Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.-Editor.]

The extension of the charity chest principle to all the industries in New York is urged in the “Jewish Tribune” (Nov. 26), by Alex A. Bernstein, chairman of the Distribution Committee of the Fur Industry Charity Chest. Speaking to the interviewer of the “Jewish Tribune,” Mr. Bernstein stated:

“In the Fur Industry Charity Chest we have found a mechanism, a method of handling our problem, that is easy and that is more effective than any previous device. What would you say to an organization or industry that doubled its income and that at the same time increased its efficiency and decreased its expenses?

“And that’s why I feel confident that Charity Chests for the different industries are bound to come. Among other things they can actually educate the giver to give. There is no clouding of issues. The Charity Chest, because of its control, influences people to give more than they ever gave before its establishment. And, the most important feature is that it gives judiciously and with a gradual approach to ideal giving.

“Before there was a Charity Chest, every business man was approached by solicitors. If he was in a good mood he gave some money without inquiring too deeply into the status of the particular institution he was helping. If his breakfast did not agree with him he was apt to turn down the solicitor even when the cause was a very worthy one. Not only was the business man careless of the merits of the institutions to which he contributed, but at the end of a year he was left with a sense of having been annoyed.

“But there was something even more striking.

“The solicitor who follows the path of least resistance naturally goes to the man who is a known giver, with the result that the generous man is hounded to death, while the selfish non-giver completely escapes.

“In an organized community where everyone knows everyone else such a condition becomes impossible. The Charity Chest of the Fur Industry completely eliminates all these annoyances.

“It’s nothing more than a systematization of the procedure. Organizations are notified that they will receive no individual gifts but must direct their appeal to the Charity Chest. At any rate they find it out for themselves. Members of the Chest pledge themselves to refer all solicitors to the Charity Chest. Of course every member has the privilege of designating the major part of his contribution. That’s how the Chest has made its members literally free from solicitors and the expenditure of time it involves.

“Do you wonder,” Mr. Bernstein said in conclusion, “that I insist upon the need for other industries to take up this idea of a common Charity Chest? There are too many philanthropic institutions in New York. The only way to help matters is by accepting the Charity Chest universally.”