outskirts of the city with boulevards and speedways — for horses and automobiles — are no sub- stitute for playgrounds near the children. And city squares with well-kept lawns and warnings to keep off the grass are simply a provocation to the real child. " The child has a right to some fun," says Professor Rauschenbusch, " for which it does not have to pay a nickel." Children on the street, crowding one another, giggling and idle, is a sorry sight beside children shouting and cooperating in play. In many of our cities it is proved that the opening of a Play and Recreation 119 playground, even in the worst districts, greatly reduces the number of cases in juvenile and criminal courts. More than this, the opening of a playground does much to allay race-suspicion and to promote friendliness. On the West Side of Chicago, in a section where foreigners of many nationalities met, race quarrels were frequent among the children. Finally a playground was opened, and in a short time race strife disappeared. Jews and Gentiles, Italians and Germans, Hungarians and Ameri- cans, played on the same teams and thus learned how to live together. Beyond this, however, something should be done to provide recreation facilities for all and to develop a com- munity spirit. We need some kind of recreation in which the people can participate actively and not look on as mere spectators. Folk festivals are doing much to social- ize people, to bring them together, and to make them conscious of their common life. Pageants showing the history of the community may do something to make life interesting and develop a community spirit. Quite as important as anything else, society must make it possible for the family to have recreation together. There is dan- ger ahead when the family splits up for its recreation. 4. All Agencies Must Help The various agencies and organizations in the com- munity must do their share. The churches may perform a large service by providing rooms which shall be used as social centers. An amateur dramatic club may keep the young interested and cause them to lose their taste for many of the cheap and nasty shows. The school can pro- vide playgrounds and can teach the children how to play. 120 Building a Community The women's clubs can keep the question before the peo- ple and can render a large service by giving advice. The community can furnish the opportunity for harmless recreation and play, and can allow the people to help themselves. The American city must either provide proper play facilities for the young or it must enlarge its prisons. It will do one or the other according to its wis- dom or its folly. If it will provide proper play facilities, in a generation it can close up half of its present prisons. If it neglects the children it must enlarge its jails. Joseph Lee is right : " The child without a playground is father to the man without a job." In view of all this we may adopt as an important item in our community program the following : a well-equipped and well-supervised play- ground within half a mile of every home. The church- member and the social worker must give attention to this important question of play. "If you want to know what a child is, study his play ; if you want to affect what he shall be, direct the form of play." (Joseph Lee, in Fore- word to "A Philosophy of Play," by Gulick.) There is a world of meaning in the old saying of the Talmud : " The world is to be saved by the laughter of school children." The social worker may well seek to realize the ideal of the prophet : " The streets of the city were full of boys and girls playing in the broad places thereof." FOR CLASS USE 1. Discuss the value of play in the life of man. 2. Show how children are driven into evil through lack of play-facilities in the city. 3. Show the need for proper play-facilities for adults. Play and Recreation 121 4. Indicate the opportunity and the obligation of the church in providing for wholesome recreation. 5. What is your own suggestion for your own com- munity ? 6. References : Atkinson, " The Church and the Peo- ple's Play " ; Gulick, " A Philosophy of Play " ; Edwards, ' Popular Amusements " ; Wilson, " Evolution of the Country Community," Chapter XIII ; Gross, " The Play of Animals" and "The Play of Man"; Lee, "Play in Education " ; Ward and Edwards, " Christianizing Com- munity Life " ; Coulter, " The Children of the Shadow " ; Play and Recreation Association of America, 1 Madison Avenue, New York ; Mangold, " Problems of Child Wel- fare," Chapter IV; Social Service Message of Men and Religion Movement, Chapter V. CHAPTER VIII DISEASE AND HEALTH The Son of man, according- to his own simple and yet majestic word, has come not to condemn the world but to save the world. (John 12 : 47.) The prophets had foretold the coming of one who would be anointed of God to preach good tidings to the meek, to comfort those who mourn, to heal the sick, to bind up the broken- hearted. The Gospel records show how during his earthly ministry Jesus fulfilled this hope of the prophets and spent a large part of his time healing the sick and helping the needy. And these things he did because he loved men and came to do the will of his Father. Jesus regarded sickness as something contrary to the Father's purpose for his children, and so he sought to save men from it. This is made evident in his teaching and in his work. First of all he regarded some forms of mental and physical disease as the work of demons. (Mark 5 : 2-15; 9 : 17-26.) Another time, on a Sab- bath Day when healing a woman infirm and crippled, he gave as a reason for his interest that she had been bound by Satan, lo these eighteen years. (Luke 13 : 11-16.) But he saw also that much sickness and suffering were due to the misdeeds of men ; and so he charged the invalid of thirty-eight years' standing to " Sin no more lest a worse thing befall thee" (John 5 : 5-14). He regarded the healing of disease as an essential part 122 Disease and Health 123 of his saving ministry. When challenged to show his credentials he said : " Go and show John what things ye have seen and heard, how the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up, and to the poor the Good News is preached." (Matt. 11 : 2-6.) These things were not secondary and incidental, for nothing was secondary and incidental to him. They were rather a part of his divine commission and were an essential part of his saving min- istry. (Luke 4 : 18-20.) And he charged his disciples to perform the same healing ministry (Matt. 10 : 7,8); and he promised them " the works that I do shall ye do also ; and greater works than these shall ye do, because I go unto my Father" (John 14 : 12). Not sickness, but health is the will of God for man. The redemption of Christ includes the redemption of man's body. This is an all-sufficient warrant for our warfare against disease and our interest in health. THE WASTES OF DISEASE One of the heaviest losses that society sustains is due to sickness. It is needless here to give statistics in detail showing the number of deaths from various diseases in this country. Nor is it possible to give the average time lost by each person during the year. The total number of deaths in the United States is about 1,500,000 each year. It is estimated that for every death there are at least two additional persons who are sick. This means that at least 3,000,000 persons, about one in thirty in the population, are ineffective through sickness and are compelled to 124 Building a Community undergo pain and loss. This means an incalculable loss to society from all this sickness and death, and it means an immeasurable amount of sorrow and suffer- ing. As an illustration we may give the result of an im- portant investigation of the United States Public Health Service, for the purpose of determining the actual loss sustained from malaria by the residents in an area of 25 square miles of farming territory. The amount lost from malaria in the area under observa- tion, because of inability to cultivate and gather crops, plus the amount paid out for doctors' bills and drugs, averaged $11.50 per acre under cultivation during 1918. In a near-by control area of similar size the economic loss from malaria amounted to $15.50 per acre during 1919, while the loss in the original area under investi- gation was reduced from $11.50 in 1918 to $1.50 in 1919, mainly through quinine supportive treatment. (Annual Report of the Surgeon General of Public Health Service, 1920.) This calls attention to an im- portant item in our community program, and indicates a very urgent duty. In our discussion of this subject we must make a distinction between what may be called unnecessary sickness and sickness that is inevitable in our common lot. So long as man is mortal and lives in this un- finished world, with its physical conditions and its changing seasons, he will be subject to many forms of disease and will have to bear much suffering. The frank recognition of this fact will make superfluous a lot of rhetoric and will teach us moderation in state- ment and discrimination in thought. But when full Disease and Health 125 allowance is made for all these conditions and contin- gencies it yet remains true that there is a vast amount of unnecessary sickness and preventable suffering. In like manner a distinction must be made between unneces- sary and premature death, which comes to so many, and natural and necessary death, which comes to all in the will of God. We believe that the life of man is made for the whole Kingdom