N\^ X \N * ♦ t. 1 t t . \\^>^ •< ■»> 1^^ V. \ \ ^^^ \«^A >aV« Cornell Xllniverstt^ OF THE IRew l^orh State (Lolleoe of Hariculture 1820 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014043370 HN 31.E2 Cornell University Library The social engineer, 3 1924 014 043 370 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER BY EDWIN L. EARP Professor of Christian Sociology, Drew Theological Seminary NEW YORK: CINCINNATI: EATON & MAINS JENNINGS & GRAHAM h Copylright, 1911 by KATON & MAINS TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER WHO TAUGHT ME BY HER QmET CONPn)ENCE IN THE INTEGRITY OF HUMAN NATURE, HER TRUST IN THE LEADING OF THE HEAVENLY FATHER, AND HER UNTIRING ENERGY IN DOING GOOD, MY FIRST LESSONS IN SOCIAL ENGINEERING CONTENTS PAGE Introduction xi Why We Need the Social Engineer xi All Human Life Socialized To-day in Consciousness and Activity xiii The Religious Social Engineer xviii PART I The Social Engineer in the Making CHAPTER PAGE I The Social Consciousness 3 Its Meaning and Value 3 Public Opinion 6 The Social Will 10 Social Control and Reform 12 II Social Organization 14 The Reasons for Social Organization 14 The Principles of Social Organization 19 The Kinds of Social Organization 21 The Relation of Social Organizations to Each Other 23 III Social Machinert and Social Engineering. ... 26 Social Maehineiy Defined 28 Social Engineering Defined 33 IV Social Classification, Cleavage, and CoNrucT. 37 Social Classification — How Constituted 38 Varieties of Social Classification 41 Factors Which Give Social Advantage 43 Social Cleavage Defined 48 Social Barriers 50 Social Conflict 52 Christian Education and Society 55 V The Social ErnciENcy of the Individual 69 Fimdamental Questions 60 Categorical Answers 61 Explanations 62 An Educational Problem 70 Social Efficiency Utilized 72 What the Church Can Do 76 V 7i CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE VI The Dbvklopment and Education of the Social Mind 81 What We Mean by the Social Mind 81 The Development of the Social Mind 84 The Education of the Social Mind 8S VII Social Progress 91 A Topic of Social Education 91 Ideas of Progress 92 How Progress May be Measured 95 Kinds of Progress to be Measured 97 Definitions of Progress 99 VIII Social Studies 103 Specific Social Studies 105 A Special Commission on Social Studies 106 A List of Specific Problems 107 IX Friendship as a Social Force 112 The Art of Making Friends 112 Friendship a Paradox 114 The Basis of Friendship 115 Characteristics of True Friendship 118 Christian Friendship 120 X Social Leadership 1 22 In the Field of City Gove'-nment 123 In Legislation and Administration 124 In the Field of Organized Industry 125 In Organized Charity 126 XI The Church's Peril 128 What Is a Peril? 128 Failure to Attract the Multitudes 129 The Spiritual Death Rate 131 Failure to Master the Modern Social Movement. 132 PART II The Social Engineer at Work XII The Meaning of Social 'Service 137 Among Church Denominations 137 Illustrations of Social Service 139 Individual Social Service 141 CONTENTS vii CHAPTER PAGE XIII How TO Work the Specific Fields op Social Service 145 How to Do — the Modern Question 145 Methods Develop Readily for the Busy Man 146 Specific Fields 148 The Study of the Fields 149 The Motive for our Study 150 The Study of Causes 153 XIV Socialized Charity 157 What Concerning the Poor? ICO What Concerning the Afflicted? 164 What Concerning the Bad? 166 XV Team Work for the Communitt 169 How to Proceed 172 1. Team Work Against Tuberculosis 172 2. For Public Health 174 3. Social-Service Department in Hospitals ] 75 4. Against Juvenile Delinquency 176 5. For Keeping Boys in the Church During Adolescence 177 6. In Church Federation 178 7. In Relating the Church to Industry 179 XVI The Citt Problem 181 The City Not a Menace 1S2 The Fact of Congestion 183 The Results of Congestion 186 The Causes of Congestion 187 The Relief of Congestion 190 XVTI Preventive Social Engineering. 194 Prevention in the Medical Profession 194 Prevention of Germinal Diseases 195 Prevention of Drunkenness 198 Preventive Criminology 201 Preventive Work for Defectives 203 Preventive Work Against Pauperism 204 XVIII Preventive Salvation 206 What Has Led to Emphasis on this Subject. . . . 207 The Value of Prevention 209 The Method in Preventive Salvation 210 Guarding the Sources of Life 212 Preventive Salvation Not Negative 213 Preventive Salvation Educational 215 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGB XIX Social Sinning and Sociax. Salvation 218 Definition 218 The Social Perspective of Sin 221 Society May Sin Against the Individual 225 Society May Sin Against the Group 227 Social Salvation 228 The Social Factors in Salvation 228 What Can the Church Do? 235 XX The Cetohch and the Workingman 238 What the Subject Implies 238 The Church's Present Attitude toward the Labor Movement 241 How Can the Church Help the Labor Movement? 244 What Can the Labor Movement Do to Help the Church? 249 XXI The Social Settlement 251 Carrying the Church to the People 252 The Integrity of Human Nature 255 The Ministry of Personality 255 What Can the Church Do? 258 XXII The Social Causes op the Boy Problem 262 We Have a Boy Problem 262 Family Neglect a Social Cause 265 Community Neglect 268 Church Neglect a Social Cause 269 Preventive Salvation the Solution 271 XXIII The Social Causes op the Spiritual Death Rate 273 The Popular Use of the Term 273 Neglect of Childhood 275 Neglect to Organize Adult Members 278 Other Caiises Named 281 XXIV Conservation op Christian Resources 283 The Facts in the Case 285 What Shall We Do? 293 XXV The Social Emphasis in Modern Education. . . 297 Why We Need this Emphasis 300 Bibliography 309 Index 315 PEEFACE Ik presenting this work to the reading public under the given title, *'The Social Engineer," I am fully conscious of its limitations with re- spect to the whole field of social service which has taken on technical forms in industry, in re- ligion, in philanthropy, in medical practice, and in the ever-increasing fields of charities and cor- rection within a very recent period. Yet I am quite sure that the subjects treated in the first part contain many of the essentials which any man should know before choosing social en- gineering as a lif ework ; and in the second part I have endeavored to point out some of the spe- cific social tasks and to indicate some of the methods which may be of practical interest to all who feel the need of doing the things that count for most in the betterment of human society. We are conscious of the fact that to- day the greatest waste of time and resources is not in lack of machinery or of men, or of knowl- edge of the forces available for achievement, but, rather, in the lack of men who can keep others at work with the machinery, and in re- lation to all the forces available, without so- cial friction. The social engineer is meeting this need in X PEEFACE modern society, and I shall feel gratified if in this volume I may have shown what he is in the making, and how he does his work in the fields of opportunity. As one deeply interested in the social tasks of the modern Church, and from the viewpoint of one engaged in teaching young men who are to become leaders in organizing the Church membership in performing these tasks, the writer has placed especial emphasis upon religious social engineering, while not neglecting to give the widest scope to the work of the social engineer in every phase of social organization for the elevation of humanity. The purpose of this book is to meet a felt need now being given intelligent expression by men's clubs, brotherhoods, Bible classes. Young Men's Christian Association classes, and other organizations with philanthropic motives, for a text-book on social studies and actual social service. It is hoped that it will not only serve a demand of the busy pastor in the modem so- cialized ministry of the Church to the com- munity, but that it also may be of practical in- terest to the general public. Edwin L. Eakp. Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, N. J. INTRODUCTION Why We Need the Social Engineeb There never has been a time like tlie pres- ent when the social class-consciousness was so highly developed. In all current literature we read the products of this class-consciousness in discussions of socialism, capitalism, trades- unionism, social democracy, class conflict, race antagonism, social classes, woman and child labor, congestion of population, race suicide, divorce, gamblers versus the people, the de- cisions of courts and the interests of a class. Legislatures versus the people, the saloon versus prohibitionists, revisionists and "stand- patters," and a thousand or more distinctions of a smaller group differentiation. The problem of the unemployed is becoming acute in most of the great cities of the world, and the task of Sisyphus must be every year repeated in making up the budget for the vic- tims of poverty. The problem of congested quarters of the cities with the attendant misery is disheartening to the most optimistic social workers in this field, and they begin to ask if there is not something fundamentally wrong with our economic system that permits these conditions to exist. xii INTEODTICTION Organized labor and organized capital, work- ers and employers, are often in conflict, involv- ing loss and suffering to both, and also to the public, which is dependent upon them for all it needs and uses in the complex industrial and commercial life of modern times. Again we find the opportuneness of this subject illustrated from the fact that there are so many organizations being formed in our cities and industrial centers to-day for the pur- pose of civic betterment, community welfare, and the bettering of the conditions under which men and women labor. Social settlements and institutional church work carried on by the so- cialized church organizations furnish splendid opportunities for our young people to engage in forms of social service, and afford chaimels of work where the social energies of the youth may be released for life-saving and life-im- provement. Many of these social organizations, as now conducted, are not distinctively Chris- tian, but could be easily made so if the better trained of our young men and women would join them, and by the force of Christian motive and character dominate their policies and ac- tivities. Questions of sanitation and health and the social character of disease were never so em- phasized before in our growing city popula- tions. In one school last year in one of our INTEODUCTION xiii growing industrial centers during the first three days of the fall term, under the direction of a trained nurse as medical inspector, eighty-five children "were sent home because their condi- tion was a menace to the health of the hundreds of their neighbors' children present in the building ; one case was that of scarlet fever. Hospitals are to-day organizing, in connec- tion with their clinical work for outdoor pa- tients, and even for those receiving treatment in the wards, departments of social service for the purpose of helping the patients in their home environment, and of ministering to their social needs in the conditions causal to their real trouble. Men and women of broad charity and thorough training are needed who can take up the difficult task that is yet to be done after the physician has dismissed the case; and fre- quently they must call upon the organizations of the Church to look after those cases which require social treatment. All human life to-day is being socialized in consciousness and in activity. In considering its ethical phase it should be understood at the outset that the modern movement for social service does not differ from other religious movements for moral reform so much in aim as in method or points of emphasis. It is a movement that involves organization of indi- viduals, cooperation and federation of groups xiv INTKODUCTION in mass-effort for the accomplishment of social tasks. It recognizes that the powers of evil to- day are socially organized, and therefore the salvation of society involves social methods and machinery in order to overthrow the or- ganized powers of evil. It recognizes that to- day it is possible to "sia by syndicate," and therefore our methods of salvation must be so- cialized. It is a movement to regenerate en- vironment so that the spiritual life of the in- dividual may have the best chance to function and prove its quality by fruitage. While not ignoring the value of remedial agencies, it places emphasis on the preventive methods in moral reform. It seeks to better the conditions of living men not so much by prohibiting evils themselves as by the releasing of energies that will keep the life of the indi- vidual in society normal. It means that the social consciousness of so- ciety has been aroused to the necessity of doing something heroic to regenerate the changing so- cial order by bettering the conditions of living where the life struggle and class conflict are most threatening to the whole structure of Christian civilization; a serious search for a social antitoxin that will destroy the toxic effects of social sinning in the body social; an earnest attempt to apply the preventive meas- ures of the gospel to the problem of sin as well INTEODUCTION xv as the redemptive agencies of the Word of God. It means organization to discover the causes of social ills and an organized effort to destroy sin at its source. It means an earnest endeavor to save human life by regenerating and transforming the environment that pollutes and destroys the springs of human life. It is our endeavor not so much to save from the slum as it is a determination to remove the slum; not alone the screening of our children from infectious mosquitoes, but the filling up of the pools where they breed. Social engineering means not merely chari- ties and philanthropies that care for the vic- tims of vice and poverty, but also intelligent organized effort to eliminate the causes that make these philanthropies necessary, and it means also an attempt at a readjustment of our economic and industrial system by wise states- manship through social control, so that the profits of social production may be more equi- tably distributed to aU the legitimate factors in society. In one age the master of the household could say to the men involuntarily idle, waiting in the market place for a chance to work, "Go work in my vineyard"; but in our organized indus- trial age the captain of industry may send a message from his touring car in some remote village of the Alps through a cable company of xvi INTRODUCTION which he may be a director to some one in au- thority in "the system," saying to this man, or group of men, "Go work in the mines, the smelters, the shops, the mills," or in any other of the many activities in the complex organized process of getting the fruits of his vineyards or fields in place and form for the use of the consumer in a world market, as the case may be. We see the same fact in our church work; in one age it is the Master's command for the seventy to go out into the cities and villages by twos or for the one hundred and twenty to go by ones to preach the good tidings of the kingdom; but to-day his conunand may mean the organization of societies, the establishment of institutions, the building of vast structures, the management of world-wide enterprises for doing the work of redeeming men and regen- erating human society. In the industrial and commercial world we have learned that cooperation is better than destructive competition, therefore we have cor- porations and mergers for conducting the great businesses of society with the maximum of effi^ ciency and with the minimum of waste and cost in the process of production and distribution. So in the religious activities of the world we are learning that federation and cooperation are better than denominational self-interest INTEODUCTION xvii and waste of economic resources and men in duplicating of work and overlapping of ter- ritory. Therefore the great religious denomi- nations and their subordinate organizations within them are becoming socially conscious of how, by federative action, they may together carry out the social program of Jesus and real- ize the vision of the prophets and the social ideal of the apostle Paul. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the modem social movement is that it seeks not to get all men to think alike, or to hold the same opinions about any given plan or project of social reform, but its chief aim is to get men to act together in an organized way for the de- struction of evils in society and the creation of good in the community. As a result, we find the most fruitful examples of social unity to- day in the field of service and not in the fields of controversy. We have no time for burning heretics in our haste to brand sinners in high places. We see religious denominations that differ widely in theological discussions working shoulder to shoulder in the battle with the slum and in the task of evangelizing the world in this generation. This, then, is our point of view: we have reached a stage in the evolution and develop- ment of methods in social engineering where we see the need of emphasis upon the task of xviii INTEODUCTION realizing in social conduct the moral and re- ligious ideals we have been teaching the indi- vidual who lives in a real world that confronts him so'often in the Christian race with a social handicap. It is not religion that becomes insipid and unattractive to so many young men and women in our day, but rather more often our inapt, unrelated, sometimes erroneous, though usually well-meaning interpretations of the historic facts about it, or our blundering methods in carrying out our problem. The Eeligiotjs Social Engineer The religious social engineer is one who can help the religious leader to establish a desired working force in any field of need, and keep it in sympathetic cooperation with all other forces working for the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth in harmony with the program and leadership of Jesus Christ. It would be a calamity for a hungry house- hold if the harvest hands in getting ready for their work should plunge into acrimonious dis- cussion over the relative merits of machinery and methods, and even kill one another with their sickles, or play Juggernaut with their reapers and forget all about the harvest field, the threshing, and the grist. Before the Christian minister to-day lies the INTKODUCTION xix great world field of teeming, throbbing, strug- gling human population, a vast network of organizations of human beings grouped in ac- cordance with the natural laws and forces that are at work through heredity and environment, and also the social integration and differentia- tion of these groups into voluntary and pur- posive associations, in response to psychic forces that have been aroused by an intelligent response to human needs immediately felt or more remotely discerned. His task is none other than the redeeming of the world, the re- generating of human society. He is not only to proclaim, as did John the Baptist, that the king- dom of heaven is at hand, but also, with the daring and confidence of his Lord, he is to say not only "To-day is this program being fulfilled in your ears," but is to back it up by sacrifice in intelligent service, and compel the multitudes among whom he has done his work to say, ' ' This day is his program being carried out in our town." His work is not done when he has preached his message to the individual alone, but it reaches further and includes the regenera- tion of the social order, so that the individual may find it easier to keep saved. To succeed in this field to-day he must not only understand the principles of social engineering, but he must have as his assistant the social engineer. The man at the head of a great construction XX INTEODUCTION company is just as mucli interested in securing a practical engineer to keep his men at work in the right place and at the right time as he is in securing men who can manage the technique of planning a structure and of judging mate- rials. In church work to-day we often have good leaders who know the technique of organi- zation; we have men who can finance church enterprises; hut we often fail of the best re- sults in a community full of opportunities be- cause we lack the practical social engineers who can organize and keep at work the masses of men and women within the membership of our churches and Sunday schools. You sometimes hear of friction between groups of persons in carrying out some great enterprise in church work. Why is this? It is often because there is no one to do the work of a practical social engineer, who knows how to keep everybody at work in such an organized way that there will be no friction or interference between groups. It was during the Boxer rebellion in China, ten years ago, that a Methodist preacher who had studied practical engineering in his years of preparation saved the day for civilization and the Christian Church in that great empire. So we should insist that the men who go out from our colleges and theological seminaries shall have that acquaintance with practical so- cial organization and social engineering which INTKODUCTION xxi in any emergency of the social struggle will enable them to engineer all available forces in the defense of the faith. We want men to go out from our halls of Christian learning with hearts warm with the love of Jesus for the world, and with heads clear with Paul's vision of the kingdom; men who are wise enough, broad enough, and far- seeing enough to measure all the difficulties and relate themselves to the forces available for conquest; men with faith enough in their re- sources to say, "We are well able to possess the land"; men who are strong and pure enough to utilize even the help of a Eahab in securing information regarding the character of the modern Jerichos. Sometimes even good men are so afraid of soiling their garments of ceremonialism that they allow the enemies of decent society to maintain not only dirty, dis- eased tenements, and contaminated milk, and an impure water supply, but also to pollute the innocent of our churches and homes by their unholy institutions open seven days in the week. Yes, we even let them elect sometimes aldermen to hold a deciding vote as to how our reforms shall be allowed to proceed, if at all. We need men for these social tasks who are seeking a place to serve and not merely a place of honor. In all our religious organized effort in the past we have often suffered defeat be- xxii INTRODUCTION cause we have allowed men to be in office who wanted the place rather than a chance to serve with efficiency. Again, we need men of knowledge. Piety is an indispensable asset, but without knowledge it can be almost as inefficient in securing re- sults as indifference. We need men who know how to find the sources of evil and hit them hard at the strategic time and place, rather than waste their energies upon nonessentials which belong to the category of diversions ; men who will not be diverted from the source of the fire in the basement by the sight of smoke es- caping from the roof of the building. We need patient men; not that kind of patience which cries, "0 Lord, how long?" and does nothing; but that kind which after putting the rascals out of office is willing to pay the extra cost of keeping them out until the new regime has vin- dicated its right to remain in the confidence of all decent people and receive their support. We must, therefore, develop a new type of minister or religious worker, a religious social engineer, for the work of the Sunday school, who understands the psychology of the adoles- cent and knows the social forces which domi- nate the thinking and conduct of young people ; a social engineer for the men of the church who have no work to do in many cases worthy of a man of strength, one who knows the city and INTEODUOTION xxiii its needs and can relate the men and women of the church and the community to the civic life of the town or city. Another type of social en- gineer should be developed for the country problem, who will be able to direct the social forces of a whole county and relate them to the best interests of the State and nation. Still another type of engineer is needed who will be able to deal in an intelligent way with the for- eigners in the villages and towns and the great colonies of them in our large cities. In other words, we need a type of man who knows the value of social machinery, and how to run it, and is willing to stay on the job. PART I THE SOCIAL ENGINEER IN THE MAKING CHAPTEB I THE SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS If the social engineer is to become an im- portant factor in our modern civilization, it will be necessary for bim to develop in bimself the social consciousness before be can bope to succeed in molding the opinions of otbers in the performance of social tasks. It is, tberefore, our purpose in tbis cbapter to point out some- what in detail tbe function of tbe social con- sciousness in tbe doing of social service. Tbis will involve a discussion of its meaning, its re- lation to public opinion, tbe social will, tbe work of social reform, and tbe establisbment of per- manent social control. Its Meaning and Value Now, we all know that we live in many re- lations of wbich we are never conscious except as tbey are pointed out to us, and in otbers of wbicb we are conscious only at times. In fact, tbe mind is made up of a body of knowledge, a mere fragment of wbicb we bold in conscious- ness at any one time, and it is by tbe aid of tbe memory, or of some otber person repeating to us tbe facts, tbat we bring tbese fragments of 3 4 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE knowledge into consciousness. So with tlie mind of the community. Many things are go- ing on of which the community is not aware, whether for good or ill, and these facts must first come into the consciousness of society be- fore anything will be attempted in the line of social service for the betterment and welfare of the community. The great task in social en- gineering is to keep society conscious of its needs until it can be aroused to do what ought to be done to better the conditions of which it is aware, or to change the social habits and cus- toms of a people so that evil may be avoided or good achieved. We often make use of an "Irish bull" in the expression, "One never takes advice until it is too late to take it." The reason for this is plain. The one giving advice seldom has it in consciousness until the tendencies he sees in others have already led to conditions which awaken it, and the one to whom it is given sel- dom, if ever, brings it into consciousness until a condition is reached that awakens him to it, and then it is often too late to take it, for that particular case at least. For illustration : here is a boy who becomes conscious that he has taken cold and so he goes to his mother with the fact. Now, it is not likely he was conscious at the time of any indiscretion, such as going out without his rubbers, talking at the door without THE SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS 5 coat or hat too long with his chum, or sitting in a draught while in a perspiration after play at recess. His mother may have warned and ad- vised him concerning all these points, but his trouble was in not having them in consciousness at the proper time to avoid the result. So in every community there is great need for that kind of social engineering that will keep the in- dividuals and the groups, as well as society at large, conscious of what is necessary to do to prevent social ills as well as of what may be done to destroy them after they have taken root. The greatest service of the life guards at the seashore is warning people of the dangers and keeping people from going out too far. It is only incidentally they have to rescue from drowning some foolish one who has not taken heed and ventured too far out. In the work of social service for the com- munity there are greater need and more promising results in the sphere of keeping the social consciousness of the people awake to the modes of prevention rather than to the iftethods of rescue. Our resolutions of indignation on the discovery of conditions of evil in a community will mean more when we have done more public service to pre- vent them. As Professor Patten has well said, "When we see a drunken man reeling in the street we talk much about the weakness of hu- C THE SOCIAL ENGINEER man nature, and not enough on why the saloon remains on the corner."^ Social consciousness, whether in the indi- vidual or in the mind of the group, involves not only the consciousness of the presence of others but the idea of moral obligation in those relations; not only the notion of how others may help me, but also how I may help others by rightly associating myself with them for our mutual good and well-being. We see, then, that there is nothing mysterious about the social consciousness, but that it is a familiar fact of ordinary experience. "What we need to under- stand is its relation to the work of social service and social organization. In the history of all social reform there must first take place the awakening of the consciousness of need. This in its organized form we call public opinion, in group action the expression of the social will, and in the changed social order we designate it as social reform, or social control. Public Opinion It is not only necessary to have present in society the consciousness of social needs, but these needs must be intelligently understood before anything is likely to be attempted in an organized form for the good of the community. This intelligent understanding of social needs 1 "The New Basis of Civilization." THE SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS 7 we call public opinion. Professor Cooley ex- presses the idea as follows: "We may find so- cial consciousness either in a particular mind or as a cooperative activity of many minds. The social ideas that I have are closely con- nected with those that other people have, and act and react upon them to form a whole. This gives us public opinion, in the broad sense of a group state of mind of which the group is more or less distinctly aware. The unity of public opinion, Uke all vital unity, is not one of uni- formity but one of organisation or interaction and mutual influence."^ Here, it seems to me, is one of the most fruitful fields of social en- gineering for our Sunday schools, and brother- hoods, and kindred organizations of young peo- ple, as well as for the public congregation, and that is, the development of the social conscious- ness of many individual minds into organized expressions of public opinion. Public opinion is not possible without the means and agencies of intercommunication of minds with similar ideas. A distinguished mis- sionary, returned from the Philippine Islands a few years ago, said : "In the Philippines there is no public opinion because there is no way of creating it. They have [then, 1905] no news- papers; and if they had, the people could not 1 See Publications of American Sociological Society, vol. i, 1906, p. 101. 8 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER read them, because they have so many different languages and dialects, and there are few in- telligent enough to read if they could get them. In this country you buy your public opinion for two cents in the morning and one cent at night. ' ' He meant by this that to have public opinion that will respond to a need in the community we must have the means of communication. The Sunday school is a significant illustration, be- cause we have in our organization and litera- ture the means of performing for the public this most important social service. Of course the initiative must be taken by the minister, su- perintendent, and their intelligent and efficient corps of teachers. In matters of civic improve- ment such a movement may be started with an adult Bible class, or a brotherhood, or Epworth League, Christian Endeavor Society, or some other adult organization in the Church com- munity. To illustrate how public opinion may be effectively organized: some years ago a student in one of my classes in the university who was preaching in a country town dis- covered that there existed in that place a no- torious gambling den that was so conducted in connection with a candy shop and cigarette stand that many of the boys and young men were being corrupted and drawn away from the Sunday school and church. He asked me what he should do. I advised him to organize a THE SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS 9 committee of trusty men to investigate, get facts and affidavits, and, after finding the law applicable to such facts, to present them to the proper authority and at the same time give the facts to the public, preferably through the daily press; and if it refused, to employ the pulpit and platform in giving the facts to the public. He succeeded in a short time in ridding the town of a social evil by organized public opinion that the people as individuals had been conscious of for years, but had never before seriously considered removing by concerted action. By using the International Lessons and the publication of literature on the same themes we have done a splendid service for church unity and Christian federation among Protestant de- nominations; and by the adoption of such de- partments of social service in the Sunday school literature of the present the editors have taken a wise step toward making possible the spread of public opinion of a sane. Christian type upon many of the pressing social problems of the present, such as child-labor, divorce, the social evil and the disastrous line of social diseases that follow in its wake, the improvement of the conditions of the wage-workers, the menace of congested population in the cities, and the betterment of life conditions in the rural dis- tricts. 10 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER The Social WiLii The Hebrew prophets were led to say, "The people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," but the modern prophet can change that a little and say, "The people are destroyed for lack of well-coordinated social action in matters they already know full well." "Social will differs from public opinion only in implying a more continuous and effective guide to social development."^ We discover after a little investigation that many of the ills of society are not directly willed by anybody, but are the by-products of conduct otherwise willed — for example: drunkenness, social dis- eases, accidents in industry, the slum, depriva- tion and suffering of neutrals in warfare, etc. All are the results of ignorance. A young man is killed in the act of trying to stop a runaway horse, not because of any bad will, but, prob- ably, because he was ignorant of the method of seizing him with the minimum of danger and the maximum of good result. A man greatly esteemed by his firm, and of great value to the community and the Church, in attempting to catch a car in motion, that he may meet an ap- pointment, is crushed beneath the wheels. Here is an ill to the community the result of conduct with good intent. The high death rate of in- > See Cooley, op. cit., p. 104. THE SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS 11 f ants in the downtown district of the city is not due to the bad will of anybody in particular, but, rather, to the lack of social wiU in provid- ing for the inspection of the milk supply, the cleaning of the streets, and the proper enforce- ment of adequate tenement-house laws. ''Thus it is not bad will, but lack of will, that is mainly the cause of evil things ; they exist outside the sphere of choice. We lack rational self -direc- tion, and suffer not so much from our sins, dark as those may be, as from our blindness, weak- ness, and confusion."^ WhUe it is true that most ills in society are not directly willed, yet it is, nevertheless, true that there are some very great evils that are directly the outcome of the evil, selfish will of certain individuals who, like a distinguished citizen of no mean city, when before an investi- gation committee, declared he and his political associates were working for their own pockets all the time. Such evils as have been unearthed during the last ten years have been possible be- cause the public had not yet become conscious of its power to correct them, while individuals who knew they were breaking the law were will- ing to take the risks because of the ignorance of the public, or because they thought public servants could be bought off with threats or bribes. The public social will has been stirred ' Cooley, op. cit., p. 106. 12 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER to action in punishing the "boodlers" and "grafters," "rebaters" and "loan sharks" in many parts of the country, and we believe it is possible so to develop the social will that so- ciety by its obedience-compelling power may be able to bring all wrongdoers to justice, and so modify legislation that the individual wrong- doer can no longer dodge behind the corpora- tion, or the corporation dodge behind the law; we shall then have brought that kind of reform through social control that will guarantee the greatest good to all legitimate factors of human society. Social Control and Kefoem All our social activities, however, expressed in movements and organized effort for social reform, would be but a thankless task if they did not result in permanent habits of social con- trol in the community. We have had some splendid examples in the recent past of how the will of the people can be aroused so as to inau- gurate great social reforms, as, for example, in city government administration, State pro- hibition, control of public service corporations, and anti-gambling legislation; but it yet re- mains for us to prove that we can keep the public conscience keyed up to the tension of our knowing whether these reforms are to be made permanent and progressive until we have THE SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS 13 reached the state of permanent stable social control. Here, then, is our supreme task — the develop- ment of administrative efficiency that will re- sult in permanent social control. This can be done only by persistent effort on the part of all our educational institutions and agencies in the home, in the Church, in the State, and in the nation at large in awakening the social con- sciousness of individuals and groups to see the social needs of our times; in the organization of public opinion through the various means in intercommunication that will become an in- telligent guide of the social will, which must be aroused to definite and persistent effort by altruistic motives in the Christian community, and in the patient, persistent performance of public duties until reforms become permanent habits established in institutions of social con- trol. CHAPTEB n SOCIAL ORGANIZATION It is our purpose in this chapter to give more in detail the reasons for social organization in the community, the principles to be observed in the formation of such organizations as shall be of real value to the life of the people, the kinds of organizations that best meet eertaiu classes of needs in society, the principles gov- erning the relation of organizations to each other, and the conclusions we may draw from these facts that may be of value to the social en- gineer in every community. The Reasons foe Social Oeganization It must be understood at the outset, by all workers within the Church and Sunday school, or any like organizations which propose to do social service, that the reasons for social or- ganization are primarily and fundamentally ex- pressed in the various needs of society and the actual conditions of human beings outside of rather than within the special group that is merely seeking to perpetuate its own organized existence, or to get glory by making some kind of a statistical report at a convention of the 14 SOCIAL OEGANIZATION 15 like-minded. Whenever any organization has reached a stage where most of its energies are put forth to maintain its own existence, rather than perform a service to the community, it has already forfeited its right to be called an organization for social service. It would be like a fellow I saw once attempting to mow a field of grass; the most of his time was spent in whetting his scythe, going for a drink, eating his lunch, and resting in the shade. The real reason for his being there was that the grass needed to be cut. "We are beginning in our day to sympathize with the tramp (rather than with his employer) who left his job because he could not see any sane reason for carrying a pile of stones from one side of the road to the other, repeatedly, even to furnish an industrial test for a "hobo." Many young men and women lose interest in organizations within the Church and com- munity because there seems to be no real good reason for their existence. There are always fewer desertions from the army in times of war than in times of peace, because the rank and file can see more clearly the reason for drill and forced marches. There is a law in society that should be emphasized by all social workers ; it is that the association of presence is always strengthened by the association of activity; that is, people 16 THE SOCIAL EISTGINEEE who have been associated in like forms of work are more likely to get along together in an or- ganization that depends for its strength upon the unity of its members. Or, in other words, the strongest and most vigorous organizations are those which have as their real object the doing of work that counts for something in a community apart from the existence of the organization itself. I sometimes think the real reason the disciples had toiled all night and had taken nothing was because they had cast their net on the wrong side of the ship; or, to put it in another way, they had put the ship between the net and the fish, for when, at the command of Jesus, they cast their net on the right side of the ship, it was "filled with a multi- tude of fishes." It seems sometimes that as "fishers of men" we get the organization be- tween our real purpose and the people. We seem to spend more time in holding meetings and banquets, and geeing and hawing over points of constitutionality and parliamentary practice than in actual work in the fields of op- portunity. All social organization is based primarily upon needs that are felt in the community, and begins its life only after these needs have been intelligently understood by some one in the group who takes the initiative, and when they have been made known in an intelligent way to SOCIAL OEGANIZATION 17 others of the group. Later on, however, in the administrative work of social organizations needs more remote are discovered, and ways of meeting them are provided for by further organization, until, finally, we reach the stage of culture and civilization that is made up of a vast nexus of voluntary purposive associations and organizations to meet the various needs of men with highly developed social con- sciousness. It will not be necessary to go into detail con- cerning the many and various needs now in the consciousness of society. We give only one or two examples : The fact of cruelty to and neg- lect of children has been known and felt by the human race since the days of Solomon, when with real tact and practical wisdom he settled the dispute between two women as to who was the rightful mother of the child in question; but, as a matter of history, there lives to-day in the vigor of age the man who organized the first "Gerry Society," for the specific purpose of the prevention of cruelty to children. Now, everywhere, we have established child-saving institutions, and only recently a Conference on Dependent Children was held in Washington, T>. C, at the call of the President of the United States,^ which has led to the use of the expres- sion, "conservation of the national resources in » Galled by President Roosevelt, January 25-26, 1909. 18 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE children," and the proposed bill in Congress on a "Federal Children's Bureau," which has for its purpose "the investigation of all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child- life, and especially questions of infant mor- tality, the birth rate, physical degeneracy, or- phanage, juvenile delinquency and juvenile courts, desertion and illegitimacy, dangerous occupations, accidents, diseases of children of the working classes, employment, legislation affecting children in the several States and Territories, and such other facts as have a bear- ing upon the health, efficiency, character, and training of children." Another example is to be seen in organized labor. Starting with the consciousness of need under the conditions of long hours, in unsani- tary surroundings, at a meager wage, the move- ment to better these conditions by shorter hours for a day's work, healthful conditions in which to work, and higher wages, has gone on until its demands embrace needs more remote, even the distribution of profits, as well as legislation and political control in the interests of the wageworkers. So from the initial reason for organization we at length reach the point of intelligent consideration and practical treat- ment of all the more remote factors in any problem that presses on the public for solution. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 19 The Pbinciples of Social Oeganizatiois" When the social consciousness of a com- munity has been aroused by the needs felt and intelligently expressed, and social organization determined upon, it is of importance to know what are the essential principles of social or- ganization if we would reach the best results in social service. We consider these to be as follows : 1. Function and not form. It matters little what form an organization may assume if it has a true function. In fact, it is a well-known principle in biology that function gives form to the organism. This can be observed in the changed condition of the skin of a boy's heel after going barefooted in the summer time, or in the calloused palms of the college professor after hoeing his garden in the springtime, or in a thousand instances in the life of fauna and flora in the changes that take place in the proc- esses of evolution. So with a social organiza- tion; its functions should determine its form; the work it has to perform in society should de- termine the character of its formal structure. 2. Purpose and not plan — ^that which keeps in view of the end toward which we are work- ing apart from the initial need. We can some- times afford to differ in matters of plan if we can all agree on the purpose for which we are 20 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE organized. When a man in deep water is cry- ing for help a lifeboat may be best, a rope may be good, a strong swimmer may be available, or even a plank thrown to him may buoy him to shore ; but all the time there is but one pur- pose, and that is getting him on shore. 3. Consecration as well as a constitution. In fact, in most societies that do any real work in the community there are few of the workers that remember a line of the constitution. Some- times we have to be reminded of constitutional limitations in the way of a man of unusual fit- ness for public office, and proceed to get around them by legislative enactment for the sake of utilizing the man of real consecration to public duty.^ There is little use in attempting social organization for any specific task unless there is consecration and patience enough to make things go in spite of opposition and discourage- ment, for these inevitably follow social innova- tion. 4. A strong conviction in the social mind that human nature is capable of responding to per- sonal appeal in the endeavor to save individuals and groups from one condition to a better state of existence — such a faith as Jesus had when he committed the whole scheme of a world's re- demption to a few fishermen, taxgatherers, and tentmakers, who up to the day of Pentecost • Secretary of State Knox, for example. SOCIAL OEGANIZATION 21 seemed to have understood his mission but poorly, and yet with consecration and zeal they wrought until they had turned the whole world upside down and placed the cross at the front of the conquering legions of the Eoman empire, which made forever possible the dominance of Christian over pagan civilization. It is that Christian principle of conscious- ness of kind that enables us to see in every human being, no matter how low in the scale of life, a member of the human brotherhood who needs our sympathy and our help, that motive principle in society that releases energies for rescue and reform not by virtue of what man is, but by virtue of what he may become, by the grace of God and the help of his fellows. The Kinds of Social OKGANizATioiir The kind of social organization necessary for the performance of social service in any community will have to be determined from the character of the needs, immediate or remote, to be met. Tor example: in a city where there are vast numbers of delinquent boys who have been before the juvenile court and put on pro- bation, an organization like the "Big Brother Movement" in New York city might be what is needed, or a "Big Sister Movement" — organi- zations in which the individual man or woman, acts as a big brother or sister to some boy or 22 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE girl who is without home advantages in giving through the ministry of personality an example of better living and a chance to improve oneself by honest effort without the stigma of accepting charity and thus becoming pauperized. In an industrial center where there are frequent ac- cidents resulting in loss of work, and sometimes in the loss of the breadwinner, social engineer- ing might take the form of an organization to place in remunerative service children old enough to work, or a day nursery to care for the little ones while the mothers and older mem-, bers of the family are at work, or societies for loans of money to buy coal or pay rent under such conditions. Or it may be a need more re- mote, such as an educational society to help some worthy boy or girl through the college or professional school. In the congested city it would mean the institutional church, or the so- cial settlement, or a commission appointed by the city authorities. The mission fields afford another example; here some schools support their own mission- ary, or a native Bible worker; or the church may establish a whole mission station in some part of the home or foreign field, and call upon the organized groups of the various societies of the church to raise the funds necessary. We may classify social organizations, therefore, from the viewpoint of need, or from the view- SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 23 point of the specific activities they perform in the social field. ^ The Relation or Social Organizations to Each Othee It is a "well-known fact in church work that there is often a lack of harmony and coopera- tion between the various subsidiary organiza- tions of the local church, and often between like organizations of different denominations. Now this is being overcome in many quarters by the progress of federation and brother- hood among the like-minded in denominational bodies. This, however, is characteristic of all social organizations. There are stages in the life of organizations in their relation to each other just as we observe in the group life of the race. Conflict is followed by toleration of equals ; alliance and cooperation follows, and at length sympathetic and pleasurable relations are established as a result of an intelligent understanding of mutual interests in the same social field. It would be a fact greatly to be deplored if the various organizations of the Christian Church should fall behind industrial and political organizations in the progress of peace. The time will come in the local church and the individual denomination, as well as be- 1 For a, fviller classification see chap, iv of "Social Aspects of Religious Institutions," by the writer. 