Christian Service Series
=^ EDITED BY =====
E. HERSHEY SNEATH, Ph.D., LL.D.
Professor of the Philosophy of Religion and Religious
Education, Yale University

MODERN CHRISTIAN CALLINGS

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
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MODERN CHRISTIAN
CALLINGS

EDITED BY
E. HERSHEY SNEATH

BIBLICAL TEACHING IN SCHOOL AND COLLEGE
BY
IRVING WOOD •
EXECUTIVES FOR CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISES
BY
DWIGHT H. DAY
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIAL WORK
BY
WILLIAM BACON BAILEY

ileto !?or&
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1922
AU rights reserved

Copyright, 1923,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Set up and electrotyped, 1922 ; published, May, 1922

Printed In the United States of America

PREFACE
This book, as the title page indicates, aims to acquaint
the reader with the nature and opportunities of certain
leading Christian Callings and the personal and educa
tional qualifications necessary for success in them. The
work of these professions is so important for the individual
and for society, and the demand for specially trained men
is so great, that it is hoped a book of $iis kind will prove
helpful to young men contemplating some form of such
service as a life work, as well as to the organizations
that represent these Callings in their efforts to secure
recruits. The book is designed primarily for use among
college men.
E. Heeshey Sneath.
Yat.r Untvebsitt, February 22, 1922.

CONTENTS PAET I
Biblical Teaching in School and College
Irving F. Wood, Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Liter
ature and Comparative Religion, Smith College.
PART II
Executives for Church Enterprises
Dwight H. Day, B.A., Secretary of the Board of
Missions, Presbyterian Church.
PART III
Social Service
William Bailey, Ph.D., Formerly Professor of
Practical Philanthropy, Yale University.

PART I
BIBLICAL TEACHING IN SCHOOL AND
COLLEGE By
Irving E. Wood

MODERN CHRISTIAN
CALLINGS

BIBLICAL TEACHING IN SCHOOL AND
COLLEGE
IN numbers Bible teaching is one of the smaller profes
sions. At present probably not more than six hun
dred positions are held by Bible teachers, both men
and women, in the United States; not a thousand among
the English-speaking people in the world. The positions
will increase in numbers, but probably not rapidly nor
extensively. The profession might easily be overcrowded,
but it is not likely to be, because a thorough preparation
for it is a task of labor and patience, and the work is not
one to attract those who "seek great things for them
selves." The fact that the field is so small leads most
people away from it. Up to the present time there has
been a shortage of adequately prepared teachers, and each
year sees a few positions open which are difficult to fill
satisfactorily.
I. The Field op Biblical Teaching
There is a certain limited field in the better private
schools. Many schools teach the Bible, and more would
if they could find properly prepared teachers. The pres
sure upon the teaching time of the schools is great. Sub
jects clamor for admission. College preparation controls
the courses of those students who are going to college. But
many head masters feel that some knowledge of the Bible
3

4 Biblical Teaching in School and College
is an essential part of the equipment of an educated per
son, whether college bred or not. Some church schools
also require the subject. In 1919 a Preliminary Report
of a Committee on the Definition of a Unit of Bible Study
for Secondary Schools1 was published, setting forth a
standard course in Bible which might be used as a unit
of College entrance. The faculties of over two hundred
colleges had already by the spring of 1921 voted to
accept among the optional subjects for entrance one unit
of work in Bible, if done under prepared teachers and
with a thoroughness equal to the work of other subjects
offered for College entrance. Boards of Admission of
Colleges will not be lenient in the requirements of this
subject, for many members of faculties, whose only idea
of Bible study is derived from the memories of the shallow
ness and inefficiency of the "Sunday school work" of their
childhood, look with great suspicion on this as an entrance
subject. That, however, will only make the demand for
properly qualified teachers more urgent. No school that
intends to offer its Bible work for college entrance can
afford, for the sake of its general scholastic reputation,
to have that work poorly done. If it is given into the
hands of whatever teacher happens to have a little less
crowded schedule than others, without regard to prepara
tion or special knowledge, the school may expect to have
its work declined.
Few schools can afford to provide a teacher for Bible
alone. Generally a teacher of Bible in the schools must
be prepared to do some other work also. One change we
may expect in the future. In the past the Bible has
been taught by some one whose main work was Latin or
Mathematics or some other subject. In the future we may
expect that there will be a call for teachers whose main
work is Bible, but who will also be competent to teach
other subjects.
iSee Religious Education, December, 1919 (Vol. XIV), p. 389fl.

The Field of Biblical Teaching 5
It is in the College field that the greatest demand for
teachers of Bible exists, and is likely to exist for an in
definite time in the future. Here there is no question of
combination of the Bible with other work. The self-
respecting college desires its teachers of the Bible to be
as exclusively devoted to their subject as are the teachers
of any other department. It is recognized in all college
circles that the demands for preparation and for keeping
abreast of the progress of scholarship in this subject are
as exacting as in any other.
Over three hundred colleges in the United States offer
a certain amount of Bible work. Approximately one third
of these utilize the entire time of a teacher in Bible, and
in the rest Bible work is done by a teacher who gives a
certain proportion of his time to other teaching. The
combination of Bible with other subjects, however, is not
considered desirable, and is usually only regarded as a
temporary expedient, to be changed as soon as conditions
will permit.
A movement which is likely to increase is that of Junior
Colleges. In some states, as Missouri, there is a definite
relation between the Junior Colleges and the State Univer
sity. Some cities are adding to their high schools local
Junior Colleges, and more are likely to follow the plan.
These Junior Colleges give the first two years of college
work, or, in the case of some local city colleges, only
the first year. The reason for their organization is
that many students who would be glad to take college
work find themselves unable to do so at the close of their
high school course. Such students may obtain at a local
Junior College at least a part of a college course, and
often may be able to proceed to a standard college for
the later years. In some parts of the country ambitious
secondary schools on the one hand and so-called colleges
which have never been able to gain a proper collegiate
equipment on the other, have been able to offer respectable
work as Junior Colleges. The movement has an interest-

6 Biblical Teaching in School and College
ing future with many problems. If handled wisely, it
may be an important factor in the educational system.
Work in Junior Colleges is specially worthy of con
sideration for two reasons. One is that it is liable to
be overshadowed in the minds of prospective teachers by
the greater prestige and glamour of the standard colleges.
The danger is that Junior Colleges will have to content
themselves with the left-overs from the candidates for
college teaching. This ought not to be so. This field
is in some respects as important as that of the standard
college. The teacher will have, in general, more influence
upon his pupils, and will be more closely in touch with
the communities from which they come. His opportunity
for definitely molding life will often be greater than it
would be if he found his work in a large standard college
with many other teachers and with all the diversions of
college life.
The second reason for its special consideration is the
chance it offers to the person of initiation and large vision
to perform a distinctive service for the future. Here is a
field where, amid the rapidly settling forms of our civili
zation, definite pioneer work may still be done. The pos
sible field for Junior Colleges is large. Cities with am
bitious educational departments are very likely to desire
their own Junior Colleges. In the larger cities, some
of these will develop into local city-supported standard
colleges. To help mold their policies and ideals and to
influence the whole movement of which they are a part,
will be a work not insignificant or unimportant. Where
these Junior Colleges are tax-supported, as in the city
schools, the problem of moral and religious teaching wiil
be of great importance. It is as yet wholly unsolved.
It is certain to arise, and tact, wisdom and patience will
be needed in its solution. Here is a great opportunity for
educational and Christian statesmanship.
The State Universities offer a different but kindred
group of problems which are still for the most part await-

The Eield of Biblical Teaching Y
mg solution. How shall the religious needs of their large
body of students be met? That it will be met we may
assume. Religion as a factor in all worthy education is
being recognized as it has not been before.
There are two phases of the problem. One is what may
be called the pastoral side; how to keep the students in
touch with the church and its religious influence. The
other is the teaching side; how to introduce the study of
the Bible and of religion to the scholarly consciousness of
the students. This is the teacher's problem. Its difficulty
lies in the necessity of avoiding the charge of sectarianism
in state supported schools. The non-sectarian character
of public education in a democracy is right and must be
carefully guarded. None should be mor^e careful to guard
it than those who profess to be working for religious
education. Those who laud ethics must not be unethical.
At present the teaching problem is met in two ways.
In some states schools of religion are formed whose courses
are recognized by the university and, under certain reason
able conditions, are credited toward degrees. The con
ditions and standards for the accrediting of such courses
in connection with the University of Illinois were pub
lished in Religious Education, April, 1920. Among the
specifications is, that the teachers in these schools shall
have a Ph.D. from a university of recognized standing,
or an equivalent education acceptable to the University.
Teachers in such affiliated schools will need to be thor
oughly equipped and to possess more than the usual meas
ure of ability and personality; but the rewards in service
to the state and in construction of character will be pro
portionally great.
In other states courses in the Bible and the history of
religion and kindred subjects are introduced, sometimes
in connection with chairs of ancient history or Semitics.
This plan gives the teacher the technical advantage of
working directly under the university, but he must be care
ful not to arouse sectarian jealousies. He will need also

8 Biblical Teaching ist School and College
to keep his aim of religious idealism very clearly defined,
or he will find himself working only on the level of in
tellectual effort. For the right man with the right ideals
state university teaching offers a field of great useful
ness. The positions in state universities are at present very
few in number. They will never be numerous. Another
field, also limited, is the teaching in professional schools
of theology. Here technical scholars are needed in Semitic
languages and Biblical and Patristic Greek. The older
tradition that all theological students must be able to read
the Bible in Hebrew is passing ; some think it a pity. But
certainly it is to be hoped that there will always be a group
of students of theology who will only be satisfied with
thorough Biblical scholarship. They ought to realize that
they cannot be thorough students of the Bible without
Greek and Hebrew.
As the pressure of a wider range of studies takes from
the time formerly given to Greek and Hebrew it becomes
all the more necessary that the study of the Bible offered
to theological students should be given by teachers of the
widest and most thorough Biblical scholarship, combined
with a clear insight into modern life. Religious leaders
must, if Christianity is to keep its power, go out from
the schools of theology with the ability to make clear to
the church and the world the connection between the
principles of Biblical religion and the needs of the world
to-day. Their teachers must help them to see this con
nection. II. The Differentiation of Biblical Teaching
The needs of the secondary school differ from those of
the college and these from the needs of the professional
school; and to each the teaching of the Bible must be
adapted. In the secondary school must be given some
elementary knowledge of the great facts of Hebrew his-

The Differentiation of Biblical Teaching 9
tory; a familiarity with the more important stories of
the Bible; an appreciation of its great characters, includ
ing that of Christ ; and the principles of Biblical religion
and ethics in their application to the life of to-day. This
can be summed up thus: A reasonable familiarity with
(a) the contents of the Biblical story, (b) the elements
of Biblical history; (c) the fundamentals of Biblical re
ligion. By a reasonable familiarity is meant the knowl
edge which will make a person intelligent in the common
Biblical uses of English literature and in the application
of Biblical principles to the problems of daily life and
of public affairs. It covers both the "cultural" and the
"practical" side of education.
In colleges the aim is again twofold: "cultural" and
"practical." On the "cultural" side, however, it is not
merely to gain familiarity with Biblical stories or the
bare facts of Hebrew history, but primarily to trace the
growth of Biblical history and literature, that students
may see how the evolution of man has worked in the field
of Hebrew life ; to be able to appreciate the great types of
Biblical literature, — story, prophecy, poetry, apocalypse,
and, in the New Testament, letters. Students should be
able to make some intelligent comparison of Biblical lit
erature with the literature of other races and other times.
This is the cultural objective toward which the college
course must move. It involves the ability to understand,
appreciate and sympathize with a life and civilization not
our own.
Now this is culture abstractly defined ; but the process
of gaining it is concrete. In the Bible, it means a study
of the various sources of the Hexateuch, and the purpose
and point of view of each; of the aims of the writers of
the books of the Bible; of the social situation which called
forth the fire of Amos and Micah ; of the politics of Isaiah
and Jeremiah ; of the passoniate hope with which Ezekiel
and the Second Isaiah met the despair of the exile ; of the
causes and the limitations of apocalyptic writing; of the

10 Biblical Teaching in School and College
inter-relations of the synoptic gospels and of the occasions
of Paul's letters. But all through these literary and re
ligious studies the modern college student must be made
to feel the pulsing of life, with the fundamental human
passions which thrill in the world about him to-day. Then
his study of the Bible will issue in sympathy, which is,
after all, only another name for culture.
But, great as it is, the cultural aspect is the smaller
part of the object of college teaching of the Bible. Edu
cation must issue in a better life. Culture as the sympa
thetic understanding of other life makes the cultured per
son's own life richer and more useful. Here the teachers
of the Bible possess an advantage over the teachers of
other literatures. Most of the Bible — all except the minor
books of Esther and the Song of Songs — was written for
a religious purpose. One cannot study the books of the
Bible from a purely literary point of view without finding
himself soon in the presence of a religious ideal. That
the religious beliefs of some writers differ from that of
others and those of most writers from our own beliefs at
some points is an advantage to the College teacher. It
forces a critical examination of the foundations of re
ligious beliefs. This helps immensely in the readjust
ment of religious ideas which is usually going on in a
student's mind. Thus the teacher of the Bible can, with
out the least intrusion upon the sacred bounds of the stu
dent's personality, assist as no other teacher can in meet
ing the plain obligation which rests upon the college to
"help the student's religious development keep pace with
his development in other aspects of life and culture."
People of conservative points of view sometimes com
plain that the modern college teacher of the Bible "up
sets" his students ; that his teaching tends to unsettle the
faith of their childhood. That depends very largely on
what the faith of their childhood was. If it was a static
faith, staking all religion on the truth of certain opinions
about the Bible — e. g., that its science and history must be

The Differentiation of Biblical Teaching 11
accurate or else its religion is false — and on the correct
ness of certain theological doctrines, then the student
does not need to reach the Bible class to be "upset." Sci
ence and philosophy usually do the work. As a matter of
fact, the Bible department, in such cases, often performs
the part of a wrecking expedition, rescuing the remnants
of a shattered faith and showing the students how they
may build a stable foundation for religious life. If the
faith of their childhood provided for growth and change
with the growing, changing life, then there is no "upset
ting," no wrecking of faith by Biblical of any other study.
Then religion simply expands with the progress of knowl
edge as plants expand in the sunshine and shower of the
spring, naturally, easily, without struggle or strain. This
is what should be. Why should the readjustment in re
ligious ideals be any more painful than the social read
justment from a family-centered world to a world of wide
obligations? This happier conception of religion is far
more frequent among students than it was a few years
ago. Less and less often is the teacher of the Bible obliged
to see the pitiful sight of the slow rebuilding of a wrecked
childhood faith.
The needs of the professional schools are different still.
The Biblical training of pastors, Y. M. C. A. secretaries,
and other religious leaders must be in the use of the Bible
as a factor in the development of religious experience. It
must include two elements. One is a training in the more
technical elements of modern Biblical study as a back
ground of the thorough Biblical knowledge which a re
ligious leader should possess ; the other is a more careful
study than is possible in the college course of Biblical
thought and its relation to the thought and life of to-day.
The church especially needs pastors who will neither in
terpret Biblical religion narrowly, nor be obliged to aban
don the Bible and its teachings when they approach the
gravest problems of modern life because they are funda
mentally ignorant of the foundation principles of its

12 Biblical Teaching in School and College
teaching. In addition to these needs, the professional
school must offer, if its tradition of pure scholarship is to
be preserved, work of a highly technical character, for
which teachers are needed who have a genius for spe
cialized investigation. III. The Biblical Curriculum
The curriculum of Biblical study in secondary schools
on the one hand, and in graduate and professional schools
on the other, is determined by circumstances. In sec
ondary schools what colleges will accept is liable to dom
inate the curriculum in this as in other subjects. In gen
eral that course will be wisely planned; but no teacher
ought to make himself a slave to it. If he feels that he
can effectively do some portion of his work in his own
way he should have that liberty, especially where the work
is not to be offered for college entrance. The great prob
lems of making a curriculum come in college work. The
subject has no traditions. As a college study it has
grown up entirely within the present generation. The
pioneer teachers of it are still at work. These teachers
had no models to follow. They worked out their own
plans and developed their own elective and, in certain
places, required courses, with no aid from tradition and
little from consultation. Not till after the founding of
the Religious Education Association in 1903 was there
any medium of common knowledge of what was being
done. In 1911 an association of the teachers of Bible in
Schools and Colleges was formed, which meets annually
in or near New York in the Christmas holidays for the
discussion of aims and methods in Bible teaching. Tradi
tions and standards are beginning to appear as the result
of the comparison of the independent experience of many
teachers. It is interesting that without much consultation the
Biblical curriculum has taken a somewhat definite form.