of God ; and some time in the will of God man is called to lay aside this house of clay that he may be clothed upon with the house which is from heaven. (2 Cor. 1 : 3.) But this trans- lation ought to come to man at the close of a long life; and the casting off of the body ought to be the mere outgrowing of this earthly vesture. All this is very different from that needless and premature death that comes to so many. In our own land we find that about one-seventh of all persons born into the world die before the close of the first year ; and fully one-half never reach the twenty-fourth year. These deaths are premature and they are needless. This lays upon man and society a heavy responsibility, and suggests one of the most urgent items in our social program. THE CAUSES OF DISEASE In these latter times we have learned that disease and sickness have causes that are definite and knowable. The time has been when men believed that sickness was due to satanic influences that are permitted in some way to torment man. It must be confessed that there is some- thing almost satanic in the way diseases and plagues have afflicted mankind and desolated the earth. The time has 126 Building a Community been also when men attributed disease and suffering to the will of God. The Mohammedan believes that heaven fixes the death- rate; that one is flying in the face of Providence if he calls a physician ; and they who talk about sanitation are tempting the lightnings. There are many people in Chris- tian lands who hold pretty much the same view of things. This is the reason perhaps why some otherwise good women " enjoy poor health " ; they suppose that it is due to some mysterious Providence and is a sign of God's gracious discipline of the soul. It may be said that Divine Providence has established the relation between cause and effect, and where men allow evil causes and conditions to exist, the law of God brings penalty and disaster. But we know today that God does not ordain sickness, nor does heaven fix the death-rate, but these things are due to the ignorance and neglect, the selfishness and greed, of men. The most satanic thing about disease is the brutal selfishness of men with regard to the welfare of their fellows, and the wicked indifference of society to unsanitary condi- tions. There are many causes and conditions which determine the amount of sickness and the number of deaths ; and these are all human causes ; some personal, some social. 1. Two Classes of Diseases According to Dean Charles R. Bardeen, of the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, the diseases which afflict mankind may be roughly divided into two classes, constitutional and parasitic. The former are due to defects in the human mechanism and may be inherited, or they may be ac- Disease and Health 127 quired. Those that are constitutional may be innate, being inherited from defective ancestors, or they may be merely congenital due to racial poisons and the parents' conditions. Those that are acquired may be caused by adverse conditions to which the body is subjected, such as poor, insufficient, or improper food and drinks, bad air, dust, extreme dampness and cold, and exposure to various poisons, as in many trades. The latter, the parasitic diseases, are due to the growth in the body of micro-organisms, which feed upon its fluids and tissues and at the same time give off poisonous substances. The normal body has considerable power of resistance to the invasion of most of the parasites which cause disease. But when the constitution is weakened, as by the excessive use of alcohol, the resistance to para- sitic invasion becomes less marked; also the toxins pro- duced by the micro-organisms cause more or less per- manent constitutional damage. In many instances it is not possible to determine whether a disease is primarily constitutional or parasitic. (Quoted by Van Hise, in "The Conservation of National Resources," p. 365.) This describes the nature of disease and the manner of its manifestation. We must go further and consider the direct causes that are responsible for much disease and a large proportion of deaths. In this chapter we are considering mainly the social causes of social evils, and so we do not discuss in detail the personal causes of sick- ness and suffering. 2. Some Diseases Due to Ignorance We may note that much sickness and suffering are due to the ignorance of men. There are certain condi- 128 Building a Community tions which hedge up man's life here, certain laws that must be obeyed, if man would live and prosper. Man has been very slow in learning these conditions and slower still in obeying these laws. The results of this ignorance and disobedience are seen in the high death-rate and the great amount of sickness and suffering. People are in- different to the laws of health and so they must pay the penalty in suffering and loss. They eat improper foods and some eat to excess. Many neglect the simple rules of hygiene with reference to sleep, air, exercise, and rest, and nature exacts a heavy forfeit. Some are running the pace that kills and are wearing out their hearts and kidneys. In many cases, perhaps in most cases, it is a sin for an adult to be sick. It means that he is either grossly ignorant of the laws of health or that he violates those laws in self-will. But ignorance is a sin where knowledge is possible. Man must know the conditions of healthful living. 3. Vices Cause Diseases We must recognize the fact also that much sickness and suffering are directly due to the vices of men. All stu- dents of health know that impurity diseases and alcohol- ism are responsible for much suffering and misery. We know today that these are what may be called racial poisons ; that is, they have the fatal power of affect- ing and blighting the developing human life and thereby causing defects in the human mechanism. These two things are responsible for a large proportion of feeble- mindedness and epilepsy. Where the syphilitic taint is found in one or both parents few children are born normal, and not more than Disease and Health 129 two per cent live beyond infancy. These two things are responsible also for much tuberculosis and many nervous disorders, in that they mean an impaired constitution that is susceptible to disease and easily yields at the first attack. In the most literal sense the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. More than this; the blight of these evils falls upon the human race and causes a large proportion of the sickness and suffering. In the New York hospitals there were treated, in 1901, 243,000 cases of impurity disease. In the hospitals of the city that same year there were treated 41,585 cases of other infectious and contagious diseases. This means that there were six times as many cases of impurity dis- ease treated as all the other infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox, diphtheria, and typhoid fever. When we remember that impurity disease is itself a cause and condition of other diseases, the indictment against it is pretty heavy. Dr. J. H. Stokes says that syphilis " is a master dis- ease, the peer and indeed the superior of tuberculosis, the great white plague " in the wide range of its influence over the fate of mankind present and future. Sir William Osier coined the famous phrase which for all time expresses the relation of syphilis to medicine: " Know syphilis in its manifestations and relations and all other things clinical will be added unto you. No lane is so long that one may not find syphilis at its turn- ing. The disease has changed the destiny of mankind upon the earth." ("Today's World Problem in Disease Prevention," p. 59.) Humanity pays a heavy penalty in sickness and death for its vices. I 130 Building a Community 4. Fatigue a Cause of Disease But we must note another cause which affects the human constitution and is responsible first and last for much ill health and suffering. In all times men have known that exertion induces fatigue and that fatigue is followed by serious consequences. But it is only in these latter times that we have learned the real nature of fatigue and have discovered its seriousness. All exer- tion means the waste of tissue and the expenditure of power. In normal cases, where this exertion is not excessive, the waste is removed nearly as fast as it is created, and thus the balance of the body is maintained. But in other cases, where the exertion is excessive and prolonged, this waste is created faster than it can be removed. It there- fore remains in the system and is disseminated throughout the body. This waste material is poisonous, and the consequence is that the body is poisoned by its own waste material. 