24 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK tween all the forces of Christian effort, when the program of PauP will be carried out in the endeavor to minister to the social needs of manldnd. Social organization in the church for social service in the community does not necessarily involve a separate group of men and women, or of boys and girls with banners, banquets, and bouquets, but, on the contrary, it may mean no specific new organization within the church at all, but, rather, an intelligent direction by the superintendent of the Sunday school, teach- ers, and special field workers, of capable young men and women, and even big boys and girls, in lines of effort of their own accord or under the direction of social organizations outside that can be trusted to give such direction. In fact, a great mistake is often made in organiz- ing a separate group in competition with, if not in actual opposition to, like organizations already in the field that should be strengthened by strong men and women from the Church, rather than harassed by their misdirected zeal, as is sometimes the case. The Associated Charities, for instance, or the Children's So- ciety, Rescue Mission, Clinic, the Municipal Dis- pensary, Lodging House, the Day School admin- istration. Boys' Club, Chamber of Commerce, City Clubs for Community Improvement, and > 1 Cor. 12. SOCIAL OEGANIZATION 25 many other like organizations for community welfare and social betterment, may well be co- operated with and enriched by the services of men trained in the Church and Sunday school ; and many cases of need and plans for com- munity improvement could be delegated to these organizations and societies. But in communities where this cannot be done let there be organized first a group for the intelligent study of the needs to be met, a care- ful survey of the membership with respect to fitness for leadership in the various groups to be formed to meet specific needs; and, where proper leaders cannot be secured, it would be better to wait before organizing imtil such leadership as is needed may be trained or other- wise secured. Gastronomical appeals should seldom, if ever, be made for purposes of membership or of arousing interest. If we must have banquets, "feeds," and suppers, let them be only inci- dental to the serious work of interesting men in their fellows. Social organization, there- fore, must be based upon reasons that appeal to men, principles that are fundamental to suc- cessful effort and achievement, and of such kinds as the various needs require, and so re- lated to the entire field of social service as to avoid social friction and economic waste in min- istering to the social needs of the community. CHAPTER III SOCIAL MACHINERY AND SOCIAL. ENGINEERING In the last chapter we considered social or- ganization from the viewpoint of the reasons for such organization, the principles underly- ing such organization, the different kinds of organizations that correspond to the needs in society, and the relations existing between dif- ferent kinds of social organizations. It is de- sirable at this point to consider the practical phases of social activity by discussing social machinery and social engineering. In the ordinary fields of human activity we are confronted with certain tasks, we are ac- quainted with the forces about us available for work, and we therefore invent machinery or utilize mechanical appliances already invented to accomplish the work involved in our tasks. We also discover that better work can be done, and our tasks accomplished quicker, if we know how to engineer the forces available and direct the workers so as to secure the greatest eflS- ciency with the least waste of time and material. This involves the practical engineer as well as the one who can work out the technical prob- lems connected with our work. So in the work 26 SOCIAL MACHINEEY 27 of the church and its various organizations it is not sufficient to merely organize a group of workers for any social task. We must also con- sider the social forces available, we must also invent social machinery, and utilize the prac- tical engineer in directing the workers in the field as well as discover the technical ability of the professional leaders in social work. Not disregarding the achievements in pure science, we are to-day putting greater emphasis in education upon applied science, upon those studies in mechanics and engineering that will equip men for doing things as well as knowing things. So in our religious and moral activities, we do not depreciate the achievements of the philosophers, the theologians, and the sociolo- gists in the fields of discovery and organization, yet to-day we need to place more emphasis upon the practical tasks of utilizing the social forces we have discovered, and in keeping men at their work until achievement for society has been realized. In religious education we have been for years drawing out of the treasure house of knowledge the truths of the Word of God for human conduct, but for some reason we have not gotten the results in achievement for the human race that all this teaching would de- mand. So we have begun to look to the field of applied Christianity, with the purpose of in- venting ways and means of utilizing all these 28 THE SOCIAL EJSfGINEEK forces and splendid energies in the Church and Sunday school that seem to have in large meas- ure been going to waste because we have had no social mechanics through which to make use of them. And even where we have succeeded in social invention we have been defeated in our purpose often from the lack of practical men to manage the forces in the field. We have often placed men in responsible positions in church work not because they were competent but simply because they wanted the office, or because we were willing to submit to a majority vote. In some communities churches and Sun- day schools have been depleted in ranks not be- cause there was no machinery and organization, but because there were no practical leaders available to do the work required. Social Machineby By social machinery we mean that which so- ciety invents or appropriates for the purpose of making its will effective. It may be a plan or mode of action involving an individual, or a group of individuals, or even another organiza- tion which is subservient to the larger group. For illustration: an agent, delegate, or ambas- sador is not a vital part of the organization or society sending him, but simply a part of the social machinery used to carry on its work. Or, again, take, for example, the printing office of SOCIAL MACHINEET 29 the government, with its network of organiza- tion: it is established, organized, and equipped for the purpose of printing the matter used in government business, thus making the will of the government known to individuals, com- munities, and responsible groups which com- pose the nation at large. We may classify briefly these various agencies and machinery of society as follows : 1. Civic: such as bureaus, departments, com- missions, boards, trustees, etc. 2. Military: such as armies and navies, with their subdivisions and boards, staffs, etc., con- stabulary, etc. 3. Educational: institutions, school boards, surveys, research bureaus, institutes, museums, exhibitions, etc. 4. Religious: churches, institutional boards, missions, settlements, classes, etc. 5. Industrial and Commercial: transportation and intercommunication lines, manufactories, markets, trade centers, etc. 6. Charities and Philanthropies: almshouses, asylums, dispensaries, hospitals, etc. 7. Correctional Agencies: courts, prisons, re- formatories, industrial colonies, juvenile courts, and probation system, etc. All of these agencies and machinery of so- ciety are invented or created and utilized by the group life of the State to make the social 30 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER will effective in carrying out tlie policies of the government. Now, the practical question for us in this connection is, How are we to relate the millions of men and women, boys and girls who are in our Sunday schools (and will be passing through and out into the intricate net- work of society from generation to generation) to the tremendous social tasks involved in the use of all this machinery that society has in- vented and will invent to make its will effective? How can the Sunday school as an educational institution apply the knowledge of social or- ganization and of social machinery, as above described, to the task of socializing the indi- viduals we control so far as their moral and religious instruction is concerned? It may be assumed at the outset that most of the adults in the school have gleaned a body of knowledge from contact with society, as they are daily a part of it, hence this body of knowl- edge needs only to be systematized in the mind of the student ; and to do this the teacher must be able to give the student the principles and theory of social organization. He can do this by the use of text-books or by the ordinary method of the lecture room. This is the theo- retical part of the task. The students are, however, capable of being organized for social group work, so that they may get a practical knowledge of the subject SOCIAL MACHINEKT 31 under discussion. It is true this "will be on a small scale, but almost all the phases of social machinery may be demonstrated ha. this way among the students in the community life. This involves also field work under the leadership of a competent and prudent teacher or helper. For example : visits may be made to legislative halls, courtrooms, industrial plants, banks, so- cial settlements, institutional churches, hos- pitals, asylums, dispensaries, parks, play- grounds, country suburbs, etc., where the organized life of society may be demonstrated and the working of social machinery observed. Again, these phases of social activity may be demonstrated by maps, charts, photographs, and by getting the workers in these various fields to visit the class and describe their work in a personal way. It is true that some of our social tasks may involve the invention of new modes of activity, as, for example, the kindergarten, the Sunday school and church nursery room, etc. ; but most of our social tasks may be performed by simply utilizing the machinery already in use by others or by adapting old methods to new conditions. There is one fact with respect to social ma- chinery that is most encouraging: it is that it has no patents — so we can appropriate it at will. We sometimes think, however, that what is used in so-called "secular" society should, there- 32 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK fore, per se, not be used by a religious in- stitution. I have no sympathy with that view. "The altar sanctifieth the gift," and one of the lessons we want to learn quickly in our church work is not to let the devil have the monopoly of much of the social machinery available for doing good in the community. An old godly shoemaker in a Southern town was unalterably opposed to the introduction of an organ in the church where he worshiped. At last the younger members of the congrega- tion outnumbered the "conservatives," and an organ was purchased. The first Sunday there- after service was well started by a hymn, ac- companied by the organ, after which the super- intendent of the school called on the old brother to pray. All was quiet. Again the superin- tendent said: "Brother B will please lead us in prayer," and to the amusement of the school and the amazement of the superintend- ent, Brother B . made reply, "Call on your machine." The point I wish to make is this: in the work of social service for the community the Church and Sunday school do not neces- sarily need to invent new forms of social ma- chinery for carrying on such work, but they can easily and readily utilize the forms of or- ganization and machinery already worked out for them in the community, and the great op- portunity we now have is to give many of these SOCIAL MACHINERY 33 so-called secular forms a religious significance by manning them with religious workers. Social Engineeeing We mean by this expression the art of making social machinery move with the least friction and with the best result in work done. It is well known that the man who is at the head of a great construction company is in- terested in securing men who can manage the technique of planning a structure and judg- ing materials. When the great Stadium at Syracuse University was being constructed I used to admire greatly the president of the con- struction company, the architects, and the en- gineers, who did the planning and the buying of materials, etc., but no class of men gave mo more inspiration to do big things than those men we call practical engineers, who kept four or five hundred men steadily at work on the job in such an organized way that there was no loafing and no getting in each other's way, while the structure went steadily but surely up to completion. Now, in the work of religious social engineer- ing we need just such men as can get things done by the use of ordinary men in forms of constructive work in the community. I know a church that has succeeded in secur- ing over five hundred new members in less than 34 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE fifteen months, making in all over a thousand members, and, on personal investigation, I dis- covered that it was due not to any new ma- chinery brought into the church service, nor by any startling new methods of work, but simply by practical engineering of the forces of the church by a few men, the pastor himself being the leader. During the winter a few years ago he found the shops in his district running on part time, or closed because of the financial de- pression. He got some of the wealthy men to volunteer to give practical help to the families of these shop men, and he thus won many of them and their families to his church. Again, the following winter, he wanted to interest the men of the church in the working men outside the church, so he cooperated with the Young Men's Christian Association field-workers and canvassed his whole district one Sunday for a big evening service for men, giving them the main floor of the auditorium, while the gallery was reserved for the women; and then he se- cured the strongest speaker for men available, so that as a result he has to-day the support and good will of every labor union in that part of the town, because he has demonstrated to them that he and his churchmen are interested in the temporal and spiritual welfare of the men of the community. Now he has solved the problem of social engineering. SOCIAL ENGINEEEING 35 It may be thought by some that we have few such men and women in our Sunday schools and churches who know how to do the practical engineering in the group work of the com- munity. I think this is not the case. I believe there are many such if we only knew how to discover them. A man who is working in the "gang" to-day may be a foreman or practical engineer to-morrow ia the work of construction in the building trades. So in our church work: if we know the needs of the work we are under- taking, and the machinery to be manned, we can often discover the right man in one of our groups to become a leader or social engineer in the work of constructive social service in the church community. In education emphasis is being placed to-day upon discovering the aptitudes of the student, and then directing his education according to his bent. So in this work of social leadership we may not hope to succeed by trying to put all through the same mold. We must recognize, as did Paul, that there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit, and seek to get men and women into forms of service they can do, and so direct them that together they may accom- plish much for the uplift of the whole com- munity and at the same time develop in the man a character worthy of any religious test. Such men will be trained only in the labora- 36 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER tory of human experience, so we must begin by teaching the boys to work for their fellows. We can begin with team work in play, until we get them in later years to stand firm in every good work for social reform and not shirk even when the struggle is hard and expensive. If it is a social service of a political char- acter, do not put a crank on the job, but some man who knows something about politics, who has been in a caucus, who knows how to get things done in such a body representing differ- ing interests. A good illustration of this is the attempt to organize the forces of the Church in anti-saloon work. You cannot make a moral issue a political issue and then hope to succeed in the campaign as you would in a debating so- ciety or in a revival meeting. The character of the task demands political methods (of course of the right sort) . If the task is one of charity or philanthropy, put a man on the job who knows how to deal with the case, or who knows to what institution within the city to refer it. If it involves financial ability, put a man on the job who has some notions of finance, and who knows the value of money. If it is a religious task, put a man on the job who has gifts of spiritual insight and whose heart interest is in that kind of work. CHAPTEE IV SOCIAL, CLASSIFICATION, CLEAVAGE, AND CONFLICT We have considered thus far in our studies in the field of social service the meaning and value of social consciousness in the forming of public opinion, arousing the social will, and de- veloping social control; the meaning and prin- ciples of social organization; and the practical value of social machinery and social engineer- ing in carrying on our work in the fields of so- cial activity. We come now to the considera- tion of another very important subject which confronts the social engineer at every turn, and that is the fact of class consciousness which is awakened by the facts of social classification, cleavage, and conflict, which may have been in the process of formation long before the many become conscious of their presence in society. Unless the social engineer admits these facts and studies them, he will often be defeated in his plans in the practical fields of social reform. While there is, no doubt, to-day a great deal of random, meaningless talk about the signifi- cance of "the class struggle," "the class con- sciousness," "the caste system," and like terms, yet there is some serious discussion among 37 38 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK earnest men whose interest in tlie welfare of society is unquestioned concerning the mean- ing and ultimate results of class consciousness and class conflict in America to-day.* It will not be possible for us within the limits of this chapter to go into a full sociological treatment of the origin of class based upon facts of race differentiation, or differences growing out of degrees of vitality, or of per- sonality. But we will confine our discussion to some of those more simple and practical dis- tinctions of class which are based upon some social advantage gained by the possession of wealth, culture, skill, leadership, heroism, fam- ily, pedigree, or royal prerogative. Social, Classification One of the first questions raised is, How are social classes constituted, and how do class dis- tinctions arise in any country, especially in a democracy like our own? I think that all so- cial classification grows primarily out of the tasks we have to perform in doing the world's work, or the place we fill in society made for us or by us, and the natural consequences in phys- ical, mental, moral, and social structure that follow. "Class distinction" is a term that has come to represent various classifications of > See Professor Cooley, "Social Organization," chap, xxi; also John R. Commons, Publications of American Sociological Society, vol. ii, 1907, pp. 138£f. CLASS CONSCIOrSNESS 39 population within the boundaries of a nation, State, or conununity, and has its true basis in social advantages of the individuals or groups with a class consciousness. It is possible to con- ceive of a time in the history of the human race when every individual in the struggle for ex- istence — ^with the crude weapons which nature furnished him, or his unfolding mental abilities could invent, and his unskilled hands could fashion — ^was on an equal footing with every other creature of his own species, just as we may conceive of a time in the history of the earth's surface when everything was at sea level; for there was no land with hills and mountain ranges. From another viewpoint it is possible to con- ceive of a state of society at some "millennial dawn" when every man will be again on an equal footing socially with every other man, just as we may conceive of some distant day when this old earth by the process of erosion and deposit will again be reduced to a dead level, or, like other dead planets, be reduced to a condition of absolute death, when there will be no question of class distinctions because there will be no one to raise the interrogation. But when we come to study the actual world in which we live and move and have our being we discover natural forces which produce varia- tion in every aspect that appeals to the human 40 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER senses. In the inorganic world we discover the variations in configuration of the earth's sur- face of rivers, lakes, and oceans, of mountains, hills, and valleys, and in the quality of soil and minerals that rib the eternal hills. In the or- ganic world also we have the innumerable varia- tions in structure, form, and quality of fauna and flora that keep the zoologist and the bota- nist until now busy in making their classifica- tions. It is not strange, therefore, that in the world of human associations we should find variations and classifications of men and women, the result of the operation of social laws and forces just as real and effective as 'those we have discovered in the inorganic and organic spheres of nature's activities — ^with this marked difference, however, that here we are dealing with the element of freedom in personality which gives a relatimty to all class distinctions, because no barriers are absolutely fixed, for even the barriers of caste, as in India and in othei: countries, have been broken by the force of Christian brotherhood. From an economic standpoint many class distinctions are natural and necessary, for the greater part of the world's work is economi- cally dependent upon class distinctions. Eco- nomically, it is inconvenient for a professional man, who must always be dressed in suitable form to receive his clients, to be his own coach- CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS 41 man and groom his own horse. Likewise it is inconvenient for his wife to receive callers while she is busy with domestic duties in the kitchen. Hence the natural thing is for the professional man to hire a coachman, and his wife a maid or cook. So in every sphere of human activity, a division of labor is necessary from an economic standpoint, and this tends naturally to fix or mark off one class from another in conscious- ness; and yet we can see that all are equally necessary for the economic and social life of the community, and hence from a broader and more intelligent viewpoint each class should be hon- ored as a necessary part of the social process. Vabieties op Social Classificatiok In monarchical governments we generally speak of four classes of population — the rul- ing class, the titled class, the gentry, and the peasants — ^while in a republic like ours, based upon ideas of equality, liberty, and fraternity, there is, theoretically, but one class — "the peo- ple"; but as a matter of fact we have at least three, if not four, general social classes: the wealthy, elite, or leisure class, which usually in- cludes those who govern; the middle, or pro- fessional and employing class, usually owning more or less property or controlling property interests ; the so-called working class, or labor- ing class, those who do the manual labor neces- 42 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE sary in the supply of human needs ; and a fourth class, known as the pauper class, who are un- able to produce for themselves and are depend- ent upon those who give to their support wholly or in part. There are still other classifications that are more general in character, based en- tirely upon what is termed social standing. These are sometimes called the upper classes, the middle classes, and the lower classes. At other times they are designated the elite and the common people. From an economic view- point they are called rich and poor; from an educational basis, the educated and uneducated, the learned and the ignorant; from a moral viewpoint we classify men as good and bad; from a religious test, as saints and sumers, believers and unbelievers; from a theological standpoint we label them as orthodox or het- erodox. It is easy to see at a glance without very much reflection that in the constitution of all these various social classes there is a quantita- tive as well as a qualitative element ; and if we go back far enough in the historical evolution of society, we will find that all classifications have their basis in property, prowess, or phys- ical and psychical traits of personality. These more modern classifications of society are based upon the same principles, or upon principles that have been derived from these. This ac- CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS 43 coimts for the fact, as we shall see later, that in commxuiities where the caste system or other artificial distinctions have not already become fixed the barriers between the various social classes may be easily crossed, as the individual may possess or be deficient in these principles or possessions which entitle him to class dis- tinction. One proof that such distinctions of class are more or less artificial and quantitative is the fact that under the stress of some su- preme need or sudden danger or fear these ideas of class distinction for the time being vanish from consciousness and all seem to be on a common level — for example, a shipwreck or a fire. It is, therefore, safe to conclude that social classifications are largely a matter of the social class-consciousness, and leisure tends to emphasize such distinctions in consciousness; and, as a rule, those who make the most of such distinctions are those who lack the wider social perspective, or do the least of the world's work. After all, it is those who flaunt their fur- belows in the faces of those who toil that stir up the greatest amount of hatred or ill feeling between the social classes of a community. Factobs Which Gme Social Advantage If we discover that class distinctions are natural and necessary, and that class conscious- ness is a fact in society that caimot be ignored, 44 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE it is a matter of interest to all educational in- stitutions that have to do with the plastic period of youth, when social ambitions are ripening into definite fruits of activity, that they should take into consideration what are the factors available in the life of the individual that may give him social advantage among his fellows in the realms of social progress. Among the many factors which give social advantage may be enumerated the following: 1. Blood relationship, or the status of one's family. It is an old saying that "blood will tell," and there is nothing which gives greater advantage in society in many parts of the world than the fact of being born well. In some com- munities one's pedigree or family tree is an asset which gives him entrance to the highest social circles. Of course one in this country of heterogeneous population does not insist on climbing the family tree too high, lest, as a dis- tinguished African from the South said, "he find an ape up there." 2. Wealth. Just as among primitive peoples property was a mark of social distinction and a gauge of power in the community, so to-day wealth has become a social barometer, and fre- quently those who have the greatest wealth hold the highest place in the social scale, if we are to judge from the attention they receive from their fellows, deserved or undeserved. This CLASS CONSCIOTJSNESS 45 point can be emphasized by reading the guest list of public functions and state dinners. 3. Culture. In every country the wise and the cultured have sooner or later gotten to the top in the social scale, and in no country more than in the United States is the cultured man, the educated man, or the man of practical wis- dom thought more of and respected more by all classes of society. Hence next to wealth, culture or learning gives one social prestige. We see this illustrated again and agaiu in the career of the American student. Coming, as he often does, from the homes of those who struggle for existence, and do the hard labor of the world's work, after passing through the school, the academy, the college, or the univer- sity, he has usually won a position in the social scale which gives him the hope and the ambi- tion, if not the actual ability, to attain to the highest positions in social standing in the com- munity where he lives. 4. Position or profession. In America posi- tion, or profession, such as governments offer, or the management of some great industrial or commercial enterprise, or the profession of teaching, of preaching, of the law, or of medi- cine, gives social advantage. Here, as in all other factors, character counts for more than the mere position or profession. The time has come when society rewards a man not by virtue 46 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE of his office, or the cloth he wears, but by the character of the service he renders to society. 5. Leadership. The ability to take the lead in any movement among any body of men, as illustrated in military circles in the army and in the navy, in political life, as well as in the field of athletic sports. In America many a man of humble origin, like the immortal Lin- coln, has won his place in the hall of fame and in the highest circles of society by the genius of leadership in all these fields of human en- deavor. 6. Shill or inventive genius. The ability to do something that no one else can do, whether it be in the field of diplomacy, in statecraft, in invention, navigation, engineering, or as an "Indian" scout. 7. Heroism. The man who dares to take his life in his hand for the rescue of his fellow man, or who does some daring deed for the good of the State, or the safety of the fatherland, wins social advantage though he may have been reared in the lowest circles of society. 8. Vicarious service. The man or woman who gives up social opportunities for the sake of service to others, like the missionary, the physician, and the nurse, has always won a place in the social esteem of his or her country- men, though sometimes the coronation has been too long delayed. John Wesley, Florence Night- CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS 47 ingale, and Bishops William Taylor and James Thoburn furnish, us splendid examples. These are some of the more important fac- tors that give social advantage, but there is a growing social consciousness in every com- munity that includes the humbler factors of everyday tasks well performed. So we are com- ing to see that anyone who does a requisite part of the work necessary for the health, happiness, and safety of the community has won the right to our respect and social esteem, whether he sit in the office of state, the professional chair, whether he stand in the place of the captaia of industry, the captain of the ship, or the cap- taia of the army, or whether he be the humble citizen doiag his daily tasks as the scavenger of the city, the stoker of the boilers, or the private in the commissariat. All are doing a part of the work of the world which makes our social progress possible, and should, therefore, have a share of the social honors and esteem that we have to offer as a reward. The Sunday school and other institutions of the Christian Church are doing a great service in keeping open the doors of opportunity that lead to social progress, and nothing will con- tribute more to the effectiveness of that service than the knowledge of what really constitutes social classes and what are some of the factors that give social advantage. 48 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER SociAXi Cleavage When we use this term with reference to so- ciety we do not mean for the reader to infer that we helieve society to be inorganic, and sub- ject to the laws of cleavage as the term is used in geology. It is only in an analogical sense that we consider society as capable of being split up into groups or structures in the same way as one would split a rock for building pur- poses. It is true that in race differentiation and in countries where castes are formed we have a stratification of society almost as marked as that in the earth's structure; but in modem so- ciety among progressive peoples, especially under democratic forms of government, we have no such barriers that exclude one class from another, and yet we have that principle of social differentiation at work that makes progress and nation-building possible. This we call social cleavage. You may have a rock mass that is of little use in its present form and po- sition, but by understanding its lines of cleav- age you may utilize it in structure building in any place or in any form most desirable and most useful. So with a population mass; it seems to us sometimes a useless incumbrance in the savage group, the teeming wretches of the caste, or the threatening movement of the mob; but when we understand how men may CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS 49 be organized and grouped in cooperative en- deavor, and in sympathetic altruistic sei^ce for the good of each in society, we see how it can be utilized for the good of the community. "While the actual lines of social cleavage may, not be visible to the unthinking in a population group, yet they are there just as surely as in the rock mass from which we shape the blocks of the granite or marble that make up our noble structures. We can observe this in a new set- tlement; out of the population mass there de- velops organized and orderly society because the possibilities of social cleavage were present in the population mass. I wish it understood at the outset that social cleavage, in itself, is not an evil, as many would suppose, but a good to society if intelligently utilized by social leadership. The real difficulty in society is not in the fact of social cleavage and social organization, but, rather, in social friction and social conflict. To make use of the analogy a little further : We find that the lines of cleavage and the utility of a rock mass de- pend upon the process of rock formation — the way the structural units were put together. So in society, the utility of social cleavage de- pends upon the 'social process by which the in- dividuals of a population mass are related to each other in the development of society itself. If men are taught from birth to despise the 50 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE members of another group, as under the caste system, then it will be almost impossible to de- velop an organized democratic government and society among them. If men of any country are taught from childhood to consider themselves as members of a "class," and to despise as ene- mies those below them in the scale of life, then it will be impossible to avoid social friction, class hatred, and class conflict. Social cleavage is thus changed to social stratification, and we get as a result social barriers set up between classes, because class consciousness has de- veloped faster than social consciousness. These facts give to the Church and Sunday school an unusual educational opportunity; for, as we shall see later in the discussion, Christian edu- cation is the only force that can develop a so- cial consciousness in the individual and in the group that will be able intelligently to make use of the great law of social cleavage in de- veloping the ideal society. Social Babbiees When we speak of social barriers between various groups of population it is only in a metaphorical sense that we use the term, for the life of the community is a whole that can- not be regarded as actually set off by fences or walls. It would be nearer the truth if we spoke of these barriers as tetraced, for we find it very CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS 51 easy to slip from one social plane to another, as it is possible by ambition and energy to ascend. Of course in a country like India, where the caste system has long been established and recognized, these barriers seem absolutely fixed for life — as absolute as that gulf between Dives and Lazarus ; and to some extent in a monarchy these barriers are more or less fixed between the ruling class and the titled classes, and those beneath them in the social scale, yet it is quite possible in a constitutional monarchy for dynas- ties to change, or be set aside, and for a man to rise from the peasant to the ruling class. But in a republic, such as our own, these bar- riers are in no sense fixed as yet, these terraced walls may be scaled by the ambitious when righteous endeavor is persisted in, or when the gracious hand of inheritance is reached down to help one up, so that it is not unusual in this country for young men and young women to rise from the humblest circles of the struggling masses to the highest positions of social dis- tinction among the truly elite. On the other hand, it is equally true that the man who does not rightly appreciate the position that he holds by inheritance, or has reached by endeavor, may easily slip to the bottom of the social scale, and even lower, into the very pit of the depraved, by social sinning. 52 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER It frequently occurs in modern American so- ciety that many families through, financial suc- cess are prematurely placed in social positions for which they are by education and training unfitted, and hence they are an embarrassment to themselves as well as to their associates, and such have won for themselves the title of the "poor rich." Some of them rightfully deserve such a title, because they usually advertise the fact by the loudness of their dress as well as by the boisterousness of their speech. On the other hand, there are those in every community who are well born, well bred, and truly cultured who, through struggle, misfortune, or circum- stances over which they have no control, are living on the verge of need, and whom we right- fully designate as the "rich poor," and in a more scientific classification we could number them among the truly elite. We find, therefore, that social cleavage based upon natural distinctions among men is a good, and makes social progress possible, while artificial distinctions tend to social strati- fication, and are a drag to progress, and usually result in social upheavals, cataclysms, and so- cial revolution. Social Conflict Social conflict takes place in society after so- cial groups have been formed, and is not an CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS 53 unmixed evil, for it may result in social prog- ress. In fact, some sociologists have based their theory of society upon this principle.^ It is claimed that conflict either results in con- quest, thus giving the stronger a better chance, or it results in a combination of smaller and weaker groups against the strong until we reach the struggle of equals, which must ulti- mately end in toleration ; and when equals come to tolerate each other they are not long in de- veloping a consciousness of kind that will re- sult in sympathy, and later in pleasurable as- sociation. So there exists the hope that conflict between nations will ultimately result in the federation of the world and the brotherhood of man. But in the process there is the enormous waste of life and substance, and men are asking seriously if there is not some other and better way to reach this supreme goal of society which Christianity has contributed to the world as a workable program. Why do we still have social conflict? We think of the wars of history and of the present, of race antagonisms and class conflicts between groups of the same race — actual warfare, which we name in milder terms, such as strikes, boycotts, lockouts, struggles between organized and unorganized labor, be- tween organized employers, organized em- ployees, competition as destructive of values • Gumplowitz, "Der Rasenkampf." 54 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK in many instances as war or fire or famine. On the other hand, we see groups in conflict be- cause of the moral struggle involved and the moral values that are at stake — conflicts of re- ligious groups for the doctrines they hold as essential to salvation. Why all this? we may ask. Is there no better way? It is easy to give a philosophical answer, but it is quite another thing to solve the actual problem. The reason is largely one of consciousness. One of the chief causes of social conflict is the fact that we develop class consciousness faster than we do social sympathy, or what I term the true social consciousness, that takes account of moral obligations and responsibilities for the other group whether strong or weak. A second cause of social conflict is the passion in the hu- man heart for social justice. Now, the two go together; so long as you have class conscious- ness you will have social injustice; and social conflict is the result. But, on the other hand, the passion for social justice develops the social consciousness by seeking to help the weak and defend the good, and hence the tendency is for groups to develop a wider reaching social con- sciousness until cooperation has displaced con- flict and peaceful relations result. Now, this seems to leave us in a sort of dilemma as to how we are going to succeed in maintaining peace in orderly, progressive so- CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS 55 ciety. It is just here that I wish to put em- phasis upon Christian education in the Church and Sunday school as the chief factor in the solution of this perplexing problem of to-day. Cheistian Education and Society One of the best examples of the development of social cleavage of the right sort is to be found in our educational system in the United States, and especially in a college, high school, or a graded and progressive Sunday school. Here we have the graded system that tends to sepa- rate the pupils in class-conscious groups, while at the same time there is developed what we call "college spirit" that unites all in one larger group, or the denominational spirit that unites all the various groups of one Sunday school and church into a conscious social group of larger dimensions. The evil result in the history of Christian education under denominationalism has been the tendency to denominational caste, or re- ligious social stratification, so that instead of being a help to religious progress it has been a fruitful source of religious strife, intoler- ance, and bigotry. But in modem times the spirit of brotherhood and federation seems to have well-nigh removed all the barriers; so that it is a common thing to-day to see the members of the various denominations 56 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER yoked together in the band of volunteers for the evangelization of the world. Here, then, it seems to me, is the supreme opportunity of the Church and Sunday school — to instruct the millions of the most susceptible youth of our generation so that they may see the value of social cleavage as a part of the social process, and at the same time be taught the meaning of social justice that requires of them enlistment in the warfare against organized vice and sin and crime; and, further, they should be given that view of society that wiU enable them to see the obligations we bear to one another in the great social fabric of which we are but a part, a social consciousness that will overcome class consciousness and lead them to see the rights of others in the fields of opportunity. Much of the conflict in society to-day is the result of inadequate notions of honor in social service. If men could be led to see the dignity of toil wherever honestly expended for the pub- lic weal, they would be so moved by the sense of justice that every man who does a necessary part of the work that contributes to the life, health, and happiness of society would receive not only his rightful due of the honors society bestows, but would receive also a larger share of the profits of social production. The evils in society will never be removed by simply crying down the conflicts that may be CLASS. CONSCIOUSNESS 57 only a result and not a cause, wlien the real task we have to perform is the removal of the causes of these results we so vigorously decry. The industrial problems of to-day -will never be solved by running down organized labor, nor by abusing the organizations of capital, but, rather, by giving to all men the facts that will arouse their innate sense of justice, and lead them to deal justly with their fellows. But you ask, ' ' How can this be done ? " It is not so diffi- cult as it seems, for we are apt to become dis- couraged at the bigness of a task because we see it as a whole, when, as a tnatter of fact, our part in the process of performance may be but a simple part of it all. For example, tell your class on Sunday not only the precepts of Jesus that bear upon the theme, but tell them also of some concrete case you know of in your own community. Tell the city boy how the farmer boy must go without many good things because the unscrupulous commission man cheated his father out of nearly all the profits of his sea- son's toil in raising his crop for market; or tell the boy in the country how some poor man in the city was robbed of his property by some unscrupulous "loan shark" when he was in need, because he was unable to push his case with any hope of success in the courts. Take your class for an outing and show them the actual groups of living human beings that 58 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE make possible social classification, cleavage, and conflict. In fact, when we come to look about us, tbe easiest task we have in the Sunday school and in the day school and college is to give the student a concrete example of what we mean by our words. It is not easy, however, unless the teacher himself knows what the facts are, and the reason he does not know them is not because the facts are hidden, but because he has not trained himself to discover and to remem- ber them. Jesus 's life and method were successful be- cause he lived with the people the things he was constantly teaching them. The teacher and the social leader in every field will succeed likewise when he learns to teach others by self- mastery of the truths he wishes to impart. There are a number of interesting problems that would logically come under this heading for discussion, such as race prejudice, the Negro problem in America, the labor problem, pauper- ism, and the like, but we defer them until later. It is possible in such discussion as this to ignore the value of the individual as a factor in so- ciety, so in our next chapter we will consider the social efficiency of the individual. CHAPTER V THE SOCIAL. EFFICIENCY OF THE INDIVIDUAL. Wb pointed out in the last chapter how it was possible for us in the discussion of social classification, cleavage, and conflict to ignore the value of the individual as a factor in so- ciety. We therefore take up in this chapter the topic of the "Social Efficiency of the Indi- vidual." Some time ago a student in one of our lead- ing universities wrote me a letter of inquiry con- cerning several practical problems in current sociological discussion. Among other things it was asked if it were not true that to-day em- phasis is being placed upon the endeavor to recover the great man in society rather than upon the questions of the mass, or the power of environment. In replying to this question I said, among other things, that it is true we are looking to-day for the great man in society, but it is also true that we measure him, neverthe- less, in terms of social value, and that his effi- ciency in society as an individual always de- pends upon the fact that he has in some way achieved social esteem by the service he has ren- dered to society ; and this service is possible of 59 60 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE achievement because he has developed a social consciousnss in advance of the social conscious- ness of his fellows representing the group, and also because his wiU is controlled by social mo- tives rather than by selfish ones, and, further, because such a man is in a real sense the prod- uct of his age, and the society he serves, plus that element of personality which we designate as freedom of the will, self-determination, or the power of initiative. In this day of fads in social discussion, and in social legislation and social organization, of socialistic theories, of socialistic parties in politics, one is apt to become bewildered, and from the viewpoint of the individual is apt to ask: "Who's who?" and "What's what!" "Wliat is the individual, anyway?" I propose, therefore, in this discussion to state certain fundamental questions concerning the efficiency of the individual in society; to give certain cate- gorical answers to those questions, to give an explanation of my answers, and to show, in con- clusion, how the Church and Sunday school and other religious social agencies may develop the social efficiency sought in the individuals com- ing under their instruction. Questions 1. What is the individual "socius," or the individual as we find him in society? SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDIJALS 61 2. "What is social efficiency in the individual? 3. What are the elements of snch efficiency in the character of such an individual? 4. What are the factors that give the indi- vidual in society such elements of character? The answers to these questions will furnish us not only with useful knowledge with respect to the members of a social group but will also furnish us a program by which we, as preachers and teachers, may do effective work in making society better through our influence upon the individuals, and the social groups as well, that come under our instruction. Answers It will serve our purpose better to give first a simple categorical answer to each of the ques- tions just given above, and then to give a more extended meaning of the terms employed in these answers. 1. In reply to the first question I would say as follows: The individual "socius" is the product of heredity (used in its broadest sense) and environment plus personality. 2. By social efficiency we mean the ability of the individual in society to express himself by activities that may be measured in terms of social values. 3. The elements of character of such an effi- cient individual are those physical and psy- 62 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE chical abilities which win for him the highest social esteem and enable him to perform for society the greatest good. 4. The factors that produce such elements of character are those physical or psychical forces and powers available in the life of the individual for his highest development and use. For the most of my intelligent readers this would be sufficient, merely to state the ques- tions and answers as above, and leave it to the reader to work out in detail their meaning. But words and terms do not always have the same content and meaning for the different individ- uals using them, so we deem it necessary to give some words of explanation, which we hope will lend additional interest to the subject under consideration. Explanations 1. When we behold a great man in society, majestic in his proportions, it is not a sufficient answer to the inquiring mind to say, "Thou hast made him a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and honor"; we want to know something of the process by which such characters are produced. It is not enough to simply say, ' ' God made him great, ' ' for we want to discover some of the agencies that have been used in the process, and know our relation to them, if we are to be coworkers with God in the SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUALS 63 molding and fashioning of human character. Even when we see a thoroughbred horse or a good cow with a record we want to know some- thing of how they get the breed. The taunt of Cassius to Brutus concerning Caesar may be- come for us a method of serious inquiry when we consider the greatness of a Moses, a Paul, a Lincoln, or of any other great man of the pres- ent who is doing great things for humanity. We should know upon what meat they feed, that they have grown so great, in order that we may be most effective in the service we can render for human betterment. If the individual is a product of society through the forces of heredity, environment, and of personal freedom, it is, therefore, of the utmost importance that we know the laws of heredity in the transmission, from parent to offspring, of physical, psychical, and moral traits that shall vitally affect the efficiency of the adult life. We should know also the great social laws of environing conditions repre- sented by the terms "imitation," "opposition," and "adaptation," and our power to control them through education.^ We should also understand the range and limitations of per- sonal choice and the power of initiative and self-control. We are just beginning to learn • For a fuller explanation, see "Social Aspects of Religious Insti- tutions," by Edwin L. Earp, pp. 5-7. 64 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK how social man really is in his entire make-up. If you isolate him from society, he soon loses his reason, as is shown by imprisonment in soli- tary confinement, and in employment like the isolated lighthouse tending, where now they place two together to avoid insanity, and it is said that even this social circle is so small that both are apt to become insane.^ It is also shown in the study of suicide. Professor Eoss says: "Few commit suicide from physical an- guish, from pain, cold, or hunger. A man is more likely to renounce life when some catas- trophe happens to the image of himself he is accustomed to see in the eyes of others." . . . "Again, there is nothing like social relations to keep down suicide: Isolated, the individual who meets with shipwreck lets go of life; knit up with others, he is supported by sympathy and encouragement, and hangs on."^ Again, the fact is shown from records that from three to five times as many single as married per- sons commit suicide. No individual of real value is isolated, from society. Even the "wild man of Borneo," of whom the college students some- times sing, is a rare exception, and the fact that he "has just come to town" is proof that even he is not entirely devoid of social instincts. ' See Publications of the American Sociological Society, vol. i, 1906, Discussion by Mrs. Gilman. 2 See op. cit., p. 102. SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUALS 65 2. In explaining our second proposition — that social efficiency is the ability of the individual "socius" to express himself by activities which are measured in terms of social values — ^we are not interested, especially, in all the phases of human activity covered by this definition, but, rather, with that kind of social efficiency that may be measured in terms of moral, spiritual, and economic advantage to society — ^whether expressed in a qualitative or quantitative way. Now, it must be understood at the outset that society is not always conscious of such ability, nor does it always measure it contempora- neously with the life of the individual possess- ing and expressing it. For example, take the life of Jesus. It is growing in social estimate with every century, and men like the writers of the American Constitution, or Abraham Lin- coln, receive more social esteem to-day than ever before, because society is more and more conscious of the social value of their deeds. So with the religious reformers like Savonarola, Calvin, Luther, Knox, the Wesleys, and the missionary pioneers of every century. It is difficult to determine the exact degree of in- dividual social efficiency when questions of honor and social standing are raised. For il- lustration, take the life of the stoker on a battle- ship as compared with that of the captain on the bridge, the skilled workman as compared 66 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE with, the contractor or archiect, the worth of the city scavengers to the health and happiness of the people as compared with the work of the sanitary officers, the mayor and aldermen of the city government. No one can determine off- hand the relative value of the activities of such men without considering all the factors in the process of keeping the city well governed, or the battleship in efficient service, or the build- ing complete for the uses for which it was de- signed and erected. The ability of any indi- vidual to serve his age lies in reality in the fact of his possessing, in some measure at least, a social consciousness. Without it he may do the directed work of society that may be of im- portance, but he will be in no sense a leader without it. It is not alone in what the initial activity is in itself, but, rather, in the cumula- tive and multiple effect, by wise social direction, upon the activities of others that we are to find the social worth of the individual. In other words, a man's social efficiency consists not alone in what he can do himself directly for so- ciety, but also in what he can get others as in- dividuals and organized groups to do for the good of society at large. Such efficiency of the individual is ideal when every act, consciously or unconsciously, contributes to the good of self, offspring, and society as a whole. Another fact must not be overlooked. The SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUALS 67 individual to receive the Mghest social estimate of worth must have the esteem of his fellows as well as ability if he would be most efficient in service to society. We could name men living to-day who have rendered able service to so- ciety and possess ability, but who could not, if they desired, render the same service to society because they have lost the esteem of the people at large. We have seen in every conmiunity, especially in church and Sunday school work, persons possessing ability, yet lacking in the confidence of the people; like a pretty, noble- looking horse my father owned once that could pull a mighty load on occasions, but would in- variably balk on a hill when you needed him most. We could never depend upon him — ^he was worthless for team work. 3. In reference to our third proposition. Here we are more specific in stating the ele- ments of character of such an individual as we are considering — ^his physical and psychical abilities. When we consider some of the great men who have done the greatest things for hu- manity we find that most of them were men of physical endurance as well of psychical pre- eminence. Moses, while a student in Egypt, was athletic enough to do to death a brutal Egyptian taskmaster and brickmaker, and when one hundred and twenty years of age he was a mountain climber with an eye like the eagle's. 68 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER undimmed. Paul, in spite of his ' ' thorn in the flesh," was able to stand beatings with rods, contentions with beasts, shipwreck at sea, and when cast out of the city for dead upon the rub- bish heap, he got up and went to preaching again the same day. John Wesley, after stand- ing the scoldings and physical violence of a termagant, could rise at four in the morning, preach from four to six times a day, and write on an average a book a week. Abraham Lincoln could in his youth split rails all day on a diet of salt pork and hominy, and our active ex-Presi- dent Theodore Eoosevelt, warrior, statesman, reformer, writer, and peacemaker, could never accomplish his great tasks for the good of hu- manity if he had not a splendid physique made rugged by strenuous activity in the saddle, on the chase, and on the teimis court. But apart from these physical elements of character, there must be those psychical abilities that give in- tellectual grasp of social problems, and control of social forces, that can formulate plans, or- ganize campaigns, and direct great governmen- tal policies; tactfulness and skill in managing men so as to avoid discord and social friction. 