Excerpt from Modern Methods of Charity: An Account of the Systems of Relief, Public, and Private, in the Principal Countries, Having Modern Methods Quite as important are the facts relating to the judgments of experts in each country, and considerable space has been given to these. Popular opinions, sentiments and prejudices, even superstitions are often influential; as, for example, the crude religious feelings which maintain the custom of indiscriminate almsgiving and the survival of street mendicancy. When the opinions are those of persons with scientific education, modern ideals and long practical experience, they are facts of positive value. The recommendations of bodies of experts, made after protracted and repeated discussion, even if they have not yet been adopted in customs, regulations and laws, have a claim to be con sidered; they also are social facts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.