In the last few years there has been a change in attitude toward social service, a change which a letter in this column today deplores. Realizing that prevention of crime and delinquency, that improvement in standards among the poor, is the surest way of creating social stability, the intelligent have shown a wordy, but not ineffective interest in these matters. Agitation for permanent reform, for enlightened democracy has seemed more intelligent than the drops in the bucket of individual slumming. This attitude has been furthered, of course, by the blatant antics of "service" clubs and that business men who have found that piety pays.
It is unfortunate, before the undoubted worth of much of the settlement work, that it has been plunged into disrepute by the bunk of the day But this being the situation it can only be increased by appeals that openly make Babbit baiting and cash the attraction of what passes for unselfish philanthropy. The undergraduate who would naturally turn to such work has not suddenly become a gross materialist But he is necessarily a creature of his age, and repelled by the shabby hypocrisy and business charlatanism that have invaded the domains of service, has poused his enthusiasm in broader fields.
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