4. In explaining our fourth proposition — ^the factors that give the individual such elements of character and ability — it remains for us sim- ply to enumerate some of the physical and psychical forces and powers that are available SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF IXDIVIDUALS 69 in the life of the individual for his highest de- velopment and social eflSciency. The physical factors, such as light, heat, electricity, radio- activity, and gravity; the psychical factors, such as love, anger, sympathy, cooperation, and consciousness of kind, when related intelligently to the human wiU in society, are sources of energy that may be put to social uses. But added to these are those physical and psychical powers represented in the products of applied science, and by the men and organizations about us m. human society; and also the spiritual powers available to the man of prayer, and to the needy before they cry, all come within the range of individual activity, and may be so con- trolled and directed by the human will as to make the individual a social factor of the great- est efficiency. When we say available in the life of the individual "socius/' we, of course, mean only in a relative sense, for no physical, psy- chical, or spiritual force or power is available to the man who is without the knowledge of them or their uses. When we look over the great field of human struggle and endeavor we find many things to encourage us, but there are also many discouragements in vast numbers of individuals and individual groups that are not only without social efficiency, but are, on the contrary, a drag to social progress. We see men who mean well, but do blundering things ; 70 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK others who know better, but lack the will to do. It remains for us to consider how this efficiency is to be utilized in the various fields of human need, and the part the Church and Sunday school may perform in bringing these facts to the knowledge of the thousands of our young people who may become socially efficient in carrying on the world's work to-morrow. It remains for us to show that the subject is an educational problem and how the Sunday school and Church may cooperate with other educational institutions in the development of the individual for efficiency in specific fields of social service, and how this efficiency can be utilized in the various fields of human need. Ak Educationai, Pboblem From our viewpoint the individual is not educated when he leaves the school or college with a certain amount of knowledge about himself and the things about him, but, rather, when he has become related to the actual life of society in a vital way by being able to do things through the utilization of the forces and powers physical and social over which he has control. Mr. James P. Monroe stated the case in a very forceful way in the opening ad- dress before the Social Education Congress in Tremont Temple, Boston, November 30, 1906, in answering the question as to what social edu- SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUALS 71 cation really is. He said: "Emphatically, it is not mere book-learning. It must of necessity involve also hand-learning (or manual skill), bread-and-butter-learning (or industrial eflB- ciency), head-learning (or what we Yankees call 'gumption'), discipline-learning (or self-con- trol), leadership-learning (or executive ability), fellowship-learning (or good citizenship), and, above all, ethical learning (or fundamental mo- rality). Social education does not permit a youth to drift into an occupation; it fits him for some industry best suited to his powers. Social education does not leave a boy to pick up his ideas of citizenship from barrooms and ward heelers; it organizes every com- munity into a local town meeting, to teach and foster real self-government. Social educa- tion does not place the family on one side and the school on the other, competing for author- ity ; it leads the school to understand the family and the family to understand the school, so that each may encourage, strengthen, and supple- ment the other. Social education does not ignore foul sanitary conditions, does not shut its eyes to known moral evils ; it insists that the first duty of the school is to establish a sound body and a wholesome mind. Finally, social education does not let the bugbear of sectarian- ism stand in the way of leading every school- child into the presence of Almighty God. And 72 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER these pressing, these insistent, these life-and- death problems of making every boy and girl — physically, mentally, industrially, socially, and morally — ^into the best man or woman possible, are not the business of the teacher alone, are not academic questions to be discussed in doc- tors' theses. They are your business and mine, to be seriously undertaken here and now. Never before were youth so well trained men- tally as they are at present; but seldom before have they been so ill prepared socially as they find themselves to-day."^ From these statements in answer to what social education is, we observe that the devel- opment of the socially efficient individual in- volves not only the theoretical training of the schools, but also the actual utilization of the forces and powers available in the life of the individual in relation to all the factors of the community life ; it involves doing things as well as knowing things. Social Efftciency Utilized When we come to study the lives of those who have done things that have amounted to some- thing for society, we find that most of them have been devoted to some specific field of social serv- ice, and that back of it all was an earnest moral purpose which received its initial impulse, in « See Social Educational Quarterly, for March, 1907, p. 3. SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUALS 73 most cases, from the teachings of religious truths as expressed in the Bible, and in the lives of men who were directed by the Spirit of the Master. Social efficiency as we have defined it may be utilized: 1. In the field of government — in city, State, and nation. Men have not always been found capable when tasks of government were thrust upon them by custom of hereditary rulership, or by the whims of popular suffrage, because they had not been socially trained for such tasks. Men have often utilized their powers in governing in the interests of themselves and their friends or business associates rather than in the interests of all the people, and especially the oppressed, who most needed their sympathy and help. We have seen examples of this in republics as well as in monarchies and despot- isms, in modem cities as well as in those of mediaeval times. There is no field that offers the individual, socially trained, a greater oppor- tunity for service than the modem American city. There is no field of government where social efficiency is more in need. 2. In legislation and administration. Many of our laws have become obsolete, or have been declared unconstitutional, or have been dis- obeyed or denounced as unjust, because men in legislative halls have not considered the social import of lawmaking, and have enacted meas- 74 THE SOCIAL ENGIlSfEEE Tires by majority vote in the interests of a class, a corporation, or an individual. Also in the administration of the law decisions have bd^en made by a jury under the intimidation of the crowd, or by a judge who did not have the sense of social justice and responsibility. Not only must the lawmaker be educated to see the good of society, and be free from the bribes of the lobbyist, but also the executors of the law must be men with a developed social consciousness that will enable them to render social justice impartially. 3. In the fields of industiy. Men may utilize their social efficiency in the fields of industry. Here men must be educated socially for the tasks of managing men and directing great in- dustrial and comitnercial enterprises and con- cerns in the interests of society at large, which will give to them the best personal returns as a reward, for the public will not begrudge the individual even vast accumulations of wealth when they have been achieved by enterprises conducted in the interests of the community and society as a whole. Leaders of organized labor must also be men who comprehend the relations of labor to capital, and of both to the great pub- lic who use the goods produced for the market by industrial concerns. In recent years we have witnessed the utilization of the social efficiency of the individual in this field as never before in SOCIAL EFFICIENCT OF INDIVIDUALS 15 the cases of men who by their power of social perspective have averted industrial warfare by wise counsels and by directing others in the pursuits of peace. 4. In the fields of religious activity. Here we need men educated for the social tasks of the evangelization of the masses of the world's population both in the home and foreign fields, and in directing the policies of the great or- ganized movements for ministering to the spiritual needs of mankind. "We see some ex- cellent illustrations of this fact in the states- manship of some of our bishops in the home and foreign fields, and the secretaries of our foreign and home departments of missionary work, as well as in the splendid program of the secretaries of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. 5. In the management of organized charity and philanthropy. Never before were there evident so many great gifts and foundations for the betterment and welfare of the depend- ent, defective, and delinquent classes. Our educational institutions must furnish the men and women socially trained to carry out the purpose of these foundations in such a way that the problems of poverty may be solved rather than made more diflScult by the very methods adopted for their solution. It took a century for England to repeal the poor laws that were 76 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER increasing the pauperism they were meant to remove. To-day some of our charita-ble institu- tions are managed by men and women who have so little knowledge of real charity that they would rather read an enlarged monthly statis- tical report of cases treated than present a statesmanlike program for curing some of the ills for which the institutions were founded. 6. In our educational institutions. Here, as in no other field, we need men so trained with a social perspective and insight that they may adequately direct the educational forces in every community, State, and nation that en- lightenment and culture may become universal, and international peace, comity, and good will become permanent possessions of humanity as a basis for yet undreamed-of stages of progress. What the Church Can Do It may be asked how the Church can co- operate with other institutions in this educa- tional problem of developing socially eflBcient individuals. In response to this inquiry I would reply as follows : In the first place, the Sunday school and Church, taking the child at the most plastic period of its life, can in a large measure sweeten the fountains of heredity by sanely and judiciously directing the child's mind with respect to the responsibilities of mar- riage and parenthood. As a matter of fact, SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUALS 77 from a long experience in Sunday school work in many different parts of the country and in many individual churches, I do not remember to have heard anything very definite and en- lightening on the subject of heredity or the responsibilities of marriage in any class of whatever grade I have attended. I do not claim that this is the experience of others, but it indicates that a great opportunity is lost on many a young man or woman by the Sunday school in this most important subject of hu- man concern. The Sunday school can do much to control the forces of environment in the development of child life, and thus have much to do with this most important factor of individual social effi- ciency. Some social workers of long experience claim that environment is about nine tenths of destiny. We know from the actual facts in the treatment of orphans and neglected children that it is at least eighty-five per cent of the battle for good citizenship and good health. The Sunday school can also bring to bear upon the personality of the child the spiritual forces at the command of the Church. It can teach the individual how to link himself with God through meditation and prayer, so that one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight. Thus we see that in the development of the "socius" — ^whom we defined as the product 78 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE of heredity and environment plus personality, the Sunday school may play a most effective part in the directing of these three factors in the life of the individual in society. In the second place, the Church and Sunday school can discover to the individual the forces and powers available in his life and capable of being utilized by him in the performance of so- cial tasks when the proper training has been secured. I do not claim that the Church is to push its educational work to the point of labora- tories, and drill grounds, and proving stations for the training of all the youth within her grasp, for this may be well done by institutions that are not devoid of Christian motive ; but I mean to say that in every Sunday school com- munity it is possible for the teacher to show the student examples of the socially efficient individual, and point out many, if not all, the factors that had to do with the making of such a man of worth to society. The stories of Moses and of Joshua, of Samuel and of David — ^men of the highest social efficiency in their day — can be related in a few minutes to a class of intelli- gent boys. So with" the lives of many great men of history and with men who are living to-day in the esteem of the nation and of the world at large. The factors in their life processes may be related in an hour, and some of them could be made a profitable study for a series of lessons. SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUALS 79 In relating to a class of boys the reasons for the social estimate of Israel upon men like Samson and Gideon, it should not be forgotten that there are equally good reasons for the social estimate of the American people upon the life of a William McKinley or a Grover Cleveland, and that there are men living whose lives in the making are as simple as the story of Moses or Gideon. But even the physical forces and powers, as well as the social forces and groups, at the command of the individual to-day may be brought within the range of the Sunday school work in illustrating the topic under discussion. In the third place, the Church and Sunday school can furnish the religious and ethical mo- tive that will give quality to the life of the in- dividual upon whom society will put the highest estimate of efficiency. A man may win the so- cial esteem of to-day by some brilliant stroke of genius, but unless there is an ethical purpose and a religious quality to his life society will not long hold him in high esteem. On the con- trary, many a man who with these qualities has toiled on without recognition of his work in his day and generation has later received, or will yet receive, a due estimate of his work if it has been well done in the interest of society. The crucified of one age is the exalted of another if his work has been wrought for the saving of the race. 80 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE So I claim that while we may have the highest conceptions of social action by the in- telligent group, we should not forget the social efficiency of the individual, and while we are studying the factors of great social move- ments we should not neglect to teach to the stu- dent of to-day the factors in the life of the in- dividual upon whom the age sets the highest estimate of worth. As an educational problem all this involves a development and education of the social mind. CHAPTER VI the development and education op the social mind What We Mean by the Social Mind It will not be practicable for us to enter into a more thorough treatment of the social mind from the viewpoint of the social psychologist, or from the standpoint of the sociologist who places emphasis upon the mind of the group — ■ or the manifestations of mob mind — or the decisions of orderly society. But we treat the subject in a rather unacademic way be- cause the ordinary man makes use of ex- pressions that indicate he knows what is meant by the term. We, for example, fre- quently hear people say, "We must make up our mind to do this, or that, or so and so," which would indicate an association or group of ideas that was common to all and yet could be best expressed by the action of the group as a whole. According to Professor Griddings, "The social mind is the phenomenon of many individual minds in interaction, so playing upon one another that they simultaneously feel the same sensation or emotion, arrive at one judg- ment and, perhaps, act in concert. It is, in 81 82 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER short, tlie mental unity of many individuals or of the crowd. '"^ According to Professor Cooley, the social miad is but a larger aspect of mind in general. To quote : "Mind is an or- ganic whole made up of cooperating individu- alities. . . . When we study the social mind we merely fix our attention on larger aspects and relations rather than on narrower ones of or- dinary psychology. The unity of the social mind consists not in agreement but in organiza- tion."^ Professor Wundt, of Leipzig, says that from the viewpoint of the experimental psychol- ogist a people or folk may have a mind or soul as well as an individual.^ Of course he was in this connection considering not the social mind so much as the manifestations of the mind of the group. But there seems to be in the mind of the ordinary reader some confusion after reading these definitions as to whether the so- cial mind can be the possession of the individual while at the same time it is the possession of the group ; and, again, as to whether the group may not possess a mind so narrow as to be en- tirely devoid of social content in the true sense of the term "social." I think, therefore, that we may get some help toward clearing our minds of this confusion by defining the social > See "Principles of Sociology," 1903, p. 134. ' See Publications of American Sociological Society, pp. vi, 97. ' From "Lectures on 'Volkerpsychologie,' " in Leipzig, 1910, taken from my notes. THE SOCIAL MIND 83 mind as follows: (1) The social mind consists ia a body of knowledge or of ideas, that may be realized in conduct that has social values, and may be expressed in thoughts, feelings, or deeds. (2) This body of knowledge may be possessed by an individual in society, or by a group in its relation to other groups or indi- viduals, or by a nation at large, and ultimately by humanity as a whole. (3) Such a social mind can be developed only through experience in human relations. We must be careful just here not to confound the social mind with the social consciousness, and it would be well for the reader to review just at this point ijhapter I. Mind is a body of knowledge upon which the understanding or mentality of man is founded. An idiot may be conscious, but he has no mind to speak of, no knowledge. But a normal individual person is never conscious of all he has ia his mind at any stated period. Consciousness is a state of mind ; social consciousness the state of the mind with reference to society, and may be mani- fested by the individual or by the social group. In this connection it is well to be reminded also of the importance of making a distinction be- tween consciousness of society or of things about us and the social consciousness. They do not necessarily mean the same psycholog- ically. Social consciousness implies the ability 84 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER of the individual person or group to make use of ideas for the advantage of society as well as for self. In fact, no idea, whether in the con- sciousness of the individual or in that of the group, can be properly called social until it can be expressed in terms of social activity of some sort. To be aware of persons or of a social group does not prove that an individual or a society of individuals has a social consciousness, in the true sense of the word, any more than to be aware of a flock of sheep would prove for the pack of wolves that they had any social con- sciousness so far as the interests of the sheep were concerned. Social consciousness always involves a moral element in human associations as well as the element of utility. We may say, therefore, that the social mind involves the ability of a group of persons possessing a body of knowledge to think together, to feel the same way, and to act together for the good of the group and other groups, or for individuals within or without the group. And it also equally implies the ability of the individual possessing such a body of knowledge to act in a similar way with the same motives and for the same ends. The Development of the Sociai, Miko How can the social mind be developed? This is the important question for the educator to THE SOCIAL MIND 85 answer, and to none is it more important than to the religious social engineer who has the chance to develop in the individuals of the com- munity the mind of the Master, and to bring together that body of knowledge which may be utilized for the mutual uplift of the whole com- munity. I would answer this question in brief by saying : The social mind can be developed by the presence of those who possess it — by the principle of imitation through the awakening of desire in the soul of the individual or of the group. In short, by the ministry of personality. Upon this fact is based the entire success of the social-settlement movement. The social mind develops in the same way that any mind de- velops. In the individual it is the unfoldment of the instincts and desires into their corre- sponding faculties of personality throughout the entire period of growth. So for the group : in the process of association there will be pe- riods of conflict, toleration, alliance, sympathy, and pleasurable cooperation between groups. No group can possess the social mind without having mastered itself in all these stages of as- sociation. So we find that the basis of social control is self-control in the individual factors of society. The social mind is developed in the beginning for the race in the family group, and other factors of the social composition, such as horde, clan, tribe, and folk, up through all 86 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER tlie stages of nation building, and will reach its culmination in "the parliament of man" through the "federation of the world." For the individual social units to-day the social mind begins to develop in the family, and is more rapidly developed by association in the vast and intricate network of voluntary and purposive organizations in the social constitu- tion of the State or nation, and through the Christian world-view of the brotherhood of man. The Education op the Social Mind Another question of interest to the modem educator is, How may we educate the developed social mind? Men and nations are often stimu- lated to heroic and beneficent deeds for the good of others by the applause or approval of the crowd; but they are as frequently spoiled by the flattery or deterred by the threatening of the multitude. What we need most in our day is an educated and cultured social mind that will be so well developed in all its faculties that there may be always in every community and nation rational social action, the result of well- balanced judgments and properly controlled emotions. We can educate the social mind only by dealing with the social units within the range of our educational institutions, and I include THE SOCIAX MIND 87 among them the Sunday school as one of the most important. 1. We must teach men and women what so- ciety is and what it is not; what we can do to reform and change the social order and what we cannot do. This, of course, involves the study of the science of society in the curriculum of the schools, as well as sane teaching in the Sun- day schools of the country the principles of social structure and of the modern social move- ment, with emphasis, of course, upon the social message of Jesus and the prophets, and the splendid social program of the apostle Paul. 2. The student must be related to society as it is, and be taught the importance of heredity and environment in the life of society — that both are socializing factors in the life of every individual for good or evil. He must be shown also the social character of religion, that his life may be based properly upon the relation of every creature to the Infinite Creator, and espe- cially of the individual to Jesus Christ. He must be taught the social basis of morals. This can be done more easily than some think. For illustration: Professor Sweet, of the Syracuse Mechanics School, related one evening to the Schoolmasters' Club of Syracuse how he taught a class a lesson in social morals on one occasion in his school. A young fellow had borrowed from one of his classmates, without asking, a 88 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER pair of calipers, and having broken them by carelessness in the using returned them to the locker without telling his classmate either that he had borrowed them or had broken them; and when it was discovered and reported to the pro- fessor he said to the whole school next morn- ing at chapel: "Some young man has lost a great opportunity of his life — an opportunity of winning the esteem of his classmates — ^but now has won their condemnation and distrust by not being a man and making it right with his classmate"; and he added in his address to the club, "You can readily see that such a lesson in social morality would make a lasting impression upon a whole class of young boys and girls in any school or college recitation room." And we might add, that such lessons in social morality may be easily taught in the Sunday school classes of all grades in every community. The student can be taught also the social character of industry — ^how socialized the labor necessary in production for the world markets has become to-day. This would lead to a better understanding between employers and their workers, and of the responsibilities of all organized industry to society at large. The social character of commerce could be easily illustrated by the various communities. States, and nations that are bound together in social organizations by the bands of commercial en- THE SOCIAL MEND 89 terprises and needs. Also the social signifi- cance of government could be illustrated by the examples of men serving the State with effi- ciency, and by the examples of others who ex- ploit public office for private and personal ends. 3. We can educate the social mind by socializ- ing our educational agencies and equipments. The teachers in all our schools must be them- selves equipped with the social mind — ^with thorough knowledge of society and the relation of the individual to it. Many of our text-books must be modified to suit the changing needs of the social consciousness and activity of our age. Literature and history written with individual or partisan bias will illustrate what I mean. Of • course for the Sunday school and Church it means the modification of our interpretation of the social teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and a corresponding change in our Sunday school literature, which, happily, we are getting under the efficient leadership of editors and secretaries. Again, the socializing disciplines of industry, trades, and crafts must be more widely introduced and more efficiently equipped in our public schools. The homes and family life of the masses must be improved in many quarters. This can often be done indirectly through neighborhood meetings, lectures, moth- ers' clubs, etc., under the auspices of the school. Our cities can be educated so as to develop civic 90 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER pride among their inhabitants by improvements in their streets, parks, playgrounds, buildings, etc., and by organizing local commun-fty im- provement associations such as have been or- ganized with promising results in many cities and towns. All these agencies and factors of our ordinary community life can be socialized for the education of the social mind in the life of the present. To do all this there must be, of course, an aroused social consciousness, an enlightened public opinion, persistent social effort by the will of the people held firmly directed by in- telligent social control toward the Christian ideal for the government of society — ^the king- dom of God on earth. What institution fur- nishes a better chance for social service along these lines of efficient individual effort than the Sunday school, with its millions of young plastic lives and thousands of strong, educated young men and women, who give promise of efficient social leadership when they shall have developed and educated this mind in them that was in Christ Jesus? CHAPTEE VII SOCIAL PEOGBESS Wb can readily see that the study of social progress belongs to the general topic of social education, for, unless we know something of its meaning, how are we to know the worth of our educational system, and what will be the ultimate outcome of all our efforts to teach the individual his relation to life ? What may seem progress in the popular mind may be retro- gression, and what may seem to be going back may be but the wiser course in order to find the right road to our destination. It is, therefore, important at the outset that we have clearly in mind some definite notions of what is meant by social progress. If we are not able to define progress, have we a right to go on with any system that may ultimately lead us into defeat in the struggle with other competing factors and forces in the make-up of human society? If we are retrograding, may it not be possible for us to discover the fact and prepare to meet it by teaching the principles of progress to the social units, and inspiring them to fall in line with the best policy and win victory out of seeming defeat? We all have some general 91 92 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER notion of progress, yet how few of us have clearly in mind any adequate definition of prog- ress, or have in hand any norms by which to measure it ! These we must have, as social en- gineers, if we are to do our best work in fulfill- ing the social tasks of instructing those who are to be the contributors to progress or be- come a drag to the forward movement of so- ciety. It is our purpose, therefore, in this chapter to give the reader some of the ideas of social progress, the norms by which it may be meas- ured, and what we consider to be an adequate definition. Ideas of Progress Our ideas of social excellence are either retrospective or prospective. We either think the former days were better than these, or we look for good days to come; we either look to the past for the "Golden Age," or we look for- ward to the "millennium" that is to be. History furnishes us with stretches of time and milestones of experience, so that we can compare age with age, or study the course of life in cross-section, so to speak, and discover by the soientific method of observation and in- duction whether this age is in the line of prog- ress as compared with any other age. So we speak of the ' ' Dark Ages, ' ' the ' ' Middle Ages ' ' ; SOCIAL PROGEESS 93 of the periods of the "Eeformation," the "Renaissance," the "Aufklaerung"; of the days of Feudalism, slavery, absolutism. Democ- racy, constitutional government, etc., and we may rightly ask, "Does this method constitute for us a norm of progress?" Among the prospective ideas of progress may be mentioned the following : 1. The Hebrew people had their ideal of progress, when an age of peace should come in which nation should no longer lift up sword against nation, nor even learn war any more; that splendid time which the prophets had fore- told when no man shall say to his neighbor, "Ejiowest thou the Lord?" for they shall all know him from the least unto the greatest. 2. Jesus and his apostles thought of a future state, when there shall be one fold and one Shepherd, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, when all peoples shall know of the Fatherhood of God and acknowledge the brotherhood of the human race. 3. The philosopher has an idea of the time when that state of society shall have been reached wherein the conduct of every individual will contribute to the good of self, of offspring, and of humanity at large ; a time when nature's law of need and supply, desire and satisfaction, shall be so adjusted that there will be no longer 94 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER suffering and pain ; a condition of development when tasks now irksome will be pleasurable be- cause persisted in, and because they are neces- sary for the common good.^ 4. The economist has his ideas of progress, in which every nation shall come to a state of economic and industrial independence, when by a division of labor there shall be no longer destructive competition between states, but a reciprocity that will be mutually beneficial to all. 5. The sociologist has his ideas of progress which shall gradually establish for the civilized world an equilibrium between population in- crease and the nation's ability to maintain its standard of living with an increasing ratio of social betterment, leading ultimately to perfect control of society over the reproductive forces of the population and the productive agencies which furnish the necessary commodities of life. 6. The educator has an ideal of progress, when every member of the state wiU know how to read, write, and cipher, and the great mass of the people have many things that go to make up the cultured social mind; when every child shall learn to become a breadwinner for the family group or for society, and be at the same time so related to the life of society that he will not take the bread of another in winning his own bread. ' Compare Spencer, "Data of Ethics." SOCIAL PEOGEESS 95 7. The statesman thinks of a stage of prog- ress that will bring to every citizen the greatest measure of freedom under the law, and main- tain the full measure of his rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, a time when all who want work can find it at good wages, and a state in which everybody will enjoy the greatest amount of happiness. From all these ideas of social progress, retro- spectively considered as well as prospectively outlined, we should be able to deduce some defi- nite norms of progress by which it may be measured, and also to postulate a practicable definition. How Peogeess May be Mbastxred We can state at the outset that our measure of social progress may be either quantitative or qualitative. But it is not safe for us to measure progress by the quantity of goods we may possess, or by the balance sheet of the na- tion at large. A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth, but, rather, in the quality of the character he has acquired, or in the quality of the life he manifests toward others in society. We may state also that our measure of progress must be based upon the whole range of man's pos- sibilities, from his lowest estate to the highest achievement of which he is capable through 96 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER self-realization and divine grace. This includes the concepts of man's sainthood as well as his beginnings in savagery, or his degeneration to the condition of the savage. It can also be stated that our norms of progress will be found in man himself as the measure of all things. We begin with the individual and note the changes in him for progress in social better- ment; we study the social group in which he lives, moves, and has his being, until we have reached the organized consciousness of hu- manity at large. Christian education deals with man in all his social relations, and with him in the use he makes of the social machinery and organization by which he achieves for the betterment of him- self, of his family, the State, and the world at large. We, therefore, expect a demand from the educators of our youth for some norm of progress by which the individual in every rela- tion may be measured. Here we discover that progress is a sociological concept of humanity, for no nation or people in these days of com- plex social relations, world-wide in scope, liveth unto himself. Now, if progress does not con- sist merely in quantitative elements, but, rather, in qualitative achievement, then progress must be measured by some ethical standard which will enable us to determine the real values of human life as it proceeds on the earth. SOCIAL PEOGKESS 97 It is also true that our measure of human progress must be the practicable and workable principles at the basis of social ethics. These we find in Christian philosophy to be (1) the perfect or ultimate man, (2) the perfect or ulti- mate society, (3) the perfect or ultimate laws governing men in society. These we must de- termine as to content in the light of human ex- perience, the Scriptures, and sanctified reason, and then they become for us the measures of progress; for to our thinking there can be no movement beyond the perfect that may be rightly termed progress. Hence progress is, after all, determined more by comparison with one's ideals than by measurement with actual things. Kinds of Peogeess to be Meastjeed Our norms of progress will depend upon the kind of achievement we propose to measure : 1. If we propose to measure material prog- ress, we usually consider the statistics of one's wealth or possessions, and for the nation the balance of trade or the surplus in the national treasury. If we view it from the viewpoint of population and the military strength of a na- tion, we count those able to bear arms and tabu- late the birth rate and the death rate. 2. If we view progress from the point of education and culture, we take the school cen- 98 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER sus, and the number of educational institu- tions and cultural organizations, their relative strength and endowment as compared with an- other age or another nation in the same period. We also measure the progress of individuals in a school by the number of those who are capable of meeting certain educational tests. 3. If we consider progress from the religious point of view, our norm is the relative number in attendance upon religious worship, and of those who are communicants or adherents of the various faiths. 4. From the moral point of view we measure progress by the statistics of vice and crime as represented in the general classification of the criminal code. Also from the prevalence and strength of moral sentiment expressed in the press, or by the public platform, or in general conversation in the presence of some instance of wrongdoing. 5. If we measure human progress from the sociological point of view, our norms are unity and complexity of social organization, the amount of social machinery, and the efficiency of social engineering, the lack of friction be- tween the various factors that operate in hu- man society, the relative chances of war and peace in a given case of provocation. 6. Social progress in general must be meas- ured in terms of life, for the fullest life consists SOCIAL PROGEESS 99 in the greatest measure of health, wealth, and goodness, or social esteem. "We therefore measure the progress of our age by the vital statistics which mark control of diseases, by the figures which reveal the general distribu- tion and possession of wealth, and by the in- stances that reveal the righteousness and good- ness of society in deaHng with its component members and with its neighbor groups. In all these fields of human activity Chris- tian education is the supreme agency for the promotion of that kind of intelligence which makes social progress possible and knowable. Definitions of Peogeess According to Hegel, the great German phi- losopher, human development, or progress, is conceived as a process of self-realization. Step by step man comes to know himself as a self- conscious and self -determining being, as a con- stituent factor in the universe, as an organic whole. History has been, therefore, the prog- ress of the consciousness of freedom. Freedom was at first conceived as an abstract principle in the universe, and was believed to exist only in one person — God himself in heaven, or the monarch on earth. Hence the absolutism of the Eastern world. The Greeks advanced this idea to include the citizens as against slaves; Eome advanced the idea to include personal 100 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER rights under the law, and, finally, the Germanic peoples reached the conception of freedom as the birthright of all men.^ According to Augusta Comte, progress has been realized in three stages of development: 1. The theological, in which every act and event was conceived as a direct intervention of Deity. Man could, therefore, make no progress in science or morality because he was childish, superstitious, and hero-worshiping. 2. The metaphysical stage, in which man sought to in- terpret the world in terms of principles, ab- stractions, entities, and, therefore, lost himself in fruitless speculation. The human mind was free but wasted its energies in questionings concerning the unknowable. 3. The positive, or scientific, stage, in which speculation gives place to observation, experiment, induction, and generalization. Men, finding that there are enough knowable facts to keep the mind busy, build on foundations of fact, learn the secrets of nature which enable them to master the ma- terial and moral conditions of life.' According to Herbert Spencer, "organic progress consists in a change from the homo- geneous to the heterogeneous," and this prin- ciple he applied to all progress, including the society as well, for, says he, "From the earliest ' Vorlesungen iiber die Philosophie der Gescbichte. • See his "Philosophie Positiv." SOCIAL PEOGRESS 101 traceable cosmic changes down to the latest results of civilization we shall find that the transformation of the homogeneous into the heterogeneous is that in which progress essen- tially consists."^ According to Professor Giddings, "objec- tively viewed progress is an increasing inter- course, a multiplication of relationships, an advance in material well-being, a growth of population and an evolution of rational con^ duct." Subjectively, "progress is the expan- sion of the consciousness of kind." And we quote further: "The successive world empires of Persia, Macedonia, and Eome prepared the way for the Christian conception of universal brotherhood. It made but little impression upon the social mind until it was converted into an ideal, into a doctrine that all men through a spiritual renewing were made brothers. Chris- tianity became the most tremendous power in history. Gradually it has been realizing its ideal, until to-day a Christian philanthropy and Christian missionary enterprise, devoting them- selves to the diffusion of knowledge and the im- provement of the conditions and the upbuilding of character, are uniting the classes and the races of mankind in a spiritual humanity. "^ My own definition of progress is as follows : ' See Westminster Review, April, 1857. ' See "Principles of Sociology," p. 360. 102 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE 1. For the individual, progress consists in the measure of self-realization and self-control, and in the social efficiency and socialization of the individuals of the group. 2. For the nation, it consists in the development of rational social control of all its members, and in a conscious- ness of kind that overcomes social friction, the evolution of social organization, and invention of social machinery that enable it to utilize and control all the social forces and energies within and resist the social forces and powers from without that are harmful, and in the re- lating of itself to all other social groups in a sympathetic and pleasurable way; 3. For hu- manity as a whole, progress consists in the con- sciousness of an onward movement of the race toward an ideal state of society recognized by the social mind in general as attainable, and in social efforts for its attainment. To make progress thus defined possible there is always implied in all the social factors the intellectual grasp of the social significance of all educational fields. How this intellectual grasp may be attained by all the social factors can be shown only by a more thorough discus- sion of the social aspects of education. No edu- cational institution has a better chance to con- tribute to this result than the Sunday school that is up to date in its method of organization and teaching. CHAPTEE Vm SOCIAL STrrDIES There are times when certain needs are so keenly felt and conditions so evidently ready for reform that men act spontaneously for the relief of their fellows, but at other times the needs for social action are so remote or hidden to the ordinary man of affairs, and conditions so deceiving to even the interested, that there must be long and persistent and patient study before adequate measures can be put in opera- tion for the permanent good of the community. So it is necessary for the best results to inau- gurate in every community social studies by men who hope to do the most good for their times, and those who shall come after. No one knows when he sets out upon the task of social study what are to be the factors of the problem he is seeking to solve. Take, for ex- ample, any particular case of drunkenness, pauperism, or homicide in your community; then take up a study of all the influences and factors in the life of such an individual, and you will be surprised to find how far-reaching in social relations and causes this case roots itself. So for the institutions, good or bad, laws 103 104 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER and customs tliat need revision or reform. All furnish interesting fields and phases of social study that will make more real to the men of to-day the problems of the social engineer in every age as well as our own. Do the men of the community have, as a rule, any adequate notions as to why we have the various classes of society, persons varying in degrees of personality, in vitality, and in social status among their fellows in the same community f Have they always a clear idea as to why we have the struggles of class organizations in the great industrial world, or in the political, religious, and moral group- ings of the race, or why we have experienced in every age the struggles of race antago- nism and social friction? Denominationalism is in itself a field for social study that is extremely fascinating and profitable for men of the Church to-day. Municipal, State, na- tional, and international conditions and needs are available for our study, and offer a wide field for social investigation by men who have in consciousness the world program of Jesus. But we must be more specific in our treat- ment of social studies. Conditions of living vary greatly in different communities, so that the problems of the congested quarters of the great cities, the uptown districts, the suburbs, and the country are not the same, and these SOCIAL STUDIES 105 vary according to climate, race, and industrial conditions in the respective localities. But we, nevertheless, discover sooner or later that even our specific and particular problems are re- lated to the greater world-problems of social welfare and social control. Specific Social, Studies I know of no better way of calling attention to some of the specific problems for our social study by the men of our churches than by point- ing to the oflficial statement of the General Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church of 1908,^ especially the paragraphs on "The In- dustrial Situation," "The Labor Movement," "Conference and Conciliation," and "The So- cial Creed of Methodism." Under the last heading we have the following : "The Methodist Episcopal Church stands: For equal rights and complete justice for all men in all stations of life. "For the principles of conciliation and ar- bitration in industrial disputes. "For the protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, occupational diseases, in- juries, and mortality. "For the abolition of child-labor. "For such regulation of the conditions of • See "Methodist Discipline"; also "Federation Publication," No. 6, p. 6. 106 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER labor for women as shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community. "For the suppression of the 'Sweating System.' "For the gradual and reasonable reduction of hours of labor to the lowest practical point, with work for all, and for that degree of leisure for all which is the condition of the highest hu- man life. "For release from employment one day in seven. "For a living wage in every industry. "For the highest wage that each industry can afford, and for the most equitable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised. "For the recognition of the Golden Eule and the mind of Christ as the supreme law of so- ciety, and the sure remedy for all social ills," etc. A Special Commission on Social Studies Now "in every church community there are to be found conditions prevailing that involve one or more of these points of our social creed, and I think it is possible for the men of the Church to take up in a systematized way the study of these conditions with a view of proposing methods of meeting them. To be even more specific with respect to so- SOCIAL STUDIES 107 cial studies affecting the Church, I quote from the Commission to the Methodist Federation for Social Service given by the last General Conference (1908) : "We request the Federation to give the full- est possible consideration to the f oUowiag ques- tions, and to present their findings thereon as a memorial to the General Conference of 1912 for such action as that body may deem wise : "(1) What principles and measure of social reform are so evidently righteous and Chris- tian as to demand the specific approval and support of the Church? *' (2) How can the agencies of the Methodist Episcopal Church be wisely used or altered with a view to promoting the principles and measures thus approved? " (3) How may we best cooperate in this be- half with other Christian denominations? "(4) How can our course of ministerial study in seminaries and Conferences be modi- fied with a view to the better preparation of our preachers for efficiency in social reform?" A List op Specific Problems fob SociAii Stxtdies Under the heading "Methods," in its pam- phlet on "What is it?" the Methodist Federa- tion for Social Service furnishes the following list of problems it proposes for practical study : 108 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER "Associated charities; poverty, its relief and prevention ; public health ; child labor and child saving; cooperation and profit-sharing; the housing of the people ; wages and conditions of labor ; inamigration and the needs of the foreign communities in the cities; marriage and di- vorce; municipal ownership and control of public utilities; social and college settlements; temperance reform; organized labor; arbitra- tion and conciliation; religious and moral edu- cation; in short, all problems which touch the daily welfare of God's children, our brethren." It will not be possible for the members of a brotherhood, men's Bible class, or any similar organization of the Church, to take up the study of all these problems at one time, nor will it be necessary in any single case to do so, but in every community some one or more of these social problems are pressing for solution. But I wish to consider also some of the most characteristic studies that relate more vitally to church work, especially in our day : 1. How to maintain the downtown church, or the church in a changing population of the tene- ment dwellers, especially where most of them are of foreign birth. 2. How to maintain the efficiency of the coun- try church in the community where the popula- tion is changing as in no other locality, and where our method has usually been that of SOCIAL STUDIES 109 sending men who were, in tlie nature of the case, less fit for the task than others, not only with respect to age (yonng men or very old men), but also with respect to preparation and ex- perience. 