Now the charitable development of the individ-
ual follows the development of the race ; the
individual outgrows slowly, if at all, the senti-
mental and patronizing view of poverty. To
carry church members beyond this phase and
make them effective workers, genuine powers
of leadership are needed, and it is much easier
to let them follow their own devices. We have
seen in the last chapter that relief work, if
well done, is the most difficult of all charita-
ble, work, but nine inexperienced workers out
of every ten will think it the best and easiest
means of helping the poor — the only means,
in fact.
A difficulty to be reckoned with, and yet
one with which it is hard to have any patience,
is the rank materialism that regards relief as
a legitimate means of attracting people to the
church. Relief as a gospel agency has done
far more harm than good: you cannot buy a
Christian without getting a bad bargain, and
yet, competition among rival churches working
in the same poor neighborhood is so sharp
that even now, in these days of cooperative



X7* FRIENDLY VISITING AMONG THE POOR

effort, we find that the sordid appeal is made.
