is there a constant increase in the use of the facilities of this society, for investigation, but other agencies as well are manifesting greatly increased activity in this direction. This is especially true of the city charities whose investigator devotes a large share of his time to this line of work. Much relief is still given without sufficient investigation, but there can be no doubt but that a marked improvement has been brought about and that there is a tendency toward further improvement.

"The extent to which the facilities of the society for giving information concerning applicants are being used, as well as the tendency toward their increased use, may be indicated by the following figures, which show the number of applications received from almoners and charitable individuals for reports concerning applicants and the total number of applications that have come to us through reference by co-operating agencies and individuals. The number of applications received directly from the applicants also testifies to the increasing extent to which claims for relief are subjected to investigation.

"The increase in the use of our society is not the only indication that those who give are coming to realize the need of more information concerning their beneficiaries. There is also a notable increase in cooperation and the exchange of information among the almoners, and especially an increase of co-operation between the public and private charities to the advantage of both.

"The advance made under the second division of the charity organization method, that of securing relief from the most natural source available, is not as manifest, though it is, I believe, no less real. This society has always found it easy to secure adequate relief for real want. The co-operation of relief agencies from the first has been very satisfactory in this respect. But when the fact of a need is established another question arises as to which of perhaps several possible sources we should apply to for the relief. The easiest course is not always the best. Charity organization societies everywhere stand for the principle that parents should care for their children and grandchildren, that children should support their parents and grandparents, that

brothers and sisters, relatives and personal friends should stand by each other in times of need. These virtues are exemplified among the poor even more than among the well-to-do. We believe they should be encouraged, not because they save the relief funds, but because of the moral advantage, and often, even, the economic advantage to the poor themselves.

"At the time this society was organized the sense of interdependence among the poor as well as the spirit of independence was being seriously undermined by the ease with which relatives and acquaintances could be placed upon the charities. This evil has since been greatly reduced by the curtailment of public relief as well as by direct co-operation with the relatives and friends of the needy. After ten years of effort in this direction we can say, that the relatives and personal friends of the needy are much more helpful than is generally supposed. They are often perplexed and baffled by the failings of character, of which the relief agent may not hear, but an utter lack of generosity is seldom met with, and on the other hand the recognition of responsibility is certainly becoming more general. The very large decrease in the amount of public outdoor relief is both a cause and an evidence of the fact that the relief of want has become less a matter of official necessity and more a matter of personal interest and helpfulness. In other words the relief of want comes in much greater degree than ten years ago, from the more natural sources.

"In respect to the third division of the charity organization method— the formation of plans for permanent improvement in the situation of individual families and the establishment to this end of continuous friendly relationship between the needy family and a visitor of character and resource-we can also find evidence of progress.

"More or less successful work is done along these lines by other organizations, but doubtless the chief advance during the past ten years is to be seen in the activity of various circles of King's Daughters, in the work of the agents of this society, and especially in the work of the three conferences of Friendly Visitors which this society maintains. The central conference was organized in the fall of 1894; the North District Conference and the South District Conference were organized two years later. A large increase in the number of visitors has continued to be a matter of hope, but a good interest in the work of the conferences has been realized, and the results attained have been highly satisfactory.

"Though no new discovery, it is, we believe, much more generally realized now than ten years ago, that the need of groceries and coal, though important of itself, is in general but a superficial manifestation of deeper needs which must be dealt with if we are really to improve the condition of the poor.

"The work of this society in respect to personal service for the needy has undergone a considerable change during the ten years under consideration. The first years of its activity were spent largely in exposing abuses, a work that was much more useful to the public than profitable to the society or its superintendent. It was not until these abuses were in a large measure corrected that the benevolent work outlined in the constitution of the society was taken up in its entirety. "The curtailment of public relief has given it a chance to be of service to needy people in securing relief from other sources. Increased support has made it possible to enlarge its working force so that more can be done toward meeting the countless needs of the poor which call for action rather than for money. It no longer attempts to classify its needy acquaintances into the categories of worthy and unworthy, but in the light of all the knowledge it can gain it seeks to do, or to have done that which will be most helpful to each. The stimulating influence of thorough acquaintance is perhaps itself the chief contribution of this society to the upbuilding of the dependent, but this acquaintance has brought many opportunities for useful effort-opportunities which have been accepted in some measure, but which extend far beyond the limits of our present resources.

"The course which the reform movement has taken in respect to the decrease in public outdoor relief is shown in the following table, in which the amounts of annual public relief in provisions, rent, fuel and cash are compared with the amounts which would have been given if the per capita rate of expenditure in 1890 had been continued with the increasing population of the city till 1900. During this period the amount of outdoor relief given by the seven leading relief societies of the city has remained practically constant at about $11,500.

"It will be observed that a sudden decline in public relief followed the report of the special committee on outdoor alms in 1891, and another marked decline followed the transfer of the public charities from the hands of the selectmen to the board of charity commissioners in June, 1896. The hard winter of 1894 caused some reaction, but aside from these exceptional years the decline in public outdoor relief has been steady and continuous. The per capita expenditure has been reduced from sixty-five cents in 1890 to less than six cents for the year ending April 1, 1900. There is every reason to believe that a further reduction can be made to advantage. The saving already made, however, amounts in the nine and a half years covered by the table to $270,320, while the rate of expenditure now attained shows an annual saving of $44,588. If our calculations were extended to the next ten years with another 50 per cent increase in the population of the city, the saving for the ten years would aggregate $557,350. In view of these large figures the expenditures for investigations and for the work of helping the needy to help themselves seem to be very profitably invested."

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IV. COLONIES AND COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. A Colonial Bureau of Information,—An institution of great practical interest to Americans at the present time is the recently organized Office Colonial, a branch of the French Colonial Ministry. Situated in the historic Galerie d'Orléans of the Palais Royal, the office has for its object to furnish accurate and official information upon all subjects connected with the colonies, for the use of intending investors, emigrants and business men generally. It is a bureau of information. France is land-poor; in spite of her enormous colonial empire she is without the means of developing it. All the world knows of the stationary condition of her population. The French themselves have become uneasy over this sign of decadence and a parliamentary commission has just been appointed to study the evil and propose remedies." Whatever the causes of the existing conditions may be, the truth of the matter is that France with her stationary population is not an 66 expansive" country, therefore the French colonies are not peopled with Frenchmen. This circumstance, together with the burdensome trade restrictions imposed by the mother country, has led to colonial stagnation. Recently the danger of such conditions has been brought home to the French public by the trend of international events, and strenuous efforts have been made to strengthen the colonies and to bind them more closely to the mother country. Realizing that the only way to retain control of her colonies was to people them with her own citizens, France has devoted her energies to the task of encouraging emigration and investment in colonial enterprises. The old bureau of information for Indo-China, established in 1898, has become the present Office Colonial. This office is divided into four different branches or bureaus : I. Colonization and Emigration. 2. Commerce. 3. Statistics. 4. Library. Of these the second is of especial importance.

Commerce.

The section of commerce is by far the most valuable and important part of the Office Colonial. In this section is published the monthly "Feuille de renseignements," or bulletin of information, which forms the principal work of the bureau. The bulletin has a circulation of about fourteen hundred, chiefly among newspapers, chambers of commerce, colonial societies and individuals interested in colonial affairs. It contains articles on all topics of a colonial nature. The value of this publication is attested by the frequent correspondence which it occasions. Especially noteworthy is the advertising function performed by the bulletin. Along this line the "Feuille," has succeeded