3. The problem of race prejudice and race antagonism, not only between Negro and white, but also between Jew and Gentile, Asiatic and European, Slav and Teuton, Indian and white man, and many others that seem to deny the principle of universal brotherhood of man. We know how it can be overcome in the indi- vidual case by Christian education and culture. Is it not worth while to study how it may be universally destroyed? 4. Divorce and its causes. The report on marriage and divorce for the years 1887-1906 in the United States, recently given out by the Department of Commerce and Labor through its Bureau of the Census, gave to the world some startling results, as to the frequency of marital disunion, and the causes therefor. 5. Social diseases and their relations to the family. For some of the most convincing and startling results of such a social study I refer the reader to the paper of Prince A. Morrow, M.D., published in the "American Journal of Sociology," March, 1909. The two that exact the greatest tribute of human life and hap- piness are tuberculosis and gonococcus infec- 110 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER tion, or syphilis. While these are subjects for experts of the medical profession, yet we all know what good the laymen can do in the field of prevention, and of remedy, and it is here that our social studies need to be pushed with haste and energy, yet with wisdom and Chris- tian sympathy. 6. Child-labor, child-saving, and the juvenile court and probation system, and their results upon modern standards of life and morals. Men are idle while women and children are at work. Why is this ? and how can it be stopped? is a social problem of the greatest modern in- terest. 7. Organized labor and its claims, its possi- bilities for good as well as for evil, when under the leadership of strong men, furnishes another field for social study that will help the Church as well as society when taken up seriously by Christian men everywhere. 8. The standards of living in the cities and in the country and their relation to the moral and religious life of the people in the com- munity. 9. The problem of the liquor traffic: How it may be controlled or destroyed. There is un- doubtedly enough impulse and purpose within the churches to-day, if properly organized, to win in the struggle against the saloon. It has been done in many States, counties, and com- SOCIAL STUDIES 111 munities in recent times. There is need yet for study as to how the whole question is, after all, to be solved as a world problem, as well as a local or national one. 10. Social education. We have just begun to see the possibilities in this great social field. In industrial education, moral teaching, and re- ligious education in the community we have another social study of supreme importance to the Church. These are some of the specific problems of social significance that are pressing for solution to-day. We have not the space for details in method, even if they were desired, but in clos- ing I wish to say that, in my judgment, the best method for social studies is that of field work in daily contact with men and human affairs, although we must not ignore the work of other men recorded in useful books and magazines for reference. These wUl help us to see beyond the narrow experiences of our day's work ia our little field, and, besides, they give us a wider range and more extended vision. CHAPTER IX FRIENDSHIP AS A SOCIAL FORCE The social engineer must understand the so- cial significance of friendship, and he must master the art of making friends. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, in his book on "Man's Value to Society," says: "Destiny is determined by friendship. Fortune is made or marred when the youth selects his companions. Friendship has ever been the master passion ruling the forum, court, and the camp." Some one has said that "genius is a function of race and fame a function of history"; but when we come to study the causes of fame we could as truthfully say that it is the function of friendship, for there has been no great man in history who has not reached his place of honor by the gift of his friends. We see the working of this social force in the State, the Church, and in the social life of the community everywhere, in placing men and women to the front whether they are worthy or unworthy. The offices of the State, from the chief execu- tive to the janitor ship of the lockup of some rural village, are filled by men who never could have won these positions save by this social 112 FEIENDSHIP AS A SOCIAL TOECE 113 force of friendsMp. Bishops and prelates, as well as pastors, are often chosen not on merits alone but by their friends. In social clubs men are chosen because of their ability to win the friendship of those who are members, and the positions of honor are filled on the same grounds. In all the great modern fields of philanthropy and intelligent organized charity work, this is the greatest social dynamic that keeps men and women bound to their tasks in the social uplift of the masses. It is this social bond that neutralizes the dispersive forces of jealousy and hatred and holds orderly society together in family and social groups. It is therefore fitting that we seek for the sources of this important factor in human experience, and endeavor to describe some of its more in- teresting characteristics in order that the so- cial worker may be the better able to utilize it in the performance of his social tasks. There is nothing more mysterious and yet more masterful than friendship. We know full well its worth in life and its power to spur us to action in another's behalf, and yet we often question why we have the friends we do have and not the friendship of others. Bacon says in his essay on "Friendship," "The best way to represent to life the manifold use of friendship is to cast and see how many things there are which a man cannot do himself ; and then it will 114 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE appear that it was a sparing speech of the an- cients to say, 'That a friend is another him- self,' for that a friend is far more than him- self."^ "How many things are there which a man cannot, with any face or comeliness, say or do himself? A man can scarcely allege his own merits with modesty, much less extol them; a man cannot sometimes brook to supplicate or beg; and a number of the like. But all these things are graceful in a friend's mouth which are blushing in a man's own. But to enumerate these things were endless ; I have given the rule, when a man cannot fitly play his own part, if he have not a friend, 'he may quit the stage.' " Friendship is a paradox among the social forces, because its effects are both dispersive and unifying to society, for it plays the most important part both in the disintegration and in the founding of the family group. When a boy I used to watch with eagerness a bluebird as she came every spring to build her nest and rear her young in the top of an old gatepost in front of our country home. It was my delight to climb the gate and peep down the hole in the top of the post at the chubby, featherless crea- tures in their cozy nest; but when they grew bigger with their full plumage, and flew away to their Southern clime, I was sorry, for I missed their plumage and their song. But when > Selby, p. 72. FRIENDSHIP AS A SOCIAL FORCE 115 I grew older I learned that a higher law than love for the parent nest impelled them to fly- away and leave the nest in the gatepost — they went away to build other nests in other gate- posts, and to cheer other boys with their plu- mage and song. Likewise, when we see a well-ordered family, contented and happy in their home, we would gladly have them all abide, yet we know full well that there are higher claims which they must meet in obedience to the laws of their be- ing and of the social order in which they find themselves, making it necessary for children now grown up to leave the parental fireside and seek other places of abode near or far. This part of the social process which we may observe from day to day in every community we call the disintegration of the family. There are many abnormal factors as well as normal laws that contribute to this result, but greater than all is that social bond we call friendship, which often leads to the marriage union. 1. The basis of friendship. One of the most difficult problems of social philosophy is to find a satisfactory theory with reference to the basis of friendship. If it were simply a matter of friendship between the members of the sexes, it would be a matter easy to explain; but we find, on the contrary, that this phenomenon fre- quently exists between man and man, woman 116 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER and woman, or between men and women who have no thought of wedlock. We observe also that friendships are frequently formed between persons of opposite temperaments, or between persons who are unattractive, friendships under circumstances so various that one is often led to believe it to be merely a matter of chance. Various explanations of the phenomenon of friendship have been offered, among which have been the following: First, that based on the doctrine of the transmigration of souls in which it is assumed that the souls of persons once in social relations in another state of being find their fellow souls in this life. In the absence of proof of the doctrine of transmigration, this theory lacks the dignity of an explanation. Another view is that there exists in members of the human species a kind of social affinity which causes two persons of corresponding ele- ments of character to become friends on ac- quaintance, much in the same way as two chemi- cal elements possessing an aflfinity for each other would unite in the accidents of nature or the experiments of the laboratory. This theory does very well as an explanation until one of these friends loses his social affinity, and knocks his neighbor on the head, sulks in solitude, or forms another disturbing combination with a new "affinity." Still another theory is that based upon evolu- FKIENDSmP AS A SOCIAL FOECE 117 tion, which, claims that man originally was like other animals, living solely for self, nntil in later stages of his development higher instincts similar to gregariousness in animals led him to form friendships for his own advantage; therefore, according to this view, friendship is based upon utility, for it is claimed we make friends with those who benefit us most. But when asked to explain why one person is friendly to another who may have become a burden and a care, or even a social disadvan- tage, the advocates of this theory reply that along with these instincts of friendship have developed other attributes of character such as honor, faithfulness, constancy. One other view is that based upon the teach- ings of revelation, namely, that man was created and endowed with a nature so like the Divine that had he remained obedient to the moral law there would have been no enmity be- tween man and his fellow beiags. Love and good will would have bound together the indi- Adduals of the human race. Sin is regarded as the disturbing element in human nature and the chief cause of social friction, and only as it is eliminated through the atonement can men come to love the unlovely and be real friends one with another. This view implies that every human being, whether high or low in the scale of life, possesses at least some element of the 118 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE divine nature, and few have become so brutal but that they are capable of being friendly in some degree. 2. Characteristics of true friendship. True friendship is constant. As one of the old prov- erbs puts it, "A friend loveth at all times." There are false friends who are friendly when we are in prosperity, but who desert us when adversity overtakes us — those who are friendly when we are well spoken of, but desert us when our name is in ill-repute; but the true friend remains constant under such circumstances and stands the closer by when adversity comes. Real friendship has a positive element. If a man expects to win friends and hold them, he must be friendly to others, "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly." One can- not expect to keep friends constant unless he reciprocates their good fellowship; there must be reciprocal exchanges of feeling and actions or friendship will not last. It is a delicate plant and is readily destroyed by too much heat (anger), or dies in a cold atmosphere (indiffer- ence). True friendship has also an element of sacrifice. The true friend will make sacrifice for those whom he loves. Even life itself is considered not too great a sacrifice for the altar of friendship. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his FEIEKDSHIP AS A SOCIAL FORCE 119 friends" (Jesus). In feudal days many a knight gave his life to defend his overlord. Cases are not wanting to-day where life is im- periled for the sake of a friend. Friendship has the right to command. "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (Jesus). Where true friendship exists a look, a nod, or a whisper, expressive of need, is a command and is quickly obeyed by the trusted friend. Obedience is the test of friend- ship, but it is a dangerous test when pushed too far, for friendship, however true, is at the breaking point when it becomes a tyranny. There is in true friendship also an element of frankness. A true friend will tell us our faults as well as applaud our virtues. "Faith- ful are the wounds of a friend" (Proverbs). Those who prize the true friend should receive correction from him with the same eagerness as they do his applause. Bacon says truthfully, "For there is no such flatterer as is a man's self, and there is no such remedy against flattery of a man's self as the liberty of a friend." "Take to heart what your wife says to you when she is angry with you," was the advice once given to me by a friend who had observed from a long experience as a man of affairs how difficult a thing it is for a man to see his own faults, and how seldom he has the privilege of hearing them rehearsed by his friends or even 120 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER Ms enemies, except perhaps by the latter in the midst of the excitements of the campaign, when he is apt to think with self-complacency that his faults have been greatly exaggerated for cam- paign purposes onlyi So it seems to me that one of the greatest gifts of friendship is the ability to give or take a rebuke between friends that are true. In fact, it never pays to break with a friend because he rebukes you when in a temper or mood. He will relent by the next meeting, while you have gained by the expe- rience as well as won again his affection. In fact, I count to-day among my best friends the men with whom I have exchanged, on occasion, the sharpest words of frankness, if not rebuke, to say the least. 3. Christian friendship. Christian friendship has a distinct and characteristic element which differentiates it from all other forms of friend- ship in that it is exerted toward those who are unfriendly and even toward our enemies — "If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink" (Paul). One of the noblest titles given to the Son of man, the Founder of Chris- tianity, was that heard frequently on the lips of the common people, "He was the friend of sinners." As a social force Christian friend- ship became the greatest social dynamic of his- tory. In it there lies a deep and helpful phi- losophy, for we are taught to take the initiative FEIENDSHIP AS A SOCIAL FOECE 121 in showing ourselves friendly to the friendless. We have it expressed in the Golden Enle, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." In this we see friendship firmly estab- lished on an altruistic basis, free from mere self-interest or utility at first hand, and taking on that broader scope which embraces the en- tire moral order of the world. It has in view the social uplift and betterment of all men, in bringing in a world-kingdom of humanity which is the highest social ideal for the race, seen in vision by the Hebrew prophets, preached by the greatest of the apostles, and beautifully expressed by one of our poets as "the parlia- ment of man and the federation of the world." CHAPTER X SOCIAL LEADERSHIP When we look all about us to-day at the com- plex social order in which we are living, the net- work of associations in which men are grouped and regrouped in response to certain needs felt and clearly defined ; when we view the organized character of the evils that destroy human life and cause untold misery to homes and indi- viduals, we are led to see at once that one of the greatest tasks the Church of to-day has to perform is the furnishing of social leaders in the struggle for good citizenship and moral re- form. In talking to a socialistic labor leader some time ago in one of our great industrial centers, he said that he believed the greatest service the Church could render the modern labor move- ment was the furnishing of leaders with some definite aim for the welfare of the workingmen in this world, for what they need most is to be shown how to make this world more like heaven. We wish in this chapter to show where such leadership is needed and how it may be devel- oped by our brotherhoods and other religious social organizations. 122 SOCIAL LEADEESHIP 123 In the Field op City Govebnment The great struggle of tlie Church in all ages has heen in the cities, and at no period of his- tory has that struggle been more clearly under- stood by men of keen insight in religious work than it is to-day. The Church inaugurates social reforms and yet is often compelled to leave to a boodling, grafting administration the task of carrying out those reforms. In other cases where church- men have been elected they have proven them- selves to be so inefficient in sound leadership that they have lost for the Church the benefits of a reform movement, and the city has been plunged back into the old regime by the votes of those who cannot excuse inefficient service even when rendered by a pious man. Hence it seems that in this field one of the first tasks of the Church — represented by its civic and social groups in the brotherhood movement — ^is to de- velop for the tasks of government that class of men who will make good the reforms the Church must have in order to maintain her life in the community. Now, I do not mean to say that the Church is to go into politics as such, but I do say that one of the chief tasks of the Church is to create issues that the political party that hopes to suc- ceed must adopt, and to train men for civic work 124 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER that the same party cannot afford not to nomi- nate and elect. So it seems to me that our brotherhood chapters and men's clubs could well afford to take up this problem of social leadership in city government as a part of their legitimate program. In Legislation and Administration In the second place, social leadership is needed by the Church in the field of legislation and in the administration and execution of the laws that control the people. In this field suc- cess can be reached by first directing our atten- tion to public opinion and social custom, which lie at the foundations of much of our lawmak- ing, and have much to do also with obedience of and respect for the law. It is a very diffi- cult thing for any man, however just, to exe- cute the law impartially when he is handicap- ped by a boisterous public demand for some- thing else. As a distinguished district attorney some years ago in New York said with refer- ence to the trial of a notorious case, "Gentle- men, we have come to the spectacle of a trial by newspapers, rather than trial by the courts." Here, then, is another field where the Church can do much toward the development in every community of social leadership that will count heavily in the establishment of the kingdom of righteousness. SOCIAL LEADEESHTP 125 In the Field op Oegaitized Industey A third field where tlie Church needs to be represented in social leadership is that of or- ganized industry. In years past even good peo- ple who desire to be impartial in their judg- ments have been so appalled by the manifesta- tions of power by organized labor in times of strikes, boycotts, and lockouts, that they have, without investigating the real causes of the dis- turbance, decided the case against the laboring men, and have been ever after biased in their opinions of the entire labor movement. It is about time for all good people to begin to study the real causes of industrial conflicts and also to formulate some saner notions as to the pos- sibilities for good, not only to the laboring men themselves but also for the employers and the public, in the organized movement among men for their betterment as a class, not only in the conditions of work, but also in citizenship, and ultimately in all that pertains to the welfare of society as a whole, not excluding the religious interest, that is taking on organized forms of expression. I believe the time will come when the labor movement, under intelligent moral leadership, which it already has in a marked degree, will wage war against social vice and crime as strenuously as it ever has against an unjust 126 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER employer or a soulless corporation.* We dis- cover here, it seems to me, one of the greatest fields for Church activity in seeking to make that social leadership in all industrial centers an ally of all the moral and religious forces of the community. The men's organizations will be wise in encouraging and supporting such of their members who have an ambition for leader- ship in this the greatest movement of our age. Leaders of organized labor, as well as leaders of organized capital, must be men who com- prehend their mutual relations, and the rela- tions of both to the great public who use the goods produced for the market by industrial concerns. In recent years we have witnessed the utilization of such leadership in this field as never before in the case of men who, by their power of social perspective and sense of social justice, have averted industrial warfare by wise counsels in directing others in the pursuits of peace. The Field op Organized Chabitt Still another field where the Church's in- terest in social leadership is strong is that of managing organized charity and philanthropy. Never before were there evident so many great gifts and foundations for the betterment and welfare of the dependent, defective, and delin- i See discussion In Chapter XX. SOCIAL LEADEKSHIP 127 quent classes. In this field the Church has the keenest interest and has ever furnished some of the best workers. So in all the fields of religious activity and education there is need to-day for men of social training for the tasks of utilizing the forces available for social progress. CHAPTEB XI THE CHURCH'S PERIL There are some folks who to-day are seri- ously concerned about what they call the "peril" of the Church, and yet when you ques- tion them as to what it is they seem unable to define it ; and yet they assert that they feel the Church is in peril. The social engineer should inquire the causes of this fear, and endeavor to show what these expressions of fear mean; and if he finds there is a real peril threatening the Church, he should seek to know how it may be averted. What Is a Peehj? Our ordinary notions of peril involve the conception of something alarmingly and immi- nently threatening at the moment, like an ava- lanche in the path of a mountain climber, or a rushing torrent to the inhabitants of a village in the valley below the broken dam. But, as a matter of fact, a peril may be even greater where seemingly there is nothing impending; for instance, the peril of diseased milk to the babies of the tenement, of poisoned food to the workingman (before pure-food legislation) who 128 THE CHURCH'S PEKIL 129 had to buy it in cans rather than in juicy beef- steaks, because of his meager wage ; the gentle buzz and bite of an infectious mosquito to the unsuspecting dwellers along the levees, or the deadly bite of the tsetse fly in the camp of the ivory-hunters in Africa, or the bacilli of tuber- culosis to the workers iu the vitiated air of the sweatshop. In fact, a man to-day may be in as imminent peril of the hatpin of some feminine strap-hanger in the rush of the subway as he would be of the surgeon's needle in an opera- tion for cataract. So I believe we are not to look to-day for the greatest perils of the Church from the gates of hell, for we have the promise that "they shall not prevail," but, rather, ia our lack of ability to marshal our forces for victory; not that she shall meet defeat in this field or that field of missionary enterprise, but, rather, that she may miss altogether the meaning of the word of com- mand from the Captain of our salvation. Failitke to Attract the Mtiltittides One of the chief phases of this modem peril is our failure to make the church attractive to the multitudes — ^not the peril of some Etruscan maiden in the raid of the Sabine warriors, but, rather, that of some modern maiden who ceases to receive the attention of her suitors. Talk with the preachers and earnest laymen 130 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER in our cities and suburban towns, and most of them will tell you they are putting up a con- tinual struggle to keep their congregations, especially during the evening services, respect- able in size. So it seems to me, as I walk the streets of our great teeming cities, with their places of amusement crowded, the parks and breathing places of the multitudes filled even during the hours of service in the churches, that in some way we have not yet learned the full significance of Paul's words of instruction to the young preacher, Timothy, "to adorn the doctrine of Christ." To me the greatest peril the Church faces to-day is that we will fail to make her courts attractive to the multitudes that need her message. During the Hudson-Fulton celebration in New York city we saw simple historical facts and incidents of our American history so adorned that actually millions of people — ^men, women, and children, even mothers with babies in their arms, from the East Side and the West Side — so crowded the line of march that they literally risked their lives to see the parade, and as I viewed it from a window in the Methodist Book Concern building at Twentieth Street and Fifth Avenue, I thought within me, "Would that we had the gift so to adorn the historical facts of our precious faith, and make the personality of Jesus Christ so at- THE CHUECH'S PERIL 131 tractive in all our ministry, that we could win the multitudes like that, or at least have it said of us as it was of him, 'The common people heard him gladly. ' ' ' The Spikittjal Death Bate Another phase of the Church's peril, it seems to me, is the appalling spiritual death rate we find in all our Church statistics when properly considered. We have the young life of the com- munity with us in the Sunday school, baptized and enrolled as members of the kingdom of God, and yet how many slip out during the period of adolescence and are never reclaimed! If you are not convinced of this fact, count the boys and young men, and even the girls, on the streets in your town during the hours of Sun- day school and church service. Then, too, we have a number of backsliders after revival meetings that aggregate almost as many, if not more in some cases, than those we hold as faithful members. An experienced worker in the city of New York, of wide and ripe experience in rescue mission work, told me that at least four out of five of aU the men re- claimed on the Bowery had been at some time actively connected with some church or Sun- day school. And he further added that in visit- ing many prisons and questioning the prisoners, he found that many of these also had been at 132 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER one time attendants at clmrch services, either in this country or the old country. Now, is it not time for the brotherhoods and other social organizations of the Church to make a serious search for the causes of this spiritual death rate, and seek the means and methods of reducing it? It can be done by placing such emphasis upon preventive salva- tion, by socializing our activities in making for them a better environment, as we have in get- ting the children into the Sunday school, and the adults by rescue work and revival effort. "We should do this and not leave the other un- done. FAiLtTBB TO Master the Modeen Social Movement In the last chapter I mentioned the furnish- ing of social leadership as the Church's Op- portunity. To fail to lead the modern social movement by failing to furnish leaders in the social crisis of our day is another phase of the Church's peril that we should seriously con- sider as men.* In fact, I can see no other reason greater than this for social engineering being organized, and I can conceive of no greater task for our men's organizations to take up in every community than this. 1 Compare Mott, John R., "The Future Leadership of the Church." Part II. THE CHUECH'S PEEIL 133 It would be a great pity if the movement of organized labor should get the notion that we were not interested in their cause for the wel- fare of their families, and it would be equally a great pity if the organizations of employers should cease to find sympathy from us in their difficult tasks of adjustment of business to meet the demands of the changing social order. This is another phase of the Church's peril — that we fail to grasp our opportunity to lead, and be like a voice crying in the wilderness, not know- ing what or whose way we are exhorting the people to prepare. This to me is our supreme task for the present — ^to address ourselves to a study of these social phases of the Church's peril, and by diligent social engineering master them. PART II THE SOCIAL ENGINEER AT WORK CHAPTER XII THE MEANING OF SOCIAL. SERVICE The movement for social service among the various denominations means that the social consciousness of the Church has been aroused to the necessity of doing something heroic to regenerate the changing social order by bet- tering the conditions of living where the life struggle and class conflict are the most threaten- ing to the whole structure of Christian civiliza- tion ; a serious search for a social antitoxin that shall destroy the toxic effects in the social body caused by social sinning; an earnest attempt to apply the preventive measures of the gospel to the problem of sin as well as the redemptive agencies of the Word of God. It means organi- zation to discover the causes of social ills, and an organized effort to destroy sin at its source. It means by earnest endeavor to save human life by regenerating and transforming the en- vironment that pollutes and destroys human life. It is our endeavor not so much to save from the slum as it is a determination to remove the slum ; not alone the screening of the children from infectious mosquitoes, but filling up the pools where they breed. It means that the 137 138 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE Churcli has to-day the opportunity within her grasp to extend the consciousness of brother- hood among all the social groups now antago- nistic and competitive, and to give unity of ideals to the nations of the world, so that wars may cease. And, further, she has the social pro- gram in the teaching of Jesus, when rightly in- terpreted, to socialize the races of men in con- sciousness, so that prejudice and race conflicts shall be done away and the world kingdom of redeemed humanity be made possible of reali- zation. But to be more specific: we do not mean by social service anything like what are known as church socials, pink teas, tableaux, church sup- pers, however useful they may be in developing sociability among the people of the neighbor- hood; nor do we mean any form of religious vaudeville by which a few dimes and dollars are gotten into the church treasury; but we mean, rather, those serious altruistic activities of Christian people that help somebody out of diffi- culty, and better the moral tone of the com- munity, and advance its economic and social welfare — such activities as are carried out by an organized enlightened public opinion through the agency of trained men and women with the group consciousness back of them as an en- couragement and support in the performance of hard tasks. It means also the conduct of indi- MEANING OF SOCIAL SERVICE 139 viduals with a social perspective that sees be- yond the immediate act to the social values that are created by the social energies released by the initial deed. Illtjsteations of Social Service The act of the good Samaritan was an act of individual social service because it furnished a basis for imitation for others, so that Jesus could say to the young lawyer who had ques- tioned him as to who is one's neighbor, "Go and do thou likewise." Neighborliness in Jesus 's mind meant the conduct of the good Samaritan, for he put the emphasis there when he asked, "Who was neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" But the social idea can be greatly extended by us in modem times by the concept of organizing a posse to capture the robbers, or an organized police patrol, so that the way to Jericho may be made safe for other travelers. Again, we may illustrate social service by the efficient policy of the chief of the board of health in one of our progressive cities, who prosecuted the milk dealers who furnished diseased milk to the homes of the poor, resulting in an in- creased infant mortality, instead of being con- tent in thinking his duty to the city ended with the burying of the dead, the victims of disease produced by impure milk, or in helping the 140 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER "widow or bereaved father to bear tbe expense. So that now in this same city the infant mor- tality has been reduced to the normal rate. Social service means the placing of a danger sign on the tailgate of an ice wagon as well as the carrying of flowers and jellies to the crippled boy in the home or hospital who un- wittingly rode behind where there was no sign and got crushed; or by organized public senti- ment in enactment of pure-food laws and their enforcement, as well as sick benefits to those disabled for work by eating poisoned meats; or by organized effort against the saloon as a social evil rather than diatribes on the weak- ness of human nature in dealing with the man in the gutter. Social service means not merely charities and philanthropies that care for the victims of vice and poverty, but also intelligent organized effort to eliminate the causes that make these necessary, and it means, as well, a readjustment of our economic and industrial system by wise statesmanship through social control, so that the profits of social production may be more equitably distributed to all classes of society. Social service in real charity is implied in the words of Jesus quoted only by Paul, as the other writers of the New Testament seem to have overlooked them — "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Why? Because the MEANING OF SOCIAL SEEVICE 141 giver has the economic advantage in that he is able to support himself and has a surplus to give to others, and in the giving is seeking to get his neighbor into the same economic rank. Giving with any other motive may be charitable, but it is not in the truest sense social. Individual Sociai, Service We mean by individual social service an act performed by an individual that at the moment has no special social significance, but as a pre- ventive measure may have very important so- cial consequences for good. For example, it is said that a little boy once wrote an essay on pins in which he affirftied that they had saved the lives of many children "by the not swallowing of 'em," by which it is meant that the preven- tive act of the mother in removing the pin from the reach of her babies, or the removing of a tack from the floor where the bare feet might be pierced, performed a real social service for the family in avoiding the expense of medical attention, if not even death from tetanus or blood poisoning. I know a young woman in the country in one of the Southern States who nearly bled to death when she was a girl of thirteen by cutting her foot with a broken bottle in the grass while running after a chicken she was told to catch for dinner. The old notion of social service would be represented by the mini- 142 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK ature Sheridan ride of a neighbor to the village near by for the doctor, or the servant who gathered cobwebs from the bam to stanch the blood, or by the good sister in the church who came during convalescence from the weakened state due to shock and loss of blood with a glass of jelly or a custard now and then; but the modern notion of social service would be rep- resented by removing the bottle from the grass before the accident occurred. If all the chil- dren could be taught the social significance of such an act, how much preventive social work could we not accomplish in every community! I have a friend filling an office of great respon- sibility and dignity in the church who told me that he had made it the habit of his life never to pass by a banana peel on the street without removing it to some place where no one could be caused to fall by slipping upon it, because he had once seen a friend of his severely injured by such a simple mishap. Now, there is not much honor attached to such an individual act when viewed by the unthinking crowd on the streets of a city, but when viewed with the so- cial perspective of an accident, the ambulance, the surgical operation, the expense, the pos- sible pauperizing of the family without the breadwinner, and all else that may result from a fall by such an ignominious thing as a banana peel, we come to see that an individual act of MEANING OF SOCIAL SERVICE 143 this character has tremendous social value, and should be regarded worthy of imitation. A young preacher, recently graduated from Drew Theological Seminary, while preaching Sundays as a supply at an appointment in a country town, told me that on the way home from church one day he walked to the middle of the road and kicked some broken fragments of glass into the gutter, and a friend with him remarked, "What did you do that for?" ''"Why," said the preacher, "I ride a wheel sometimes, and I did it to save a puncture in some other fellow's wheel." Now, such a deed has a greater social significance when the "fel- low" in mind is a messenger boy who is making a living with his wheel, perhaps for a widowed mother and a group of small children at his house. I confess I cannot pass by a nail with the sharp end up through a piece of board without bending it down, because I have more than once seen a good horse ruined by picking up such a nail in the quick of his hoof, so that he had to be dispensed with. Now, this means more socially when the horse in mind is the means of support of a drayman and his little family, when the cost of a new horse means the verge of pov- erty for a whole family. So we might go on and illustrate in many ways acts that are seem- ingly insignificant in themselves, but which 144 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK when performed by the individuals of a whole community mean much for the social welfare of the many. "We have purposely put emphasis here upon the negative side of individual social service as acts of social prevention of social ills ; but those of a positive character are as im- pressive, and play an important role in the esti- mate we place upon the social efficiency of the individual in the community. CHAPTEE Xin HOW TO WORK THE SPECIFIC FIELDS OF SOCIAL SERVICE We have now come to that part of our study that involves the more specific and practical phases of social engineering. We hear men on all sides in these days ask- ing the man who is talking or writing about the Church and the modem social movement how they are to do the things he has suggested. Now, for some men it is sufficient to show them the tools or the machinery and the fields where work is to be done and tell them to do it; but for others it is necessary to plow a few times round untU they see our method ; or it is neces- sary to walk around with them and keep hold of the plow until they get courage to try alone. In the fields of social service it is not necessary to more than awaken the social consciousness of some men so that they see the methods al- ready being used with success in the social field, while with others we must go still further and actually work the methods we propose in their very presence before they seem to be able to grasp their significance. There are still others who know pretty well the fields for service, and 145 146 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE are acquainted with the machtaery available, but seem to continue to ask questions, or wait for some one else to set the pace, merely for the sake of killing time or shirking respon- sibility. They are like the man who was so afraid of breaking his scythe that he hung it up in a tree and waited for the frost to cut the weeds he intended to mow. It is wonderful sometimes how readily meth- ods develop for the man who is busy with the doing of his task. Take, for example, the work of a judge of the juvenile court in one of our cities in dealing with boys arrested for stealing junk from the railroads. In ques- tioning the boys as to why they were so en- gaged in lawless conduct he ran across an organized traffic of the junk dealers themselves, and his method was changed to include the fin- ing and imprisonment of the junk dealers who were guilty as the prime cause of this kind of juvenile delinquency, and by so doing he de- stroyed at the roots a prolific cause of juvenile crime in that city. Now, any man who is seriously interested in the boys of his community, after knowing of this fact in the experience of the judge, would not need to be told that he could save his boys from the temptation of the junk dealers by sup- plying them with the equivalents of the things they sold junk to acquire — a trip to the State HOW TO WOEK W! fair, a ticket to tlie animal show, the dues for the gymnasium classes at the Young Men's Christian Association, or the purchase price of some popular toy. In fact, most of our prac- tical problems of social service resolve them- selves into the handling of those who are causal to the ills we are seeking to correct, and the preventive work among those who have not yet been led astray, as well as the sympathetic treatment of those who have been overtaken in trespasses as victims of the organized wrong- doing of others. Another matter that needs to be mentioned in this connection is that we should not wait for methods to develop in our special field when there are very successful examples of methods in other fields of social service in the com- munity that might well be adopted by us. I once saw a woman do great execution on a crop of weeds with a corn-chopper, and split kindling wood efficiently with a meat cleaver, because they were the only tools she had in reach. So many a man in religious social service in the specific fields of church work could well adopt and adapt methods used by societies and indi- viduals engaged in social activities under au- spices wholly outside the church organization as such. I am reminded of a story I once heard of two preachers walking in Billingsgate Fish Market, and upon hearing a woman stren,uously 148 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK abusing a customer for Ms attempt to cheat lier out of a sixpence, one of these preachers said to the other, **Let us get out of hearing of this brawling woman, ' ' but the other said, ' ' Not yet ; she is teaching me how to preach." So many a man to-day who is insisting upon some one tell- ing him how to do it, could well afford to study some of the methods of the socialized church in his city, of the organized charity association, of the head worker of some successful social set- tlement, of the Salvation Army, of the Young Men's Christian Association, or of the Welfare Committee of the National Civic Federation that may be installing sanitary measures in a shop within walking distance of his dwelling. But, on the other hand, I can sympathize with the man who asks, "How?" for he may know the field himself and the methods and machinery necessary, but find that the laborers available for the task are few — ^I mean men and women of social efficiency who have a socialized con- sciousness with respect to the tasks set before the Church and Sunday school, as well as train- ing in social engineering that counts for some- thing. The study of the field, as well as work in the field, is necessary. The Specific Fields of Social Service It may be of advantage to the reader for me to enumerate some of the specific fields of so- HOW TO WOEK 149 cial work at this time, including the special fields of charity and philanthropy dealing with the dependent, defective, and delinquent social classes, involving questions of pauperism (un- fortunate and willfully poor), of mental and physical incapacity, of adult and juvenile way- wardness and crime, and the causes and cure; also the fields of preventive philanthropy, in- volving the prevention of social diseases, such as tuberculosis and those that grow out of the social evil and lack of proper sanitation — ^prob- lems of social sinning and social salvation. It also includes the question of the Church and the laboring man; the meaning of socialism, the questions of population movement, and those growing out of population increase, birth rates and death rates, civic virtue, lawlessness and mob violence, the integrity of the monogamous family, and many other like questions that have to do with the practical everyday life of the modern community, especially in the larger cities. To merely enumerate these fields for so- cial work shows the necessity for a study of them before we attempt to do very efl&cient work in them. The Study of the Fields It should be observed at the outset that all of these problems grow out of the greater problem of human population in general, and 150 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE that they are but a part of the greater problem of the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest. They form but a part of the study of social classification and differentiation which we have treated in a previous chapter. Our study here is also related vitally to the problem of moral relations and responsibilities. The social engineer must study his field to determine (1) where individual responsibility for condi- tions lies; (2) where family responsibility rests for the conditions of offspring and parentage; (3) what constitutes community responsibility for the conditions of members of the group, for their chances to make a living, and for the temp- tations that may beset them in the social cus- toms allowed by the community; (4) State and national responsibility for the condition of the individual citizen in so far as he is a victim of State or national policy. In fact, one of the burning questions of our day is that of social morality. What furnishes the motive for our study? The conditions of human beings as they exist in the present order of things : the pauper, the in- sane, the feeble-minded, the deformed, defective unfortunates, the vagrant, the criminal, and the delinquent of every grade, from the little boy before the juvenile court to the hardened high- wayman before the judge for sentence to death, or to life imprisoimient, not only crowding our HOW TO WOEK 151 institutions, but many of them still uncared for in any adequate way in tlie rush and hurry of modem commimity life. It includes also the vast multitudes of those members of society who from various causes are on the verge of need or poverty and must receive help at the hands of charity or starve ; the hosts of the un- fortunate who must be healed, or cared for by charity or perish, and also the increasing num- bers of those who live by exploiting the accu- mulated earnings and capital of others and dis- regard all restraints of law and right living. It includes also the teeming multitudes of the normal members of the community that may be kept out of the defective, dependent, and de- linquent social classes if we are wise enough in our day to do for them the things that will keep their energies directed in proper channels of productive activity. No man can study the life of the modem workingman in many of our populated centers without having aroused in him a tremendous motive for helping to make his condition otherwise; and when we really come to know the possibilities for good to the whole community and to the State in well- directed organized labor and organized capital, we will wonder why, for so long, we have in our religious activities failed to interest ourselves in these modem movements. The study of the fields ot social service also 152 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER involves methods of treatment of these great classes of population: methods by private and public charity, and charity organization socie- ties that place the emphasis upon knowing why relief is asked, and how it came to be needed; and the study of institutional and associational treatment of these classes ; not only the methods of treatment in the institutions themselves, and the maintenance of them, but also the methods of getting the individual into one of these in- stitutions. To illustrate : I lived in a town some years ago where a member of the community had a defective child which was a great burden to the mother, a constant expense to the bread- winner for extra help and doctor's bills incident to the case. Only twenty miles distant, less than an hour by rail, was an institution for the care of just such cases. A friend who had a knowledge of the institution, and how to get the boy into it, so relieved that home that the mother was soon restored to her normal health, the father freed from a great burden, and, what is best of all, the boy, under scientific treat- ment and Christian care, is now developed into a healthy, promising young fellow, when if left at home no such results could have been achieved. It includes the study of institutions for refor- mation, correction, and punishment, the treat- ment of the delinquent in a civilized, scientific HOW TO WOEK 153 way, as is being done in many of tlie juvenile courts and probation systems of our progres- sive cities; a study of crime as a disease, the result of maladjustment and bad economic and social surroundings, and often inherited, in tendency at least, in the very physical structure. Our tasks include also the study of the causes of the conditions we have to meet, especially those that we classify as preventable ills in so- ciety, the causes of which are preventable ; and they include also the classification of these causes — ^whether physical, psychical, moral, or social. We can see the value of this method, for after preventable causes are known our social tasks are simplified — reduced to the work of removing them. For example, when it was discovered that the cause of typhoid fever in one of our great cities in recent years was the condition of the water supply, the work of pre- venting the scourge was one of purifying the water by building a filter-plant and by con- trolling the water-shed. When we discovered certain ills resulting from impure food and drugs, we passed the pure-food act, that pro- vided for the inspection and labeling of these commodities for the protection of the public. When we discover the high infant death rate is caused by impure milk, our social task is sim- plified into pouring such milk into the gutter after proper inspection. 