登陆注册
5271400000036

第36章 CHAPTER VII SOME EARLY UNDERTAKINGS AT HULL-HOUSE(

The situation changed markedly after the Pullman strike, and our efforts to secure factory legislation later brought upon us a certain amount of distrust and suspicion; until then we had been considered merely a kindly philanthropic undertaking whose new form gave us a certain idealistic glamour. But sterner tests were coming, and one of the first was in connection with the new building for the Jane Club. A trustee of Hull-House came to see us one day with the good news that a friend of his was ready to give twenty thousand dollars with which to build the desired new clubhouse. When, however, he divulged the name of his generous friend, it proved to be that of a man who was notorious for underpaying the girls in his establishment and concerning whom there were even darker stories. It seemed clearly impossible to erect a clubhouse for working girls with such money and we at once said that we must decline the offer. The trustee of Hull-House was put in the most embarrassing situation; he had, of course, induced the man to give the money and had had no thought but that it would be eagerly received; he would now be obliged to return with the astonishing, not to say insulting, news that the money was considered unfit.

In the long discussion which followed, it gradually became clear to all of us that such a refusal could be valuable only as it might reveal to the man himself and to others, public opinion in regard to certain methods of money-making, but that from the very nature of the case our refusal of this money could not be made public because a representative of Hull-House had asked for it.

However, the basic fact remained that we could not accept the money, and of this the trustee himself was fully convinced. This incident occurred during a period of much discussion concerning "tainted money" and is perhaps typical of the difficulty of dealing with it. It is impossible to know how far we may blame the individual for doing that which all of his competitors and his associates consider legitimate; at the same time, social changes can only be inaugurated by those who feel the unrighteousness of contemporary conditions, and the expression of their scruples may be the one opportunity for pushing forward moral tests into that dubious area wherein wealth is accumulated.

In the course of time a new clubhouse was built by an old friend of Hull-House much interested in working girls, and this has been occupied for twelve years by the very successful cooperating Jane Club. The incident of the early refusal is associated in my mind with a long talk upon the subject of questionable money I held with the warden of Toynbee Hall, whom I visited at Bristol where he was then canon in the Cathedral. By way of illustration he showed me a beautiful little church which had been built by the last slave-trading merchant in Bristol, who had been much disapproved of by his fellow townsmen and had hoped by this transmutation of ill-gotten money into exquisite Gothic architecture to reconcile himself both to God and man. His impulse to build may have been born from his own scruples or from the quickened consciences of his neighbors who saw that the world-old iniquity of enslaving men must at length come to an end. The Abolitionists may have regarded this beautiful building as the fruit of a contrite heart, or they may have scorned it as an attempt to magnify the goodness of a slave trader and thus perplex the doubting citizens of Bristol in regard to the entire moral issue.

Canon Barnett did not pronounce judgment on the Bristol merchant.

He was, however, quite clear upon the point that a higher moral standard for industrial life must be embodied in legislation as rapidly as possible, that it may bear equally upon all, and that an individual endeavoring to secure this legislation must forbear harsh judgment. This was doubtless a sound position, but during all the period of hot discussion concerning tainted money I never felt clear enough on the general principle involved, to accept the many invitations to write and speak upon the subject, although I received much instruction in the many letters of disapproval sent to me by radicals of various schools because I was a member of the university extension staff of the then new University of Chicago, the righteousness of whose foundation they challenged.

A little incident of this time illustrated to me the confusion in the minds of a least many older men between religious teaching and advancing morality. One morning I received a letter from the head of a Settlement in New York expressing his perplexity over the fact that his board of trustees had asked money from a man notorious for his unscrupulous business methods. My correspondent had placed his resignation in the hands of his board, that they might accept it at any time when they felt his utterances on the subject of tainted money were offensive, for he wished to be free to openly discuss a subject of such grave moral import. The very morning when my mind was full of the questions raised by this letter, I received a call from the daughter of the same business man whom my friend considered so unscrupulous. She was passing through Chicago and came to ask me to give her some arguments which she might later use with her father to confute the charge that Settlements were irreligious. She said, "You see, he has been asked to give money to our Settlement and would like to do it, if his conscience was only clear; he disapproves of Settlements because they give no religious instruction; he has always been a very devout man."

I remember later discussing the incident with Washington Gladden who was able to parallel it from his own experience. Now that this discussion upon tainted money has subsided, it is easy to view it with a certain detachment impossible at the moment, and it is even difficult to understand why the feeling should have been so intense, although it doubtless registered genuine moral concern.