5. Unsanitary Conditions Induce Disease This is not all, but there is found to be a direct relation between sanitary conditions and the morbidity rate. In another chapter, when dealing with housing, we showed that there is a direct relation between the number of rooms a family occupies and the amount of sickness and number of deaths. The figures from Berlin are signifi- cant ; but no less are those from British towns. Thus in Scottish towns it is found that boys from one-room families are 12.9 lbs. lighter and 5 in. shorter than boys of the same age from four-room families ; and girls- from Disease and Health 131 one-room families are 14 lbs. lighter and 5.3 in. shorter than girls of the same age from four-room families. In Johnstown, Penna., it is found that the death-rate of infants in families with an income of less than $10 a week was 271 per 1,000, while in families with a larger income the rate was only a little over 50 per 1,000. In the seventh ward of Philadelphia, with bad housing conditions, the death-rate from tuberculosis was 447 per 100,000 of population. In the thirty-fourth ward, with normal housing conditions, the death-rate from the same disease was 100 per 100,000. Such figures from many cities could be quoted indefi- nitely, and they all confirm one conclusion. Wherever investigations have been made and statistics gathered it appears that there is a direct relation between sanitary conditions and the number of deaths. A morbidity and mortality map of any city shows clearly that much sick- ness and a high death-rate are always found in connec- tion with unsanitary tenements and overcrowded rooms. In all lands the industrial employment of women means a heightened infant mortality. In cities everywhere the number of deaths in a block from certain diseases holds a direct relation to the number of rooms a family occu- pies. (Johnson, " The Wastage of Child Life," Chapter I, IV.) All this shows that the amount of sickness and the number of deaths are due in large part to social and eco- nomic conditions over which society has direct control and for which it is directly responsible. Since the community is responsible for community conditions, it is evidently responsible for the morbidity and mortality rate. 132 Building a Community 6. Causes of Most Deadly Diseases There are several well-known diseases which cause a large proportion of the sickness and are responsible for many of the deaths in modern society. The plague, cholera, yellow fever, typhoid fever, smallpox, typhus, and diphtheria are some of the historic scourges which have swept over the world from time to time and have caused innumerable deaths. These are all caused by the presence in the human body of minute germs which waste and destroy the system ; and these are all filth diseases in that the germs develop in filth and are spread by neglect. The same is true concerning typhoid and dysentery, in- cluding with the latter summer complaint, cholera- infantum, and similar diarrhoeal diseases. These diseases are due one and all in the first place to polluted water, infected milk, dirty food, and poisoned air; and many of these germs are carried by flies, mos- quitoes, fleas, and rats. Tuberculosis, one of the most common and most deadly thus far, is what may be called a " crowd disease." It is due to a germ which develops in the human system; but it does not develop unless the system is itself reduced by overcrowding, bad air, defec- tive nutrition, and general neglect. But it is highly in- fectious and contagious and is easily communicated to others. The sum of the matter is this ; that sickness and disease are due, in large part at least, to human and social causes. These causes can be known, and they are all within the control of man. Man and society are responsible for fully ninety-nine per cent of the sickness and deaths that occur. Disease and Health 133 THE CONSERVATION OF HEALTH The elimination of disease and the conservation of life are among the most urgent tasks before man and society. We have seen that the causes of disease are many and complex and that they are partly personal and partly social. This means that the efforts of men and society in eliminating disease must follow many lines. We must know what are the causes of disease and must deal with these causes. Health depends upon certain conditions that are definite and well known. There is no chance about these things, and we must get rid of the old notion of accident and fate. We must know for one thing that constitutional defects are not necessary, but are induced by certain definite causes. We know also that the plague and pestilence are not due to any " mysterious dispensa- tion of Providence," but are caused wholly by the neglect and sin of men. Several steps in our program of elimi- nating disease and conserving health may be noted. 1. Eliminate Racial Poisons We must know what are the racial poisons and prenatal causes, and must deal with these. Alcoholism and venereal disease must be attacked and must be eliminated. We must instruct the people, and especially the young, concerning these things. We must create a discriminat- ing and militant conscience and must realize that when a child is born blind or epileptic, when it is feeble-minded or scrofulous, one or both of the parents must rest under a heavy suspicion. This may be hard, and no doubt it is ; but it is still harder to have a life blasted and to cast heavy burdens upon society. By education and by law, 134 Building a Community society must deal with these racial poisons and must destroy them. 2. Sound Bodies for All We must take steps to secure sound bodies for all. This applies to care for life before birth and after birth. Society should know what are the conditions likely to cause weakened bodies in the next generation., and society must construct and constrain. Child-bearing mothers should be saved from needless fatigue ; they should not be permitted to work in mill or factory for a number of weeks before and after child-birth; better still, they should not be subjected to fatiguing conditions during the years of child-bearing. Society must guarantee to every child sufficient food, pure air, sunshine, and a chance to play. We do not fully understand all of the causes and conditions of dis- ease and health ; but we know enough to guide us. Con- stitutional weakness and a predisposition to certain dis- eases may be counteracted and largely overcome by care. Has a child one or more ancestors who were tuberculous ? There is no reason why the child should die of the same disease; but where there is this taint special care should be taken. Plenty of fresh air, nourishing food, and care- ful living will enable anyone to overcome it. It is worth noting that many men who have lived to an old age were sickly in childhood. Because they were sickly they were given special care and attention; the persons themselves conserved their strength and health ; and thus they lived out their allotted span. Whereas many who were sturdy in childhood neglected their health and abused their bodies, and went down to an untimely grave, Disease and Health 135 3. Remove Bad Conditions We must remove all bad and unsanitary conditions. We must give attention to such things as housing, water- supply, milk, and air. It is only in recent times that man has given direct attention and scientific study to these things, but already the results are most marked : the his- toric scourges of plague and cholera are practically con- trolled and eliminated. In the city of Havana the annual death-rate from yellow fever, in the eight years before the American occupation, was 550 per 100,000. In the first six years of the century, after sanitary measures had been applied, the annual death-rate was reduced to 32 per 100,000. The story of Panama is another one of the modern miracles of healing; we know how, by the application of scientific knowledge and methods, what was once a pest spot has become a health resort. The work done in and around army camps, during the World War, shows what can be done by united and intelligent action to reduce disease and conserve life. 4. Cooperation of Community Agencies There must be a cooperation of community agencies in behalf of health conservation. The churches can do much by emphasizing the obligation of health and must make people know that sickness is sin. The laws of health are as divine as the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount, for they are all expressions of the wisdom and will of the one Creator. The churches must teach the people that in most cases it is a sin to be sick; they must create a conscience on the question of health ; they 136 Building a Community must make men realize that they are under obligation to study the causes of disease ; above all, they must make a community know that every unnecessary death is a com- munity crime. Ignorance is a sin where knowledge is possible. Every community is responsible for its over- death-rate. Further, the churches can create a conscience which will impel the people to take thought for the community welfare and to conserve community conditions. Every church may well have morbidity and mortality maps of their community, and wherever they find an unusual number of cases of sickness they should at once know the cause and secure action. By all means let us have good laws on housing and sanitation ; but let us never forget that good laws are only possible where there is an intelligent conscience, and they are only fully enforced where there is a conscientious watchfulness. By all means let the church through its proper agency communi- cate with the state board of health and with the public health service at Washington. These will furnish excel- lent literature for distribution and will suggest some definite lines of service. 5. Creation of Social Conscience Another thing: we must create in men a sense of re- sponsibility for the effects of their lives and the condition of their property. We all realize that it is actual murder to throw strychnia in the milk bottle or to shoot a man down on the street. We can all condemn assault and murder where the action is direct and immediate. But we do not realize that it is constructive murder to sell adulterated foods and to work people beyond their Disease and Health 137 strength. We do not always see the relation between a high death-rate and the neglect of civic duties, nor do we see that rent taken from a lunger tenement is blood money. The church and society must create this sense of social responsibility; they must make men know that the ownership of property demands personal knowledge of the condition of that property; they must make men know that they are their brothers' keeper in the way they manage factories, build tenements, conduct city affairs and form housing codes. 