There are many causes of the drink evil, as I have tried to show, but, after every allowance has been made, the chief cause will often be found in the selfishness of the human heart. {62} There are men who do not care to be cured of drunkenness, who feel no shame for the misery and degradation brought upon their families. Here again the "sad fact of incurability" must be recognized. It is folly to let such men discover that, through our charitable interest in their families, we will either directly or indirectly pay their whiskey bills, or will assume the burdens that they deliberately shirk. A Committee on Intemperance, reporting to the Ward VIII. Conference of the Boston Associated Charities in 1886, called attention to this aspect of the question. "The committee, however, say that, in their opinion, the question of moral responsibility on the part of the intemperate, and also, in its degree, on the part of those who, by gifts or other aid, make intemperance easy, is too much lost sight of; and they believe that the refusal of all aid to the families of drunkards, outside the almshouse, unless in exceptional cases, would bring about a better state of opinion and a juster sense of responsibility. The committee add that it will be almost impossible to make kind-hearted people believe this, since they are more moved {63} by the sight of present suffering than by the hope of future permanent improvement, to secure which some measure of present suffering may be necessary." [9] Collateral Readings: "An Adventure in Philanthropy," Edwin C. Martin in "Scribner's," Vol. XI, pp. 230 _sq_. "Charity and Home Making," the present writer in "Charities Review," Vol. VI, No. 2. "Married Vagabonds," the same, in Proceedings of Twenty-second National Conference of Charities, pp. 514 _sq_. "Drunkards' Families," Rev. W. F. Slocum in Proceedings of Fifteenth National Conference of Charities, pp. 131 _sq_. "The Social Value of the Saloon," E. C. Moore in "American Journal of Sociology," Vol. III, No. 1. "Substitutes for the Saloon," F. G. Peabody in "Forum" for July, 1896. "Law and Drink," Frederick H. Wines in "Charities Review," Vol. VII, Nos. 3 and 4. [1] "Rich and Poor," p. 105. [2] pp. 72 _sq_. [3] "Charities Review," Vol. VI, pp. 121 _sq_. [4] See Proceedings of the Twenty-second National Conference of Charities and Correction, New Haven, 1895, pp. 514 _sq_. [5] "Public Relief and Private Charity," p. 105. [6] See on this subject the Proceedings of the Twenty-fourth National Conference of Charities and Correction at Toronto, 1897, pp. 5 _sq_. [7] Miss Z. D. Smith in Report of Union Relief Association of Springfield, Mass., 1887. [8] "Charities Record," Baltimore, Vol. I, No. 1. [9] Seventh Report of Boston Associated Charities, p. 39. {64} CHAPTER IV THE HOMEMAKER