CHARITABLE AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS
This is the age of munificent benefactions in aid of science and
learning. The Rhodes scholarships, Mr. Carnegie's free libraries and
educational endowments, the Duc d'Aumale's gift to the French Academy
of his fine _chatteau_ at Chantilly, with its magnificent historical
and art collections; many institutions founded in the United States
and elsewhere by multi-millionaires for the advancement of knowledge,
are a sign of the times. They foreshadow the abolishment of pauperism
and its attendant charities to give place to beneficent institutions,
and Norway and Sweden are abreast with other countries in this
movement. Apart from charitable institutions and endowments for the
maintenance of hospitals and asylums, of universities, scholarships
and fellowships, which the generosity of former generations has
secured, the present generation has seen noble donations made by
private men for more special objects, having the general advancement
of knowledge in view, such as the encouragement of scientific research
and the support of voyages of geographical exploration. Nordenskiöld's
Arctic voyages, his and Palander's navigation through the polar
northeast passage in the _Vega_, Nathort's exploration of King Carl's
Land, the Swedish expedition to the Antarctic regions under Otto
Nordenskiöld, which has lately returned after two years' adventurous
exploration in Graham Land and the discovery of King Oscar Land, Sven
Hedin's travels in Central Asia, which have had such important results
and made his works so widely read--all these were undertaken as
the result of such aid. The latest case in point, Alfred Nobel's
foundation of annual prizes for the reward of scientific discovery, of
literary merit, and humanitarian endeavor, deserves special notice.
The annual distribution of these prizes, each of which represents a
small fortune ($41,500), has of late years fixed the attention of the
learned world on the Swedish literary and scientific bodies, and the
Norwegian Parliamentary Committee, who were entrusted by him with the
difficult and invidious task of awarding them.
Alfred Nobel, the dynamite king, as he was styled, belonged to a
family of inventors and industrial magnates. His father, Emmanuel
Nobel, was the inventor of nitroglycerine, and of fixed submarine
torpedoes or mines. His two brothers, Robert and Louis Nobel, founded
the naptha and petroleum works at Bacou, one of the largest industrial
enterprises of Russia. Alfred himself invented dynamite and dynamite
gum, and a smokeless powder, ballistite, which he patented in 1867,
1876, and 1889. It is mainly due to the works of the Nobel family that
Sweden has attained the reputation of Master Producer of Explosives.
Chemical research has always been a specialty among Swedish men of
science, and a large number of the known chemical elements were
discovered and made known by Swedish scientists.
In 1876, Alfred Nobel had perfected his invention of dynamite gum. He
went to Paris with his patented invention, and there formed a company
with a capital of ten million francs for the manufacture of dynamite.
It proved to be an article of the greatest industrial importance, and
one destined to revolutionize mining and engineering. Erelong he had
established extensive works in France, Scotland, Germany, Belgium,
Austria, and the United States. He produced over $25,000,000 worth a
year. He became, in fact, the world's purveyor of an article which was
now exclusively used in mining and engineering works. Thanks to it,
engineers were able to pierce tunnels through the Alps, miners to sink
their shafts into the bowels of the earth, and harbor constructors to
remove sunken rocks out of the way of shipping. But thanks to it, too,
the Communards were enabled to blow up the finest monuments of Paris
in a few hours. It was at once a powerful instrument of industrial
development, and of progress in the conquest of man over inert matter,
and a terrible engine of devastation in warfare, and of massacre and
vandalism where homicidal and destructive passions were aroused in
mankind.
It was perhaps this thought, that in benefiting industry he had also
made war more destructive, which led Alfred Nobel, who was a most
pacific and humane man, endowed with the kindliness and sympathy of a
great mind, to make the provisions he did in his will. He devoted
all his fortune to the encouragement of scientific discovery and the
reward of endeavors to diminish standing armies and the chances of
war, to promote fraternity among nations, and the settlement of
international disputes by peace congresses. His will, in its very
conciseness and unsophisticated simplicity, is characteristic of the
man. It is dated Nov. 27, 1895, and he died a year afterwards, on Dec.
10, 1896, leaving a fortune of $10,000,000. After instituting several
small legacies, the will proceeds:
"With the residue of my convertible estate I hereby direct my
executors to proceed as follows: They shall convert my said residue of
property into money, which they shall then invest in safe securities;
the capital thus secured shall constitute a fund, the interest
accruing from which shall be annually awarded in prizes to those
persons who shall have contributed most materially to benefit mankind
during the year immediately preceding. The said interest shall be
divided into five equal amounts, to be apportioned as follows: one
share to the person who shall have made the most important discovery
or invention in the domain of physics; one share to the person who
shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement;
one share to the person who shall have made the most important
discovery in the domain of physiology or medicine; one share to the
person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most
distinguished work of an idealistic tendency; and, finally, one share
to the person who shall have most or best promoted the fraternity of
nations and the abolition or diminution of standing armies and the
formation or increase of peace congresses. The prizes for physics
and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Science in
Stockholm, the one for physiology or medicine by the Caroline Medical
Institute in Stockholm; the prize for literature by the Swedish
Academy in Stockholm, and that for peace by a committee of five
persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storthing. I declare it to be
my express desire that, in awarding these prizes, no consideration
whatever be paid to the nationality of the candidates, that is to
say, the most deserving be awarded the prize, whether of Scandinavian
origin or not."