154 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER Our study leads us further into the problems of the elimination of the things that are doing mischief in the community. This often requires the discovery of new methods by experiment and deduction. It may mean at times some- thing quite radical, and at times, in the minds of the unthinking contemporaries, something rather "unorthodox," to use a much-abused and misused word. We will discover that some of these are world-tasks, or national problems, the solution of which we can never reach with- out the sympathetic cooperation of all civilized and enlightened peoples. Our study and work also arouse the sympa- thetic and altruistic impulses of the human soul. This enables every man to see in his fellow man, no matter how low in the scale of life, and no matter how his visage may be marred by strug- gle, sin, and vice, an image of which he himself is potentially a likeness. Goethe was not far from the truth when he said, "I can think of no crime in the conduct of another which I my- self am not capable of committing. ' ' We would rather put it as an old saint in a Methodist class- meeting once stated it when he saw a man be- sotted with drink: "But for the grace of God, there goes me. ' ' It will result in the creation of that charity that never f aileth, but endureth all things, believeth all things, that suffers long and is kind. It will develop a faith that is opti- HOW TO WOEK 155 mistic and enables one to endure as seeing the invisible ; a faith, in the integrity of human na- ture as strong, at least, as that we have in plants and animal forms, that it will respond to correction and culture, and ultimately take on the highest forms of expression of which it is capable, and produce moral fruitage com- mensurate with the husbandry and culture ex- pended upon it. It will lead us ultimately to a rational system of "eugenics" — a modem term used to represent the physical culture and bet- terment of the human species, the application to human kind of the principles and laws dis- covered in biology and made practicable in animal and plant culture. Of course we may not hope to see such methods applied in a positive way by society to the human species, but we can already apply those laws and principles of a negative and environmental character that give promise of successful results. This may be illustrated by the successful management of the "placing-out system" of some of our orphanages in the State of New York, under the supervision and control of the efficient State Board of Charities. It is my conviction that if our Bible classes in our Sunday schools, our brotherhoods with their splendid organization and equipment in men, and the other societies of the Church that could spare a group or two for this work, should 156 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER take up a serious study of the specific fields of social service in their respective communities, as well as relate themselves to the bigger social tasks, we would not be troubled long with the question so often raised by church workers in our day — "How are we to do it?" We would become so enthusiastic over the approaching harvest that we would go into these fields with the methods and machinery already at hand, and which we are improving as we use them, and reap an abundant harvest for the kingdom of God. CHAPTER XIV SOCIAIilZBD CHARITY Theee is no subject of interest to the philan- thropic activities of the modern church that did not have an important place in the thought, and activity, and program of Jesus and his dis- ciples. The poor that enlisted his sympathy, the afflicted whom he touched and healed in spite of ceremonial protests from the unen- lightened champions of tradition, and the sin- ning who met the threatenings of the law but were set right and forgiven by his kindly word of divine authority, are all with us still, and together present one of the hardest tasks of modern society and one of the most difficult sub- jects of our church work. It is a matter of interest to know something about the vast numbers of these three classes in society, and of the institutions that have been established and the societies organized to care for these victims of circumstance and misfor- tune, of social maladjustment and of economic blundering ; and also of willful digression from the rightful ways of good citizenship. It is also important that we should know how these in- stitutions are controlled and managed and sup- 157 158 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER ported by tlie State, the municipality, or by voluntary gifts and bequests, and also how the specific individuals of these three classes in any local community may be gotten into the appro- priate institution for care, treatment, or correc- tion and reformation. But besides all these matters of interest that we should know as teachers and students of moral and religious truth, we should also know something of the causes that produce these great classes in mod- ern civilization. "We are apt to emphasize the causes that are personal and that lie within the narrow range of the victims themselves, when, as a matter of fact, the causes are more frequently found to be in the environment or in heredity, over which the greater number of these persons have no control whatsoever; for example, the blind, the idiotic, the feeble-minded, the epileptic, the in- sane, the deaf and dumb, the congenitally 'de- formed and crippled, etc. In the case of pov- erty many of these pitiable creatures are but the victims of accidents in industry, where the breadwinner has been killed, maimed, or other- wise disabled for life; or they are the victims of inadequate support by profligate parents, who have spent their meager earnings in drink or wasted them in other forms of riotous living. In many other cases poverty is due to the un- thinking overcrowding of the labor market, the SOCIALIZED CHAEITT 159 resultant low wages and low standards of liv- ing which permit the working people to store up little against the day of adversity they are likely to meet. In the case of the multitudes of juvenile de- linquents the causes lie in the laws themselves, which, while prohibiting certain things, yet make no provision for the lawful exercise of youthful energies. Many a boy has been brought before the juvenile court for some misdemeanor which would never have been committed had the city provided a municipal playground, or a bathing pier, or some facilities for useful sports. Phillips Brooks was right when he said before the great prison congress held in Boston some years ago, that a man was a criminal not so much from the fact of what he had acquired, but, rather, from the view- point of what he had missed; not that he was really a criminal, but that he was not fully a man. So it seems to me, with our modern in- sight into the causes of poverty, defectiveness, and badness, we ought to put supreme emphasis upon supplying our young people, through channels of social service in the Sunday school and other organizations of the Church, with the things they need to keep them from slipping into these misfortunes; and we should go still further and bear our^hare of the expense, with modern charity and philanthropy, in providing 160 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER those who are already victims with the things they have missed. If our moral teaching is going to really amount to anything in the lives of our young people, it certainly should include the facts concerning causes that are known and remedies that are not only good as temporary measures of relief but are also fundamental to the elimi- nation of preventable causes. What Concerning the Pooe? The question may arise in the minds of some, "What can we teach in the schools con- cerning poverty, its causes and cure? I do not claim that we know all the causes, nor that we are ready to recommend all the remedies needed, but I do claim that we know some very definite things as to causes, and some very definite things as to remedies which we ought to teach now, and give our scholars the benefit of what we may term our doubtful proposals after we have gotten more light. In the first place, we know that much of poverty is caused by accidents in industry to breadwinners for which there is paid no ade- quate compensation either to the victim or his dependent wife and children or other depend- ents upon his wages. Now, it is only a matter of common business sense for us as Christian teachers to ally ourselves with those employers SOCIALIZED CHAEITT 161 of labor, and with those who lead the thought of organized workers, and with pubhc men everywhere interested in social welfare in their endeavors to formulate and enact such meas- ures of compensation, through industrial in- surance, old-age pensions for those worn out in the service, or any other just measure, so that the victims of accidents, disease, and old age may be adequately provided for. It is worth while to note just here that every civi- lized country in the world has already some form of compensation through legislation ex- cept the United States. Of course it should also be said that some of the States, like Massachu- setts, New York, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, are making progress in this direction, while other States have enacted employers' liability legis- lation, which, however, has not proven satis- factory either to the workers or the employers, because of the litigation which is usually in- volved, extending often over a period of years, and leaving little compensation to the victim after the expenses of such litigation are paid. We know also that much of poverty is caused by the curse of the liquor traffic, through the saloon, where often the workingman goes to meet with his union, or work-fellows, and spends the greater part of his earnings. It is a very significant fact that the great leaders of organized labor in this country and in Canada 162 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE have come out squarely against the saloon, if the reports of the great Toronto convention held in November, 1909, are correct. Mr. Samuel Gompers, president of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, declared as follows : "The time has come when the saloon and the labor movement must be divorced." Mr. John Mitchell, formerly president of the United Mine Workers of America, is quoted as saying thus : "Poverty has driven many a strong man to drink, and drink has driven many a strong man to poverty. I am not at all impressed with the argument that if you close down the liquor traffic you bring about a calamity. Eather the contrary. There is a readjustment of society. Nothing has done more to bring misery upon innocent women and children than the money spent in drink. No man has a right to spend a cent upon himself until he has first provided for his family all the comforts they deserve. He has no money to spend on drink without robbing his family. I believe as the labor move- ment grows so will the temperance movement grow." Mr. Thomas L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, is also quoted as saying: "If you want to know where the miners of America stand on the temperance question, I'll tell you. In our constitution we have a clause which forbids any member to sell intoxicants even at a picnic. That's what we SOCIALIZED CHAEITY 163 think of the liquor traffic. . . . Because the liquor traffic tends to enslave the people, to make them satisfied with improper conditions, to keep them ignorant, the leaders of the trade union are called on to fight the saloon."^ Golden words these! and they should be widely circulated by the public press, pulpit, and platform, and reechoed in all our schools, because they give to the labor movement in this country and its great leaders a viewpoint of the possibilities for moral uplift to the natioii that has been too little held by the Church and the public at large with respect to them. We should, therefore, join forces with organized labor and all other reform agencies in the move- ment to destroy this great cause of poverty, the saloon. We know also that another prolific cause of pauperism is the unthinking public, which doles out charity to every "hobo" at the back door, or to every intruder on the poor fund in the churches, without adequate information as to the worthiness of the case, while there may be a very efficient charity organization society within the city that could handle these cases with efficiency and prevent the spread of the very thing the public are blindly hoping to cure. We should, therefore, teach our young people » See Literary Digest, December 18, 1909, quoting Western Christian Advocate, 164 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER the modern methods of organized charity and enlist them to cooperate with all such organiza- tions as are seriously seeking in an intelligent, scientific, and yet sympathetic way to perma- nently relieve society of this perpetual burden.^ What Concebning the Afflicted? We can conceive of some people deliberately choosing a life of poverty when they discover how easy it is to impose on the sympathetic who are able to give and are willing to do so with- out too many embarrassing questions to the beggar ; but no one would be thought, or accused, of deliberately choosing any form of affliction for the sake of imposing upon the public. There are, of course, some cases on record where per- sons have voluntarily inflicted wounds for the sake of effect, but even in such cases a feeble mind or mental unbalance is usually the con- tributory cause. There are causes well known that can be prevented, and hence the obligation rests upon us to help educate people so that they will help to prevent them. We have already mentioned the frequent cause of total blindness by infection in infancy > I desire to recommend to those teachers in the Sunday schools who wish to study the conditions and causes of poverty the reading of two books by experts in this field: "Misery and Its Causes," by Dr. Edward T. Devine, New Yorlc; and "Standards of Living," by Professor Chapin, of Beloit, Wisconsin, published by the Russell Sage Foundation, New York. SOCIALIZED CHAEITY 165 that may easily be avoided. In those cases where the remedy is known it is only a matter of giving that intelligence to the public, and especially to the ignorantly careless, so that the proper medical treatment may be applied at the right time; and, furthermore, we should encourage by our cooperation those fighting against the social disease that makes such a misfortune to the innocent possible. Where is there a better chance to impart this saving knowledge to the multitudes than in the whole- some moral atmosphere of the Sunday school class of young men or women soon to meet the responsibilities of home life in society? Those forms of defectiveness that are di- rectly due to heredity must be prevented by wise social laws prohibiting the marriage of the unfit among themselves or with normal stock, so that such cases will be reduced to a minimum. This would include the insane, the idiotic, the epi- leptic, the inebriate, and those afficted with certain diseases. Those which are the result of accidents, nervous strain, and mental anguish, must be met by wise measures of prevention in safety devices and safeguards in industry and in modes of travel and by a change in environ- ment or occupation, and by the kindly service of human sympathy and the healing touch of the divine hand. The people have established in every State the proper institutions to care for 166 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK the afflicted, and it is our duty as teachers to know something of these institutions and their methods of treatment, and to be able to direct to them those that need their shelter and care. What Conceening the Bad? Here we have especially to do with a class of boys and young men (girls are sometimes in- cluded) called by some "delinquents" for the sake of euphony, but ordinarily we speak of them as "bad" boys, or "rascals." They com- prise those members of society who are incipient criminals and yet are not bad enough to be classed as such, qnd under no circumstances are to be treated as criminals. They may be more definitely designated as those who are brought before the juvenile courts of our cities and placed under the care of probation officers, or are sent to reformatories or other institutions for correction. The causes of delinquencies among boys are discovered to be chiefly in what they have missed rather than in what they have acquired, though the latter is often a contributory cause ; for example, the lack of proper educational methods for boys of surplus energies, who tire of books easily, but might be held to useful edu- cational tasks by the use of manual training, proper athletic sports, and well-directed field trips to study facts at first hand in nature, in SOCIALIZED CHAHITT 167 shops, in stores, and other places where the world's work is being carried on. Happily, in many quarters this is already being done. A frequent cause of delinquency among young men is the lack of occupation, due to having learned no trade. In reading the annual report of the Elmira Eeformatory in New York State some years ago I learned that over sixty per cent of the inmates were registered as without an occupation. We should, therefore, insist upon every young man learning a trade, or some useful profession, for his own protection as well as for the good of the State. We know that in many districts of our crowded centers of popu- lation the numbers of cases before the juvenile courts have been almost eliminated by the open- ing of a public playground in the neighborhood, or a public bath, or a roof garden, or basement gymnasium in the school building, or in the so- cialized church house in the community. It is, therefore, a matter of good business for us to advocate the establishment of these useful agencies at public expense, which will be well paid for by the saving in cost of punitive and correctional institutions and also in the making of good citizens. Another frequent cause of badness in boys is the habit of stealing junk from the railroads passing through the town and shifting cars on sidings, also of steal- ing coal and other commodities from cars, and 168 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE that too frequently at the instigation of the junk dealers themselves, or of unscrupulous parents who find it an easy way to get on in the world without work. In such cases the thing to ad- vocate is the punishment of the guilty junk dealers and the imposing of proper penalties upon the guilty parents, as well as putting on probation the delinquent boys. Now, why can we not join forces with all good people who q,re like-minded and advocate the same treatment for the saloon keepers who sell intoxicants to boys, or the proprietors of dance halls and picture shows who corrupt young boys and girls by their indecent exhibits! If we did so, we could succeed in removing the most prolific causes of badness among the boys and girls of our cities, if at the same time we provided more wholesome and happy recreation for them under Christian auspices.^ In dealing with all these classes under dis- cussion the social engineer must always keep in mind the fact that we are living in an intricate network of social causes which make the prob- lem of ultimate success a very complex one; but this fact should not deter us from doing what we know we can and ought to do for the welfare of the poor, the aflSicted, and the bad. > I would recommend here the reading of Chapters VI and VII of my recent book on "Social Aspects of Religious Institutions," Eaton & Mains, New York. CHAPTER XV TEAM WORK FOR THE COMMUNITY In doing ordinary team work the question is not merely how to secure and train the individ- ual men — for we must always use such as we have — but the question is, rather, how to get the men we have to work together. For most churches and Sunday schools the only possible way to do social work in and for the community is simply by using the ordinary men and women who live an ordinary workaday life in that same community. We cannot hope to get all people to think alike, or to agree on all points con- nected with any measure for the moral uplift of the community, but we can get many ordinary men to unite in some very extraordinary move- ment for the social betterment of the entire community. For example, the success of the temperance movement in this country in dealing with the saloon and other forms of vice has been almost entirely due to organized efforts of groups of very ordinary sincere men and women of our church communities. It is true that much depends upon the char- acter of the leadership we have for team work, but, after all, success depends ultimately upon 169 170 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE the cooperative efforts of the many who are to be classed as the ordinary people that make up the rank and file of our communities. In the high schools and colleges we are accustomed to team work, and the success of the athletic teams, debating clubs, and other groups in the life of the school depends upon several things: first, upon the personal characteristics of the young men making the team ; secondly, upon the prac- tice or training in team play ; and, thirdly, upon the support on the side lines from the rank and file of their comrades in the school or college. And, furthermore, success often depends upon the enthusiasm that is created by mass meetings in the interest of some special game, and by the "rooters" during the critical moments of the game. So in carrying on team work by the young people of the Sunday school and other church organizations, it is a matter of first im- portance to select the right persons to do team work, and they should be given a chance to practice forms of social service in the com- munity that will prepare them for the supreme tasks that require skill and persistent effort. We might well hold a mass meeting of all the school or congregation to stimulate the team in their work, and to interest the many in their support as well. One reason why we do not find enthusiasm in our social work in many quarters, like that TEAM WOEK FOE THE COMMUNITY 171 we find in college athletics, is largely due to the fact that we do not take our work seriously enough. We somehow talk in a general way about our duties in the community, and expect every individual to start a little movement all by himself for the welfare of the many, when as a matter of common experience in other lines of work we see men doing things successfully by organizing a few to do a specific task, and by giving them in the doing of it the support of the many. Here is an example of what I mean : I know a church in a large city where they have one large Bible class of men numbering about one hundred and twenty. Now, this class is or- ganized, having a president, several vice-presi- dents, a secretary, and a treasurer, Member- ship Conunittee, etc. But so far as I know from observing its work as thus organized for several years, it made no use of these one hundred and twenty men for any purpose whatever in that large city, except now and then an appeal was made for their support as individual workers in buttonholing somebody for Rally Day, or to se- cure his membership in the class, when, to my way of thinking, several teams for social service in the community could have been developed out of that body of strong young men. What was actually done in the case referred to is this : the men were taught the Sunday school lessons in a very interesting way, and the truths they 172 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER learned were all useful and good, but they were practically of little value because the men were given nothing to do in a specific way to develop moral character. The result was that every year many men dropped out of the class, and others were gathered in, and so from the mere view of the class as conducted it was a success, but from the viewpoint of work accomplished for that community, and in training men for team work in social service, it was an entire failure. How TO Proceed One of the first things necessary to be done in getting our young men and women organized to perform deeds of a social character in a com- munity is to show them impressively the social nature of conduct, good or bad, by giving them concrete examples of actual good results to the community of any specific form of social serv- ice. It is not sufficient for us to have in mind simply the words of the ritual with respect to the world, the flesh, and the devil, but we must be led to see the concrete examples of their ac- tivities in the town where we live before we are likely to be aroused to the necessity of doing anything for our neighbors, either in an indi- vidual way or in group organization for the real improvement of the community. 1. Team work against tuberculosis. A group TEAM WOEK FOE THE COMMUNITY 173 of young men and women might be chosen from any one of our adult Bible classes to make a study of the social character of this disease in so far as the community is concerned. Such a group could bring to the attention of the entire church community the facts so well known with reference to the character and treatment of this greatest of all plagues known to men, if we are to judge from the annual death rate from this cause. They could show how this is a communi- cable disease, and how it is a preventable dis- ease, and also how in many cases it is a curable disease. If people are not interested in city ordinances prohibiting spitting in public con- veyances, or upon the floors of public buildings, or upon the sidewalks, such a group could dem- onstrate how directly the bacilli of this disease may be communicated directly to the child play- ing upon the street, or to the home, by direct contact with sputum upon shoes or skirts, so that the child playing upon the carpet in the home may be directly inoculated. Such a team could do preventive work by demonstrating methods of fresh-air treatment, or assisting in- cipient cases to reach the sanitarium, or pre- ventorium, before it is too late to effect a cure. It could also in a judicious way distribute infor- mational literature, and paste in proper places placards giving sane caution to the unthinking in the community with respect to prevention 174 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER and treatment of the disease. . In short, such a group of workers could do almost everything that could be done to cooperate with the modern movement which may be characterized as a war against this form of disease. Another group of well-chosen men and women could do a similar work in preventing other social diseases in so far as they are the result of ignorance or cul- pable negligence, and also to help all good citi- zens in breaking up the so-called "white-slave traffic," especially in our large cities, but also drawing into its meshes the unsuspecting inno- cents of the rural districts, or the inexperienced immigrants. 2. Team work for public health. If people in the community have no interest in supporting proposed municipal legislation for a bureau of sanitation and public health, another team should be organized to show to them the danger from dirty streets, unsanitary tenements, im- pure milk supply, and the accompanying high death rate among infants who are the victims. They could secure a comparative set of death rates in cities where such inspection is made and in cities where it is not made. Also photo- graphs and charts could be secured, giving a graphic demonstration of the actual conditions which exist and of the conditions desired. Typhoid fever is a preventable disease, and may be called a disease of dirt, and yet how TEAM WORK FOR THE COMMUNITY 175 many victims there are each, year from this dis- ease due to impure water supply! And how many people fail to know the relation between carelessness at summer resorts with reference to sewage disposal near the water supply and this dreadful disease! What more Christlike service could any group of young folk render a community than making known to people other- wise intelligent the ways of avoiding such forms of contagion which have such dire social con- sequences ? 3. Team work in social-service departments of hospitals. The social engineer should or- ganize in every church a group of young people who would be able to cooperate with the phy- sicians in treating those cases in the hospitals which need social treatment as well as medical. For example, a case is under treatment in the hospital. It is a mother suffering from "nerv- ous dyspepsia," but the real cause of her malady is a wayward son. Now, the modern physician knows full well that a permanent cure demands the rescue of that son to a normal moral life, so he calls on the social-service de- partment of the hospital to take up that phase of the effective treatment where his art finds its limitations. So for a thousand and one vary- ing cases that have a more remote or an imme- diate social factor which is causal to the chief difficulty. Here is a splendid field for our 176 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER strong young men and women to do a Christian service in carrying out His program for all who suffer. Such a group would find many oppor- tunities of presenting to the unfortunate for the first time, or for the most critical time, the Great Physician who can heal the soul as well as the body. Other cases would come before this group of social workers that would reveal the close relation of human ills to some of the eco- nomic problems of the present. Here is a man being treated for the loss of his right hand, or the loss of a leg, or for some other injury that will incapacitate him as the breadwinner for a family of six children and an invalid wife. Here arises the question of compensation, or in- surance, in the case of accidents in industry; child labor may be also involved, and the stand- ards of living. Such a group could secure the information that would make the entire church community more intelligent in its advocacy of social re- forms and would lead many a man in industry to be more charitable toward his employees.* 4. Team work against juvenile delinquency. In the previous chapter we stated that many boys were delinquent not by virtue of what they had acquired but by virtue of what they had > For a study of team work for the sick in hospitals, read "Social Service and the Art of Healing," by Cabat. Compare Knopp, "Tuberculosis a Preventable and Curable Disease." TEAM WOKK FOE THE COMMUNITY 1T7 missed, and we showed how in our cities there were many cases of delinquency because the boys had no opportunities provided for the gratification of normal and worthy youthful desires. Now, it seems to me that we could render a useful service to the community if we had in every church a group of social workers who would make it their chief aim to champion the cause of this large class of boys in the com- munity who really need the help and advice of a hig brother. They could secure for the boys a place to play ball in summer or a place to skate in winter on some vacant lot in a depression easily flooded from the water main at little ex- pense; also places of shelter and warmth, as well as for reading and recreation in winter for the newsboys, and those without proper amusement at home in the tenements, and who would be otherwise found on the streets or in the saloons or gambling resorts of the greater cities. There is no reason why certain rooms in the public school building should not be utilized for such purposes under proper man- agement at little or no extra expense save that of lighting, which would be a small item compared with the good accomplished and the expenses of prosecutions iu the juvenile court. 5. Team work by men to save the boys from leaving the Sunday school and Church during the first years of adolescence. I do not think 178 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE any intelligent worker in the Sunday school needs to be told that a great many of the boys who were in the Sunday schools of the city untU they were twelve or fourteen are now entirely out of touch with the Sunday school and Church, especially those whose parents are not mem- bers of the Church. It seems to me that here is one of the most fruitful fields of social serv- ice where team work by the men of the Bible classes is needed most. As a matter of observa- tion, and of recollection of my own boyhood, I think it can be stated as an axiom that boys from fourteen to eighteen like to be with men. Now, I am not sure but that it would be a wise move in many of the Sunday schools to admit boys to men's classes, or at least to put all boys at that age in charge of men, and invite other strong young men to join these classes as social workers. In any case, we should inaugurate some such movement to keep the boys -from leav- ing the school when they need the Sunday school most. Here is a field of work that demands a special type of social engineer, and the sooner we get men into training in every community for such work the sooner we will see all our Church activities better proportioned with men. 6. Team work in church federation. There might well be another group in every church whose chief work should be the study of the problems of interdenominational unity and fed- TEAM WORK TOE THE COMMUNITY 179 eration in all matters pertaining to the work of the kingdom of God. This group should know all occasions in the life of the community, and in the welfare of the State and nation, when it is possible for the churches to stand together and to work together for the same end. In cases of municipal reform, such as the election of ex- cise commissioners or the board of aldermen, who have in charge the business of the city gov- ernment, it should be made impossible for a boodling minority to control in the councils of the parties so that dishonest men should even have a chance of election by being nominated. So in all matters of public policy there should be no uncertainty as to where the churches of Christ will stand on any measure involving the morals of the nation. 7. Team worJc in relating the Church to the industrial problems of the present. In many communities there should be groups of strong young men representing the employers and the employees in the industrial pursuits of the peo- ple, so that everybody may be able to judge for himself what is just and equal in any dispute as to wages and hours of work, as well as the conditions of labor, between any two industrial groups. This subject we will treat more at length in a subsequent chapter. All this involves the awakening of the social consciousness in men so that they will see the 180 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER importance of social service and the social significance of individual group effort for the welfare of the community. I do not claim that we need more organizations to get men in our churches to do social service, but we need more organisation. Some will say, however, that all these tasks mentioned above for team work cannot be carried on by the Church. I admit this is true in many churches as they are now managed, but my point is this, that the Church should be so organized and conducted that these tasks could he performed by it. Unless we do this kind of work our Bible teaching will, not be a living message. CHAPTER XVI THE CITY PHOBLEM During the last quarter of the nineteentli century the greater currents of population movement within our national domain were to- ward the cities, so that we have as a result what is termed the congestion of population with all its accompanying ills — summed up in that one ugly word "slum." In religious work many people have come to look on the modern city as a "challenge" to Christian civilization and look upon the city as a menace to Christianity it- self.^ Some even go so far as to say that were it not for the constant recruits from the rural districts of church members with religious fer- vor many of our churches would lose altogether that element of Christian efficiency which is based upon a healthy emotionalism called "re- ligious fervor." But we find also in modern times a counter movement from the cities to the suburbs, resulting in that ever-increasing group of sturdy cultured folk known as the "com- muters ' ' or the ' ' suburbanites. " It is here that we find some of our most successful church en- terprises to-day. 1 Compare "The Challenge of the City," by Joaiah Strong. 181 182 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE But when we come to study more closely the character of this new type, we discover that it is made up largely of those who in former years moved from the country to the city, or are their direct descendants, and we also learn that an- other class, the "submerged tenth" of the orig- inal country folk, and the incoming aliens from other shores, or natives from other centers of population, make up the congested population groups that furnish the problem we have here to consider. The City Not a Menace In the first place, I wish to state that the city, unless abused by commercialism, is not a men- ace to civilization, but a blessing. The fact of the city in modern times as compared with the unstable life of earlier times, when few great cities were built and when the majority of the population lived in rural communities, is a justification for its existence as a good to hu- manity, for in the long run human nature will not persist in the pursuit of that which is not ultimately for its highest good. What, then, is there about the modem city that presents a social problem of such magni- tude as that of the "congestion of population"? 1 believe it is not the city in itself but the abuse of the privilege the city offers that is the real menace to Christian civilization. The privilege THE CITY PEOBLEM 183 of being in the crowd leads some to the abuse of exploiting their neighbor's necessities for their own gain without regard to the restraints of social justice. Consider the privilege of the presence of the crowd whose appetites and pas- sions may be played upon for blood money in the traffic of vice! So we witness the "white- slave trade," the brothel, the saloon, the dive, the gambling den, and their distressed victims. We have also, as a result of the abuse of the privilege of presence, the "sweatshop" or the "sweating system" — the factory employing women and children at a very low wage; we see also the tenement system, the lodging house, the soup-kitchen, the pushcart — all seeking gain from the privilege of presence. In fact, we are led to see at once that the ills to society from overcrowding are directly due to a very worthy economic motive, but that this motive is often misdirected. "What we are after is to give it a true function and a true motive. The Fact of Congestion During the wonderful Exhibit of Congestion of Population held in New York city during the month of March, 1908, the leading facts of congestion were very graphically presented by models, charts, maps, statistical tables, lectures, etc. One of the most striking and impressive devices was that of an arrangement of birdshot 184 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE on a pliysiograpliic model map, each small shot representing a person in the crowded condition of Manhattan Island, so that in some of the great tenement blocks "downtown" the shot were laid nearly an inch thick, showing how crowded would be the actual population if all were suddenly compelled to seek the ground floor in case of fire, or other serious cause. Model tenement blocks were also exhibited, showing the condition of tenement life before the new tenement laws for improvement in con- struction went into effect, and also those repre- senting the kind now required by law. A description of Model No. 1, as representing actual conditions January 1, 1900, in a certain block in New York city, will be of interest to the reader, and will impressively illustrate the problem. This block then included thirty-nine tenement houses, containing 605 different apart- ments, occupied by 2,781 persons, of whom 2,315 were over five years of age, and 469 under five years of age. It contained 1,588 rooms, but not one bath; only 40 apartments were sup- plied with hot water. There were 441 dark rooms having no ventilation to the outer air, and no light or air except that derived from other rooms, and 635 rooms getting their sole light and air from dark and narrow air shafts. During five years there were reckoned from this block alone 32 cases of tuberculosis, and during THE CITY PROBLEM 185 one year 13 cases of diphtheria. In addition to this there were during the five years mentioned 665 different applications for charitable relief from the inhabitants of this block, while the gross rentals per year amounted to $113,964.^ In contrast to this was exhibited Model 3, called the "New Law" tenement, the Mnd now erected under the law of 1901. This model has the following advantages: There are no dark rooms, no narrow air shafts. These tenements are provided with courts and yards large enough to give sufficient light and air on every floor, and each apartment is provided with good individual sanitary accommodations and rea- sonable protection from fire. There were also exhibited in life size the sweatshop rooms where little girls sit all day, fifteen in one small room, making artificial flowers for two cents a dozen. Another model showed eight persons sleep- ing at night in one small room with three beds, some of these persons being boarders. Another striking fact of congestion was a silhouette entitled "From School Teacher to Policeman" — showing the crowded condition of the public schools which made it necessary to turn away some of the children, who, left to play in the streets, naturally fell into the hands of 'These statistics are taken from a folder printed and distributed at the time of the exhibit. 186 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER the policeman after getting into miscliief. So nrnch for the fact of the congestion of popula- tion in our large cities. The Results op Congestion It is well for us to ask here, What are some of the results of this overcrowding of popula- tion in these tenement districts of the cities? One of the most striking and impressive is the increased mortality of infants in these crowded sections. Another result is the ravages of tu- berculosis and other diseases due to the lack of proper sanitation, absence of light and fresh air, in the inner dark rooms of these structures. Still another result is the weakened constitu- tions, dwarfed physique, due to bad housing and lack of wholesome food. This has been proven by the actual measurements of groups of school children in these sections, and comparisons made with measurements of similar groups under more favorable conditions. The increased statistics of vice and crime may be directed to these tenement blocks, these crimes being due not to the inherent wickedness of these people, but, rather, to the lack of the natural uplift they should have received in a different environment. Another appalling result of congestion of population is the ravages of that class of dis- eases we call venereal, which are the result of THE CITY PEOBLEM 187 tlie vice of unlawful sex-relationship. At a dinner given to a group of social workers in New York some time ago I heard a reputable physician say that there are in Greater New York annually 50,000 new cases of this dreadful disease, and many of these cases are innocent women and children who are unwittingly af- fected by the overcrowding due to taking in boarders, and the resulting unsanitary condi- tions of these dwellings.^ These are only some of the evil results of overcrowding, but they will serve our purpose to show that we have a real problem of social conditions in our great cities for the Church to help solve, and we know to-day pretty well why we have these conditions existing. The Causes op Congestion" Some one will ask, "If these results are so appalling, why, then, do people crowd into these tenements in such fashion?" It will be impos- sible in this short review to relate all the causes which result in congestion, but we may name among the chief ones the following : In the first instance the great city itself is an attractive force constantly drawing from the > For a confirmation of these facts see an interesting paper de- livered before the American Sociological Society at Atlantic CSty in December, 1908, published in the American Journal of Sociology for April, 1909. Compare also Warbasse, "Medical Sociology," chap. viii. 188 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE rural districts and from the smaller towns. The statistics of the growth of cities from decade to decade prove that the city itself tends to reach a condition of overcrowding. Men and women as individuals, and even whole families, will crowd into the great cities when all available economic opportunities have been taken, and many of these are compelled to segregate to the slum. Secondly, industry will go where there is labor in abundance, and where there is a market for the output, or good facilities for shipment by railroads or by steamship lines to distant points. This means that the people who work in the shops or mills must live near them, for a meager wage and long hours forbid them the comforts of the suburbanites. Besides, there is often lack of rapid transit for such as they at the rush hours of the day. The laboring man or woman cannot afford to be late, for another is often waiting to take the job if he or she is absent for a day, or is not prompt in the per- formance of duty. Lack of transit or cheap fares may therefore be considered as another cause of congestion, for the reason that the more roomy and healthy suburbs are not within reach of the workingman of this class. A third reason for overcrowding in tenements is the high rents in the city. This in many cases takes more than one quarter of the poor man's THE CITY PEOBLEM 189 income, hence such families are often driven to the necessity of taking in boarders at great in- convenience and risk of morals and health for the sake of keeping up the rent. Therefore it is not surprising that many families will live in overcrowded rooms in spite of the law prohibit- ing such a practice. Eace affinity among foreigners is another frequent cause of overcrowding. This impels them to take in their landsmen temporarily or permanently because of the condition of many of them when they reach the port of entry, and also because they are not wanted in other sec- tions of the city or country where there pre- dominates a different racial type and corre- sponding racial prejudices. Still another cause of overcrowding among the foreigners in the city is the lack of hos- pitals, schools, and churches, and the absence of neighborly sympathy in many of the rural towns and villages, and upon the farm where the workers are needed, wages are good, the air and sunlight are cheap, but where brotherly sympathy for the alien is too often wanting. When accident occurs in a mine or quarry, or upon the farm, or when sickness comes, there are no facilities for relief, and it is, therefore, no wonder that these laborers crowd the cities, where such facilities are available, and where their children have an equal chance with the 190 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER children of the natives in the schools and in the churches, and where there is something to give them amusement and diversion from the weari- ness of hard labor. These are the chief causes of congestion, apart from the ignorance and vice that blind many of these unfortunates to something bet- ter within their reach. The Relief of Congestion The way out of difficulty is always hard to find because people usually go into difficulty blindly. In general, I would say that the way to solve any difficult social problem is first to get at the causes of the difficulty to be met, and then seek to correct the errors or to eliminate the causes altogether, and by so doing we usually reach a practicable solution of our diffi- culties. So with the problem of congestion of population in our great cities: we must know the causes and eliminate them. "We cannot, however, always do this in a radical and revo- lutionary way, for we would create thereby greater evils than we hope to cure. In the first place, we must make the city less attractive to the many by making the country and villages more attractive and desirable for residence, and at the same time more available to those who work in the city but already desire to live in the suburbs. Much has already been THE CITY PEOBLEM 191 done, and much more is being done by the im- provement of the country roads, the establish- ment by the postal service of free rural de- livery, the introduction of the telephone, the improvement of the schools, the establishment of country and village hospitals, the inaugura- tion of improved methods of agriculture which enable the farmer to more readily secure an in- dependent living and educate his family, and the establishment of the College of Agriculture, that is lifting the occupation of farming to the plane of a profession. The establishment of better police protection to the citizens of the rural districts has also contributed much to- ward making the country districts more de- sirable for residence. This will give the poor man a feeling of security with respect to life and property, as well as to his rights as a citizen of the State. All this would greatly stem the tide of migration from country to city, and would greatly increase the productivity of the farm, and, in many sections, reduce the cost of living by increased production of the neces- saries of life available to these population centers. A second measure of relief is that of improv- ing the housing conditions by legislation and its rigorous enforcement against the abuse of grasping landlords or careless tenants whose avariciousness and stupidity have made these 192 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER conditions possible. Some relief is also given by the opening up of parks, as at "Mulberry Bend" in New York, in the most congested quarters. But these give only breathing spaces ; the people must return to their crowded homes under the same conditions. Another measure of temporary relief is the opening of public school buildings for social purposes, the build- ing of roof gardens and playgrounds, recreation piers, etc., also night schools, where are taught better methods of living and ways of betterment by self -initiative. Another effective remedy is the encouraging of the building of factories in the suburbs, thus drawing away from the crowded centers of tene- ment population. It is claimed for New York city and its adjacent populous centers in New Jersey, that when the proposed tunnels and bridges and railroad facilities leading far into the country districts are completed, it will be possible for vast numbers of the well-to-do now living in the city to move into the suburbs, thus leaving vacant better apartments for the aspir- ing, and later cheapening the rent for such, and correspondingly reducing the rental value of the tenements in the now congested quarters, making it no longer necessary for the wage- workers to take in boarders. The cheapening of fares to the suburbs will make it possible for even the "dinner-pail" class to Jive in the coun- THE CITY PROBLEM 193 try and reach the city in time for their daily tasks, especially in those industries that have reduced the hours of labor to an eight-hour day. Cooperative tenement-house and home-build- ing companies offer encouraging relief for some. The distribution of immigrants by the new Department of Information in the Bureau of Immigration will greatly help to relieve the overcrowding in colonies of the same races in the cities. Institutions established by the Chris- tian denominations, like that conducted by the United Hebrew Charities for the distribution of Jewish immigrants to economic opportunities in agricultural and industrial and other pur- suits, would greatly aid in the solution of the problem. During the six years from 1901 to 1907 the Hebrew Society removed over 30,000 persons, 28,000 of whom were sent from New York city. Better wages and fewer hours per day, so as to give time for the culture of the mind in better ways of living and thinking, will be the best method of relieving many who now are awake to their needs but lack the chance to realize their hopes. We see, therefore, that the prob- lem of congestion of population can be solved if we will do all we can to promote the meas- ures thereto that we know. CHAPTER XVn PREVENTIVB3 SOCIAL ENGINEERING Theeb is no subject in the minds of social workers to-day in every field of philanthropic effort of greater importance than that of pre- vention. In the medical profession, where we have been wont to think there was too little interest given to the prevention of diseases, we to-day hear this most significant and hopeful note of progress : ' ' The plea that goes out to the public from the great heart of the medical pro- fession to-day is that prevention shall take the place of cure. Medical knowledge has reached that point when much of it can be taken by the public, and without medical aid, applied to the end of preventing diseases." "Again and again medicine appeals to the people to take the measures necessary to stop typhoid, tubercU' losis, yellow fever, plague, cholera, gonorrhea, syphilis, and the many other destructive dis- eases which are clearly preventable."^ "If," says Dr. Warbasse, * ' as much money and enter- prise as have been bestowed upon hospitals were devoted to preventing the diseases which are treated in hospitals, the hospitals would be > See "Medical Sociology," by Warbasse, pp. x, xi of the Preface. 194 PEEVENTIVE SOCIAL ENGINEEEING 195 much less important figures than they are at the present."^ Nowhere have we seen in modern times a better illustration of this principle in practice by the medical profession than in the Japanese army during the war with Russia. And one of the most hopeful signs of the times is the great foundations now established by men of great wealth for the study of the causes and prevention of many of the diseases which afflict mankind. Besides, we have also the splendid work of the national and State governments that are endeavoring to carry on a similar beneficent work for humanity.^ Pkevention of Germinal Diseases Now, it is not necessary that the multitudes of young men and women of our communities should be trained in the technique of the medi- cal profession in order to be efficient in the work of prevention, but many of them can engage in this work by using the knowledge already given out in such simple form that the most unskilled layman can do something to help in the preven- tion of germinal diseases. For example, when by a thorough analysis by an expert the water supply of a city is declared contaminated with ' See "Medical Sociology," by Warbasse. p. 26. 2 Compare also "Report on Death Rates in the City of Panama, of the Canal Zone, and of the Canal Employees." New York Trib- une, November 9, 1910. 196 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK typhoid germs, it does not require medical at- tention to boil the water before using, or to vote for the building of a filter plant by the city, or advocate an ordinance controlling the water- shed supplying the reservoir. Again, when the medical profession has proven beyond a doubt that yellow fever is carried from one person to another by infectious mosquitoes, it does not re- quire an expert to inform the common people how to sleep under screens, or how to sterilize the breeding places of this pest. If we know that tuberculosis can be prevented by fresh air and fj^esh^ggSj it does not require very much technique to give the information to the masses of the people in every community that will en- able them to prevent this scourge, or to arrest it in its incipient stages. So it seems to me that one of the most useful services we could render as workers in the community would be active co- operation with the Anti-Tuberculosis Associa- tion of the State, or with the local committee in the town or city in which we dwell, in spreading health-maintaining and health-restoring infor- mation among the masses of the people. The churches need not wait for some outside associa- tion to take the lead in this work. They could readily get together and conduct an exhibit and educate a whole town on the subject of all prO' ventable diseases. Another case where preventive work in so- PREVENTIVE SOCIAL ENGINEERING 197 cial service may be carried on in many com- munities is that of those germinal diseases due to unlawful sex-relationship. In view of the character of these diseases, it is almost impos- sible for the social worker to do anything to- ward their cure, hence all his efforts as a layman must be exerted along the lines of prevention. A medical authority of high standing has stated that in New York city in 1901, 162,372 cases of these shocking diseases were treated in the private practice of phy- sicians.^ These figures — and many others as appalling that could be given — should arouse the public to the necessity of casting off any notions it may have of mock modesty, and tak- ing up in earnest the work of prevention of one of the greatest social evils that have vitally touched human life in every period of history. "Let us not make the mistake of saying that this is a filthy subject, and that we cannot touch it. I have heard this said by those who, while professing to fight evil, confined the fight to nice, genteel evils which are chiefly matters of the imagination and of belief. No, it is a clean and glorious thing to say the word that shall save a young man or woman from invalidism and moral discouragement. There are things to be said and things to be done which should be said frankly and done boldly. ' '^ I See Warbaase, "Sociology," p. 79. ' Warbaase, op. cit., p. 81. 