the confinement of vagrants and persons convicted of petty misdemeanors.  Much dependency has resulted from the crippling of wage earners by industrial accidents and from “industrial diseases” arising from work in unwholesome conditions.  These causes may be removed by the maintenance of wholesome working conditions, by the installation of safety devices, and by the exercise of greater care by workers and employers.  The “safety first” movement strikes at the root of much dependency.  Inability to read signs and to understand instructions on the part of illiterate and foreign workers is the cause of many accidents.

SOCIAL INSURANCE

Some states have passed “employers’ liability laws,” designed to hold employers responsible for accidents resulting from failure to provide safe working conditions.  Others have “workmen’s compensation laws” which provide that an injured workman shall receive a portion of his wages during incapacity from accident or illness.  In some countries various forms of compulsory state insurance have been adopted.  Germany, for example, has long had laws requiring employees to take out accident insurance and insurance against sickness, both employees and employers contributing to the insurance fund.  Pensions for the aged and for widows are also provided for, the government itself contributing to the fund for this purpose.  At the close of the year 1919, 39 of our 48 states had laws providing for aid by the state to mothers who were unable to provide properly for their children.

The aim in our community life should be as far as possible to prevent dependency and not merely to relieve suffering after it occurs.  We shall find that the problem will tend to disappear in proportion as we develop in our communities adequate provision for health protection and physical development (Chapter xx), for vocational and general education (Chapter xix), for wholesome recreation (Chapter XXI), for the cultivation of habits of thrift (Chapter XIII); and as we are successful in producing a right attitude toward the problem of earning a living and wholesome relations between employer and employee (Chapter xi).

Investigate and report on: 

The rehabilitation of crippled soldiers after the war.

Your county or town almshouse or poor farm:  The kinds of cases sheltered there; its cost to the community; the methods of treatment employed.

Other local institutions for indoor relief in your community.

State institutions for the care of dependents and defectives in your state.  Their kinds and location.

The difference between “poverty” and “pauperism.”

The extent and kind of “charity work” done by the church which you attend (get accurate information).

The voluntary organizations of your community that give “poor relief.”  The kind of charitable work done by each.