The Survey, Volume 30, Number 6, May 10, 1913

In Short

This collection of articles, editorials, and correspondence captures a pivotal moment in American history when social workers, reformers, and labor advocates sought to organize the nation’s response to industrialization. By examining issues ranging from the minimum wage and child labor to agricultural marketing and the "social evil" of prostitution, the text functions as a living archive of a movement focused on public welfare. It remains a significant historical document for its candid portrayal of the intellectual energy, moral idealism, and administrative challenges inherent in the early days of American social science.

The Story

The narrative arc of this volume begins with the political realities of May 1913, as social reformers look to the newly installed administration of President Woodrow Wilson. There is a palpable tension between the reformers’ hopes for "social legislation"—bills addressing compensation for injured federal employees, maximum hours for women, and minimum wage standards—and the administration’s stated priority of tariff reform. The articles detail a sense of waiting, as activists analyze legislative processes and committee assignments, hoping to find a window of opportunity to insert their human-centric concerns into a government dominated by banking and revenue statutes.

As the text shifts from Washington to the field, the narrative expands into the "social settlement" movement. Reformers gather in various cities to debate the fundamental purpose of their work. They struggle with the question of whether to remain quiet, "detail-oriented" philanthropists or to become active champions of working-class movements. Figures like Vida D. Scudder and John L. Elliott argue for a more radical, democratic engagement, urging residents to move beyond mere charity and toward the systemic reorganization of communal life. This shift toward self-critique is mirrored in the South, where social workers gather in Atlanta to discuss poverty and illiteracy, moving away from sectional defensiveness toward a shared, national understanding of these problems.

The middle of the volume moves into the granular, often harsh reality of industrial labor and poverty. There is a focus on the “living wage,” illustrated by the grueling conditions of factory girls who must "hire a sheet" from a landlady just to have a place to sleep. Economic experts and editors weigh in on the complexities of food prices, the waste in private housekeeping, and the inefficiencies of the middleman system in agriculture, which leaves farmers underpaid while consumers pay exorbitant rates. These discussions are framed as scientific inquiries, with contributors like Irving Fisher and Margaret Byington applying data to human struggle.

The progression of the volume culminates in a series of intense exchanges regarding the role of women in public life and the responsibility of the state. Debates over whether married women should be permitted to teach and the growing momentum of women’s suffrage reflect a society in flux. The narrative concludes with a look toward future challenges, including the investigation of commercialized vice, the education of immigrants, and the persistent, unanswered questions of how to balance the rights of the laborer with the stability of the industrial system. It ends not with a resolution, but with a call to continued, diligent observation.

How It Unfolds

The legislative wait Reformers monitor Congress, hoping that the focus on tariff reform will eventually yield space for social legislation. They analyze the Senate and House committee structures, mapping out potential avenues for influence.

The settlement house debate Leaders in the settlement movement argue over their mission, weighing the value of craft and recreational work against the necessity of championing the working class. They push for deeper, more democratic integration into the neighborhoods they serve.

Economic and industrial audits Contributors tackle the high cost of living and the failure of current marketing systems for farm goods. They present data on rot, waste, and the exploitative wages paid to women workers in industrial centers.

Regional and moral introspection Southern reformers meet to discuss poverty as an American, not just a southern, problem. Simultaneously, experts analyze the ethics of marriage, the dangers of commercialized vice, and the need for a national clearinghouse for charitable appeals.

The call to action The volume closes with a flurry of correspondence regarding current events and pedagogical needs. These letters bridge the gap between abstract reform and the practical, day-to-day work of school boards, labor councils, and social workers.

The People

• Frances Perkins emerges as a powerful voice for the exploited, bringing the stark reality of the low-wage worker to the forefront. She challenges the reader to look at the "hiring a sheet" phenomenon as a symptom of a systemic failure to provide a living wage.
• Vida D. Scudder stands as a radical conscience for the settlement movement, pushing her colleagues to abandon "regular philanthropy" in favor of supporting working-class autonomy. She wants the movement to act as an advance guard for democratic life.
• B. F. Yoakum provides the economic framing for the agricultural crisis, offering staggering statistics on the millions of dollars lost annually in rotting produce. He wants to force a discussion on the structural inefficiencies of the market.
• Althea Somerville Grossman represents the practical power of collective bargaining in her correspondence, detailing how a simple committee visit convinced a department store to grant its employees a Saturday afternoon rest.
• Samuel June Barrows is memorialized as a standard-bearer for the penological reforms of his era. His life is presented as the ideal model of the modern, multifaceted reformer who uses his skills across the spheres of journalism, law, and social work.

In Its Own Voice

“It is best, indeed, it is necessary, to begin with the tariff.”

President Wilson justifies his delay of social reforms in his address to Congress.

“In a recent strike Miss Perkins found that many of the girls in factories lived away from home, many coming from rural districts, and that most of them lived by ‘hiring a sheet from a missus.’”

The editor describes the desperate living conditions of female factory workers.

“The great danger of the settlement, she held, is that it will become one of the regular philanthropies rather than an advance station, as it were, in the progressive democratization of the national life.”

Vida D. Scudder critiques the direction of the settlement house movement.

What It's Really About

The central theme is the attempt to reconcile the chaotic, rapid growth of the American industrial economy with the moral and social needs of its citizens. The text asks: How can a democratic government and a private society coordinate their efforts to protect the most vulnerable? It grapples with the transition from the "charity" of the nineteenth century to the "social service" of the twentieth. The underlying tension is the search for a scientific and professionalized approach to human problems, balancing the efficiency of administrative experts with the grassroots necessity of community participation. It is a work preoccupied with the question of agency—how much can the individual, the committee, or the state actually control in the face of massive, impersonal market forces?

Why Read It Today

Readers with an interest in the history of social work, urban planning, or the development of modern American political thought will find this volume deeply engaging. It offers an unfiltered view of the vocabulary and anxieties of the early 1910s, capturing the specific, often rigid, and sometimes paternalistic attitudes of the era’s reformers. The prose is utilitarian, journalistic, and dense with the administrative details of the day, which may feel dry to some, but it is precisely this lack of modern polish that gives the book its archival value.

You will encounter period-specific prejudices and a sometimes startlingly blunt discussion of "eugenics" and "social hygiene," which serve as a stark reminder of the limitations of the era's social science. However, the earnestness of the contributors—their genuine belief that data, organization, and public will can solve deep-seated inequities—is remarkably affecting. It leaves the reader with a sense of the immense complexity of the social problems that were being confronted for the first time on a national scale. It is a rewarding look at the "nitty-gritty" of how a society attempts to reform itself from the ground up.