198 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK I cannot conceive of a father or mother who would on any reasonable grounds refuse to in- form his son or her daughter of the dangers and how to avoid them. Likewise I cannot admit that wise teachers of adolescent boys and girls in the Sunday schools and high schools, knowing the facts, should fail to give them the information that would prevent them from going blindly into the ways of sin. Peevention of Deunkenness There is no field of preventive work that has taken on such proportions as that of the tem- perance movement. In this movement the churches are already enlisted, but there are cer- tain phases of service that could well be under- taken by the people of the community who are dominated by Christian motives. Some people have sought to justify the existence of the sa- loon because of its significance as a social center for a large class of people, who, because of their family life, or the lack of it, have no other place to go for social recreation. Now, there is little hope of succeeding with any large number of those who already have acquired the drink habit, but it is possible for us to provide social centers, under the auspices of the best elements in the community, that will be a substitute for the saloon as a social rendezvous, and at the same time prevent the acquiring of the habit. PKEVENTIVE SOCIAL ENGINEEEING 199 Still anotlier phase of preventive work that promises to count for most, in my judgment, is the creation of the moral-political issue of the aholishing of the saloon in such a way that good men and women, irrespective of any other mo- tive, will be convinced that here is an issue that any political party that stands for good gov- ernment must adopt. It has been largely the result of such a view that prohibition of the traffic has been secured in most of the territory now "dry." Another phase of prevention is represented by that large number of men who want to over- come the habit, but have not the social bond that will keep them keyed up to resolution in the hour of temptation. Take, for example, a fine mechanic, as fine an old man as you would want to meet, who had not "touched a drop" for six months ; but in the midst of an important work on a contract for painting a new house was tempted to drink at an "Irish wake" one even- ing — and down he went to the level of the beast for two months, until he had lost his job and some of his best friends. Now, his family spent much, and so did he, in rectifying the evil re- sults of his debauch, but would it not have been infinitely wiser to guard him at the moment of the initial temptation, and thus prevent such a humiliating experience? So I believe that in every community, where such cases are known, 200 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER it would be possible for a group of young men to guard sucli a man in such moments until his psychic process is again dominated by saner motives. If he were given to spells of insanity, his friends would have guarded him; why not in the case of an inebriate, when the results of conduct are so disastrous to the family or community both from a moral and an economio point of view? Still another phase of prevention of drunken- ness is in the study of the causes which pro- duce the physical and nervous conditions which cause the craving for stimulants and result in permanent cases of inebriety. In such cases the work of prevention must be more complex, reaching to the changing of the conditions of occupation and of housing that are causal to such nervous and physical disability. Now, it is easier to create enthusiasm for the treatment of the results of certain causes than it is to arouse people to prevent the causes themselves or remove them. Here is where intelligent dis- cussion leads to more vital results. It is cer- tain that if the people of the community could be led to see the possibility of removing the causes of any specific evil, they would be as enthusiastic in their service of prevention as they are in the treatment of the more spectacu- lar and impressive results that are immediately seen and felt. PEEVENTIVE SOCIAL ENGINEERING 201 Pbeventivb Ceiminology Apart from a life of impurity, there is no evil from which, it is more difficult to rescue a man than that of crime, hence the greater need for preventive social engineering in his behalf. The emphasis to-day in enlightened penology is placed upon keeping the man out of prison as long as possible, for we know that in the ma- jority of cases prison life tends to make men more criminal on their release than before they entered prison. .In most instances of crime we find that somebody has been trying to gratify a normal desire in an abnormal or unlawful way, and this gives us the clue to preventive work in this field, namely, the providing for the incipient criminal the things which he has missed. Take, for example, the practice of theft or robbery: it begins with some simple act in childhood where normal cravings are met by the youth unrestrained, and the result is an abnor- mal habit which results in the practice of law- lessness. The reverse of this has been dis- covered in cities where institutions have been established to provide the apparatus for meet- ing these normal desires of childhood, resulting in the elimination of juvenile crime in a whole district. The boys ' club and the municipal play- ground furnish us examples of these beneficent results. In such institutions things that boys 202 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER desire are provided in an institutional way with- out the stigma of charity, while the temptation to steal is removed, or to trespass is made undesirable. Another phase of prevention of crime is the rebuking of incipient wrongdoing. This is especially true of the children of for- eigners in this country. From recent statistics taken from the records of one of our large cities, while the largest per cent of adult crimes were committed by native Americans, yet the large majority of juvenile offenses were committed by the children of foreigners. I think much of this is due to the fact that we do not rebuke initial wrongdoing. For example, in one of our suburban towns the children of foreigners are often seen taking fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc., from the gardens, lawns, and orchards of the citizens, unrebuked by the owners for fear of exciting the enmity of their parents, or the members of the "Black Hand." Now, it is not difficult to see that such conduct unchecked would soon lead to taking property of greater value, and what was a mere juvenile misde- meanor may, in adult life, become a serious crime. Hence it seems to me that preventive work among this class becomes an imperative duty. It cannot be expected, however, that such preventive work can be carried on successfully by individuals here and there, without any con- certed effort. There must be the support of the PEEVENTIVE SOCIAL EXGINEEEING 203 like-minded and the impersonal element of tlie organization to make such work effective. For instance, it is not possible to stop cruelty to children by depending on the individuals of a neighborhood for convincing evidence, but a society like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children can and does carry on the work of prevention in a very efficient way through the power of organization. Pkeventive Woek fob Defectives Here we have in mind especially the insane, the idiotic, and the blind. Preventive work for all these is largely that of information. When we know that the facts of idiocy, and in many cases insanity, are due to defective parentage, it reduces itself to a question of prevention of the marriage or cohabitation of the unfit. Many of the States have laws which do prohibit such marriages, but there is lacking that public opin- ion in many places that alone can make such legislation effective. In the case of total bluid- ness we know that more than one third are directly caused by a disease contracted in the eye of the infant at birth which could have been cured by a simple known remedy, if the mother or attendant had been acquainted with the fact. Here is a chance to do "greater works" than the healing of blindness by preventing blind- ness. We may not hope even to heal one blind 204 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER Bartimasus by the wayside, but it was within the power of enlightened Christian society to prevent more than one third of the fifty thou- sand cases of total blindness in the institutions for blindness in the State of New York alone, to say nothing of the thousands elsewhere. Our task in such cases is the spread of preventive knowledge that has healing in its appropriate use. If we know that certain lines of conduct or mental strain produce insanity, it is only a small part of our duty to provide for the victims — our chief task should be the prevention of that con- duct and the cessation of that mental strain. Peeventivb "Work Against Paxjpebism It must be understood at the outset that a poor man is not necessarily a pauper, but it is quite an easy thing for a poor man to be made a pauper. The prevention of poverty is an economic question of the greatest social signifi- cance and would require a treatise in itself for an adequate discussion, but the prevention of pauperism is a social question that most indi- viduals can readily help solve. We have to-day established in most of our large cities charity organization societies which are conducted upon scientific and humane principles for dealing with the pauper, and it is only a matter of com- mon sense that we should utilize such institu- PKEVENTIVE SOCIAL ENGINEEEING 205 tions in dealing with any specific case rather than trust to our own inexperience and hap- hazard methods of dealing with them at the door. What possible harm can come to a worthy case if escorted to headquarters ? — ^while at the same time possible evil both to the man and to the community could be perpetuated by giving without due investigation. "When we know by scientific investigation of thousands of cases that ninety-five per cent of all cases of begging at the door are unworthy paupers, is it not time we cease being worried over the feelings of the possible five per cent who could receive even better treatment at the hands of trained work- ers in an organization? Here, it seems to me, i is where the "war on tramps" should be prose- [ cuted with vigor. But we are not unmindful of preventive work to be done by our educational system, and by other forms of constructive so- cial service, in preventing the tramp habit being formed, as it so often is on "Railroad Street," in all the towns along these great thoroughfares. CHAPTEE XVin PREVENTIVE SALVATION We have found in the treatment of specific social problems so far that the modern worker in the fields of charity and philanthropy is turning his attention to the study of prevention rather than that of cure. This has been brought about by the fact of the growing need of an increased budget for dealing with the victims of the social ills of modern civilization. In almost every State where the people are alert to the problem of charity there is at every meeting of the Legislature some meas- ure proposed which involves the increase in the charity budget. Buildings of larger dimensions, grounds more spacious, workers more efficient, and in larger numbers, experts in every field, all are demanded in modern times to meet the situation so well understood. All this has led logically and inevitably to the study of the problem of preventive salvation in the field of philanthropy and charity, the study of prevent- able causes that make all this work necessary. The nation has recently awakened to the idea of conservation of our natural resources by the same process of reasoning and experience. Men 206 PEEVENTIVE SALVATION 207 who have observed the expense involved in dis- astrous floods caused by denuded water-sheds through the destruction of forest, through un- scientific forestry, through preventable forest fires — often due to the careless hunter, or more frequently to locomotives emitting sparks from their unprotected funnels on an up grade — or by reckoning the cost of fuel and building ma- terial by wasteful methods of mining and lum- bering — such men to-day are turning the nation to the study of preventive salvation of our natural resources. Also in the work of the Church men of far- seeing spiritual statesmanship, having dis- covered the enormous costs in energy and re- sources expended in winning men back to the Christian way from which they wandered dur- ing the adolescent period, or from which they have fallen through grosser sin in adult life, are now placing emphasis upon the work of preventive salvation — those activities neces- sary to prevent our young people of the con- gregation and of the Sunday school from going to the bad. Now, it should be understood at the outset that those who insist upon more attention being given to this phase of church work have no in- tention of minimizing the value of rescue in the work of saving the world. It is simply a matter of emphasis. In speaking upon a similar point 208 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER in my inaugural address. at Drew Theological Seminary", I gave this illustration, which I wish to repeat here because it meets the case in point : "Some years ago, in observing the work of life guards at Ocean Grove, the chief of whom was a strong Princeton athlete, I noticed that dur- ing the whole summer only three or four per- sons had to be rescued from the surf, and those had all ventured too far beyond the guard lines against advice. But I learned that the chief business of these strong men was to keep people from going beyond the danger point. In other words, the emphasis of the summer's work was upon preventing people from going into danger rather than in rescue. Now to the popular mind, the spectacular rescue of the three or four persons was of more consequence in esti- mating the worth of the guards than the safety of the thousands of men and women and little children who had been prevented from going out too far." And I added on that occasion the following comment: "Now, I believe that the work of the Christian Church, represented by its ministry and by the splendid young life in our brotherhoods, clubs, leagues, and other so- cieties, is going to be successful in the future by placing emphasis on keeping the young peo- ple from going out beyond the danger points in the social tides all about them. To be sure, we must have men as leaders, men who, like the PKEVENTIVE SALVATION 209 Princeton athlete, could do the work of rescue if needed; but they must place the greatest emphasis in their program upon preventive The Value of Peevention It is not difficult to see the value of preven- tive salvation when applied to the work of the local church or Sunday school. "We sometimes see prizes given to children for bringing in new members to the school. This is good, but do we pay enough attention to child study that would enable us to see when the boy or girl is likely to drop out of school and church service, or our attention to such cases so that they would be prevented from going astray altogether? Al- most any church located in a growing resident conomunity can increase its membership every year by taking care of the boys and girls who are growing up to the period of adolescence when they are most susceptible to Christian appeal. Yet we find many such churches deploring the fact that they cannot have a revival of the old- time sort of rescue of the many from the ways of sin. Now, it ought to be possible to rescue such if they live in a community, but it would be more pleasing to God if the work of rescue were not necessary because the work of pre- vention had been so well carried on. It is diffi- cult for some men who have been in the fervor 210 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER of revival meetings in times past to see the significance and importance of so changing the environment of the newly converted that the habit of backsliding will become a rare phe- nomenon. We hold for a period of years the young life of the community in the Sunday school. We win by revival effort and everyday evangelism many adults who have never been vitally related to the work of the Church, yet we seem not to advance very rapidly in the total increase because of the vast number who drop out of the Sunday schools during the period of adolescence or backslide after the revival effort is over. Plainly, it requires only common sense to see that the emphasis must be placed upon holding what we have. Method in Pbeventive SAiiVATioN Our method in preventive salvation must be directed chiefly toward the environment of our young people, as well as toward the surround- ings of those of older years who have been won from a life of sin by revival effort. When we come to make a thorough study of the causes of lapses, we find in a majority of cases the causes to be social in character, hence the natural conclusion would be that our remedy must also be social. Our remedies must not only include the forms of social organization and activity in which we can engage both, but PKEVENTIVE SALVATION 211 they must also in an increasing way include the ministry of personality — 'the association of presence. We have not utilized this method to its fullest extent in church work. It is being used with marked success by the friendly visitor, the probation officer, in dealing with juvenile delinquents; also in the "Big Brother" movement so recently started in the city of New York, and which has been quite successful. "We must learn to make the ministry of personality so strongly attractive that it will be increasingly difficult for a boy or girl, a man or woman, to break with religious associations. In placing the emphasis upon the regenera- tion of environment we make it increasingly easy for a man to keep saved after he has been reclaimed from a life of sin, or before he has had a chance to know by actual experience what vice and sin really are. If by social control within the power of all good men and women to establish we could make society what it ought to be, very few of the pure boys and girls of our homes would ever know the temptation of the street, the lure of the dance halls, the saloons, the gambling dens, and the brothels, the easy ap- proaches to which we find in the low class of amusements, the vicious literature with the at- tractive binding and illustrated frontispiece, and in the open disregard of the Sabbath by many who are otherwise respectable citizens. 212 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER GUABDING THE SoTJECES OP LiFB In preventive salvation supreme emphasis must be placed upon the guarding of the sources of life. We pointed out in the last chapter how the lack of this guardianship has led to more than one third of all cases of total blindness and almost aU cases of idiocy and feeble-mindedness, and, to a large extent, in- sanity", to say nothing of the many social dis- eases that are due also to this lack. We dis- cover in practical social work to-day that the environmental sources are as important as the hereditary, if not more so. Some social workers with long experience in the field claim that en- vironment is about nine tenths of destiny. We know from the actual facts in the treatment of orphans and neglected children that it is at least eighty-five per cent of the battle for good citi- zenship. The modification of environment is one of the most important methods of social science to-day. A social heredity may be constantly re- newed by the activities of teachers and parents, for, as Professor Patten has well said, ' ' Health, vigor, and good fortune are determined by to- day's environment."^ It is, therefore, of the greatest importance in the work of the Church to-day that we put much emphasis on the trans- » "The New Basis of Civilization." PREVENTIVE SALVATION 213 formation of environment in the process of sav- ing individuals in society, especially when we know that many people lose interest in religious things because of the snares and temptations of a "wide-open" town, a corrupt and grafting administration, and the follies of society that go unchecked because of open license. The old Negro in the South was correct in his social philosophy, as well as up to date in his method of preventive salvation, when in his prayer he said, "O Lord, help us to see sin away off, and shun it when it comes nigh." Peeventtve Salvation Is Not NEGATrvB We must also guard ourselves at this point from the common assumption that preventive salvation is merely negative in method. It is, on the contrary, intensely positive and active. It not only believes in the words of Paul, "Be not overcome of evU," but it also places emphasis on the other half of his splendid advice, "overcome evil with good." We are not only to guard the sources of life for our age, but we are also to guide our young people to the sources of power. We are to give them the dynamic of the spiritual forces that are avail- able to the one who prays in the time of testing, and also show them the strength of good so- ciety, and the power of social organization in the struggle against the forces that make for 214 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER evil in tMs world. We are not always conscious of the extent to wMch our life is socialized to- day, hence we sometimes fail on this account to appreciate the significance of the need for a new social method in dealing in a positive way with the forces of evil about us. Professor Ross well states this modern social situation in his illuminating little book entitled ' ' Sin and Society," in these words: "The sinful heart is ever the same, but sin changes its quality as society develops. Modern sin takes its char- acter from the mutualism of our time. Under our present manner of living how many of my vital interests I must intrust to others ! Nowa- days the water main is my well, the trolley car my carriage, the banker's safe my old stocking, the policeman's billy my fist. My own eyes and nose and judgment defer to the inspector of food, or drugs, or gas, or factories, or tene- ments, or insurance companies. I rely upon others to look after my drain, invest my sav- ings, nurse my sick, and teach my children. I let the meat trust butcher my pig, the oil trust mold my candles, the sugar trust boil my sor- ghum, the coal trust cut my wood, the barbed wire company split my rails. "^ The only possible way for the individual to be saved from the sins of these mighty social forces and powers in modern society is by the ' "Sin and Society." PKEVENTIVE SALVATION 215 utilization of the sources of power through, or- ganization, dominated and controlled by the religious Christian consciousness. The mar- tyrdom of mothers by the liquor power in this country is poor business when we know that by united organized effort we can close the saloon in our town and in our State. Preventive sal- vation does not stop at persuading the man not to drink, but it goes further and removes the saloon from the corner where he must pass. How are we going to save our American cities from the grafting city councilmen, our States from boodling assemblymen and sena- tors? Not by telling these men to be good but, rather, by insisting at the next town and State election that good men be put in their places. In fact, we know the forces of preventive sal- vation for our country are at work in many quarters to-day. It is our business everywhere in all places to stand by these men in this fight until we have won out for clean cities. State and national government in every department, and then it will be easier to bring wrongdoers in business and commercial life to respect the interests of society better than some of them have been doing of late. Peeventive Salvation Edtjcational I believe the solution of the problems of social sinning in our time as illustrated above 216 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER is to come by changing the emphasis in onr educational process. In onr home we have been engaged for seven years with our little daugh- ter and six years with our little son in our part of the educational process ; they both know how to take care of themselves pretty well — ^I should say very well, so far as the educational process has been completed to date. They both have a religious consciousness so far as they are capable of receiving religious teaching, or I should say in so far as they have been given religious instruction, so that they know how and when to pray, to ^ve thanks at table, go to church and Sunday school, and appreciate the reading of God's Word. Now, I cannot con- ceive of these two children growing up and going to the bad, if we continue properly the educational process, and our work is not neu- tralized or destroyed by the work, example, and teaching of others. Preventive salvation and normal development have been the two chief God-given factors in this process. So it seems to me that it lies within the power of the Chris- tian Church, represented by the various factors in the educational process of our civilization, so to direct the lives of the young within her grasp (and there is no good reason why she should not , get them all in some communities) that ulti- mately it would be almost impossible for men and women to become guilty of such conduct PEEVENTIVE SALVATION 217 as is being revealed every day in every part of our country, especially if they have been or are now members of Christian homes, Sunday schools, and churches. This cannot become the case if we in our entire educational process — ^in home, in school, in church and college, in the public meeting and in the public press — ^put su- preme emphasis (not to the neglect of the re- demptive factors) upon the preventive factors of social salvation. CHAPTER XIX SOCIAL SINNING AND SOCIAL SALVATION In the last chapter we considered the sub- ject of preventive salvation, and we said that "those who insist upon more attention being given to this phase of church work have no in- tention of minimizing the value of rescue in the work of saving the world." We simply showed the value of prevention and pointed out the method to be pursued, especially that of "guarding the sources of life," and the educa- tional factor in preventive salvation. We come now to the discussion of a subject that has vital interest for the church worker of to-day, as well as for the public-spirited citizens of every com- munity, namely, social sinning and social sal- vation. Definition By the term "social sinning" we mean not only the conduct of the individual that does harm to society but also the conduct of the com- munity that may harm the individual, or do in- justice to another community, and thus the idea may be extended indefinitely to all responsible social groups. By the term "social salvation" we mean not only the conduct of the individual 218 SOCIAL SINNING 219 consciously or unconsciously directed toward the saving of society, but also the conduct of the group consciously directed toward the saving of the individuals or the individual groups from any form of peril in which it may find them. In other words, it is that intelligent process that takes into account all the causes of human ills and wrongs and seeks in an organized way to control them, that salvation both to the indi- vidual and to the community at large may be made possible. The character of social sinning is not so easily understood because of the fact that we are accustomed to localize consciousness in the individual, and likewise the question of guilt is referred to the individual, though the group or society at large may be equally involved. The difficulty in understanding social salvation is due to the fact that we are accustomed to place emphasis upon the saved rather than upon the process of salvation. For example, salva- tion with reference to a man drowning in the surf may be expressed by the condition of tlie man after he has reached the shore, but the fact of salvation may be equally well expressed in the life-saving crew, its equipment and con- stant drill. So with our definitions of sin and salvation in church work, we are so apt to fix our whole attention upon the act or conduct of the individual without reference to the factors 220 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK that are causal to his condition and are equally important in fixing matters of merit and de- merit, responsibility and guilt. We, somehow, get the notion that fishing a man out of the canal is salvation, while lighting up the towpath is something else ; that falling in the canal is sin, while failing to light up the towpath is some- thing else. We can more easily condemn the man in the gutter than ourselves for allowing the saloon to exist on the corner. It is easier for us to establish a rescue mis- sion than it is to change the social and indus- trial conditions that produce the "submerged tenth." In some way we are accustomed to emphasize sin and salvation more upon the re- vival efforts that win men and women for the Church than we do upon condemning the neglect of the nurture and education that allowed so many to drift away from the Church, or upon the graded system of Sunday school instruction and the social character of enlightened church activity that may keep the young people in the kingdom. Now, it is just this phase of sin and this phase in the process of salvation that I wish to emphasize in this chapter. The divine factor in salvation is just the same, and the in- dividual element is just as important, but the social factors both in the results of sin and in the process of salvation are of tremendous significance and need to be considered. SOCIAL SINNING 221 The Social Pekspbctivb of Sin At the outset it is necessary for us to get a social perspective of sin before we can become very efficient in our metbods of social salvation. For example, when I was a student in college I remember one day when a workman was killed in repairing a house on the main street of the city by a falling fragment of rock because there was no protection overhead for pedestrians on the sidewalk below. In that same town a man was hanged in short order, after a brief trial, for killing a policeman in cold blood as he walked his beat at midnight. Now, in the latter case there was no need for a social perspective to recognize the quality of the crime committed, but in the former case it took ten years or more to get a law enforced to compel contractors to safeguard their employees while at work on a building. If the contractor had deliberately felled this man with a rock he would have been dealt with as summarily by the law through the force of public opinion as was the cold-blooded murderer, but the result to the man and to so- ciety through neglect to protect the workman was from the social viewpoint equally bad, and the conduct that was causal to it equally sinful. In speaking of the "New Varieties of Sin" and the slowness of the public to recognize them, Professor Ross says: "People are senti- 222 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER mental, and bastinado wrongdoing not accord- ing to its harmfulness but according to the in- famy that has come to attach to it. Undis- cerning, they chastise with scorpions the old authentic sins but spare the new. They do not see that boodling is treason, that blackmail is piracy, that embezzlement is theft, that specula- tion is gambling, that tax-dodging is larceny, that railroad discrimination is treachery, that the factory labor of children is slavery, that deleterious adulteration is murder."^ And, further, in showing the need for a new "grad- ing of sinners, ' ' he states in his inimitable way : "To-day the villain most in need of curbing is the respectable, exemplary, trusted personage, who, strategically placed at the focus of a spiderweb of fiduciary relations, is able from his office chair to pick a thousand pockets, poison a thousand sick, pollute a thousand minds, or imperil a thousand lives. It is the great-scale, high-voltage sinner that needs the shackle. To strike harder at the petty pick- pocket than at the prominent and unabashed person who in a large impressive way sells out his constituents, his followers, his depositors, his stockholders, his policy holders, his sub- scribers, or his customers, is to 'strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.' "^ The value of the diffusion of this social per- 1 "Sin and Society," pp. 14, 15. 2 Ibid., pp. 29, 30. SOCIAL SINNING 223 spective with regard to wrongdoing to society may be measured by tbe many crimes that have been recently unearthed in our American cities and in some of the State Legislatures. And so long as we are capable of keeping public opinion focused upon these opportunities for social sin- ning we may hope to keep dishonest men out of city government and State Legislatures, and so long may we hope to find men of conscience in every fiduciary relation in which the public is concerned. We must not indorse vice of any sort, nor slacken in the least our condemnation of wrongdoing in the individual, but we must place more emphasis upon the necessity for a social perspective that will extend our vision to the remotest recesses of society where the social causes of evil have their real source. Let us take a concrete example of social sin- ning where the social perspective was lacking, and no one was willfully guilty of wrongdoing, though the results were disastrous. In one of our large cities in the State of New York there were discovered sixteen cases of diphtheria along the route of one milkman who lived in the country. An investigation by the Board of Health revealed the fact that the man had diph- theria of the nose. Now, he claimed that a physician had examined him and found the test for the disease negative, so he went on peddling milk while he had the contagion. A proper so- 224 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER cial perspective would have made him as cau- tious as though he had known he was affected, and the same would have made the examining physician more cautious in his diagnosis. The lack of it made these sixteen innocent victims possible, to say nothing of the expense and care and anxiety inflicted upon the whole city. I think it possible in all our educational in- stitutions, both in the cities and in the country, so to educate the masses of the people that they may be able to discern the facts of social sin and be cautious to avoid it themselves, and keen to detect it in others, and bold to prosecute evil-doers wherever discovered. This does not mean that society is to be constantly disturbed by a system of amateur espionage, but it means, rather, the development of a wholesome public opinion that will insist upon social morality. In matters of individual wrongdoing there is seldom any occasion for the ordinary citizen volunteering information, because public opin- ion is organized into regular processes of law, so that the wrongdoer is apprehended in the or- dinary way, and much of wrongdoing is pre- vented because public opinion acts as a deter- rent. Likewise, when we have developed the social consciousness and imagination so that people generally will be able to discern the char- acter of social sinning, we shall have fewer oc- casions for the disturbed conditions of society SOCIAL SINNING 225 because of the punishment of boodlers and grafters, rebaters and embezzlers, lobbyists and promoters, for business then will be conducted on an honest basis, government will be held as a sacred trust, and all these forms of evil will vanish from decent society because the light of public opinion will leave no dark comers for such connivers to scheme in. To quote again from Professor Ross: "Upon the practicers of new sins there is no longer a curb unless it be public censure. So the question of the hour is, can there be fashioned out of popular sentiment some sort of buckler for society? Can our loathing of rascals be wrought up into a kind of unembodied government, able to restrain the men that derisively snap their fingers at the agents of the law? That the public scorn really bites into wrongdoers of the modem type may be read in the fate of the insurance gang. . . . If only we can bring it to bear, the respect or scorn of the many is still an immense asset of society in its struggle with sinners."^ SocrErs" May Sik Against the iNorvmuAL Another illustration of social sinning may be given where the society itself sins against the individual, whether consciously or uncon- sciously. Take, for example, the permission of child labor in factories, when we know its evil • "Sin and Society," pp. 75-77. 226 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER effects upon the vitality of the workers through the statistics of death and sickness in such com- munities; or, again, the licensing of the liquor traffic, when we know the evil results to homes and individuals; or the opium trade in China, which has now to be abolished, thanks to public opinion, world-wide. Other examples are the public lottery in many of the European coun- tries, unjust forms of taxation and tariffs, all of which have a direct demoralizing effect upon the individuals of the community, and yet they are permitted to exist in spite of their evil effects. One of the most strildng evils of modern times is the permission of great concerns to persist in employing men and women and chil- dren without being compelled to provide safety devices against accidents, and improved sani- tary conditions against disease. Take, for ex- ample, the mine disasters due to incompetent inspection, or disregard for the law after in- spection has pointed out the dangers and pre- scribed the remedies; railroad accidents at grade crossings, or accidents due to overworked engineers, or tower men, or to worn-out rolling stock and inadequate roadbed inspection. In many such cases in the past society has passed over the shock by referring them to "inscru- table acts of Providence," when the public knows that many of them could have been SOCIAL SINNING 227 avoided by its obedience-compelling power if put in operation at tbe right time. Again, social sin may be committed hy one group against another group, one community against another. If one man takes away by force another man's property, we brand him as a robber or a thief ; and yet it is possible, by un- fair destructive competition, for a whole com- munity living in peace and plenty to be entirely deprived of its economic opportunity, and its whole population be left to drift for itself in the struggle for existence. But under modern con- ditions of social psychology we are apt to con- done such social conduct under the terms of the law of "the survival of the fittest." Organized groups in industry inaugurate warfare and call to their aid their allies through the plea of sympathetic interest, and the community at large must bear the brunt of the expense in loss of trade, and the recouping of the losses of the competing groups through the increased cost of their products, be it in labor or goods. These are some of the phases of social sin- ning that need the application of new methods in applying the principles of the social gospel. We need a more adequate social psychology in order to understand the personality of the social group and in organizing and making effective the social consciousness in definite forms of social control. 228 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER SociAii Salvation As I stated above, one of the chief reasons why many people cannot see the importance of social salvation is because they have been accustomed to look upon salvation as a finished product or as a specific act rather than as a process in which many factors are involved, none of more importance than the social. The Social Factoes in Salvation It is well for us to understand the importance of the social factors in the process of salvation if we are going to get men and women to put forth their best efforts in church and Sunday school work, and maintain the efficiency of re- ligious education in the family as well as in the Church, Take, for example, the salvation of a large family of nine children during the active life of a noble woman whose husband died when the youngest was but an infant in arms. Now, if you ask each of these nine children, now grown up and actively engaged in the ordinary tasks of life, what were the chief factors in their salvation, they would each have a somewhat dif- ferent answer to give. Among those named would be, "Mother's prayers," "The ties of home life," "Family worship," "Early train- ing in Sunday school," "The influence of my teacher," "The sympathy of my pastor at the SOCIAL SALVATION 229 time of my conviction," "The standards of morals in the community where I was brought up," "The work of the Holy Spirit in my heart as I read God's Word and meditated upon the realities of life and death." These and many others would likely be named, and yet no one would say that these were all the factors in the process. But I think we will all conclude, after a little thought, that the important thing for our day is to keep each worker or group of workers keyed up to the importance of carrying on well his part of the process. That mother's simple life of prayer and work for her children, with little talk and much deed, may seem of little consequence to him who lacks imagination and the social consciousness in the construction of his religious program. The loyalty and devo- tion of a Sunday school teacher through the most critical period of adolescence may mean but little to the man whom God has used suc- cessfully in revival efforts with the crowds of adults gathered from the byways of sin, but every intelligent religious worker knows full well that, could we meet every known social need of the adolescent youth in society to-day by a graded system of social organization, the work of the evangelist with the crowd would be as impossible as it would be unnecessary; and yet as society is now constructed, and because of the social sins now permitted that make it 230 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER necessary for the "way to destruction" to be "broad" in order to accommodate tbe crowd, the work of the evangelist is a very important factor in the process of salvation for the many. The first important factor in the process that I would emphasize is that of the sense of social need in consciousness, or, in other words, there must be in the mind of the individual and of the group a motive for the organization of the social factors in salvation. Let me illustrate: in this country there has been the ever-widening influence of the idea that there is no sense or reason or justice in permitting the exploitation of the labor and life of children, and as a result of this consciousness in the minds of the many we have begun to marshal certain social forces in what may be termed child-saving institu- tions, and the conservation of human resources in child life. This motive for social organiza- tion is becoming so strong in the nation that we may hope soon to see it result in a National Bureau for the Conservation of Child Life. In other words, whenever the public discovers a new form of social sinning against the child life of our age, at that point it develops a new form of social organization to save the child. An- other illustration is to be found in the temper- ance movement. So long as people believed that intemperance was only a personal vice the methods of temperance were that of signing the SOCIAL SALVATION 231 pledge or the promising of tlie individual to give up his cups ; but when people began to see the organized character of the liquor traffic, they began to see the necessity for the organiza- tion of temperance societies, Prohibition par- ties, Anti-Saloon Leagues, and State-wide move- ments to control the evil of the saloon. And wherever the evil takes on a new form of attack there the temperance movement must make a counter organized attack on the traffic. Gambling furnishes another illustration of this factor of the need being felt in the con- sciousness of the group. When it became known to the different States and to the nation at large that gambling was an evil to society as a whole, and not merely an individual vice, the different State Legislatures proceeded to legislate against the evil, and ultimately the na- tion acted as a whole, as m the matter of lottery. So for slavery, and the emancipation move- ment that followed; so with the current move- ment in the State and national legislative bodies against the so-called ' ' white-slave traffic. ' ' The consciousness of insurance frauds led to State control of all insurance companies. The knowl- edge of the evils of rebating and other evils, such as stock-watering, accidents, etc., in public service corporations and other public utilities, led to the bringing of them under the authority 232 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER of an obedience-compelling power, so that these evils might, so far as possible, be eliminated. As in the case of individual salvation, in the popular sense, a sense of need precedes an ef- fective salvation, so for society the fundamen- tal need in social salvation is the development of the social consciousness and imagination to see the need for organized movements for the salvation of the community, the State, the na- tion, and humanity as a whole. Professor Eoss has well pointed out the need for an awakened consciousness of new forms of sin in the progress of human society when he makes a distinction between vice and sin, and shows how the one tends to destroy the person indulging, a-nd the other to make fat the sinner while others are destroyed as the victims. Our task is to distinguish in consciousness the new forms of sin and direct our forces against them as well as against the vices of men. To quote : "By vice we mean practices that harm oneself; by sin we mean conduct that harms another. They spring from different roots and call for different treatment. Sin grows largely out of the relations into which men enter, and hence social development, by constantly opening new doors to wrongdoing, calls into being new species of sin. Crude law recognizes three kinds of stealing, developed law ten kinds, the law of to-day seventeen kinds. By the time it SOCIAL SALVATION 233 is abreast of our present needs it will discrimi- nate, perhaps, thirty kinds. The same is true of other types of wrongdoing."^ If it be true that sin changes its form as society develops and men are thrown into new relation to each other, then our first task in social salvation is to keep the social consciousness of men awake to the changing social needs. This should cer- tainly be a part of the educational program of the Church. A second factor in social salvation is social movement or organized effort in order to save the sinned against, as well as the sinner. It is a fact worthy of note that most of the organized movements in modem times in the interests of society have been directed toward the victims rather than toward the sinner himself in high places. Take, for example, the movement for pure-food inspection and labeling. It has been in the interests of the potential victims of "embalmed" beef and poisonous drugs in adul- terations rather than for the reform of the dealers that the pure-food legislation has been brought about ; so for all the organized efforts for public welfare, the note of emphasis has been toward the saving of society, and not merely the reform of the sinner against society. "For the man who is the prey of the evil in- clinations of others surely has a better claim >See "Sin and Society," pp. 90, 91. 234 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER oa us than the man who is the prey of his own evil inclinations."^ But it must be conceded here that the evils that result to others from the conduct of certain forms of business enter- prise are not always the result of evil intent; they are in most cases the by-products of activi- ties that are otherwise willed. For example, accidents in industry, and especially in those forms where there is always a large margin of danger. Now, the public interest is usually directed toward the safety of the potential victims, and it must not be said that all men engaged in industries where accidents occur are sinners against society. But it must be recognized as true in many cases that, for the sake of paying dividends, or to avoid in- creased financial obligations, conditions are al- lowed to go beyond the danger point, and acci- dents result that might have been avoided. It is just here that social movement in modern times involves the cooperation of the many, in an indirect way, to the increased cost to the public of having things done in the right way, for the safety and welfare of the people in gen- eral. So in our religious activity for the salva- tion of the community; we are beginning in modern times to put more emphasis upon social movements for the saving of those who are sinned against than in former times. We are > Professor Ross, Ibid., p. 94. SOCIAL SALVATION 235 organizing activities counter to those that are causal to the lapses of many from the Church. This brings us to a third factor in social sal- vation, namely, preventive measures in the con- servation of results. Men in public life have discovered in recent years that it does not avail merely to pass reform legislation, but that there must be adequate means provided to carry out reform measures by preventing a recurrence of the old conditions that caused the evils in the first place. So in our religious work of to-day, we are coming to see more and more the im- portance of conserving the resources we already have, and in preventing the people from being enticed into a life of sin after the Church has put its stamp upon them. What Can the Chxjech Do? What active measures can the Church under- take to promote social salvation? In the case of our city governments, it seems a pity and a shame to our democracy that cases of boodling, such as have been brought to light iu recent years, should ever have been possible; that graft in our legislative halls of some of the great States in the Union should have become so flagrant seems inconceivable when we con- sider the activity of the Christian denomina- tions in these centers of population. Is it not quite true that we should undertake a more 236 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER aggressive policy of moral education in our homes, local church communities, and in the re- ligious press that will bring the light to bear upon these secret places of wrongdoing, and see to it that men who are unimpeachable be sent to our legislative halls and into the board rooms of our city governments? Can we not also create a stronger sentiment in favor of a more aggressive policy of moral education in our public schools, not only in the content of the curricula of the schools, but also in the conduct of the boards of education in many places in the choosing of teachers who take their profession seriously, and see to it that they are paid sufiB- cient salary to make teaching a serious lifework instead of a makeshift until they can get some- thing better? Again, the Church can do much toward the saving of society by encouraging men to under- take civic tasks from the viewpoint of express- ing true Christian motive. Shall we not insist on these various forms of Christian activity rather than try to fashion all men into a few molds of Christian experience and work within the narrower limits of the church services, con- ducted largely within the building? Within recent years wealthy philanthropists have proposed to establish foundations with the endowment of millions, for the carrying on of various forms of enterprise for the betterment SOCIAL SALVATION 237 of human society. Wlio are to be tlie men and women, apart from the men and women of high character already named as the trustees, to carry on the practical work that these great foundations represent? I feel quite sure that they will be men and women of high ideals and pure motives for the welfare of society, and it would be quite a cause for regret if our churches should not be largely represented, not by rea- son of the denominational name they bear, but, rather, by virtue of the character they have won through that intellectual and heart grasp they have made of the ideals and lifework of Him, who, "though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich," and who had such a high con- ception of what his disciples should contribute to the salvation of human society that he said to them and of them, "Ye are the light of the world," "Ye are the salt of the earth." Let us see to it that we send out men and women into every legitimate activity of society who shall bear the light of truth, and contain within them- selves that preservative quality that shall make and keep society pure. CHAPTER XX THE CHURCH AND THE WORKINGMANi In discussing a subject like this upon which so much has been said and written, it is well for us not to enter into a dissertation concern- ing the differences of viewpoint of the Church and labor, but rather to proceed to find out in how many points the two are in practical agree- ment, and where they do not agree, to earnestly search for the reasons for disagreement and frankly state these for the benefit of society, rather than keep silent for the sake of some- body's feelings; for my experience with work- ingmen has shown me that, as a class, they are fair-minded in discussion and welcome nothing so eagerly as they do frankness in stating the facts one has to present. The Church should be as eager to hear the laboring man's state- ment of his case. The subject implies two socially organized groups of men, not necessarily exclusive of each other, each having a different class con- sciousness and a separate organized existence ' For a fuller discussion of the subject, "The Church and Labor," I refer the reader to my article published in Chapter IV of "The Socialized Church," by Tippy. 