The Biblical Curriculum 13
In nearly all colleges a general fundamental course is of
fered, upon which all other Biblical work is based. This
is sometimes called Hebrew History and sometimes Bibli
cal Introduction or Biblical Literature. The difference
is largely a difference of emphasis ; in one kind of course
the history is studied with the literature introduced in
its proper chronological order ; in the other, the literature
is studied in order, with the introduction of so much of
the history as shall make the occasion and purpose of the
literature plain. In either kind of course the purpose is
to understand the Bible ; to know why the writers of the
various books wrote and what it was they wished to say;
to be able by historic sympathy to look at life in some
measure as they looked at it; and then to come back to
the problems of our own life bringing their answers to the
problems of their life. Their answers do not always fit
our problems, but the fundamental religious principles
upon which their answers rest usually underlie our
answers. Upon the basis of this comprehensive course other
courses should be offered, suited in number and subject
to the student's needs and the teacher's interests. Here
may come a thorough study of some of the teachings of
Jesus, or a more careful study of some particular portion
of the literature ; apocalyptic or Johannine or Pauline. A
study of Biblical thought in its historical development is
specially fitted for the upper years. So is the social ethics
of New Testament Christianity. In general, courses in
the upper college years should be concerned not with the
gathering of mere historic facts, but with the development
of ideas, with their criticism and with their application
to the conditions of present life. A teacher of Biblical
literature may profitably ask himself, "How would a
teacher of the history of Greek or French literature deal
with this book if it lay in his field ?" A teacher of courses
appropriate to upper classes may ask, "How would a
teacher of the history of ethics or of economic theory deal

14 Biblical Teaching in School and College
with this subject if it lay in his field?" The first thing
college students need is definite information; the second
is power to think. The Biblical courses ought ,to con
tribute to both disciplines.
The following are two arrangements of the subjects
from which a curriculum of a Biblical department may
select its material:
I. A three-fold classification:
(1) Religion — its philosophy, psychology, history.
(2) Biblical religion — its history, literature, content.
(3) Practical religion — its organization and conduct.1
II. A four-fold division :
Group I. Religion: (1) Psychology, (2) Ethics, (3)
The History of Religion, (4), The Philosophy of Re
ligion. Group II. Biblical Religion: (1) Biblical History,
(2) Biblical Literature, (3) Biblical Religion, (4) Bibli
cal Language.
Group III. Christian Religion: (1) History of Chris
tianity, (2) The Social Problems of Christianity, (3)
The Propagation of Christianity.
Group IV. Religious Education: (1) The History of
Education, (2) Methods and Practice Work.2
Neither of these schemes is arranged in the order of
presentation in a college course. That order should pro
ceed from the concrete to the abstract. They are valuable
as giving the field within which lie the legitimate sub
jects of a department of Biblical study. One sees that
the field is wider than the Bible. The department which
deals with it at all adequately may very properly be called,
not The Department of Biblical Literature, but The De
partment of Religion. Some teachers prefer this wider
title.

1 Professor H. T. Fowler, Religious Education, Vol. X, No. 4,
p. 357.
2 Professor I. J. Ismar, Religious Education, Vol. X, No. 4, p. 362.

Related Subjects 15

IV. Related Subjects
In ordinary school and college work the teacher of the
Bible will often be called upon to teach kindred subjects.
In schools the teacher of the Bible may expect to teach
other subjects out of the ordinary school curriculum. In
college he ought not to be called upon to teach unrelated
subjects, any more than the teacher of Greek or Mathe
matics or Chemistry. There are, however, certain re
lated subjects which fall more or less appropriately within
his proper field. A glance through the catalogues of col
leges will show that few Bible teachers confine themselves
strictly to teaching the Bible.
The following subjects are often included with the
Bible in college curricula:
1. A Group of Philosophical Subjects. Psychology of
Religion. This subject has come to the front with the
present generation. The pioneer work on modern lines
was Starbuck's Psychology of Religion, 1899. Since then
the subject has commanded constantly increased attention.
A good body of material for study has been gathered,
though there is much need for more work. The subject
belongs properly to the department of psychology. No one
but a trained psychologist should handle it. If, however,
the department of psychology does not wish to take it, and
if the teacher of Bible has the proper training, it may
properly fall within his sphere. He is constantly dealing
with material belonging to the subject ; the propbetic con
sciousness, the effect of sacrifice and temple ritual, the in.
citement to faith in the exile, the apocalyptic psychology,
Paul's conversion, and much else. If the subject is taught
in the department of psychology he may cooperate by con
tributing much to its material, and it should in turn throw
light on many Biblical situations.
Philosophy of Religion. This subject is as old as the
problem of God and His relation to the world. Its roots

16 Biblical Teaching in School and College
lie in Greek philosophy. It belongs properly to the de
partment of philosophy. It needs for its proper treat
ment a wide and sympathetic knowledge of the history of
philosophy. Now the Bible is not philosophical in the
technical sense. The Hebrews never raised problems of
reality or of the universe. They assumed an immediate
relation between God and the world, but they did not dis
cuss it. We, who are intellectual descendants of the
Greeks and religious descendants of the Hebrews, find
the religious assumptions of the Bible immediately rais
ing philosophical problems. The teacher of the Bible
whose students feel the delightful freedom of saying what
they really think in his classroom will frequently find
himself presented with questions from the field of the
philosophy of religion. But if it is not offered by the de
partment of philosophy, and if the teacher of Bible has
the proper qualifications, the subject may well appear in
the Biblical department.
2. A Group of Historical Subjects. Oriental History.
In many colleges the main Biblical course is called He
brew History. Aside from this, however, the develop
ment of the ancient Oriental civilizations not only throws
light upon the Bible, but is worth study for its illustra
tions of the laws of historic evolution. The teacher with
the needed equipment may well bring this historical study
down to the present. It is a fascinating study, rich in
material for the understanding of historical movements
in the west as well as in the east.
Oriental history opens to the teacher two temptations.
One is that of superficiality. It is easy to teach names
and dates out of text books and leave the whole subject a
mere valley of dry bones; yet nowhere in the world have
the movements of history brought more tragedy or triumph,
more suffering or comfort to the people. No one ought
to teach the subject till he has so lived himself into it that
these eastern lands are not remote and strange, but a vital
part of the brotherhood of humanity. Eastern travel may

Related Subjects 17
help in this sympathy, but a man with a vivid historical
imagination who has never crossed the ocean may yet
have felt the throb of reality in the life of the Orient.
The other temptation is the opposite. It is the danger
of swamping the work with historical or archseological
detail. It would be easy to spend a year on Egyptian
Archaeology or on the patesis and kings of the old Baby
lonian empire. Such courses should be kept for graduate
work in universities. The undergraduate needs a course
which will prepare him to understand the laws of his
torical development.
The History of Religion. This subject naturally be
longs to the Biblical department, whose chief topic is the
literature of religion. It is one of the broadest subjects in
the college curriculum; so broad that in universities it is
often distributed among the specialists in Sanskrit, Ara
bic, Greek, and other subjects. No one can cover the
entire field at first hand. For a large part of it he must
stand upon the shoulders of others. A teacher of the sub
ject ought to know, in some measure of intimacy, the lit
erature and language of at least one religion beside the
Biblical religions. If he has a technical knowledge of
two he may consider himself fortunate. He can hardly
expect to have read the religious literature in Arabic,
Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and ancient Persian, yet he will
be teaching all these and more. He must, however, have
read widely and carefully in translation; but more than
this, he must possess the historical imagination which
makes it possible for him to carry his classes with him
into points of view far different from their own. He
must make them think with Hindu philosophers and feel
with Moslem mullahs. Students of the history of re
ligion must not sit outside a religion and criticise it. If
that is all that can be done it is doubtful if the subject is
worth study. They must enter into its holy of holies
and know why it has commanded the services of myriads
of men through centuries of time.

18 Biblical Teaching in School and College
.Much of the time of a class in the history of religion
must be given to a mastery of the facts of the subject.
This, however, is never the main purpose of the course-.
The study should issue in a clear understanding of the
laws of religious growth and decay. Why did a religion
appeal ? Why did it spread to other lands or remain
fixed ? What elements in it changed and why ? What
makes a religion missionary ? What is the effect of mysti
cism and ritualism and asceticism in religion? Under
what circumstances do religions decay ? Students who
have asked such questions of other religions are in a posi
tion to understand the movements in their own religion.
The bane of the judgment of Christianity in Christian
lands has been that neither its critics nor its defenders
have had any knowledge of the general laws of religious
evolution. Incidentals have too often been regarded as es
sentials and natural changes as disastrous decay. The
study of the history of religion should, by developing a
scientific criticism of religion, make such ignorant judg
ments impossible to educated persons in the future.
The History of Christian Thought. This is in reality
a part of the history of religion. It is not the technical
study of theology as that subject is studied in a theologi
cal seminary. It is a study of our Christian heritage of
thought ; the way it grew up, the changes of religious em
phasis in the past century and the present trends of Chris
tian thinking. Its aim is to help the students under
stand the Christian religion, past and present, and to help
them adjust religion to the needs of the new day in which
they will live. Christianity is making great changes of
emphasis, even of opinion, but the spirit of Christ was
never more regnant than it is to-day. What the changes
mean and what is needed in the immediate future, such
a course as this ought to help the student to see. No de
partment except the Biblical department is likely to of
fer the course. The Bible alone will not prepare the

Related Subjects 19
teacher for it. He must understand the doctrines of the
past, and most of all, the driving force of religion to-day,
Protestant and Catholic, ritualistic and mystical, individ
ual and social. If he can interpret the Christian world to
his students he will be doing perhaps his largest service
to the kingdom of God.
3. A Group of Subjects Interpreting Biblical Re
ligion. Already, in discussing courses on the history of
Christian thought, we have approached this field. Here
also lie courses in Biblical thought, in the ethics or social
teaching of Jesus, in the letters and ideas of Paul, and
much other directly Biblical material. There are, how
ever, certain subjects lying outside the immediate Biblical
field. Christian Fundamentals. Other names may be used,
but under any title the essence of the course is a study
of the structural conceptions of the Christian view of
God and the world in their relation to modern knowl
edge and ethical and social ideals. Schleiermacher wrote
of "pectoral theology" — theology of the heart. This
course is "vital theology" — theology of the life. It tries to
accomplish for the student much the same as the course
in the history of Christian thought — to interpret re
ligion in terms of present life, — but it does it not by trac
ing the history of Christian concepts, but by subjecting
the fundamental ideas of the religion to the criticism of
reason in the light of present ideals. How can the man
of to-day interpret the Christian concepts of God, Christ,
prayer, the kingdom of God, social righteousness? Such
problems form the content of the course. The need for
such a course is great. In this day, when we make large
pretense of prizing clear thinking on all other subjects,
even scholarly people are too often content with absurdly
nebulous notions in religion. Those interested in the prep
aration of missionaries and other Christian workers de
mand such a course. Students respond to it with readi-

20 Biblical Teaching in School and College
ness. It is a popular fallacy that students are not in
terested in clarifying their religious thinking. There are
few fields of thought in which they are more interested.
One of the reasons why religion seems unreal to so many
of them is that they have been led to suppose it to be a
subject on which clear thinking from modern points of
view is no longer possible. A Christian college ought to
show them that it is possible.
Not every good Bible teacher, however, is fitted to
teach this course. A knowledge of theology, present as
well as past, a still more intimate knowledge of the trends
of modern scientific and social thought, and some apti
tude for philosophic thinking, are needed. Still more is
needed the power of sympathy with inchoate thinking,
with conceptions half grown or even only coming to birth,
whether these be in the minds of students feeling their
way into religious light, or in the growing consciousress
of the social world in which we live to-day. The danger
is that such a course may be either the easy study of
theology-in-a-book or sentimental generalizings on religion •
and life. He who would really help modern students
must grip things deep down and do hard thinking on the
profoundest problems of modern life.
Christian Ethics. This is sometimes treated as the
study of Christian ethical theory, sometimes as "applied
ethics," which means Christian ethical standards applied
to modern life. What Christianity demands in the con
duct of life is a question pressing for answer in the mod
ern world. Intelligent Christianity must answer it or con
fess failure. It is a fitting subject for college study. But
this is another subject wliich merely Biblical study will
not prepare a teacher to handle. What was said in the
last paragraph about the need of clear knowledge and
deep sympathy with present life and thought holds true
here also. Especially must the teacher be in sympathy
with the best in present social movements, and yet he

Related Subjects 21
should not be led away from the plain facts of economic
law and human tendency by a misty idealism out of touch
with reality, however vigorously it asserts its Christian
character. The world needs few things more than clear
and sane teaching on Christian ethics. It can dispense
with nothing more easily than with sentimental, half-in
formed theorizing which dignifies benevolent social dreams
with the term Christian. If the teacher of the Bible is
ignorant of economics and sociology he will aid the sub
ject most by letting it alone.
4. Religious Education. This subject is now com
manding much attention. It is one of the new subjects,
only recently appearing in college curricula. As the study
of the principles of religious education it involves re
ligious and educational psychology. As the study of the
methods of religious education it demands an intimate
knowledge of past and present methods of developing the
religious life in children and youths. The teacher should
know Catholic catechetical methods as well as Protestant
Sunday Schools. He must keep himself informed regard
ing the rapidly developing methods of religious education
in the present; and no subject outside the kaleidoscope
of politics is sbifting more rapidly. The teacher who is
able and willing to meet the exacting demands of this sub
ject and who has the proper background of psychology
and educational history can help meet a very pressing
need by teaching it. It belongs with the department of
education more directly than with the Biblical depart
ment, but it seems to be falling to the latter most often.
There is a growing demand for it. The danger is that
unprepared teachers will, under the pressure of this de
mand, take it up. Biblical knowledge in itself furnishes
very little preparation for it. When a teacher knows
enough of education to give a course in its principles then
he has the basis for special preparation to teach religious
education.

