There are many who are in danger of falling below the standard through sickness, or lack of normal physical de velopment, who are rescued by means of summer outings, playgrounds, and healthful recreations for which the facili ties are provided as a part of the relief system of the community. By increasing the physical vigor of growing children, by providing a needed rest for tired mothers, and by securing an opportunity for convalescence, the fresh air agencies perform a most important function in main taining a reasonable standard.
Another conclusion which may justly be drawn from the principles that have been presented is that material relief itself may often be used in such a way as to en able the one who receives it to become independent of relief. This is most clearly brought out in the con trast between small, irregular grants, made from time to time to supply the bare necessities, when the appli cant for relief has reached the point of destitution, and the loan, at one time, of a considerable sum of money, which, by enabling one to start in business or to con tinue in a small business already established, or to fit one's self for some new vocation, transfers the benefi ciary of such loan, once for all, to the ranks of the self-supporting. Two or three important charitable agen cies conduct, as a regular part of their activities, a spe cial self-support fund, from which such advances are made, as nearly as possible, on a business basis, although, in the absence of absolute security, there is always the risk that the loan will not be repaid in whole or even, perhaps, in part. The providing of an artificial leg, of a set of mechanic's tools, of a membership card in a trade-union, of a uniform, or a waiter's suit, sometimes enables the one who obtains such assistance to secure a position which would otherwise not be open to him. To provide the fixtures and stock of goods necessary to open a modest business of some kind, may be the best and most radical form of relief.
The degree of success of this form of material aid is not to be measured entirely by the success of bor rowers in returning the principal of their loans. While the maintenance intact of the original fund through the repayment of all loans would be the ideal, it may, nevertheless, be regarded as a fair measure of success if by such means families are made to become inde pendent of continuous relief, who would otherwise be in need of it ; and charitable loans should, in fact, be restricted to those for whom there is a possibility that this will be the outcome. Where there is a certainty
of repayment, even if this certainty rests only upon the personal character of the borrower, loans can ordi narily be obtained on a commercial basis, and where this is possible there should be no recourse to philan thropy. Loans from a self-support fund, the principal of which is advanced from philanthropic motives, will ordinarily not bear interest, but some motive 'for prompt repayment is nevertheless desirable, and this may be se cured either by demanding a moderate rate of interest, or by insisting upon an indorsement from some friend of the borrower, for whom it would be nearly or quite as great a hardship to pay the loan as for the borrower himself.
In all forms of relief, consideration should be given to its effect upon the standard of living of the family imme diately affected. In order that relief may be educational, it must often include more than bare necessities. This is true both of care in institutions and of home relief but there is an important distinction. Relief in an institution may be more readily adjusted so as to meet exactly the in dividual needs of the inmates. Relief for families in their homes must be more varied in character and in amount, taking account of the habits and customs of the social group to which the family belongs, and enabling the family to do those things that are regarded as essential to self-respect, and that will win and retain for them a fair measure of the regard of the neighborhood.
We may reserve for separate chapters two of the most striking illustrations of the modern conception of preven tive and effective relief, viz., the elimination of disease through the cooperation of the medical profession with others who are in positions to contribute to that desirable end; and the movement for housing reform.