I fancy that I can hear some good reader’s mocking sneer at the idea of being fed at a “common, socialistic trough.” Well, I can only say that, having eaten meals in two or three of the schools, I much preferred them to an average American restaurant “Regular Dinner” at twenty-five cents. Everything is as neat and clean as it could possibly be, and the cooking—well, it bears out the reputation of the French as the master-cooks of the world. There is, apparently, no “graft,” and that is probably due in large part to the fact that the meals are not confined to pauper children, who might, alas! be badly served with impunity. From the first it has been one of the chief aims of the authorities to keep the canteens free from the taint of pauperism. The children of the well-to-do are encouraged to attend—not, indeed, by direct solicitation, but by making the meals and the surroundings as attractive as possible. And the plan succeeds very well. No child knows whether the child next it has paid for its dinner or not. Small tickets are issued, each child going through a little box-office, which only permits of one being in at a time. If a little boy or girl claims to be too poor to pay for a meal ticket, no questions are asked, the ticket is issued, and the child’s name and address noted. By next day, or at most in two days, inquiries have been made. If it is found that the parents can afford it, they are compelled to pay the full price and to refund whatever sum may be due to the canteen for the meals their child has had. If they are found to be really too poor to pay, tickets are issued to the child for as long as it may be necessary. In such cases the account is not charged against the parents. No distinction is made between the tickets of those who pay and those who do not, and it is thus practically impossible for the child who has paid for its meal to jeer at its less fortunate, dependent comrade. Thus the self-respect of the poorest children is preserved,—a most important fact, as every one who has studied the problems of charitable relief knows.