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Show CO-OPERATIVE CHARITY. It docs one good to read about the Queen's Daughters,, and the knowledge gained adds to appreciation ap-preciation of co-operative charity. This does not interfere with individual charity. It does not and cannot stifle that feeling of pleasure one feels who hands the beggar a dollar and no questions asked. Much as we assail man's depravity, we are constantly con-stantly reminded by examples that vice is not without with-out one virtue, at least. Xo matter how bad the man or woman may be, there yet remains a strain of humanity which yields to compassion for suffering. suffer-ing. Hence charity is the usual and not the rare thing to be found among ihe children of men; and by this we mean the charity of giving. It is apart from the charity of speech and thought. Measured Meas-ured by the charity of giving the other is, humanly considered, a molehill beside the mountain. Compare the results of individual with cooperative co-operative charity, and what do we perceive ? As a product of the first, the pleasure of giving, mingled min-gled with self-esteem, but without complete knowledge knowl-edge of the way the gift was expended. By the ' co-operative method we are conscious that the dollar given is followed in its travel of expenditure by a vigilant agent. Very few charitable persons, acting on their own hook, could propose a concert, hire or coax singers to participate, pay the rent of a hall, and manage the entertainment from beginning begin-ning to end. so that out of it would come a round sum of money for a worthy object. But a score of charitable people could : easily undertako it and gather pleasure, .even, amusement, in undertaking it. All illustrating the, maxim of many mickles making the muckle. That is the way they do things in Denver, these Queen's Daughters. That is the way they do things in Yonkers, X. Y., as we perceive through a.n account ac-count given by the Catholic Xews. At their fortnightly fort-nightly meetings some scholar, invited beforehand, delivers a lecture on' sociology, or history, or literature, liter-ature, frequently augmented by stereopticon views. In one of these lectures a Father McMillan spoke on "The Submerged' Tenth." We all know what that means and who they are. Happily, our western west-ern civilization has thus, far escaped the blemish of the east, its pinching poverty, and its awful spectacle spec-tacle of children packed with grown folks in close and stifling tenements, a shock to the natural modesty mod-esty of sex. Three thousand people'livc in one block. The priest pointed out that even amid such surroundings the poor visited by the charitable re-i re-i sen ted any air of patronage by The rich. It is the old Adam sticking out in the man, and we do not blame them. "There are certain ways of approaching approach-ing these people," said Father McMillan. "You must not put on an air of condescension when you visit them, but you must meet them on a plane of equality. They are not fo, be eommisserated with. They will accept friendship and food, but not pity. Little hints howr to improve .their rooms will be received re-ceived gratefully after they have, come to know you. The girls also will accept advice as to the. trimming of their hats." At another of those meetings the Queen's Daughters were addressed by Rev. Cornelius' Clif-I Clif-I ford of Xewark, X:. J. He lectured on "Sir Leslie Stephen and Luxury." Xot many who spend even a large share of time reading, remember running across Sir Leslie Stephen. He was not advertised so well as Wagner, of "The Simple Life." But what Stephen once said and wrote, Wagner is saying say-ing now. There is nothing new under the sun. Luxury is a social vice that is peculiar to most natures, says Stephen, , We cannot judge whether it is- right to- have lace on our pillows, or even a bed to sleep in. while others are without food or shelter, for if we do we face a most peculiar situation. situa-tion. The man who spends money merely for the sake of spending can be taken for his worth or for Avhat he is considered in society. If you would understand un-derstand just what luxury means, ask yourself how rich you would like to be. And if you. had your desire tuere would not be auy limit to your wants. Fat only enough to sustain life and you feel comfortable. com-fortable. .Overload your stomach and you are miserable.. mis-erable.. In order to make, use of wealth a certain amount of intelligence is necessary. Stephen thinks that men of wealth who say they are more miserable than poor men aro hypocrites, for who of them would be willing to change places with the poor man? . Luxury is a relative term of civilization. civiliza-tion. When you increase a man's wants you increase, in-crease, his civilization vou raise him to a higher social plane. - Stephen says luxury iu an individual makes him unreasonable and selfish, and selfishness is the one great cardinal sin of humanity. We may say a man 'is silly to build. gcett mansions or own vast estates, but before Ave judge him we must decide how far his luxury affects others. "To sum it all up," said Father Clifford, "luxury, after all. is only a whim of the individual, and whether or not it is wrong depends largely on the individual's idea of sin." : : : ' |