The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-30
A Chance for Good Work.

A society has just been organized in this
city for prevention Of cruelty to animals.
1t IS a very good society, and one that
should receive generous support. The car
| ing for the dumb creatures which God has
gives 20 man to help him in his labors is a
daty which should be conscientiously dis
| charged. But is it not strange that, while
ths human heart is moved to pity by the
sufferin Of the beasts of burden. no con-
csrted effort is made to protect helpless lit
tie children, our own flesh and blood, from
neglect and cruel treatment at the hands Of
those entrusted with the care of theml
TIE women who are foremost in home
missionary work, who devote good share
Of their time to gathering the mans for
carrying the gospel to heathens, and VINO
labor zealously in bshalf Of those whom
whisky has wrecked, might find a great
field for their sympathies and energies if
they would inquire into the treatment of
The babies that are entrusted to the care of
colored nurses. These babies, some of
them big enough to run about and othsrs
only few weeks old, are sent into
the streets with colored women and girls,
some Of whom are little, il any, better than
savages. They are dragged aud pulled
about from one place TO another It'll they
are almost exhausted. Not unfrequently
they are neglected, ald mere often they are
addressed harshly and dealt with cruelty.
or course not all the colored nur.es are
unkind, or cruel or neglected.. Indeed, it
1t probable that 2 majority Of them are as
kind to the children entrusted to them as
the mothers of the children, aud, in some
instances, kinder, but there are m my who
are negiectful, heartless and cruel. 1t
would be far better for mothers to keep
their children at homo all the days OF their
childhood then to eptrust them to such
nurses.
OF course, what 4 said il the newspapers
about this matter will hardly have the eff
feet of inducing thous;htiess and Indifferent
mothers to exercise greater care in selecting
nurses for their children. Their main
thought is to relieve themselves of the
trouble and worry their children cause
them, and they don't care much what sort
of nurses they hire, or how their children
are cared for, SO long as their freedom and
pleasures are not interfered with.
The only remedy for this kind of cruelty
to children is an organization of kind
hearted women who will make it their duty
to see that some sort of protection is af-
forded children when in the streets under
the care of nurses. They can have one or
more officers whose special duty it shall be
to watch the nurses, and see 20 it that the
children are not made the victims of neg
lect Or ill-temper.
No doubt every mother thinks that her
chill tren are we'll treated by their nurses,
and that the children who are ill-treated
are the children OF other mothers. She may
think that it is as much as she can do to
attend to her own children, and that it is no
affair of hers what happens to other peo-
pies. If mothers take this view they are
likely TO make mistake, because there are
comparatively few mothers who are
certain that the nurses of their
children are all they could wish them to be.
Those who are most confident that they
have no cause to complain of their nurses
may be among those whose children are the
greatest sufferers.
Such society as is suggested could do
great deal of good-more practical good, in
fact, rIan is done by some of the societies
in which. women take sucn deep interest.