238 CHUECH AND WOEKINGMAN 239 in society. The subject implies also that there is being developed as never before an under- standing between the Church and workingmen of mutual interests which is ushering in a better social order in which there are to be estab- lished righteousness, peace, and pleasurable association among all the legitimate groupings of human population. In fact, when we come to study the two great movements represented by the Church and by labor, they have many aspects in common. Though the Church is made up of many denominations, some highly and others loosely organized, some peacefully disposed toward others, while some are selfish and opposed to all others, yet we think of the Church as one great movement founded by Christ Jesus, and we look for the consummation of the ultimate union of all true believers in true fellowship represented by the conception of the kingdom of God on earth. Likewise the labor movement is represented by many class-conscious groups and organized sections, some with a strong central union control, others without any visible union con- trol, others without any visible form of union save the union of a common struggle for, and interest in, life. Yet we can and do speak of all these groups as representing one great movement of the workers of the world based upon the struggle against poverty, and the 240 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER passion for social justice, and having for its ultimate goal a social state where every man shall have a chance to work, and every man shall receive his just share of the profits of productive toil as he has need. In our definition of the Church I am sure all have a Weltanschauung that is broader than the bounds of our own denomination, world- wide as it may be, but our definition includes all the organized forces of the Christian Name that are engaged in the serious task of extending on earth that noblest expression of organized so- ciety we call the kingdom of God. So in our definition of the labor movement, I am sure we should have a Weltanschauung that is broader than the stretches of any one federative move- ment of organized labor, or any socialist-po- litical propaganda, and includes all who are engaged in the serious struggles against the wrongs of greed, and graft, and political cor- ruption, centered in the exploitation of human labor for personal and selfish gain, and in the endeavor to establish that kind of a democracy through social control that shall make the Golden Eule the basis of social justice. Now, we must admit that there are many facts to be observed in the present as well as in the history of the Church to mar our definition and even to lead us to question its validity. Likewise there are many manifestations in the CHTJECH AND WOEKINGMAN 241 industrial order that would lead us to question the truthfulness of our definition of the labor movement. Notwithstanding the facts of re- ligious wars, factional strife, religious bigotry, and intolerance, and notwithstanding strikes, boycotts, lockouts, struggles between organized and unorganized labor, the "open" and the "closed" shop, Socialist party and Labor party, yet we are using a new vocabulary with respect to both of these organized bodies. "The Fed- eration of the Churches," "The Federation of Labor," "Church Unity," "The Brotherhood of Man," "The Socialized' Church," "The Temple of Labor," etc. — all these indicate the trend of modem, life toward the realization of the facts contained in the definition both for the Church and the labor movement. The Church's Present Attitttde toward the Labor Movement While the Church has always been interested in the laboring man, it has not until recent years given serious study to the subject of the work- ingman as a movement. It can be said now, however, that the Church's serious study of the labor movement has led the leading denomina- tions in this country to take some definite action toward the solution of the labor problem. For illustration: the Protestant Episcopal Church has for many years maintained an organization 242 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER known as the Church Association for Improv- ing the Condition of Labor, and at its national Conference some years ago said, among other things: "We are convinced that the organiza- tion of labor is essential to the well-being of the working people. Its purpose is to maintain such a standard of wages, hours, and conditions as shall afford every man an opportunity to gain in mind and heart. Without organiza- tion this standard cannot be maintained in the midst of our present commercial con- ditions."^ The Presbyterian Church has established a Department of Church and Labor in its Home Mission Board, and under the efficient leader- ship of Mr. Charles Stelzle has recently estab- lished in New York a "Temple of Labor,'' which shall be devoted to the ministry of the gospel of Christ to the working men of New York. The Congregational Church has placed itself on record thus: "We urge our Church to take a deeper interest in the labor question, and to get a more intelligent understanding of the aims of organized labor. "* The Methodist Episcopal Church, while known from the beginning as "The Poor Man's Church," interested in the workers of • See Charles Stelzle, in "Encyclopsedia of Social Reform," by Bliss, p. 222. 2 See Ibid., p. 223. CHURCH AND WORKINGMAN 243 the world, yet at tlie last General Conference (1908) placed upon record in the Episcopal Ad- dress its interest in the just aspirations of the labor movement in terms like these : ' ' We recog- nize that the fundamental purposes of the labor movement are essentially ethical, and there- fore should command the support of Christian men. We recognize, further, that the organiza- tion of labor is not only the right of the laborers, and conducive to their welfare, but is inciden- tally of great benefit to society at large in the securrag of better conditions of work and life, in its educational influence upon the great multitudes concerned, and particularly in the Americanization of our immigrant popu- lation." The Young Men's Christian Association has for many years given special attention to labor- ing men in railroad and shop work, conducting meetings and classes for the betterment of the physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual life of the men. Some of the denominations have inaugurated a custom of appointing fraternal delegates to the Central Labor Union of each district to con- fer with laboring men upon subjects of vital interest to the community, such as the saloon, gambling, the social evil, Sunday work, child labor, sanitary conditions in tenements and fac- tories, and everything else that influences the 244 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK moral life of tlie community.^ Another expres- sion of the Church's attitude toward the labor movement is to be found in the statement pre- sented to the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America by the Committee on the Church and Modem Industry, of which Eev. Frank Mason North, D.D., was chairman and wrote the report." Notwithstanding all this splendid record of the expression of the Church's attitude toward the labor movement, we are all conscious of a widespread opinion that the Church as a whole is not doing what it might reasonably be ex- pected to do for the betterment of the conditions of living among the workingmen of the world. We should not fear or decry the power of organization and of the social consciousness among workingmen, but we should, rather, make it our business to give direction to the labor movement by the principles of the gospel in channels of usefulness to society, and not allow it to go unrestrained in any quarter until it becomes destructive of moral order. How Can the Church Help the Labor Movement? Believing that the labor movement is at heart a righteous movement for the ultimate better- • See Charles Stelzle, in "Encyclopaedia of Social Reform.'' by BlisB, p. 223. > J ^ , J ' See the "Christian City/' for December, 1908. CHUECH AND WOKKINGMAN 245 ment of society at large, the Cliurcli can aid in this movement as a whole and diffuse its knowl- edge throughout the masses of the people touched by its leaders through the Sunday school, the public services, the pulpit, schools, and religious press. If we expect the sympathy of the labor movement, we owe it to the working- men to treat their cause ia an intelligent way; and if we expect to help them, we must diagnose their case before prescribing for their needs. This will enable the Church to be impartial in its judgments of the contentions between or- ganized employers and their employees. The Church can also give to the labor movement active cooperation in the endeavor to correct abuses and social wrongs, such as child labor, unfair competition with woman labor, Sunday work that is unnecessary, unsanitary conditions of places of work, and residence in tenements, unfair distribution of profits in industry, the evils of gambling and graft. The Church should greatly assist the labor movement also by promoting the moralization of the employers. While it is true that many of the captains of industry are noble Christian men, and have a brotherly sympathy for their employees, yet it is true that some of them have been shown up in recent investigations by va- rious commissions and legislative committees to be men of barbaric notions of ethics, and 246 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER many of them have been found guilty of con- duct contrary to the laws of the State as well as the Decalogue and the Golden Rule. We can never hope to see the labor unions working overtime on the Golden Rule until we get em- ployers converted to the principles of industrial altruism. The Church can also assist the labor move- ment in the socialization of workingmen. In the study of industrial psychology we find that the workingmen while at their toil in many lines of industry have less chance to-day than for- merly under machine labor to develop person- ality and to broaden their social horizon. The Church has the socializing agencies to do this for them better even than the labor unions, for they (the unions) are class-conscious and in most cases, so far as their class is concerned, selfish, while the Church, on the other hand, is conscious of a world-kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy, and, in most cases at least, is hopefully altruistic. There will be no return to the former meth- ods of industry, where employer and worker will be on a common plane and in social inter- course. The machine, the corporations, and the trust are here, and even larger combina- tions of capital and more extensive divisions of labor are to be inaugurated. "ViHiat we need to do as a Church is to socialize the consciousness CHURCH AND WORKENGMAN 247 of both groups into a synthesis of the universal social order. The Church can do this if it will, because every Christian member of a labor union is a point of contact between the Church and the changing social order, and forms a re- ligious imitation center for the spread of the Christian social ideal until a Christian democ- racy is established. The Church can help the labor movement by revising its own notions of sin and salvation. We have, somehow, given the impression that we are more interested in the workingman's personal vices — sins which harm himself — than we are in the sins of those that harm the work- ingman. Conduct that harms others should be looked upon with greater hatred than conduct that harms oneself. The man who peddles diseased milk that destroys the workingman's babies is about as big a sinner as the man who has the cigarette habit, or indulges in social vice, or bets at the races ; both forms of conduct should be equally denounced by the Church. We must get it clear in our Christian conscious- ness that it is as pleasing to God to help a group of men by regenerating their environ- ment as it is to redeem them from the slums of vice and crime. Unless the Church makes as strong an effort to better the conditions of the workingmen as it does to get them into the Church, she must not blame the workingman 248 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER for having some suspicions as to the motives which, prompt her activities. The Church can help the labor movement by- furnishing and equipping intelligent leadership in social reform — ^men who are strong enough and bold enough to take sides in an industrial disjiute when the cause is just. This idea of leadership may be illustrated by the life of Pastor Stoker, of Berlin, who, in a speech in the German Eeichstag on child and female labor, said: "We have stated the question the wrong way. We have asked, 'How much child and female labor does industry need in order to flourish, to pay dividends, and to sell goods abroad?' whereas we ought to have asked, 'How ought industry to be organized in order to pro- tect and foster the family, the human indi- vidual, and the Christian life?' "^ Finally, the Church can help the labor move- ment by showing the spirit of brotherly sym- pathy, and a heart interest in the workingman, like that of the Carpenter of GalUee, who said : ' ' Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls." The Church must teach men, as he did, how to find rest in labor and not rest from labor. > Quoted by Rauschenbusch, in "Christianity and the Social Crisis." CHURCH AND WOEIQNGMAN 249 What Can the Laboe Movement Do to Help THE Chuech? The time will come when by mutual under- standing of their beneficent aims for society the splendid organized energies of the labor movement will be coupled with the organized energies of the Church, in its fight against all the sins and vices of society that are the com- mon enemies of both in their struggle for social justice, righteousness, and permanent indus- trial peace. I expect to see the day when the labor movement will employ the successful methods used against organized greed (the strike, the boycott, and picketing), against or- ganized vice, the "white-slave traffic," the sa- loon, gambling, degrading amusements, and debasing literature; against the tramp habit, pauperism, unsanitary tenements, impure food", tuberculosis, and other social diseases. Also I hope soon to see the time when the Church and labor shall stand together in a statesmanlike way until the appalling budget of accidents in industry in this country shall be materially re- duced, and those still remaining, adequately compensated for by all the responsible indus- trial factors causal thereto. Space will not permit of the statement of other lines of social activity in which the labor movement can aid the Church, nor to give a 250 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER resume of the splendid work already achieved for social uplift of the masses by the organiza- tions of labor. Let us hope that all organiza- tions for the uplift of men may so work together that the social regime to be reached may not injure or destroy those other essential factors of social organization that in largest measure make work for most of us possible. CHAPTEE XXI THE SOCIAL. SETTLEMENT It is fitting that we follow up our discussions of "Preventive Salvation" and "Social Salva- tion" by a chapter on the social settlement, which embodies in its methods of work so much that is preventive of evil to the community, and endeavors through social direction to lift the entire community to a better social status. It will not be necessary for me to give a his- tory of the social settlement movement from the days of Arnold Toynbee (1875-1883) to the present, when the number of settlements has reached about three hundred in the world, more than two hundred of which are located within the United States of America; for a reference to "Bliss's Encyclopedia of Social Eeform," or to Miss MacDowell's interesting article on "The Value of the Social Settlement," in "The Socialized Church" (Tippy), will give the reader an excellent account of the history of this great movement.^ We wish simply to con- sider the essential features embodied in the social-settlement idea which may be of value in the work of educating and saving the people of ' See also Jane Addams, "Twenty Years at Hull House." 251 252 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER any conununity that require such methods of social engineering. Caeeting the Chuech to the People In the first place, so far as the Church is con- cerned, it represents not the idea so often em- phasized in Christian activity, the bringing of the people to the Church, but rather the idea that needs to be emphasized more and more these days — the taking of the Church to the people. Where this is done in the spirit of true discipleship, the churching of the people follows as a natural result. The social settlement is de- fined by Miss Woolfolk as "homes in the poorer quarters of the city where educated men and women may live in personal contact with the worldng people. ' '^ In other words, we may de- fine a social settlement as the institutionalising of good neighborship. It involves a definite, purposive living in a neighborhood to lead and guide in all matters of good citizenship not by a direct appeal to individuals to lead a better life, but by championing the rights of men through the lawful agencies already existing for the building up of a decent conamunity environment where it will be possible for a godly disposed folk to keep saved after they have been con- verted to the higher life. But it is not always necessary for the ' See Blias's "Encyclopedia of Social Reform," p. 110. THE SOCIAL SETTLEMENT 253 church in a given locality to institutionalize its method. It is possible for many families to em- body in their life program the social-settlement idea by living among the people in a normal way. This was the fundamental idea in the program of John Wesley, and accounts for the phenomenal growth of Methodism in the com- munities of laboring people in Great Britain and in the pioneer communities of our own country. It is urgently necessary, however, for many of our local churches to socialise their methods of work so as to utilize a larger num- ber of the total membership of these great in- stitutions in other saving activities than those that are carried on by the regular services within the church edifice, those activities that have for their purpose the regenerating of the environment of the people through interest in their behalf at the city hall, or in the directors' meeting of the corporation that holds their hu- man welfare in its grasp, or at the juvenile court, or before the truant officer, where it is possible for social justice to fail through the lack of an intelligent advocate who has a sympathy bom of contact with the facts as they are. In speaking of the value of the social-settle- ment idea in church work before the First National Conference of Social Workers of Methodism, held in Saint Louis in November, 1908, Miss Isabelle Horton, of Chicago, stated 264 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER the following as one phase of the Church's re- lation to this movement: "Considered in its relation to the Church, the work of the social settlement must be largely preparatory. It is hard for one brought up under the droppings of the sanctuary, drawing in with every breath the influences of early religious traiuing, to understand how far away from this world in which he lives are the multitudes that we speak of as the 'unchurched masses' — ^how life be- comes narrowed by long hours of heavy toil, how embittered by pinching want, how bnital- ized by iatemperance, how chained by Old World superstitions and habits. The Christian worker who goes among them must have faith to do pioneer work and trust God for results that may be most apparent in the next genera- tion. She (speaking of the deaconess) must root up weeds of false teaching, dig out rocks of ignorance and prejudice, break up the fallow ground, and be glad if it is given to her to drop a seed of divine truth here and there, never look- ing for the harvest which may be gathered in times which she will not live to see, and by in- stitutions of which she has never heard. ' '^ This form of church activity involves the idea that the saving of a human soul includes not only the decision of a moment at the church altar, or in the home, but also the creation of a new en- 1 "The Socialized Churqh," pp. 168, 169. THE SOCIAL SETTLEMENT 255 vironment for the individual, that his soul may; be kept as well as saved.^ The Integrity op Htjman Nature In the second place, the social settlement represents the idea that there is fundamentally an integrity about human nature which makes it possible for people in whatever social state they may be found to respond to the appeal for the better life. If this were not the case, we could not conceive of how the Master could have intrusted the redeeming of the world to a few humble fishermen and tentmakers, who them- selves had responded to his call to discipleship. In settlement work it is often discovered that the reason people have not responded to this in- ward desire for better things is not that such desire is always lacking, but, rather, that the environing conditions were such that they couM not translate such desires into actual conduct. It is for this very purpose that the religious social settlement was established, to make it possible for men and women to live a normal life for which they in most cases have an earnest longing. The Ministry of Personality In the third place, the social settlement rep- resents the ministry of personality. This great 1 "The Socialized Church," compare Miss Horton's statement, p. 158. 256 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE principle of human betterment is worked out in practical life in the settlement through the laws of imitation, cooperation, and good neigh- borship. There is nothing in this world so com- pelling as the power of benevolent personality. The officer of the law is sometimes mobbed in trying to carry out some ordinance of the Board of Health, where the social-settlement worker gets a willing response through the power of personality. The principle that influences your neighbor to rake the leaves off his lot, and mow his lawn, and plant shrubbery when he sees you doing these things is the same principle which makes the tenement dweller remove the tin cans from the vacant lot, the garbage pail or wash- tub from the fire escape, and install a bath in his apartments, when he has come in contact with the social-settlement worker who under- stands how to enforce the law by the principle of imitation. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God send- ing his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. "^ The social settlement succeeds in its minis- try of personality through the principle of co- operation. The social worker helps the man with new vision to attain what he tries to imi- tate. This is done not merely in an individual way, but also through the cooperation of institu- > Note Rom. 8. 3. THE SOCIAL SETTLEMENT 257 fions in the community. To quote the words of Miss Mary E. MacDowell, director of the Uni- versity of Chicago Settlement: "The settle- ment fills the place of an experiment station in the city for the school and public philanthropic societies, and cooperates with every agency that offers to serve the needs of its neighbors. The settlement becomes rooted in its community by the personal sympathetic, neighborly acts that inevitably lead its residents to the city hall, juvenile court, hospitals, and all the agencies that help to ameliorate the hardness of the lives of those who through poverty, vice, ignorance, and inexperience find themselves in trouble. In response to the demand of the community, so- cial, educational, philanthropic, and sometimes religious, activities organize themselves into clubs and classes."^ Again, the ministry of personality is ex- pressed in good neighborship in the work of the social settlement. There is great danger in our modern industrial life and in the institu- tionalizing of all our Church activities that we lose sight of this great principle of Chris- tianity. In former days, when the problems of population were not so pressing as now, in times of sickness and death, we depended upon some good neighbor; to-day we leave such matters to the physician, the trained nurse, and the 1 "The Socialized Church," p. 143. 258 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK undertaker. When disputes arose we consulted our neighbor as to what was best to do ; but to- day we leave the matter to our lawyer. Now, all this is the result of the changing social order; but, nevertheless, in the midst of it all we still need that ministry of personality which is represented by the conduct of the good neigh- bor. The social settlement meets this demand through the work of the friendly visitor and the alertness of the social workers who touch the life of the community at every point of need. What Can the Chuech Do? It may be asked by the thoughtful reader at this point, "What can the Church do in making use of the social-settlement idea?" It may be said that the Church has not only been the founder of the social settlement, but it has suc- cessfully maintained the most effective settle- ments of the three hundred or more now estab- lished in the world ; not only directly, in found- ing them, but also indirectly, through the educational institutions and the noble men and women who have been trained in the work of the kingdom by the Church, and have gotten their motive and vision from the example and teaching of Jesus, who "became flesh, and dwelt among us." In the first place, the Church can successfully utilize the social-settlement idea by enlarging THE SOCIAL SETTLEMENT 259 the scope of the deaconess work so as to elude in every population center a "Church Settle- ment House," where trained women could give their entire time to community work. This would require additional courses and field work in the curriculum of the deaconess training schools. The Church could also modify its edu- cational policy in the theological schools so as to train men to become head workers in social settlements, not only those under the direct con- trol of the Church but also other settlements established by universities and private philan- thropy. The candidates for the ministry in some of our theological seminaries are already receiving such training where there has been established a department of "Christian Soci- ology," "Social Ethics," or "Applied Chris- tianity," as the case may be. Again, the Church can realize these ends by establishing special Bible training classes in the Sunday school made up of picked men and women who have the gifts and liking for such work. Ample materials may be found in the Gospels and the Epistles for such study, be- sides helps from books already published on the social settlement and the various phases of its work. Such a class properly manged by a com- petent man or woman could do some excellent field work in our cities where social settlements are alresidy established, having the advantage 260 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER of years of experimental work, whereby they may see the reasons for the successes and fail- ures of the social settlement as now conducted. The Church could also adopt some "connec- tional" system, similar to the plan of conduct' ing foreign mission work and the deaconess work, whereby these trained workers could be given a definite salary, and an appeal could be made for volunteers that should be as strong in Christian motive as any appeal now made for the foreign field or the deaconess work, because of the strategic significance of the modern city and the deplorable condition of church work in many of the populous rural districts. The time has come when we need trained so- cial engineers for these two mighty fields of Christian work ; and it seems to me that if men could be assured by the Church of a decent living and a chance to stay on the job untU their work is accomplished in any given community, there would be a ready response by some of the strongest young men in our universities and colleges to the appeal of Jesus for laborers in these fields of potential harvests; a chance to mold the life of a whole downtown district with a teeming population of the upward-struggling and downward-slipping of all the nations ; or a chance to organize the social, civic, and religious life of a whole county in some of our rural dis- tricts. THE SOCIAL SETTLEMENT 261 But we are not to infer that this social-set- tlement idea is to be a permanent expression of church work in these fields. Our methods must change with the changing social need. The kingdom of God on earth does not consist merely in doing these things. This is only a part of the process by which the kingdom of God is to be established in the city and in the country districts. In the kingdom of God there are to be no lost sheep, no miserable victims of the "system" or of sin, because the principles of the gospel which Jesus brought to man will ultimately be acted upon by all. There may be sickness or distress, but the people will not be left as "sheep without a shepherd," for there will be some one to care for them through the ministry of personality, some institutions to look after the welfare of the helpless. But until the cities and the villages have heeded the preaching and example of the disciples of Jesus they will still need the charity of the disciples. So our task of training workers and manning institutions and molding public opinion must go on for some time to come until we get all people to live right, so that we may have the least possible residuum of the defective social output in pauperism, defectiveness, and crime ■ — ^the chief evils which make the social settle- ment necessary, but whose causes lie deeper in the derangement of the changing social order. CHAPTEE XXII THE SOCIAL CAUSES OP THE BOY PROBLEM It will be readily admitted by all wlio are interested in the betterment and welfare of human society that we have what is termed "the boy problem." It may be stated in two ways; first, from the viewpoint of the "bad boy" and how to reclaim him; second, from the viewpoint of the normal "good boy" and how he has been kept from the bad. In other words, we find a certain percentage of the boys in any community who may be characterized under the first, and a certain percentage who are normally growing up in the community to worthy man- hood who are designated by the second. So, then, the boy problem really involves both pre- vention and reclamation, but before we can suc- cessfully meet the boy problem in either of its important phases we ought to know something of the social causes that make the boy problem so important. If we discover the causes of the increasing numbers of delinquent boys in every civilized country to be preventable social causes, then the fact is clear that preventive salvation is the solution of the boy problem. We do not need to go very far from home to 262 SOCIAL JSTEGLECT OF BOYS 263 see evidences of tlie acuteness of the boy prob- lem which the Church has to face in the present. In New York city last year^ there were twelve thousand boys brought before the juvenile court, and, according to the statement of the clerk of the court, more than one half of that vast number were there because they had no place to play. Standing at the railroad station of one of our suburban towns one Sunday evening during the summer, the writer counted nearly fifty boys between fourteen and twenty years of age waiting for the train to distribute them at their homes in adjacent towns after a Sabbath of carousiag at a Sunday baseball field, and in the saloon — open in defiance of the law which represents the organized expression of the public opinion in that town. In any city or town in the country at large it is possible dur- ing the hours of Sunday school service to count as many boys from fourteen to twenty-one years of age on the streets as may be found of the same age within the Sunday schools. This condition of adolescent boyhood is not confined to our country. In Europe it has been shown by statistics re- cently compiled that crimes among boys of the adolescent period are on the increase. It is claimed by Sunday school experts that we lose permanently from the Sunday school and > 1909-10. 264 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE church life from forty-two to seventy-five per cent of the boys that have been enrolled.^ When we come to study the character of the inmates of our penal institutions for males we find the vast majority of them are young men under twenty-eight years of age. These and many other facts that are well known to the reader will indicate that we have a very difficult phase of the boy problem to deal with from the viewpoint of reclamation. And when we come to study the causes we find in every case that they lie outside the narrow range of the individual person involved, and are either deep seated in the laws of heredity, or lie within the broader ranges of responsible social groups which are guilty of neglect in the treatment of boys. Here is where we discover the social causes of the boy problem, which may be classified under three general heads, as (1) Family Neglect, (2) Community Neglect, (3) Church Neglect. The chief causes, therefore, of the boy problem lie in the failure of one or more of these responsible social groups to pro- vide for the boy the things that would make possible the normal satisfaction and exercise of all the unfolding instincts and growing faculties of the adolescent personality. I believe in the statement of Phillips Brooks, already referred ' See report of International Sunday School Association Conven- tion, held in Washington, D. C, in 1910. SOCIAL NEGLECT OF BOYS 265 to, that a man is a criminal not so mucli by virtue of what he has acquired as by virtue of what he has missed ; and our treatment of him is to be governed by that fact : not that he has become a criminal, but that he has not become fully a man. This principle in modem penology gives us the clue to the discovery of the social causes of the delinquency in boys, for in almost every case in dealing with a delinquent boy we discover that he has been guilty of no greater crime than the attempt to satisfy a perfectly normal desire in an unlawful way, and had this desire been provided for by wise measures for satisfaction, or by sane measures of restraint, there would have been no delinquent conduct to be atoned for. So then the boy problem takes on two as- pects, the one of provision, the other of preven- tion. Or we may state the problem in terms of the normal and abnormal aspects — one treating of how to provide for the normal satisfaction in the growth of boys, the other treating of how we may prevent the causes of abnormal satis- factions in the life of boys that make our prob- lem an acute one. Family Neglect a Social Cause In many families, and not alone among the lower grades in the social scale, boys are not taught in any adequate way the meaning of 266 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER their developing bodily functions. Parents neglect to inform their children of the sacred- ness of sex, and of the dangers in the paths of unlawful gratification of otherwise normal de- sires. We cannot begin too soon to teach our boys in the home the positive as well as the negative phases of bodily functioning, for they will soon learn from others for good or bad, and reproach us for our neglect or thank us for our forethought. In talking with a layman some time ago whose son was then a freshman in college, the conversation turned on the sub- ject of parental obligation in this matter, and he told me that his son had just written him, ex- pressing his gratitude to a father who had been wise enough to tell him of the dangers that confront many a young man away from home for the first time. Parents often neglect to provide for the normal expression of the instincts for play and recreation, and then wonder why their boys are guilty of truancy from home, as well as from the school, and later in life they may become truants from gainful occupations, and a life of crime is often the outcome. I know a hard- working farmer who plays tennis at the noon hour, and at sunset after an early supper, with his three growing lads, or takes them to the ball game in the village Saturday afternoons, or during the long winter nights plays table and SOCIAL NEGLECT OF BOYS 267 parlor games, or reads to them a good story; and it is safe to say that there is not the slight- est chance of these boys ever becoming guilty of abnormal gratification of the play instincts and desires for healthful recreation. The family also often neglects to guard the boy's companionships. This point cannot be too strongly emphasized, for what a boy learns from his companions in the play period of life will often determine for him his choices in the period of youth. Here the parents must be positive, firm, and frank in giving the boy reasons why he shall not companion with cer- tain other boys in the neighborhood. It is a fact that needs to be understood by parents and teachers that conduct controls our thinking as much as our thinking controls our conduct. Many a boy is incited to unlawful gratifications by the memory in adolescence of conduct that had no meaning to him in earlier childhood. We cannot, therefore, guard too well the en- vironmental sources of the boy's life repre- sented by his companionships. Again, parents frequently neglect to teach boys the positive things in relation to life. In- stead of seeking to guide the energies of youth in channels of useful service, they often seek to repress energies that overflow in mischievous currents because no better channel is offered. Instead of whipping a boy for painting the 268 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER front gate witli mud from the gutter it is better to direct and encourage this gift by giving him a chance to whitewash the fence in the back lot. Instead of telling a boy nine times a day how he will escape the bad by not doing certain things tell him ten times a day how he may at- tain the good by doing certain things. In other words, parental neglect to provide for legiti- mate exercise of the boy's normal activities is a frequent cause of badness in otherwise normal boys. Community Neglect a Social Cause It is easy to see that in many cases the family cannot handle the boy problem successfully be- cause of the neglect of the community to co- operate with the family in providing for the needs of the boys. For example, in the crowded quarters of the tenement districts of our cities it is impossible for parents to provide for the control of the energies of boyhood. We know the effect of the municipal playground upon the statistics of juvenile crime in certain localities, hence it is only a matter of common sense for us to conclude that failure to provide such fa- cilities for play is a social cause of the crimes reported to the juvenile courts of the cities. Inadequate school facilities, which places the boys on the streets for a long period of the day, are a frequent cause of mischief among the boys SOCIAL NEGLECT OF BOYS 269 of the crowded city streets. Neglect in many communities to provide the means for indus- trial education results in many a boy who has no home opportunities becoming a useless mem- ber of society when he has grown up. I am quite sure that community neglect in many com- munities is represented by the failure of school boards to provide teachers who understand boys, by the choosing of policemen who have forgotten the days of boyhood, and by the ap- pointment of judges who have more regard for legal precedents than they have human sym- pathy for a boy who has been brought before the court for a misdemeanor. Now, if a community can root out the evil of junk-stealing by boys through the good sense of the judge who recommended the punishment of the junk dealers, the originators of the traffic, is it not true that failure to do such a thing by any community in dealing with the boy victims of illegal traffic in vice is one of the chief causes of the boy problem of to-day? There is, therefore, a very wide field for pro- gressive social action in every community in providing in a positive way for the conduct of boys who have been hitherto woefully neglected. Chubch Neglect a Social Cause It should be stated at the outset under this heading that the adoption of the graded-lesson 270 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE system in the Sunday schools and the emphasis now being given to the training of teachers in Sunday-school pedagogy, which includes a study of child psychology, go a long way in making up for the neglect by the Church of the boys that have been within the reach of the Sunday school. But there are many preachers and laymen who even to-day, when the district superintendent asks the disciplinary question in Quarterly Conference,^ "Have the rules re- specting the instruction of children been carried out?" have to answer, as in former days, "In part." It is not to our credit that in many quarters we are still building edifices for the purpose of public worship at enormous cost, and little if any provision is being made in these same quarters for the care, religious instruc- tion, and social direction of the young life of the community. I was invited recently to visit and address a young people's rally in a church that has lately completed a splendid "parish house," for the social and religious life of the young people of the community, and I counted pres- ent on a week night over one hundred boys between ten and twenty-one years of age. It may be said here to the credit of the men who are controlling that enterprise that within the next five years there will be no "boy problem" in that church community, because the church « lu "Methodist Polity." SOCIAL NEGLECT OF BOYS 271 is learning to provide for the normal conduct of those boys. The failure of the church to provide such means for the young life of the community is one of the greatest social causes of the modern boy problem. Peeventive Salvation the Soltttion op the Boy Problem It is clear to our minds, therefore, that if we know the chief causes are social, and hence pre- ventable, it follows as a matter of sound reason that preventive work in religious social service is the ultimate solution of the boy problem, even if we must continue, because of social neglect by families, communities, and churches, to utilize methods of reclaiming those who have not received positive social direction. How this work may be carried on by re- ligious social engineering we have outlined in previous chapters on "Preventive Social En- gineering," and "Preventive Salvation," "So- cial Salvation, ' ' etc. "What I have tried to em- phasize in all these chapters is this : that while we are doing the work of rescue, and providing remedial agencies for the many delinquent, de- pendent, and defective classes in society, we should not fail to see that to secure any per- manent results for social progress we must place supreme emphasis upon those forms of social service that deal in a positive way with 272 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE the preventable causes of social ills that are known. "We should not spend all our time in organizing sewing circles to "patch the pants of poverty," when we ought to be engaged in reforms that will clothe men in the garments of righteousness, so that they will render social justice to their fellows and make poverty less prevalent, if not altogether impossible. CHAPTER XXni THE SOCIAL CAUSES OF THE SPIRITUAL BBATH RATE In the study of human population the death rate furnishes us an index to social progress. We know by experience that among civilized peoples about one half of the people who are born die before the age of twenty-six. We also know that the rate of deaths per one thousand of the population varies in different localities, and in communities of the same locality, and it differs also according to the age periods of the people from infancy to old age. We know also from the findings of medical science that the causes of death of the majority of those who die so young lie outside the range of the voluntary conduct of the victims, and are attributable to causes in environment that are, under an aroused public opinion, preventable. The facts are so familiar that relating them here for purposes of illustration is unnecessary. These facts, how- ever, furnish us a striking analogy for the study of what we may popularly term the spiritual death rate, which furnishes the student of re- ligious statistics with an index to religious so- 273 274 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER cial progress. Here too we find that about one half of those in evangelical Protestantism who may be properly reckoned as having been touched by the life of the Church in baptism or nurtured in the home, the Sunday school, and in the religious groupings of church membership, pass out of range of the Church's reckoning before the age of twenty-one; and without go- ing into the question of what ultimately becomes of them, we may include them in making up, what is here used in the popular sense, the spiritual death rate. We know also from the records of religious statistics that this rate varies in different localities, and in different communities in the same locality, and varies with the age periods of those who are under religious statistical observation. Now, the question of importance for us in following this analogy is, Do the causes of the spiritual death rate (using the termi in its popular sense to mean those who drop out of the Church's grasp in adolescence, or as adults by blacksliding after a religious awakening) lie outside the range of the voluntary conduct of the persons involved? I think that we can affirm at once that some of the causes lie outside of that range, and may be classed as social because they are preventable by the awakening of the religious social consciousness to the point of organizing agencies that will elimiaate them. THE SPIRITUAL DEATH BATE 275 Neglect op Childhood The chief social cause of premature death is neglect of childhood by the comintmity or the family, and failure to provide against prevent- able social diseases among adults. We can con- clude, therefore, at once that the chief social cause of the spiritual death rate is the neglect, by some responsible social group tmder the Church's control, to provide for the child life of the Church, and to ward off the preventable social forces in the community that destroy spiritual life and character. This neglect is represented by our failure to provide for the normal satisfactions of the dawning religious consciousness of childhood which is not to be separated, by a false adult psychology, from the expressions of normal child-consciousness; and, to illustrate further: we often neglect to change our methods to suit the changing periods of adolescent development. In fact, with few exceptions here and there, we have done nothing to standardise our social machinery for dealing with the young people at the most critical period of adolescence, from fifteen to twenty-one, when the social instincts are seeking conscious direc- tion; hence our machinery breaks down so utterly that in some communities the Protestant churches lose nearly all the young men and women for that period of life, and for the coun- 276 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER try at large the rate of loss varies by dif- ferent authoritative standards of reckoning from forty-two per cent to seventy-five per cent of all those who have been enrolled as baptized in childhood or entered as probationers and the catechized of the Church. The fact that the greatest loss in members to the Church is in that period of adolescence before the judgment is fully formed and settled into stable habits of adult life confirms us in the assertion that the chief social cause of the spiritual death rate is neglect of childhood by the religious social groups in the community. In the study of the causes of juvenile crime we have discovered that the boy is not a criminal essentially by virtue of what he has acquired, but, rather, by virtue of what he has missed. The report of the secretary of the juvenile court of New York city confirms this when he states that of the twelve thousand boys brought before that body last year (1910), more than half of them were there because they had no place to play, which fixed the cause not in the boy primarily but in the community that had failed to provide for the normal satisfaction of the play instincts of this vast army of boys. This principle is confirmed also by the fact that the rate of loss varies in different commu- nities. In communities made up largely of for- eigners, where the standards of spirituality THE SPIRITUAL DEATH EATE 277 differ from those set by evangelical Protestant- ism, but where the Protestant Church alone is ministering to such a community, we find the rate of loss much higher than in a community where different standards prevail. Here the so- cial cause of the spiritual death rate is apparent in the standards of the community life among parents and adults which makes it almost im- possible for the young people of fifteen to twenty-one years of age, under present methods of church life, to adopt our standards with re- spect to social recreation and amusement. We must, therefore, put the greater emphasis upon the provision, for the young people of that period, of those forms of social activity that will give normal satisfaction to their social in- stincts and at the same time have in them a wholesome religious significance. I am very glad to be able to state that there is to-day an increasing number of churches that are making such provision for the young people, and are standarizing their methods and machinery for carrying on the work of a parish house, so that you can count at an ordinary meeting, in one of them that comes to my mind, over one hundred boys from fourteen to twenty-one, and on spe- cial occasions, when a "social" is being held, an equal number of young girls in their early teens. In these same churches, before they made such provision, the loss was over fifty per 278 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE cent of the young people of the Sunday school from church membership; to-day the percent- age is reduced to the minimum. Still another confirmatory fact of this social cause is that the rate changes with the age periods of the young life of the Church. Here the social neglect is represented by the failure of the religious group to change its methods of treatment of the young life of the community to suit the changes that are taking place within the growing children of both sexes. This neg- lect is being met, in part, by the study of child psychology in religious pedagogy, and by the adoption of the graded-lesson system in the Sunday schools. It will take a generation to make this new emphasis in religious education effective, because the greater part of the re- ligious social machinery for putting it into operation is in the control of those who, in the nature of the case, have placed the greater em- phasis upon rescue methods in salvation rather than upon preventive measures. Neglect to Oeganizb Adult Members Another social cause of loss in membership in the churches is neglect to organize the adult members of the church in forms of social serv- ice outside the church building, and in the in- terest of the community without any special reference to the maintaining of the individual THE SPIEITUAL DEATH BATE 279 church organization — in other words, neglect to provide the means for spiritual growth through religious occupational activity. Too many men in all the churches to-day are still idle in the market place because "no man hath hired" them. In the case of adults who have been brought into the Church through evan- gelistic effort in the revival meeting, the largest percentage of these who backslide is due to lack of spiritual occupational service. It is, therefore, only a matter of providing re- ligious social leadership to conserve the adult forces of the churches. I was asked recently to address a men's Bible class of one of our largest and wealth- iest suburban churches at their annual banquet. In that church the social consciousness has been awakened, and a new parish house is in process of erection, and these men were anxious to de- velop a plan for performing a larger service to the community and for the kingdom of God. These splendid fellows, nearly one hundred in number, were not satisfied with "holding a service"; they were now anxious "to do a serv- ice" outside the church building; so as a result of their recent conferences with religious social engineers, and as a result of their own survey of their community with its social needs, some of these men will be engaged in work for the foreigners, mostly Italians, in one quarter of 280 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER the city ; another group will be interested in the problems of religious pedagogy in the Sunday school; another group will be working for the cooperation of all good men in the government of the city and in promoting social justice among all the competing groups of the popula- tion; still another group will be studying and working on the problems of industrial peace be- tween organized labor and organized capital; still another group will be interested in the study of organized charities and the prevent- able causes of poverty and human suffering; and still others will be interested in the cam- paign against social diseases, and the evils of intemperance and the saloon; and at the same time they will all be consciously cooperating with all good citizens everywhere in building up that form of orderly government in human so- ciety that will ultimately take on the character of the kingdom of God on earth. Now, these men, because of their daily tasks as breadwinners and men of affairs in business and professional life, as well as those in occu- pational employment, cannot, in the nature of the case, all have the same type of religious ex- perience, and unless the Church can relate their activities to the kingdom of God, and thus give to them a religious significance, many of these men will begin to feel that they are doing noth- ing for the Church worthy of a Christian ; and, THE SPIRITUAL DEATH KATE 281 unless somebody directs them in the work of the kingdom, it will be no surprise if later they are not even found in the market place of religious employment. There is no religious movement in modem times that compares in importance, save that of religious education, with that of the movement within all Protestant denominations for the employment of Christian men ui forms of social service in the community. Neglect to do this has been one of the chief so- cial causes of the lapses from church member- ship of adults. No activity carried on by men which has to do with the comfort, health, and happiness of the community, and is a necessary part of the world's work, should be regarded merely as "secular," but in the larger view of the kingdom of Grod it should be given a re- ligious significance, and the man who so works has the approval of the Master, and should have no occasion for losing his interest in the Church. Space will not permit the consideration of the other social causes of the spiritual death rate, such as that which grow out of the de- velopment of class consciousness, cleavage, and conflict, that have resulted in revolt from the spiritual leadership of the Church. Nor have we the space to treat of the economic phases of social groupings that cause many to lapse from the local organization, nor of the positive 282 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER ravages upon religious life by social institutions sanctioned by the State. In tbis chapter I have chosen to lay emphasis upon what I consider to be the two chief social factors in the spiritual death rate: first, the failure of the responsible groups within the Church to guard the sources of spiritual life in the growing and unfolding life of the young people already within her grasp, and, second, the failure of the Church to guide the adult members to the sources of power that will give fiber and force to Christian character. CHAPTER XXIV CONSERVATION OF CHRISTIAN RESOURCES There is no subject that lias been more tbor- oughly drilled into tlie social consciousness of the American people during the past few years than that of the conservation of our national resources, or the prevention of waste in the production and consumption of goods. Also during recent years this idea of conservation has been given a more vital application in the appeal for conservation of the human resources of our country in the prevention of child labor, the prevention of social diseases, the avoidance of accidents in industry, and the prevention of the traffic in human life for immoral gain. It is, therefore, in harmony with these great ideas in the social consciousness of to-day that I wish to present some of the facts relating to the need for conservation of our Christian resources and the prevention of waste in the work of the kingdom. Apart from the world-problem of natural resources available for the good of mankind, our national resources are so well inventoried to-day that we now fully recognize that the problem of conservation and prevention of 283 284 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE waste touches us at the vital point of our in- come and daily expenditure for food, fuel, and shelter. The problem of disease is one that belongs to every community as well as to the nation at large. The death rate and the birth rate are sufficiently well tabulated and registered that certain phases of our national progress and of our racial advantage in the struggle of civiliza- tion can be demonstrated by them. The ap- palling budget of human life paid to lust and greed in industry, and in the reign of vice in our great cities, has been so clearly placed be- fore the Parliaments of other nations, and be- fore our own Congress, that no wise statesman can be longer indifferent to or inactive in the matter of reforms needed. It must be understood, however, at the out- set that those who advocate conservation of resources and prevention of waste have no in- tention of interfering with the progress of the nation, with the expansion of legitimate busi- ness, or with the wholesome and worthy use of resources, but, on the contrary, they are seek- ing to increase all these. So with those who are pointing out the need of the conservation of our Christian resources and the prevention of waste in church work; they do not deny progress on the part of the Church as a whole, but they would show how the Church can make even CONSERVATION OF EESOUECES 285 greater progress if our Christian resources shall be better conserved and utilized, and the enormous waste in ministering to the spiritual needs of the people in many communities avoided, and the released resources could be directed into other useful channels of Christian service. The Facts in the Case 1. Conservation of our Christian domain, or churched territory: Historically viewed, the hardest mission fields at home and abroad to- day in which to get results are those that com- prise what may be termed our lost Christian domain; for example, the Mohammedan world, the downtown sections of our great cities, and the rural districts, to say nothing of certain fields in European countries, where the lack of personal consciousness of human redemption is so prevalent that evangelism of the New Tes- tament type is imperatively needed. The territory around the Mediterranean that is now occupied by Mohammedanism was lost to Christianity largely because the governments of the eastern and western branches of the old Roman empire and the new Christian regime had not been fully made Christian from the viewpoint of the simplest interpretations of the social teachings of Jesus and of the apostles, John and Paul. If the Church in those days 286 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE had ministered to the whole man, body and soul, through the social agencies of government at its command, it would have been impossible for such a new cult to make its imperial way throughout all that region of Christian terri- tory and even to menace the very existence of Christian civilization. So in every similar field, not so clearly defined territorially, where another than the true Christian faith has become dominant, it has been either a narrow theology or an even narrower range of service that has left the people in many quarters scat- tered and distressed as sheep not having a shepherd, for some one else to gather or destroy. In the downtown sections of some of our cities we are returning to our abandoned tasks at an enormously increased expenditure in se- curing adequate quarters for our socialized churches, and with a handicap of workers who have not been trained in the actual field where social consciousness and conduct count for more than sermon and song, especially when these are taken from the "barrel" of the superan- nuate, or the "trunk" of the novitiate, and the discarded hymn books of an uptown congre- gation. In the rural districts the churches are losing ground, not always because of the diminishing population, but in many instances because of CONSERVATION OF EESOTJRCES 287 the Church's lack of adaptation in method and character of service adequate to meet the needs of population change in type or in social status. 