22 Biblical Teaching in School and College
5. A Group of Linguistic Subjects. In some colleges
Biblical Greek and Hebrew are offered. Biblical Greek
may often be taught better by the Greek department, if
that department possesses a teacher interested in the in
terpretation of the thought as well as the language of the
New Testament. The new discoveries of Egyptian Greek
papyri have thrown so much light on the language of the
New Testament that its proper teaching calls for more
recent knowledge than can be found in the older books.
Hebrew is not likely to be coveted by any other depart
ment, nor are classes in it likely to be large. For one
who loves language teaching even a few students offer a
rewarding work. Hebrew is an appropriate college sub
ject, both for those who propose to go on with Biblical
studies and for the larger number interested in linguis
tics. Students of language ought to study some language
outside the Aryan group. The best and easiest language
for comparison is Hebrew. It has its intrinsic interest.
It is not difficult, as languages go. It is far easier than
Arabic, for instance. A year's study of it will yield much
more command of its literature than a year's study of
Greek or Sanskrit. As a means of general linguistic cul
ture Hebrew might well command more interest than it
does at present.
It is obvious that no one teacher can teach all these
subjects. It is not necessary that any one institution
should offer them all. In general, a department ought to
offer some subject outside strictly Biblical work. The
needs of present life call for it. A teacher cannot usually
handle, in addition to Biblical work, more than one or
two of the subjects listed; the demands for preparation
and for keeping abreast of current advances are too great.
If he can, however, teach adequately some subject of vital
present interest akin to his Biblical work, he will do a
needed service to Christian life and will bring to his Bible
study the richness of his contact with modern prob
lems.

Qualities Needed in the Biblical Teacher 23

V. Qualities Needed in the Biblical Teacher
A work so exacting is of necessity exacting in its de
mands of qualification and equipment.1 Personality
counts for more in the teaching of Bible than in most sub
jects. Another quality specially needed is initiative and
resourcefulness. The subject is new in colleges. The
traditions of its teaching are still unformed. Experi
ments must be tried. Methods better than any yet de
vised will still be discovered. Few college subjects offer
so much field for the spirit of pioneering. The subject
should appeal to the person who loves to follow his own
paths, provided he has the skill to ma^e them attractive
paths to others. For the rest, the qualities called for are
those which make a successful teacher anywhere ; power
of sympathy, patience with slow and even with careless
students, ability for inspired leadership, capacity to think
clearly and to express thought simply, and a love of gain
ing and imparting knowledge. The teacher must be far
more than a mere student. Ease of gaining knowledge
does not in itself make a teacher. It may even be a
hindrance, for it may cause a feeling of impatient con
tempt for those more slow in mental processes. The good
teacher usually finds himself thinking more of his stu
dents and of how he may make his subject plain to them,
as the years go on. The class room is a delight, not a
bore to him. He finds the hour all too short. He counts
the recitation a failure if he has not carried the interest
of every student every minute. He cultivates simplicity,
for he knows that obscurity is not profundity. In a great
subject he chooses the essentials for teaching. His most
carefully considered problem is what to leave out. He
1 See an excellent article on Training the College Teacher of
Biblical Literature by Professor C. F. Kent, in Religious Education,
Vol. X, No. 4, pp. 327-332. The same number contains other arti
cles of interest to the candidate for Biblical teaching.

24 Biblical Teaching in School and College
knows that sooner or later every subject relates itself to
life. He desires above all two things: that the student
shall understand the subject, and that he shall see its rela
tion to life. In short, a good_ teacher loves to teach. That
is the quality with which he begins. Then he takes in
finite pains with his own scholarship and with his teach
ing methods. These things count more than mere scholar
ship in the success of a teacher.
VI. Scholastic Preparation for the Biblical
Teacher
Scholastic preparation for this field of teaching may
well begin in college. It should of course include Latin
and Greek, the latter with especial thoroughness. Like
the specialist in all fields, the teacher of Bible needs
French and German. If he can begin Hebrew in college
that will save time later, but it should not be at the expense
of other essentials. History, especially Ancient and Ori
ental, is necessary, and still more necessary is familiarity
with the spirit and method of modern historical study.
Also indispensable are the methods of literary criticism
and the power of literary appreciation, for these belong
to all literature alike. A course in some natural science
should give the spirit of modern scientific study. The
history of philosophy is valuable, and, for teaching the
structure of Christian thought, necessary. Ethics will be
needed for the study of Biblical ethics. One of the fields
of greatest interest in Biblical studies at present is the
social ethics of the Bible, and especially of Jesus. A
knowledge of present social theories is essential for com
parison. If the history of religion or religious education
can be studied it will be helpful.
Some of these subjects must be postponed to the years
of graduate study. For graduate study two plans are open.
The student may go to a theological school. If this be the
decision a school should be chosen which has special facili-

Scholastic Preparation for the Teacher 25
ties for preparation for teaching. So much special prepa
ration is necessary that the ordinary studies best fitted for
the preacher will not allow time for what is needed. The
teacher is not a preacher and the preparation for the two,
identical at some points, is diverse at others. The second
plan is to seek preparation at one of the Universities
which emphasize Biblical studies. Formerly such studies
could only be found in a theological school; now several
of the larger universities provide excellent graduate work
in this field. Personal circumstances must decide which
of these two plans is followed. If the theological school is
chosen, it opens the way for the teacher to add to his teach
ing work occasional service in the pulpit. He must never
yield to the temptation of allowing this to burden his
teaching. Especially must he refuse to take the care of
a church during his teaching year. Time and strength
do not allow a man to be both teacher and pastor. If he
has chosen to put his life into his class room he must re
nounce the joys of the pastorate. His preaching must be
incidental and secondary, only to help out churches and
ministerial friends in time of need. Nor must he allow
his preparation to give him the preaching attitude toward
the Bible, the homiletical type of mind. He must not be
looking for "lessons" and "applications." He must rather
search to find exactly what the writers of these books were
trying to say.
The Bible teacher must have a thorough knowledge of
Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic and Hellenistic Greek. The
present tendency is to minimize these in a pastor's prepa
ration — more's the pity. But the teacher must never omit
them. Can you imagine a man devoting his life to teach
ing French literature with no knowledge of French ? Of
course there can be no Biblical scholarship worthy the
name without a knowledge of the Biblical languages. The
teacher, if possessed of any particular linguistic ability,
should have an especially thorough knowledge of either
Hebrew or Hellenistic Greek. If specializing in Hebrew

26 Biblical Teaching in School and College
he should know at least one other Semitic language for
comparison; Arabic for its richness of literature and vo
cabulary, or Assyrian for its light on the Old Testament,
or Syriac for its use in New Testament versions. If spe
cializing in Hellenistic Greek he should read largely in
the Septuagint and in the Apostolic fathers and in the
newly discovered Greek writings of the Hellenistic period
in Egypt. In most college work this knowledge is not for
direct teaching, but for the background and foundation
of his own scholarly work. Further foundation should be
laid in familiarity with Oriental geography and history,
especially of the Semitic races ; the course of events and
their causes; the customs, religious and political ideas,
habits of thought, and national points of view at the dif
ferent stages of the Semitic development. He must know
Babylonian literature and law for comparison with the
Bible. In connection with the New Testament he must
know Philo and Jewish-Alexandrian thought and the po
litical and social life of the early Christian world.
He should emphasize Hebrew History and Biblical In
troduction. The great body of his teaching is likely to lie
within these fields. He should know especially the spirit
and method of prophecy; the prophetic and priestly edit
ing of ancient tradition and more recent story in the nar
rative books ; the point of view of the Hebrew sages, the
writers of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus and
the Wisdom of Solomon ; the origin, growth and contents
of Apocalyptic Literature, Biblical and extra-Biblical ; the
thrilling history of the Maccabees ; the intricacies of Gos
pel relations; the teaching of Jesus and the thought of
Paul. These are only the larger outlines of the Biblical
subjects which must be known to the teacher. Even these
will have to be, at some points, merely sketched in dur
ing his preparation and filled out later. Above all, his
study must yield him on one hand power to appreciate
and ability to work with the purpose and method of mod
ern Biblical scholarship, and on the other, an apprecia-

Scholastic Preparation for the Teacher 27
tion of the spiritual content of the Bible and of the abid
ing value of its religious principles in the life of all the
ages. It is this abiding value which takes the Bible out
of mere ancient literature and sets it in the center of
modern life.
In speaking above of the cognate subjects which some
times fall to the college teacher of Bible, something was
said regarding the preparation needed to teach them.
Each has its own field and might well call for as extensive
preparation as Bible teaching itself.
It will be seen that an adequate preparation to teach
the Bible is more than the equivalent of a Ph.D. course in
the best universities. Now a doctorate has no scholastic
magic of its own. Neither if he has a Ph. D. is a teacher
the better nor if he has it not is he the worse, but it is at
present in America a sort of hall-mark of scholarship.
The teacher of the Bible cannot afford to work with a
lower grade of scholarship than that for which it stands.
But no matter how thorough his knowledge of his subject,
he will say with the scientist Agassiz, "The longer I live
the more I know that I know nothing."

PART II
EXECUTIVES FOR CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISES
By
Dwight H. Day

MODERN CHRISTIAN
CALLINGS
EXECUTIVES FOR CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISES
EXECUTIVE Officers are necessary in any organized
enterprise requiring administration, from a Presi
dent for the United States to an Executive Secretary
for a small Committee, — if that Committee proposes to do
things. Some one, duly chosen, must be regularly availa
ble, charged with the responsibility of carrying out the pro
gram and decisions of the body behind him, be it Gov
ernment, Board of Directors, Trustees, or Committeemen.
Thus, Christian enterprises, some of them organized on
a vast scale, with connections in every country of the globe,
must have their Executives, generally called Secretaries
and Treasurers. The best known and strongest of these
avowedly Christian organizations are the Boards or Ex
ecutive Committees established by the Protestant Church
bodies or Denominations for conducting and supervising
the work which they as Church bodies desire to promote
and support. The activities thus represented cover a wide
field, in fact their field is world-wide.
There are Boards of Domestic or Home Missions, with
field representatives scattered from Point Barrow, Alaska,
the most northerly Mission station in the world, to the
tropical possessions of the United States in Porto Rico
and Panama. They work among the various foreign
groups in Continental United States, among the Indians
and rural communities, among backward and neglected
people, such as the Whites in the Southern Mountains,
in great industrial centers and among special labor groups,
3

4 Executives for Christian Enterprises
like that of the lumber-jacks of the Northwest. In some
cases these Home Mission Boards are charged also with
work among the Negroes in the United States, while in
others special Boards are set up for this purpose. Some
of the Home Mission Boards are authorized to extend their
activities to South America. Other Church Boards and
Agencies organized to promote special lines of activity
or to take charge of special funds would include the fol
lowing :
Boards of Education, charged with establishing and
maintaining denominational Colleges, Boards of Aid for
Ministers of the Churches and their families, Trustees
of Pension Funds and of Insurance Funds for the Min
istry, Boards organized especially to aid in the erection
of Churches in new or sparsely-settled communities,
Boards for the printing and publication of Christian litera
ture, some of them owning large establishments, Boards
of Temperance, Boards or Committees on Evangelism,
Sabbath Observance, on Men's Work in the Churches, —
a great variety of administrative agencies, all deriving
their authority from the various denominational Church
bodies. Perhaps the largest and most influential group among
these Church enterprises is that representing Foreign Mis
sions. At the meeting of the Foreign Missions Conference
of North America, held in January 1922, sixty-two For
eign Mission Boards of the United States and Canada
were represented by one hundred and seventy-five regular
delegates, and one hundred and twenty-six corresponding
members, who assembled in their annual meeting for the
consideration and discussion of common problems. These
North American Boards now expend more than $40,000,-
000 in Foreign Mission work annually, and maintain on
the foreign field some 13,000 missionaries.
Concerning Foreign Mission administrators, one writer
says : x "The conduct of Missions in heathen and Moham-
i "The Foreign Missionary," Arthur J. Brown.

Executives for Christian Enterprises 5
medan countries has risen to the dignity of a science, only
to be learned by long and continuous practice, discussion,
reading and reflection; it is the occupation of the whole
life, and of many hours of each day of many able men
selected for the particular purpose by the turn of their
own minds, and the conviction of their colleagues that they
have a special fitness for the duty."
Dr. William W. Clarke says that "in respect of re
sponsibility and laboriousness, there is scarcely any other
Christian service that is comparable to that of the officers
of such Societies. Foreign Mission (Board) Secretaries
have to conduct a work of which the delicacy and difficulty
are very largely unappreciated. It can scarcely be other
wise, for very few persons know missionary operations
from the outside, and most Christians have no experience
that would help them to enter into the problems of the
Missionary Board." x
It is, indeed, true that a very wide range of responsi
bility gives to these Executive Officers opportunity for
service which, in its variety, its inspirations, and its solid
satisfactions, it would be difficult to match. "There is
probably no other organization in the world," said Dr. Ed
win M. Bliss, "except a national government, that carries
on so varied and as important lines of business as does
a Foreign Missionary Society."
It becomes necessary, however, to go deeper than these
generalizations, especially if it is true that few know
anything about Foreign Mission administration from the
outside, and if most Christians have had no experience
with the problems involved. No comparison can be made
between the work of the Executives of such organizations
and that of other callings or professions until one under
stands more definitely what the various phases of the work
are and what is expected of the incumbent of the executive
position. It may be assumed that as the Foreign Mission enter-
i"A Study of Christian Missions."