6. Medical Inspection of Children The state and school are doing much to reduce the morbidity rate and to conserve health. But they can do even more in this direction. In every community provi- sion should be made for the careful medical inspection of all children at frequent intervals. The eyes and throat should be examined, the question of nutrition and vitality should be considered. Where children are found defec- tive at any point they should receive medical treatment. But the state must go farther than this, and must know whether the child is living in unsatisfactory conditions which induce disease and undermine vitality. We may accept the dicta: the state that is under obligation to educate the child is under equal obligation to see that it has a healthy child to educate. The state that confesses an obligation to care for the sick or defective man is under full obligation to deal with the causes which are responsible. Several principles must be accepted by society. A high death-rate among children is wholly needless and is socially criminal. Every preventible death is a reflection 138 Building a Community upon the intelligence and religion of a people. The death of children is contrary to God's will. Every death below seventy years should be a subject of serious thought. Every death due to typhoid fever, tuberculosis, lead poisoning, diphtheria, or " industrial accident " should be the occasion for a coroner's inquest. The time is coming when the death-rate of a community will be the measure of a community's religion. FOR CLASS USE 1. What was Jesus' attitude toward disease? 2. Indicate some of the wastes of disease. 3. Discuss the causes of disease. 4. What causes are most responsible for the diseases of your community? 5. Which of the causes of disease may be most easily removed ? 6. Which are the three most important of the sugges- tions given in this chapter for the conservation of health ? 7. What is the next step in your own community ? 8. References : Allen, " Civics and Health " ; Cabot, " Social Service and the Art of Healing " ; Fisher, " Ten Commandments of Health," in " Country Life," August 15, 1911; Coleman, "The People's Health"; Devine, " Misery and Its Causes " ; Brewer, " Rural Hygiene " ; Public Health Reports by U. S. Public Health Service, Washington; Publications of Children's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington ; Devine, " Social Work," Chapter IX. CHAPTER IX POVERTY AND OPPORTUNITY A modern artist has given a striking illustration of the subject before us. We see two figures, Progress and Poverty, standing upon our globe and struggling for supremacy. Progress is a strong youth with hope in his eyes, facing the future and striving to advance. Poverty is a poor, emaciated creature with averted face and stumbling steps. But the two are bound together; and thus Poverty halts Progress, and Progress delays because of Poverty. Poverty is a direct challenge to the community spirit. That any number of our fellows should live in poverty, unable to secure the necessaries of life, living without any of the things that make for admiration, hope, and love, is a fact well calculated to disturb the peace of any thought- ful soul. That a single human soul, partaker of our human nature, dowered with human capacities, should live in poverty and die with its powers undeveloped, we must pronounce a tragedy whether it happens only once in a generation or thirty times in a minute. The real tragedy of poverty, as we shall see, is not so much lack of bread as lack of opportunity. There are several reasons that may be briefly stated why this question of poverty has become so urgent and its solution is so necessary. First of all is what may be called the Christian conception of man. The Son of man 139 140 Building a Community has come teaching that God is Father and man is child; teaching that God loves all, even the poor and the weak ; that it is not the will of the Father who is in heaven that one of his little ones should perish. Christianity affirms the value of the downmost man and declares that every one is entitled to a man's chance in the world. The second reason is the growth of the democratic faith : " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. " The sense of equality is growing in the minds of men, and they are beginning to believe that one man has as much right to life and happiness in this world as another. The third is the glaring contrasts in social life that are becoming patent to all. We need not here discuss the question whether these contrasts are any greater today than they have been in the past. The fact is that men see and note these contrasts. They see and note them because of the new conception of man and the growth of the democratic faith. And the knowledge of these con- trasts is in part the cause of the deep and growing social unrest in so many lands. The last reason is this : men are beginning to feel that poverty is wholly unnecessary ; that it is due to social causes and conditions ; that there is plenty and to spare in the Father's house for all his children, and its con- tinuance in society is a denial of the Christian faith. For every reason that can be given why men should be interested in this question of poverty, two reasons can be given why Christian men should devote themselves to its solution. Poverty and Opportunity 141 THE NATURE OF POVERTY What is poverty ? Poverty and pauperism are often used more or less interchangeably by many people; and yet the difference between them is marked. Each is a relative term ; what is poverty to one person may not be such to another. It is important, therefore, that we understand our terms. By poverty we mean an economic and social condition in which a person does not possess sufficient income to maintain health and efficiency. Those in poverty may have some income and may be able to find food and lodging; but they do not have sufficient income to maintain a state of physical comfort. By pauperism we mean a condition in which one person must depend upon others for support. This condition may be voluntary or involuntary ; it may be transient and it may be permanent ; but the significant thing is that the pauper is dependent upon others for food and shelter. The terms are relative and the lines are not fixed; there are no definite classes in poverty and others in pauperism, for people are all the time passing above or below the poverty line; many are passing from poverty to pauper- ism, while a few rise out of pauperism into life and comfort. In this discussion we are dealing with poverty primarily, and what applies to poverty applies in large part to pauperism as well. If we can cure poverty we can cure pauperism. It is important that we understand the true nature of poverty. By poverty we mean that condition in which great bodies of people hive less than enough food and clothing and shelter for a decent and wholesome exis- tence. We mean that condition in which many must toil 142 Building a Community from childhood to old age and yet never possess a suffi- cient amount of the things necessary for a worthy human life; we mean that condition in which many people can benefit little from the world's advance in material com- fort and spiritual beauty because their bodies are under- nourished and their minds are over-taxed ; we mean, in a word, that condition in which men lack both the oppor- tunities of life and the power to improve these oppor- tunities. The most tragic thing about poverty is not the hunger and the cold, the lack of food and the strain of anxiety, though these are often bad enough. The most tragic thing of all is the meagerness of life and the lack of opportunity ; the fact that any life is held back by adverse conditions and cannot rise to life's full stature. THE EXTENT OF POVERTY In all times and among all peoples, some poverty has been found. Today it is found in some of its worst forms in the most advanced countries. In fact, it may be said that poverty, so called, is an accompaniment of civilization ; and, paradoxically enough, the more highly civilized a people, the more poverty there exists. In a primitive and simple society, life is spent pretty close to the level of bare subsistence. No one bothers very much beyond the day and its work. But no one falls very much below that level, and so an approximate equality is maintained. It is not possible here to discuss the ques- tion whether poverty is increasing or decreasing in what we call our modern civilized society. The fact that it exists to any considerable extent is the real problem. Poverty and Opportunity 143 It is only in very recent years that men have begun to study these questions and to measure the extent of poverty. Figures are not available showing its exact amount; but investigations show that much of it exists. In England it is found everywhere, but especially in the cities. Some years ago General Booth, of the Salvation Army, estimated that fully one-tenth of the people of the cities constituted a " submerged tenth." Above