Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-09-27
DEsTITUTB CHILDREN.

the hope Of the State. It is too late to mend them
thsm from A employments when they have rendered
themselves unworthy Of shem II is much much better
b 8d gae,eH' 'l' ''' '''N ~ '
TIE CAUSE OF DRsTITUTI0N AND DBPRAvITY-
THB REMKDY|UvBNILB RBFORMAToRIss AND
ORPHAN AsYLUMs-wHERE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
SYSTEM NEEDS sUPPLBMBNTING - MICHIGAN
THE FIRST STATE TO REALIZE THE DEFECT AND
APPLY THE PROPER REMEDY-THB STATE PUB
Lie SCHOOL AT COLDwATKR.
That intemperance, idlene5s, ignorance, and
distaste for manual labor are the greatest
sources Of restitution, mendlcacy, misery, and
crime Is a well established fact. Not only are
these evils contagious by association, but 1t is
also not to be denied that the hereditary In man
has proven itself most powerful means of
propagation and perpetuation. The history OF
the Inmates OF our almshouSeS, reformatorleS,
penitentiaries, and prisons furnish aoundant
The result Of the career OF the descendants OF
margaret, the mother OF criminals" as most
forcibly told with mathematical precision In the
story OF the "Jukes," by the statistical tables OF
r. L. Dugdale, must Startle every thougnI1ul
citizen, and convince legislators aud municipal
officers that 1t is an unmlstakaole duty TO pro.
vide not only means OF checking tue -pread OF
this social malaria but to prevent In every pos
s1ble manner its terminating at all.
And how can this effectively be accomplished?
The answer lies In the simple and undeniabie
but, alas, generally ignored, public duty of
training neglected, dependent, and maltreated
children to become useful citizens Do our well
conducted reformaJories for juveniles undertake
10 do this They do for those VINO have been
committed to their charge by judicial authority,
and in exceptional cases for others. But their
work legitimately is rather OF corrections
characrer, to reform and so prevent the recur-
renee OF evil practices on the part OF youth-to
lead Alright the e rant rather than prevent the
innocent from first erring. And the field OF
their labor is surely largo and praise worthy
their harvest grateful and abundant. The re-
formatory for juveniles is an absolute necessity,
l,oxr ~ frfnf
but also for girls. 1t relieves the almshouses,
penitentiaries, and jails Of thousands who other
wise would assuredly drift thither, and to
great extent makes useful law-abiding citizens
OF them. The expense of their maintenance Is
tr1fie to what 1t would prove morally detri-
mental 10 the community were juvenile reform
AtorieS wanting.
Orphan asylums cannot be said to meet the
want refer ed to. In ge eral they provide only
for ore class OF depencent children, and whilst
furnishing good home and limited Intellectual
training, depend altogether on the indenturing
and deterio $sted apprenticeship system for the
means OF intoxicating Industrious habits. Our
excellent publ. schools of course, so far as they
can 60 at present. do much to stimulate the
young TO career II usefulness. But The exist
Ing pubic school s. ITEM viii st 1t invites every
child 10 partake OF ITS advantages, falls to pro-
vide for the most neceSsitouS and endan gered
children means OF attendance much less facili-
ties to acquire vocation calculated to give
future self support. The system reaches all
who can and Will attend but not those who
should ard must be snatched from vagrancy
and dens OF infamy! Whilst then national
university open to all qualified to enter, would
1t is well first 10 enlarge its scope at the base,
and make ample provisions that innocent poor
helpless and neglected children may partake If
Its benefits, and by the sheltering arm of wise
and Deneficient government be shielded from
the dangers which environ them.
Compulsory attendance az day schools will
not answer the purpose Of saving these children
from ruin and the com nunity from the conse-
duent evil result. We have such a law 10 the
District, ard yet one Can find hundreds who
could not be made to attend day school regular
ly even II the law Tor want of school room re-
NAMED not imperative. The children |
plead for are not orphans or belonging to some
UNCONVENTIONAL organization that will entitle
them TO admission into existing Institutions,
they are the Innocent yet enforced associates
OF misery, wretchedneSs and crime either stalk
Ing around amongst US as types of unfortunate
ana 0eprayed humanity or fnfeSting our aims
house and hospitals. our Police Court and
workhouse.
To guard against the baneful effects of such
state OF affairs, the duty of the educator and
statesman seems plain, If he would not have
'Tekel' imprinted on his forehead. And yet
how little is being done to eradicate this cank-
erous worm from our social organism!
But, we stand on the threshold of new era
In education and social science. We are just
beginning to realize the fact that they are in.
timately related to one another, inseparable H.
StrumentS to the proper training OF mankind
into the responsibilities Of citizenship. In the
United States the government Of Michigan has
been the first to recognize that the prevailing
system OF free schools failed almost wholly to
reach the sources from whence her almshOuSeS,
refOrmatarfes and prisons were drawing an an
nually increasing contingent of INN ites. Her
their public school system somewhere neglected
the true principles underlying social science
and casting around to detect this Incomplete.
ness discovered 1t TO be the
MUNICIPAL AND STATE NEGLECT
to provide for the proper care and training
of dependent, maltreated and neglected
children. The remedy was not long wanting,
and consisted In an adjunct to the system OF
municipal and county public schools, VIZ: the
establishment OF state public school at Cold
water, where the state takes charge OF all its
so situated from no fault Of their own-more
sinned against than sinning-and, like kind
foster parent, feeds, clothes, educates and trains
them to become useful citizens; surrounds them
with loving parental influence, and finally
launches them into the active duties OF life,
fortified with the best possible moral courage
beginning the work Of prevention, by separat-
ing from their eVi-tending surroundings aud
training, to the happiness of useful career,
dependent ana innocent children, was first In
systematic form put In practice by the state of
Michigan, when In the light Of social science IL
added this most important feature to its sys-
zen, tenn . OF public schools And now, since the
the experiment at Codwater come to be fully
realized, its citizens, legislators, and rulers
boldly proclaim: :" Schools for dependent children
d0te TO pduDerIsDs and crime :"
But the state not only invites these children
10 the "home" pre- pared for them at Coldwater
1t stretches out It's sheltering arm and directs
its Officers to search the highways and byways
the hauntS OF misery and denS Of infamy and
rescue the innocent young from the baneful
enect OF association with wretchedneSs and
vice, confirmed pauperS and criminals To
Change the environment Of such children at an
early period Is all important, as sprompt and
reasonable care and training" of them accord
Ing TO the experience OF the eminent Dr. Elisha
Harris, even In cases as bad as that OF the noto-
rious "Juke" family Will prove successful Thus
the state OF Michigan most wisely gathers 10
these walls" "a powerleSSt they lay in the wake
or misfortune, wretchedneSs and criminaliJy,
and ere the nox1ous influences around them
shall terminate Within their faultleSs hearts
transfers them TO the state paternal roof at
lords them the advantages OF its educational
BY stem and trains them In the way that leads TO
useful citizenship.
The manner OF conducting the Institution at
C0ldHater shows that combination of the
"famfy, ""congregate" and "indenturlng" plans
has been adopted The buildings consist on one
large two-stor> and Mansard brick structure
ia the shape OF c:oSS. having q frontage OF 1873
feet, Dy depth or - feet, IN the central part
used Tor ad illustration purposes. Around this
are grouped II Others, one OF which is used for
q boiler-house aud laundry, one for hospital
and the other nine for cottages all having
solid yet cheerful and even elegant appearance
These cottages are the "homes" In each OF