6 Executives for Christian Enterprises
prise is the largest and most inclusive with regard to the
scope of its activities of any of the organizations in the
category of Christian enterprises, a description of the de
tails of the work covered by the Executive Officers of a
typical Foreign Mission Board will, for all practical pur
poses, include what might be written about that of any
or all the other Boards and Agencies. This would include
a great institution like the American Bible Society as well,
more than one hundred years old, which sends the Bible
out to all the world at the rate of 5,000,000 volumes a year.
Modifications would need to be made in the case of
this or that organization; one would include a certain
phase of work, and another some other phase, but all have
much in common especially in dealing with their support
ing constituencies, in their promotional work, and in their
finance and banking practice. A large Foreign Board
administers practically every kind of work abroad that is
conducted by all the other Boards and Agencies at home,
and does it thousands of miles distant from the areas where
the impact is made. It does this through the media of
many strange languages and dialects and with the help
of the natives of each country working among their
own people under the supervision and direction, in the
initial stages, of leaders or missionaries sent out for that
purpose. Christian education under one Board, for in
stance, is represented by 1,800 Schools and Colleges,
planted in fifteen foreign countries. Medical and surgical
work, public health and hygiene, sanitation and dietetics
radiate from two hundred hospitals and dispensaries.
Evangelism and the establishing of Churches is under the
care of 3,000 native evangelists and ministers supported
by a native Christian constituency of a million members.
Publishing of Christian literature centers in eight great
Printing Presses, strategically placed throughout Asia,
which pour forth a hundred million pages each year. The
cause of temperance is promoted, orphanages and rescue
homes are maintained, schools for the blind and for the

Executives for Christian Enterprises 7
deaf are established. Lepers are segregated from the pop
ulation and are given asylum in institutions specially pro
vided. Famine funds are raised and administered, epi
demics are fought and floods are dealt with and studied
by agricultural and forestry schools, with a view to their
prevention. All these lines of activity tie up in the final
analysis to the administrators and executives in the head
offices in the homeland. These men and women must
have both knowledge and experience, in some measure at
least, of all these endeavors, and must be able to advise
their Boards of Directors and the field representatives con
cerning them.
The mass of correspondence is immense, emanating from
twenty-seven separate and distinct Mis»ons and from
1,600 missionaries in the case of the typical Board under
examination, and this relates only to the foreign side
of the work. On the other side is the constituency in
the homeland, 1,700,000 Church members, in 10,000
Churches, no inconsiderable portion of whom are inter
ested in the service and are supporting it, and hence con
tribute a heavy grist of mail. This runs from fifty to a
thousand letters a day which are distributed among the
various executives and departments according to the divi
sion of work among them. The bulk of the mail is made
up of remittances in the form of checks, drafts, money
orders, cash and credit items, each one of which must be
dealt with in five distinct and separate operations before
the receipt for it is committed to the Post Office for de
livery to the donor ; but letters on special problems in the
Missions, on general Mission policy, on matters relating
to the welfare of the Missionary force, on the relations
between Missions and Governments, on cooperative and
union enterprises with similar Boards, such as the twelve
or more union Colleges and Universities, on questions of
denominational Church policy, which include the interests
of Foreign Missions, on the presentation of the cause to
the people at home by means of books, current literature

8 Executives for Christian Enterprises
and the public platform, — all furnish a voluminous cor
respondence which can scarcely be digested during regular
hours. , Few executive officers allied with these interests
expect to compass their work except by continuing it in
their homes during the evening, as thousands of workers
in other lines do and they are occasionally accused of
breaking the Fourth Commandment because they prosecute
the same lines on the Sabbath. Whether their accusers
are to be classed with the mint and anise tithers of Christ's
time, who ignored the spirit of the law in their meticulous
observance of its letter, or whether the indictment is indeed
a valid one on the ground of their doing work on the
Sabbath Day, which must be regarded as secular because
they are doing it also on the other days of the week, may
wisely be left to the conscience of the individuals con
cerned. There are roughly three categories into which the prob
lems arising on the field and referred to the Home Office
may be divided. First, questions of Mission policy and
procedure ; second, matters of emergency, largely relating
to the work of individual missionaries or their health, and
third, appeals for funds for the extension of the work
or for the strengthening of that already established. The
executive in the administrative office must analyze a pro
posal affecting Mission policy and must present the con
siderations which affect it, pro and con, to his colleagues
in a Council or Cabinet and then to the Board itself for
decision. The decision must rest not only upon the con
dition of the Treasury, but upon the great body of ex
perience and tradition built up through a hundred years
of history, and the foreign mission administrator must
be familiar with the principles and practice of Foreign
Missions which have been successfully applied, as well
as with the mistakes which have caused loss and some
times disaster. For instance, in a field where the Chris
tian community has grown to large proportions, shall the
Schools partly supported by Mission funds accept the chil-

Executives for Christian Enterprises 9
dren of native Christians only, or shall the children of
non-Christians and heathen parents also be accepted ? On
this question a Mission took one view and its Secretary
and Board the other. The historic precedents and inter
pretations of experience were presented by the executive
in charge of the correspondence with the Mission con
cerned.. What proportion of the available funds shall be devoted
to the evangelistic work in a district and what to the edu
cational and to the medical? What degree of responsi
bility and power shall be passed over to the rising Churches
of Christ in the Mission field with reference to the work
still to be done, and what shall be the criterion as to just
when this transfer shall take place? Such questions rep
resent live issues to the Missions on the field, and notwith
standing the fact that they are given a large degree of
autonomy in the conduct of the work they look to the Sec
retary and the Board at home for guidance and for final
decisions in such matters. Emergency cases may largely
be handled in the light of a body of rules and regulations
which has grown up through the years covering similar
cases and in conformity with precedents which have been
established. What are the conditions precedent to the
withdrawal from the field on sick leave ? If a missionary
proves to be a misfit, what steps can be taken to prove
the fact to him, in case he does not discover it himself,
and secure his resignation or transfer to some other work ?
In dealing with these problems of the personnel the ad
ministrative officer at home is more than an interpreter
of rules, although he must be that. He is the sympathetic
friend in whom the troubled one confides and the counselor
to advise in the presence of anxiety or doubt. Here is a
missionary with a wife and two or three children of school
age at home on furlough. The children ought to remain
in the United States to complete their education. Shall
the husband and father return to the field alone, leaving
the wife and mother to care for the children, or shall

10 Executives for Christian Enterprises
the children be placed in boarding schools while both wife
and husband return to the field, or shall the husband re
sign from his work as a missionary and remain with his
family ? This problem is sure to involve a good deal of
anguish of soul, not only for the missionary, but for the
administrative officer having charge of the Mission to
which he belongs.
Or a young worker on the field finds his faith gone;
he no longer has zeal in his work. He had thought that
he believed in God and His revelation in Jesus Christ,
but he must have been mistaken; at least he no longer
possesses such belief and he doesn't feel happy nor honest
in retaining his position — perhaps in one of the Schools
or Colleges. He can't, somehow, tell his colleagues on
the field, but he writes to his secretary at home, and lays
bare his heart in even deeper anguish than his brother
with the growing family. Whatever fund of experience
and wisdom the executive may possess he will regard it
as inadequate for this draft upon it. Is the doctrine of
the perseverance of the saints a myth, or is the young
man temporarily thrown off his balance by over-wrought
nerves ? Perhaps he needs only a three months' vacation
in a cooler climate. Countless personal problems arise
nearer home in connection with the young men and women
volunteers who have registered as candidates for mis
sionary service abroad. The roster of one Board contains
5,000 names of such young people in the midst of their
preparation, or carrying on work temporarily at home until
the conditions shall warrant their appointment and assign
ment to a Mission abroad. Every executive officer could
bear testimony to the inspiration of knowing and dealing
with these devoted young spirits. The glow on the face
of a young engineer, who on his knees in prayer finally
came to his decision to go to China as a missionary,
abundantly compensates the executive officer who knelt
with him for other moments and days of routine work,
necessarily devoid of any inherent inspiration. Fur-

Executives for Christian Enterprises 11
loughed missionaries from every country of the world
having crossed the seven seas pass through the executive
offices to their havens in the homeland, bringing not only
their personal problems and their plans and hopes for
some particular work on the field which they want to
discuss and in all of which the executive officer is happy
to share, but also direct and reliable information con
cerning political, social, economic and religious conditions
in the countries where they have been working. The editor
of a well-known magazine published in New York called
at the offices of a Board and asked whether by any chance
help could be given her in connection with an article which
she was expecting to publish on "Tobacco Smoking in
Asia." She asked particularly about smoking in Korea and
without much hope wondered whether s6*me photographs of
native types which she had secured could be identified and
explained. Within a few minutes she was given a full
and accurate statement on the subject and proper legends
for the pictures. Then with increasing surprise and grati
tude on the part of the editor exact information was given
her regarding similar conditions in Mesopotamia, China
and Siam. It had been possible immediately to get facts
from first hand observers which otherwise it might have
taken months and much correspondence to secure.
The third category among the problems arising on the
field and referred to executive officers and Boards com
prises the needs and appeals for funds. Foreign Mission
Boards long ago adopted the Budget System for financing
current needs and the established work (anticipating by
many decades the Government of the United States in this
regard) , but even Budgets, efficient and economical as they
are, have their difficulties as both the Boards and the Gov
ernment have discovered ; and in their ability to pare down
and eliminate unessential items the officers of the Govern
ment may well envy the executives of the Boards. These
executives must bring the total Budget, made up of the
estimates from all the Missions, within the limits of rea-

12 Executives for Christian Enterprises
sonable expectations of receipts from the constituency.
Funds are appropriated covering the Budget as finally
approved and the Missions are free to expend the money
during the fiscal year on the work outlined. This system
saves the missionary from any dread lest the funds which
he requires for the work or for any institution under his
care will not be forthcoming and enables him to plan for
it in the confidence that it will not be suddenly interrupted
or embarrassed for lack of current support. However,
there are always a multitude of needs that cannot be cov
ered within the Budget and these the Missions carefully
sift and present to the Board through their executives.
In large part these special items represent proposed addi
tions to property and equipment and the cost of planting
new Mission stations and otherwise extending the work.
A Board with a Budget of $4,500,000.00 received Prop
erty Lists totaling $9,000,000.00, all itemized and de
scribed in detail.
No executive can escape the responsibility which rests
upon him for securing the funds required. If he is wise
he will not attempt to do so, nor shrink from a task which
will open to him large opportunities for service. He must
take his stand upon his belief in the cause and in the
merits of the appeal and he will find that every talent
of which he may be the possessor may not only be em
ployed, but will be developed and enlarged. He will be
forced irresistibly out of his office to face his share of the
public in order that he may give information and instruc
tion and perhaps impart inspiration in matters which
have come to be of vital concern to him. From his vantage
point he sees on the one hand a more or less thoughtless,
ease-and-pleasure-loving people, enjoying luxuries without
thanksgiving, provincial, living in a false sense of isolated
security without responsibility to the rest of mankind,
and on the other he sees the world in need; in need of
what the fortunate can with so little individual sacrifice
be the means of supplying. He sees also the Foreign

Executives for Christian Enterprises 13
Missionary at his work, putting into it his whole life,
one hundred per cent, and yet his efficiency cut down to
perhaps eighty per cent of capacity for lack of suitable
and adequate equipment. This condition obtains far too
frequently and the Board executive realizes more vividly
than any one else, than even the missionary himself, what
the cure is. So he prepares himself by reading, study and
travel to educate the constituency to an appreciation of
its responsibilities and opportunities, and to a larger meas
ure of financial support. His reading and study will cover
a wide range, for the century and a quarter of modern
Missions have produced a literature rich in biography, in
the history of nations developing under the inspiration
of Christian Missions and in accounts of the various poli
cies followed throughout the experimental stages of the
Missionary enterprise. It must not be all historical read
ing, but current books and magazines must be given their
place in the time and study of the executive. The at
mosphere in which Missions are conducted during these
years of the Twentieth Century is very different from that
of the nineties, or even of a decade later. Nations and
Governments are coming to understand that the world is
one; merchants and bankers proclaim it most insistently.
It is rather a new idea for many, however, and some have
not yet grasped it, but the Foreign Missionary enterprise
has been asserting it for a hundred years; that is its
fundamental axiom. Nowadays publicists, statesmen and
Governments are working on this principle and the daily
paper with its many items of international news is un
consciously promoting the cause of Foreign Missions. The
Board executive, therefore, must be alert to the news from
abroad and must be able to interpret it and point out its
significance to his audiences.
No amount of study, however, or the mere reading of
reports of national and international activities can ever
furnish the Foreign Mission executive with the first hand
knowledge and information that he must have if he is

14 Executives for Christian Enterprises
to be a strong advocate of the cause. He must visit the
Mission field himself, must enter into the life of the mis
sionaries for a time, however brief, and he must come
into contact with the people among whom the work is
being done. He must inspect and study the institutions
that have been established in their midst. He can then
speak with confidence on his subject and he will be re
ceived as an authority.
Other purposes are served, however, by visitation of the
field than those which redound so directly to the advantage
of the officer who makes the trip. The missionary forces
on the field are able to counsel with him regarding their
work; he sees the needs himself, can appraise at first
hand the plans that may be proposed for enlargement and
extension and can report on them from personal knowledge
to the Board and to the Church. He takes a fresh message
of brotherly interest and sympathy from the Church at
home to the Church in the Mission field and returns with .
messages of greetings and appreciation from the Christians
in the younger Churches abroad to the supporters in the
homeland. It is now an accepted principle of foreign
administration that executives should make periodical in
spections of the Mission fields and as frequently as cir
cumstances will permit. He is fortunate, indeed, who
travels not with the burden of a salesman, nor with the
selfish motive of an exploiter, nor, indeed, listlessly, as
a mere sight-seer, without purpose, but as one commis
sioned for a serious and exalted errand as an emissary
of good will.
Men thus equipped by study, by travel and by experi
ence in office are naturally in demand as speakers and
can secure all the appointments they are able to accept.
If they are also good wielders of the pen they will have
access to magazines, both religious and secular, and not
infrequently to the columns of the daily newspaper.
Scores of books have been published by executives on
Missions and allied subjects.

Executives for Christian Enterprises 15
Promotional work of this character is common to the
executives of practically all the enterprises, which have
been named, any differences being due to varying phases
of Christian work which the organization undertakes and
the propaganda that is required.
Executives in charge of the treasury and of the fiscal
operations of the organization have under their supervision
the bookkeeping and accounting which, after the manner
of an exact science, concentrates millions of receipts and
disbursements, reducing them to epitomes or reports,
which tell the tale of surplus or deficit for the period
under review. Domestic and foreign banking include re
lationships with the largest banking institutions in the
world at home and abroad. Local deposits will run at
times over the million mark and at others depleted balances
must be strengthened by loans which may be equally large
and which are very costly in interest charges. The ex
ecutive has no difficulty in obtaining credit for his or
ganization as bankers have come to understand that no
loans are safer than those undertaken by such Boards and
Agencies. Likewise in the sale of foreign exchange, their
drafts are readily accepted all over the world and local
currency is willingly turned over by merchants and money
changers to the field treasurers in exchange for their paper.
The drivers of the caravans coming down out of China
crossing Burmah to Rangoon are as ready to deliver their
coin to the missionary treasurer in exchange for his drafts
on New York as are the international bankers of Yoko
hama, Hong Kong or Bombay. The dozen or more curren
cies in which the business is transacted become familiar
media of exchange, whether Rupees, Pice and Annas, or
Tomans and Piastres, Turkish pounds or British pounds,
Pesos or Milreis, Ticals or Yen, or China "Mexicans."
The Board executive is as good a guesser as the foreign
exchange expert in trying to gauge future rates and he
comes to understand that the Gold standard cannot be
introduced into China until the Chinese are willing to re-

16 Executives for Christian Enterprises
linquish the exciting and profitable calling of gambling
in their currency, which is based on the price of Silver
as a commodity. When international exchange is inter
rupted as during the World War, the United States Gov
ernment and American business organizations are ready to
cooperate with Boards in getting their remittances to the
Missions. In 1915 a cruiser took a consignment of Gold
to Beirut when that port was inaccessible by the ordinary
means of communication and the Standard Oil Company
paid over to the Mission Treasurer at Beirut $100,000.00
of its collections in the Near East, thus making the cash
available for relief and Mission work. An equivalent
amount was paid by the Board in New York to the
Treasurer of the Company; both organizations then had
their funds where they wanted them and the only cost
was the cable advice.
Some $2,000,000.00 of relief funds for Syrians alone
were received by one of the Board treasuries in New York
from remitters in the United States to be distributed to
their relatives and friends in the Near East through Mis
sion representatives. The sums were in small amounts
individually and the delivery of the money to the con
signees was often attended by the greatest difficulty and
sometimes by danger. The designations were in some
cases indefinite and it was all but impossible to locate
the proper party. The following examples tell the story:
"$50.00 for Yusef Haddad, living in or near
the War zone."
"$20.00 for Hanna Khoury, Assyria."
"$40.00 from Daoud Teen of Ohio to his
mother in Syria."
"$50.00 for Abdullah Ghanim, Beirut. He
is 5% feet high and must wear glasses on his
eyes to see you."
"$50.00 for Marian Tannous, which amount
is to be delivered with a thousand kisses."