this was another class representing fully thirty per cent of the people who were living near the border-line of poverty. (" Darkest England," pp. 22, 23.) Charles Booth found in the city of London that at least 1,300,000, or 30 per cent, were unable to obtain the necessaries of a sound livelihood. In the city of York, Mr. B. S. Rountree found that 27.84 per cent were in a condition of poverty. And this careful investigator concludes : " We are faced by the startling probability that from 25 to 30 per cent of the town population of the United Kingdom are living in poverty." (Rountree, "A Study of Town Life.") The figures are not available for America as a whole or even for a single state. One-fourth of the people in our cities, according to Professor F. H. Giddings, never have enough to eat. They live meager lives, exposed to disease, without a fair chance in the world, shut away from the things that make life most worth while. Some years ago Jacob A. Riis showed that about one-third of the people of New York City were dependent upon charity at some time during the eight years previous to 1890. ("How the Other Half Lives," p. 243.) That there is a vast amount of poverty in New York City is shown in the fact that fully one-tenth of the burials from year to year are in Potter's Field. In other cities 144 Building a Community investigations have been made from time to time, and while the proportions are not so high, there is yet found a large amount of need. Robert Hunter estimates that fully ten million people in the United States are living in poverty, below the line of comfort. Be these figures exact or not, there is much poverty in America, the land of plenty. And each case of poverty represents the tragedy of a life and sometimes of several lives. The hunger and suffering are sad enough, but this is only a small part of the real problem. THE CAUSES OF POVERTY In this book we are not attempting to discuss any of the questions in detail, but are simply indicating a line of direction and outlining a working program. It is not possible, therefore, to note all the causes of poverty or to consider any of these with fullness. It may be said, however, with confidence, that poverty has causes, and they are human and social causes. It may further be said that since these causes are human and knowable, they can therefore be controlled by men. These causes are many and complex. Now and again we meet some one who tells us that poverty is inevitable in our world ; that it is due to some mysterious dispensa- tion of Providence, and so its causes and cure lie beyond our control. And now and then we meet some one who tells us that the causes are few and simple. Thus Malthus attributed all human poverty and misery to the fact that population tends to increase more rapidly than the food supply. Karl Marx found the cause of poverty in exploitation; the capitalist by his control of industry Poverty and Opportunity 145 appropriates an unjust share of the product of labor, leaving the laborer himself barely enough to maintain existence and reproduce. Henry George charged up all poverty to one cause : the landlord's appropriation of all increment of land values. Others find various causes that are more personal. Thus one says that poverty is due wholly to intemperance. Poverty is due wholly to the person himself, says another ; if people are poor it is because they choose to be. And so the story runs with variations through all the gamut. There is no doubt some truth in each one of these gen- eralizations, and the soul of trust may be found in things erroneous. But as a matter of fact the causes are many and various, and it is seldom that a single case of poverty can be traced back to a single cause. Without attempt- ing any minute analysis or discussing any cause in detail, we may note some of the definite and ascertained causes of poverty. In a large sense it may be said that these reduce themselves to two classes, those that are subjective and due largely to personal defects and individual faults ; and those that are objective, due primarily to social mal- adjustment and economic conditions. For our purpose here it is not necessary to consider how far these two classes of causes act and react ; but in any full discussion of the subject this reaction must be taken into account. That is, an objective cause may induce a subjective weak- ness ; and personal faults may affect economic conditions. 1. The Subjective Causes It is admitted by every social worker that much poverty and pauperism are due to such things as physical and mental defects, to sickness and vice. Some persons are K 146 Building a Community defective physically and mentally at some point that dis- qualifies them for economic efficiency. In other chap- ters we have seen that industrial accidents hurt and maim many, while a considerable proportion of people fall behind through sickness. The income-earner may be sick for a long time, and the family falls behind and possibly goes underfoot. It has become apparent further that a large proportion of people are unskilled workers, and hence their employment is casual and uncertain. The processes of modern in- dustry more and more demand skilled workers; and in the period of readjustment much unemployment is found. Every social worker and every public official knows that intemperance causes a large part of the poverty and practically all pauperism. We must not lose sight of the fact that some persons are lazy and shiftless and either will not work at all or will not exert themselves. But laziness and shitflessness are themselves effects quite as much as causes and are due to physical defects, to defec- tive nutrition, to faulty training, quite as often as to per- sonal choice and deliberate purpose. Other causes more or less personal and subjective may be mentioned, such as old age, the death of the wage-earner, neglect and de- sertion by relatives, the vices of others, which carry the family from its footing. Much real poverty, especially among women and children, is due to the vice of the husband and father who has taken to drink or has deserted his family. 2. The Objective Causes That much poverty is due to objective causes is ad- mitted by every careful student of social conditions. Poverty and Opportunity 147 Thus Amos R. Warner, than whom there is no more re- liable authority, declares that 74.5 per cent of poverty is due to causes over which the poor themselves have no direct control, as unemployment, sickness, physical de- fects, and old age. (" American Charities," p. 36.) Some poverty is due to exceptional conditions over which the individual has little or no control. Thus a calamity, a flood, a drought, a plague of grasshoppers, may bring temporary poverty to hundreds and thousands of people. In India much poverty is due to over-crowding, a poor soil, a defective system of agriculture, and heavy taxes. The experience of every charity worker shows that unsanitary housing conditions cause much sickness and disease that are both direct and indirect causes of much poverty. Owing to limited income the family must live in overcrowded rooms, and thus an effect becomes a new cause. Gosely akin to this is the quickened pace of modern industry which wears out workers and causes premature old age. In all lands, especially in the cities, much poverty is due to lack of employment. Thus Charles Booth found that in the city of London 55 per cent of the very poor, and 68 per cent of the other poor, were in this condition through no fault of their own but through lack of em- ployment. Again, industrial accidents causing the death or injury of the wage-earner bring poverty into many homes. The world war has brought poverty to millions of families in Europe, and it may be generations before the shadows are lifted from the nations. Beyond question monopoly and exploitation are among the chief causes and condi- tions of poverty. Monopoly of the land has driven peo- 148 Building a Community pie from the soil, reduced them to rent-payers, made them dependent upon others for work and income and closed many doors of opportunity. Monopoly of trade and resources has increased the cost of living, crowded the family into unsanitary quarters, lowered the standard of life, and caused much hardship and distress. In modern society by monopoly-control of the means of production and distribution it is possible for a few men to take a toll on every bushel of wheat and every pound of flour ; thus they make the child's loaf small and the family-room overcrowded. In a word, poverty is due in large part to social maladjustment, to defective adjustment between the person and society, and to defects in the social order. THE REMEDIES FOR POVERTY The causes of poverty, we have seen, are many and complex; for this reason there is no single and simple remedy. There are several things, however, that must be taken into account in any solution of the problem. Let it be understood that there is no patented panacea that is guaranteed to cure this evil overnight. The solu- tion of this problem, implying the abolition and pre- vention of poverty, will demand hard study and brave thinking on the part of the people, and it will necessitate united and persistent action on the part of all. But let it be emphasized also that the solution of this problem with all that it involves, is not a hopeless undertaking. The leading religious bodies in America have affirmed, as a part of their working faith, " the abolition and prevention of poverty." Poverty and Opportunity 149 1. A Belief in Its Cure The first thing is the acceptance of the fact that poverty is needless and can be cured. Poverty is not here as the will of God ; and every man who prays, " Our Father, who art in heaven : Give us day by day our daily bread," must not only deny its right to be here, but must labor for its abolition. Poverty is not inevitable; it is not a part of the nature of things ; we repudiate all doctrines of in- dustrial fatalism and social necessity and challenge the teachers of those doctrines. We say rather that poverty is an incident in industrial evolution and not an essential of economic structure; that its presence implies mal- adjustment, not normal working; that its control may be effected by wise social policy, and that its ultimate dis- appearance is a fair inference from the fact of eco- nomic experience. (Hollander, "The Abolition of Poverty," p. 17.) Professor Alfred Marshall reminds us that just as we have outgrown the conviction that slavery, which the classical world regarded as an ordinance of nature, is necessary and permanent, so we must outgrow the be- lief, now so prevalent, that there needs to be any number of people foreordained from their birth to grinding toil and unrewarded even by the necessities of a bare exis- tence. (Marshall, " Principles of Economics," Vol. I, p. 3.) 