同类推荐
  • 创镌华严游心法界记

    创镌华严游心法界记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 甲乙日历

    甲乙日历

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 深雪偶谈

    深雪偶谈

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 立宪万岁

    立宪万岁

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 十洲记

    十洲记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 祖庭事苑

    祖庭事苑

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 最佳女婿

    最佳女婿

    无理丈母娘竟索要天价礼金否则就要棒打鸳鸯,不给活路?山村穷小子李凡意外获得水神传承从此人生转折种田,治病…样样精通成为了万千大人物面前炙手可热的人物如蛟龙搅动商场风云,带领村民脱贫致富一步一步的走向了人生巅峰…
  • 公主捂脸:驸马太心急

    公主捂脸:驸马太心急

    她,曾是集荣宠一世的北梁国辰贵妃,却在皇后和亲妹妹的陷害下,被皇帝活活祭天。一朝魂穿于瘫痪的东周公主身上,刚睁开眼,俊美绝伦的痴傻驸马缓缓逼近:入洞房,生皇孙——
  • 谁是谁的白月光

    谁是谁的白月光

    当红玫瑰已成为墙上的一抹蚊子血,谁会是明日照亮你心房的白月光?钟情如几何,直线最短思念是心算,曲线极长于千万人之中,遇见你要遇见的人。于千万年之中,时间无涯的荒野里,没有早一步,也没有迟一步,遇上了也只能轻轻地说一句:你也在这里吗?
  • 中国人的骄傲:神舟家族(征服太空之路丛书)

    中国人的骄傲:神舟家族(征服太空之路丛书)

    刘芳主编的《中国人的骄傲——神舟家族》是“征服太空之路丛书”之一。《中国人的骄傲——神舟家族》内容涉及神舟家族的各个侧面,文字浅显易懂,生动活泼。
  • 做最好的执行者

    做最好的执行者

    本书兼具实用性和指导性。书中的每一个细节都来源于众多优秀员工实际工作经验的总结和提炼,并精选了大量经典、实用的案例,理论联系实际,对一般员工在实际工作中遇到的各种棘手问题都提供了具体的、可供操作性的解决方法和技巧。本书将帮助你成为一个优秀的执行者,助你尽快迈上一个新台阶,实现自己的人生飞跃。
  • 撩妻上瘾:青梅,别想逃

    撩妻上瘾:青梅,别想逃

    (已完结)刚领结婚证,走出民政局,文黎川就把结婚证烧了,扬言,我最大的心愿就是娶你,又怎么会给你离婚的机会。路小橙:不是还有分居两年,就可以去法院申请离婚。文黎川:想离婚,这辈子都不可能,至于分居两年就可以申请离婚,这你想都不要想,我是不会和你分居两年的。路小橙默,她的竹马老公,好不容易才在一起,她又怎么会和他离婚。
  • 翻毛皮鞋

    翻毛皮鞋

    腊月的风很硬,吹到脸上麻辣辣的,有破皮的感觉。田里的活没有了,婆娘们整天待在家里缝补拆洗、烧烧煮煮。男人们是闲不下来的,都被队长派去水利工地挖河打坝。这天吃过早饭,李想把孩子安顿到公婆家,将罐子里的几个鸡蛋掏出来,小心地放入布兜。她从挂衣绳上抽下头巾,把脸包扎起来,拎上布兜就出门去了。今天不逢集,但李想必须上街。家里的盐罐子空了,饭寡淡得无法下咽,她要去镇街兑换盐。鸡蛋是家里的两只小母鸡生的,日积月累一直藏着,一家人都没舍得吃。李想本想多养几只鸡,有了鸡家里的油盐酱醋、针头线脑就不用发愁。
  • 快穿之做好事不留名

    快穿之做好事不留名

    现代宅女陈静姝因为亵渎大神,被罚穿越,而且穿的还是古典名著!就是画风怎么有些不对劲?别人穿越不都是吃香的喝辣的吗?哦,你说最近大家穿越都爱种田?种田也比XXX强!总结:这姑娘在该宅斗的文里种田,在该宫斗的文里碾压,在该历险的文里基建,在不恰当的时刻遇到了他。
  • 成功者的致富秘诀:打开财富大门的7把钥匙

    成功者的致富秘诀:打开财富大门的7把钥匙

    成功者之所以成功,是有迹可循的。本书从“思考智慧”“修身智慧”“做事智慧”“交际智慧”“借力智慧”“感恩智慧”“学习智慧”等七个方面入手,通过一个个富有哲理的故事和深入浅出的语言,详细阐述了成功者致富的秘诀。希望能够给读者以启发,从多个方面发展自我,完善自我,掌握打开财富大门的七把钥匙,奠定成功的基础。