Executives for Christian Enterprises 17
Executives of these Christian enterprises must handle
property of every kind and description. The investment
in land, buildings and equipment may total $10,000,000.00
for one Board alone and the home office must assume
ultimate responsibility for its care and proper main
tenance. Complete records of these properties must be
kept on file and up to date, and as the plants are located
all over the world the business in real estate has a wide
range. Besides these holdings there is the handling of
every kind and description of property left to the Boards
under Wills and turned over to them on the settlement
of estates. There are town lots and improved city real
estate, including business blocks; there is suburban and
country real estate, improved and unimproved; agricultu
ral lands, including farms with livestock and complete
equipment; coal mines, oil and timber land; securities
of all kinds, bonds, mortgages, stock of corporations, per
sonal belongings, including family heirlooms and trinkets,
everything, in fact, that may be included in a residuary
estate. All such property must be sold as quickly as this
can be done to advantage and the proceeds devoted to the
work, but until then it must be safeguarded and con
served. In connection with these bequests and devises
there is legal and probate work and, unfortunately, some
times litigation. A Board may be a participant in half a
dozen lawsuits at the same time in various parts of the
country since as a trustee it is bound to defend its rights
under Wills if they are challenged. Any legal training
which the Board officer may have had will stand him
in good stead, though, of course, he will have the aid of
competent attorneys often rendered without any charge
whatever. Transactions in investment securities, chiefly on the
buying side, to secure endowment funds run into several
million dollars for a single Board. This business and
the handling of securities for the personnel of the organi
zation, chiefly the missionaries and other workers in the

18 Executives for Christian Enterprises
field, attains large proportions. The larger offices have
travel departments by which much business in transporta
tion is transacted, the purchase of railroad and steamship
tickets aggregating $75,000.00 or $100,000.00 a year.
One traveler appeared at such an office with the statement
that he had been sent by Thomas Cook & Son "as the
Board knows more about getting out to Persia than we
do," said they. A Purchasing and Shipping Department
must also be maintained to purchase and ship everything
from a needle to blooded cattle, — the latter for the big
Agricultural Colleges.
The opportunity is always open to the executive officer
to take the initiative in planning better things for his
organization, effecting combinations and consolidations,
introducing better methods and more efficient practice.
Twenty-eight local treasuries of one Board in as many
different towns or villages in China were consolidated at
Shanghai and the consolidated office was then united with
the treasuries of eight other Boards into an Associated
Mission Treasurers' Office, which now sells $6,000,000.00
of exchange a year. Such an institution commands not
only the profound respect of the business community, but
the best rates on foreign exchange as well. Board execu
tives have been instrumental in establishing united archi
tectural and buildings bureaus in the Far East, by means
of which a large number of Boards and Agencies are able
to get better architecture for Mission buildings and better
and more economical construction.
Among the points of a good job Dr. Richard C. Cabot
names seven, balanced variety and monotony, initiative
and supervision, the chance to subjugate nature or per
sonally to create something, pleasant companionship, a
title and an institutional connection. "These," he says,
"go far to give us happiness in work." 1 Every one of
these "standards" the executive of a Christian enterprise
l "What Men Live By," Boston, 1914, pp. 27-28.

Executives for Christian Enterprises 19
possesses, and it would be difficult to find a happier set
of workers. A prominent lawyer in New York asked
an executive how it came about that he knew all the
big men and the best men in the city. His reply was from
the heart : "Because I am in the best work in the World."

PART III
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIAL WORK
By
William Bacon Bailey

The purpose of the following pages is to acquaint the
college man very briefly with some of the opportunities
for employment in social work. The list is by no means
complete. Many entire lines of activity, such as Public
Health Nursing, the work of Civic Protective Associa
tions, Orphan Asylums, and Women's Reformatories, have
been omitted because the workers in these lines are almost
entirely women. The attempt has been made to divide
the field of work according to the service rendered, but it
is realized that this division is quite arbitrary, and that
these lines cannot be sharply drawn. If these pages offer
a bird's-eye view of the field in sufficient detail to enable
a student to select a line of work with a fairly satisfac
tory idea as to its extent and possibilities^ the purpose of
the writer has been accomplished.

MODERN CHRISTIAN
CALLINGS
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIAL WORK
THERE are many young men in the schools of higher
education in this country who desire for a life work
some form of altruistic endeavor, wfao desire whole
heartedly to consecrate their lives to the service of hu
manity, and yet from justifiable motives shrink from
service in foreign mission fields or the Christian minis
try. They wish to know the opportunities included within
the wide field of social service. They are anxious to
choose the line of work to which they are best fitted, and in
which their special aptitudes will find the largest field for
usefulness. But few of these young men possess an inde
pendent income and they must select a line of work in
which the financial return is commensurate with their
training, ability and industry, and in which there is op
portunity for the security of employment and advance
ment assured by conscientious effort in other lines of en
deavor. They do not expect to gain great wealth, or the
large financial return of those who are conspicuously suc
cessful in trade or manufacture. In fact, a large share
of their reward will come from the satisfaction that they
have made brighter the life of some unfortunate, or done
their share to mitigate some social injustice. But they
are anxious to avoid the blind alley which leads nowhere,
and in which the nature of the employment precludes ad
vancement. .
During the Middle Ages religious motives undoubtedly

4 Opportunities for Social Work
led some to withdraw from the world and its pleasures,
and through an ascetic life of fasting and prayer hope to
attain conspicuous virtue. But there has probably never
been a time in which the desire to improve the lot of the
more unfortunate members of society has not been a mov
ing force in the lives of many. The motive may have been
sympathy, or a sense of justice. It was felt by most that
if the misery of the world was to be relieved, this could
be accomplished not by a life of seclusion, but by active
service. Because during the Middle Ages most of the
charitable enterprises were in the hands of the church,
most of the philanthropic work was done by members of
religious orders. This was a natural development since
the church stressed the duty of caring for the poor and
needy, and since the impulse to do good works was
strengthened by the inspiration of religious teaching.
Aside from the instruction given to the Sisters who de
voted themselves to nursing the sick, there was little sys
tematic training in preparation for social and philan
thropic work. At the close of this period a few names, like
Tuke, Howard and Florence Nightingale, stand forth.
They were pioneers in correcting some of the abuses of
the time and introduced scientific principles and humane
treatment of the sick and unfortunate, particularly of
those in institutions. It has been only within the last
hundred years that the field of social work has been
mapped out and the principles of scientific treatment
slowly developed. As a result of study and the exchange
of ideas through conferences, methods of work have grad
ually become standardized. Methods of procedure which
twenty-five or fifty years ago were the subjects of dif
ference of opinion and active discussion have gradually
become accepted and standardized. As in the develop
ment of any field of scientific work, the progress has been
accomplished by a large number of students and investi
gators in different fields until there has been collected a
large amount of reliable data. This has been collated and

Opportunities for Social Work 5
systematized until the general principles underlying so
cial work are recognized and available for the student.
The field of study was extremely difficult and complex be
cause it was impossible for the investigator to separate in
dividuals from their environment. The physicist and
chemist can study his elements in a laboratory under what
ever conditions he sees fit to place them. The social
worker, however, meets his problems among humanity in
an ever changing world. We can never be certain of the
reactions where the elements are human beings with the
world for a crucible.
Although we can never look for the positivity of the
physical sciences, we have a sufficient body of knowledge
for the formulation of rules of practice in most fields of
social work. Although we may not expect entire agree
ment among social workers as to the treatment of any par
ticular problem, yet it is possible to formulate general
rules governing the collection of the evidence bearing upon
the question in hand, to assist in diagnosis and treatment.
As in the early days in this country one who would be
come a lawyer entered the office of an attorney and ac
quired a legal education and training in this way, so one
who would engage in any form of social work found it
necessary to become connected with some organization or
institution, and learn from actual experience in the work
and from the advice of those more experienced than him
self. In time, however, law schools were established and
those who intended to enter this profession found it more
to their advantage to devote two or more years to regular
class-room work in order to become fitted for this pro
fession. In the same way schools of social service have
been opened, in which students may spend one or two
years in learning the principles and practice of social
work. During the first year the work is almost entirely
theoretical, while during the second year the student is
given practical experience and training along that particu
lar line which he intends to follow as a life work. As

6 Opportunities for Social Work
schools of law and medicine are in increasing numbers re
quiring as a prerequisite for enrollment a college degree,
so schools of social service are emphasizing the advantage
of a college degree to those who hope to attain positions
of responsibility and prominence in their chosen line.
College students who are contemplating some form of
social service as a life work would do well to give it a
trial before entering a school of social service for spe
cialized training. If the college which they are attending
is located in or near a city of considerable size, it is easy
to find an opportunity to do volunteer work for some of
the philanthropic organizations. Most of the executives
of these organizations can find tasks fitted to college stu
dents and are glad of their assistance as volunteers. If
the location' of the college renders this impossible, it is
usually feasible to find some form of work of this nature
during the summer vacation. In this way it is usually
possible to tell whether the appeal of this form of work is
sufficient to warrant undertaking it as a life work. At
the same time the student can obtain from the one in
charge of his work a frank opinion as to whether he seems
to be, by nature and temperament, fitted for it. A frank
and conscientious executive is often under the necessity
of telling a volunteer worker that he is not likely to make
a success of this line of work, and to advise him to enter
some other field.
To the student who is contemplating social work as a
profession, the truth should be told at the start that it is
not an easy life. No greater responsibility can be thrown
upon a man than the care of a family that has made a
failure of life and must be rehabilitated. It may have
been simply sickness or unavoidable misfortune that has
reduced the family to its present unfortunate situation, or
it may have been the result of unwise decisions and bad
habits that have covered years and reduced the family
from an earlier position of self-respect and self-support to
its present pitiable state. It is no easy matter to change

Opportunities for Social Work 7
the habits of years, even though the family must realize
that it is to them that the present misfortunes are due.
To make an investigation that will portray the family in
its period of greatest prosperity requires patience, tact
and sympathy. To hit upon those latent qualities which
are most likely to bring the family back again to its former
high estate, and to formulate a plan by which these quali
ties can function most successfully requires a high order
of intelligence and imagination. A successful investiga
tion means far more than the discovery of the mistakes
and bad habits which caused the present downfall. It in
volves the discovery of other qualities now latent by which
the family may work out its own salvation. , To discover
the broken wiring, or the faulty adjustment in a stalled
automobile, is an easy task to that of inspiring the neces
sary ambition in a discouraged and disheartened family.
There is no use denying the fact that social work is ex
tremely discouraging at times. A plan may be formed
which seems to promise well for the family, and for a
while the efforts of the family would seem to be quite suc
cessful when suddenly some unforeseen misfortune, or the
reappearance of some bad habit will precipitate another
catastrophe, and then the problem must be taken in hand
again with perhaps a change in plan. There will be times
when most of these families will cooperate splendidly,
and again when it would seem as though the day brought
little except bad news. To keep steadily at the task under
these trying circumstances, and to retain that optimism
without which successful work is impossible, requires a
high order of courage. In the face of such discourage
ments that man who has access to the Source of infinite
strength and courage will prove most successful.
The social worker must expect to find his reward and
satisfaction in the fact that he has done his best, rather
than from the thanks and gratitude of those for whom he
has worked. A nurse who renews a dressing or gives a
bath to a patient performs a service which is appreciated,

8 Opportunities for Social Work
and which is just the kind of service the patient desires.
A social worker, on the other hand, often finds it neces
sary to do something other than that desired by the family
visited. The client may expect money and get advice, or it
may be that the plan which is being followed for this
family requires the breaking of habits which have been
followed for years. It is unpleasant to give up old habits
and form new ones. If the plan works out successfully
the family feels that it was their own actions which made
it a success. If it fails the blame is laid on the worker.
This is to be expected and the social worker, therefore,
should look for his gratification, not to the appreciation
of those for whom he works, but to the realization that he
has done what he could, and that a fair measure of suc
cess has attended his efforts.

I. Qualities and Training Required for Successful
Social Work
The qualities required to make a successful teacher are
needed in many forms of social work because the solution
of many social questions in the home and family is at
basis educational. As the successful teacher studies the
individual peculiarities and needs of every scholar, and
then with patience tries to stimulate activity and ambi
tion in the entire class, so the social worker must approach
each family as a distinct problem and patiently work to
secure cooperation and develop ambition. The ability to
take pains and to be patient is requisite for any large
measure of success in this field.
Few college graduates will be satisfied to remain in
definitely in a subordinate position in any field of social
work. As a college graduate begins at the bottom in shop
or factory in order to have a first-hand knowledge of these
various processes, and trusts to his theoretical training
and ability to think straight for advancement, so the so
cial worker must acquaint himself with the various details

Training Required for Successful Social Work 9
and branches of work connected with organizations be
fore he can expect to occupy an administrative position.
In addition to familiarity with the work, an administrator
must gain two points; first, the loyalty of his workers,
and secondly, the confidence of the community. As one
of the most difficult problems in social work is to secure
from the public the necessary funds, so the public must
become convinced that the organization in question fills a
distinct need in the community, that it is being intelli
gently managed, and that the community receives from
each dollar contributed a dollar in service. For this end
the loyalty of the workers is indispensable.
It is often necessary for the executive head of an or
ganization to appear in public in order to gain the sup
port of a group of citizens for his work. Therefore, he
should be able to gather, tabulate and analyze statistical
data, marshal his facts in an orderly manner, and present
them briefly and forcibly. Since many organizations and
institutions receive all or part of their funds from taxa
tion, he should be able to appear at a legislative hearing
to state the needs of his work and show the necessity of
the appropriation for which he is asking. At the same
time he should be able to show that the appropriation un
der which he is at present working has been expended
wisely. There are some able administrators who do not
appear to advantage in presenting the needs of their work,
but they are the exception rather than the rule and almost
invariably deplore their ineffectiveness along this line.
A successful worker in any field will keep an interest
in the literature of his subject. He will frequently at
tend conferences of those working along the same line,
and will be prepared occasionally to present a paper deal
ing with the problems which he has encountered, and try
to add some contribution toward the solution of those
questions uppermost in his mind.
While it is impossible to suggest in detail the content
of the college courses to be chosen by one who has in mind

10 Opportunities for Social Work
to select social work as a career, there are, however, cer
tain broad fields of study from which selections may be
made with profit. He should early select courses in
medieval and modern history, supplementing them with
work in industrial and economic history. Elementary
courses in both economics and sociology should be elected.
They should be followed by more advanced courses upon
the border line between economics and sociology, such as
those relating to applied sociology, labor problems, immi
gration, socialism, etc. Some time during his junior or
senior year he should take a thorough course in statistics.
The ability to read and speak at least one modern lan
guage should be acquired before graduation. A good
course in psychology is quite important and a course in
the history of religion is essential for one who would work
among the foreign-born. All of these courses are tools for
his future work. Further cultural courses which will ac
quaint the student with the best in literature and give him
the ability to read with discrimination, to write clearly
and to think straight should be selected. With this as a
background the student is in a position to follow with
profit one or more years of professional training for his
chosen work.
II. Community Problems
The objects of social work are two-fold : First, to make
possible an ampler life for the individual; second, to im
prove the environment of the community in which he
lives. In the earlier developments of social work more at
tention was given to the individual, but within recent
years it has become increasingly apparent that many of
the evils from which the individual suffers may be traced
to unfortunate conditions in the community. As a re
sult, even those workers whose ordinary activities are con
fined to the individual or the family are forced to take
an increasing interest in community problems.