2. A Study of Factors and Causes The next thing is a careful study of all the factors and causes that enter into the problem. During recent years much attention has been given to this subject, and the 150 Building a Community chief causes of poverty are quite well known to the soci- ologist. But this knowledge has not yet become the com- mon possession of the people. For the present, therefore, an important item of our program consists in the socialization of this knowledge that it may inform men's minds, create the social con- science, teach social action and thereby make possible a social program. So far as poverty has personal and sub- jective causes, something may be done to lessen it, if not to cure it, by education and training. But poverty is also a social evil, and as such it has social causes and must be cured by social action. And right social action, it may be said, is the result of full social knowledge, and this implies both a knowledge of the thing to be done and a readiness to work together in doing it. 3. A Use of Constructive Measures There are many things that can be done at once. Something can be done to relieve the pressure and pre- vent waste by inculcating habits of thrift, by teaching people how to buy and cook foods, and by providing government savings banks. Much can be done by giving every child such a training as shall make it a skilled worker and prepare it for efficient living. Much can be done to cure and prevent poverty both today and to- morrow by eliminating the liquor traffic. Further, by destroying unfit tenements and securing proper housing conditions the physical and moral effi- ciency of many persons can be developed and maintained and the amount of sickness can be greatly lessened. By a system of state employment agencies the evil of unem- ployment can be greatly reduced and much poverty may Poverty and Opportunity 151 be averted. By a system of state insurance the family of the wage-worker can be cared for during his disability or after his death. 4. A Control of Conditions Beyond all this something must be done to destroy monopoly and prevent exploitation, to hold for the peo- ple the heritage of the past and to secure for society the values created by society. Much can be done by provid- ing that the earth and its resources — which are the heri- tage of the people — shall be held in trust for them, so that every member of society having by the fact of his existence in the world an equity in the common inheri- tance, shall receive the equivalent of that equity in the form of advantages and education for himself and his family. By a more equitable system of taxation some- thing can be done to lessen speculation in land, to pre- vent the growth of enormous fortunes, to equalize oppor- tunity and relieve the pressure upon men. By a system of profit-sharing and industrial partnership, workers may receive a larger share of income and the stability of the home may be secured. Beyond all and before all there must be a control of " physical heredity, because many of the principal defects that give rise to dependence are inherent in heredity." Society must therefore deal with all of the causes and conditions that enter into the birth of defectives and the increase of the mal-endowed. 5. A Work of Education All this, as we can see, means work for the home, the church, the state, the school. We must teach the young ; we must awaken aspirations; we must give men higher 152 Building a Community ideals; we must teach them to work together for the common good ; we must create in them the sacrificial atti- tude of mind; we must encourage them to build their faith into a Christian economic order and to correct every maladjustment in society. We must do the first thing, relieve present distress and help those who need help. But we have not truly helped people till we have made it possible for them to help themselves. We must go back to fundamental causes and conditions and must know the nature of social mal- adjustment. We must do a great many temporary things ; but we must refuse to be put off with temporary expedients and half-way measures ; and so we must find and remove every social maladjustment and must dare to demand full social justice. We must remove every handicap that is upon the poor and weak, and must use the resources of society both in making them strong and guaranteeing them a fair equity in the common heritage. To potter over results when we can reach causes is solemn trifling. To hesitate to apply the real remedy lest it should hurt, is to prove oneself a faithless physician who heals the hurt of the daughter of my people but slightly. FOR CLASS USE 1. Why is it that the question of poverty has assumed such importance in our day? 2. What is the most tragic thing about poverty ? 3. Indicate the extent of poverty in this country. 4. Discuss some of the subjective causes of poverty. 5. Discuss some of the objective causes of poverty. Poverty and Opportunity 153 6. What are some of the elements in the remedy for poverty ? 7. What is your own best suggestion for the cure of poverty in your community? 8. References : Ellwood, " Sociology and Modern Social Problems," Chapter XII ; Penman, " Poverty the Challenge to the Church " ; Hunter, " Poverty " ; Hol- lander, "The Abolition of Poverty"; Vedder, "The Gospel of Jesus and the Problems of Democracy " ; Wright, " Practical Sociology," Chapter XVIII ; Devine, "Misery," Chapter III; Ward, "Social Creed of the Churches." CHAPTER X COMMUNITY IDEALS " The foundation of every state/' said Seeley, " is a way of thinking." They who believe in the Kingdom of God expect a Christian social order. But the disciples who are instructed unto the Kingdom of God cherish no illusions with reference to the Kingdom. They realize that the Christian community must be a growth and not a manufacture. It must have its foundations laid deep in the hearts and wills of men. And it must grow up in and through the lives and labors of its citizens. The City of God is a social, moral, spiritual community. It has to do with life in its relations and activities. It expresses itself in the thoughts, motives, and wills of men. It is a quality of life, a way of living, an undying aspiration. The City of God is not something that drops down out of the skies upon men ; but it grows up within their purposes, impulses, and decisions. It comes as fast and as far as men want it to come. It finds its stability and permanence in the moral will and firm set character of its citizens. In the City of God we expect men to love the good, to seek the better, to choose the best. But we cherish no delusions on this point. The disciple who is instructed unto the Kingdom of God knows well that men cannot be compelled to do this either by miraculous signs or governmental decrees. He therefore expects men to do right, to act justly, to be brotherly out of their own 154 Community Ideals 155 impulses, desires, and volitions. It takes just and brotherly people to make a City of God. The defect in many of our plans for community bet- terment is revealed at this point. These plans are too mechanical, too formal ; they deal too exclusively with external factors ; they do not recognize the human, vital, and spiritual factors that are so potent in life. They assume that the City of God can be built by divine decrees and social agencies. The City of God, which is a moral community, can be built only through a moral process. The city comes from God but it comes among men. Its citizens are people who eat food, wear clothes, who culti- vate the ground and build houses. They have human hearts and wills; they love one another and seek one another's good. The foundations of the city must be laid in the purposes and wills of men. The city is the people, not its houses and streets, and it becomes a divine city as fast as we have divine people in it. COMMUNITY ATMOSPHERE There are many aspects of this subject which should be taken into account in any comprehensive study of the community. This suggests the work of the church, which is here to witness for God's Fatherhood, to inter- pret his will, to be the medium of his redeeming grace to men, to bring men into the fellowship of the Divine Spirit. This work was considered in the chapter on " The Church." This recognizes fully the place of edu- cation in the community program and suggests the real meaning and task of education. Certain aspects of this item were considered in the chapter on " The Schools." 