But His Majesty has never contented himself, as he might so easily have done, with allowing his own subscription and the fact of his patronage to open the purse-strings of the charitable public. The word “genuine” has been used above advisedly. The King has no sort of admiration for careless, slovenly charity, which often does more harm than good. Long ago he realised that to give money is not enough, but that it is a sacred duty to see that the money is expended to the best advantage and really reaches the persons for whom it is intended. Hence it is not surprising to find that His Majesty was from the first a strong supporter of the old Mendicity Society, and has continued to give his countenance to the Charity Organisation Society, which, in return, has been of the greatest service to him. It will readily be understood that it is not so much the actual sums subscribed by His Majesty and his gracious Consort to a particular charity which are valued--though the aggregate amount which they have given away since their marriage represents a very large sum--but it is the guarantee afforded by the mere fact that their Majesties have subscribed at all. Great precautions are taken to prevent a Royal subscription from being given to a fraudulent or unworthy object, and that is no doubt why a comparatively small sum, perhaps only £50 or £100 from the King or Queen Alexandra, stimulates the generosity of the public to the extent of many thousands. Charitable work, however, as those who have engaged in it know only too well, is only a palliative. By his active interest in the problem of the housing of the poor, which has been described in a previous chapter, the King has endeavoured to strike at one of the chief causes of vice and crime. We have seen that on various occasions His Majesty has made pointed observations regarding the provision of decent cottages for agricultural labourers, and there can be no doubt that the example he has set on his Sandringham estate has been of the greatest value. The King took the earliest opportunity after his accession, in his reply to the address presented by the London County Council, of emphasising his interest in the housing of urban populations also. It must not be forgotten that the question is, at any rate in some of its aspects, a political one, and the King has therefore been obliged to exercise all his well-known tact and discretion in dealing with it.