Community Problems 11

(a) health
Boards of Health and Health Centers. Of the com
munity problems demanding the attention of experts,
none is more pressing than that of public health. This
service requires men who are not only trained in general
courses in physics, biology and chemistry, but who have
taken more advanced courses in bacteriology, sanitation
and public hygiene. To meet this need universities are,
in some cases, inaugurating departments of public health
for the training of experts along these lines. There is a
demand for men who will take charge of a department of
public health for a city and organize the preventive work
in that community to the end of reducing the morbidity
and mortality. The inspection of milk and food supplies,
the condition of restaurants, hotels, and barber shops,
should be included under this department. The examina
tion of the water supply, the pollution of streams, the con
trol of mosquitoes, is part of the activity of such a depart
ment. The graduate of a medical school enjoys a distinct
advantage in entering work of this character. The ad
ministrative officers of State Boards of Health have con
siderable powers and through investigations and publi
cations can do much to improve the sanitation and health
of our communities. Although these offices are, to a con
siderable extent, political, there is an increasing tendency
to appoint well-trained and competent men to these posi
tions. Many of the minor positions, such as inspector and
bacteriologist, are filled as a result of competitive exami
nation and the appointees are protected by civil service
rules. The ability to make a thorough investigation and
carefully to record the facts are required in a subordinate
position of this kind. To those who possess this ability
and are willing to work hard the road to considerable ad
vancement is not closed. Health Centers have been estab
lished in many cities where the attempt is being made to

12 Opportunities foe Social Work
demonstrate the possibility of reducing quite materially
the amount of sickness in a community. Several national
organizations are employing experts in the field to study
the causes and extent of certain diseases with the end of
reducing or eliminating them. There are few fields in
which the demand for trained men has increased more
rapidly in recent years than in that of public health.
Tuberculosis. There is no single disease to which the
attention of the community has been directed with greater
emphasis within recent years than that of tuberculosis.
The extent of this disease and the fact that it attacks in
dividuals at the period of maximum earning capacity, and
that it usually results in a long and lingering illness, has
directed attention to it. The publicity which has attended
the Christmas sale of Red Cross seals has probably given
this disease more public attention than any other. In
almost every state there is a Tuberculosis Association oc
cupied in instructing the public with regard to this dis
ease. Inasmuch as tuberculosis is due, to a considerable
extent, to improper living and working conditions, a cam
paign of instruction carried into the home, school and
work-shop can do much for prevention. These associa
tions require the services of administrative officers who
can conduct such a campaign of education and publicity.
For those who have completed a course in a medical school
there are the opportunities to become superintendents of
the sanatoria which are constantly increasing in size and
numbers in this country.
Hospitals and Dispensaries. Most of the large hospi
tals in cities of considerable size in this country have a
man for superintendent. In most cases this position is
held by one who is a graduate of a school of medicine.
These are positions of great responsibility and men who
possess the medical training, the administrative ability,
and the tact required are hard to find, and a competent
superintendent may expect to receive a considerable
salary.

Community Problems 13
Within the past few years social service departments
have been started in many large hospitals and dis
pensaries, but most of the workers are women who have
received definite training in this work in addition to the
more general course in a school of social service. Their
duties are, in many ways, similar to those of a visitor and
case worker of a Charity Organization Society.
Housing. It has long been recognized that one of the
causes of sickness and lowered vitality is improper hous
ing. Tenements with dark and unventilated rooms are
likely to be breeding places for tuberculosis. Rooms in
cellars and basements are not desirable living quarters.
Without proper provision for running water and toilets,
tenement house life is unsatisfactory. # With flimsy con
struction and wooden stairs these tenements are likely to
become death-traps if a fire starts and gains headway in
them. As a result of this it has been found necessary to
pass regulations governing the erection and maintenance
of tenement houses that they may be proper habitations.
This requires constant inspection of buildings in course
of erection to see that they comply with the law, and the
inspection of occupied tenements to see that they are so
maintained as to be fit for habitation, and that all nui
sances are abated. Those in charge of these departments
have an opportunity for very real service, and those who
begin at a fairly small salary as inspectors may hope in
time to rise to positions of greater responsibility.
Societies for Mental Hygiene. Very few states at
present are without an organization whose principal duty
is to assist those who are mentally deranged. There are
many persons in our communities who would at one time
have been considered simply queer. They find it diffi
cult to fit into any normal environment and are a source
of constant care and anxiety to their family and friends.
Just what to do with them is a problem which the average
individual is unable to determine. It is the function of
these societies for mental hygiene to make careful exami-

14 Opportunities for Social Work
nations of these abnormal individuals and to give expert
advice to their families. Mental ailments of this kind are
those with which the average individual is perhaps the
least competent to deal and must depend upon expert ad
vice. The expert employed by such a society can advise
a family whether the case is one requiring institutional
treatment, what is the best institution for the particular
individual, and then assist in the steps required for legal
commitment. To fit a worker for a position of this kind
requires, of course, peculiar medical and institutional
training, but the opportunities for real social and com
munity service are very large.
Societies for Social Hygiene. A question in which
morals and health are closely associated is that of social
hygiene. The war presented to the people of this country
tbe astounding prevalence of the social diseases and
aroused in them the determination to do something to re
duce this evil. State societies were organized and with
the cooperation of Boards of Health a campaign of edu
cation by means of motion pictures and lectures was be
gun. With the financial assistance of the Federal Gov
ernment women's reformatories in many states enlarged
their hospital facilities to care for diseased women.
Clinics for the treatment of these diseases in both sexes
have been opened in many of our large cities. Shop talks
are being given to bring home to the workers the preva
lence and insidiousness of these diseases.
In focusing the attention of the communities upon this
evil, and in organizing and directing the efforts being
made throughout the country to meet this situation, men
who are forceful speakers and possess executive ability
may find employment. (b) recreation
Community Service. The late war showed the neces
sity for wholesome recreation in the large army camps and

Community Problems 15
tie cities near them. A considerable proportion of the
leisure time of our people is given over to recreation and
many of the forms have become commercialized. The
provision of recreation in this leisure time has become a
matter of business, the principal motive of which is to
make money. The people have demanded amusement, but
have apparently forgotten how to amuse themselves. Their
working hours are somewhat monotonous and they de
mand excitement in their hours of leisure. This has
opened the way to many abuses. There are thousands of
men and women in our large cities who are practically
homeless. They live in boarding houses and after the day's
work is over go out on the street in search of recreation
and excitement. They spend much of their time in sa
loons, billiard rooms, in dance halls, *nd in motion pic
ture theaters. The demand for relaxation and a change
is quite justifiable and in many cases little fault can be
found with the places they patronize, but where the prin
cipal motive back of these commercial enterprises is finan
cial gain, it is but natural that abuses should creep in.
Recognizing the necessity for legitimate recreation, our
communities have set about the task of eliminating the
most apparent evils connected with the misuse of leisure.
The saloon as an institution has been abolished. Public
dance halls are, in many places, being supervised. Mo
tion pictures are being censored. The responsibility for
providing clean and decent forms of recreation is being rec
ognized. With the abolition of the saloon as a meeting
place for men bas come the obligation of providing some
substitute for this, and in many places community houses
are being opened. These provide opportunities for read
ing, writing, rooms for different games of skill, an audi
torium for concerts, community singing, folk-songs, folk-
dances and amateur theatricals, with a floor to be used for
dancing. To manage community houses of this nature has
offered a new and large opportunity to trained men. The
demand has exceeded the supply and it is not an easy matter

16 Opportunities for Social Work
to find a man who combines the qualities required for the
successful administration of such an enterprise. As our
communities recognize their responsibilities along these
lines, the demand for trained leadership is sure to in
crease. Some idea of the many lines into which this serv
ice may lead may be gained from the following extracts
from a bulletin sent by the Secretary of Community
Service (Incorporated) to their workers outlining the
field of work :
"The contribution of Community Service to the leisure
time needs of the members of a community, with the develop
ment through the community itself of a community recrea
tion program, is along the lines of social, recreational, educa
tional and cultural interests. In meeting community needs,
cities are developing, among others, the following forms of
organizations and activities:
Recreational and Social Activities Through Neighborhood
Organization.
Neighborhood organization through which the people of a
neighborhood join forces in a unit organization to meet
their own needs. Social and recreational activities de
veloped through neighborhood organization include:
Organization of neighborhood committees
The bringing together of neighborhood groups of em
ployers and employees for civic purposes such as
securing of more playgrounds
The use of school buildings and other meeting places,
such as libraries, as neighborhood recreation centers
Play in vacant lots
Street play centers
Block dances and parties, emphasizing the participation
of the older as well as the young people
Teaching of dancing to beginners
Church hospitality and church suppers
Neighborhood picnics and outings
Dramatic clubs and storytelling
Recreation clubs

Community Problems 17
Neighborhood singing groups
Parent-Teachers' Associations
Dry saloons
Backyard play
Special Group Activities
Permanent service for the Army and Navy
Service for merchant marines and longshoremen
Recreation work for colored citizens
Citizenship work for foreign born
Emphasis on community activities for industrial workers
Rural community service
Organization of children into Junior Community Service
Leagues
Educational Activities
Forums Mass meetings with popular subjects presented by local
ministers and outside speakers
Art and Cultural Interests
Community, neighborhood and special holiday celebra
tions
Community singing, choruses and choral clubs
Noon time singing in factories
Band concerts
Community opera
Organ recitals
OrchestrasCommunity theaters
Play-writing contests and stimulation of local talent
Community pageants
Art exhibits designed to develop local talent
Popular entertainments
Lyceums, lectures
Physical Recreation
Evening use of playgrounds for working boys and girls
and adults

18 Opportunities for Social Work
Public School Athletic Leagues
Athletic leagues
Gymnasium classes
Athletic fields
The promotion of a broad physical education program
Physical efficiency tests
Promotion of sports such as :
Coasting, skiing, skating and other winter sports
Facilities for skating in winter and for swimming
and water sports in summer
Soccer, football, field hockey and similar games
Twilight baseball for boys
Physical Facilities
Summer camps
Municipal bathing beaches
Swimming pools
Parks
Public drinking fountains
Public comfort stations
Community rest rooms
Memorial buildings
Public golf courses."
Playgrounds. Childhood is preeminently the time for
play, but in the congested sections of our cities the op
portunity for it is very limited. With land so valuable
that every available foot is wanted for buildings the
chances for out-door play are confined, to a considerable
extent, to the sidewalks and streets. The streets are be
ing used more and more by automobiles and heavy trucks
so that the playing of games in them is out of the ques
tion, and children running on the sidewalks are an incon
venience to the pedestrians. Accordingly it has been
found necessary in our large cities to set aside open
spaces in the midst of the congested areas for purposes of
play. In many cases they are equipped with a running
track and out-door gymnasium apparatus. It was soon

Community Problems 19
apparent that children on these playgrounds must be su
pervised and during the summer months large numbers of
college men with some experience in athletics find em
ployment in this work. Their duties are to keep order in
the playground, protect the children from injury, super
vise their games and teach them new ones. There is an
increasing tendency in our cities to have an athletic direc
tor connected with the public schools. Their duties are
to give setting-up exercises to the school children, to coach
the teams in the various sports in the schools and instill
into the scholars the spirit of clean sportsmanship. Some
of these directors have taken courses in physical training,
but many of them are college graduates with a good rec
ord in athletics at their institution.

(c) industrial welfare
A very extensive field for work has been opened by
modern industry in its attempt to secure the health,
safety and comfort of its employees. This is somewhat
aside from most forms of social work, but is included in
brief in order to complete the picture. Many employees
are inefficient and unhappy in their work because they
are not engaged on the right job. To avoid this many
large industrial establishments are hiring trained psy
chologists who make tests upon the present employees and
new employees in order to determine the type of work to
which they are best fitted. When the employees have been
satisfactorily placed, efforts are made to safeguard them
against occupational diseases and accident. The attempt
is made to secure the proper humidity and temperature of
the workrooms, to guard them against poisonous fumes
and gases, and carry away dangerous dusts or filings.
Safety devices are attached to machines. In these efforts
to guard against accident and injury the companies are
seconded by the inspectors of insurance companies, who
are always anxious to eliminate risks. Operating-rooms

20 Opportunities for Social Work
and ' rest-rooms are provided in which a physician and
nurse are in attendance, and the employees are encouraged
to consult the physician at other times than when suffer
ing from an injury. Proper wash-rooms, lockers and
toilets have been introduced, and in many places rooms in
which the employees may eat the lunches which they bring
or have served to them at cost. Playgrounds are provided
and in many cases a summer camp is run for the em
ployees. A building is often provided for educational and
recreational purposes. Classes in English and Ameri
canization work are carried on in it. The end for all these
forms of activity is to assure an intelligent, healthy, effi
cient and contented body of employees. To introduce and
supervise these varied activities requires trained men.
Although certain of these activities are far afield from
ordinary social work, yet other lines are quite closely re
lated to it. The increase in the demand for experts along
these lines has been very great in the past few years.
(d) moral and religious
Rescue Missions. All the cities of considerable size in
this country are confronted with the problem of the home
less man. In most cases he is a human derelict, unwilling
or unable to earn a livelihood, and drifting from place to
place when he has worn out his welcome in one com
munity. In most cases drink has been one of the princi
pal causes of his present unfortunate condition. Some
times he does odd jobs, but more often begs for a living.
The question of food is a comparatively simple one, but
to obtain a lodging presents more difficulties. Municipal
lodging houses, wayfarers' lodges and accommodations
provided by charitable organizations where lodgings and
meals may be obtained in return for work of some sort,
have helped to solve one side of this question in many com
munities, but it has failed to reach the heart of the
matter. It simply furnishes these men with a resting

Community Problems 21
piace for a night or two until they can continue their
journey to another town. It does little to change a man's
attitude, to persuade him to give up this life for some
thing better, or help him to overcome the habits which
have brought him to his present unfortunate condition.
The Salvation Army and Rescue Missions in our large
cities have tried to reach this man by the religious appeal,
and to encourage and assist him in the struggle whicb
is bound to come when he tries to give up these habits
which have enslaved him. One of the slogans of the
Salvation Army has been that because a man is down
is no reason why he is out, and the members of this
Army have gone into the saloons and places where these
men congregate at all hours of the d#y and night in an
effort to reach and reform them. They have begun the
work through religious meetings in the open air or in
their halls, and when they have found a man who was
willing to try to come back and make something of him
self he has been taken to the Industrial Home where
work has been found for him and he could be kept under
supervision. Many men in these homes have joined the
Climbers' Club composed of those who have pledged them
selves to give up drink and try to climb back into decent
manhood. After keeping these men for many months
in these homes work is found for them on the outside
and in many cases they become volunteer workers for
the Army.
In many cities Slum Posts or Rescue Missions are
maintained in those sections of the city where these home
less men congregate, and an attempt is made at reforma
tion through religious meetings, personal interviews, and
a general helpfulness on the part of the pastor or super
intendent who holds out a helping hand to these unfor
tunates. The young man who would make a success of
this type of work must possess unbounded optimism, sym
pathy, and patience. With the improvement in the en
forcement of prohibition, one of the principal causes for