156 Building a Community This recognizes also the need of changing living con- ditions both in the home and in the community, and of providing every child with a helpful environment. Some of the things implied in this have been noted in the vari- ous other chapters. In this closing chapter we are called to note briefly one of the most essential items in our program and yet one of the most neglected. The term environment as generally used signifies primarily the material and social elements that surround man and influence life. But we know that there are other elements than these which are far more potent in their influence upon his moral and spiritual being. The term atmosphere suggests the more subtle and psychic elements in the community, and which, while less tangible, are very real and potent. According to the sociologist what we call the mores are the immediate determiners of the conduct of masses of men. This word mores is from the Greek word which is hard to translate literally. In every group there are certain folkways and customs which may be called the ways and habits of the community. These folkways give rise in time to certain conceptions and doctrines which serve as standards for the group ; and these are the mores. (Sumner, "Folkways," Chapter I and passim.) These mores, as Professor Ellwood shows, are the social and moral standards of the group. They are the product of past experience and represent the courses of conduct which have been sanctioned as necessary for the common welfare. They are the social atmosphere in which men live and move and have their being. They represent the sentiments and customs that have been ap- proved. They constitute the standards of thought and Community Ideals 157 conduct. They are the molds in which the life of a people is shaped. Professor Sumner goes so far as to say that they are the most potent influences in life. It is certain that they do much to determine the conduct of masses of men. " If we want a Christian world," says Professor Ell- wood, " we must have in their place Christian mores, Christian institutions, a Christian civilization, a Christian environment in brief, in which the Christian life will come as easily and naturally to individuals as national loyalty and patriotism now do." (Ellwood, in "Religious Edu- cation," April, 1920.) This is perhaps an overstatement, for there are spiritual influences over and above these human factors. But it is essential that this element be given due place in community life. Two elements and aspects of the social atmosphere may be noted, com- munity settlements and community customs. COMMUNITY SENTIMENTS This word sentiment is a somewhat elastic word, and covers a number of elements, as the feelings, the impulses, the ideas that are current. Social sentiment is a kind of social atmosphere ; and, like the atmosphere, we may live in it and yet be hardly conscious of its presence. There are certain feelings that are current in a community, a tone of thought, a temper of mind, and these give color and direction to the opinions and thoughts of men. " All religious, all moral agencies, expend themselves upon, and are treasured in, social sentiment. This is the pervasive protoplasm of general and of individual life. Into this the truth of all beliefs, the virtue of all faiths, the piety 158 Building a Community of all churches, must pass. From this come the construc- tive and beneficent forces of the state, and largely the im- pulses which govern each individual within the state." (Bascom, "The Words of Christ," p. 198.) This social sentiment may be called " the vital atmosphere which sustains the daily respiration of the daily life," and hence it is one of the most important factors in the moral and spiritual life of man. This factor has played a leading role in the making of man and the development of the race. " All thought begins in feeling," Lowell reminds us. " Let me make the songs of a nation," says another, " and I care not who makes its laws." " The thoughts men have are the par- ents of the things men do," says Carlyle, " their feelings are the parents of their thoughts." " The best society differs from the worst in its practices, its institutions, its laws, but more deeply and radically in its sentiments." (Gladden, " Tools and the Man," p. 6.) The sentiments of a people or a social group decide the attitude of most persons toward certain deeds and practices and determine the energy with which most people abhor certain social offenses and crimes. The sentiments are a kind of social pressure pushing men away from certain practices and forcing such practices out of the community. The social sentiments determine the social forms and customs, and these are among the most potent factors in restraining or impelling men. Out of these sentiments come many voices that speak their suggestions to the soul and utter their bewitching appeal to the will. In the case of a child a hundred things are determined by the sentiments and customs that surround the life and appeal to the soul. This great factor that we call atmos- Community Ideals 159 phere is the most important factor in the early life, and, while a score of things may be determined by parentage, a hundred things are determined by atmosphere. Already we are learning that nurture by atmosphere is one of the determining elements in the education of the child. (Du Bois, " The Natural Way," Chapter III.) By the time many a person reaches adolescence he is encased in an armor of sentiment and custom that effectu- ally turns aside all the arrows of the world. He has forged around himself, in the furnace of sentiment and custom, an armor that effectually breaks the evil sugges- tions and enticements of the world. COMMUNITY CUSTOMS This social atmosphere is composed of other elements such as customs and fashions, and these are equally potent in life. The inner life of a community reveals itself in certain indefinite and intangible things that we call feelings and sentiments; these feelings and senti- ments crystallize and fix themselves in certain more or less definite and fixed customs and forms; and these forms and customs determine and decide a hundred things in every man's life ; in fact they practically shape the mental, moral, social, and spiritual life of man. In the life of man there is a most significant factor called habit, and this we are told is " ten times nature." The psychologist declares that ninety-nine hundredths, or possibly nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths, of our activity is purely automatic and habitual from our rising in the morning to our lying down at night. (James, " Talks to Teachers," Chapter VIII ; also " Psychology," 160 Building a Community Volume I, Chapter IV.) Now what habit is to the indi- vidual, custom is to society. " It is the prerogative of custom to organize personal life in many lines, to fix the bodily habits, language, costume, sports, pleasures, aims and expressions, as well as the attitude toward others." (Ross, " Social Control," p. 183.) As habit in the individual life conserves and organizes the efforts and thoughts of the past, so custom in society funds and organizes the opinions and deeds of the people. As habit in the individual life conserves and unifies the purposes and achievements of the past and makes them effective in the present need, so custom in society funds and organizes the sentiments and thoughts of the people and makes them effective in present control. As virtue is not safe till it becomes habitual and the will is not strong till it is fully fashioned, so sentiment is not per- manent till it is conserved in custom, and right conviction is not effective till it is funded in just laws. Custom like habit is ten times life ; custom determines ninety-five per cent of men's thoughts and actions. Men are all conformists by nature, and it is perhaps well that they are such. It is true that custom is often tyrannical in its sway and cramping in its influence ; it is true also that it is the stoutest foe of progress and the hardest obstacle to the reformer. It is true further that it may be foolish in its demands and blighting in its rule ; it is true that it sometimes binds men in the most abject slavery and thwarts the efforts of the world's best teachers. But this is only half the story, for custom is no less potent and helpful in its positive and creative aspects. In the course of time the better sentiments and the purest Community Ideals 161 opinions become crystallized in forms and customs that are the strongest allies and reinforcements of the best influences of life and society. In the better customs of any society there is a fund of social suggestions that is promotive of all the virtues and graces. It is probable that the psychologist is right in his con- tention that there can be no action without motive; and it is probable that the psychologist is also right when he asserts that social suggestion is the determining factor in nearly all of our motives. Social suggestion is one of the most subtle forces in bending down the individual will and in creating the individual choice. " Everything we do reveals the pull on conduct exerted by social sugges- tion. Our foods and drinks, our dress and