It was Nobel's object to reward and help the pure man of science, too
much absorbed in his researches to think of drawing any industrial or
pecuniary advantages from his scientific discoveries. "I would not
leave anything to a man of action or industrial enterprise," he said
to a friend with whom he was discussing the project of his will; "the
sudden acquisition of a fortune would probably only damp the energy
and weaken the spirit of enterprise of such a man. I want to aid the
dreamer, the scientific enthusiast, who forgets everything in the
pursuit of his ideas."
It seems like dropping from the sublime to the ridiculous to follow
so ideal a benefaction with a report of so mundane a thing as a soup
kitchen, but soup is as necessary to humanity at the present period of
life as some of the exalted things of the intellect, and, as pauperism
in Norway and Sweden is so almost unobservable, it is difficult to
search out with the keenest vision any charity that is doing more than
are the "steam kitchens" of Norway and Sweden. And the keenest vision
would hardly observe that these "steam kitchens" are charitable
institutions. They are called "steam kitchens" because they are the
first institutions in the peninsula where steam was used for the
cooking of food. The one at Stockholm, instituted by Prince Carl, is
very similar in detail and operation to the one in Christiania,
but the latter was established first and is more perfect in its
arrangement and methods, so we will take it for illustration.
This kitchen at Christiania was established in 1858 by benevolent
people to provide wholesome food for the poor at low prices. The
charter granted to the company limited its profits to six per cent
of the capital invested, with a provision that the balance, if any,
should be paid into the poor fund of the city. There was a hard
struggle at first to make both ends meet, and an annual deficit for
many years, which was made up by the stockholders, but at last the
"kitchen" became so popular that it began to pay dividends, and the
stock has since been watered four times, until it now pays what
is equivalent to twenty-four per cent annually upon the original
investment, with a surplus larger than the capital on which it was
started. It is one of the most profitable enterprises in Europe for
the amount of money involved, but that fact does not diminish the
benefits conferred upon the public, and the generosity of the company
to the poor, particularly in times of labor troubles and financial
depression, can not be questioned. Hundreds of bachelors and single
women take their meals there regularly, and hundreds of families
obtain their entire supply of food, wholesome and well cooked, at
nominal cost.
There is a long official title to the company, but nobody ever
mentions it. It occupies a two-story building covering nearly half an
ordinary block. The location is convenient to the business portion of
the city, the docks and the market-place. There are two large halls,
one above the other, containing five long tables, seating thirty
persons each, thus accommodating three hundred customers at a sitting.
In the upstairs room it costs eleven cents in our money for a
good dinner; in the lower room it costs nine cents. There are no
tablecloths and no napkins, but the tops of the tables have been
scoured until they shine and everything is spotless. The whole
institution is a model of neatness. It seems remarkable how it can be
kept so clean with so many unwashed customers and so much business.
The windows are large and let in plenty of light. The walls are
covered with bright tints, and the waitresses wear white caps, aprons,
and oversleeves. At each place is a knife, fork, spoon, drinking
glass, cup and saucer, and a piece of bread about three inches square.
Dinner is served from ten in the morning until six in the afternoon to
an average of 2,500 people daily. Some of them come twice. They take a
cup of coffee and eat a piece of cheese and bread at their homes early
in the morning. Then at ten or eleven, and again at four or five
o'clock, they go to the "kitchen" for a square meal. Thus it costs
them not more than twenty-five cents a day, all told, for their food.
In the last ten years they have never served less than 1,500 people in
a day.
The bill of fare varies from day to day, but we will take one day,
Tuesday, for example. A large dish of barley soup is served, wholesome
and nourishing, a ball of hashed meat, with potatoes and rice, or
boiled salmon, potatoes and turnips.
The nine-cent dinner is pretty much the same, with the exception of
the soup; boiled potatoes and rice, or boiled salmon, potatoes and
turnips. A plate of soup alone, which in itself would be more than a
meal for most people, being filled with meat and vegetables, is served
for three cents.
The same dinners are furnished to the public to be eaten at their
homes for nine and seven cents respectively, and usually contain
enough food for two or three women, although Norwegians have stalwart
appetites. The outdoor service is conducted in another part of the
building, upon another street. The patrons procure tickets at an
office and then form in line--men, women and children, each with
a bucket or a basket, or both, in hand. Many tickets are given
gratuitously, but it is impossible to distinguish the paying from the
charity customers. Benevolent people throughout the city purchase
bunches of tickets, which they give to the poor, and sometimes in lieu
of wages. If you hire a man to clean up the yard, you can give him so
much cash and so many meal tickets, or if a person appeals to you for
relief, it is always better to give a ticket to the "Steam Kitchen"
rather than money. Many customers buy two portions which they take
home and warm up at meal time for the whole family.
