is to remain a free country, the community must learn some much needed lessons as to the responsibilities of freemen.

The hard times of the present winter are likely to furnish valuable tests of our present agencies, both public and private, for relieving the poor. The winter is not yet over, and it is therefore too early to pass any judgment upon the winter's work, even for a limited area. It is still more out of the question to obtain any general results for the United States. It is to be hoped that this will be done in an exhaustive and comprehensive manner by experts later in the year. It may, however, be interesting, even at this early date, to ask what we have learned down to the present time, from the experience of a single city.

New Haven may be regarded as an average town for this purpose. It had, at the last census, a population of 81,298, and stood 35th in the list of cities ranked according to population. It is a manufacturing town with well diversified industries. It is, therefore, not very likely to be greatly affected by great prosperity or adversity in a single branch of business. There have been no exceptional troubles, such as strikes or lock-outs, nor have there been any great failures. of manufacturing establishments. The depression of the winter may, therefore, be said to be due to general, not to local causes, and New Haven may thus be regarded as a typical city of moderate size. It has not the slums and the consequent very difficult problems of great cities of over half a million, but it has a fairly dense population and, therefore, the problems that confront cities of the second rank.

Some effort has been made to find out just how many people have been thrown out of work as the result of the crisis. The estimate published by Mr. Closson, in the last number of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, was 5,000. This was based upon a statement of the mayor of the city, made last fall, probably during November. The official in question is himself a large manufacturer and therefore familiar with trade, and he would have no reasons for exaggerating the distress, but rather the reverse. Nevertheless a census of the unemployed, made by the police

early in January, gives a total of 2,886, or but little more than half of the former estimate, at a season of the year when the lack of employment was probably quite as great as in November. This discrepancy shows how difficult it is to get exact figures on such a subject, for the chances are that the figures of the police census are too great rather than too little. In obtaining their data, the policemen had no instructions to make any discrimination between those who were out of employment as the consequence of exceptional causes and those who were usually idle during the winter months. It is impossible to tell how many of the latter classes were included in these figures, and it is also impossible to tell how many escaped the attention of the police altogether. It is, therefore, not easy to ascertain the magnitude of the problem by simply looking at the number of the unemployed. It is, however, possible to ascertain approximately, how far the means of relief are adequate.

A number of facts have been set forth as indications that there must be much distress. The number of unemployed alone would indicate that there must be much suffering. During the fall a baker and a butcher adopted, for a few weeks, the policy of giving away bread and meat to all comers during certain hours of the morning. The number of applicants for this dole was very large. A benevolent restaurant keeper offered to feed a thousand people on New Year's Day, and his restaurant was crowded. One of the newspapers chronicled the fact that many people sent their plates back for three helpings, and considered that to be conclusive proof of the state of famine in which they found themselves. As a result of these and other indications of distress unusual efforts have been made by private persons, charitable institutions, churches, and the town for relieving or giving work to the suffering. The contributions to the charitable societies have been unusually large, some of the newspapers have made special collections to relieve the distress, and the town has not only granted outdoor relief more freely than usual, but has established a wood-yard in order to give work to the able-bodied unemployed. It is not easy to get at the amount distributed by the several churches.

The Organized Charities Association has, however, probably handled a large part of the money given by private persons, since the newspapers have made it their disbursing agency for funds collected by them. This society, like others of its class, has, by means of its card system, unusual facilities for knowing the merits of applicants for aid. But the very fact that it keeps a record might, it was thought, prevent many worthy people from applying, lest they should be considered paupers. It was, therefore, provided that those who applied for the special relief fund should not have their names entered in the usual manner, but that a memorandum should be kept to aid the committee in distributing funds, and the names should not in any way be accessible to the public. Moreover, a special effort was made to ferret out people who might be in distress, yet might be deterred by a feeling of pride or self-respect from applying for public charity. Notices were put in the papers inviting people to give to the society the names of any of their neighbors or acquaintances who might be in distress, and it is believed that the existence of the fund was very widely known throughout the whole city. The following table shows in a condensed form the work of the society during the past three months of the present winter, compared with the corresponding months of last winter:

It will be noticed that the non-residents, or tramps, show the most rapid rate of increase. What this means it is not easy to say. New Haven has the reputation of being a comfortable sojourn for travelers of this description, and it is probable that many have been attracted to the City of Elms by its good name. The figures may also mean that an unusually large number of persons who are on the dividing line between the steadily employed and the tramp may have been obliged to take to the road during the winter. The exceptional character of the present winter is seen more

clearly in the increase of new resident cases by 148% and the increase of 194% in the amount expended directly, as distinguished from relief given in the form of work in the wood yard. But though the relative increase in both these items is great, the absolute figures are small compared with the number of persons supposed to be out of work. Nor is the amount expended by the town authorities excessive. The outlay for outside poor has increased from $4,688.94 in the three months from November to January of last winter, to $5,065.03 during the same months of this winter, or $376.09. The amount paid in wages at the wood yard, during the first six and a half weeks of its history was $249.41.

If many people are unemployed, and at the same time the demands made upon public and private charity are small, it must be, either that people have savings of their own upon which they draw, or that they are helped by their friends. To what extent the latter is done can be only conjectured. Those who labor among them say that the poor always receive a great deal of help from those who are but little better off than themselves. The savings banks, however, indicate something with regard to the draft that has been made upon their savings by depositors. These figures are, of course, not conclusive, and must be used with caution. They are, however, not without their significance. Through the courtesy of the officers of the New Haven savings banks we are able to give month by month the deposits and with. drawals of all of the savings banks of New Haven. For the sake of simplicity the cents are omitted.

These figures show that during the seven months from July, 1892, to January, 1893, there was an excess of deposits over withdrawals of $840, while for the corresponding months of 1893-94 there was an excess of withdrawals of $1,237,805. These withdrawals, although large in the aggregate, only amounted to about of the total deposits June 30th. Moreover, a large part of the amount withdrawn was probably due to the panic, as will be seen by the fact that during the month of July alone nearly $1,000,000 were taken out, and the excess of withdrawals over deposits was $600,000. The falling off in withdrawals during August and September was due to the fact that the savings banks took advantage of their right to require three months notice, though even during that period they took pains to accommodate people who really needed the money. Their business can not, therefore, be said to have reached its normal state until November or December. In November the excess of withdrawals was a little over $100,000, while in December there was an excess of deposits of $143,000.

In interpreting these figures it must be remembered that the withdrawals were not all used for the purpose of paying running expenses. Many of them were made for the purpose of investment, which was stimulated by the fact that the savings banks found themselves obliged to cease loaning money. In many cases, therefore, a would-be borrower who could not obtain loans at the banks could get some of his acquaintances to withdraw their deposits and loan him