furniture, our amusements, our religious emotions, our investments, and even our matrimonial choices, confess the sway of fashion and vogue." (Ross, ibid., p. 148.) Because of this power of social suggestion the life of the community, like the very atmosphere itself, presses heavily upon man and he acquiesces without any sense of constraint. And so it comes about that custom be- comes a kind of informal and unofficial government under whose benign or baleful influence the individual lives and wills. The customs of society are like great highways across the country which facilitate travel, to be sure, but which also determine the location and prosperity of the village and cities. The color and tone of the atmosphere color the thoughts and give tone to the life of every human being. Every item and element in the atmosphere affects and influences man in some way and at some level. The place in which we work, our companions, the air we breathe, the wind 162 Building a Community that blows, the smiles or frowns on the faces we meet, the ideas that are current, the ideals that prevail, the customs and fashions, all infect our spirit and affect our attitude; they determine our standards and ideals, our likes and dislikes, our motives and our choices. " The atmosphere of the home into which the infant comes, the psychological climate of the first years, the habits, tradi- tions, manners, contagious ideas of the family group — all these things begin to form the conscience which shall always bear its nurture marks." (Jones, " Social Law in the Spiritual World," p. 123.) For a discussion of this question from a somewhat different angle, the author may refer to another volume, " The Social Task of Chris- tianity," pp. 166-172. MORALIZING COMMUNITY LIFE In view of all this the question of moralizing the social atmosphere is one of the most important items in our pro- gram. A large part of our work for man, perhaps the largest and most potent part, consists in creating such an atmosphere as shall induce the right kind of life. Would we have men and women spontaneously and habitually think good thoughts, cherish the right ideals, and choose the right ways ? Then we must have the boys and girls grow up in an atmosphere that is pure and good. Would we have men and women accept the Christian life as a matter of course and find in the Kingdom their normal home? Then we must surround them with a Christian atmosphere from the very cradle and must have them breathe in the very air of the Kingdom. Thus far society has given very little attention to this Community Ideals 163 important part of our work ; thus far we have not been careful to eliminate from the environment of the growing life the things that may suggest disorder and impurity. Thus far we have not seriously set ourselves the task of filling the atmosphere of the unfolding life with things that shall suggest holy thoughts, unselfish conduct, and heroic living. It is true that the ideas and customs of the more intelli- gent and better moralized portion of the community have had an influence upon all of the people. But it is true also that this influence has been almost wholly uncon- scious and undirected, and so it has not achieved the largest and longest results. The time has come for the men of good will, in a community, in a conscious and collective way, to set about the work of creating positive and right social sentiments and social customs. There are many by-products and indirect results of Christianity, and these must not be overlooked. But we must con- sciously intend and deliberately seek to secure such results and effects as are indicated in this section. Here then is work for individuals and groups, for the home, the church, the school, the community. Here is work for men in social fellowship, in recreation and diversion, in politics and industry, in all the relations of man with man in all the ranges of social life. No greater service can be rendered by men and women in social life than a clear protest against the unfit play, the suggestive word, the indelicate dress, the questionable fashion. No greater service can be rendered by parents in the home than the creation of an atmosphere which shall give a moral and religious color to the life. No greater task can be fulfilled by the state than that of creating such 164 Building a Community an atmosphere as shall make it easy for the people to do right and shall develop the life in purity and goodness. Let the church create a pure and good atmosphere in society, and all the other things of the community will take care of themselves. In summary several things may be noted. The City of God is a living, growing, human, divine reality. Our conceptions of the City of God are too formal, too static ; they assume that the City of God is a fixed thing, where human lives have taken a set form, where human wills are no longer human. " The moral defect of Utopias is that they are too static. The Kingdom of heaven on earth is always a permanent, unchanging, perfect, and unalterably stupid place, than which our present society, with all of its imperfections, is vastly superior. Utopias break down because they represent attainment, fulfilment. Society does not strive toward fulfilment, but always toward striving. It seeks not a goal but a higher starting point from which to seek a goal." ( Weyl, " The New Democracy," p. 354.) "The City of God is a great human, vital, growing ideal. This gives it its charm, its humanness, its divine- ness. A city where everything is fixed and static holds no promise to real people. After the first day in such a place its walls would have to be patrolled with guards with rifles to keep us in it." (Patrick, " The Psychology of Social Reconstruction," Chapter III.) The City of God is coming, and man's whole duty is to make it come. Sometime, somewhere, on this earth of ours, there will be a city that in the best sense of the term is Christian. They who pray that God's Kingdom may come on earth are not following a mirage; they are not Community Ideals 165 the broken fragments of a forlorn hope. They who be- lieve in the kingdom of God are therefore under com- mission to follow the divine ideal and build on earth a community in which Christ can dwell and the Son of God can find a home. The divine ideal by the nature of the case calls men to an unending adventure. In this world we know little of absolute values ; in the universe nothing is fixed and final. " The essence of all morality is a constant striving." Life is a growth. Society is a process. The City of God will always be in the future. Our efforts at best are approximations. The Kingdom of God is always here, and yet it is always to come. We cannot, in this life at least, attain the goal and reach the divine standard, but when we see and accept that standard we may surely move in the way that leads us toward God. The last word is this : the building of the Divine City calls for a community spirit, the ability to think and plan together, the willingness to lose one's self in the common life. In an illuminating address Director Burnham, of the World Columbian Exposition, has given us the secret of the beauty and success of the White City at the Chi- cago Fair. The men who planned that great exposition had a general scheme for the Fair and its buildings. Then they endeavored to fit each man's work into the general plan and to make the general plan exalt each man's work. Each part was viewed in its relation to the whole ; and the whole gave meaning to each part. Every man, artist and builder agreed that no private or personal interest or preference should stand in the way of hearty cooperation toward the common end. Many a personal plan had to be surrendered, many an individual 166 Building a Community wish had to be given up in order that the one grand result might be achieved. Many a risk had to be run, many a sacrifice of time and money had to be made, before the supreme triumph was made sure. But when the whole stood complete, each man's work was glorified and all men were glad that they had wrought for a common end. The White City has passed away and all that remains is a beautiful memory. But there is another city rising out of our humanity, the City of God in which the glory of God is to be revealed. Men are called to be citizens of that City and to put their hand to the task of building it. That city will rise slowly or rapidly in so far as men give their lives to this work. It will remain a beautiful dream or it will become a splendid reality as men sink their private and personal interests in the larger whole and the common good. May the men, all the men of each community, plan and toil and sacrifice, Till upon earth's grateful sod, Rests the City of our God. FOR CLASS USE 1. Give a statement of your own community ideal. 2. Discuss community atmosphere. 3. Discuss community sentiments. 4. Discuss the power and prevalence of community customs. 5. Indicate some ways in which the social atmosphere of the community may be moralized. 6. Make at least one constructive suggestion relative to developing a right community spirit. Community Ideals 167 7. References : Jones, " Spiritual Law in the Social World"; Batten, "The Social Task of Christianity," Chapter V; Ross, "Social Control"; Sidis, "The Psy- chology of Suggestion " ; Robinson, " The Improvement of Towns and Cities "; Ellwood, Introduction to " Social Psychology " ; Ward and Edwards, " Christianizing Com- munity Life." 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