In the center of a large room are rows of immense caldrons with coils
of steam pipe embracing them. The air is filled with pungent odors
from the bubbling soup, and clouds of steam rise from the other
cook-pots. On a long table are pyramids of bread, cut into cubes three
or four inches square, usually rye or black bread, such as the natives
of Norway prefer. Along the walls are deep cupboards containing the
linens, the culinary supplies and utensils. In an adjoining but
detached building is a furnace and boiler-room which furnishes the
steam, and beside it a laundry and dish-washing establishment. It
requires a good many dishes to serve three thousand people even in a
simple way. In an annex the finer qualities of beef, mutton, and other
meats are cut off and sold to the public, thus utilizing all the
supplies which are bought in large quantities, the beef by the carcass
and the vegetables by the carload. The sausage of the "Steam Kitchen"
is said to be the best to be found in Christiania. All kinds of
prepared meats are also sold in this annex butcher shop. During
the fruit season the company runs a canning department upstairs,
preserving all kinds of fruits, jellies, pickles, and that sort of
thing. At the baking department bread is sold to the general public at
wholesale or retail, and small retail establishments are supplied with
all kinds of groceries as well as meats and other edibles. Thus the
restaurant is only part of this large business from which the company
derives its profits. There is naturally a good deal of jealousy among
the competing small dealers against the "Steam Kitchen," but it serves
a benevolent purpose, and there is no disposition among its customers
to question its business methods or reduce its profits. It has
succeeded in abolishing the cheap restaurants such as are found in all
large cities, at which wretched food, generally the scrapings from
high-class hotels and eating-houses, is worked over and sold to the
poor.
It is an interesting sight, this bucket brigade, that stands in line
and passes slowly by the serving windows, which are attended by half
a dozen brawny Norwegian women with bare arms and broad,
good-natured-looking faces. They wear neat white aprons and caps, and
handle the food with a dexterity that shows long experience. They seem
to know most of the customers and carry on a familiar conversation
with them while falling their orders. When a bucket and a ticket
passes up, blue for a nine-cent and red for a seven-cent dinner, the
waitress first plunges a huge ladle into the soup pot and empties its
contents into the bucket; then passing along the rows of kettles she
harpoons a piece of meat with a long two-pronged fork, scoops up a
quart of rice with a wooden shovel, and then, adding a portion of
potatoes, slams on the cover, and, grabbing a cube of bread, passes it
over to the purchaser with a joke or a few pleasant words.
Many of the customers are well dressed, according to the Norway
standard, but no people in the world seem to care so little for
their personal appearance, except on Sundays, when you can scarcely
recognize men and women you have been familiar with during the week.
On the day I ate at the restaurant, my cicerone pointed out at the
dining table two professors of the University faculty, a lawyer in
good standing, a photographer, and a sub-editor of one of the daily
papers, who were his personal acquaintances. The remainder of the
customers appeared to be professional men, clerks, bookkeepers, and
a good many laborers, many of them coming for their dinner without
having removed the traces of toil from their faces and hands. At one
of the tables was a group of students inclined to be boisterous and
evidently enjoying themselves. The "Steam Kitchen" is the favorite
eating-place for the undergraduates, from four to five hundred being
served every day.
Such an institution as the "Steam Kitchen" is especially suitable to a
Norwegian city, where a portion of the population work for very small
wages, the average income of the wage-earner being less than $100 a
year--so small that, measured by the American standard, it would seem
a difficult problem to find food, clothing, and shelter for a family.
Few Norwegians suffer from poverty or privation, even through the cold
and gloomy winters that are eight months long. Our own people might
die, or at least suffer seriously under the same circumstances, but
the Norwegians are a hardy race. They have inherited the power of
endurance and the ability to survive hunger and thirst and discomforts
better than most races.
There are comparatively few poor in Sweden, probably fewer than in any
other European country except Norway and Switzerland, because of the
low cost of living, the sparse population, and the ability of all
men and women to find work if they are willing to earn their own
subsistence. Able-bodied paupers are compelled to work upon poor
farms, but the aged, decrepit and invalids who are dependent upon
public charity are kindly taken care of by what is called outdoor and
indoor relief. In the cities are asylums and almshouses similar to
those in the United States, but in the parishes, as a rule, the care
of the poor is assigned to individual farmers and others who
are willing to take care of them under contract, subject to the
supervision of a board of guardians, of which the pastor is the
chairman and the elders of the church are members. This has long been
a practice in Sweden, but is not universal.
There are at present 5,277 relief establishments of all kinds in the
kingdom, and the total contributions for the benefit of the poor
amount to $3,000,000 annually, or on an average of 58 cents per capita
of the entire population, an average of 44 cents in the country and
$1.18 in the cities. This includes all poorhouses, asylums, hospitals,
and other institutions for adults and children who can not take care
of themselves.
A large part of the relief work in the cities is looked after by the
Salvation Army under contract with the municipal authorities, but
there are many institutions, hospitals, asylums, homes for the
friendless and aged and for orphan children, supported by private
charity. The free hospital for children in Stockholm is famous as one
of the best equipped and managed institutions in the world.
The private charities in Stockholm are united for cooperation in
an organization similar to those found in American cities, and all
charitable institutions are subject to government supervision.[l]