22 Opportunities for Social Work
the existence of this unfortunate group will be removed,
but we shall never be entirely free from those who, for
one cause or another, have become discouraged, lost their
ambition, and gradually drifted into this apparently hope
less condition. There will always be work for those who
are brave enough to tackle this job.
Temperance Work. For the past fifty years an increas
ing group of men in this country have devoted their en
ergies to the fight against the saloon. As a result of their
platform work, joined by the conviction of many large
employers of labor together with many labor union mem
bers this movement gained impetus. The testimony of
physicians and scientists, boards of health, and insurance
companies was all to the same end. When we learned
that the drink bill of this country approximated two bil
lions of dollars a year, and when during the late war we
were confronted with a shortage of food stuffs, the great
middle class of this country became convinced that the
manufacture and sale of intoxicants as a beverage must
cease. Although the amendment to the Constitution is
accomplished, the enforcement of the act is far from
satisfactory, and we have illegal distilling, illegal trans
portation, and illegal sale of liquor in many sections of
the country. As a result the Anti-Saloon League and
kindred organizations find their work far from completed
and much of their energy is now being devoted to the
passage of necessary legislation in the states, to the prob
lem of enforcement, and to the question of what is to
take the place of the saloon. It is likely that the demand
for active men in this line of work will continue for
some time.
Institutional Churches. It has long been recognized
that the church as ordinarily conducted did not meet
certain conditions. This was particularly the case in the
downtown sections of our cities. The regular Sunday
services and prayer meetings had their place, but if these
church buildings were adequately to meet the needs of

Community Problems 23
the population in these districts they must be open for
more than a dozen hours a week, and must include other
types of work. Accordingly club rooms and reading rooms
were opened, and in many cases the pastor or assistant
pastor became rather a club leader or settlement director.
He gave his time to making this building a community
center and through clubs, lectures and discussions, tried
to instill community spirit. Classes in sewing, cooking,
and music were added in many cases. Athletic teams
were organized and in many cases a summer camp was
maintained. To conduct the varied activities of an in
stitution of this sort requires training very different from
that given to the ordinary minister. It requires knowl
edge of a community, or community needs, of club work,
of play and recreation, and is quite like the work of
community service on a small scale. Work of this sort
should appeal to many college men who do not feel called
to take up the work of the ordinary minister, but who
desire some form of Christian service. Men who have
had some experience in athletics and have enjoyed work
in a boys' club or as a volunteer worker in a settlement
during their college course, are quite likely to feel the
appeal of this type of work. One great requisite of
success along this line is the ability to make and keep
friends. A man must be a good mixer if he would hold
the confidence of the groups which he is likely to gather
about him in such work.
(e) social settlements
In most of our large cities will be found sections where
most of the population is composed of those of foreign
birth or parentage. The opportunity for the residents
of these sections to come in contact with those of the
community who represent the finest type of citizenship
is extremely limited. In order to provide a point of
contact between these diverse elements in our population

24 Opportunities for Social Work
the settlement idea was developed. Beginning with the
University Settlement in New York over four hundred
social settlements are now in existence in this country.
The service which a social settlement renders is ex
tremely broad, and includes an active interest in the prob
lems of the individual, the family, the neighborhood, and
the city. Individuals come to the settlement seeking pri
marily recreation and education, and if the membership
of a settlement is to be built up these needs must be
adequately met. Therefore, recreation work is one of
the leading regular activities of every settlement. The
headworker will also be presented with family problems,
principally on account of health or financial distress, and
must be in a position to render assistance or refer the
family to the proper agency. Through the membership
and activities of the settlement it is possible to secure
accurate information with regard to existing social con
ditions in the neighborhood, and at the same time through
the stimulus of the settlement develop self-expression and
neighborhood expression. The settlement fails in its duty
to the community if it does not stimulate the immigrant
to give his best to his community and to the country of
his adoption. This is done by instruction and contact
with the finest types in the community. Through the
musical and dramatic work of the settlement much may
be done to raise the cultural taste of a community, and
often exceptional talent along these lines is discovered
and developed. In a word, the community is helped to
find itself.
The lines of activity in a large settlement house are
quite varied. A considerable portion of the work is done
through clubs usually in charge of a volunteer worker.
These often include clubs composed of men interested in
serious questions and the affairs of the neighborhood,
Mothers' clubs, and some clubs of boys and girls. Classes
in cooking, dressmaking, millinery and housekeeping are

Community Problems 25
often maintained. Athletic work is a part of almost
every settlement, and in most cases gymnasium facilities
are provided in the house. A branch library is often main
tained and hours are devoted to reading and story telling.
In many settlements considerable musical work is done
and classes in piano and violin playing and in group
singing are conducted. The residents of the neighborhood
who attend the settlement are encouraged to take an in
terest in the problems of the community, and many re
forms have had their inception in an active settlement.
The position of head worker in a social settlement is one
of great responsibility. He must be able to attract the
right type of men and women as both resident and non
resident workers in the settlement. Hg must take a keen
interest in the welfare of the neighborhood and be re
spected as a leader by those in the neighborhood. He
must possess to an extraordinary degree executive and
organizing ability. He must be willing to work hard
because the hours are long and the number of matters
coming to him for decision and settlement is large.
For a man who possesses the qualities required there
are few positions in which one can do more for a com
munity than as head worker in a settlement. The num
ber of men who can fill positions of this kind is never
equal to the demand for them. In The Compass for
April, 1921, is the following note: "Just at present there
seems to be a distinct shortage of high grade trained
men or women for settlement work. Half a dozen jobs
froml Cleveland, Minneapolis, Boston and New York,
paying from $2,200 to $3,600 and maintenance, have re
mained unfilled for some time. It seems a pity that at
a time of so much general unemployment, one of the
oldest and best known fields of social work should be
faced with a shortage of trained people."
In addition to the position of head worker many of
the larger settlements employ an assistant head worker,

26 Opportunities for Social Work
an athletic director, and directors of club work. It is
possible for students in colleges located in large cities
to have experience as volunteer workers during their col
lege course and determine whether this type of work
appeals to them, and whether they are likely to succeed
at it as a life work. A conscientious head worker is
usually ready to encourage those who are likely to succeed
along this line of social service, and to discourage those
who, from certain temperamental defects, are not likely
to prove successful. Those who are planning to enter this
type of work should specialize in courses dealing with
the economic, social, and political conditions and history
of this country. (f) councils of social agencies
Many of the large cities of this country have, within
recent years, been confronted with two problems in the
field of philanthropic work. There has been a feeling
that with the multiplication of social agencies there might
be considerable duplication along some lines while there
were other sections of the field that were not being ade
quately covered. In order to meet this need councils of
social agencies have been formed in many cities to limit
the fields of the different organizations, to raise the stand
ard of the work, and to assign to the proper organization
any new piece of work which it seemed wise to undertake.
At the same time it seemed advisable to regulate in some
way the raising of funds for the various organizations
working in the community. The task of raising the money
required for these organizations was not an easy one, and
the burden resting upon the directors became well-nigh
intolerable. At the same time the community became
impatient when drive succeeded drive for these organiza
tions with astounding frequency. Each organization ap
pealed to the same small group of givers in the community
and it was felt in many places that the time had come to

Community Problems 27
have one annual drive for all the social agencies of the
city and to endeavor to increase the number of con
tributors. With this end in view the Council of Social
Agencies and the Community Chest were in many places
linked together and an annual drive for funds was made.
This fund was then assigned to the different agencies ac
cording to the importance of the work done and the accom
panying expense. This form of activity is comparatively
recent, but it is evident that a man of wide training and
experience is required for an executive position with one
of these Councils of Social Agencies. He must be able
to see things in a broad way and to include the needs of
the entire community in his vision.
(g) community surveys
In many communities the number of social organiza
tions and the expense of supporting them has increased
so rapidly within recent years that the citizens have felt
impelled to take account of stock and endeavor to de
termine how well the field is being covered, and whether
the need exists for all of the present organizations, or
whether more should be formed. This requires a care
ful and systematic survey of the community. Several
large surveys like those of Pittsburgh and Springfield
have been made, and a number of surveys upon particular
topics such as tbe vice surveys in a number of our Ameri
can cities. To take charge of a piece of work of this
nature requires a man of wide statistical training and
experience. He must know the facts it is necessary to
learn, be able to prepare the inquiry blanks, apportion
the city, take charge of the actual enumeration or study,
plan the tables, take charge of the tabulation, and if nec
essary make the statistical analysis. Few communities
possess men capable of taking charge of a piece of work
of this kind, and there is always a limited demand for
experts who are capable of filling such a position.

28 Opportunities for Social Work
III. The Family
(a) family social work
There is one type of social work in which the unit is
the family. About forty years ago the movement for
the establishment of charity organization societies began
in this country. In the beginning they were little other
than associations to organize the relief work which was
being done by different organizations which dealt with
families. The principal idea was to avoid duplication
in work. Since then, however, the idea underlying these
organizations has changed until, under a variety of names,
they have become the principal societies doing family
case work and social work in the cities of this country.
They were called originally Charity Organization Soci
eties, Organized Charities Associations, and Associated
Charities. During recent years the name of "Charity"
has fallen somewhat into disrepute and in selecting a new
name for these societies the attempt has been made to
stress the family end of the work and to avoid the word
"Charity." The activities of these organizations do not
consist merely in giving relief, but rather in the attempt
to place the families in a position where they will be
ultimately self-supporting. Relief may be necessary for
a longer or shorter time, but this is merely incidental to
the rehabilitation of tbe family. Work of this kind
requires the intensive investigation of a family. It is not
merely the attempt to discover and record all the faults
and defects in the family, but rather to determine its
latent possibilities, and to devise some way by which this
family may become in time a self-respecting and self-
supporting group. The corner stone of any such organi
zations must be careful and painstaking case work. The
worker must be able to discover, not alone the causes
which have brought the family to its present unfortunate

The Family 29
situation, but the latent resources of the family which
may be called forth to make it function properly. In
many forms of social work good case work is necessary,
but it is the very life of an organization of this sort.
There is no problem which can call forth the highest
qualities of a worker, or challenge his best endeavor to
a greater extent than when presented with the problem
of a family which has made a sorry failure out of life.
No one is fitted to become the secretary of such an or
ganization until he has been trained in the technique of
case work and has had active experience in it. He must
understand the necessity for a thorough investigation of
each case, and from the interpretation of the evidence
on the record be able to make a prqper diagnosis. In
this he will require the assistance of a case committee,
and must be able to enlist a group of volunteers who will
give loyal and regular service to this work. He must gain
the cooperation of those engaged in other lines of social
work in the city because an organization of this sort de
pends, to a considerable extent, upon assistance which
can be rendered by workers in other lines. The Civic
Protective Association may help with the wayward girl,
the probation officer with the boy who is hard to manage,
the Dispensary must help with the suspected case of
tuberculosis, the Visiting Nurse must come in for sick
ness, and the Children's Aid Society must help in find
ing a suitable home for a baby. The secretary is also
interested in any community problems which are making
family life difficult. He is interested in public health,
in pure milk, in decent recreation, in the employment
situation, in tbe conditions and rentals of tenement houses,
in the workman's compensation act, and in the countless
conditions which affect family life. He may find it neces
sary to assist in placing an insane parent, a feeble-minded
child, or a tuberculous mother in a suitable institution.
He must be able to keep the work of his Association
before the public in such a way as to make easier the

30 Opportunities for Social Work
task of raising the funds required for the work. In many
organizations a considerable share of the responsibility for
raising the funds rests with the secretary. There are
more paid workers in this line of work than in any other
type of organization doing relief work in this country,
and the opportunities for well-trained men are large.
Closely allied with this work, and uniform with it in
so far as the unit is the family, is Mothers' Aid, or
Widows' Pension work. The feeling is growing in this
country that the presence of a widow with young children
is required in her home, and that it is a mistake to expect
her to earn her own living in addition to bringing up her
children. It is also felt that she should not be dependent
upon assistance given by a charitable organization, but
that it is the duty of the state to provide sufficient funds
to enable her to stay at home and bring up her children
properly. Eligibility for a widow's pension varies in
different states. In some states deserted wives are en
titled to support. In some cases the pension rests upon
the citizenship of the father, but as a rule pensions are
granted when the mother is a suitable woman in a proper
home with young children, and without the income re
quired for a decent standard of living. The determina
tion of these points requires careful case work and fre
quent visitation in the home after the pension is granted.
The proper administration of a fund of this nature re
quires adequate supervision from the central office and
the standardization of the work throughout the state as
a whole. There are various methods in force for the
investigation and visitation in the local communities, but
whatever be the method a trained executive is needed
in the central office.
(b) departments of public charities
A position which requires many of the same qualities
needed by the Executive Secretary to a Charity Organi-

The Child 31
zation Society is the Superintendent or Commissioner
of the Department of Public Charities in our cities. A
large share of the work of these departments is with fam
ilies. They dispense outdoor relief to families in their
homes, and also have charge of the charitable institutions
maintained by the City. Medical attendance in their
homes and care in hospitals is furnished by the City in
a good many cases, and pauper burials are usually in
charge of this Department. The work requires, a person
familiar with case work and possessing administrative
ability. At present most of these positions are filled by
men who have had little or no experience in relief work,
but who have obtained the position as a reward for politi
cal service, or who have been successful in administrative
work along some other line. An encd*uraging sign in the
past few years has been the appointment to these posi
tions of men who have had experience in social work, and
it is probable that in the future an increasing number
of communities will demand that the persons placed in
charge of their Public Charities shall he men who have
had experience in some related work.