2. Our resources in the young life of the multitudes who go through our Sunday schools and are baptized into the Christian faith, who slip away from us during the period of ado- lescence because the methods in presenting our message make no appeal to their new conscious- ness, nor protect them by social ties from the maelstrom of the city streets and the lure of halls where passion masters reason. We have as yet secured no adequate statis- tics as to the numbers of the unchurched who have been actually within the grasp of the Church in the Sunday schools or in other re- ligious organizations, but there is a settled con- viction everywhere among Christian workers that the numbers of such are very great. Some say that four out of every five of the more than ten thousand juvenile delinquents who have passed through the courts in recent years and have been put in charge of the probation officers in the city of New York, have been at some time iu vital relation to the churches of Protestant- ism and Roman Catholicism, or the Jewish synagogue. A distinguished member of the Methodist denomination, who has spent the most of his active ministry in city mission work in New 288 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER York, told me some time ago that from personal investigation of hundreds of cases he was con- vinced that four out of every five of the men and women rescued in the Bowery missions were at some time in their early life vitally con- nected with the Church or Sunday school, and he further added that the same could be said of the prisoners in our reformatories and jails all over the country. 3. Our resources in men who are members of the Church and congregation but who have not yet been given a man's job in church work. Our notions of church work have been so confined in some places to the service that a man could render inside the church building by simply at- tending or leading a "service" that actually thousands of able men in every denomioation within our cities have been given no adequate task within the kingdom of God. They are often anxious to do something, but, like those who stood involuntarily idle in the market place in Jesus 's day, they can truthfully say to the modern master of men as he asks why they are idle, "No man hath hired us." 4. Our resources in buildings that are used but one or two days in the week, if at all, for the real work of the kingdom of Grod among men. I have in mind now one of our great in- dustrial centers in the East, with a population of over three hundred thousand, where, in the CONSEEVATION OF KESOUECES 289 most populous center, there are within a radius of half a mile seven Methodist churches whose auditoriums are open only parts of one day in the week, and some other room or rooms only one or two more evenings in the week, and with the exception of one church, the congregations of the whole number could be gotten comfort- ably into the largest one Sunday evenings, and there would still be left ample room in the "amen corner" for all special visitors. Now, in looking up the statistics in the Minutes of the Conference in which this city is located, I discovered that the estimated property value of these seven churches, including five parson- ages situated near the church buildings, aggre- gates more than half a million dollars ($523,- 000), and the salaries paid to the seven pastors during the last Conference year^ amounted to $13,000. Observe that I have not mentioned the cost of lighting, heating, janitors' fees, music, repairs, and other expenses. The number of members reported for the seven was only 2,437, and the total number of probationers fifty-six; the number of Sunday school scholars, 1,792. In that same city, but in another section far removed from the center above described, is one Methodist church with a property, includ- ing parsonage, estimated at $105,000, paying its pastor the sum of $3,000, and reporting a mem- » April, 1909-1910. 290 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK bership of 1,215, with forty-one probationers and 927 scholars in the Sunday school, with 110 teachers. Here is one church ministering to half as many people at about one fourth of the cost of the seven. Now, it is only a matter of common business sense to arrive at the con- clusion that there is need in that city of con- servation of resources and prevention of waste. And, to make it more apparent, we need but to mention the fact that within the same territory of those same Methodist churches there are about the same number of other churches of different denominations, with whom the Meth- odists affiliate and exchange pulpits and mem- bers on occasion. 5. Our resources in our Protestant neighbors who could help us harvest our fields, or could be spared, or could spare us, to harvest other fields where the harvest is indeed plenteous and the laborers are few. And you will recall that Jesus made this statement and the appeal for more laborers with reference to the home field. In Vermont and other New England States the work of conservation and prevention of waste has already begun to take place, according to a recent publication of the Vermont Interde- nominational Commission. This need is also made strikingly evident in a report of Dr. A. H. Collins, of the Des Moines Conference, on his studies of the conditions in the rural communi- CONSEEVATION OF EESOUECES 291 ties of the Creston District, embracing a terri- tory of 3,000 square miles and 100,000 popu- lation. In this territory there are at present 279 churches of the Protestant denominations, one for every 360 people. Sixty-two of these have gone out of commission in recent years, either through the lack of the support of a min- ister or by voluntary union with other churches. Eighty-seven of the remaining 217 are Meth- odist, and this advantage of Methodism in hold- ing the field has been attributed to the useful- ness of the local preachers.* 6. The prevention of waste through lapses after conversion, or the reduction of the spir- itual death rate. "We are all aware of the fact that, apart from the enormous waste through the period of adolescence, we have a large num- ber of persons dropping out of our churches whom the Methodists call "backsliders"; these aggregate as many, if not more in some cases, as the number we hold after revival efforts. And, furthermore, the vast numbers who are lost through "removal without letters," and are never recovered from the vast multitudes in the great tenement and apartment house dis- tricts in our large cities, and in the suburban communities, not to mention the many who lapse through indifference or because of their 1 See Central Christian Advocate, November 24, 1909, p. 6, "A Valuable Study in Rural Religion." 292 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK interest in some other social organization in which they find a stronger and sometimes a more congenial comradeship. 7. Conservation of our opportunities for so- cial leadership.^ The opportunities for leader- ship in the modem social movement are the points of strategic interest for the Church to- day if it hopes ever to master this movement, for, after all, when we come to study the essence of the modern social movement we find its real motive power lies in the neglected interests of humanity that had a large place of emphasis in the program of Jesus. Socialism, at heart, is hut the organized consciousness of people in the struggle with poverty; the passion for social justice is at the foundation of the lahor move- ment; the appreciation of life and health is at the basis of modern philanthropy and charity, represented in all their attempts at social prophylaxis. 8. Conservation of our resources in educa- tional institutions and those factors that meet the recreative and aesthetic demands of human nature. Most of these were founded under Christian auspices, hut there is serious doubt in many quarters whether we shall be able to conserve their influence as such, and in so far as some of them are concerned, like the theater, that used to be a Christian institution, there » For a fuller discussion see Chapter X. CONSEEVATION OF EESOUECES 295 seems to be little liope expressed of ever re- claiming it from the paganism into which in most countries it has degenerated. Even the Passion Play at Oberammergau, with its inter- vening decade of criticism and preparation, does not prove to be a hopeful exception. Our task seems to be clearly defined with regard to these mighty social forces, and that is to dominate them with the Christian con- sciousness, while admitting the natural social differentiation that must necessarily take place with the social process with which the kingdom of God on earth is not at variance. What Shall We Do? In view of the facts with which we are all more or less familiar, and with the conviction aroused that something more than we are now undertaking should be done, the question of what to do is the most natural one, and how to do it is even more important. Now, as a matter of fact, we learn how to do things usually by observing how somebody else does the same thing we are expected to do, or something like it. So that the question of method, or program, is simply one of adapta- tion, imitation, or readjustment It may be safely said that we have not as yet many successful examples of conservation of resources and prevention of waste, on a large 294 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE scale, to observe. We have just begun to or- ganize for it in the nation, and in industry, and in child-saving, and in the prevention of dis- eases and crimes; so, as religious workers, we are to keep awake to the need and get into the movement with the rest, and win in this race where there is no rivalry but the haste to save life. 1. In the first place, we must study our problem of conservation and prevention. We must get the facts before the people in an in- telligent way, and I mean by that the facts as they may apply at the crossroads, or on the village streets, or in the town or city, as well as those greater things that have to do with the nation and with world-wide humanity. We must insist upon intelligent social diagnosis be- fore applying our social remedies, This is be- ing done in many places already by the various denominations through groups representing the movement for social service. It needs, how- ever, to be broadened and intensified. 2. There must be developed a new type of minister, or religious worker, whom I name the social engineer, who is to make this work of conservation and prevention his chief business, under the direction of the pastor in charge or the district superintendent, and in many cases he must be the preacher himself: a social en- gineer for Sunday-school children who under- CONSERVATION OF RESOUEOES 295 stands the psycliology of the adolescent and knows the social forces which dominate the thinking and the conduct of young people; a social engineer for the men of the Church who have no work to do in many cases worthy of a man of strength — one who knows the city and its needs and can relate the men and women of the Church and community to the civic life of the town or city. We need another type of social engineer for the country problem, who will be able to direct the social forces of a whole county and relate them to the best interests of the State and nation. Another type of engineer is needed, who will be able to deal intelligently with the foreigners in the villages and towns and the great colonies of them in our large cities. In other words, we need a new type of local preacher, who does not have to dress like a preacher, or have orders and accept calls to preach elsewhere; a man who knows the value of social machinery and knows how to run it, and stays on the job all the time. Our theo- logical schools ought to train such men. 3. We must insist on keeping the ecclesiastical carpetbaggers out of administrative offices in the fields of spiritual conquest. This does not apply to the higher offices alone, but to the less responsible positions in the local church com- munity. We have suffered greatly in church 296 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK work by allowing people to hold office because they desired the honor rather than a place to serve with efficiency, while others more capable and yet more modest were allowed to remain unused in these important tasks of the kingdom. 4. We must place supreme emphasis upon preventive salvation, so that no allurements of the old environment will be able to break the social bond of Christian fellowship that should keep together all the members of the household of faith. This must be done especially with reference to the young people of the Sunday schools in the great cities where the parents are not members of the church, and whose so- cial customs are ofttimes alien to the life of the true Christian young man or woman in America. 5. We must learn to cooperate by organized effort with all the social forces of the com- munity that have a like purpose with ourselves, and not insist too strongly upon our method or even upon agreement in the details of working our plan, but, rather, place emphasis upon organization in mass effort to overthrow the organized powers of evil, having always a su- preme confidence in the integrity of human nature, that it will finally respond to our appeal and take on the highest forms of expression in character that is to be the test of citizenship in the kingdom of our God on this earth. CHAPTEE XXV THE SOCIAL EMPHASIS IN MODERN EDUCATION At a meeting of the Department of Superin- tendents of the National Educational Associa- tion, held in Chicago more than a year ago, a distinguished educator made the following statement: "Civilization is running short of men who know and can do"; and he said this notwithstanding the fact that we had in the secondary schools of our country at that time over 800,000 boys and girls pursuing a four years ' course, and in our colleges and universi- ties over 125,000 men and women pursuing an additional four years' course to fit them for modern social leadership. Senator Elihu Root said, in an address at Albany, New York, when tendered a reception by that body, that the tasks of government are becoming so stupendous it is a serious question whether we can find men capable of performing them. At a conference on the Country Church called by the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, in New York, it was stated by one of their able secretaries that they found it difficult to secure sufficient young men who were capable of organiziug and con- 297 298 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER ducting the social tasks of the country work. And it was the consensus of opinion of a dis- tinguished group of educators from colleges of agriculture, theological seminaries, universities, and men of affairs in home-missionary and church federation work in the rural communi- ties, and superintendents of the county schools, that the problem of the uplift of the rural life of America depends upon the kind of trained social leadership we can put in the field. There are socialized churches in all our great cities to-day that demand pastors and workers of the highest type of efficiency, and fields yet unmanned that must be filled, if at all, by the products of our educational institutions. So with the problems of social engineering in busi- ness and industrial life, in government, legis- lation, and in organized charity and philan- thropy, in public sanitation, hygiene, and medical practice; all are demanding as never before the highest degree of social efficiency in the individual. So, then, we may conclude that the emphasis in modern education must necessarily be placed upon those factors in the educational process that result in the social- ization of human life in consciousness and activity. The real emphasis in modern education is not in teaching merely a subject, or bringing to the mind of the student a certain amount of subject SOCIAL EMPHASIS IN EDUCATION 299 matter, but, rather, in the teaching of a person ■ — ^^the development and quickening of the powers of personality so that the individual will use the facts of knowledge. In other words, education means the leading out of the student into all the fields and avenues of knowledge, the unfoldment of all his normal instincts into the full development of all their corresponding faculties and powers as they are manifest in the fully developed man. To state it in still another way : real education means the relating of the individual to life as expressed in society — ^the socializing of the individual. The educator must understand what society really is, and what society does for the indi- vidual who is the product of society through heredity and environment plus that power of self-initiative expressed in what we call free- dom of personality. He must understand the effect of society upon human nature, and must know something of what the individual is capa- ble when his social nature is fully developed. The teacher should have a view of the whole social field in order to understand where the educational emphasis of our day must be placed, and must know what the social aim of educa- tion is with respect to the social units which are capable of instruction. He should have a clear conception of the social mind and of the social consciousness, and should know the fac- 300 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER tors within reach for their development, edu- cation, and enlightenment. The educator should know also what is the function of social organization, and the origin of those institutions and organizations that aim to meet the needs of human life, whether they be immediately felt and understood or more remotely discerned. There is also involved in this point of em- phasis in modern education the sociological in- terpretation of the great divisions of the educa- tional subject-matter, such as history, language, law, religion, morals, and government, as well as the study of human progress and the norms by which it may be measured. Why "Wb Need This Change of Emphasis In former years the emphasis in our educa- tional system was placed upon the making of every pupil a breadwinner — a self-supporting citizen when he became able on leaving the school to take up the active work of a producer of economic values by labor, whether of the hand in manual toil, or of the intellect as a master-workman in managing and directing others, or as an owner and operator, or a director of corporate capital. But as a result of this emphasis — and no one will doubt the efficiency of American enter- prise — ^we now find that many have in the proc- SOCIAL EMPHASIS IN EDTTCATION 301 ess of winning their bread not scrupled to take the bread of another; or, in other words, they have not been governed in their wealth-getting by a strong, healthful, moral sentiment that has prevented them from taking undue advantage of their fellows when opportunity for graft was presented. In the last few years our country has been awakened to the astonishing amount of, and the widespread effects of, unrighteous and unlaw- ful, and even grossly immoral, dealings of some men highly educated and holding positions of trust both in public and private life. I need hardly mention for illustration the frauds un- earthed in the postal service, the land frauds in connection with the disposal of the public do- main, the insurance scandals by some of the largest and most prosperous companies in the world, the evils of legislative assemblies through bribes of the lobbyists, municipal crimes of the boodlers and grafters in our great cities all over the country, the revelations of adulterations through the investigations by the Pure Food Conunission, the evils of rebating, fraudulent weighing, and other evils brought to light by the Interstate Commerce Conunission, the Cus- toms Department at New York, and the Depart- ment of Justice. All these have resulted not because we as a nation lacked education, but in spite of it. May we, therefore, not rightly as- 302 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK sume that these things have been possible in large measure because the emphasis in our edu- cational process has been upon the individual interest, to the neglect of the larger social in- terest which is not antagonistic to the best interests of the individual, because it seeks to relate him to life in such a way that he wiU receive infinitely more of good from society as he seeks to serve society by carrying on the business in which he is engaged with a con- sciousness of other men's needs, rights, and privileges as well as of his own. We have in many instances been taught ex- tremely false notions of economics in business life — that "competition is the life of trade," when, as a matter of common observation, if pushed too far, competition is the death of trade. The only legitimate competition which really helps trade is that of industrial and com- mercial efficiency which seeks to better the service to the public — the consumer — ^by facili- ties and courtesies in delivery, and by improv- ing the quality of the commodities. We need to emphasize everywhere this fact that to-day a man can succeed not by destroying his fellows but, rather, by serving them. The need for social emphasis in modern edu- cation may be expressed, therefore, from sev- eral points of view. First, from the fact of the changes in modem SOCIAL EMPHASIS IN EDUCATION 303 society as a result of the phenomenal growth of the nation both in population and in prestige — change in the character of our population from an agricultural to an industrial people, from a predominantly rural to an urban population. The growth of our towns and cities has made the town-meeting as a socializer of the com- munity impracticable, hence our city govern- ments have changed, our methods of business and of industry have been revolutionized. There is no longer a chance for the individual to learn much of social life while at his em- ployment. The newspaper has superseded the store and the shop as disseminators of the news. The saloon, with its accompanying evils, has followed in the wake of the tenement and the lodging-house — systems of housing that have modified the family life of the nation. Even the Church, which has always played such an im- portant part as a socializer of the people, does not reach the vast hordes of our city population, nor is it meeting in any adequate way the social problem of the rural population of to-day. Second, from the viewpoint of the change in the character of the population movements of the present. In former years the bulk of migra- tion within the national domain was by family groups, which set up the socializing agencies for the needs of the new community life of the frontiers wherever they went — ^the church, the 304 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE seliool, the store and shop, and the family house- hold. To-day, however, the largest number of migrations is by individuals who must put up with the lodging-house, where true family life is unknown and impossible, and with the chang- ing social order of an industrial community. This lack of family life and this change in so- cial environment slacken the ties of religious and faniily restraint, weaken other social bonds, and make the creation of others more difficult both for the school, the church, and for the com- munity government. Third, from the viewpoint of the changed con- ditions of our industrial life. The market to- day is for many commodities world-wide, and commerce is no longer bound by the borders of the State or hedged up by the frontiers of a nation. This condition leads to serious prob- lems of interstate commerce and of interna- tional relations. The Drago doctrine is an illus- tration of this change in international com- merce, and the creation of an interstate com- merce commission and the giving to it of enlarged powers illustrates this point with re- spect to commerce and trade within our own country. Fourth, from the fact of the modem move- ments toward church federation from fields where there has been interdenominational cleavage and sometimes actual religious con- SOCIAL EMPHASIS IN EDUCATION 305 flict; organized movements for tlie mastery of the religious problems of the cities, the rural communities, and the evangelization of the mis- sion fields of the world. The need for emphasis upon distinctions of creed and content of be- liefs is no longer apparent, but, rather, the need for emphasis upon the problems of service through the channels of religious social or- ganization. Fifth, from the viewpoint of political govern- ment and legislation there is need for emphasis upon social control rather than upon mere ma- jority rule: government by enlightened public opinion rather than by a political boss or a group of "vested interests." "We should secure legislation after intelligent consideration of the needs of the people at large rather than at the beck and will of a politician for partisan or per- sonal ends. There is increasing need for men with social training for the tasks of government and legislation who are willing to sacrifice per- sonal gain for the common good. There is need for an educated public service to meet the challenge of an aggressive social democracy which may have its place as a counter-irritant in a monarchy but should have no soil in which to root itself in a free republic like our own. Sixth, from the moral viewpoint we have been too individualistic in our ethics, allowing the individual to hide behind the corporation 306 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER and then denying the ethical responsibilities of the group of which he is a member, hence "Not guilty" is the verdict of the judge or jury in most cases. We need to push our ethical prin- ciples of moral responsibility to the wider group, and hold all the factors of human society which possess the attributes of personality to a strict accountability to the demands of the moral social order. Seventh, from the viewpoint of constructive and preventive philanthropy. We need an in- creasing number of trained workers for the vast fields of social service among the growing multi- tudes of the dependent, defective, and delin- quent classes of our population. We have been fumigating the patient rather than the building where he contracted the disease; we have been improving tenements rather than the economic system that made the slum possible. We have been fighting typhoid in the sick-cham- ber rather than by controlling the watershed that supplies our city reservoir. Social educa- tion does not ignore the work of rescue, but places supreme emphasis upon preventive sal- vation. Eighth, from the viewpoint of the world's peace. Eace antagonism, international preju- dice, and class conflict are facts of modern civilization that must be reckoned because of the costs in times of peace for the contingencies SOCIAL EMPHASIS IN EDUCATION 307 of war. There is everywliere evident the pas- sion for peace in the human heart, when peace can be secured with social justice. It is the task of our educational system to make war with weapons of death unnecessary and impossible because all responsible social factors of civili- zation may learn a better way. From all these points of view the need is great for the social emphasis in modern educa- tion being placed in all our educational institu- tions upon the relating of the student to the intricate network of social institutional life of this age, so that whether he stops at the grades, or at the end of the secondary school course, or with the college diploma, or after the pursuit of his graduate studies in some specialty, he may at every stage in the process of education ga out with some fundamental notion of what society has done, is doing, and may yet do for him ; and he should go also with some definite and clear convictions as to what he may and ought to do for society. We may conclude, therefore, that the social emphasis in modem education is to be placed upon the development of personality in social consciousness, upon the efficiency of the indi- vidual through social organization, and upon the utilization of knowledge and skill in the fields of need through social engineering. BIBLIOGRAPHY 309 BIBLIOGRAPHY Addams, Jane. — Twenty Years at Hull House. Newer Ideals of Peace. Bacon. — Essays — On Friendship. Bailet, William B. — Modern Social Conditions. Cabot. — Social Service and the Art of Healing. CoOLET, Charles H. — Human Nature and the Social Order. Social Organization. Article on the Social Conscious- ness, Pub. American Sociological Society, Vol. I, pp. 101. 190. Devine, Edwasd T. — Misery and Its Causes. GiDDiNGS, Feanklin H. — Principles of Sociology. GuMPLOWiTZ. — Der Rasenkampf. Hegel. — ^Vorlesungen iiber der Philosophie der Geschichte. Hillis, Newell Dwiqht. — Man's Value to Society. Knopf, S. Adolphus. — Tuberculosis a Preventable and Cur- able Disease. Mayo-Smith. — Statistics and Sociology. MoTT, John R. — The Future Leadership of the Church. Patten, Simon N. — The New Basis of Civilization. Ross, Edwaed a. — Sin and Society. . Latter Day Sinners and Saints. Social Psychology. RATTscHENBtrscH. — Christianity and the Social Crisis. Sfenceb, Heebebt. — Data of Ethics. Stbong, Josiah. — The Challenge of the City. ToLMAN. — Social Engineering. Tippy. — The Socialized Church. Wabbasse, James P., M.D. — ^Medical Sociology. WuNDT, WiLHELM — ^Volkerpsychologle. Periodicals The Social Educational Quaeteely, 1907. The Ameeican Journal of Sociology, University of Chicago Press. The Ameeican Economic Association Quabtebly, Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. 311 312 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER Publications of the American Association foe Labob IjEO- iSLATioN, New York City. The Sunday School Journal, Eaton & Mains, New York. Methodist Men, Laymen's Publishing Company, New York, ■William P. Patterson, Editor. The Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio, Levi Gilbert, Editor. The Survey, New York. I Additional Books foe Collateral Reading Addams, Jane. — Democracy and Social Ethics, 1902. Blackmee, Feank W. — Elements of Sociology, 1905. Buck, Winifred. — Theory and Practice of Boys' Self-Gov- ernment Clubs, 1906. BuTTBRFiELD, Kenyon L. — Chapters in Rural Progress, 1908. The Country Church and the Rural Problem, 1911. Chancelloe, William E. — A Theory of Motives, Ideals, and Values in Education, 1907. Commons, John R. — Races and Immigrants in America, 1907. Dealey, James Quayle. — Sociology, 1909. Devine, Edward T. — Principles of Relief, 1904. Misery and Its Causes, 1909. Ellwood, Charles A. — Sociology and Modern Social Prob- lems, 1910. Feeei, Enrico. — Criminal Sociology, 1896. Biddings, Franklin H. — Descriptive and Historical So- ciology, 1906. Gladden, Washington. — Social Salvation, 1902. Hall, Thomas C. — Social Solutions, 1910. Lee, Joseph.— Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy, 1902. LeBon, Gustave. — The Crowd, New Edition, 1903. Mathews, Shailer.— The Social Teachings of Jesus, 1897. The Church and the Changing Order, 1907. Morgan, Lewis H. — Ancient Society, 1877. Morrow, Prince I. — Social Diseases and Marriage, 1904. Peabody, Francis G.— Jesus Christ and the Social Ques- tion, 1901. The Approach to the Social Problem, 1910. BIBLIOGEAPHY 313 Ross, Edwabd a. — Foundations of Sociology, 1905. Social Control. 1906. SMAI.L, Albion W. — General Sociology, 1905. The Meaning of Social Science, 1911. Stone, Alfeed H. — Studies in the American Race Problem, 1908. Stbong, Josias. — Religious Movements for Social Better- ment, 1900. SuMNEB, W. G. — ^Folkways, 1907. Tabde, Gabbiel. — Laws of Imitation, Translated by B. C. Parsons, 1903. Social Laws, Translated by H. C. War- ren, 1899. Tenney, Edwabd Payson. — Contrasts in Social Progress, 1907. Thomas, "W. I. — Sex and Society, 1907. Tbavis, Thomas. — The Young Malefactor, 1908. Vincent, Geobge B. — The Social Mind in Bducation, 1897. Wabd, Lesteb F. — Psychic Factors of Civilization, 1893. Pure Sociology, 1903. Applied Sociology, 1906. Wabd, Haeey F. — Social Ministry, 1910. Westeemaek, B. — The History of Human Marriage, 1891. Origin and Growth of the Moral Ideas. Two Vols., 1906-8. WiLLSON, RoBEBT N. — The American Boy and the Social Evil, 1905. INDEX 315 INDEX Ability, its lack a Church peril, 129 Accidents. See Industrial Acci- dents Administration, the Chiu-ch to develop leadership in, 124 Adolescence, great cost in re- claiming losses of, 207; loss to the Sunday school in pe- riod of, 131; Simday school loss to be prevented, 177, 178, 209, 210; work of a Sunday school teacher during, 229 230 Adult Bible class, in service, 279, 280; a noneffective, 171, 172 Affinity, not a true basis for friendship, 116 Afflicted, the, and church phi- lanthropy, 156, 164-166 Anti-Saloon work, 37 Association of presence and ac- tivity, 15, 16 Banquets and social organiza- tion, 25 Bible-training classes for social work, 259, 260 Blindness, caused by infection in infancy, 164, 165; prevented, 203, 204 Blood relationship a social fac- tor, 44 Boy problem, 146; the bad, 166; preventive salvation the solu- tion of, 271, 272; social causes of the, 262-272 Capital — Organized, conflict of, xii Caste, 51 Causes of conditions to be studied, 153 Central Labor Union, church delegates to, 243, 244 Character, of an efficient indi- vidual, 60-62 Charity. See Organized Charity. Evil of indiscriminate, 163? 164; socialized, 157-168 Childhood, neglect of, a cause of spiritual death, 275-278 ChUd-labor, 110 Children, cruelty to, 17 Child-saving, 230 Child-welfare, 17, 18 Church, the, and industrial prob- lems to be related, 179, 180; and mimicipal reform, 179; and the workingman, 238- 250; carrying it to the people, 252-255; educating for social efficiency, 76-80; how it can help the labor movement, 244- 248; how the labor movement can help it, 249, 250; modern social movement not mastered 317 318 THE SOCIAL ENGINEER by, 132, 133; neglect of the boy, 269-271; nonattendance at 129-131; peril of, 128-133; present attitude toward the labor movement, 241-244; spiritual death rate of, 131, 132; to develop leadership in city government, 123, 124; to develop leadership in legis- lation and administration^ 124; to develop leadership in organized charity, 126, 127; to develop leadership in or- ganized labor, 125, 126; to discover powers to the in- dividual, 78; what can it do for social salvation? 235-237 Church buildings, conserved as a Christian resource, 288-290 Church federation, better than competition, xvi; means change of emphasis, 304, 305 ; team work in, 178, 179 Church membership, unorgan- ized, causes spiritual death, 278-282 Church unity, international les- sons and, 9 Church work and the social set- tlement, 258-261; change in methods of, xvi; cooperation in, 23; friction in, xx; illustra- tion of religious engineering, 33, 34; lack of social engineers in, XX Cities, congestion of, xi; causes of, 187-190; fact of, 183-186; relief of, 196, 197; results of, 186, 187; sanitation of, xii City, the, an attractive force, 187-190; high rents in, 188, 189; not a menace, 182, 183 City government, the Church to be a leader in, 123, 124 City problem, the, 181-193 Civic pride, developed, 89, 90 Class-consciousness, highly de- veloped, xi Class distinctions, 40, 41 Classification of social machin- ery, 29; social, 38-41; varie- ties of social, 41-43 Class legislation, 73, 74 Commercial life, changed, 304 Community, neglect of the boy, 268, 269; team work, 169-180 Commuters, 181 Companionships of the boy, 207 Competition, coSperation better than, XV, xvi; in social serv- ice, 24, 25; a wrong concep- tion, 302 Comte, August, on progress, 100 Conditions of living vary, 104; to be studied, 150 Conflict of labor and capital, xii Congestion of population, causes of, 187-190; fact of, 183-186; relief of, 190-193; results of, 186, 187 Congregational Church and the labor movement, 242 Consciousness of kind, 21 Consecration to public welfare, 20 Conservation of child life in church work, 287; of Chris- INDEX 319 tian resources, 283-296; of Christian resources in educa- tion, 292, 293; of church buildings, 288-290; of oppor- tunities for social leadership, 292; of resources through other denominations, 290, 291; of workers in church work, 288; what shall we do? 293-296 Constancy, an element of friend- ship, 118 Conversion, waste after, 291 Cooley, Professor, on social mind, 82 Cooperation, better than com- petition, xvi; by organized effort, 296; in settlement work, 256, 257; in social serv- ice for the community, 169- 180 Country church, how to main- tain its efficiency, 108, 109 Crime caused by congestion of population, 186; prevented, 201-203 Deaconess work, enlarged, 259 Death rate, spiritual, 131-133; causes should be sought, 132; neglect of childhood a cause, 275-278; social causes of, 273, 274 Defective classes, environment and, 158 Definition of social progress, 99- 102; of social sinning, 218-220 Diphtheria, spread of, 223 Disease caused by congestion of population, 186, 187; preven- tion of, 194-198; problem of, 284 Divinity of man the true basis of friendship, 117, 118 Divorce and its causes, 109 Downtown churches, how to maintain the, 108, 286 Drunkenness, prevention of, 198-200; study of the causes of, 200 Ecclesiastical carpetbaggers, not to be employed, 295, 296 Economist, idea of progress, 94 Education, change of emphasis needed, 300-307; conserva- tion of Christian resources in, 292; emptasis on personality, 299, 300; progress measured, 97, 98; social emphasis in modem, 297-307; true, 70-72 Educational agencies socialized, 89 Educational institutions, social efficiency in, 76 Educator, the, demands prog- ress, 96; idea of progress, 94 Efficiency, the Church educating for, 76-80; an educational problem, 70-72; esteem neces- sary to, 67; knowledge neces- sary for, xxii; lack of, in an adult Bible class, 171, 172; of the country church main- tained, 108, 109; of individ- uals, 58-81; of individuals, hard to estimate, 65, 66; phjrs- ical endurance necessary to. 320 THE SOCIAL EJSTGINEEE 67, 68; social — in educational institutions, 76; in govern- ment, 73; in industry, 74-76; in leadership, 68-81; in legis- lation, 73; in organized char- ity, 76, 76; in philanthropy, 75, 76; in religious activity, 75; utilized, 72-76; Sunday schools a training groimd for, 77; waste due to lack of, is Elimination of mischievous ele- ments, 154 Employers, the church and, 245- 247; liabiUty for accidents, 160, 161 Environment and defective classes, 158; regeneration of, 210, 211 Equality, does not exist, 38, 39 Esteem, necessary to efficiency, 67 Ethics, progress measured, 98; too individuaUstic, 305, 306 Eugenics, 155 Evils caused by individuals, 11; not intended, 10, 11 Evolution, not a true basis for friendship, 116, 117 Factories, encouraged to build in suburbs, 192 Family disintegration, 114, 115; neglect of the boy, 265-268; re- lation to social diseases,109,110 Foreigners, race affinity in the cities, 189; rural lack of sym- pathy with, 189, 190 Frankness, an element of friend- ship, 119 Frauds, discovered, 301, 302 Friendship, as a social force, 112- 121; basis of, 115-118; char- acteristics of true, 118-120; Christian, 120, 121 Function of social organization, 19 Gambling, legislation on, 231; suppressed, 8, 9 Giddings, Franklin H., on prog- ress, 101 ; on social mind, 81 Golden Age, the, 92 Golden Rule, the basis of social justice, 240 Gompers, Samuel, on the liquor traffic, 162 Government, social efficiency in, 73 Great man in society, the, 59, 62-64 Health. See Public Health; of school children, xii, xiii Hebrew people, idea of progress, 93 Hegel, on progress, 99, 100 Heredity and environment, 158; defectiveness and, 165; guard- ing the sources of life, 212, 213 Heroism, a social factor, 46 Hospitals, outdoor patients, xiii team work for social service in, 175, 176; wanting in rural communities, 189 Hudson-Fulton celebration, 130, 131 Human nature, integrity of, 365 Humanity, progress of, 102 INDEX 321 Imitation, the law in settlement work, 256 Individual, ability to express in activities, 65; difficult to esti- mate efficiency of, 65, 66; efficiency an educational prob- lem, 70-72; the product of society, 63; progress, 101, 102 Industrial accidents, a cause of poverty, 160, 161 Industrial problems, the Church to be related to, 179, 180 Industry, facilities for, a cause of congestion, 189; social effi- ciency in, 74-76 Infant mortality, due to diseased milk, 139 Insanity and isolation, 64; pre- vented, 204 Institutions, methods to be studied, 152, 153 Insurance frauds, 231 Integrity of human nature, 255 Isolation and insanity, 64; and suicide, 64 Jesus Christ growing in social estimate, 65; idea of neighbor-, liness, 139; idea of progress, 93 Juvenile delinquency, 263-265; team work against, 176, 177 Juvenile delinquents and the laws, 159; stealing junk, 146 Knowledge, necessary for effi- ciency, xxii Labor. See Organized Labor Labor movement, present atti- tude of the Church toward the, 241-244 Law, obsolete, 73, 74 Leadership, conservation of op- portvmities for social, 292; diversities in, 35; in church work, ii; in social service, 25; social, 122-127; social effi- ciency in, 58-81; a social fac- tor, 46 Legislation against social evil, 230-232; the Church to de- velop leadership in, 124; social efficiency in, 73 Lewis, Thomas L., on the liquor traffic, 162, 163 Lincoln, Abraham, activities of, 68 Liquor traffic, 110, 111; a cause of poverty, 161-163; organ- ized character of, 231 Living, standards of, 110 Majority rule, social control to be emphasized not, 305 Marriage of the unfit to be pre- vented, 165 Methodist Episcopal Church and the labor movement, 242, 243; General Conference on social problems, 105-107 Methodist Federation for Social Service, list of problems, 107- 111 Methods called for in social service, 145; observation of others, 146-148; of commu- nity team work, 169-180; of institutions to be studied, 151, 322 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE 152; preventive, of moral re- form, xiv; to change with changing social needs, 261; to be studied, 152 Migration, now by individuals, 303, 304 Milk, diseased, 139 Minister, the, his task to-day, xviii-xx; needs a social en- gineer, XX, xxi Mitchell, John, on the liquor traffic, 162 Model tenements, in New York city, 184, 185 Mohammedanism, conquered Christian territory, 285, 286 Monroe, James P., on social education, 70-72 Moral reform, preventive meth- ods, xiv Municipal reform, the Church and, 179 MutuaUsm and sin, 214 Nation, progress of a, 102 National Bureau for the Con- servation of Child-Life, 18, 230 Needs of society and social or- ganization, 14-17; for dealing with social ills growing, 206 Neighborliness, idea of Jesus, 139; social settlements and good, 257, 258 New York city, congestion of population in, 183-186; ju- venile crime in, 263; prevar lence of venereal disease in, 186, 187 Norms of progress dependent on the kind of achievement, 92- 99 Obedience, a test of friendship, 119 Occupation, sin and the lack of, 167 Ocean Grove Life Guards, 208, 209 Organized charity, social effi- ciency in, 75, 76 Organized labor, 18; change in, XV, xvi; the Church may fail to lead, 133; the Church to develop leadership in, 125, 126; claims of, 110; condi- tions should be studied, 151; in conflict, xii Parable of the good Samaritan, 139 Pauperism, prevention of, 204, 205 Peace, emphasis on the world's, 306, 307 Peril of the Church, 128-133; in failiu'e to attract the mul- titude, 129-131; in failure to master the modem social movement, 132, 133; what is the, 127 Personality the basis of socia] settlement, 85; ministry of, 255-258 Philanthropy, constructive and preventive, 306; the poor and the Church, 157, 160-164; social efficiency in, 75, 76 INDEX 323 Philosopher's idea of progress, Pure food movement, 233, 234 93 Purpose of social organization, 19 Physical factors available for the individual, 69; endurance Quantity not a measure of necessary to eflBciency, 67, 68 progress, 95 Playgrounds, results of the es- tablishment of, 201, 202; to Race affinity, a cause of city be provided, 177 congestion, 189 Poor, the, and church philan- Race prejudice, 109 thropy, 156, 160-164 Rapid transit, its lack a cause Population. See Congestion; of congestion, 188 movements, 303, 304 Rebuke of friendship, 119, 120 Position, a social factor, 45 Religion, its progress measured. Poverty, causes of, 160-164 98 Presbyterian Church and the Religious activity, social effi- labor movement, 242 ciency in, 75 Prevention in social engineering. Religious social engineer, xviii- 194-205; is educational, 215- xxiii 217; method of, 210-213; of Resources, conservation of Chris- crime, 201-203; of defective tian, 283-296 classes, 203, 204; of disease. Responsibility for conditions, to 194-198; of drunkenness, 198- be studied, 149, 150 200; of pauperism, 204, 205; Revivals, backsUders after, 131 salvation in, 206-208; value Roosevelt, Theodore, activities of, 209, 210 of, 68 Preventive work, in moral re- Ross, Professor, on sin in so- form, xiv; the new idea of so- ciety, 221, 222, 225, 232 cial service, 141-144 Rural church problem, 286, 287, Problems, social, 107-111 290, 291 Profession, a social factor, 45 Rural communities, deficiencies Protestant Episcopal Church of, 189, 190; to be made more and the labor movement, 241, attractive, 190-196 242 Rural problem, leaders needed PubUc health, team work for, for the, 297, 298 174, 175; prevention in, 194- 19S Sacrifice, an element of friend- Public opinion, 6-9 ship, 119 Public welfare, consecration to. Saloon, reasons for abolishing 20 the, 198-200 324 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEE Saloon keepers, to be punished 58; aroused, xiv; implies abil- for infringement of law, 168 ity to make use of ideas, 84; Salvation. See Social Salvation; meaning and value of, 3-6; social factors in, 228-235 not to be confounded with Salvation — Preventive, 206-217; social mind, 83 the boy problem solved by. Social control and reform, 12, 271, 272; educational, 215- 13; not majority rule, 305 217; method of, 210, 211; Social diseases and their rela- not negative, 213-215; su- tion to the family, 109, 110 preme emphasis to be placed Social education, 111; James P. on, 296; value of, 209, 210 Monroe on, 70-72 Sanitation, city, xii Social efficiency of individuals, Service. See Social Service; 68-81; utilized, 72-76 not honor, xxi Social emphasis in modem edu- Settlement, the social, 251-261 cation, 297-307 Sewage disposal and typhoid Social engineer, at work, 134- fever, 175 307; in the making, 1-133; Sin and mutualism, 214; of a new type of religious worker society against the individ- needed, 294, 295; why needed? uaJ, 225-227; social conscious- xi-xxiii ness and, xiv, xv; social per- Social engineering, prevention in. spective of, 221-225; social 194-205; preventive salvation salvation and social, 218-237; in, 206-217 to be overcome with good. Social justice, 54; Golden Rule 213 the basis of, 240 Sinning, the, and church phi- Social leadership, 122-127 lanthropy, 156, 166-168 Social machinery, 28-33; and Skill a social factor, 46 social engineering, 26-37; clas- Slum, the, 181 sification of, 29 Social advantage, factors which Social mind, 81-89; conviction give, 43-47 concerning salvation, 20; de- Social barriers, 50-52 velopment of, 84-86; educa- Social class-consciousness, highly tion of, 86-91 ; meaning of, developed, xi 81-85 Social classification, 38-41; var Social morals, illustration of rieties of, 41-43 teaching, 87, 88 Social cleavage, 48-50 Social movement, the, 233-235 Social conflict, 52-55 Social organization, xii, 14-25; Social consciousness, 3-13, 37- kinds of, 21-23; principles of, INDEX 325 19-21; reasons for, 14-18; relation of one to others, 23 Social progress, 91-102; defini- tions of, 99-102; ideas of, 92- 95; kinds to be measured, 97-99; measiu'ed, 95-97 Social reform, 12, 13 Social salvation, 228-237; fac- tors in, 228-235; what can the Church do for? 235-237 Social service, community co- operation in, 169-180; how to work in the fields of, 145- 148; illustrations of, 139-141; individual, 141-144; meaning of, 137-144; method of, xiii- XV ; not taken seriously- enough, 171; specific fields of, 148, 149; study of the fields of, 149-156 Social settlement, the, 251-261; personality and, 85, 86; value of, 252-255 Social sinning, against the indi- vidual, 225-227; and social salvation, 21&-237; definition of, 218-220; of one group against another, 227 Social studies, 103-111; list of specific problems, 107-111; special commission on, 106, 107; specific, 105, 106 Social unity, the result of the modem social movement, xvii Social will, 10-12; possibility of the development of the, 12 SociaUzation of all human life, xiii, xiv Society, the student to be re- lated to it as it is, 87; teaching what it is or is not, 87 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 17, 203 Sociological progress measured, 98 Sociologist, idea of progress, 94 Spencer, Herbert, on progress, 100, 101 Statesman, idea of progress, 95 Stealing, kinds of, 232, 233 Suicide and isolation, 64 Sunday school, the, and church unity, 9; and public opinion, 8; to discover powers to the individual, 78; to furnish mo- tives, 79; a training ground for social efficiency, 77 Sunday schools, class conflict and, 56-58; education of the human mind in, 87; for social service, 24r-32; loss in ado- lescent period, 131, 177, 178; a noneffective Bible class, 171, 172; waste in social service of, 28, 30; work of teacher in adolescent period, 229, 230 Sympathy, aroused by study of the social field, 154, 155 Teaching social morals, an illus- tration, 87, 88; what society is or is not, 87 Team work, for the commimity, 169-180 Tenements, causes of over- crowding, 187-190; coopera- tive, 193; to be improved by law, 191, 192 326 THE SOCIAL ENGINEEK Theological seminaries may train settlement workers, 259 Tramp problem, the, 205 Transmigration of souls not a true basis for friendship, 116 Tuberculosis, prevention of, 196; team work against, 172-174 Typhoid fever, a preventable disease, 174, 175, 196 Unchurched, the, 287, 288 Unemployed, the, xi United Hebrew Charities, work of, in 1901-1907, 193 Utilization of social efficiency, 72-76 Venereal disease, prevalence in New York city, 186, 187, 197; prevention of, 197 Vicarious service, a social factor, 46,47 Waste, due to lack of efficient men, ix ; of Christian resoiu'ces, 283-296; through lapses after conversion, 291, 292 Wealth, as a social factor, 44, 45; its progress measured, 97 Weltanschauung of labor, 240 Wesley, John, activities of, 68 White-slave traffic, breaking up the, 174 Workingmen, the Chiirch and the, 238-250; present attitude of the Church toward the, 241-244 Wundt, Professor, on social mind, 82 Yoimg Men's Christian Associa- tion and the labor movement, , 243 if-, ■-7-./ ^ /^,^^' /^ rl , t -h-T- cl '5 i%M.