IV. The Child
(a) children's aid societies
In every state there is a considerable number of children
who, as a result of the death of their parents, of improper
home conditions, or of wayward tendencies, can no longer
be kept in their own homes. In some cases these children
are placed in institutions and in others they are boarded
in suitable homes, or in some instances given in adoption.
Almost every state has a society whose business it is to
investigate the home, to study the child, and to find a
suitable home for it. Successful child placing renders
three services to the child. In the first place it makes
a careful study of each individual child based upon physi-

32 Opportunities for Social Work
cal and mental tests to determine whether the child is
normal, and whether any minor operation such as one on
adenoids or tonsils is required before the child can be
placed in a suitable home. In case the examination dis
closes distinct mental subnormality it may be necessary
to place a child in an institution. If, however, the child
is normal, the second task is the selection of a suitable
home for it. The Society, through its visitors, is con
tinually inspecting and tabulating homes and that one is
selected in which the child is most likely to succeed. The
third task is the continuous visitation and inspection of
this home to determine that the child is making satisfac
tory progress. This work requires skill and intelligence
and the direction of a Society of this nature offers a
large opportunity to the right man. The demand is con
stantly greater than the supply and there is always com
petition for the man who possesses the qualification and
training required for the position.
(b) boys' clubs
The external factors with the most influence upon boys
are the home, the school, the church, and the street. In
many cases the influences of the home are far from stim
ulating to boys, and especially with children of foreign-
born parents there is a tendency of the child to consider
his parents as back numbers and to be unwilling to take
their advice or follow their example. These children
feel that if they are to succeed in this country it must
be by adopting American customs, and they feel that
in many respects their parents are un-American, and that
the advice they receive at home possesses but little value.
The school does its best to train these children to become
useful citizens and the attempt is made to place the
strongest teachers in the foreign-born sections to influence
their pupils. The attempt is made through parent asso
ciations to enlist the support of parents to work with-

The Delinquent 33
the school, and to carry the school training over into the
home. The influence of the street is not always of the
best and playgrounds under proper supervision are estab
lished to avoid the dangers of the city streets. But with
all these influences there is the need of something more
to keep the city child from becoming the member of a
gang. Boys are gregarious by instinct and have a supply
of surplus energy which is likely to lead them into bad
practices if no suitable channel can be found for its
activity. The best answer seems to be to transform the
gang into a properly housed, well regulated, and suitably
supervised club. There are few large cities in this coun
try which do not possess one or more boys' clubs with
a trained superintendent, and in many cases with an as
sistant superintendent and athletic director. Much of the
work is done by volunteers who attend the club for one
or two nights a week to take charge of some particular
group in which they are interested.
Athletics always play a large part in the activities of
such a club and baseball, basketball, and football follow
one another in stimulating interest and teaching team
play. The superintendent must know his boys personally
and be able to share their problems and direct them in
their difficulties. He must be able not only to gain the
confidence of the boys, but to arouse and keep the interest
of those who give their services as volunteers. The suc
cess of a superintendent of a boys' club depends to a very
considerable extent upon personal qualities which cannot
be imparted by training.
V. The Delinquent
(a) probation work
Although the number of those with anti-social instincts
in our communities is comparatively small, yet the trouble
and expense to which we are put by their presence is

34 Opportunities for Social Work
out of all proportion to their numbers. Beginning at a
comparatively early age, the number of persons convicted
of offenses against our laws increases to a maximum at
about the age of twenty-five. Our jails, reformatories, and
prisons have a population of about a hundred thousand,
and about a half more than this number are annually com
mitted to these institutions. Twenty years ago a person
convicted before one of our courts was either dismissed
with a reprimand, fined, or sent to jail or prison. When
we finally grasped the idea that the ends of justice were
better served by reformation than by punishment, and
that to sentence a man to thirty days in jail served little
purpose but to enable him to associate with those who
were worse than he was, we looked around for something
better than a jail sentence. This was found in probation.
Under the old system there was no intermediary between
the prosecuting attorney and the judge. A boy arrested
for theft was kept in the police station over night, brought
to court in the morning, his case was tried in the open
court and he was discharged or perhaps sent to the Reform
School. Under the modern methods the case is reported
to the probation officer who is a social worker rather than
a police officer. He visits the home, interviews the boy,
his parents, his teachers, and finds out what he can about
the neighborhood and his associates. Two or three days
are allowed for this investigation and in the meantime
the boy stays either at home or in some children's build
ing. He comes to the hearing in response to a summons
and his case is heard by a juvenile court judge, or a judge
in a court of domestic relations, with no one present ex
cept those interested in this particular case. The proba
tion officer tells his story and makes his recommenda
tion to the court. The judge listens to this and if it is
the first offense will discharge the boy with a warning
to him or to his parents, or may place him upon probation
for a number of months. In the latter case he reports
regularly to the probation officer and brings him weekly

The Delinquent 35
a card showing that he has been regular in attendance
at school. In addition to this the probation officer visits
the home and perhaps obtains for the boy membership
in some boys' club in the neighborhood of his home. In
a large proportion of such cases the boy is straightened
out and never again comes into contact with the author
ities. Under the old method it frequently happened that a
man who was in the habit of becoming intoxicated or
who failed to support his family was sent to jail. As a
result all income of the family ceased and it became de
pendent upon public or private charity. Under the new
method the man is placed under probation and ordered
to pay a certain amount weekly for the support of his
family. In the meantime the probation officer does his
best to encourage the husband and remove the friction
which may have existed in the home.
The result of probation has been to reduce the number
of jail commitments and in some states some of the jails
are no longer tenanted. There are at present about two
thousand parole officers in this country and when the
selection and tenure of these officers is not dependent upon
politics, it offers a very attractive field for college gradu
ates. The University of Minnesota has offered a course
of training for parole officers. In most of our states the
tenure of office is reasonably certain and fair salaries are
sure. It would appeal to many to feel they were working
for one of the three great branches of our Government.
This work is in no way dependent upon the philanthropy
of wealthy contributors, but is a part of our judiciary
system. The work is bound to grow, and since in most
of our large cities it is performed under good supervision,
the opportunity for real training is assured. The pro
bation officer does not work single-handed in his efforts
to reform those committed to his charge, but has the as
sistance and cooperation of social workers and agencies
in a variety of fields. There is much to encourage the

36 Opportunities for Social Work
worker in his daily tasks because when his job is efficiently
done he sees the results of his labors almost at once in
reconstructed individuals and homes. The opportunity
for advancement to supervisory positions and to the work
of chief probation officer in a large city or state opens
continuous avenues of advancement to industrious and
efficient workers. Although connected with the courts
a probation officer is essentially a social worker. College
graduates who wish to enlist in humanitarian and reform
work would do well to consider the opportunities offered
along the line of probation work.
(b) reform schools
Most of the states in this country possess at least one
school maintained by the State to which boys between
the ages of eight and fifteen who have shown wayward
and criminal tendencies and have not responded to pro
bationary treatment may be sent. Boys are usually com
mitted to these schools under an indeterminate sentence
by which they may not be kept beyond a certain maximum
age, but may be paroled at an earlier age at the discretion
of the directors of the school. Years ago these schools
usually consisted of one or more large congregate buildings
situated in a fairly good-sized yard which was surrounded
by a wall. To this type of institution there were many
objections. The life of the boys was regulated by the
stroke of a bell. Everything was done at wholesale and
far removed from the conditions prevailing in the family
home. The little world of the inmates was bounded by
the high wall which surrounded the school. From such
surroundings the boy was likely to come forth institution
alized no matter how satisfactory the educational facilities
were. Under the modern regime a school of this sort is located
in the country upon a tract of land comprising perhaps
hundreds of acres. There will be one central adminis-

The Delinquent 37
tration building and another central plant for the voca
tional work, or other joint activities of the institution,
such as laundry. The boys, however, will live in small
cottages in charge of a matron or possibly a man and
wife where conditions will approximate those of a large
family. Each cottage will have its own garden and in
some cases a separate barn. These units are, to a con
siderable extent, self-supporting. By means of a number
of small cottages it is possible to stimulate rivalry among
the groups and to develop a spirit in which every boy
is anxious to have his cottage the best in the group. In
terest in education is promoted by spelling matches be
tween different cottages, and prizes can be offered for the
best vegetables raised on these farms. By a system of
credits the supplies furnished each cottage are conserved
and the excessive breakage of dishes is avoided. Athletic
events can be arranged among the boys in the different
groups. Conditions on such a farm are quite different
from those in the old congregate institution located in
or near some city.
To become superintendent or assistant superintendent
of such a school offers a wonderful opportunity to a man
who understands and is interested in boys. In addition
he should possess considerable administrative and busi
ness ability.
Another interesting piece of work in connection with
these schools is that of parole officer. At the time of the
commitment of a boy he should be given a careful physical
and mental examination and a social study should be made
of his home conditions. A copy of this evidence should
be sent to the institution to furnish a background for the
study of the boy while at the school. When the time for
the release of the boy approaches it should be the duty
of the social worker or parole officer to determine the cir
cumstances under which the boy may be returned to the
community with the greatest likelihood of success. It
may be that the conditions and associations in his home

38 Opportunities for Social Work
community are such that it will be unwise to return him
to the place where he originally got into trouble. In that
case employment should be found for him in some other
community and a proper boarding place secured for him,
but when this is done the boy must not be left to his own
resources but should be visited from time to time by the
parole officer and should report regularly to the institution.
The boy should be encouraged to look upon the parole
officer as a friend ever ready to give him advice and
assistance, and to come to his aid in time of trouble.
To establish and maintain this relationship requires a
rare combination of qualities, and a good parole agent is
one of the most difficult workers to secure.
(c) reformatories for men
At one time in this country there were no institutions
to which those over the age of commitment to reform
schools could be sent except the county jails and state
prisons. The former were usually maintained for those
convicted of a misdemeanor, and the latter for those found
guilty of a felony. About all that was expected of the
county jail was to hold the inmates secure and to obtain
some work from them. There was no attempt at classi
fication of inmates and since they were committed for
short sentences little was done to teach them a trade. A
considerable proportion of the young men given jail sen
tences had never learned a trade and the very fact that
they were unskilled laborers with uncertain employment
contributed to their irresponsible life. This situation
brought the conviction that if men of this type were to
become responsible members of society they must be taught
a trade at which they could earn a decent living, and
that the habit of irregular employment must be broken.
With this end in view most of our states have established
reformatories for young men between the ages of sixteen
and twenty-five or thirty to which this type of offender

The Delinquent 39
may be sent. Here they are taught habits of regularity,
obedience, and industry. One of the fundamental prin
ciples of an institution of this type is that during his
period of confinement every man shall be taught the prin
ciples of a trade in order that he may become self-support
ing when released. At the same time he is taught habits
of regularity and learns to keep the hours of the ordinary
employed workman in order that these same habits may
be carried over into his life when released. In addition
he is instructed in the ordinary grammar school branches.
In many institutions all of the work of erecting new
buildings, including brick-laying, carpentry, plastering,
plumbing, steam-fitting, and painting, is done by the in
mates as part of their training.
In some of these institutions military drill is introduced
to teach a quick response to word of command and train
the men in erect carriage of the body. In addition to the
trade schools education in primary branches is given.
Athletics are allowed on certain days and practically the
entire population of the institution gathers as spectators.
The position of superintendent of such an institution is a
responsible one. In addition to the task of giving gen
eral supervision to all these lines of activity it is his duty
to recommend to his board the inmates who, in his opinion,
are worthy of parole. There is a tendency at present
to keep these positions out of politics, and the salary
and nature of the responsibility is such as to attract men
with a college degree. It would be advisable for a grad
uate to become connected with such an institution in a
minor capacity and become acquainted with the various
branches of the work in order to fit himself for advance
ment. The man who does this and shows that he possesses
industry and administrative capacity in addition to the
ability to gain the confidence and respect of the inmates
may expect to obtain in time a position of responsibility
in this line of work. As is the case with the Reform
School, the work of the social worker and parole officer

40 Opportunities for Social Work
is of very great importance because the real test of the
success of an institution depends upon the lives led by
the men who have been released from the institution.
Every superintendent is anxious to have a parole officer
who can gain and hold the confidence of the men on
parole. His task is by no means an easy one because,
in addition to the general oversight of the men, he must
assist in finding employment for them.
(d) state prisons
The average age of the inmates of State Prisons is some
what higher than that in the reformatories, and as a rule
the inmates are more hardened criminals. The length
of sentence is usually longer and men serving a life term
are to be found in all of these institutions. As a rule
less attention is paid to teach a variety of trades in these
institutions, but more to make them as nearly self-support
ing as possible. The salaries in these institutions are
attractive and usually include maintenance. In many
cases, however, politics plays a part in the choice of war
den. In all institutions of this kind appropriations must
be obtained from the state legislature and in most cases
the administrative head of the institution is expected to
assist the board of directors in obtaining the necessary
funds for maintenance, and occasionally an extra sum
for new construction. The type of official is desired who
makes a good appearance"1 before the Appropriations Com
mittee and is able to present his needs forcibly and briefly.
(e) jails
As maintained at present in most sections of this coun
try, the county jails do not offer much of an opportunity
for a college graduate who wishes to engage in social serv
ice. There is no question as to the need for improved
management and a livelier interest in the inmates on the

The Defective 41
part of the officers, but at present these positions may be
classified as political and do not offer a very promising
outlook to a young man who wishes to advance to a per
manent position of trust through the recognition of merit.
(f) prisoners' aid societies
In most of our states there is a Prisoners' Aid Society
whose chief function is the assistance of discharged pris
oners. Some of these societies are quite active while the
work of others is comparatively unimportant. Some of
the more active and influential societies offer a good oppor
tunity to a man who wishes to devote himself to the task
of aiding discharged prisoners to ta^e their places as re
sponsible members of a community.
VI. The Defective
The principal defective classes in the community are
the blind, the deaf and dumb, the insane, the mentally
deficient, and the epileptic. There are in many of the
states organizations which deal with these class.es in the
community, but from their very nature a considerable
proportion of the work is done in institutions. In the
hospitals for the insane and epileptic a considerable share
of the work is medical in its nature, and in charge of
these institutions is usually found a superintendent who
is a graduate of a medical school and has later specialized
in this department. Under him are one or more physicians
and then a considerable number of nurses or attendants.
One who hopes to become the head of such an institution
should first graduate from a medical school and later
specialize in this particular type of "disease.
In schools for the feeble-minded the hope of ultimate
recovery does not exist. A large proportion of the in
mates can never be released and the most that can be ex
pected of any of them is to do routine work in some place

42 Opportunities for Social Work
where they can be carefully safeguarded and efficiently
supervised. Medical education is to be recommended to
any who hope to become in charge of such an institution.
In the case of the blind and deaf and dumb the situa
tion is slightly different. Institutions for these two groups
are primarily educational. The attempt is made to grad
uate patients who can become self-supporting. What ap
plies to one of these groups applies with nearly equal
force to the other. That work in institutions for these two
groups may be considered as a form of social service is
evident from a statement which was recently issued by
Gallaudet College in Washington, D. C :
"The heads of departments of Sociology are requested to
take into consideration the need of workers in the field of
education of the deaf. This field covers the whole United
States, as every state has a school for deaf children or makes
provision for their instruction in a near-by school. There
are also many private schools and day schools in existence.
"There are some fourteen thousand deaf children under
instruction and about fourteen hundred teachers employed.
"The grade of work done in the state schools for the deaf
starts with the most elementary and goes up into the lower
high school course. There is also first-class industrial work
conducted in nearly all of the large schools.
"Salaries of teachers vary from six hundred dollars and
living upward. The average salary of men teachers is in
the neighborhood of fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars.
"What is most needed in this special profession at the
present time is young men of good collegiate training and
executive ability. To such young men attractive positions
are open which should lead in course of time to executive
positions as heads of education departments of residential
institutions where salaries generally include living and from
twenty-five hundred to three thousand dollars cash compen
sation. "The work of educating the deaf is a special one requiring
training along unusual lines. Normal fellowships in the ad
vanced department of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf,

The Defective 43
known as Gallaudet College, are open each year for a limited
number of young men who are just graduating from college.
These fellowships are valued at five hundred dollars, includ
ing living, tuition, etc. They lead to a further collegiate
degree, and the graduates have no difficulty in obtaining
positions. "The work of educating the deaf has been highly developed
in the past century and is one of the most necessary parts
of our educational undertakings. I hope that classes in
sociology may have their attention called to this field and
that we shall be able to recruit the ranks of our profession
from earnest young men who are willing to do a necessary
and helpful task as their life work."

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